It was a beautiful thing to behold.
On Tuesday, in the second extra inning of the American League Wildcard game, the score tied 2-2 with one out, Edwin Encarnacion stepped up to home plate. Devon Travis was 90-feet away.
A little base hit would advance Travis and send the Toronto Blue Jays to the American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers. So would a sacrifice fly or a well-placed bunt. But Encarnacion had a more dramatic ending in store. He got a pitch from Orioles ace Ubaldo Jimenez and made no mistake sending the ball sailing over the fence in left field.
In the stands of the Rogers Centre, 50,000 Blue Jays fans went wild. In bars and living rooms from Victoria B.C. to St. John’s Newfoundland, we heaved a sigh of relief.
Earlier in the day, in businesses all across Yorkton, all across Saskatchewan, all across the country, the Jays’ blue and white was on display. Throughout a roller coaster season fans came out to support Canada’s team, not just in Toronto, but in ball parks across America. When the team was in Seattle, Safeco Field looked like it was hosting Blue Jays home games.
Never are we more Canadian than when we are cheering on the Jays, or the Raptors (remember “We the North”) or various Teams Canada in international competition. When we are united by a contender, standing shoulder to shoulder, the labels come sloughing off. We are not Conservatives and Liberals and NDPers; we are not Albertans, Ontarians and Quebecers. We are Canadians.
At other times, it really does not seem like that. Our political discourse has devolved into ever more intransigent camps of “us” and “them.” It is not good enough anymore to have differences of opinion, to argue our position based on fact and logic. Now, if the other guy disagrees, he is lying.
Unfortunately, all too often it is true. Or, more likely, the person is operating from faulty premises or misleading data exacerbated by an echo chamber of confirmation bias, a feedback loop that filters out dissenting views, or mercilessly trashes them. Politicians ever more frequently rely on unscientific polls and “communications” experts instead of actual experts.
Fortunately, we are Canadian. The problem is significantly more pronounced south of the border. It is getting increasingly harder to say Americans are Americans. The polarization is so advanced in the United States, even facts are impervious to ideological convictions.
While we may not be as far gone as our American cousins, we must beware; we are getting there. The recent standoff between Brad Wall and Justin Trudeau. The premier has been accused of political posturing and disingenuous outrage, the prime minister has been accused of intentional disrespect. Those headlines obscure an underlying reality best expressed by the federal environment minister Catherine McKenna, who praised Saskatchewan’s progress on the climate change file even while disputing Wall’s financial impact claims.
Also obscured is the fact most of us want to do more. Even here in Yorkton, most of us dutifully put out our blue bags on the day the recycling bus is scheduled. Most of us try to close windows, turn out lights, car pool, walk, whatever we can to lighten our carbon footprint.
The Saskatchewan government is no exception, as McKenna pointed out citing our carbon capture program, efficiency improvements and shift to renewables. We may disagree on the details, but we all agree something must be done.
Our federal government, most of the provinces, all of Europe, many U.S. states, Japan, New Zealand, even Brazil and China, have decided some kind of carbon tax or emissions trading system is required. Saskatchewan, meanwhile, is turning up the rhetoric, which is unnecessary.
We are Canadians. Our common ground is greater than our differences.
Go Blue Jays!
