"Canada First, Canada Last, Canada Always"

The line was Bob Rae's, but the victory was Stephan Dion's.

I watched the final ballot of the Liberal Leadership Convention with a number of family members. They live in Scarborough, and tend to vote Liberal, or Progressive Conservative in the old days. Some of them still vote Conservative, even without the Progressive part attached.

They were spitting mad when Stephan Dion won. Not so much because of what he represented (though my grandmother's "milquetoast" comment wasn't expecially flattering) but more because he, in their opinion, wouldn't be able to beat Stephen Harper's government. There was despondency because Dion didn't seem "winnable," wasn't likely to win over the legions of Canadians who voted Conservative. "He's from Quebec," someone said, Quebec apparently turning into a four letter word.

I didn't ask if any of my relatives would vote for another party because Dion had won. Maybe I should have. All I know is that there's a good chance that I will vote Liberal in the next federal election.

People who know me well are going to be aghast, jubilant, or scornful at this news. Or maybe they won't. Maybe I'm falling into the same trap that Bob Rae once came into, only in reverse - sacrificing principle for practicality. I don't know - I'm going to have to ponder that for a while in private.

Canadians, if any of you are reading this: remember the kilometres of railway track that were laid, foot by laborious foot, between Halifax and Vancouver. Those tracks meant we were all going from somewhere, to somewhere else, be it Montreal or Calgary (two places, incidentally, that my grandfather spent quite a lot of time). The contention that a man from Quebec cannot speak with, to and for all Canadians is calumny. After all, a man from Alberta currently claims to be speaking for all of us.

Just remember those railroad tracks, and think about what else binds us all together. One Stephen would have you believe that all that Canada should be is a firewall, a stripmall, and a garage. The other has a bigger, better view.