Canada is making me cynical

I was over at a neighbor's today for a playdate. She has a 2.5 year old boy, one of the only other young boys on a street full of girls, so she made me a latte (F - she has a Jura!) and we chatted while our kids got to know each other, first shy, and then warming up, and finally running around like only 2 year old boys can.

It turns out, in fun and possibly only because I lived in D.C. way, that she and her husband met each other while working on Parliament Hill in Ottawa (which is Canada's capital, for those of you not up on Canada's geography or politics).  I don't recall exactly what they did, but it sounded important, and, more importantly, we cleared the 'we're of same political parties' background check.

She has a picture of a previous PM, Chretien, on the wall in her house.  He is sitting on the steps of a dilapidated trailer next to a female teenager with a wide, dark, short mohawk and a dark tank top on.  They are both laughing.  According to the story, the girl was a squeeqee kid, one who cleans your windshield at when you stop for your spare change.  At one stoplight, he wondered about these kids, and got out of the car, asked where she lived, and engaged her in conversation. The photo was taken during the ensuing conversation.  I love that she has her idealism up there on her wall.

Now, I know Canada is a much smaller country than the U.S. - some 33.7 million versus 307 million in the U.S.  I know their politics are different, and I'm enjoying getting to know this new side of our world and our Northern neighbor.  There is no way I can imagine most Presidents, let alone most members of Congress or Senators, getting out of the car to engage a squeeqee kid about her life.  They would be more likely to hit the locks and look down at their blackberries.  Not only would their schedules not allow it (and here comes the cynical), but why would they be interested? Very few would. Some, yes. Most? No.

And I find that that is systemic across Canada, not just in politics.  When we were on our house hunting trip, we were downtown on Yonge Street, the main artery in Toronto and the longest street in the world.  Compare it to Times Square in New York in terms of business and traffic.  There was a homeless man who was passed out on the sidewalk. In New York, most people would walk by.  J and I saw two people who were calling 911 and kneeling and talking to the guy.  Since we happened to be walking the wrong way, we ended up seeing the follow up, where the paramedics came and began treating the man, and the callers waited to make sure he was ok before leaving.  People regularly come over to shovel each other's driveways. In the city. Just because.

I know this next part may not square with those of you who know me as a patriotic, national-anthem singing, pledge-of-allegiance saying girl, but I'm a bit ashamed to write that I feel that is a much more humane response than I suspect he'd receive in most cities in the U.S.   I also worked on Capitol Hill, and I realized that it gets old looking at the same tired legislation every year, and the same people posturing about it every year, and very little actually gets done with all of those same meetings, and the same lobbyists.  Then, people are so happy with you they mail you anthrax and shoot you when you go out to listen to them at the grocery store.

Ironic, right?  Here we are, in the area of some of the world's greatest democracies, and the power systems are so entrenched I can't imagine the scope of large scale change happening that is happening across the Middle East right now.  We can't even pass comprehensive legislation, no matter what the topic. In college, I was in a program whose slogan was Margaret Mead's quote "Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."  I think I have lost my belief in the ability of a small group to effect transformative change, at least a group without power, money or access, and would rather focus on my little community, and where I can help.   I'm not sure if that is more or less helpful, but that is what I can do.

I read today that Canada is ranked #3 in assimilating immigrants, and they have programs that lead to a society that seems [gross generalization with Pollyanna, rose-colored glasses] to foster kindness and tolerance.  It is expensive. It seems, at times, to be a bit of a nanny state.  Yet, they never really had an economic downturn of the same degree because they are more conservative financially and they seem to be a reasonably successful country.  How and why are they so successful? More investigation is needed.