“And we think Obama’s oratory skills are good?  Sir John A. had depth and great vision.”

As I mentioned in my last blog my goal is to write about positive stories for the remainder of the year.  Positive stories about mortgages may be a bit of a stretch or at the very least a search for silver linings.  There’s some data that just came out which suggests there may be some silver linings for our industry, and I’ll attempt to piece some of the data together for a future blog; for now the search continues.

I came across a really good magazine that I never knew existed.  The magazine is called “Canada’s History”, formerly “The Beaver”; nope, never heard of the Beaver either.  The only Beaver I’m aware of had a brother named Wally, a father and mother named Ward and June. I picked up the magazine while in the Maple Leaf Lounge at the airport.  I always have to pick up reading materials prior to take off because apparently my Kindle can bring a plane down during takeoff and landings; seems perfectly plausible to me.  So, I pick up this magazine which had a picture of Sir John A. MacDonald on the cover.  I rack my brain to come up with things I know about Sir John Eh, get it? Never mind.  The only thing I could come up with was that he was Canada’s first Prime Minister, and Conservative. Beyond that I really didn’t know much about our first Prime Minister.  That’s a little embarrassing, and I was determined to change that.

What a fascinating man, with such a rich story.  Oh sure, he liked to drink a little but what politician doesn’t?  Even today’s politicians that are stone cold sober usually sound like they’re inebriated.  There was that issue with Pacific Railway where Sir John was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  The lesson there?  Political corruption has a long and distinguished history in this country.  Character flaws aside, there was a lot substance to Sir John.  The magazine story provides some detail on how concerned our first Prime Minister was with the possibility that the U.S. would attempt to swallow us up.  He was determined not to let this happen and fought with all his will and intellect to keep Canada out America’s clutches.  He was the first national leader in the world, who suggested that woman should have the right to vote.  Oh how the opposition Liberals howled in protest over that.  Truth be told, not many in his own party supported him on this initiative but that didn’t stop him from fighting the good fight.  Here’s an expert of a speech he gave in the house in 1885, “I had hoped that Canada would have the honour of first placing woman in the position she is certain, eventually after centuries of oppression, to obtain of completely establishing her equality as a human being and as a member of society with men”.  And we think Obama’s oratory skills are good?  Sir John A. had depth and great vision.

I learned a lot reading this story, and I would encourage you to pick up the magazine if for no other reason to remind yourself that this country’s history may be short but it possess great substance.  And if your kid is spending too much time playing video games or making friends on Facebook, tell them to read this magazine and share with you what they’ve learned.
Knowledge is a great gift, and this country is a gift to us all.

Until next time,

Cheers.