Quebec.7

Been back for a couple of weeks now and there has been time for some sober reflection. Considered opinion: Quebec is ace; Canada is ace.

Montreal would not be on my shortlist for best city in the world (its west coast cousin, Vancouver, would be) but that doesn't mean it's not nice - plus you can even get a decent pint of bitter, another international sign of the rise of the craft breweries. But once we proceeded out of the city the scenery and the wildlife (principally those whales) took over and, put simply, soothed this savage beast. All of which natural bounty can mask an important fact, namely that Canada is an intensely civilised nation. I picked up a free copy of the Globe and Mail (still a broadsheet) at the airport on the way home and two items summed this civility up for me. First consider this sane and impartial editorial on the topic of their then imminent election (Trudeau and his hair have since narrowly prevailed):

It wouldn't be much of an election if the leaders confessed the truth - that it won't in fact be the end of the world, and that Canada won't stop going forward and you won't stop getting ahead, just because another party wins the election ... Keep calm, give thanks for the country we have and don't let the cynics get to you. The election matters. Your vote matters. And the country we share won't end if your side doesn't win.

This speaks of the solid moderation that marks Canada. I have just been watching our parliament debating whether or not there is to be a general election and the quality of the debate tells us that here the cynics already rule. And what is more whereas a national paper in Canada can eulogise that blessed moderation, we live in a far more dangerous place where there is the real prospect of a ruinous government. I really do despair.

And on page B 14 of the same paper there is a moving death notice paid for by the friends of David Stewart Fushtey:

A true renaissance man, Dave was a landscape architect, sculptor and multi-talented lawyer. He loved music, art and beauty. Law was everything Dave believed in - discipline, justice and consideration of others without compromising his values.

I would like to have met Dave.