How is it that our national game could lead to our national shame?

We are known around the world as polite, civilized and generous people and a few hundred hooligans who tore the guts out of downtown Vancouver won’t change that.

The cows aren’t coming home to the prison farms but get ready for a hen coop in your neighbour’s back yard.( Not to worry—it has to be at least four feet away from your property line.)

At the time of writing, we have nine days to go in the federal election and I don’t know whether to laugh
or cry. What I do know is that working in a local campaign is a test of stamina and an act of courage and I
congratulate those from all parties who did so. It is not for the faint hearted.

I love hockey. It is pure artistry when it’s played well and pure joy when another generation takes to the frozen ponds and laces up. It’s part of who we are up here in the Great White North.

Why, then, are we letting a few thugs, some greedy team owners and some overzealous coaches and parents ruin our game?

I used to get frustrated when my aging mother stopped following the news because she said she found it too depressing. Now, I find myself on a self imposed news diet.I don’t mean just the natural disasters and misery inflicted by foreign dictators. Closer to home, the day to day stupidity of our lives is truly mind numbing and depressing.

I don’t have a Bucket List of things I want to do before I sever my mortal coil. I, do, however, have a
wish list of little things that would make life more pleasant for me and a lot of others.
For example, I wish we could restore the standard “you’re welcome” when someone says “thank
you.” Wherever did “no problem” come from

I don’t know who coined the phrase “never a dull moment” but it certainly describes my life and perhaps I thrive on the unexpected and would die of boredom otherwise. We had some pre Christmas excitement I could have done without, however.

Anyone who hoped our outgoing City Council would show a little class at its final meeting of an unproductive four year term was sadly disappointed. There was no joy in Mudville as eight veteran Council members quietly filed out of the historic Chambers for the last time—four by choice and four at the hands of the voters in last month’s elections.

I knew the night I left the all-candidates meeting at Lundy’s Lane School than none of Pittsburgh’s four candidates for Council was going to wow voters and sweep the field. Like a lot of other Pittsburgh residents that night, I walked out into the dark and rain disappointed and indifferent. It was painfully obvious that none of her would-be successors could fill the shoes of departing veteran councilor Leonore Foster.

Let’s hear it for the 61 women and men who are off and running for the privilege of getting elected to City Council and our local school boards for the next four years.

With only 24 seats up for grabs, the majority won’t make it but it is a tribute to them and our community that they are all willing to serve in times when issues are increasingly complex, money is in short supply, and the public is demanding and cranky.