Freehold, Canadian election

[nenya_kanadka]

So we went to see Freehold tonight, the movie about the New Jersey lesbian couple fighting for partner benefits. Which, a) was of course very sad because (as you know going into it) Laurel dies in the end, and the movie does a pretty good job of getting us invested in the relationship before the discovery that, shit, cancer, but on the other hand b) omg, ELLEN PAGE IS THE MOST ADORABLE. The most. <3 Also c), the last splash screen says something like "On June 26, 2015, the US supreme court ruled that all Americans have equal rights to marriage" and yup, it's months later and I still can't quite believe that's an actual thing that happened and the movie didn't skew off into science fiction for the last 30 seconds. Man.

In other news, I guess I better find out more about Justin Trudeau than "He has great hair"? I wish the man well, and hope he's going to be good in the job. I did want the NDP to win, even though I have no great feelings about Mulcair. That said, our local NDP MP was indeed returned to office, and also fuck yeah, no more Harper!

So, on balance, \o/?

Comments

[biting_moopie]

I am happy that Harper is out because he is trash. Like you, I'm cautious about Trudeau because of all the 'at least he's not Harper' commentary. People might have very high hopes of him and then be disappointed when he doesn't live up to them. Of course, I'm not Canadian and my perspective will likely be skewed.

I first heard about Jack Layton when he died and regret that being my introduction to him. He was an amazing human being and there's no doubt that if he were alive, he would be PM.

[nenya_kanadka]

Pretty much, yup. I'm in the lucky (?) position of having wanted the further-left-than-his party to win, which was actually pretty possible as of a couple weeks before the election. So my instinct towards "anybody but Harper" is tempered a little in that I already expect Trudeau to be less awesome than I want. Which wasn't an...emotional buffer I had with Obama, even though intellectually I was prepared for it. If that makes any sense.

I remember being vaguely aware of Layton for years, but only started paying attention during that last campaign before he died. And then kicked myself a lot. Best prime minister we never had, as they say.

[biting_moopie]

It makes complete sense. I felt the same way about Obama. I knew he wasn't perfect, that he was just one person and that he had a really tough job ahead of him. But it still hurt.

Jack Layton's letter to Canadians remains one the of most uplifting yet heartbreaking pieces I've ever read.