Tossing Pebbles in the Stream

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Only in Canada, I Say, Eh!

This is a funny little clip of Rick Mercer and Bob Rae from his comedy show, The Mercer Report.

One of my long standing interests has been figuring out the difference between Canada and the US. This clip is an example. I don't think you would find a major politician in the US going for a skinny dip and having it appear on TV, while running for office that might see them as the next head of the government. Canada doesn't take itself or it politician's too seriously. We are playful with the likes of Rick Mercer and other comedians poking fun at ourselves and our politicians, many of whom enjoy it.

For my American friends, Bob Rae is the former premier of Ontario, when he was the leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party. Last Fall, he was reentering politics by running for the leadership of the Federal Liberal Party. This clip was made during the contest.

While this chip, which is the end of a larger piece it cute, It is not as interesting as the whole video. It certainly demonstrates that Bob Rae does not take himself all that seriously and does not mind letting his real personality show. Unfortunately, the whole piece which was on TV, I could not download onto my blog. It reveals a lot about Canada, Canadian values and politics. To view the whole video from the CBC Archives go to http://www.cbc.ca/mercerreport/video_player.html?bobrae

The video is well worth viewing. Bob Rae and Rick Mercer flew into a lake in Killarney Park near here just south of Sudbury. You will see one of our lovely northern lakes in the Fall of the year.

They discuss the Beaver aircraft, which is a Canadian Bush plane which made the opening up of the North possible. Part of Canada's interesting history is that of the courageous and foolhardy bush pilots who first flew into the North without the present day maps and navigational aids.

Rae and Mercer go fishing, a passion in this part of Canada, summer and winter. They discuss Canada and politics while fishing. I particularly like Bob Rae short rant against the conservative political philosophy of the present government and its faint similarity to the present US government. He ends by declaring, it is governments responsibility" to take care of people." Canada social safety net, particularly our health care system is the result of decades of development of this idea. While our national health insurance is our most beloved program we love to complain about it, hence the reference to waiting lists.

While Bob Rae did not win the leadership race, he has decided to run for a seat in parliament in the next election for the Liberal Party. Reference is made to Michael Ignatief who was supposed to win the election. He was teaching at Harvard University and supported the war in Iraq. That is what lies behins the reference to his license that would be for "catch, torture and release". Fortunately, he did not become the leader of the Liberal Party. Surprisingly, Stephane Dion did. he is a strong avocate of protecting the environment.

I like the suggestion that the idea for the skinny dipping was Bob Rae's idea. The water in October would be very cold. The both deserve high praise for jumping in. I doubt if they would be convinced to do a retake!

1 Comments:

At 4:19 p.m., Anvilcloud said...: I was very sorry that Rae didn't win the leadership. IMO, he would make a great PM and would have been much more win-able than either of his main opponents.

Tossing Pebbles in the Stream

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

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