Christmas Is Canadian: standing up for Christmas

Canadians love Christmas. No matter how or why we celebrate it, Christmas is the holiday time! Of course Christmas is many things to many people. For some it’s just another holiday, for others its Santa clause and the giving of gifts. This one is very important because without it most businesses could not survive. Many retail businesses do over 90% of their sales during the Christmas season! Without it the economy would come to a grinding halt.

The true meaning of course is the celebration of the birth of Christ. For hundreds of years Christmas has been celebrated as a time of love and family and devotion yet this most wonderful time is under attack. There are those who feel that the meaning of Christmas should be all inclusive and because of that the name should be changed. This is happening right under the apathetic eyes of the very Christians whose celebration it is. My own Muslim friends think it quite strange that Christians would stand for such a thing. They say they would never allow such a thing in their religion.  

I must admit I too am ashamed at the apathy within the Christian churches but mostly with its people. Christmas has become a buying holiday and it’s because Christians are unwilling or afraid to stand up for their own beliefs. So I am standing up for Christmas.

Number one: I will say Merry Christmas to everyone I speak to in conversation.

Secondly I will refuse to purchase any product from any store that does not greet me or respond by saying Merry Christmas. That’s right. Christmas is not Festivous or Seasons greetings or the Holiday time, it’s Christmas. If the retail stores cannot recognise their major profit season and tell their staff to say Merry Christmas then I’m out of there. I have spoken to many sales people and they say the store actually forbids them to respond to Merry Christmas! These people who make their daily bread off of the celebration of Christmas should at least recognise it by name! Imagine if every Christian did this. The store would change their policy over night or go broke but more importantly Christians would maybe start to grow a spine about their beliefs. 

What do you think and more importantly what are you going to do about it? 

Oh, and for those who don’t believe in Christmas, stop being such hypocrites by celebrating and taking time off. Stay in your job over the season and refuse to partake in the holiday in any way. That would be the moral thing to do. And, to the rest of us, a very Merry Christmas.

Quebec Separation: The Spoiled Teen Province

Canadians hate spoiled children. There is nothing more aggravating than watching a teenager stomping their feet and whining about how misunderstood they are. Then, when they get what they want, they rest only long enough to find a new set of demands. The

justice comes when the parents finally say enough is enough and they show the kid the door. Of course the kid thinks that it’s a bluff. Mom and Dad have given in every other time right? Only this time the kid went too far. The locks are changed, the visa is

cancelled, the cell phone is cancelled, and the allowance is done.

QUEBEC NEEDS TO GROW UP.

This is the tipping point that Quebecers find themselves at today. Too many demands, too many racist laws, too many times ignoring who pays for their nonsense. This time they will be alone. The Cree won’t side with them. I heard a Cree chief comment once about the chance of separating. He said the Cree control the lands with the hydro lines. He said you would be surprised what two Cree, a pickup, a case of beer, and a box of dynamite can do to bring a province to its senses. He wasn’t smiling. Labrador isn’t coming and

that cuts of the last of the hydro and the last of the export dollars.

Does Quebec remember the mass exodus of businesses the last time things got this close? Business does not want extra costs and regulation and they certainly don’t need laws that restrict the labour pool. Oh, the federal employees shouldn’t forget that they will not be Canadians and therefore will not be able to work in a foreign government. Of course this will lead to an employment boom and bilingualism won’t be a factor, so all Canadians will have an even shot—not a bad prospect after the oppression of false bilingualism.

HISTORY REPEATING.

The last time we faced the possibility of separation, it was Canadians that put their hearts on the line and pulled us from the brink. That will not happen this time. Even if separation is averted Canadians are in no mood to acquiesce to more demands. The Quebec separatists have crossed the line. I believe that the Prime Minister needs to explain Quebec what really happens when they leave. Explain the agreements that were signed about lands that revert to Canada should they separate. Explain that separation means just that: separation. Just like the heartbroken parent he needs to be firm no matter how much it hurts. I know Canadians are ready to support the hard truths.

So where do we go from here? Does the teenager grow up? Do the parents change the

locks and wait? And when they do leave, what do we do with all the Quebec refugees?

What do you see happening and what would you like to happen?

Playing the Odds: Ottawa's New Casino and How Council Could Screw It Up

Ottawa. source: morguefile

I hope you don’t mind me discussing this but Ottawa seems to run out of commons sense sometimes. I  always find it funny that if you get three friends together over dinner and a beer, they always seem to come up with the answer to life’s questions. That is how we came up with the solution I’m going to present to you for Ottawa casino the province is considering for the city. Let’s walk you through it.

A CASINO FOR OTTAWA

Tired of watching millions upon millions of dollars going over to the Gatineau casino across the Quebec  border, the province has decided they want their piece of the pie: let’s allow a casino to be built in Ottawa. Our mayor seems behind the idea and has set a few criteria. One, it must be downtown, and two, it must be on our new rapid transit way.

Unfortunately there is no space right downtown. Any big-time Casino corporation is going to want space to build a hotel and conference facilities because modern casinos make 60% of their money from such facilities. The Bytown Market business association has already expressed their distaste for having it anywhere near the Market.

THE ELEGANT SOLUTION

 

Conference space, hotel space, event space:
all part of a casino's success.
source: morguefile

However, there is one location that fits all the requirements. That location is at the corner of Booth Street, Scott St. and the MacDonald (River) Parkway, or what is affectionately known as LeBreton Flats. As it stands today this location is a huge multi-acre empty field. The casino would sit directly on the transit way and could even have it run through the building. Booth Street runs virtually in a direct line to the Queensway, and it runs straight into Gatineau. The Parkway allows vehicles to come from the west of the city; it also allows fantastic access to the center of the city and the existing hotels. A shuttle such as they use in Las Vegas could bring people from the hotels to the casino. The land itself is a weed field and has been for fifty years so there will not be complaints of a loss of park space or tree canopy. The new water system

recently installed in the area gives it good infrastructure.

WIN-WIN

What else would we gain? Well, the corporation that takes the project on would have to do upgrades to any other infrastructure they need. It would pay huge tax dollars and profits to the city and the province, including paying some of the costs of the new transit way. We won’t have to tear up the downtown core and that means less traffic havoc. It physically won’t affect our downtown tourist area or force us to tear down culturally relevant buildings (heritage stuff). The National Capital Commission’s parkland in front of the War Museum, located right across the street, will benefit from the facilities, restaurants, shops, etc. making it a  true tourist area. The city will get its much-needed new hotel. This is pretty much a win-win for everyone.

LET'S DO THIS THING.

So what do we need to do to move this forward? First, send this blog to everyone on your lists; share it over facebook and twitter; post it on Reddit. The more people thinking about it the better.

Second, talk about it. We will get one chance to do this right. Do you want to leave something this important to city councillors and the Province? I sure don’t. Let’s get our say in now.

Toronto Misses The Mark: Banning Bullets.

CANADIANS LOVE ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY.

Oops, looks like a hurricane...better grab my TOWEL.

Canadians love the concept of personal responsibility. If you rob a bank you don’t want to say to your cellmate that it’s your mother’s fault you turned out bad. Things will end badly for you. In the movies we love to hear the hero say “Cowboy up whiner!” or “Stand up and be a man!” Yet it seems that we are becoming a nation poisoned by excuseitis. We blame parents, teachers, bosses, anyone but ourselves for our problems. We have even started to blame inanimate objects for our mistakes. I was down in Florida on vacation with the kids. We went to the beach and there was a booth selling souvenirs. I picked up this towel and on it was a large tag with a safety warning. I am not kidding, it said “DO NOT USE AS COVER DURING HURRICANE”. No joke! But the real joke is what this tag really meant. It meant that some idiot used one of these towels as cover during a hurricane! Then rather than accepting responsibility for his own actions he sued the towel company for damages and they were forced to put this stupid tag on. One more thing that should shock is that some judge agreed with the plaintiff.

TORONTO MISSES THE MARK: BANNING BULLETS

ATTENTION: THIS IS IN JEST. STAY CALM.
(source)

Now in Toronto there is an action starting to outlaw bullets within city limits. There have been a number of terrible shootings involving illegal handguns and gang violence. Now the authorities cannot stop the steady flow of illegal weapons reaching the gangs, so how can the police stop anyone carrying a bullet? Why would they want to? You still need the illegal firearm before you can fire the bullet. Yet there are people in Toronto who support stopping registered firearm owners from buying perfectly legal ammunition. That’s right. Gang members would have to be registered PAL licence holders to buy ammunition. Do you believe that gang members legally buy ammunition with a PAL licence? Sure if you believe gang members lined up to register their illegal handguns and automatic weapons before committing a crime. But the authorities need to be seen to be doing something so they try bans and registries. This goes back to passing the buck. You can’t blame the gang member so blame the inanimate object and create useless law that changes the lives of honest Canadians. Let’s say the bylaw passed. I can hear the gang leader now. “Well, we were going to have a gang war but I couldn’t buy ammo at the store. So we threw our illegal handguns into Lake Ontario and gave up our evil ways!” It’s laughable. They will just buy bullets from the guys who supplied the illegal guns.

If we continue to blame others or the inanimate objects around us for our woes we will never remove the real problems. Like poverty, family issues, cultural mores, poor education and the lack of teaching on personal accountability. That’s right Canadians lets bring back that thing we used to love so much: personal accountability.

What do you think?