The federal election is, finally, upon us and by this time next week we will know who the Prime Minister will be. My thought all along has been that if Stephen Harper had stepped down earlier this year, the Conservatives would win again in a landslide, but there seems to be motivation from the Canadian public to remove Harper from office at all costs. The polls are starting to suggest, as unlikely as you would think, Justin Trudeau and the Liberals are starting to pull ahead. No matter what you see for polls, remember that Quebec and Ontario are the two provinces with the most population and what they decide will, ultimately, determine who we are stuck with. While the NDP were strong in Quebec during the last election, my feeling is that the Liberals will get significant support because Trudeau is from there and has a French name. I think Trudeau also has some decent support in Ontario even though there doesn’t appear to be any at all west of Ontario. I could see Trudeau having a minority government and then it imploding in about a year and a half and then a revamped Conservative Party, with a new leader, winning a majority the next time around.
All this silly talk of the Saskatchewan Roughriders having a mathematical chance to make the playoffs has finally been put to bed after they got drubbed by Hamilton on the weekend. Let’s see if the Riders are serious about evaluating young talent the rest of the way. For what it’s worth, I got my notice in the mail last week about season tickets going up by about $40 next season. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t care and I’d renew; but then I thought to myself “What if the Saskatchewan Roughriders were a restaurant and had served me a number of bad meals in a row?” Would I go back? How many chances would I give a restaurant before I decide to eat somewhere else? Does it maybe make sense to take that $750 and use it on the Winnipeg Jets instead? To this point, I don’t feel the Riders are serious about competing next year (in restaurant terms - not likely to give me good service or a high quality meal) and what they decide to do with the Coach and General Manager positions will play a big part in what I decide as well.
Los Angeles Dodger Chase Utley was suspended for two games by Major League Baseball for an illegal slide into second base that resulted in a broken leg for Ruben Tejada, the second baseman who was trying to turn a double play when Utley slid into him. While I agree the slide is ridiculous and he should be suspended, I also think hundreds of other players should have been suspended this season for doing the exact same thing. You see it, at least, once a game. A ground ball is hit in the infield, the second baseman taps the bag and throws to first to try and get a double play. Meanwhile, the runner going to second who is going to be out by a country mile, slides nowhere near the base and tries to disrupt the throw. It happens every single day in every single game.
During Sunday’s Blue Jay telecast, color commentator Harold Reynolds remarked that not a lot of Canadian people grew up playing baseball and, therefore, aren’t expected to make catches in the seats when players hit foul balls. The outrage that ensued on Twitter was immense. Too bad Reynolds doesn’t have an account. There were some very creative memes and retorts, my favorites were Reynolds’ co-workers at Fox Sports 1 doing a skit where Jay Onrait threw a ball to Dan O’Toole and he didn’t even flinch to try and catch it. Of course, Onrait and O’Toole are both Canadian.
Before I wrap up the article, I think it’s important to make mention of the Yorkton Fire Department and the great work they did in the middle of the night one morning last week as a blaze destroyed the old curling rink downtown. It’s an area of the city where a blaze can, easily, get out of control and other businesses and homes could be put at risk. However, that was never a major concern because citizens can rest easy knowing we have professionals who can do the job properly. So, the next time you hear a public official ask aloud just what it is that the Yorkton Fire Department has ever saved, you can think back to this particular fire and recognize the numerous homes and people who live inside them as being things that were saved.
