#TBT Road Trip through Eastern Quebec, Fall 1987

These chilly and wet autumn days are reminding me of a solo road trip I made from NYC through New England and in to Quebec in the fall of 1987. I made it all the way out to La Belle Province’s far eastern regions, to the Gaspé Peninsula, the lobster tail-shaped region that juts out in to the Atlantic Ocean, where it was chilly and the scenery spectacular, from Parc Forillon, a little-known jewel of Canada’s network of national parks that’s along the ocean, to the majestic Percé Roche (aka le rocher percé or ‘pierced rock’), which I’ve written about here on this blog. I had a timer on my camera and was able to take these pre-social media selfies. 

1993, another Time Canada’s Conservatives Were Soundly Swept from Power

With the welcome change of power occurring tonight in Canada, I’m remembering Fall 1993, when my wife and I were in Canada on a late autumn road trip. A week in late October found us in a wee beauty spot called Margaree Harbour, on Cape Breton island, in the province of Nova Scotia. With its scenic Cabot Trail, I like to call Cape Breton the Big Sur of Canada. 31 Cabot Trail iI

That year, October 25 happened to be the date of a Canadian federal election, and a local friend we’d made, Geoffrey May, invited us over to have dinner and watch the returns with him and his wife, Rebecca Lynne, and a friend of theirs. It turned out to be an amazing night, as in this election Progressive Conservative party members in the federal parliament were swept out of power in one of the most lopsided defeats ever in the history of modern elections. Prime Minister Kim Campbell lost her office, and Liberal Party leader Jean Chretien became PM. It was a celebratory evening—for comparison’s sake, imagine all Republican officeholders in the U.S. losing on the same day!

We were renting a small vacation house that week from Geoffrey’s sister, Elizabeth May, then the head of Sierra Club in Canada. Ms May, of course, has since become a prominent Canadian politician, leader of Canada’s Green Party, first Green Party member of the Canadian Parliament. I’ve written more about that special vacation, including about Geoffrey and Elizabeth’s fascinating parents (the Mays were all friendly with Farley Mowat), and that year’s World Series, when the Bluejays last won it all, all assembled at the post, Why I Write this Blog.

Rallying Against Stephen Harper with Canadians in Brooklyn

I was glad I could offer my personal support to Canadian expatriots in the NY area who rallied last night to mobilize voters back home to help vote the Stephen Harper government out of power in the federal election next Monday, October 19. Among the musical guests that played were Slow Down, Molasses, a rockin’ band from Sasketchewan. I chatted with Levi, one of the 5-piece band’s guitarists, and his friend, Amanda. Gillian Frank—an expat who’s filed suit against the current government’s restrictions on the voting rights of Canadians living abroad, contrary to provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms—was also in the house and gave a rousing talk. Frank’s website is LetCanadiansVote.com.

I was also pleased to see that a number of journalists—both independent correspondents and representatives of traditional media, like the Guardian, which ran this video report today—came out to cover the event. Among the latter group was CBC’s correspondent in New York, Steven D’Souza, who I saw holding a mic emblazoned with the CBC logo on it while he conducted an interview with a woman who spoke about how Canada’s reputation abroad, always stellar when she travels, has suffered around the world. As he asked her questions, I recognized his voice from listening to CBC radio. He interviewed me, too, asking why an American had come to this event. I explained about my lifelong affinity for Canada, and my bi-national bent, in which I’ve long been interested in politics, culture, and media in Canada and the US. I added that the longer Harper’s been in power, the more I’ve been reminded of the George W. Bush presidency, a disastrous siege from which the US is still recovering. I’ll add here what I wish I’d also said: the CBC is an essential national service and I hope with great fervency that the next Canadian government will fully restore funding and support for the future of the national broadcaster. No more #CBCCuts, please.

The venue in Brooklyn was intriguing, a former car wash called Williamsburg Hand & Detail that’s recently been converted to a music venue. I had a chat with “Donovan,” one of the proprietors of the new venue. There was indoor space, where the bands played, and outdoor space, where spontaneous art-making was encouraged, including a big photograph of Stephen Harper on which people were drawing new facial features and pungent messages. Wearing a PEI ball-cap obtained during a vacation to Canada’s smallest province some years ago, and a CBC Radio 3 t-shirt under my jacket, I met lots of interesting people, with whom I discussed politics, music, baseball, and books. Here are more pictures from the event.

Campaigning Ugly, Stephen Harper’s Tag-teaming with the Ford Brothers

Stephen Harper’s renewed association with the Ford brothers—with them being invited and introduced at Conservative campaign events this week—could not have come at a less opportune time for the mudslinging incumbent. I’m sure the Harper campaign thought having the two would arouse base Conservative voters, and in these late hours of the race, go largely unremarked-upon in other quarters, but the publication of a salacious memoir by Rob Ford’s former chief of staff Mark Towhey is sending them off message, especially after they’ve spent weeks promoting their supposedly squeaky clean family values. Maclean’s has an excerpt from the new book.

The Harper Campaign, Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel