A Canadian Christmas

Ottawa living can have it's upsides. Like having more than 7 Walmarts in a city that can barely keep people employed outside of the federal government. Either you get the best work benefits available in the country, or you get none and possibly fired for trying to create a measly little union.

So I ask you this... what says Merry Canadian Christmas more than a gift for your loved ones bought from America's flagship of commercial hell?

Seeing our very own Canadian Prime Minister shop at an Ottawa Walmart for gifts for his loved ones! Not only was it Walmart, but it was one of those particularly horrid Walmarts.

You know... the ones that are strategically placed in suburbia where shopping choices are limited to Shopper's Drug Mart, Walmart or Canadian Tire? The kind of suburbia where all the houses look the same placed along confusingly curvy streets that have filled up in the last 10 years with aging boomers and immigrants with 8 children? The kind of suburbia that is lit up at night from the "open 24hrs a day" Walmart sign... the kind of suburban neighbourhood that Mr. Harper does not even live in?!

Mr. Harper, nothing beats those prices, sure, but hows about infusing our country's capital with a sprinkle of Christmas cheer for our homegrown retailers by not shopping at a fucking Walmart. Jesus H. Mr. Prime Minister, you don't even live in a neighbourhood that is forced to shop there. You have no excuse.

A friend of my mother's was shopping at Walmart and offered good ol' consumer advice to the man standing beside him. It took him a few moments to realize that he was advising Stephen Harper about Walmart's electronic products. Quite frankly, I don't blame him for not figuring out who he was right away, even if my mom's friend is somewhat indirectly employed by Mr. Harper. Walmart is the last place I would expect to see our country's leader in, unless it were Jack Layton living at 24 Sussex. In which case, Layton would only be there to aid the employees in a secret unionization plot. Or to tell the manager of the store to go back below the 49th parallel where the unholy Walmart belongs.

In any case, this is a highly disheartening post-Christmas story and if my mother had given me more than 4 seconds per day on my own, I would have attempted to ruin Christmas for everyone else by writing this sooner.

But here you have it - even more reason to believe that the guy leading the country is pro-American nearly to the point of being anti-Canadian.

Next time someone sees the Prime Minister in a Walmart, I hope they tell him to go to the Bay.

It may not be the best option but at least it's Canadian.