The Winter Games have come and gone, leaving us with warm and pleasant memories. I was impressed by our hosts, musicians and volunteers, as well as our guests. Everyone, it seems, had a jolly good time, and rightly so - it was a darn good party and we northerners know how to have fun in the snow. However, as the smoke from the fireworks and the litter from "complimentary parking tickets" begins to clear, there are rumblings from certain quarters of the city about the absence of Premier Clark and PM Harper from the festivities. How incredibly droll.
We go on ad nauseum about how politicians are always mugging for the camera, even if they have nothing to contribute. Letters, columns, reports, posts and tweets number in the millions about how everything in politics is becoming plastic, perception, and spin. And yet as soon as the tables are turned, and we want the heads of the governments to come and give us their two cents in person - as Skype and written messages just won't do - we're indignant.
To be clear, I'm not denying it's nice when the big whigs show up to give us their beaming smiles and congratulations. I've worked in government, and even people who see their ministers every day truly appreciate it when he or she stops by just to say "good job".
But try as I might I just can't understand the logic in this vein of thought: we're throwing a party that is non-political in celebration of another non-political activity, organized sports, so those political types had better show up. I suppose we could jumble together some nonsense about these young men and women being the future leaders of Canada and as such, those currently in leadership should show up and give them a pep talk about how much better sportsmanship, discipline and morality are vs. sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.
Yes, that all sounds very original. And I'm sure the coaches, parents, teachers, teammates, and officials both here and at home just aren't getting through to them on their own accord about how to live a happy life. We better spend the money to get the first ministers here.
And that is ultimately my biggest complaint about this childish demand on our heads of government. If you'd personally like to fork out the money for the costs of travel, security, and accommodation of first ministers and their entourages, let alone the salaries they will still be paid all the while they're glad handing, photo-opping, and distracting from the events, be my guest.
So let's not quibble over nonexistent slights, but rather turn to the future. A whole slew of soon-to-be-university-aged kids just came through our town, and hopefully we impressed upon them and their parents that this isn't Canada's most dangerous city, but a great place to go to school and practice their sport. Forget asking others for leadership and show some initiative yourself by following up with your new found friends digitally and dropping hints they should come back here someday.
As far as I understood it, this event was about putting Prince George on the map in a positive way, and I believe the hard work completed by people in our community accomplished just that. The truth is, we do not need, and have never needed, the sanction of Victoria or Ottawa in order to become a more attractive destination for athletes, tourists, or students. We've sown seeds in the minds of many aspiring and fine young people - and hopefully, long before our 150th anniversary, the fruit of our efforts will show.
