Young Indigenous people don't have a lot of role models within the dominant power structures. From the classroom to media personalities and celebrities, I do not see my culture or identity reflected back at me. The House of Commons is no exception to this rule. The reins of power are very much held by stiff white men who are completely out of touch with the colonial reality of Canada.

Friends,

I'd like to tell you about what we can achieve, together, for Canada.

We can have the strongest economy in the world. We can have the healthiest environment in the world. And we can have the fairest society in the world.

Those are lofty ambitions, but Canadians are up to the challenge. We are blessed with a terrific head start. We still have abundant natural resources, fresh water, forests, arable land, minerals and energy. We have a well-educated, multilingual workforce with strong ties around the world. We have a long history of peaceful coexistence and cooperation among our people. These and other advantages provide Canada with a deep history and a bright future.

It can't be easy to be one-eighth of a travelling political roadshow, when all eight of you belong to the same party, all have the same goal in mind, and all want you to choose them over the other seven to help attain that goal.

That's life for the eight NDP-ers who want to become party leader, to replace the late Jack Layton, and to overthrow the wicked Stephen Harper Conservative government at the earliest possible opportunity. And to do all that without saying anything too too negative about the other candidates. They're all brothers and sisters, after all.

Can leadership candidates ever not hate each other? At the risk of giving the punch line away too early and spoiling the entire column, the answer is "probably not." It's the old story of civil wars being the most vicious, of the implacable hatred between cherished comrades when they fall out, of family rifts and separated couples poisoning their kids' minds about each other.

In his masterpiece Catch-22, Joseph Heller describes the hostility of several American offices to an ordinary G.I. Joe:

Having been accused of getting up to something with a real government of Alberta email account and a not-quite-so-real name, Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Freddy Lee "Ted" Morton has offered a sort of "rolled-up plea" before the court of public opinion.

First of all, plead the American-born neo-Con ideologue and his key supporters, sure he did it, but everybody does.

Second, even though he did do it, and even though everybody else does it too, he didn't really do it, because he used his real name.

For some incomprehensible reason, there's apparently a move within some quarters of the New Democratic Party to organize a short, swift leadership contest with the vote coming in January. This would be a mistake -- and to suggest, as some do, that it's what Jack Layton wanted, is simply wrong.

Look at the absolutely unprecedented opportunity the NDP now has, building on the recent week-long celebration, so much of it spontaneous, of Jack's life, work and values. It can:

- build the party;

- greatly increase the membership;

- give prospective candidates enough time to make a thoughtful decision;

- give MPs who enter the contest enough time to campaign;

- give new MPs from Quebec the time to develop viable riding associations;

The last months of political intrigue has seen B.C. politics at its best -- or worst, depending on your sense of humour. Even the most jaded will have to admit that the semi-controlled implosions of Gordon Campbell and Carole James almost in lock step made for pretty decent political theatre. Now all we need is for the Greens to jettison the hapless Jane Sterk and we can call it a hat trick.

Funny, yes, but the joke may be on the rest of us since those now lining up for the premier spot at the political trough are a collection of some of the most boring politicos of recent memory in this or any other province. Let's do this in rank order, pun intended, and see just what we can look forward to in the coming months.