Raptors and the Cost of Seats

I like watching basketball on television. It is a fast-paced game that requires a level of skill and fitness from all of the athletes on the floor, attributes that are not always apparent in other sports. I wish I had seen more games live. In fact, I have only seen two professional matches - one involved the Harlem Globetrotters years and years ago and another just last fall when I saw a game played by teams from a second or perhaps even third tier basketball league. The odds of me making it to a big league game in a major city are somewhat remote. The odds of me making it to a Raptors' playoff game are infinitesimally smaller.

It has been reported that, if one wants a really good seat to watch the Raptors compete in their first ever championships series - it will cost up to $30,000 for your seat. I like basketball and I would really like to see the kind of show that a professional basketball team put on but I think I would rather buy a new electric car than go to a playoff game. At least in an electric car, I would get more than one seat for my money.

I understand that professional sport is business just like any other business. I get that the sole function of such a business is to make money for the owners. I also understand that both the corporation and the scalpers who will sell the tickets for even more have a limited number of games in which to make that money and therefore they need to gouge as many people as possible.

Part of me wants to scream out that it is just not fair, that in a society like ours we should all have access to the same type of opportunities; that surely there are people who deserve to go but won't be able to because of the cost. I have no doubt there is a little boy or girl whose life would be forever changed for the better if only they could go to a Raptor's game. But the reality is that going to a playoff game is not a human right. It is a social privilege accorded to a relatively small number of individuals, individuals who have both the capacity and desire to pay that amount of money for a few hours of entertainment. For that amount of money, they also get the vicarious pleasure (hopefully) of winning a game and I suppose, some sort of bragging rights around the office water cooler the next day.

For the rest of us, we will just have to suck it up and pretend that it really doesn't matter to us.

But in some ways, it should matter to everyone. In this hyper-inflated world that we live in, where some people are rewarded with millions of dollars for jumping or running or skating better than the rest of us; where we value possessions and "star" quality over hard work, commitment and basic human decency; in a world where bad behaviour is forgiven if the person has sufficient political or financial power, we need to recognize that maybe, just maybe our priorities are a bit misaligned.

Someone has to win the NBA championship - I hope it is the Raptors. I, like thousands of other Canadians who will not go to the game, and do not have access to the right cable channel to watch them on television will still quietly cheer them on. But I do not think I am alone in wishing that I go afford to go to a game. A little electric car might have at least two seats and its value would last much longer - but it would never be as exciting.

Whose Garbage Is It?

Canada's reputation as a reasonable and fair trading partner and an over-all good guy has been tarnished just a little bit more by the fact that we deposited 103 containers of garbage in the Philippines and for months have refused to go and get it.

All of the parties concerned agree that the containers came from Canada and that, instead of the recyclable material that the containers were supposed to contain, they contained household garbage, the stuff -including dirty diapers - that we would send to our local landfill sites. The kind of garbage that the Philippines never agreed to take. As such, there would appear to be little doubt that someone in Canada is responsible to ensure that the garbage comes back to Canada or goes elsewhere so that it can be disposed of properly. My question is why is it my problem?

I don't understand why the Government of Canada should be responsible for paying for the return of these 103 containers, or responsible for their disposal once they get here. I don't understand why my tax dollars will get used to solve this problem. It may be my garbage - but I have already paid someone to take it away. The fact that some private, for-profit company bent (or in fact broke) the rules as to what should go where - should not be my problem. Some company got paid to pick up the garbage. Part of that cost was for them to dispose of it in an approved manner. The fact that it was cheaper to ship it just over 10,000 kilometres than it was to pay local dumping fees says something about how we process our waste but disposing of it was why we paid them to pick it up. This unknown company appears to have loaded up 103 containers, got them loaded onto a boat and then washed their hand of the problem. They had to have known what they were doing was wrong They had to have known that as soon as someone in the Philippines opened those containers to start processing the recyclable materials that they would close up the containers and report it. Clearly, they did not care.

What is surprising about this whole affair is that I cannot find a single published account of who this company was. This was not something that was done by one person. There were truck drivers, stevedores, accountants, and countless others who knowingly or unknowingly were involved in the operation - but no one is talking. The company had to have had a licence to do business, to export material, they had to have paid all of the federal taxes that all companies pay. They must have had an agreement with some company in the Philippines. And yet no one is holding the owners of that company to account. Why?

In a world where we document almost everything, in a world where people share all kinds of information on social media, in a world where various political parties take great delight in looking for dirt on the ruling party - why is no one talking about who this company is and how to reclaim the cost of retrieval from the owners of this company?

The company may have disappeared or gone bankrupt. However, if the courts can confiscate the private possessions obtained through the profits of crime - these owners did commit a crime and therefore they should lose everything until their bill is paid off. If we hold companies responsible for what they do in other countries - should we not hold this company responsible as well?

Veganism is Not a Religion!

Every once in a while, as I peruse the various new sites while munching away on my breakfast of brown rice, I read an article that leaves me gobsmacked. That is, I am left speechless in absolute amazement as to how weird our world is and, at least in my opinion, how misdirected some people are about what is important.

At some point this week I read a story about an Ontario forest fire fighter who is going to " the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario against his employer, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, over his treatment and subsequent suspension while fighting a fire near William's Lake, B.C., in 2017" (CBC). The individuals says that he is a vegan for ethical reasons which makes his veganism a creed. His employer, therefore, is obligated to cater to his dietary needs. He argues that because there was no food suitable for him to eat, he was forced to work without sufficient proteins which led him to act irrationally and to be suspended because of his behaviour. For what it is worth, while he may have not had the opportunity to eat plant-based protein, I suspect what firefighters need is lots of high-calorie foods to maintain their energy.

At some point early in 1973, I decided to not eat meat. I have not knowingly eaten meat since. There are a number of reasons why I made that decision, but over the years choosing to not eat meat on a daily basis has been an integral part of my life. It has shaped many of my values and my personal belief system. It has not always been easy. There have been times when I have been travelling where my choices have been very limited. I have been to numerous training weeks or conferences where all that there was for me to eat was the salad made up of iceberg lettuce and a sliced up radish. I can remember one dinner where I somehow ended up just below the head table when the Lieutenant - Governor of Ontario was sitting. I can remember her looking at me with a strange, partially amused expression as I traded the roast beef on my plate for mashed potatoes and carrots. One does what one has to do to survive - even if it is at a semi-formal dinner. While I have seldom missed the opportunity to remind people that a more expansive menu would be appreciated, I have never once considered it my right to have my diet served to me.

Veganism is not a creed - it is lifestyle choice. The individual was not forced into that job, he did not have to go to BC - he chose to. It is not up to the state to support those choices when it would cause undue hardship or chaos for them to do so. They were fighting a bloody forest fire in what some would refer to as the middle of nowhere, People were losing their life's possessions, people's lives were at risk - no one had time to cook a separate meal for someone who had decided he wanted to follow a different diet.

There are millions of people starving every day. Countless numbers of children go to bed hungry every single night of their lives - and this guy wants to have his diet been deemed a creed to he can get his job back? Really - we should all have more important things to worry about.

High Level Alberta - and Fire

In the West, we are now in forest fire season. Every year the fires seem to get started just a little bit earlier and they seem to be just a little bit more damaging. If one does not live in an area where forest fires are likely, or if one does not have family or friends living in such an area, I suspect that it all seems a little bit hum-drum. Perhaps if it is a spectacular fire such as the one at Fort McMurray a few years back, we might donate money to the Red Cross, but for so many Canadians, forest fires are just another natural disaster that someone else has to live through.

I am not any better than anyone else. Hearing about the constant litany of disasters both in Canada and around the world can get exhausting. There are times when I am a little bit envious of my grandparents who frequently would not have known about natural disasters until months after the event. They would never have had to worry about how the people affected by the disaster were managing. However, every once in a while something happens in a small corner of Canada that I happened to have visited and then I worry about the people that I met there and hope they are okay.

A few years ago, I spent a night in High Level, Alberta. I was on the way to Yellowknife, taking a slight detour on my way from Sudbury to Duncan, B.C. In that part of Canada, on the July 1st weekend, the sun barely sets. I suppose I could have hitchhiked all night but I was tired and needed a shower. High Level was just a small town, in the middle of nowhere about halfway between Edmonton and Yellowknife. Like so many of the small towns I pass through on my trips, I didn't get to see much of it, but as I watched the highway and the buildings along either side, I saw lots of people going into the indoor pool, people riding their ATVs along the trailsand people coming into town to do shopping. It looked like a nice town, a town where kids and parents played together.

There were two hotels/motels to choose from, one looking significantly newer than the other. I chose the older looking one. It was of an older "pan-a-bode" ( pre-fab log building) design that had clearly had seen better days. While it was dwarfed by the more modern looking and larger motel around it, the name got my attention..... "Sweet Dreams Motel". Who could resist staying in a place that had such a charming name? It was almost 9:30 and in spite of the fact that the sign said that the office was open until 11:00 there was no immediate response to the doorbell. In fact, I was about to turn away when I saw, through the office door window an older woman wrapped in a bathrobe approaching the door. For a moment I thought that perhaps the building had been turned into a residence and I had awoken a permanent resident. I apologize for disturbing her but her response was somewhat reassuring " Its O.K., that is what I am here for.”

She was not very empathetic about my slow rate of travel. When I mentioned that I was hitchhiking to Yellowknife she suggested that I was either travelling in the wrong direction or at the wrong time as many northerners were be heading towards urban areas (south) for the long weekend. But she had a friendly smile and it was fun to trade quips with here. I don't think she knew how to give a straight answer, for example when she gave me my room key, I asked her where it was. She just said, "go out the door and follow the numbers until you find it"!

The building looked run down. Whatever colour the milled, fabricated logs had been - they were now a dirty brown. There was at least one vehicle in the parking lot that looked abandoned. Its back end was jacked up and the tires and rims were off. It had last year's plates on it. Inside the room was interesting. It was rather dark and while everything was clean, it all certainly looked like it had been well used. But the bathroom was fine (if noisy as the family next door could be heard quite clearly), either of the two beds were comfortable and the curtains were double lined so that sunlight could not get through them. I had had a great night’s sleep and woke up feeling refreshed.

As usual, I could have stayed in bed an extra hour, had a leisurely breakfast, slowly wandered over to my particular stretch of highway and still have had time to get a bit bored. But then if I had stayed in bed I would have missed watching the town get ready for the Canada Day parade. All of the town fire trucks, the town maintenance vehicles as well as a few trucks pulling floats went by me, heading I assumed, to the start of the parade. Of course, there would be no fireworks...what is the point if it does not get dark.

And now the entire town has been evacuated because the forest fire just south of High Level is putting the town at risk. I hope the few people I met including the woman in her dressing gown who made me feel welcome are safe, and that the Sweet Dreams Motel, as run down as it was, remains standing to serve the traveller just passing through.

The forest fire in High Level is not just a place where another disaster is happening - it is a town with moms and dads and children. it is a placed that offered me shelter for a night. If my good thoughts and wishes were worth anything - everything will be okay.

Abortion - Still a Discussion in 2019???

In some parts of the USA, the act of abortion has been or is about to be made illegal. No one, in the late 1970s could ever have dreamed of a world where Canada, in a few years time, maybe the last country in North America to allow women to make the choice as to what is best for them and their bodies (the law in Mexico is a bit murky but it appears as if more and more states within that country are leaning towards restricting abortion). It is beyond difficult for me to even consider the possibility that at least some Canadian politicians are dreaming about limiting/preventing access to abortion in Canada. It is a conversation that I thought was long ago finished.

It is clear that in the USA the discussion has become so polarized that the time for any attempt to have an informed, rational and constructive dialogue has long passed. On one side of the debate (interestingly mainly led by men), there are those who say that they believe that life starts at conception and that all life is sacred. To destroy the life of a fetus is therefore equivalent of murder and as in the case of Alabama's new law - those who perform an abortion could go to jail for a maximum of 99 years. On the other side of this ongoing debate are those (generally women) who argue that what happens to a woman and her body should be decided by that woman. There is no place for a compromise between those two diametrically points of view.

However, some of the facts that anti-abortionists use to support their case are wrong. And those points need to be discussed so that the fallacies of their conclusions can be driven home. The anti-choice people argue that abortion is not needed because young girls and their families are no longer embarrassed if a pregnancy occurs and secondly because there are lots of services available to support single moms and their child. While it may be true that that young girls who become pregnant are less likely to be stigmatised by their community, I have no doubt that there are many in that community who do see un-wed pregnancy as something shameful and proof of some sinful activity. However, it is the argument that there are sufficient services to support sole support mothers that is dangerously misleading.

It needs to be clearly understood that all of the data from statistical collection agencies such as Statistics Canada clearly indicate that children in single-parent families:
1) are more likely to have difficulty in school
2) are more likely to experience trouble with the law
3) are less likely to finish high school
4) are less likely to enter post-secondary education
5) are less likely to finish post-secondary education

By any measurement, children who are only supported by one parent have a more difficult time than do children living in two-parent families. Less researched is how successful or more likely how unsuccessful are the mothers as their education is interrupted, as they are forced to live in substandard housing and to work in low paying jobs. The cost of living with the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy for 18-20 years has not been adequately measured.

If the anti-choice people are truly serious about all life being sacred then I would suggest that those people start developing programs that would guarantee that all families have access to safe and affordable housing, that sole support moms are given a guaranteed income to allow for a reasonable standard of living, that there be ample opportunity for government-paid access to post-secondary education, that there be safe and affordable daycare for everyone who needs/wants it and that sole support families have available specialize support programs to ensure that children and their moms remain connected to their communities.

Of course, if all of that support was made available - people would say that young women were lazy and were getting pregnant so that they could live off of the government payments. Just like they do now when some of those same people question if some moms should be eligible for food stamps or welfare payments.

Another Fine Mess You Have Gotten Us Into!

The charges against Vice-Admiral Mark Norman have been stayed. Norman was originally charged with leaking or disclosing sensitive information to one company during a bidding process for a substantial government contract. At the time, on the surface, it did appear as if he had given information that could have given one company an advantage over another. The RCMP investigated the allegations, searched his house and office, passed on what they found to the prosecutors; it was determined that there was sufficient information for charges to be laid.

For over a year Norman has been suspended from his job with the Canadian Navy, his reputation is in tatters and one has to assume that he has invested a considerable amount of money in his defence. All of a sudden, the Crown declares that there is not a reasonable chance of conviction and the case, appropriately was dropped. Obviously, at one point the crown thought there was a solid case and then they thought differently. What could have possibly happened?

It is possible that the RCMP were over-enthusiastic in their investigation. Perhaps the evidence appeared to be so clear that they just did not ask the right questions of the right people. It appears that the latter is what happened. It turns out that Norman, acting under instructions from the Harper Government, did disclose information to the one company. To be clear - the government told him to do so. At least three Ministers of the Crown knew this to be the case. Those three men decided not to tell the police or the Crown Attorney what they knew - but rather to tell the defence team. When they have been asked why didn't they come forward sooner - their answer was no one asked us!

In my narrow world of reasonable thought, it would seem to me that it is the duty of every citizen to come forward and tell the authorities what they know - especially if they know an innocent man has been falsely accused. We are not supposed to wait until someone asks us; even more, we are not supposed to sit on important information until such time that it can embarrass the sitting government. It is difficult to imagine any reason why the witnesses waited for so long to come forward other than to believe that it was an intentional act to make the government look bad. The allegations of government interference, in spite of both the defence and prosecuting attorneys saying that there was none, comes conveniently close after the SNC affair. One must wonder if the timing is accidental.

For people who have been national politicians, who have claimed to have the best interest of all Canadians at heart- to allow someone to spend months with a black cloud over their head is unconscionable. To allow the thousands and thousands of dollars to be spent in this trial - knowing that he was innocent and that the charges would be dropped is just wrong.

Vice-Admiral Norman will, I am sure, sue someone for his false accusations. For many people who have been falsely accused, they may remain free, but they are hopelessly in debt; they seldom have the opportunity to reclaim their reputation. Of course, many more cannot afford their own lawyer and are mass processed through our inadequate legal aid system. In a perfect world, Norman's desire for retribution would receive exactly the same level of support as do all people who are charged with a criminal offence and found not guilty. But he won't. He will be celebrated by a certain segment of the elite, he will win because the political pressure to vindicate him will be almost overwhelming.

It is a win-win situation for Norman, the Conservatives. In fact, the only people who lose are the people of Canada.

It's My Birthday

While almost all of my blogs are about how I feel - most of the blogs are about my feeling in terms of politics or the silliness or the selfishness of people. I seldom write about how I am feeling about my life and almost never about my family. But today I turned 70. In the previous few weeks, I have thought about that milestone and the world's reaction to it. I have, I think, uncovered a relatively new phenomenon that at the very least has surprised me.

First of all - I am rather pleased with myself that I have made it to 70. I quite frankly did not think I would last this long. If I thought about it at all, when I was in my mid-fifties I assumed that I would be dead by 65. As it is I have lived the better part of a decade longer than my father. So I feel pretty good about it all and when I get the chance I want to brag just a little bit. It turns out, however, that turning 70, at least amongst my peers is no big deal - it is certainly something not worth talking about.

I live in a mobile home park for those over the age of 55. Most of the people that I volunteer with are also seniors. A good proportion of the people that I work with, as well as my neighbours, are in their mid-to-late seventies or even older. To them, I am but a spring chicken who knows little about life. There is a subtle competition that goes on amongst some of the seniors that I know. They seem to want to brag about how well they are doing -which is fine - but there is an implied put-down of anyone younger than them who are not doing as well. There is little support for those who are physically not as healthy, who have conditions that mean that they can do less than their older peers. It is as if I should be as healthy as them. If I am not as active as them because of my health- then that is my fault. Furthermore, they certainly do not want to hear me complain about my body occasionally falling apart. Any time I mention my age, the response is either - "wait until you get to be my age" or "you are still young yet".

I am not sure if it is some sort of ageism, or perhaps some sort of protective mechanism that allows them not to worry about their own health. I am not sure if this "I-am-better-than-you-because-I-am-older" type of thinking is because we live in this part of Canada where we are supposed to be all healthy and to discuss any failures is a betrayal of the land or if it just the naturally competitive nature of humans. Most of us have few arenas left to compete in other than how long we have managed to survive.

I am not convinced that this focus on how long we have lived is a healthy one. It separates out those who are not doing as well, isolates them, perhaps makes them feel less than others. As we age - we need the support of our peers, being told that some of us may be less equal than others because our bodies are falling apart is not much of a support.

It is never useful when we are told that we only have value when we are like everyone else, and when some people set the standard of perfection.