This MacGregor piece in the Globe from before the election takes a look at how Canadians view Obama and how they might if he were a Canadian leader.

It’s related to DanH’s tweet “Canadian Tweeps: What makes the US election have such a different atmosphere than the Canadian one? All opinions welcomed…”

This is a bit of what Roy had to say:

If Canadians only could vote in tomorrow’s U.S. election, Barack Obama might take upward of 90 per cent of the vote.

Yet if Obama were a Canadian and running for office in this country, voters might well put the boots to him for being so damn full of himself.
[...]
Success can be admired from afar, as in the case of Mr. Obama’s amazing rise, but don’t bring it into the house. They speak in Australia of the “tall poppy syndrome,” the cutting down of anyone who dares stick a head up above an acceptable level, but in Canada of late, political poppies often get trampled before they even have a chance to bloom.
[...]
It’s not something that would change this country’s politics overnight - and certainly not in time for the coming Liberal leadership race - but it would be a start, and we need to start somewhere. As the poet George Bowering once mused about his fellow citizens’ reluctance to embrace greatness, “Napoleon would have been a nobody here.”
– The audacity of Obama: Only in America TGAM 3 Nov 2008

Could we have an Obama in Canada? Do we have the capacity to support an inspirational leader?

I read somewhere else that JFK paved the way for Trudeau, maybe Obama will pave the way for. . . .

Yesterday, Waterloo admin had a meeting with faculty and staff to discuss the belt tightening at the university.

In the DB:

No, no, there are no plans for staff layoffs when UW enters its next fiscal year in May 2009. The university’s top executives, president David Johnston and provost Amit Chakma, made that point repeatedly during yesterday’s “town hall” meeting, which drew nearly 500 staff and faculty members to the Humanities Theatre in late afternoon.
– No plans for layoffs, executives say DB 06 Nov 2008

The Record also has a story:

Bracing for potential funding cuts and with pension and endowment funds bleeding value, the University of Waterloo assembled its employees yesterday and warned of hard times ahead.
[...]
Endowments have also taken a hit, which led president David Johnston to say UW may need to trim scholarships next year. Endowments also help pay for research and financial aid.
[...]
Then there’s the university’s $1-billion pension fund, which has lost between 15 to 20 per cent of its value since the start of the year. Amit Chakma, the academic vice-president and provost, said pensions were safe — for now.
– UW asks staff to find ways to save money Waterloo Region Record 06 Nov 2008

I think the last time UW had a hiring freeze was in 1995:
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