The word from the street
PHILIP
“Did we ever talk about the Stanley Cup?”
TONY
“It was bad, Phil. I always liked the Bruins since they’re one of the original teams, but you gotta support the Canadian teams first, you know. On the other hand, going and turning over cars and what they did in Vancouver isn’t Canadian in my mind. So I don’t know what you can make of all that but that’s my opinion if you ask me.”
PHILIP
“So are people talking about the election much?”
TONY
“Some are sometimes but you know that Jack Layton guy, I’m getting to like him more and more. He really cares about people. But I’ll tell you the one I liked the best was Mr. Pierre Elliott Trudeau. No question about that. Now there was a guy who was concerned about, you know, ordinary folks. A very nice and decent man too.”
PHILIP
“How do you know all this? Did you meet him or something?”
TONY
“Did I meet him? I drove him and and Margaret around in my limo.”
[To be continued.]
TONY
“So I guess we’re going to have that election you’ve been talking about a lot.”
PHILIP
“What can I say … it’s time.”
PHILIP
“You know, there’s going to be a federal election in May?”
TONY
“Phil, no offense, but just wake me when it happens, OK.”
PHILIP
“No problem.”
TONY
“At least you know when it’s cold, there’s going to be hockey on. I’ll tell you, that’s the best thing I’m thinking about winter right now. Coo-oo-oold.”
PHILIP
Things are getting weirder and weirder if you ask me.”
TONY
“Did I ask you?”
PHILIP
“Sorry, but our Prime Minister getting a unprecedented public rebuke from the Chinese Premier, now that’s something. It’s another nail, as they say.”
TONY
“I’m getting that you don’t like this guy Harper.”
PHILIP
“Personally, I don’t know if I like him. I’ve never met him. But politically? He’s dangerous, if you ask me.
TONY
“How about we talk about something else?
PHILIP
“OK. What?”
PHILIP
“Can you believe what Al Gore said on the front page of the Toronto Star yesterday? You know, Al Gore, the guy who was VP under Bill Clinton for eight years. He actually said that the Alberta tar sands are a threat to human existence. I’m telling you, even the the word ‘Armageddon’ was in the article, although I don’t actually know if Gore said that specific word. It’s pretty amazing, eh?”
TONY
“Sorry Phil, what’s your point, if you don’t mind me asking that?”
PHILIP
“My point is that this is the same Al Gore who was the number two guy in the most powerful country on Earth for eight years straight and who is the winner — if you ask me — of the 2000 US Presidential elections and he’s a Nobel Peace Prize winner and he doubtlessly has warm ties to the current US administration. Anyway, I think he’s signalling that the US government will be playing hard-ball about the environmental consequences of the oil sands, and that’s going to jeopardize billions of dollars and jobs in Alberta. You gotta realize that the folks who own the oil sands are Harper’s biggest supporters. OK, so I don’t know exactly how this is going to play out but I think that this means Harper is toast. Finis.”
TONY
“So … OK, you’re telling me that Gore just sort of slapped Harper upside the head in public by telling Harper’s big oil buddies in Alberta that their investments might end up losing them some money.”
PHILIP
“I don’t think I could say it better than that, actually.”
TONY
“OK, like kids sometimes say: “‘Is this is a good thing?'”
PHILIP
“I know I tell you this stuff all the time, even if it doesn’t get into the blog. It’s simple,man. I don’t think that Stephen Harper is good for Canada. I actually think he’s dangerous, maybe not him specifically but some of the people around him. And that’s not a risk I want to take. I’ve got four kids and a mortgage … sorry, Tony, you heard all this stuff before. And now, he can’t even provide diplomatic cover for his oil buddies.
“Look, there’s a lot of people at the top of the Harper government who openly supported the Bush Administration, including even Harper himself for god’s sake. My basic point is that I’m telling you, if you give the Harper guys a majority in Parliament, all I can say is “watch out”, because it’s going to be a disaster. Environment, economy, you name it. Sure, I know that Ignatieff supported the Iraq War in the beginning. At least Ignatieff had the huevos to own up to his mistake in public. And he didn’t support Bush’s other crazy policies the way Harper has. Everybody, including even smart guys like Ignatieff, they learn something when it’s the first time a situation has ever come up, like what we now know was corrupt and stupid decision process to go to war in Iraq in 2003. Quite a few Canadians supported the Iraq War in the beginning — lots of people got sucked in by the fabrications. Even Hillary Clinton and Colin Powell got hornswoggled on this one, you know.
Anyway, at least Ignatieff took some time to think about how the actual Iraq War actually played out over actual time after it started, and he learned what the whole world also learned about the actual Bush Administration decision processes and in regard to the Iraq War.”
Anyway, you know what I can’t figure out? Somehow, I think people think that having the Liberals in Ottawa for the next few years won’t make any difference. Now maybe I’m missing something. Since Ignatieff and the Obama are friendly and respect each other quite a lot — apparently Obama has read all of Michael Ignatieff’s book — then negotiations about things like the oil sands and will be better for Canada if Ignatieff’s the Prime Minister. After all, the top folks make make the final decisions, no?
TONY
“And your point is …?”
PHILIP
“The point is, it’s weird. Ignatieff’s Liberals would do a better job protecting Alberta’s interests than Harper can possibly do. If that’s true, then Albertans should be voting en masse for Ignatieff. It’s weirdly simple, in a way.”
TONY
“So you’re zaying that this Mr. Ignatieff should be our next Prime Minister?”
PHILIP
“Duh.”
TONY
“You’re looking something happy. Did you get lucky or something?”
PHILIP
“Very funny. Wait until my wife reads this.”
TONY
“OK. So now I get to ask you for once: ‘What’s up with you with that big smile?'”
PHILIP
“Ignatieff made a big decision. He’s doing what he’s gotta do.”
TONY
“You mean the Prime Minister?”
PHILIP
“Well, he’s not the Prime Minister, not yet, anyways. But he’s got Peter Donolo on his team now. You know what’s cool? Peter’s a Montrealer, just like me. And he just turned 50, just like me.”
TONY
“So, do you know the guy? ”
PHILIP
“No. We went to different schools. Anyway, things are looking up for the Grits and that makes me happy. That’s all.”
TONY
“OK. Good for you. Are you going calm down now?”
PHILIP
“OK. But just give me some slack, OK. ”
TONY
“OK. But can you buy me a coffee?”
PHILIP
“OK.”
TONY
“You know how much I have to pay for all these drugs I’m supposed to be taking?”
PHILIP
“No idea.”
TONY
“Just guess.”
PHILIP
“OK. $200 bucks. A month. Am I close?”
TONY
“$268.13.”
PHILIP
“Wow.”
TONY
“You got that right. Thank God for OHIP, like I always say, if you know what I mean.”
Hi All,
I found him. Tony is in the hospital (again). He checked himself into St. Joseph’s Hospital yesterday after trying, unsuccessfully, to check himself in the day before through the emergency ward, and getting himself sent “home” at the end of the day — a bit ironic if you ask me.
He’s on the 4th floor, Room #4M16. If you’d like to visit him, he’d be delighted. I will try to see him over the weekend. Any ready-to-eat food you can bring him (only stuff that is easily chewable) will be very much appreciated, as his appetite is well beyond what hospital meal portions can fulfill.
Before you visit, check the hospital visiting times and associated regulations at stjoe.on.ca/patients/visitor/index.php.
Philip
TONY
“Coffee smells pretty good first thing in the morning, if you ask me.”
PHILIP
“Where’s it from?”
TONY
“This lady came by, she was from the States and she told me to ‘have a good Independence Day’. So, just to bug her, since she’s a Yank, I say: ‘Oh, isn’t that an American version of our Canada Day? Well, we both laughed and then she got me this coffee.”
PHILIP
Are you voting?
TONY
“No but I’d vote for that Dion guy from the Liberals but I can’t vote since I don’t have an address.”
PHILIP
“Harper’s gotta go.”
TONY
“You know, he thinks homeless people should just get off their ass and get a job. He doesn’t understand how it is on the street. He should be in our shoes for a year or two, if you know what I mean.”
Homeless Man Speaks 