Statue of Sir John A. Macdonald should not have been removed

A statue of Sir John A. Macdonald no longer stands at City Hall in Victoria, British Columbia. Some people are happy about it, some are not. On one hand, it is true that Macdonald was an architect of Canada's residential school system; a system that was responsible for what was no less than a cultural genocide against Canada's native peoples, not to mention the scene of other heinous crimes. But on the other hand, he was Canada's first prime minister and a principal architect of the country itself. We certainly shouldn't honour someone who was an orchestrator of genocide, but at the same time, should we not honour those who were instrumental in creating this great country we call Canada? The problem with Sir John A. Macdonald is that he falls into both categories. So how to decide?

I think the simplest solution to such a problem lies in weighing the positives and negatives of the historical figure in question. So in the case of Sir John A. Macdonald, we should ask ourselves, does his contribution to Canada's founding outweigh his involvement in the cultural genocide of native Canadians, or vice versa? I honestly would not have removed the statue, because although Canada's first prime minister was complicit in cultural genocide against this country's aboriginal population, his role as a founding father of the country cannot simply be overlooked. And there are other ways to promote reconciliation without removing homages to Canada's founders. How about, for example, restoring aboriginal names to places in Canada now named after various figures of the country's colonial past. Maybe before Victoria's city council thought about removing the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald, they should instead have pondered changing the city's name so that it honours the city's original inhabitants rather than some long dead British monarch. This kind of thing has been done before. In fact, not too far from Victoria are the Haida Gwaii islands. They used to be known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, but in 2010, B.C.'s provincial government graciously decided to change the name of the archipelago to honour its original inhabitants of the Haida First Nation.

Actually, what I think would count for real reconciliation is improving the lives of aboriginal people in this country. Maybe I'm wrong about this, but I'm wagering that most native Canadians place more importance on having decent housing and clean water to drink than on whether or not a statue of Canada's first prime minister stands somewhere. Just a thought.  

Beggars are annoying. But poverty is a lot more annoying

If you live in a big city, chances are you've run into panhandlers on the street asking you for money. Toronto is no exception. Whenever I walk my dog in the morning, I come across beggars on pretty much every block. But I don't just encounter them walking down the street. I've been approached by them when I'm driving. They sometimes approach my car while I'm waiting for a traffic light. Some of them will even block traffic and force drivers to swerve to avoid them. There's no avoiding them on the TTC either. I've often seen panhandlers just sitting on the ground and asking for spare change just as they would if they were on a street corner. Sometimes, they will approach you directly asking for money. Some panhandlers will even come inside of restaurants or cafes to ask people for spare change.

If I'm making this sound like it bothers me, it does. Like a lot of people, I don't appreciate being approached by strangers begging for money, especially while I'm doing something like eating or driving. But of course, the folks who do this probably don't appreciate being poor and having to resort to begging in order to survive. I seldom give money to panhandlers. Not because I'm insensitive to their situation, but because I don't know their situation. They could very well be genuine cases of poverty. People who have no home, no job and no one to help them. But they could also be people trying to feed an addiction, whether that addiction involves booze or drugs. This is the reason that whenever I have given anything to panhandlers, it's always in the form of food or offering to buy them something to eat. In general, however, if I want to be charitable, I will donate to reputable organizations rather than giving money to random people on the street.

Yes, panhandlers can be a nuisance. But poverty is a much bigger nuisance. So it would help if governments at all levels would do something to help these people instead of simply perpetuating their poverty. I'm talking about things like permanent, affordable housing, skills training and better addiction and mental health services, not band-aids like shelter beds and temporary respite centres. 

Doug Ford has been a disappointment so far

It's been just over a month since Doug Ford was sworn in as Ontario's Premier and so far, I'm not impressed with what he's done. Yes, I understand that it's way too early to pass judgement on him and his government, but he's not earning any points with me so far.

Firstly, he scrapped the sex-ed curriculum that the Liberals introduced in 2015. He promised to do so during the election campaign. But he also promised to create a new curriculum based on consultation with parents. Until then, he's decided that Ontario's students will learn from the old sex-ed curriculum. A curriculum that's twenty years old, which doesn't talk about things like sexting, gender identity or other factors that play into sexual education that were not present when the 1998 curriculum was introduced. These are things that kids need to learn, regardless of what Ford's social conservative backers think. His government later changed its tune a bit and said that kids would still learn about things like social media in regards to sex-ed. So we have a lot of inconsistency here. No one seems to have concrete answers on just what kids will be learning when they go back to school this September. The better thing to do would have been to keep the curriculum that the Liberals introduced in 2015 until the government could create a new one. Okay, yes, maybe the curriculum that the previous Liberal government was controversial, but at least Ontario's youngsters would still learn about what is for all intensive purposes the world of sex and gender in the 21st century.

The new Ford government has also moved to scrap the cap-and-trade system that was introduced by the Liberals. I'm not a fan of carbon taxes of any kind and think it's just a simple cash grab. Nevertheless, climate change is a clear and present danger to the entire world's population. If Ford wants to scrap cap-and-trade, he should at least present an alternative plan to address environmental concerns. He cannot just ignore the problem. I should also mention that there are severe financial consequences to cancelling the cap-and-trade system. Contracts that were made between the Ontario government and other parties under this scheme will now have to be terminated, leading to possible lawsuits and perhaps billions of dollars in financial penalties from cancelling these contracts. Now of course, Ford and his entourage will try and blame the Liberals for any of the financial costs associated with cancelling the contracts. But blaming the previous government isn't going to plug the big financial hole that will be dug once cap-and-trade is done for. So how will Ford's government make up the shortfall? The answer is, surprise, surprise, deep cuts to things like health care and education. As always, the books will be balanced on the backs of those who cannot afford it.

Many of the cuts that will inevitably come from the Ford government will be felt in the province's capital, Toronto. And Ford has already taken a page out of former premier Mike Harris' book by shoving changes to the city's governmental structure down the throats of Torontonians. Just as folks in Toronto are about to vote in municipal elections, Ford has moved to cut the size of the city's council almost in half. That means less elected officials representing more people. It's already hard enough for Torontonians to reach their representatives at City Hall. Now Ford wants to make it even harder. And inasmuch as I would love to see many of Toronto's councillors lose their jobs, the size and structure of Toronto's city council should be decided by Torontonians, not by Queen's Park. If Ford wants to improve the way Toronto operates, he should start by giving the city's mayor stronger powers so that he's not just a eunuch who can't do much more than the members of council he presides over. I'm talking, of course, about a strong mayor system. The kind that big U.S. cities, like Chicago and New York have. Hell, Douggie himself said he supported such a system, yet he won't put his money where his mouth is. So Toronto's municipal government will continue to be disfunctional with different councillors peddling their own pet projects and agendas. They'll just have bigger fiefdoms this time.

Again, I can't pass judgement on this government as it's way too early to do so. But I'd say Ford and his posse are off to a pretty bad start.