Stuart McLean Passes Away

CBC radio just reported one of their longtime radio personalities, Stuart McLean, has passed away. In December 2016 he suspended his long-running radio show The Vinyl Café to focus on his treatment for melanoma which he was diagnosed with in late 2015. Today, he lost that battle.

I had listened to his show, The Vinyl Café, soon after I started making deliveries back in 2011. His stories about Dave and Morley and their friends and family brought a smile to my face week after week. Without fail, I would tune in every Thursday at 1:00 to listen to some songs and a couple of stories he'd tell about some crazy misadventure in Dave's life.

McLean told stories about Dave's life growing up in Big Narrows, Cape Breton with his mother, Margaret, and sister, Annie; his adventures on the road with different bands; and his record store, The Vinyl Café. He told stories about Dave's family - his wife Morely and their children Stephanie and Sam and their pets Arthur the dog and Galway the cat.

There were stories about Dave's friend Kenny and his restaurant Wong's Scottish Meat Pies; and his neighbours Bert and Mary Turlington, Jim Scoffield, Carl Lowbeer and Eugene Conte. Each week the characters were more and more flushed out. And, each week, I was more and more invested in them and their lives.

McLean's stories were pure Canadiana... a wonderful escape from the drudgery of everyday life. I'll miss that as well as his unique style of storytelling and his one-of-a-kind voice. It's a sad day for Canada, a sad day for Canadians.

Prime Minister Trudeau Speaks pt. 2 - The Questions

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently did a one-on-one with 10 ordinary Canadians in his office in Ottawa facilitated by Peter Mansbridge and the CBC.

People had ten minutes each to sit with him and talk about whatever was on their mind. Here's what they asked him.

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Nikki Fraser, a 25-year-old youth worker from Kamloops, B.C., asks Trudeau how he plans to keep indigenous women safe.

The Prime Minister reiterated what we've already heard about the Inquest to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women that his government is undertaking. Unlike the previous government, his party seems to respect indigenous rights and seems to want to work with them to improve their situation. It's something all Canadians should feel compelled to do. Like African Americans in the U.S., they're still being discriminated against. 

Danny Strilchuk, a 30-year-old oilfield worker from Edmonton, asks Trudeau if there is anything to give him hope for the future in Alberta and how he will generate jobs.

Prime Minister Trudeau talked about infrastructure investment. That's all he really could do. There are things that are out of his control, namely the pricing of oil. You can't heavily invest in a sector if you don't know if it will be viable in the future or not. Danny asked him if he should stay in the oil field or not. That's not a question that can be answered either. He may need to find other work in the meantime. Even if it means leaving Alberta. After all, many Canadians traveled to Alberta during the oil boom. It might be time to leave to go wherever the jobs are now.

Neil Piercey, 58, formerly worked in manufacturing but now delivers fruit in London, Ont. He asks Trudeau how he plans to help people who have lost their jobs in manufacturing and are struggling to survive.

This is a similar question to Danny's (above). Many manufacturing jobs have left Ontario for more competitive markets. The government may be able to provide financial incentives to companies to open up shop here, but there's only so much you can do. Different levels of government have thrown hundreds of millions of dollars at the automotive manufacturing sector. How long can you do this to keep something afloat? Maybe it's time to look for another line of work. 

Larry Audlaluk, 65, is a hunter and leader from Grise Fiord, Nunavut. He asks the prime minister about the government's plan to deal with the direct impact climate change has on Canadians in the North.

I think Larry's actual question had more to do with the sovereignty of the Northwest Passage and Canada's claim to it. Now that climate change is threatening to open it up more to shipping (because there will be less ice blocking the route), Larry is worried about international shipping going through and the impact it might have on the peoples and environment up there. Trudeau would like to build more ships to patrol the waterways to prove our claim to the area.

Gary Mauris, 47, of Vancouver is president of Dominion Lending Centres. He asks Trudeau about the impact tax cuts to the wealthiest Canadians will have on the economy.

This is incorrect - He actually asked about how raising taxes on the wealthy (to pay for tax cuts to the middle class) will affect their (the wealthy business owners) ability to create jobs. Though it's only income tax to the wealthy that is being raised I believe, not corporate/business tax. So raising personal taxes of the wealthy shouldn't affect their ability to create jobs, should it? Trudeau stated that tax cuts to the middle class was more important. More people would have more money to spend to keep the economy going. You'd be helping a lot of people by penalize a few rich ones. Fine by me.

Jihane El Atifi, 29, is a Montrealer who works with refugees. She asks Trudeau how he's working to integrate Canadian newcomers, and why there is no black representation in Cabinet.

This is a good question. Many newcomers with professional degrees from other countries can't get their qualifications here. Trudeau said that this is something the federal government has to work on with the provinces and their specific professional colleges. They all have to work together as quickly as possible so doctors and engineers etc. from other countries don't end up driving cabs or serving you your morning coffee any longer. Instead they could be filling much needed holes in high demand job sectors.

Jenna Fray, 31, a social worker from Ajax, Ont., asks Trudeau what he's doing to help middle-class families like hers.

Well there's the middle class tax breaks and additional money for people with children that's tax-free. But, I think Jenna wanted more. She asked about childcare for her toddler too. Trudeau wouldn't commit to anything there. Peter Manbridge asked about free childcare like they have in Quebec. Look, we're in dire straits right now (economically-speaking). You can't expect a handout for everything. If you're not financially sound, maybe you shouldn't be having children until you are.

Yvonne Jacobs, 71, is a retired nurse in St. John's, N.L. She asks Justin what can he do to improve health care for seniors and for everyone else in Canada.

I believe Trudeau said his government is looking into providing services to let seniors live at home into their golden years instead of taking up expensive beds in hospital. I think you need to strike a balance where you can help the greatest number of people while still being fiscally responsible. This might involve opening more subsidized assisted-living facilities for the elderly perhaps?... I don't know. 

Charlotte Kiddell, 24, is an undergraduate student from Halifax. She asks Trudeau about his plan for graduating students in bleak economic times and how he plans to tackle student debt.

Peter Mansbridge brought up the question of free post-secondary education for everyone. Again, money doesn't grow on trees. I don't have a problem with subsidizing post-secondary education (even heavily). Higher education is important for sure. Though I think it should be geared towards industries/sectors that are in demand (like tech or healthcare or whatever). Charlotte was taking English and something else in university. So I don't know what her job prospects will be like when she graduates. People have to take responsibility for themselves concerning their decisions in this respect I think. Another argument against completely free post-secondary education that I've heard (and agree with) is that there's less incentive to try to do well if you haven't invested anything of your own in it.

Maulik Doshi, 30, works in e-commerce in Regina. He asks Trudeau what he's doing to enforce national security and keep up the fight against ISIS and prevent radicalization of Canadians.

Maulik questioned why Canada is taking its six fighter jets out of their current combat role against ISIS while other countries are still sending theirs. Trudeau said they're focussing on training local soldiers/militia to fight ISIS on the ground instead. Personally, I think we should still supply our jets, but I'm still okay with the training mission too. As for preventing radicalization of young Canadians, I'm not sure that's the government's job. Trudeau also spoke about balancing the rights and freedoms of Canadians against its security with respect to surveillance.

Prime Minister Trudeau Speaks pt. 1

Tonight, on CBC, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opened his office to 10 regular Canadians and entertained their questions about whatever they had on their minds. The ten had no particular political affiliation and were selected by the CBC.

The questions, like the people and where they resided, were diverse and varied. Of course most of their concerns had to do with money (either relating to rising costs of living, cost of education, jobs or retirement etc.). But there were also questions about indigenous issues, Canada's stance on terrorism (both here and abroad) and sovereignty in the north.

As the CBC News panelists said after the show, this was a risky endeavour to undertake. As the Prime Minister you're putting yourself out there with no guarantee of showing well. I believe he did as good a job as any under the circumstances.

Some people were looking for answers to specific problems (like the oil-patch worker from Alberta or manufacturing plant worker from London, Ontario). Trudeau, of course, couldn't give them reassurances on their individual issues. He could only state his government's policies concerning those in similar circumstances. I believe his answers left those two dissatisfied.

I'm not sure what people expect from government (this or any other). They're not there to solve all your problems. People have to take personal responsibility as well. If you can't find a job in your specific sector because of global forces beyond anyone's control then you may have to reassess your employment strategies. If you expect the government to throw good money after bad to resurrect a dead or dying sector then you're beyond foolish.

Of course other people had good questions and Trudeau did his best to answer them. Others seemed to badger him if they didn't get the answer they wanted. Look, you asked a question and he answered. Repeatedly stating you don't agree with him won't make him change his response.

The majority of questions came down to what people could get from the government (which all comes down to a question of money). This concerned funding for daycare, elderly home care, education, jobs etc.

I'm not sure if people watch the news, but the economy is tanking (both ours and many others around the world). There isn't an endless fountain of money flowing from a magic well somewhere. You have to be realistic. The government will do the best it can for the greatest number of people with what it has. That might not be what you want to hear, but that's real life.