I know that it's like to flee danger in the middle of the night.

I know what it's like to flee my house in the middle of the night, with almost nothing.  I know the panic of danger, and the urgent need to get everybody out.  And I know how hard it is to leave your own house, a house you lived in for years, because you can't find a way out.

No I am not a refugee.

Yes I do know.

What I was fleeing was: fire.  One of our doors had a fire blocking it, another was frozen shut because we never use it, and our escape ended up being a window.  It was -47 C (-52 C with windchill), outside, and being outside in nothing but pyjamas wasn't very safe, but it was safer than staying inside with the flames.

I know what it's like to flee into the middle of the night, and not know where you're going, only that you have to leave.  I know what's like to lose everything, but still be thankful that every living thing survived.

And that is one of the reasons I'm thankful that Canada is supporting 25,000 refugees.

I have other reasons.  When we were fleeing the fire, I grabbed my purse and my mother's purse, because I worked with somebody who was a refugee.  I'd heard how difficult it is to prove who you are, without an ID, and I wasn't going to be in that difficult situation of trying to prove I lived in the house that burned down.

It took us 9 months to work through the insurance, get our house rebuilt and move back in and then another 2 years of court cases to get everything settled.

And I wasn't a refugee.  I didn't have to move to another country, live in a refugee camp, risk my live, or learn a new language.  And still the wounds of that fire still hurt.  It's been almost 5 years and I still don't trust.  My home is not a place of safety anymore.  It's a place of hurt and danger.  I don't know if I'll ever feel save again, because I know now that anything can happen to me, even at home, where I once felt safe.

The refugees must feel that way too.  They didn't flee a fire, they fled bombings and gunfire.  Unlike my family, they didn't get a chance to go home.  If they don't get refugee status in some country, they will not belong to any country.  They will never be able to even have a chance to feel safe again, if we don't allow them to come to Canada.

Recently I saw a picture on twitter, of a home that was ready for a new refugee family.  It looked a lot like the furnished home, that the insurance agency settled us in, while our home was rebuilt.  I remembered how thankful I was that there were homes, available to those that had nothing because of fire.  Everything was in that house, including dish washer detergent.  We were given $50 each to buy clothing.  I lived with one pair of jeans, one t-shirts, one jacket, one pair of shoes and several pairs of underwear and socks for 9 months.  It it wasn't that hard to live with next to nothing.

I wonder if that's how the refugees feel?

There are other reasons that I believe refugees should be welcomed in Canada, and maybe I'll share those reasons with you at another time, but right now, this is what I'm sharing.

I don't know what it's like to be a refugee but I can imagine that it must be even scarier than fleeing from a burning house, because at least we had insurance, and we knew that eventually things would be replaced.  Refugees don't know that.  They truly have nothing, not even statehood, if we don't give it to them.

Duffy, Refugees, Nobel Physics Prise, and other things in Canadian Politics that happened this week.

Saturday.  The day I said I would tell you everything that went on in Canadian Politics.

A few things of interest happened.  Mike Duffy testified in his own trial.  His defence: The devil (oops no sorry uh that's) Harper made me do it.

Yes that, old sorry defence, has been rewritten and reused.  Apparently Mike Duffy doesn't have the ability to say "no".  He's conservative puppet, and even though he had reservations about saying he was from PEI, he did it anyway because Harper asked him too.

That excuse is just not good enough.  Not at all.  People do it all the time.  They disagree.  They say no.  They refuse.

Besides, isn't Duffy strong enough to stand up to JR (oops did it again - sorry wrong Duffy - not Patrick Duffy - Mike Duffy, you know that one that was charged with bribery over the paltry sum of $90,000.00).

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (at least he's not going by the Right Honourable Prime Minister Stephen Harper), but why would he, he's not Stephen Harper.  Our Prime Minister is Justin Trudeau, and he, not that other guy, went to Quebec City, to meet with Phillippe Couillard, the Premier of Quebec.

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Justin (I'll just call him that, because it's easier to write - well not if I include an explanation each time - but anyways), Justin congratulated Dr. Arthur B. McDonald for winning the Nobel Prize in Physics.

And so do I.  Congratulations Dr. McDonald.

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Justin released several media advisories, telling reporters when he, and some of his cabinet ministers would be available for questioning.  If you aren't a reporter, which I'm not, those advisories are kinda boring and I won't go into them.  If you are a reporter, you don't need me to tell you about them, you probably signed up for the same email subscription from the PMO that I did.  And you're probably not reading this anyway.

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So going on....

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The first of 25,000 refugees arrived in Canada.  Justin, Kathleen Wynne, and several other dignitaries met them at Pearson International Airport.  The first group was a family with a 16 month old daughter.  I think their daughter was a terrorists.  You should see her when she has temper tantrums.

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I love politics, but I know that some people find it dull and boring.  If your of the dull and boring variety (no not dull and boring people, I mean find politics dull and boring - sorry for the insult) I hope I made Canadian Politics a little bit more entertaining for you, and have informed you at the same time.

I am a leftist.

That's right.  I'm claiming that term.  Leftist.  There I said it.  I am a leftist.

I know that those on the right of the political spectrum, use the term leftist as an insult.  I'm not sure why they think it's such an insult, but they sure sling it around in internet comments.  Things like "oh you're such a leftist, tolerant of everything, but me."

Slinging insults, that don't make sense isn't going to make me change my mind.  It is going to make me think you're an idiot.  It's going to make me not like you very much.  It's not going to make me vote the way you want me to vote.

I was born into a political family.  I'm not going to provide a complete political genealogy, but my mother's parents were very active in one political party, and my father's parents were very active in another political party.  I'm related to more than one politician.  With a family like that, I had no choice but to learn about politics growing up.  Political discussions, disagreements and arguments filled family get-togethers.

I've been active in elections, worked for Elections Canada during elections, volunteered for campaigns, and generally have been well informed.

Although I'm a leftist, most media outlets are not leftists.  They are on the far right.  The globe and mail endorsed the conservatives, but not Harper.  The CBC started attacking Justin Trudeau as soon as he was elected.  Rosemary Barton was elated, and Peter Mansbridge told her not to be.  Trudeaumania hasn't been reported, but it is there.  Even other countries like our new Prime Minister.

I'm tired of one sided and slanted reporting, and I'm not going to rely on it anymore.  And you don't have to either.  I signed up for media and press releases directly from the Federal Government (note it's not the Harper Government anymore), and each week on Saturday, I will summarize all of the government news, right here on this blog, and you can read it without a far right biased.

If I don't see anything interesting in the press releases, I'll provide a political commentary.