Canada Goes to the Polls

I’ll admit up front that what I’m about to suggest is far-fetched, but would you play along for a minute? Imagine with me that our federal government discovered it had collected two hundred and sixty million dollars too much in taxes. (That’s not the far-fetched part.)

To remedy the problem, it offered a ten-thousand-dollar cash rebate for each and every Canadian over the age of eighteen. No strings attached. All you needed to do was show up at a nearby location, show your identification, and claim your cash.

Would you?

Now imagine the ten grand was available only to white male Canadians. Would you raise a stink? Would you support others who raised a stink?

It seems highly unlikely any of us would shrug off our right to participate, doesn’t it? Yet, in our last federal election (when voter participation was up from previous years), over eight hundred thousand eligible voters chose not to vote. That’s 31.7 percent. It’s almost as though these folks are willingly handing their ten grand over to someone else.

Maybe my analogy is flawed, but here’s the thing. The right to vote was fought for, long and hard, for many of us. It took decades for women, little by little, to gain ground. Baby steps involved voting in municipal elections and eligibility to serve on school and library boards.

In Great Britain, rats were let loose into suffrage meetings, while rotten eggs and fish were pelted at the women. Horrible stories of imprisonment, of women chaining themselves to fences, going on hunger strikes, and enduring force-feeding are not difficult to find. Yet, a century later, we accept our voting rights as the norm.

On January 28 1916, Manitoba women became the first in Canada to win both the right to vote and to hold provincial office. Saskatchewan and Alberta quickly followed. One reason our prairie provinces took the lead was because the farm movement supported women’s suffrage as the proper course for a democracy. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union’s determination to protect the home and to end violence against women and children strengthened the suffrage cause as well.

But none of it came without heroic effort and great sacrifice. Here in Manitoba, suffragists like Margret Benedictsson, Dr. Amelia Yeomans, Francis Marion Beynon, E. Cora Hind and Nellie McClung devoted their lives to the cause, enduring ridicule and abuse to win rights for their daughters and granddaughters. But first they needed to convince enough men, since only males could vote on the issue!

Two years later, the first women voted in a federal election. It wasn’t until 1948 that Asian Canadians could vote. And Ottawa finally extended voting rights to all Indigenous people, women and men, in 1960.

Seems appalling now, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t taking that right for granted seem equally appalling?

Elections Canada has mailed a voter information card to everyone on their list of electors. If you have not received a voter information card, it may mean you are not registered. Contact your local Elections Canada office. You can also register at the polling station on election day, but to save time, register ahead. For more information on how to register to vote, call Elections Canada at 1-800-463-6868. To vote, you must prove your identity and address.

A ballot may not look like ten thousand dollars to you, but ask someone who does not have the privilege of voting. Until we personally suffer for something, we don’t appreciate its value.

Thank God for Potatoes!

Raise your hand if your livelihood depends largely on the humble potato. I see those hands. I’m a day late for Canadian Thanksgiving, but wouldn’t this be a great time to show a little gratitude for this often under-respected staple of nutrition?

One internet article made me laugh. It declared “…a new study looked at potato consumption and found that those who eat fried potatoes as little as two times a week double their risk of death compared to those who pass on the fries.”

Excuse me? How exactly does one double one’s risk of death? Last time I checked, we all have a hundred percent chance of dying. I understand what they’re trying to say. French fries are bad for you, we get it. I also live in a community that counts on the world to continue eating them, so… I say, at least get your phraseology accurate.

Last month, members of our house church were invited to a potato harvesting expedition on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Descending on a small field, we spent an hour picking up and bagging potatoes already lifted from their hiding places beneath the earth. In that hour, I felt myself evolve from an enthusiastic, potato-picking maniac to a whiney sloth with a sore back and a serious yearning for a nap. I came away extremely grateful I don’t have to work like that all day, every day, as do many in our world and in our history.

The work was followed by a fantastic baked potato feast with a multitude of potluck toppings. The grand finale? Taking home a free sack of potatoes to enjoy and to share. I felt especially thankful for the bounty as I imagined all the potato dishes I could create and consume over the coming months. Below you’ll find my favorite way to use leftover mashed potatoes.

Potato Soup

1 cup finely chopped onion

2 Tbsp oil

2 Tbsp flour

1 Tsp salt

Dash pepper

1 cup water

1 cup (or more) mashed potatoes

1 ½ cups milk

1 cup grated cheese

Sauté onion in oil. Blend in flour, salt & pepper; add water, boil 2 min. stirring constantly. Add potatoes, milk, cheese. Heat slowly until cheese melts. Garnish with parsley or croutons.

Good Things Happening at PPSC

Grandparents Day seems to come and go each year without fanfare, have you noticed? According to my calendar, it fell on September 8 this year. The special day didn’t exist when I was a little girl learning the grandmotherly art of crochet from my grandmother. Now she is long gone, and I am the grandmother. Still crocheting.

In honor of Grandparents Day, I decided to finish my nearly completed baby afghan in variegated shades of purple and pink. I enjoyed shopping for a few baby-girl items to go with it and carried the whole package to our local Prairie Pregnancy Support Center.

When she greeted me, Executive Director Mary Loewen gratefully accepted my gift and offered me a tour of the facility. Although I’d attended their fundraiser banquet last spring, I’d never seen the inside of their Tupper Street premises. I was impressed!

What first captured my eye was a warm, inviting reception area with plenty of space to relax, talk, read resource materials, or just hang out. I also caught a glimpse of their modern office, where Mary and the center’s only other paid staff member, Dawn, accomplish their administrative work.

Next came a large, beautifully appointed room used for various purposes such as guest speakers, volunteer training, and educational or social opportunities. One wall displays photos of all their volunteers, including board members and client advocates. Off this room await two small, cozy rooms used for counselling and prayer sessions.

Perhaps most impressive is the larger room used to store and display items like the ones I brought with me—including maternity clothes, baby and children’s clothing neatly organized into sizes, and all manner of supplies needed for outfitting a little one.

PPSC provides services to our Central Plains area. Its primary mission is to offer compassion, hope, resources, and support for anyone facing pregnancy-related decisions. This non-profit volunteer agency is affiliated with the Canadian Association of Pregnancy Support Services. Its volunteers receive rich training from leaders in the field and bring their compassionate, caring hearts to our community with professional candor. They provide pregnancy testing, options education, and ongoing support in the form of peer counselling, maternity/baby clothes and supplies, peer support groups, infant loss support, post-abortion recovery, referrals to community agencies, sexual education, and sexual integrity discussions.

With 5 grandsons, it was fun to shop for a baby girl!

The organization receives no government funding but relies on donor support to be able to offer all their services free of charge. Their desire is to answer questions, present options, and provide support through the decision-making process and beyond. PPSC is not a medical clinic and does not refer clients for abortion. These volunteers work and pray hard to offer hope and to empower lives in our community, behind the scenes and with strictest confidence. They serve clients regardless of age, gender, sexual identity or orientation, race, or religion.

For those experiencing post-abortion stress, whether their symptoms are emotional, physical, behavioral, or spiritual—and no matter how long ago the abortion occurred—help and healing are available through one-on-one counseling or a post-abortion support group. Both are a safe place to talk about your thoughts and feelings with others who understand because they’ve been there. This service extends beyond women who’ve chosen abortion, including anyone who may be affected but often overlooked, such as fathers and grandparents.

If you need to talk, or if you’re interested in donating or getting involved in the Prairie Pregnancy Support Center, you can do so by calling or texting 204-240-4357 or emailing info@prairiepregnancy.ca . For more information or to read some inspiring stories, visit their website HERE.

Happy belated Grandparents Day!