Merry Christmas from Victoria

On December 16th, 2007, when most of northern North America was being inundated by huge amounts of snow, this is what it was like here in Victoria. Every year I take a photo as close to Christmas as I can and use it as my e-mail Christmas card to show family and friends in the East and in Europe and South Africa why I now live here. This photo of downtown Victoria was taken from Mt. Tolmie, one of two in-town "mountains".

Don't be fooled by my use of "Christmas". It's just a more common way of saying Winter Solstice. And it's true, we've turned the corner - the days are getting longer (but weather-wise, who knows what still awaits us during the next 10 weeks or so).

If you say ...

If you say Stéphane Dion would not be a good Canadian prime minister, you don't know anything about him, and you haven't made an effort to learn anything about him.

Should you be allowed to vote?

If you say Stephen Harper will some day be a respected Canadian prime minister, you don't know anything about him, and you haven't made an effort to learn anything about him.

Should you be allowed to vote?

If you say the NDP's policy on Afghanistan is realistic and should be adopted by Canada, you don't know how the world works or how international diplomacy works, and you haven't made an effort to learn anything these things.

Should you be allowed to vote?

People who don't take the time to study what the issues really are and accept political spin at face value should not be allowed to vote, they demean democracy! Perhaps it's time to restrict the vote to knowledgeable people and introduce a political maturity test prior to allowing people into the voting booth.