AUTOCRATS, LOVE LETTERS, AND THE INTRODUCTION TO NEW OUR BOOK CLUB
Vol. 1, No. 37
In this edition, your diligent correspondent offers his take on the autocrat next door, how Palm Springs is making Canadians feel more welcome, the Gretzkys and the Tkachuks, and stuff about our new book club.
This week: A 7-minute read
HOW TO BE AN AUTOCRAT
“I’ll give you a toonie if you take our loonie.”
Placard wielded by an American at an anti-Trump protest at the Canada-U.S. border near Surrey, British Columbia last weekend
Watching CNN or MSNBC can be a tortuous experience these days, but not for the reasons you might think. Last week, I was watching one video clip of dozens of employees of the U.S. government’s Health and Human Services Department getting frog-marched out of their offices because they’d lost their jobs.
Up to 10,000 of these folks were fired that day, all because of one man: the felonious, odious Donald Trump.
Comedian John Mulaney likens Trump’s actions so far as akin to a horse let loose inside a hospital. Reckless, right? Yet it’s not just the gutting of government to the point where it will stop working. It’s not just the tariffs, and blowing a hole in the global economy big enough to trigger a recession. It’s not just the tone-deaf wrench tossed into the workings of the auto industry. It’s all that and more. It’s the executive orders that bypass Congress and defy the Constitution. It’s stacking his Cabinet with sycophants who don’t come close to being qualified. It’s forcing universities and law firms, states and municipalities to declare fealty to him or face persecution or loss of financial support. It’s all of it.
It's heartless. It’s power and how it’s used—and abused, all by one wannabe dictator.
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PALM SPRINGS LOVE LETTER
These days, Canadians may not feel welcome at the U.S. border—perhaps less welcome since a trip to the border never generated warm and fuzzy feelings—now that American border guards have been empowered to deny entry to anyone regardless of whether their paperwork is in order. However, where the rubber meets the road, in other words, where commerce meets the Canadian tourism dollar, concerted efforts are being made to make sure the denizens of the Great White North are not taken for granted.
Palm Springs, California, would be an example of that.
Some of you will be familiar with our own family’s experiences with Palm Springs. We first began to visit in 2007 and a year later purchased what we called a pied-à-terre there. After getting pensioned off by the Edmonton Journal in 2011, we moved there for work. Though we returned to Canada seven years later when it became obvious our NAFTA work permit could be cancelled by a single border agent with a bad attitude, Palm Springs has remained a special place in our hearts. Now, the city council there wants Canadians to know they feel the same.
According to KESQ-TV, new banners have been put up along North Palm Canyon Drive in the heart of downtown to let visitors know “Palm Springs Loves Canada.”
It all started with Mayor Ron de Harte’s “charm offensive” to let Canadians who winter there know they are valued.
It’s hard to pin down just how many people live in Palm Springs and the other desert cities in the Coachella Valley. The population is as high as 600,000 in January, as low as half that in July and August when daytime temps in the 40s are not uncommon. Estimates put the number of Canadians living there, either seasonally or year-round, at around 100,000. The Guardian newspaper estimates up to 300,000 Canadians visit every year.
Yet with the shenanigans coming out of the White House, the flow of Canadian tourism dollars has slowed significantly. WestJet and Flair Airlines have cut back on service to the Palm Springs airport. Those Canadian snowbirds living in the valley are returning home earlier than usual. Local business owners have noticed. So has the mayor.
It's not just the tariffs, it’s the insulting rhetoric. It’s the breach of trust. De Harte says he gets it. Canadian visitors spend an estimated $300 million annually in the region, and “represent about 2,000 jobs in the hospitality industry,” said the mayor. “They volunteer. You see Canadians at our functions and events. They’re getting involved any way they possibly can. It’s not just a visitor coming to sit and hang out by the pool. These are really people who are part of our community.”
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THE CANADIAN GRETZKYS
I was reading about this quote given recently by Wayne Gretzky on Ben Mulroney’s cross-country radio show:
“I always say to my kids—I’ve got five American kids, seven American grandchildren, an American wife, a 103-year-old American mother-in-law—and I always tell them every day that you be as proud of the United States of America as I am to be a Canadian. That’s what your grandfather would have wanted.”
This is not the first time I’ve heard Gretzky say this. In 2007, my writing partner and I interviewed Gretzky at length in Edmonton for our book on Peter Pocklington. I’ve written about it in this space before (“Gretzky’s Common Touch,” Sept. 29). Anyway, during the course of this chat, he mentioned in passing how his five kids are American. I immediately thought to myself “Well, they’re Canadian, too, because you are,” but I didn’t say anything at the time because I wanted to be sure of my facts (an old adage of mine; when in doubt, be still). I looked it up later and, yes indeedy, the offspring of a Canadian parent are considered Canadians, even if they are born outside the country. They are, in other words, dual citizens. I doubt if Gretzky knows this even to this day, and that goes for his kids, too.
Maybe one day it will strike one of the Gretzkyites that it might be a good idea to get a Canadian passport, but I wouldn’t take that to the bank. I’m reminded of the Tkachuk brothers. Matthew plays NHL hockey in Fort Lauderdale but formerly plied his trade in Calgary. Brother Brady plays in Ottawa. They both play for the USA national team. Their dad, an American, began his NHL career in Winnipeg where he met their Canadian mother, so both Matthew and Brady are dual citizens. Yet when Matthew was asked on TV if he’d consider playing for Team Canada, he seemed almost insulted by the thought. “No, never in my life,” he said. “I would never play for them. I’m as American as it gets.”
Moms love their kids no matter what, but somewhere deep in the recesses of her heart, Mom Tkachuk must have felt a pang.
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MORE ‘DEAR TERRY’ LETTERS
Re ‘Manning’s Bubble,’ April 6. Oh Terry, you fill my heart with laughter and joy! That photo of Danielle Smith and Preston Manning takes the cake. My aunt Gladys, who lived in Mallaig, Alberta, called her cats Ernest and Preston, and when she would send them outside, she’d shoo them with “Get out Preston! Get out Ernest!” Then she’d laugh and say, “You need some power over these guys.” Adèle Fontaine, Edmonton, Alberta
Ed. Note: For those unfamiliar with Alberta politics, Ernest Manning was a long-time premier and the father of Preston Manning.
Re Facebook post alerting readers an early draft of My Sunday Reader was published rather than the final version, April 6. Not to worry, Terry. I find myself looking forward to each new edition much as I did each Thursday in years gone by when your award-winning Tilbury Times came out. It’s been like finding an old friend. Randy Chevalier, Tilbury, Ontario
What flaws? Keep the flaws coming, Terry. Proof it’s you and not AI. Perfection is overrated. Enjoy your national perspective. David Mailloux, Nanaimo, B.C.
Thank you! Just became a subscriber. Brenda Keith Slack, Fayetteville, New York
If you want to drop me a note (and risk me publishing it here), just reply to this email or, if you prefer send it to mysundayreader@gmail.com.
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MY SUNDAY READER BOOK CLUB
OK, it’s time for this bird to fly. The My Sunday Reader Book Club is ready for takeoff and you can sign up here on my Patreon page, with our sincere thanks. Your subscription is just $5 a month. Please remember: this is something separate from your subscription to My Sunday Reader. That continues to be free.
So maybe you’re thinking, what do I get for my hard-earned five bucks?
Well, every week, through to the end of July, you get 15 installments of Lethbridge: A Tale of Love In A Time of War.
It’s a riveting love story set against the backdrop of the First World War, unfolding in locales as disparate as London and Boston, New England and Niagara Falls, the trenches of wartime France and the military hospitals of England. The lives of the book’s three protagonists come together, though in one place: the frontier western Canadian city of Lethbridge, Alberta.
It's the story of two young men, one from the east end of London and the other from New England. Both come to Lethbridge in search of a future and find themselves drawn to a pretty Scottish immigrant. What follows charts the future for all three in ways none of them could have foreseen.
It’s the story of my grandparents.
And what do we do with your five bucks? It will help finance future projects, such as audiobooks and extra press runs, as well as assist us in doing the hard research for, dare we say it, a new book. Or two. The ideas are there, and so is the inspiration, but we need your help to make it all happen.
Again, thanks for your consideration.
Please note: Artificial intelligence was not used in the preparation or writing of any part of this newsletter.