Hard to believe but this is the 20th Canadian Thanskgiving for me and Mrs. Spew. We still don't really know how to celebrate it--do we cook the big meal on Sunday or Monday? I forget which day is the ones Canadians tend to use as their big family gathering. Well, for us, this is mostly moot since we tend not to go anywhere and tend not to have anyone over as we have no family in Canada. Heaps of friends, but no family, so it is not quite the same as the annual pilgrimage (pun intended) to my family every late November (we see my wife's family over winterfest when we are not constrained by a pandemic). But the giving of thanks is a common thing, so what are my maple-flavored, beaver-tailed thanks for this year?
I am thankful for being part of GenX-AZ-Dolly--getting the cocktail of Astrazeneca and Moderna last spring/summer. The latest news suggests Canada, either by necessity, by strategy, or by luck, got the distribution of the vaccine right. That having a long interval between first and second may produce better results than shorter intervals and that mixing works about as well as two doses of Pfizer or Moderna. Sure, I complained a lot about the uncertainty and the mess that was the rollout, but being fully vaccinated has made things much better, if not normal. For that, I give thanks to Canada for getting as many contracts with as many vax producers as possible--portfolio strategies work!
I am not thankful that Canadian federalism seems to be an obstacle to doing stuff smartly during a pandemic. While federalism helped some states protect themselves a bit from Trump's decisions, in Canada, the Trumpists are mostly at the provincial level--Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, perhaps Manitoba and Saskatchewan. These days, federalism is an obstacle to a national vaccine certificate/passport as the provinces own the vaccine data and don't share too easily. Grrr.
I am thankful that the worst media crap in the US and resulting division of the country into reality-based and conspiracy-based communities does not have quite the same volume here. Yes, Rand Paul, Naomi Wolf, and others have been the vectors for anti-vax bullshit, but it is muted. Fox and its ilk don't have as much purchase here, so Canadians are highly vaxxed--86.6% of Canadians over 12 have received one dose and 81% of that group are fully vaccinated. The anti-vaxxers got disproportionate media coverage during the election, but they are few. They did cause the Conservatives to tie themselves into knots over how to promote vaccination without mandates, which probably hurt them quite a bit.
I am thankful that the election was short, and, yes, that the Liberals won a minority. Minority government is annoying--the government of the day has a ready excuse not to get stuff done and does have to do some compromising to get stff done. The Liberals haven't governed spectacularly, so I am glad they were not rewarded for failing to deliver on several key files, including the one I obsess about--defence. As of right now, we still have a Minister of National Defence who does not know how to do the job, so when things happen, the Prime Minister blames the generals rather than himself or his agent. On the bright side, minority government means that the government of the day does not control the agendas of the parliamentary committees, so there is a bit more room for oversight. Woot, eh?
I am grateful I got to go to the semi-final of the Canadian Cup--the tourney for the three professional ultimate teams in Canada who could not participate in the larger ultimate league due to covid. Speaking of which, I am thankful for the great people at the physio place that I visit entirely too often these days. I am hoping my next ultimate season is not cut short by an injury.
It remains a brutal year--far too much death and disease, far too much hate sponsored/spread by nihilists (thanks, Tucker!), and all that. But we are edging back to normalcy. I hope when we get to our new normal that I remember to give thanks on a regular basis for all the folks who got us through this madness--the doctors, nurses, scientists, cooks and delivery people, clerks, and all the rest.
Oh, I am also thankful that this tenure review letter is not due until next month so it is not overdue yet. But back to it.
Happy Thanksgiving, Canada and Canadians!
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