With a little help from my friends

Oh, the delicious irony -- a 28-year old grad student from a state college, Thomas Herndon, takes down two Harvard professors, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, whose influential research has been used by politicians to justify austerity measures.  Good on Herndon for having the courage of his convictions.

Sometimes life has a way of grabbing your attention, particularly when you face death. I've lived long enough to have been there.  Sometimes we cheat it for a short while but let me tell you about my close brush with death.

It would have been a rather embarrassing way to go.  I was closing up the cottage for the winter, trying to get everything done before the shorter days of October put an end to my work.  I grabbed a quick bite on the run from the few remains left in the fridge and before I knew it, I was unable to breathe.

This hadn't happened before so I wasn't quite sure how to respond.  Perhaps my mind works in rather strange ways, which is entirely possible, but the first thing I thought was that I didn't want to leave a mess for the kids.  Then I looked out the window and while this wasn't quite the scene I saw that day, it's similar enough.  I said to myself if this is the last thing I see, well, it's beautiful.



Perception is a funny thing.  Sometimes time seems to crawl by at a snail's pace like a child's last school day before summer holidays.  Other times it seems to pass in the blink of an eye; your child's childhood.  That day, my entire life did not so much pass before my eyes.  Rather what seemed to happen is that images flashed by; a slide show of the important emotional moments of my life.  In my mind's eye, there were my sweet sons as babies and the faces of good friends.  There were special moments and even the good acquaintances I had met along the way.  As time stood still, I thought what an amazing, fortunate life I've had.

I managed to perform the Heimlich Maneuver and so here I am for another day. I am pretty sure that my perception of time was warped because of the effects of adrenaline but still that moment lingers with me. For what came to me then were the people in my life, the loving relationships, and a serenity from having tried to make the world a better place.  I mean how many people have the privilege of working to improve the lives of children?

Once something like this happens, priorities may change.  I care even less about niceties, money and status and care far more about people.  While I was somewhat fearless before, now I've become incorrigible.  Not in the sense of taking stupid physical risks rather it's that I simply don't care what polite society thinks of me.  I more frequently speak my mind and make far too many bad puns!

Speaking truth to power is a Quaker expression that captures an alternative response to violence.  I like its sentiment except that in my experience, I believe it should be used sparingly and to defend others.  I'm not about to speak truth to an insignificant slight nor to use it as an excuse to pass judgement on Justin's undershirt, no matter how tempting that might be.

Speaking truth is powerful when it is expressed from the heart with courage and conviction.  I think of Elijah Harper who stopped the Meech Lake Accord with the power of an eagle feather and his simple refusal to vote yes.  Without a doubt, there were powerful figures trying to convince Harper to vote otherwise and it took courage to stand up as he did.  Or I think of the speech of Dr. Martin Luther King "I have a Dream".  This video still gives me goosebumps even after many viewings.

Forgive this small contribution of speaking truth to power.  To my political colleagues in various levels of government, some of you have largely overblown the fiscal crisis here in Canada.  You have misled people by repeatedly overstating the depth of the crisis, in using scare tactics and intimidation, by falsely blaming others, or in using the results a particular study that is now discredited.  You have championed measures that trampled democratic rights and scapegoated welfare recipients and teachers.  You have overlooked those who avoided taxes by moving their money offshore.  You have left many pensioners in the lurch by ignoring the destruction of Canadian enterprises such as Nortel.  And you have created a "Shock Doctrine" crisis to alter Canada's political landscape.  Canada is such an amazing country in large measure because of it's sense of justice and democracy.  Shame on you!

In the last couple of weeks, teachers and education workers have been torn on how to vote but let me say this particularly because few have.  You have been courageous in your stand for democratic rights.  Yes, it has been painful at times for everyone involved but the alternatives were either 12 years of labour unrest as in B.C. or the loss of labour rights as in Wisconsin.  You have dodged both these bullets and achieved an important victory for future teachers, for other workers in the public sector, and for many Canadians.  Thank you.

The struggle for freedom is ongoing.  Sometimes it's waged internally against preconceived notions and sometimes it's against external forces.  We are fortunate to live in Canada and usually the worst that happens here for speaking up is that you embarrass yourself.  As I would tell my teenage sons -- believe me, I have done this repeatedly and yet miraculously here I am to tell the tale.

The good news is that you too can help save the life of a child.  Sometimes it's a simple matter of having a little courage and trusting yourself.  By speaking up for those who can't, you become your own best self.  Perhaps this can be best summed up in a broader sense through the powerful words of Dr. Martin Luther King, "Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty we are free at last."


The views expressed in this blog are my personal views only.  I'm taking a vacation for a few weeks and won't be posting during this time.  Thank you so much for taking the time to read this blog.  I have always appreciated your comments and learned so much in the process.

There is one question I would like to take a moment to answer.  I have never been a teacher nor have I ever worked for a school.  There are no teachers in my family.  Rather I have been touched by the humanity of many educators and school staff.  This doesn't mean that I don't get angry with the machinations of the system.  For the most part the individual teachers and education workers I've met, and they have been many over 18 years, have been caring and kind.  The next time you're tempted to give a teacher a piece of your mind, remember that she is likely also caught by the institutional rules.

I would also like to thank teachers and the Ottawa Carleton Elementary Teachers' Federation for your support.  I was very touched to receive your Honourary Life Membership award and I cherish it.

Scapegoating teachers and bank profits

Last night I sat listening to The National and heard in disbelief Gord Nixon, CEO of the Royal Bank, explain the nuanced difference between outsourcing jobs and hiring foreign workers.  Is this attempt at befuddlement why they pay you the big bucks, Mr. Nixon, for according to the Financial Post, your take-home pay last year was $12.6 million? http://business.financialpost.com/2013/02/04/rbc-boosts-ceos-pay-25-to-12-6-million/  Or are you truly befuddled yet somehow still running a major institution?  In case it's the latter, let me be clear.  Many Canadians do not give a rat's ass what you call it but they do care that they or their neighbours are losing jobs at a time when the RBC is making record profits, $7.5 billion in 2012 alone. http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/11/29/rbc-profit-earnings.html  To dress up your bank's shamelessly greedy practices in legalities is like putting lipstick on a pig.  And for the people who made RBC great, your Canadian depositors, it is nothing short of a slap in the face.  Perhaps I'll close my RBC account.  Perhaps we all should.

Last year, all Canadian banks made billions as did many corporations.  But if  "Government contracts have fallen out of step with the workplace norm." as Barrie McKenna of the Globe and Mail claims in his piece "In fight over banked sick days, a widening fairness gap is exposed", is it because government contracts have inflated or because workplace norms have become impoverished? http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/in-fight-over-banked-sick-days-a-widening-fairness-gap-is-exposed/article10837039/ 

Even with record profits, business practices similar to RBC's are not unusual and they often enough include a curtailment of sick leave or pensions at the time when western populations are aging and most in need of these benefits.  And as some Canadian business reporters note, profits are not even reinvested in infrastructure to modernize the Canadian workplace.    

Canadians should be decrying their loss of sick leave or pension benefits.  Instead we see lots of finger-pointing and scapegoating particularly of teachers on the part of conservative pundits.  A lie repeated often enough is perceived as truth.  There are provincial and federal government deficits to point to too but what conservative pundits don't say is that these deficits were often created not by an economic downturn but by the actions of government.  By the late 1990s, Mike Harris's government had reduced both corporate and personal taxes.  Many of these taxes have not been reinstated and the revenue they generated for the Ontario government has not been found elsewhere.  

As well with little infrastructure replacement, our manufacturing economy has suffered and Ontario has gone from being a have to a have-not province.  Still Ontario continues to pay equalization payments as if it were a have province to the tune of $11 billion annually, all the while dealing with a $12 billion deficit.  Even if Ontario did not receive equalization payments but simply stopped paying into the Equalization Program, its deficit would instantly shrink to a far more manageable $1 billion.

Should we just continue our race to the bottom and perhaps ask the Royal Bank to outsource our kids' education too?  The point is that at the very least, our children are going to need a good education if the next generation is going to cope with the sorry state of this world.  Much of the research on education in Canada and abroad indicates that this is best accomplished with having teachers in the classroom who are decently treated and respected.  But let's not kid ourselves.  The scapegoating is unlikely to stop anytime soon for unlike other jurisdictions, Ontario's teachers have successfully withstood an attempt to undermine their rights.  Conservative pundits will not let this pass.

Which brings me back to last night's news.  The architect of modern austerity programs, Margaret Thatcher, has passed away.  According to some British commentators, she left in her wake the destruction of the British middle class.  Some have even said that her deregulation measures, which served as the template for Ronald Reagan's sweeping reforms, caused America's banking crisis.  Ultimately Mrs. Thatcher's policies and their short-term gains may be judged even more harshly by future historians.

Sure, so go ahead and keep on blaming the teachers.  Maybe then you'll miss that the financial world is going down the drain due to irresponsible corporate practices, bloated CEO compensation packages, and the ridiculous profits of banks like RBC.

The views expressed in this blog are my personal views only.