OP-ED: Desperately Seeking Signs of Hope (Toronto Star, CANADA)

Over the next 12 days leading up to the inauguration of Barack Obama as U.S. president, there will be much talk about hope in America.

Obama swept to victory with his campaign of "hope," a theme that resonated with Americans fed up with the Bush administration, worried about their jobs, savings and homes, and who were frustrated by the ongoing war in Iraq.

Despite the daily barrage of bad news though, there's a sense of hope in America with Obama's inauguration, set for Jan. 20.

Indeed, a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll indicated 68 per cent of Americans are optimistic about Obama and his policies.

In Canada, however, hope has largely gone missing.

Here, Canadians are bracing for the worst. Layoffs, falling house prices, shattered retirement dreams, disappearing savings all contribute to a sense of despair.

Just yesterday, there was more negative news, with some of Canada's top economists predicting our economy in 2009 will be in even worse shape than it was in 2008.

Where Canada differs from the U.S., though, is that few of us appear optimistic or hopeful that our politicians and our dysfunctional Parliament, which reopens six days after Obama is sworn in, will change and work together to make things better for us.

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