Canada has changed. No longer boring, it is now one of the richest countries in the world, with the largest reserves of oil after Saudi Arabia - alas, it is also becoming more conservative, in a Bush-like way. The Canadian government has signalled it will not renew its Kyoto obligations. Indeed, the decision (aided and abetted by the UK) to develop the Alberta Tar Sands, is horrific - if this goes ahead, dangerous global warming will be unstoppable. I am not sure what to do, as an expat Canadian, except to say there is a new kind of international figure swaggering on the world stage: The Ugly Canadian - the Toxic Canuck.
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
Comments
Canada is not becoming more conservative, rather it is now governed by a conservative party that managed to eke out a slim majority through winning a mere 39 percent of the vote in the last election. The opposition, which garnered over sixty percent, consists of four vote-splitting parties that range from centre-left to left. Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition is found in the New Democratic Party - social democrats all.
No new international figure is swaggering on the world stage - it's just a more cocksure Stephen Harper. He is the Ugly Canadian; his tar sand tramps are the Toxic Canucks.
Majority in hand, the Conservative Party of Canada now feels safe in revealing itself. Mark my words, they it will be turfed in the next federal election.