Those who weren’t enchanted with Lara Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie TV series (starring Michael Landon) of the late 70s and early 80s probably don’t recollect this unfortunate title for the Canadian sitcom that CBC will release for its third season in October. It’s called Little Mosque on the Prairie.

Walking into a rainstorm is, quite literally, a wondrous encounter. Glorying in being kissed by the heavens, the pale silver streaks dashing vigour into all of us alike, the looks you get from the busy crowds impart another sort of glory – the glory of not being taken quite seriously. Apparently, I’ve got this whole rainstorm business the wrong way around. The communion of slate sky, icy wind and unprotected man –our participation in precipitation– should be, especially for virtue of being an unfortunate necessity of getting to class, a profoundly miserable experience.

With the Canadian and American elections close on our heels, the time is right for the call for Cascadia to move to the forefront and be known amongst the masses of the Pacific Northwest. Very few times have two North American nations had their elections so close to one another, such that this phenomenon has brought with it a renewed interest in “Cascadia.” The time is now and we, the people, now have a choice to make. This choice would be, as Barack Obama would say, “a change we can all believe in.”

Could Quebec’s role as a nation within Canada finally pay off? It’s increasingly beginning to look like Jean Charest’s activism might actually benefit all of Canada by placing the nation square in the middle of the two biggest developed economies in the world.