Well I finally did it

Several weeks ago Canada had a Federal election.  This is an election that I believe will transform our country.  And it has transformed me.

I grew up in a very political family.  Discussions of politics at family gatherings were not only a common occurrence, but frequently dominated the family dynamic.  As a young adult trying to find my footing in the world, I was encouraged to enter this domain - or at least to enter a field of study where I would be doing some good in the world like Law or Education.  I chose instead the path of the artist and for a time I rejected politics.  It was distasteful to me.

This past Federal election has changed that for me.  Although I still sometimes find the whole thing distasteful, I know that I can no longer turn a blind eye to what's going on in our country.  Even the fact that it is distasteful calls for my attention.  The landscape of political discourse is abysmal.  People don't talk anymore.  We have become so polarized that we reject ideas out of hand based on where they are coming from, or who they are coming from.  Mud-slinging and "spin" have become the norm.  No matter what your political stripe, this lack of dialogue is disturbing.  How can we build a country we can all share and live in if we can't even talk to each other?

So I decided to try and do something about it.  I started a group on Facebook called "Pro-Canada".  My intention for this group is to use it as a non-partisan forum to discuss issues, ideas and share news.  I want to encourage respectful and open-minded dialogue from people of all political beliefs.  I know that personally I often let politics slide onto the backburner because I'm too busy dealing with the stuff overflowing on the other burners!  My hope is that by starting this forum we can help keep each other informed and that it can become a place where we can meet to discuss our shared vision for this country and ways to make that a reality in our busy lives.  Because I don't think we're as far apart as all that.  We're just made to think we are.