Round Our Way the Birds Are Singing

I woke up at the crack of dawn to the sound of songbirds as the sunlight crept through the windows of the RV in Candle Lake. I leaped to my feet and quietly manoeuvred my way around the collection of souvenirs and mementos we had accumulated over the past six weeks on the “Round Our Way” 2009 Summer Tour. I left the RV and immediately set out for the bathhouse to get ready for this exciting day: today we were taking the tour home to the Battlefords.

Clouds surrounded us mid- morning and stayed with us the entire drive. It threatened rain but we managed to stay dry the entire way home. The dreary weather did little to dampen my spirit as I reflected on the past six weeks.

The objective of the tour was to introduce myself to the people of Saskatchewan as the new Leader of the new Saskatchewan Liberals. We had plenty of opportunity to discuss our new direction and the need for a strong voice for personal liberty, freedom of enterprise, and responsible government as an alternative to the big government, centralized power, mega- project obsessed regime we have now.

More important than that, however, was the opportunity to listen. There is a serious cognitive dissonance in Saskatchewan politics; many see it as something off in the distance that does not apply to them. My view is that politics should be a ‘contact sport,’ because it applies to every one of us every day whether we realize it or not. Our challenge is to help people realize that, and to shed light on the fact that there are people out there willing to listen.

The idea for the tour came about because somebody once said to me that ‘politicians never come round our way until election time.’ Our appearance on main streets, coffee shops, and campgrounds, was met with genuine surprise. Even more surprising to people was our candour and that we came by with over two years until an actual election! I believe that many people found that refreshing it solidified my belief that Saskatchewan deserves a beter kind of politician.

When we reached the Battlefords the clouds broke and the sun shone brightly on our RV as we rolled into my hometown. The tour took us to many communities we had never been before. With each visit there has been an excitement as we prepared ourselves for the unexpected. Saskatchewan is so big and so diverse, and it is impossible to learn all there is to know or visit every community in only one summer. However, after 31 communities and 5323 km, we did learn a lot about our great province. More important, I think we learned a lot about ourselves too.

One thing is for certain. I am sure glad to be home. I should end my Round Our Way blogging with a line like: “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.”

But there’s no reason for the Battlefords to be humble.