Talking politics with American acquaintances

In Fort Frances we receive three television stations from Detroit. Although I have been following the Republican primary season, I was determined to not to write anything about their process. But watching the Oscars on Sunday evening, it was refreshing to see Ellen DeGeneres spoofing the hastle of returning products to stores and shopping was done differently.
The Oscars seemed to block off all of the electioneering ads from Michigan. Maybe they didn’t. And maybe I have become immune to the negative campaigning that is filling the airwaves in the United States. All four GOP presidential candidates haven’t been able to find a single redeeming quality of any of their opponents. They are making the case that none of them are suitable presidential candidates.
I spent an evening in Brainerd celebrating my wife’s birthday and one of the questions that was put to us from a couple outside of Alexandria was what we thought of the election process in the United States. Talking politics with strangers is always full of potential dangers. Talking religion and politics is even more dangerous, yet pressed on what we saw of some of the issues confronting voters in the US, it was difficult to avoid.
I suspect the couple from Alexandria are truly independent voters. They seemed to have no affiliation or love of either of the political parties. And yet when pressed for some answers, I had to admit that my Conservative leanings placed me left of the US Democratic Party.
Canadians as a whole have chosen to embrace many socialist policies under our banner of “Peace, order and good government.” In the United States the most common banner is “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”.
Together the slogans tell a lot about the differences in being Canadian and American. We adopted a national health care program under Lester Pearson. In 1984 the Federal government passed the Canada Health Act to assure the quality of care across Canada.
It wasn’t until 2010 that the US Congress passed a universal health care act that has become known as “Obamacare” that forces every citizen to acquire health insurance. The major difference between the two nations care systems is that in Canada each province pays for the care of their citizens, while in the US, individuals and companies must purchase their insurance from health insurance companies.
Both countries are fighting health care battles. But our objectives are at opposite ends of the spectrum.
In the United States, the compelling of individuals to buy health insurance and states to administer health care is being fought by states and individuals and the final decision will be made by the Supreme Court this year on whether or not federally mandated health care is constitutionally acceptable. In the US many individuals believe that their “Liberty” is being infringed upon.
In Canada we fight to make sure that our health care does not diminish.
In Canada, Catholic School boards pay for employee drug plans that include contraceptives. In the US, the Catholic Church is opposed to the idea that school boards and Catholic hospitals pay for their employees contraceptives. And the Republican presidential candidates are weighing in on behalf of those religious institutions. In Canada the right of women to choose contraception has been no issue of over 50 years.
Several US politicians while opposed to theocracies in Iran, Iraq, the Mideast, would embrace a Christian theocracy in the United States. The constitution of the United States has always called for a separation of Church and State. Now it appears that qualifying as a Christian is paramount to being elected.
In Canada, religious affiliation is a nonstarter in politics.
It might be the silly season in the United States right now, but from my perspective as a Canadian, we seem to have our feet firmly planted on the ground and Peace, Order and Good Government seems like a really good plan to me.
–JIm Cumming,
Publisher