Recent Events
I will have more on the US primaries on the Kosovo issue in a different post, but I thought I would lump my views on a few issues in a quick summary
In Ontario, there seems to be some controversy over the new Family Day. While I agree it would have made more financial sense to put it off until 2009 to give businesses more time to plan, I really don't see it as a big deal. Many people, including myself, are still required to work some stat holidays, so contrary to what some say, most businesses can remain open on stat holidays and likewise there is no inherent right to have them off. Rather those who work them must either get an extra paid day off or get paid time and a half.
Today, Quebec released the Castonguay report, which calls for allowing a parallel private system and a small user fees. While such actions would likely violate the Canada Health Act, I still think the report is a good thing in terms of it will hopefully encourage debate on the issue. While the proposals may seem radical to most Canadians, most European countries have parallel private systems and user fees despite generally being too the left of Canada, so it is not as radical as it seems. Also whether one agrees with them or disagrees, I think it is time to have a mature debate on the issue instead of treating the CHA as a sacred cow that cannot be touched and arguing that health care is a black and white issue where either you support a totally private or totally public system and nothing in between. In reality, almost nothing is black and white, so its time to end the idea that issues and black and white (save for perhaps a few). Over 90% of Canadians don't support the American system, but I would argue it is time to start comparing ourselves to the best not the worst. My mom, always said that I should compare myself to the best rather than worst, so I think in health care lets look at what works in those who perform better than us, not say our system is perfect because it is better than the United States, which has one of the worst systems in the developed world. I do believe there are merits for not going to such system as well as merits for going, but lets have an open mind and open debate on this for once.
The other big issue is the OLF (or known as the language police in English Canada) have stepped up their efforts and are certainly get lots of negative media attention in English Canada. I have no problem with ensuring that Francophones in Quebec have the same employment opportunities as Anglophones and I do think that all businesses in Quebec should offer service in French as it is only proper to offer service in the dominate language. However, I clearly believe the OLF has in numerous instances gone too far and caused more problems than its solved. You can give more rights to one group without taking away rights from another, but rather than enhanching the rights of Francophones, it seems to be more about taking away rights from Anglophones. As someone who has defended bilingualism, elsewhere in Canada, instances like this make it far more difficult for me to sell the merits of bilingualism. If anything this will hurt the Francophone minorities outside Quebec as they rely on the goodwill from the Anglophone majority and willingness to provide services in French. My worry is that if the Anglophone minority is perceived as being treated as second class citizens in Quebec, there will be less support for providing Francophone minorities service in French. This would be unfortunate and I don't believe in the idea of two wrongs making a right, however I am a realist and realize such actions only make it easier for those who want to scrap bilingualism.
Today Castro, has handed over power in Cuba. While I do see this as a good thing in the sense that he was a brutal dictator, this does not mean I support the US policy on Cuba, especially considering Batista was even worse, yet actively supported by the US. US policy in Latin America has been less about supporting democracy and more about supporting regimes friendly to the US and opposing ones hostile to them. I hope Cuba does become a democracy that respects human rights, but the type of government and economic system used ought to be decided by the Cuban people and no one else. I fully support capitalism and free enterprise, but I would never argue we should impose those systems on others, rather we should practice them at home and let others decide whether to follow or not.
In Ontario, there seems to be some controversy over the new Family Day. While I agree it would have made more financial sense to put it off until 2009 to give businesses more time to plan, I really don't see it as a big deal. Many people, including myself, are still required to work some stat holidays, so contrary to what some say, most businesses can remain open on stat holidays and likewise there is no inherent right to have them off. Rather those who work them must either get an extra paid day off or get paid time and a half.
Today, Quebec released the Castonguay report, which calls for allowing a parallel private system and a small user fees. While such actions would likely violate the Canada Health Act, I still think the report is a good thing in terms of it will hopefully encourage debate on the issue. While the proposals may seem radical to most Canadians, most European countries have parallel private systems and user fees despite generally being too the left of Canada, so it is not as radical as it seems. Also whether one agrees with them or disagrees, I think it is time to have a mature debate on the issue instead of treating the CHA as a sacred cow that cannot be touched and arguing that health care is a black and white issue where either you support a totally private or totally public system and nothing in between. In reality, almost nothing is black and white, so its time to end the idea that issues and black and white (save for perhaps a few). Over 90% of Canadians don't support the American system, but I would argue it is time to start comparing ourselves to the best not the worst. My mom, always said that I should compare myself to the best rather than worst, so I think in health care lets look at what works in those who perform better than us, not say our system is perfect because it is better than the United States, which has one of the worst systems in the developed world. I do believe there are merits for not going to such system as well as merits for going, but lets have an open mind and open debate on this for once.
The other big issue is the OLF (or known as the language police in English Canada) have stepped up their efforts and are certainly get lots of negative media attention in English Canada. I have no problem with ensuring that Francophones in Quebec have the same employment opportunities as Anglophones and I do think that all businesses in Quebec should offer service in French as it is only proper to offer service in the dominate language. However, I clearly believe the OLF has in numerous instances gone too far and caused more problems than its solved. You can give more rights to one group without taking away rights from another, but rather than enhanching the rights of Francophones, it seems to be more about taking away rights from Anglophones. As someone who has defended bilingualism, elsewhere in Canada, instances like this make it far more difficult for me to sell the merits of bilingualism. If anything this will hurt the Francophone minorities outside Quebec as they rely on the goodwill from the Anglophone majority and willingness to provide services in French. My worry is that if the Anglophone minority is perceived as being treated as second class citizens in Quebec, there will be less support for providing Francophone minorities service in French. This would be unfortunate and I don't believe in the idea of two wrongs making a right, however I am a realist and realize such actions only make it easier for those who want to scrap bilingualism.
Today Castro, has handed over power in Cuba. While I do see this as a good thing in the sense that he was a brutal dictator, this does not mean I support the US policy on Cuba, especially considering Batista was even worse, yet actively supported by the US. US policy in Latin America has been less about supporting democracy and more about supporting regimes friendly to the US and opposing ones hostile to them. I hope Cuba does become a democracy that respects human rights, but the type of government and economic system used ought to be decided by the Cuban people and no one else. I fully support capitalism and free enterprise, but I would never argue we should impose those systems on others, rather we should practice them at home and let others decide whether to follow or not.
posted by Monkey Loves to Fight at 5:22 PM
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