My dad decided to transition this week. While overwhelmed with grief, I get it. 

Though 96, and Canadian through and through, ISA国际影视传媒檓 sure on some level he knew he couldn't survive another Donald Trump presidency. 

My dad was a chivalrous man. He deeply respected women and insisted on opening doors for them even when they preferred to open them alone. His French-Canadian mother and his strong sisters ingrained this respect at an early age. Even when I was going through my vehement feminist stage, dad refused to let me pay for my own meals and insisted on opening the door.   

At 10, his dad died from TB and he was given the role of family protector and took the job seriously. Having been raised in a Roman Catholic household (then later Protestant) he had strong beliefs around appropriate behaviour. He had no tolerance for bullies or those that tried to cheat or swindle others. He was an entrepreneur and builder for most of his life and worked hard. He was never accused of shady dealings or failure to pay his bills. 

He would not dream of being so irresponsible. His sense of right and wrong was deeply ingrained.  

His religious beliefs were real and he always put relationships ahead of making money. He understood the true believer's belief that God is love. Belief was about action rather than words. Every phone call in the past decade ended with, SA国际影视传媒淚 love you.SA国际影视传媒� My dad loved his family and friends deeply. 

I was so proud of him a few years back when he said he was going to vote for that SA国际影视传媒済reen ladySA国际影视传媒� (Elizabeth May) before I had made up my mind. He deeply cared about the environment but more than that, he cared about what was going to be left to future generations. He couldn't stand SA国际影视传媒渕e-isms.SA国际影视传媒� He couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 bear to think that there would be so much environmental degradation no matter the cost.  

Nothing on Earth made him happier than to see deer walking through his backyard. He moved us all out to the country when we were young so we could develop a similar appreciation. 

I was also so proud to hear that his second wife would be Indigenous SA国际影视传媒� colour mattered nothing to him. Character did. 

He was no fool. I know that if he would have been cognizant last week, he would have listened to me rant and rave about the U.S. electorate so entrenched in its colonial, racist and misogynistic ways that they would rather vote for a convicted felon than a strong, intelligent brown-faced woman who cared about the greater whole.  

Even now, I can hear him saying gently, SA国际影视传媒淚 know, I know.SA国际影视传媒� 

And even now, though I will miss him more than words can say, in some respects I am glad he will not be around to witness what's to come in the next four years. I canSA国际影视传媒檛 bear to think of the heartbreak that would have caused him.  

While he did not carry on like his daughter, in the face of American disintegration, you could see something break inside every time some new absurdity occurred. Many in that generation who had worked to live good, decent lives cannot understand or cope well with the moral downfall of so many in the south. 

Though we didnSA国际影视传媒檛 always agree on our spiritual beliefs, one of the things we did agree on was dark matter always turns in on itself and implodes. In the end, the light always wins. I am so glad he doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 have to see what will unfold in the next four years, though i donSA国际影视传媒檛 know who i will talk to about it on Sunday nights.  

Dad, take heart in this: while unconscious Americans voted for what is only a symptom of a disease, Canada honoured the life of a truly great human being in Murray Sinclair, who taught us what an honourable, decent human being looks like. Perhaps in that, and in being Canadian, we can find both comfort and hope. 

Love you, dad. I will miss you more than I can say, but we will keep up the good fight for you and for those to come.

We will keep the faith.