March 13, 2020, due to Covid-19 the government has just announced a partial shutdown of the Country. Schools until April 2020 and sporting events until June 2020 to name a few. The public perception seems to be that the worst of this disease will be over in several months and things will go back to normal, but with the development of vaccine possibly a year or more away, there is nothing to stop the rapid spreading of the disease again, as soon as the closures are lifted. Can we keep the Country closed for a year, what about food, essential services, and the economy?
So what is the best way to deal with this problem? The key is in the 2 things that make this virus unique. The first is that it is highly contagious and easily transmitted. The second is that it is not fatal in the vast majority of the population. Until a cure is found the answer is to isolate as much as possible, the small percentage of the population that has conditions that may cause the disease to be fatal. The rest of the healthy population should be allowed to be naturally exposed to the virus as quickly as possible, but at a controlled rate that would not overwhelm our health care system for those that may need extra help recovering. Once a high percentage of the healthy population has built up a natural immunity to Covid-19, it would make it extremely difficult for the virus to remain active. Those people at high risk could then come out of isolation in relative safety.
So what do we do now? We are lucky in Canada as our health system is not already overwhelmed. The current closures should help keep it that way. The next step is to slowly start opening things to the healthy public and allowing the virus to spread at a controlled rate. Monitoring hospital capacity is crucial in how fast we open things up. Who we consider not healthy and should remain in isolation should be based on statistical information from other countries on mortality rates due to age, and underlining conditions. Results from some of these countries like China should be scrutinized for accuracy.
If you are part of the healthy population you need to make a decision on your strategy. Do you try to hide from what may turn out to be inevitable or do you allow yourself to be infected at a time the emergency ward of the hospital is not overrun and can help you if you need them? After all, giving your immune system a workout now may help you get through Covid-2?.
Have you ever been in a hurry and after rushing through the supermarket and getting home, you realize the expiration date on what you just bought for dinner passed 3 months ago? At almost any given store now, you can find expired food or food that is long past the best before date still selling on the shelves at full price. Enough is enough, its time for the government to impose regulations that will not only protect the consumer but stop the wasting of food and even help with the hunger problem we have in this country.
The “best before” and “expiration” dates on packaging is a problem that’s been driving consumers crazy for years. Every item you pick up is a new game of “Where’s Waldo”. Location, small font size, lack of contrast with the background, or written in a long code the CIA couldn’t crack are some of the biggest problems. Sometimes the date doesn’t say if it is the best before or the expiration and on top of that, a lot of people still aren’t really sure of the difference (the best before is the date of the item’s optimum freshness, but many items are still perfectly good and safe to eat beyond this date, until they reach their expiration date).
If the government were to start phasing in regulations, everyone would benefit. Heres what I would suggest:
Every grocery item that is required to currently have a best before or expiry date should be required to have both
The best before and expiry date to be located on the front or main side of the item.
The size of the font for the dates should be no less than 0.3 cm high.
The dates should be written in black on a white background or similar contrast to make it easily readable
The dates should all be written in the same format: MMM DD YYYY
This is an example of how the above products would look under the new regulations
So how would the new labeling help?
It would make it easier for supermarkets to keep stock rotated on the shelves and harder for them to try saving money by not rotating.
Supermarkets would also be pressured to sell items that had passed the best before date but still before the expiration dates at a reduced price, making it more affordable to those on a tight budget.
Consumers would have an easier time finding and being more aware of the dates. This would also make it harder for supermarkets to sell expired goods.
Those consumers that could afford it would be more likely to donate to food banks when an item in their cupboard passed the best before date but had not yet expired.
Less food waste.
You may it unethical for people that can’t afford it, to eat food that has passed the best before date but keep in mind, the taste of food is relative to how hungry you are. The best-tasting meal I ever had was not in a restaurant but on day 3 of a survival course with no food. It consisted of 3 bites of wild game meat, burnt on an open fire, with no seasoning, that had fallen in the dirt.
In Canada, people have many views and are passionate about many things. If protesters were allowed to shut down our roads and rail service for any cause, Canada along with law and order would cease to exist. Treating one group of people differently because of race is exactly what Canadian society is striving not to do, in order for this to work it should not matter if this treatment is positive or negative.
Every Canadian has there say at the ballot box and the government is merely a reflection of the majority. People who disagree are free to voice their opinions but must respect the implemented views and opinions of the majority.
The expropriation of land in Canada by the government is nothing new. Although often emotional for anyone affected, it’s important and lawful purpose is necessary to allow the government to complete projects in the interest of the nation. Anyone in Canada could have their legally owned land taken by the government at any time. During the construction of highway 407 in Ontario, many people lost homes and farms that had been in the family for generations.
For those protesters that believe kidnapping of public roads and rail is necessary to bring awareness and support, they are only half right. I am aware but will oppose any cause that resorts to extortion and the torment of innocent people to get there way.
The first day of kindergarten usually marks a child’s transition from the love and security of the family home to the outside world and society. In an ever-increasing number of schools, it is also the start of appalling physical and psychological abuse from other students that for some, will eventually lead to depression, suicide, gangs, and crime.
Since the elimination of physical force, there has been a lack of an effective deterrent to keep a very small percentage of children from disrupting and terrorizing the rest of the class. Over time, this small percentage affects the entire class, creating an environment that enables kids that would normally behave to act out, leading to widespread bullying, fighting and mental abuse between students the teacher is often unable to control.
Modern techniques and psychology have had a dramatic effect on controlling the behavior in most children without the need for physical force. Because these methods work on the vast majority of children the general belief in society is they will work on every child. This false widespread belief has put pressure on schools that can not control a student to cover it up. Not only does this make the classroom unsafe for the other children it disrupts and impairs the teacher’s ability to teach.
Between raising my own kids and knowing someone that has worked in the Toronto District School Board for over 30 years I know of too many disturbing incidences and procedures happening in schools today that much of the public is unaware of. Some of the most concerning are:
It is difficult to control or remove a violent student from a class for specialized placement even if they have previously injured other kids or staff unless the child’s parents agree (parents are often the last ones to admit any problems with their child).
Assaults in schools are rapidly increasing, including to staff
Staff are hesitant to physically break up a fight even if an innocent student is being seriously injured in fear of being injured themselves, sued by the aggressive child’s parents, or fired from their job.
An ever-increasing number of support staff are hired on a 1 on 1 basis for problem children that could be a danger to themselves or others.
In some cases, if a child decides to leave the classroom they will not use physical force to stop them but rather have someone follow them as they roam the halls.
Staff are taught not to confront behavior problems with students but to distract the child into thinking about something else.
The biggest deterrent currently available to schools now is expulsion. Think about it, dozens of teachers with hundreds of years of combined university training, experience and resources still can’t control a student so they send them home to a parent/parents that are often already overwhelmed or part of the problem.
There are countless incidences as a result of the above practices, such as a grade 1 elementary student, after being sent to the office had a violent temper tantrum and began smashing phones, blinds, and a fax machine, the principal stood by and watched, unable to use physical force to stop him, they had to call the police (not the first time). Another incidence where a bullied student was shot by a pellet gun in an elementary school by another student. Before he was shot twice in the leg the shooter told him it was a real gun and he had 3 seconds to run. A well-adjusted adult would be mentally traumatized for life by such an experience, and it got worse. When the parents reported it to the school nothing was done so they called the police. The student was charged but because of the young offender’s act, he was released. The bullied child was tormented again by the shooter a few days later at school and told: “See, your parents and the police can’t stop me, now that you told on me I’m bringing in a real gun and I’ll be looking for you”. The parents had to move him to a different school. How can we allow this to happen to an elementary school child? These stories along with thousands of others never make the news so the public is kept unaware.
Evidence exists that this small percentage of problem kids besides disrupting and bullying, also influence other kids to exhibit the same behavior. Toronto Guns and Gangs unit estimate that 90% of gang members would not be there if not for the other 10%. Their findings are based on gang member arrests. They found 90 percent of kids arrested for the first time in gang-related crimes break down when faced with the possibility of going to jail. In fact, they are traumatized so much, they are unlikely not to re-offend even if the charges are dropped with no jail time. The other 10% show no remorse and even with jail time are likely to re-offend.
Until we get over our ignorance as a society that all children respond to the current deterrents for unacceptable and violent behavior, we allow thousands of innocent children to suffer unspeakable abuse we can not imagine. If not a physical deterrent, we need some form of other much stricter behavior consequences. Until we make all classrooms safe and equal for everyone, schools, gang prevention, crime, mental illness, and many social programs will remain bottomless cash pits, ineffective regardless of how much money the government throws in.
Although I support most aspects of unions, the right to strike is not one of them. Walking off the job and shutting a company down in a contest to see who can hold out the longest has absolutely nothing to do with getting a fair deal. In fact, in any other case, it would be called extortion. On top of that, often it is unionized and lower-paid people that end up suffering the most.
There is nothing wrong with workers uniting and walking off the job in protest if they feel it is warranted, but the right to form picket lines or other actions that would interfere with company operations should be illegal. Also, if employees have the right to walk off the job it makes sense the company should also have the right to replace those people permanently if they can find new employees to work under the same conditions and wages. This would make it fairer because if the reason for the employees walking off the job is sound, then the company will have trouble finding anyone to replace them with. If the employees walking off the job feel their skills are worth more than their current pay and conditions, they should have no problem finding a better job elsewhere. Issues over job safety should be settled by the labor board.
For most of us workers it’s hard to get perspective or care about a company’s point of view so imagine this: You hire a baby sitter to come to your house to look after your kids while you are at work. Both of you agree to a wage, hours and working conditions. After 6 months the babysitter demands more money, wants you to pay for a pension for them and wants more time off. There is no way you can afford there demands so you refuse. The next day they are at the end of your sidewalk with a picket sign blocking your car from leaving the driveway and holding up friends and visitors trying to enter and leave your house. You call the police but are told the babysitter is not breaking the law and there is nothing they can do. Not only that even though there are many other qualified people that would be happy to do your striking babysitter’s job for less, you are not allowed to hire them and must come to an agreement with the striking babysitter. The babysitter has other financial means of support and is able to stay on strike for 6 months or longer.
The worst part of a strike however, is not about being unfair for companies. The real victims are the less fortunate ones that have nothing to do with it. Farmers that can’t get their harvest to market because of a rail strike. Single parents scrambling for daycare once again because just after school support workers avert a strike the teachers threaten to walk off. Or people making minimum wage that can’t get to work because of transit workers making multiple times their salary walk off the job.
