Canadian Politics via Hockey

Two interesting ways to look at the coalition government take over that are related yet differently set have been shown to me today. First, A channel News gave a great way of breaking down how the process and the role regarding the governor general works. I thought these would be great ways of explaining this particular situation to a class.

First, one needs to look at the government like a hockey game where one team is the leading party, the Conservatives, and the other team the coalition.

Second, one sees the game as the battle for power where only one player can be the MVP, that being the PM. However, there are always other players gunning for that MVP spot, Dion.

Third, the referee for the game is the governor general, who decides who gets what penalties or who leads the country.

This is a very primitive way of explaining the circumstances which our government is facing right now, however, it's the basic principle that is important. By using an example to which the students can relate, the chances of them understanding the situation is greater. Additionally, if you manage to get the basic principle across, then it is far easier to expand the learning and the understanding of the topic.

The second way of looking at this particular situation came to me via a joke email, and while it made me smile and laugh, I thought the underlying explanation was a great way of seeing this event. Again it relates to hockey, but then perhaps hockey is more Canadian than our parliamentary system in the first place (I mean a governor general??? What are we, still a dominion?)

Toronto Maple Leafs Win Stanley Cup!!

Canada was stunned Monday when it was announced that The Stanley Cup will be awarded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, possibly as early as December 6th. The cup will be stripped from from 2008 playoff champions the Detroit Red Wings and be awarded to the Leafs, who didn't even make the playoffs. How is this possible, Canadians ask? Well, the Leafs have formed a coalition with eastern conference semifinalists the Montreal Canadians, and conference quarter finalists the Ottawa Senators, now outnumbering the Red Wings. According to current Leaf coach Ron Wilson "the Red Wings have lost the confidence of the league and should hand the cup over immediately to our coalition". NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is cutting short a European trip to try to resolve the unprecedented hockey crisis that could force a second playoff series, or see an opposing team coalition take the cup.