Canadian (?) News

Some days I listen to the news in Canada and wonder if I’ve really tuned the radio to a Canadian station. Maybe I’m actually getting a feed from the U.S. For example, yesterday morning the lead story in Canada was about Obama appearing on Fox news to talk about health care. The 2nd story was about the tensions between the Obama administration and Israel. Finally a Canadian story appeared—the Prime Minister has promised to focus the G8 meeting in Canada on the health of women and children in the third world, yet without any money going to family planning. With that last news item, we know it can’t be a U.S. feed because U.S. news is generally about the U.S. 24/7—all U.S. all the time! So it IS Canadian news but…it’s mostly about the States.

Why’s that? Here we have the Prime Minister of Canada taking his strategy to woo women voters by instituting some policies supporting third world women and children, and then dashing his strategy on the rocks of his conservative ideology. It may not bleed, but it ought to lead, certainly over Obama appearing on Fox news.

And yet, Obama leads. Could it be because the quality of healthcare in the United States matters to Canadians? Only to the extent that it allows Canadians to differentiate themselves and feel a wee bit smug about having a system they consider more humane. Are we captivated by the wars between the right wing Fox channel and the centrist administration ? I think not. Is the Prime Minister’s third world initiative irrelevant? No.

The truth of the matter is simply that Stephen Harper cannot compete with Barack Obama any more than I can compete with Brad Pitt. Harper, even in his more compelling moments, is slightly more colorful than curd cheese. And Canada is so infatuated with Obama that even the biggest sports story yesterday focused on him. Yes, it’s hard to believe in the land of hockey-is-OUR-game, but the big sports story yesterday was Obama’s picks for the Final Four! I nearly gagged on my cereal when I heard it. Most Canadians think March Madness refers either to a series of snow storms, or a bit of unseasonably warm weather. U.S. college basketball as the main sports news in Canada! They even played the sound bite of Obama talking about his picks and being able to watch the games on Air Force One. The sportscaster sounded thoroughly enamored with the Prez.

Clearly, this counts as another “get a life, Canada” moment. Fortunately, by the end of the day, the lead story was Harper’s third world initiative. He’d pulled back from completely ruling out a focus on family planning. Harper, however briefly, had seen the light; sometimes Canada’s attraction to practical solutions and not ideology can carry the day.