happy almost Thanksgiving!
Oct. 10th, 2008 12:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
electriclandHow nice -- it isn't often one can reuse an icon from a previous election with no changes whatever.
Tomorrow I am driving Jen and her family to the airport (they are going to Williamsburg for the long weekend) and then up to the cottage, where I will clear brush and eat turkey and (hopefully) pie and hope my dog gets on with the Rottweiler and the Golden Retriever/Poodle cross puppy who will also be there. It's gonna be a full house.
Tuesday is election day in this stupid unnecessary election which has become so unexpectedly full of excitement since the world economy started its tailspin. Fellow Canadians: don't forget to vote! It's easy, kind of fun, and you can bask in the glow of fulfilling one of your democratic obligations. As always, Elections Canada tells you everything you need to know: who your candidates are, how to contact them, where to vote, how long the polls are open, how to prove you are you. (Remember, you need to bring ID to the polls!)
If you aren't already on the list of electors, fear not: you can still register at the polls. Bring your two pieces of ID to prove you are who you say you are, you're a Canadian citizen, and you live in the riding, and you can vote. Just remember, don't commit electoral fraud, 'cause that's not cool.
Now then, who to vote for? Fortunately there is no way in hell the Conservatives can win in my riding, so I can basically vote for whoever I please. Others may wish to be cannier. That link leads to Vote for Environment, a nifty strategic-voting site to which![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
life_on_queen pointed me last week; it's quite fascinating, and if you would also like to see the Conservatives brought low, do check it out. Their idea is to try and encourage people to avoid splitting the vote in ridings that went Conservative last election, and vote for the leading opposition candidate instead. Their Key Ridings make for some intriguing reading. See if you're in one!
Another big issue for me in this campaign -- besides chucking out Stephen Harper and his control-freak ways -- is child poverty. As many of you know, I work for a major children's hospital, so child health is the focus of my professional life. The thing is, child health is about much more than just having medical care when you need it. To be healthy, and to grow up to be a healthy, happy, educated, productive citizen, a child needs a safe environment; enough nutritious food to eat; time to interact with its parents; a decent education starting at an early age; and the list goes on. If a child is growing up in poverty, that means living in crappy housing in unsafe neighbourhoods. Going hungry. Spending time alone because your parents -- assuming you are living with both parents -- are probably working multiple low-paid jobs to make ends meet. Higher odds of a dead-end future.
One in six Canadian children is poor. If you're a child with a disability, or a First Nations kid, make that one in four. If you're not white, one in three. And it's not because of unemployment: 41% of children in poverty live in a household where at least one parent works full-time all year. The good news is that children are better off than they were 10 years ago, but all that means is that child poverty levels are now exactly where they were almost 20 years ago. Get all the grim details in Campaign 2000's 2007 Report Card [PDF].
I am personally ashamed of those statistics. It doesn't have to be that way. We could end child poverty if we chose to, by raising the minimum wage, establishing a national housing strategy, making some changes to the tax code, and investing in early childhood education and care. Scandinavia, for instance, is doing way better than we are. And yet in Canada we have no national poverty reduction strategy. We desperately need one.
Our legislation and our spending reflect what we value as a society. Right now, it looks like we don't much value our kids. Or our future.
The good news is that every party except the Conservatives is pretty much on board with most or all of the changes that would help end child poverty in this country [PDF]. Of course, we've had the Liberals in power before and didn't get too far with these problems. Still. I say vote in politicians who say they value the issues that matter to you, then hold their feet to the fire. Canada deserves better than we have right now.
That got rantier than I planned. Happy Thanksgiving, fellow Canadians, and remember to vote!
Tomorrow I am driving Jen and her family to the airport (they are going to Williamsburg for the long weekend) and then up to the cottage, where I will clear brush and eat turkey and (hopefully) pie and hope my dog gets on with the Rottweiler and the Golden Retriever/Poodle cross puppy who will also be there. It's gonna be a full house.
Tuesday is election day in this stupid unnecessary election which has become so unexpectedly full of excitement since the world economy started its tailspin. Fellow Canadians: don't forget to vote! It's easy, kind of fun, and you can bask in the glow of fulfilling one of your democratic obligations. As always, Elections Canada tells you everything you need to know: who your candidates are, how to contact them, where to vote, how long the polls are open, how to prove you are you. (Remember, you need to bring ID to the polls!)
If you aren't already on the list of electors, fear not: you can still register at the polls. Bring your two pieces of ID to prove you are who you say you are, you're a Canadian citizen, and you live in the riding, and you can vote. Just remember, don't commit electoral fraud, 'cause that's not cool.
Now then, who to vote for? Fortunately there is no way in hell the Conservatives can win in my riding, so I can basically vote for whoever I please. Others may wish to be cannier. That link leads to Vote for Environment, a nifty strategic-voting site to which
life_on_queen pointed me last week; it's quite fascinating, and if you would also like to see the Conservatives brought low, do check it out. Their idea is to try and encourage people to avoid splitting the vote in ridings that went Conservative last election, and vote for the leading opposition candidate instead. Their Key Ridings make for some intriguing reading. See if you're in one!Another big issue for me in this campaign -- besides chucking out Stephen Harper and his control-freak ways -- is child poverty. As many of you know, I work for a major children's hospital, so child health is the focus of my professional life. The thing is, child health is about much more than just having medical care when you need it. To be healthy, and to grow up to be a healthy, happy, educated, productive citizen, a child needs a safe environment; enough nutritious food to eat; time to interact with its parents; a decent education starting at an early age; and the list goes on. If a child is growing up in poverty, that means living in crappy housing in unsafe neighbourhoods. Going hungry. Spending time alone because your parents -- assuming you are living with both parents -- are probably working multiple low-paid jobs to make ends meet. Higher odds of a dead-end future.
One in six Canadian children is poor. If you're a child with a disability, or a First Nations kid, make that one in four. If you're not white, one in three. And it's not because of unemployment: 41% of children in poverty live in a household where at least one parent works full-time all year. The good news is that children are better off than they were 10 years ago, but all that means is that child poverty levels are now exactly where they were almost 20 years ago. Get all the grim details in Campaign 2000's 2007 Report Card [PDF].
I am personally ashamed of those statistics. It doesn't have to be that way. We could end child poverty if we chose to, by raising the minimum wage, establishing a national housing strategy, making some changes to the tax code, and investing in early childhood education and care. Scandinavia, for instance, is doing way better than we are. And yet in Canada we have no national poverty reduction strategy. We desperately need one.
Our legislation and our spending reflect what we value as a society. Right now, it looks like we don't much value our kids. Or our future.
The good news is that every party except the Conservatives is pretty much on board with most or all of the changes that would help end child poverty in this country [PDF]. Of course, we've had the Liberals in power before and didn't get too far with these problems. Still. I say vote in politicians who say they value the issues that matter to you, then hold their feet to the fire. Canada deserves better than we have right now.
That got rantier than I planned. Happy Thanksgiving, fellow Canadians, and remember to vote!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-10-10 05:44 pm (UTC)*sniff*
no subject
Date: 2008-10-10 05:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-10 05:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-10 05:56 pm (UTC)but I am very glad to hear it. This site (http://yaforobama.ning.com/) is also making me very happy at the moment.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-10 08:45 pm (UTC)choose the most recent rant ("Lack of Education"). Watch and smile :D.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-10 06:48 pm (UTC)Their Key Ridings make for some intriguing reading. See if you're in one!
I am! Mississauga-Streetsville.
CU,
Andrew
no subject
Date: 2008-10-10 07:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-10 06:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-10 07:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-10 07:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-10 07:21 pm (UTC)