The Attention Span of an Underachieving Knat

A few weeks ago – perhaps no more than a month, on every TV news program there was extensive coverage of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. We saw pictures of health workers dressed in their alien looking protective outfits, scenes of West Africans collecting bodies and various medical people talking about the need for more help from the west. If you watched the news, it was immediately obvious that there was a medical crisis that was not going to go away on its own. There were reports that the disease was spreading at an almost exponential rate and that we (the collective rich nations of the world) needed to something. And needed to do it now. Of course that point was not new. Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) had been saying that since the late spring. We just had not been listening. It wasn’t newsworthy enough.

More recently much of what little news there has been on the Ebola outbreak has been focused on how the developed countries of the west have been dealing with the public’s media induced paranoid fears of getting the disease. Canada has, for example, in spite of condemnation from world health organizations, has created quarantine rules that are harsh and not at all relevant to the prevention of the disease spreading.  But there are no more pictures on our TV screens of people dressed in strange yellow suits or dead bodies being buried in mass graves. A stranger to our world would perhaps believe that the lack of news would indicate that we are well on the way to eradicating the problem on a worldwide basis. Unfortunately that naïve and sheltered being would be wrong.

According the most recent morbidity and mortality report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the problem has not gone away. As of yesterday over 14,000 people have been diagnosed and over 5000 people have died. While the number of new cases is 100 fewer than the previous reporting period, we are a long way from having any sort of control of the virus and its spread.

While I can appreciate the fact that those who produce and write the news assume that the average Canadian has the attention span of an underachieving knat, there are some of us who in fact can focus of something for an extended period of time. There are some of us who actually want to know what is going on in the world. The Ebola crisis has not gone away. In all likelihood it is not going to go away anytime soon. It will not go away without our investment of time, money and people.   It is, unfortunately a reality of the world that we live in that we will not invest in those things unless we are reminded and yes nagged and nagged until we collectively agree to do the right thing.

Trains, planes and buses

I have crossed portions of this country by car, plane, train and bus. It is a bloody big country. Travelling across it can consume a lot of resources.I am also a realist in terms of the fact that companies need to make money. I am not surprised that the cost of travel with Air Canada, Via Rail, Greyhound and West Jet increases during peak times such as Christmas. But it is blatant price gouging when such companies increase their prices by 50% during peak times. It makes it even worse when the service is poor and when assistance is hard either hard to find or time consuming.  

For the past few years I have had the joy of spending Christmas Eve and morning with my daughter and her family in Sudbury, Ontario and Christmas evening with my son and his family in Duncan, BC. Because I have needed to be back in time for school, the trip has been short and quite expensive. Consistently the plane connections have been problematic. In fact on every trip west, I have arrived late due to a missed connection. On at least two of those times, the staff at Air Canada suggested that I might have to spend a night in Vancouver before getting on a plane to Nanaimo the next morning. To say I was not a happy camper on those occasions would be a gross understatement.

I was looking forward to this Christmas. Because I am not working next semester I would be able to spend more time out west. Some weeks ago I booked my plane fight west. I did not arrange for a flight east in part because I was not sure how long I would be out west (ah the joys of being retired!).  I had the thought that perhaps I would take the train back in part because I have never travel across the Canadian land mass in winter. I also assumed (hoped) that the train would be cheaper than the plane.

Last Friday I received an email from Air Canada telling me that my flight from Sudbury had been cancelled but that they had put me on the 6:00 AM flight to Toronto. There were a hundred reasons why that was not going to work including the fact that leaving at 5:00 AM for the airport would mean that I was not spending Christmas morning with my grand kids. So I called the number they gave me. After pushing a few buttons to get me into the right queue, a somewhat mechanical voice informed me that the wait for a representative would be somewhere between 26 and 45 minutes! Who has that much time to wait for someone to answer the call? It was clear that not only is Air Canada saving money by jamming more of us into their planes and by charging extra for every conceivable item, but they also are not hiring enough staff. One has to wonder if by making consumers wait for so long, if some folks just give up and didn't bother to complain.

But I had the time - so I waited. For the next 26 minutes I had to listen to extraordinary poor "music" interspersed with little ads telling me how wonderful Air Canada was. A few comments apologizing for the poor service would have been so much better. When my turn came, almost as soon as I started to explain the problem I was cut off - disconnected. I sat there, with the phone in my hand, unable to believe that a company that had spent the last 26 minutes bragging about their awards and is responsible for using all kinds of sophisticated technology, could not figure out how to make sure that calls don't get disconnected.

I re-dialed, went through the same process of pushing buttons when requested and was once again told that I would have to wait. This time it was not quite as long but I had to listen to the same terrible music and the same irritating bragging but from my perspective, clearly erroneous messages. Twenty minutes later a charming young lady came on the line, listened to my complaints about the music, the messages and the almost hour of waiting. She apologized for the fact that my flight had been switched. After some discussion (which included her going to talk to someone else) she agreed that Air Canada could and should refund my money.

The good news about all of this is that if I take the train out and fly back, I could potentially save approximately $400-500 by travelling a week later than I normally do. So perhaps I should thank Air Canada. But it was such poor service I don't think I will. They might inflict my comments on some poor sot waiting for their turn to complain.

Mail (or the lack thereof)

A few news cycles ago - before we had the chaos on Parliament Hill and then more recently the disclosure that a popular radio host, at the very least, has somewhat unusual sexual inclinations  and at the worst believes that he has the right to hurt women, there was a national conversation about our postal service. I keep on hoping that that conversation will resurface. I suspect however, that that topic has had its fifteen minutes of fame and will not appear on the front pages for the foreseeable future.

It was interesting conversation if only for the reason that both sides were being somewhat disingenuous. From the postal service the argument was that mail deliveries to private address has been consistently dropping, that they could not afford to deliver the mail to people's doorsteps and that as 2/3 of people in Canada already do without house delivery - it is not really that much of a change. Cost savings are required because Canada Post will be mired in debt within the next five years and laying off 5,000 thousands workers will alleviate part of that problem.

Of course Canada Post does not or cannot say that they are in debt because the Canadian government does not see a postal service as a national services that requires government support. Canada Post has therefore had to raise the cost of a single stamp to eighty-five cents. Eighty-five cents to mail a Christmas card! No wonder people don't use the mail. (I can remember my parents selling Regal Christmas cards and making enough, I think, to pay for at least part of their Christmas). But the biggest untruth about their rational is how many people already don't get door delivery. Yes, 19% of Canadians live in rural Canada (Statistics Canada) and all of them have to walk down to the end of their driveway or else drive to the nearest mailbox. But what the justifiers of cancelling our mail service don't say is that 12% of those who don't get direct delivery live in condos (Statistics Canada) and another 25% live in apartment buildings. In other words almost half of all Canadians still live in single dwelling units. Only those who live in new developments have to go and get their mail. The need to reduce service may be a reality - but please just tell us the truth.

On the other side of the argument are the unions who of course want to protect jobs (is the laying of workers one more stake into the heart of unions? There was a time when students use to be able to make good money either during the Christmas rush or during summer holidays). The defenders of the status quo only apparent argument is that it will negatively affect seniors and the disabled. Really? While there is no way of knowing where the majority of seniors and those who have disability issues live, it would seem to me that a significant proportion probably already do not have full access to mail delivery. Not a very effect argument.

What neither side is saying is that a postal delivery service is a national service that connects people. Gradually reducing government support which in turn affects the service's effectiveness is a classical neo-liberal approach to eradicating government controls and regulations. Other countries can maintain their postal system - why can't we?

For 20 years I lived in a rural area where I had to drive five minutes down to the corner to get the mail. It was not a big deal except for the fact that I frequently forgot to get the mail and the post people had to write me a note (and leave it in the mail box) telling me to get my mail more frequently. Except for junk mail, I get so little mail now that I only bother to walk downstairs to check my mail box every week or so. My landlady has, on occasion, needed to email me to ask me to get my mail as my box is over-flowing.

When I lose direct mail service and have to walk down to the corner to get it - I hope someone is prepared to have to figure out what to do with all of those unwanted flyers jammed into my box.

Ottawa October 2014

This past Wednesday, in Ottawa, there were two tragic deaths.

There is no doubt that the murder of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was just that: murder. He was doing his job, unarmed, standing guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. He was doing something that many Canadians, if they had thought about it, would agree was symbolically important. He was doing something that I suspect he felt great pride in doing. He would have thought that it was an honour to be there.

He had not done anything wrong. He had not offended or attacked his killer, he had not done anything to hurt anyone. His murder was a senseless, random act of violence. Without wanting to sound crass, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. His killer would have killed anyone who was standing in that spot, doing their job.

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau also died on Wednesday. He, of course, was the person who killed Cpl. Nathan Cirillo before going on to the Parliament buildings and apparently attempting to shoot more people. In the up-coming weeks we may find out more about him, but right now we know that he was a petty criminal, an addict, someone who had been radicalized by some content on the internet and someone who at least twice asked the Canadian court system to help him deal with his addiction. He was someone who in all likelihood lived with some form of a mental illness. None of that background is a justification or an apology for his actions. What he did was profoundly wrong. There can be no excuse.

The consequences of the events in Ottawa on this past Wednesday maybe long lasting. The various guardians of public security will demand more power to investigate the lives of Canadians. The government of Canada has in fact already made it clear that they will seek to pass legislation to increase such powers. Police will review various policies and increase security at all of the usual places. For the next year political parties will jostle each other both in the House and in the streets to prove who has the best solutions to preventing another tragedy. However increased powers of surveillance would not have stopped Zehaf-Bibeau from committing murder (the police could not even notice that he was driving without license plates). Even if the State had the right to investigate all who had been radicalized in some fashion, there could never be enough tax dollars to fund the extraordinary increase in man/woman power required to staff that law. We can spend the next year fretting over the events and promising that we will do all that we can, including attacking the root source of the radicalization - and this time next year a person similar to Zehaf-Bibeau might try and might succeed in doing something similar.

There is something that we can do to prevent mindless, random acts of violence perpetuated by people who are addicted to substances and who live with some form of a mental illness. At the very least we can have systems in place to help people who ask for help. I know that talking about mental health is not as sexy as talking about  increasing our national security but I have to believe that if the system had been able to offer help to Zehaf-Bibeau at the right time, Cpl. Nathan Cirillo would still be alive. His death was not the result of a failure of our national security agencies, but rather as a result of our collective failure to help those who need help.

Story telling #3 Addendum

I find it interesting and in some perverted way a bit satisfying to note the increased attention being paid to the Ebola outbreak within the past few days. The western media and western governments are starting to act as if someone should be concerned. Of course the concern only exist because of the number (no matter how few) of residents of the US or Europe who either have contracted it or at least may have been exposed to it. Most Canadian provinces now have designated hospitals in major cities that are equipped and have trained staff. We are becoming concern because it may affect us.

Clearly, in order to generate public concern and the willingness to invest tax dollars, we will need to be inundated with scary information to generate sufficient moral panic to take action. Action that should have happened five months ago.

TVO had an excellent discussion on Ebola last night. One of the guests was a Canadian doctor (Doctors Without Borders) who had work in West Africa six or so months ago and another was the head of Doctors Without Borders. While the President of MSF was slightly more circumspect than the doctor, both made it clear that (1) MSF had made it clear six months ago that this outbreak was unusual and that the world needed to get actively involved right away and (2) it was beyond human comprehension as to why the world was not becoming fully engaged now in providing resources to fight the spread of this disease. It was refreshing to hear people say what they thought.

What was even more surprising was Steve Paikin said. He asked the question as to why we didn’t respond sooner and with more resources. He wondered out loud if it was because the virus was only affecting poor black Africans. Paikin usually tries to be a neutral host. Yesterday he asked a question that we all need to ask – and then answer.

On the Road Again The Gathering #5

A focus point for many members of the Family at a Gathering is the full moon celebration. I have never been sure why, but some, it is the reason why they come. For the majority, especially for those who can only make it for a few days getting there for the full moon celebration is always their target. It is almost always a night of good food, drumming and dancing. For me, other than being up past midnight, in a clearing with the moon shinning so bright that one could almost read - the full moon has no special significance. Except of course for the fact that my family is there and are happy.

The full moon at this Gathering was exceptional - it was clear, bright and so full that it almost filled the sky. It was a bit cold but nothing too uncomfortable. I spent less time than normal at the main circle fire in part because my good friend from Salt Spring arrived well after dark. By the time we had hung around with each other up at the road, waiting for her stuff to get settled, the party was well underway. Then a bit later I met a couple on the road who had a bit of a problem that that they needed to talk to someone about. It could have been anyone - I just happened to be there. It was a bit complicated and took sometime to sort out. By that point I was tired and so after making a somewhat cursory visit to the fire, I went off to bed. Perhaps I am getting too old to spend all night dancing beside a raging bonfire..

The next few days drifted by in their usual unstructured haze. People, abet somewhat slowly, continued to arrive and as usual even more people started to leave. By Monday morning there were significantly fewer cars on the shoulders of the dirt road. While there was no real rush in me getting back to Duncan, I started to get a bit anxious about how to get at least to the highway. My back had been well taken care of and felt reasonably fine. The thought however, of walking 10 kilometers before reaching some sort of major intersection was more than I wanted to consider. I was relieved that by Monday night after supper I had tentatively gotten a ride on Wednesday morning at least to Nanaimo. Which was great and I felt as if I could relax, a bit. I am always conscious of the fact that not everyone is as obsessive about punctuality as I am.

While the planning and anticipation about going to and getting to a Gathering are exciting, the leaving for me is not. As readers of this blog are aware, I do not separate well. It is always difficult for me to leave friends and family, especially after being immersed in each other’s lives for 7-8 days.

By 9:00 on Wednesday, I was packed and had most of my stuff up by the road. There was a bit of a panic as I couldn’t find the person who had offered me a drive and I started to wonder if he had left without me. Which of course was silly – he was not even up. At some point he must have noticed me sort of shadowing him so he confirmed that he was still going but that he would not be leaving until after lunch; which meant that we would not be leaving until sometime after 2:00. I found it incredibly difficult to hang around doing nothing, feeling as if I no longer belonged there. I wanted to stay for ever or at least another few days but knew that was not a possibility; I had already backed my bags and figuratively gotten on the bus leaving town. Eventually long before noon I said good bye to my friends and went up to the road to wait.

It was a long wait but eventually my driver (who had had immigrated from Russia), someone from Vancouver who was incredibly positive focused and a young brother from Seattle were all up at the road at the same time and away we went. It was close to 3:00 when we left and of course we had to stop at Gold River for junk food. It felt as if we would never get on our way. When we did get going it was an enjoyable drive, folks were chatty and relaxed. My fellow back seat passenger from Seattle had some interesting stories and asked equally interesting questions.

We had left a lot later than I had hoped. I was a bit concerned being let off somewhere near Nanaimo and it being dark. I really didn’t want to sleep outside on the side of the road. It looked like rain might be a possibility and I felt tired and more than a bit grubby. Sleeping outside would not make me feel any better or any cleaner. However B.C. had just increased the speed limit to 120 KPH which meant that my driver was comfortable going 10 or so kilometres a hour faster than that. The drive did not last nearly as long as I expected. We got to the turn off to the ferry about an hour before sunset.

I  called my son to tell him where I was. He offered to come and get me, It was a generous offer and I appreciated  it but it would have been a hassle for him to pack up the kids just at bedtime and go for a two hour drive. Besides I had done so little hitchhiking that I wanted to make sure that I had not lost my touch.  I hadn't. Within a few minutes a mid-90's Cadillac stopped. The front door was broken, so I sat in the back seat. It was nice being chauffeured in a big old car that was (with the exception of the door) in great shape. My driver was a middle age man, a lawyer who was about to embark onto a rather interesting and very challenging new career. He had just been employed as part of a team that would investigate complaints against the police. As he had already worked as both a prosecutor and a defense lawyer, he understood the issues. If everyone on the team was as well trained, experienced and committed to the process as he was, I would be very optimistic as to the success of the program.

As happens so often, the drive ended too soon. There was so much more we could have talked about. I suspect that when my driver stopped to pick me up, he didn't realize that his new passenger would have enough of a working knowledge of the courts to engage in a detailed conversation of how the law worked. I am always amazed at the diversity of my drivers. I am equally amazed at how they challenge me to draw on all of my experiences to fully engage them in our time together.

My driver dropped me off on the outskirts of Duncan, I could have walked to my son's but I was lazy - so I called him and fifteen minutes later I was back home. Another Gathering to remember, more memories to file away for those cold and rainy days of November when the glories of the previous summer are almost lost and the upcoming one too far away to dream of.