Monday, Apr. 14, 2003
Dear Diary:

Today is the first day that a driver can turn right on a red light in most of Quebec. You can well imagine my excitement.

There are some exceptions. For instance, they're not allowing it in Montreal (which pretty much says all that needs to be said about Montreal drivers).

Oh, and one other item that speaks volumes about Quebec drivers in general--this turning right business is optional, eh. The new traffic laws say that if you hit your horn and try to harass the person in front of you into turning right on a red, it's an automatic $138 fine and three points off your driver's licence. Ditto if you try to pass someone on the right shoulder (also known as the free, bonus lane here in Quebec) while they're stopped at a red light.

That's the sort of smackdown the government considered necessary to keep the bloodshed to a minimum.

So, like I said, I was pretty excited by this .:cough:. turn .:cough:. of events. (Oh, as if I could resist saying that.) My excitement waned considerably when I realized I would have to drive 45 minutes to actually get to the nearest traffic light. I guess it will have to wait until another day.

You'd think that making today the first day you can turn on a red light would be excitement enough, but it doesn't end there. Today is election day here in La Belle Province.

Elections are always a high stress time for me. Bleeding heart liberal that I am, politically my closest fit is the Parti Qu�becois. While they share my social agenda, this would also be the party that is dedicated to wresting Quebec from Canada and setting it up as an independent French-speaking nation.

I do not ever want to be anything but Canadian, so every Quebec election I am torn between my Inner Leftie and my Inner Federalist. It is not a pretty picture. I spent my whole drive between the gym and the polling station today debating with myself.

In the end my Inner Federalist won, but it was close.

So now I wait. Do the people to whom I have the closest political affinity win, throwing me through the stress of another referendum and the possibility that we'll leave Canada? Or do the Liberals win, leaving me twitching over some of their social policies?

O Canada, I wish you made things simpler sometimes, eh?

Marn

Mileage on the Marnometer: 202.79 miles (326.3 kilometers) Ten percent there rubber duck.Ten percent there rubber duck.Ten percent there rubber duck.Ten percent there rubber duck.
Goal for 2003: 500 miles - 804.5 kilometers

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