Passion Power

Politics matter because the stability of our country depends on it. Canada is changing and in an effort to remake ourselves, we want to make sure our political leaders are fighting for our rights and upholding the values we believe in. We all want a liveable world we can happily give to our children and grandchildren. In Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, Haidt writes, we are divided politically because of our innate differences and that we all suffer from confirmation bias. He says that we make moral decisions intuitively then justify them with rational arguments. For example, I can see why I’m a right of center person politically. I come from a blue collar working middle class home. I was educated in the school of hard knocks. There was no coddling in my household and nurturing someone’s self-esteem was considered laughable. There were no freebies. If I wanted something I had to go out and earn it. My upbring...

Every year with my Ontario sticker renewa I get an application form to fill out to become a registered organ tissue donor. I’m already a donor but instead of a gold star, a thank you or a box check, I must go online and make sure that I am still registered. Perhaps The Trillium Gift of Life Network might acknowledge those who have already registered. I can think of at least a dozen ways they could do this but apparently 12 board members can’t.      My uncle and father both received covid reliefs cheques last year from the Government of Canada.   Let me just say neither one of them needed covid relief cheques.   A friend rides around on his bicycle in a small town.   He hasn’t owned a vehicle in 5 years and just received a cheque from the Ontario government for his sticker renewal refund. Although these are anecdotal stories that only exacerbate the lack of trust in our establishments, they also point out a growing problem which is government accountabilit...

I’m old enough to remember when it was considered impolite to discuss religion, politics, or money outside your home.  Then social media came along and gave everyone a voice.  It’s a new era to navigate.  As my mother-in-law would say, this is not our world anymore.  And while there are trolls being paid to create chaos and discourse on the internet by gaslighting people that take social media seriously not all internet storms are bad.  Twitter has brought public awareness and scrutiny on the ruling class and all their questionable ethics. Take the Ontario conservative long term care minister, Merrilee Fullerton, who dropped the ball in long term care homes is now working with vulnerable children and families as the Ontario minister of family and children services. See what I mean.  The former Canadian conservative Health minister Rona Ambrose now sits on the board of Juul owned by a tobacco corporation, an industry that floods our healthcare system with ch...