A Swift Current Christmas - Part 4

In a land far to the east, in a city that might as well be half a world away for all it knew about life in Swift Current, in Toronto actually, earlier that day, four friends were having drinks in a pub on the York University campus.

There was Mary, professor of Political Science, Nathan from the Department of Economics, Susie, head of the School of Social Work, and Bernie, president of Unifor, the largest union in Canada.

All four were discreet about these meetings because their social justice concerns could be taken by some as suggesting Marxist leanings.

It wasn’t particular political leanings that mattered to them. They cared about people.

They met every month to discuss the situation in Canada and the world.

It seemed like the world was getting messier and messier all the time—more violent, more racism and bigotry, more opioid overdoses, more poverty and oppression, and climate change but one industrial chimney and five SUV’s away from catastrophe. Something had to be done, but what? Suddenly—that word again—suddenly, just as Nathan finished making a point that he thought particularly poignant and brilliant, the GPS on each of their phones lit up.

As they looked, a map of Canada appeared with a blue line from Toronto, through Chicago, to southern Saskatchewan.

They each hit the ‘Home’ button on their phones, and the map disappeared. Freaky, they thought, as they returned to their conversation. Then it happened again. And then three more times as they tried to ignore what was happening and get back to their conversation.

Finally Mary said, “To hell with classes. I’m going to Regina to check this out.” Bernie was quick to reply, “Me too. A union can run without a president for a week or two.” The other two did not need convincing. “I’ll check with Expedia,” said Susie. “And I’ll get a cab,” Nathan added. An hour and a half later they were in the air, on their way to Saskatchewan.

When they landed in Regina, the four rented a car and headed to the Legislative Building. It seemed as good a place as any to start. Maybe they could catch the Premier, Premier Door, at the end of the evening sitting of the legislature. When they got there, they asked for a meeting with Premier Door. He agreed to give them a few minutes and invited the four guests into his office. The visitors from Toronto introduce themselves.

“Oh great!” thought Door.

“A commie, the defacto leader of the federal NDP, a left-leaning Trudeau Liberal, and a mamby pamby social worker. This should be good, Not!

“Wow. There’s a lot of wisdom in this room,” Door said. Looking at Nathan, the Premier continued, “Can you help me balance my budget?”

“I probably could,” Nathan replied, ever confident in his own abilities.

“And we could do it without cutting wages for union members,” Bernie chimed in. Mary and Susie smirked at each other. These two guys never lacked for self-confidence.

Mary jumped in, afraid they were getting sidetracked from the mission.

“We have reason to believe that something special is about to happen and it’s going to start in Saskatchewan.”

Door was all ears. This could pump up his already high ratings across Canada.

“We think the world is about to change and justice, fairness and peace will actually have a chance. We are wondering if you might know where we should look. Is this the direction your government is going?”

“We do have the best government Saskatchewan has ever had,” Door replied. “However, this sounds new to me. Let me check with my cabinet. They are gathering in the next room for a meeting.” Thirty minutes later the Premier was back. “This could be something we might consider but we think this is more grassroots than government. We think you should check Swift Current. It is, after all, where Medicare started in Canada, the best system of universal health care in the world. Seems the place for good things to start.”

He almost blurted out: “It is after all where I was born and it is my constituency,” but he stopped himself, just in time.

“Oh, and when you find out, let me know.”

He did not say the rest of what he was thinking. This sounded bigger than Sask Party or NDP and could jeopardize both their parties, the very system of government in Saskatchewan, even Canada. He and Fadingfork of the NDP would have to get together to put a stop to whatever was getting started, in his constituency, no less.

Speaking a collective thanks, the four Easterners left the office and building and got into their car. Nobody needed to say: “Let’s head to Swift Current.” It was understood. It did not matter how late it was. As they turned on to the highway, their GPS’s lit up again and the blue line appeared, connecting Regina to Swift Current.