Post Election Day

It has been 10 days since I returned home to Canada. That sounded good then and it particularly sounds good now.

Engel's numbers over the last week evaporated in Pima County which includes the part of her district in Tucson. The evidence of gerrymandering showed in her winning just over 51% in Pima. With the chunk of the university district stripped out, she lost thousand of thousands of votes that should and were in this district when Gabby Gifford held the seat.

What did blunt the blow was that we held Ciscomani, her opponent, to only 55% in Pinal County - where we had spent four days in Eloy and Casa Grande. Every other rural county, he won by over 65%. The power of grassroots work.

And we all know what happened at the federal level.

I have to say, I felt and still feel badly about what American voters decided. They knew their choices. Because I live here in Canada, I am looking at the results from a more global and Canadian perspective. What will a Trump administration do to Canada's economy, the global climate, and the fate of immigrants and refugees all over the world.

It has been six years now since I left the USA. It seemed like a crazy idea or at least an overreaction to the election of Donald Trump back then. It feels sadly prescient now. I have little hope that things will right themselves in four years. The damage done and that will be done will take at least a decade to undo.

Yesterday, I went kayaking with my friend, Karen. Sitting on the water as calm as glass, I felt myself breathe. The mountains surrounding Brentwood Bay stood green and quiet even with the passing Mill Bay ferry.

We have lots of work to do here in BC with our recent election giving the New Democratic Party just a one vote majority against a Conservative government with some pretty wacky candidates. At the federal level, Trudeau is deeply underwater. The Conservatives would win with a huge majority. Maybe I need to say home for a while.Read more