The Blue Fox and the Three Silly Ganders
Philip G. Ney
He had them, then he sneezed. The wily blue fox had limped like he was mortally wounded to hide behind the stump. He had glanced furtively toward the silly ganders who, tied together by their left legs, waddled grandly if somewhat awkwardly toward the pile of power grain so temptingly spread beneath the trapping basket. It wasn’t hard for them to see the trap but they didn’t realize the danger because they were so tempted by the prospect of delicious power grain. The blue fox had silenced his well-disciplined children who stood behind him ready to pounce on the remains of greasy gander. There was hushed silence as all the wise owls and skittish cougars watched in fascinated disbelief.
“Why can’t they see the trap? Surely nobody is so silly as to want the unwelcome task of stimulating the economy with phony money, which will do nothing to address the underlying problem of declining population but will ruin our credibility. In 2 years they will be so anxious to blame each other for the chaos, they will fall over each other of sever what remains of their well tattered concord. In 2 years those 3 will all be so unpopular that the fox will have unfettered control of our woods”.
“Shhh”. “They are under the trap now and he is about to pull the string.”
“Aaaaachooooo” Away ran the ganders, trying hard to keep their dignity, balance and composure as they hissed angrily at the fox. Poor blue fox could be seen quietly weeping, “I had them. I really had them until someone tickled my long nose with a goose feather”
Now the question is, who tickled his nose with what to make him prorogue parliament and lose the wonderful advantage any grade 2 political tactician could see was his for the taking. Maybe he foresaw that the unhealthy triumvirate could do such damage in 2 years there would be little left of what we love about Canada to salvage. Maybe his well hidden guilt at being a major contributor to the essential problem of fewer home grown children blinded him to such a serendipitous opportunity to really defeat his foes.