I'm trying to catch up on my feeds tonight... which is an impossible task when I'm not at work. Right now there are 651 unread feeds in my reader, I will actually attempt to get to them... someday. Anyhow, I came upon one news article about Canada's finance Minister saying that Canada won't slip into a recession. And the article sounded like the guy was credible and knew his job. For the most part I think Canada's economy will do well, we have lots of Oil and Natural Gas here in canada, and lumber prices are still (too) high despite the housing crisis down in the states. Sure manufacturing isn't going too well, but overall I'm still making money and survived the most war-torn year in the oil patch with excellent paychecks.
But this isn't about me, it's about this finance minister guy, Jim Flaherty and the fact that he's part of our conservative government up here and the fact that we actually trust what he says. We've elected this government, and 2 and a half years into their term the liberal media with their (obvious) biases still writes about the government we elected as if they actually are competent at their jobs. The oddest thing about this is that their track record backs it up.
This strikes me so odd because it seems like whenever I read anything reported on what the officials from the Bush administration are saying, it always seems like there's an unmistakeable tone that either their spouting flat-out lies, or being completely ignorant about the topic that they're supposed to be governing their country on. It's no wonder why it seems like the most credible news sources available on TV for American news these days are on Comedy Central.
There was a time when Canadian political comedy was phenomenal, when I was a kid The Royal Canadian Air Farce was must-see TV, every politician was a character to be mocked and none were safe. American comedians couldn't match it. Now RCAF is a pale shadow of it's former self and doesn't seem to deliver the goods. Canadian politics just isn't that funny anymore.
But really, is my opinion on American politics the prevailing one? Does everyone see this administration as a bunch of yokels ham-handedly trying to pull the wool over their countrymen's eyes?
Personally I see what Finance Minister Flaherty is saying to be true because I can look south of the border and see what shape the economy is in there. It's bad, very bad, and I know that Canada's economy is tied very closely to the states, they suffer and we will too. But while The states is in the midst of a crisis we're seeing a slowing... and it appears that our bread is not being buttered solely by the states after all. We should be in bad shape, but we're not and that tells me that the people we elected aren't utterly incompetent.
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If I move closer to my new job I'll also be 55 miles closer to Canada. I keep telling Mr. Val that's where we'll eventually end up. I think, though, that my biggest problem with Canada is that I wish it was in Mexico. Damn winter.