This is just a test of the WP app from my android phone.

Source: From an article in the Toronto Star by Susan Delacourt [http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/803859--aid-groups-advised-to-shut-the-f-up-on-abortion?bn=1]

In the war of words raging on the G8 abortion issue, a hefty bomb has just been dropped. The offending party, Senator Nancy Ruth, told international aid groups to “shut the f*** up” about the Harper Government including abortion in a proposed G8 women’s health initiative.

In Ruth’s defense, her fear is that, by speaking out, aid groups will see more of a backlash from the government then if they keep quiet. She stated that the issue is now a “political football” and that it isn’t about women’s health in Canada.

The question must be asked. Does this mean that women’s right and women’s issues only matter if it’s Canadian women involved? Shouldn’t we be working to promote the ideas of equality and reproductive freedom that Canadian women hold so fundamentally dear?

Who the remarks came from is another area of concern. Ruth’s website claims that she makes a stand for women and lists a number of women’s organizations she has either helped get started or served on the board of. Ruth seems awfully proud of her ‘accomplishments’.

Not only that, but Ruth claims to be an “activist”. On her website she has put, in italics, that “As an activist, I know that change comes from lots of ideas, lots of people, lots of work & lots of volunteer time. Being inside Parliament, I know that politicians need your ideas and involvement. It’s worth the time to email me.”

On another website, section15.ca (one Ruth states she helped to found), there is a quote attributed to the Senator. It states that “Establishment women just get mad. Activists change the laws.”

As a self-proclaimed activist, Ruth should understand that shutting the “f***” up does not get things done. Being an activist actually requires the exact opposite. If Ruth is so understanding of the need for politicians to hear from the people, why should she encourage their silence?

She may have just been looking to protect women’s groups from further backlash, as she claims. If this is the case, what does that say about our current government? Should a Canadian senator actually have to sit in fear of retaliatory measures? Not only that, but should organizations devoted to equality have to sit in that same fear?

Say what you want about abortion itself, but all signs point to a government incapable of dealing with debate or criticism of its actions. It speaks to a government not above using retributive measures to ensure it maintains control. In the long run, this could turn into a lot of (unfertilized) egg in the face for the Conservative government.

Additional Sources:

http://sen.parl.gc.ca/nruth/EN/Welcome.html
http://section15.ca/

Source: From a Toronto Star article by Dana Flavelle and Rob Ferguson [http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/794340--rexall-joins-shoppers-in-ontario-drug-fee-spat]

A measure aimed at providing lower costs for generic drugs in Ontario is attracting the ire of national chains such as Shoppers Drug Mart and Rexall Pharmacies. The well known pharmacies are announcing an increasing set of drastic measures to impose their will upon a Liberal Government preparing for a 2011 election.

The reforms being proposed will decrease revenue by eliminating a set of “allowances” from generic drug manufacturers that pay out to the tune of $750 million per year to pharmacies. Shoppers and Rexall say that not only will this hurt their bottom line, but force them to cut services to patients and begin charging for delivery fee’s.

Shoppers Drug Mart reported sales of almost $2.5 billion during the last fiscal quarter, and during 2009 made close to $10 billion. Almost one and a half billion dollars were prescription sales, with generic drugs representing 54 per cent. All in all, generic drugs make up roughly a quarter of Shopper’s business.

Keep in mind that they will not be losing that profit, it will merely be lessened as the Ontario Government only wishes to see the cost of generic drugs decreased. Will Shopper’s profit take a hit? Of course. Will it be a sizeable hit, capable of ruining a national brand past the point of no return? Not likely.

The ones who are in real danger are the independent pharmacies, who have thus far not weighed in on the issue. With the majority of their business relating directly to pharmacy and prescription sales, the cut in allowances will hurt them more than would be able to take. The Government has stated they will create a $150 million fund to aid the ma and pop operations that can’t depend on front store sales to keep them afloat.

Are the actions taken by Rexall and Shopper’s Drug Mart really about helping out the little guy? It’s not likely. But stranger things have happened.

Source: From a National Post article by Matthew Coutts [http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/toronto/story.html?id=2876359]

Admissions to Hospital’s for heart and breathing problems have gone down since Toronto has implemented a public smoking ban, according to a recent study. The study found that respiratory problems requiring hospitalization dropped by one-third, while hospitalizations due to heart problems dropped by 17 per cent.

This should not really take any of us by surprise though. For years, the public has been beaten over the brow by anti-smoking legislation and admonitions from the health community regarding the dangers of smoking and second-hand smoke. It is coming to be “common sense” that smoking is deadly.

The City of Toronto’s decision in 2001 to ban smoking in restaurants and bars was controversial and quickly emulated by other communities across the country. It has some smokers feeling under attack. Bumper stickers can be purchased that proclaim “Thank you for not bitching” and accompanied with an image of a lit cigarette.

What lies at the heart of this issue is the idea of personal freedom. As legislation reaches further and further to try and limit the areas where smokers can light up, smokers are less and less able to exercise their freedom of choice. A recent bill has made it illegal to smoke in a car that contains a child. An extension that would make it illegal to smoke in a house that contains a child is being debated.

Second-hand smoke is definitely bad, but just how bad is it? Prohibiting smoking within buildings is reasonable, but what about recent examples of it being banned within certain distances of entrances and exits to buildings? How much farther are we going to push smokers away?

Source: From an article in the Toronto Star by Rosie Dimanno [http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/nhl/mapleleafs/brianburke/article/793514--dimanno-leafs-gm-brian-burke-laments-lost-season]

For beleaguered Toronto Maple Leaf fans, it’s been a tough year. For the fifth season in a row, the team has failed to make the playoff’s, and forced into yet another off-season of rearranging and practice, practice, practice.

As hard as it has been for fan’s, General Manager Brian Burke has had it worse. Not only has his team performed poorly this year, but events outside of the rink claimed a son.

It is Burke’s optimism that stands out. He is looking back on the hockey season that was, making plans for the future, and if luck (and strategy) serves him he will be heading the reinvigorated Leaf’s to play-off and Stanley Cup glory.

He is the enduring emblem of what it means to be a Toronto Fan. To get past the current disappointment and to look into the future and see great things there. It’s why Leaf’s tickets are still at a premium, and why the start of each season is met with praise. It is why those who worship the White and Blue will maintain the faith, whether their Saviour can perform or not.

It was August 31st in the year 1997 that Princess Diana of Wales lost her life in a tragic car accident. Millions of people mourned her loss, over a billion people watched her funeral, and of those, many blamed the paparazzi for it all.

The paparazzi and other celebrity journalists have a rough reputation. They are accused of exploiting the celebrities they pursue, of invading privacy and of even ruining whole families. Many a celebrity has gotten physical with an offending member of the celebrity press. Perhaps the most enduring image of a paparazzi reporter is not of a face, but of a face obscured by a camera.

On the other end of the spectrum, we may witness the Arts and Entertainment beat reporter. They inspect with a scalpel, possessed of an inside knowledge of their expertise; books, movies, television, and what-have-you. When they are assigned to cover a concert, they must attend whether they want to or not and they must write critically of the events.

What separates the two kinds of reporters? Ultimately, it comes down to a question of content. Paparazzi may cover the ins and outs of somebody’s sex life, but the Arts and Entertainment reporter will cover the book or movie that the person in question is releasing. As vapid as some paparazzi reporting can be, that does not mean that it can be discarded.

When the A&E reporter goes to a concert where the front-man (or woman) seems to be off their game, the paparazzi reporter can help us fill in the details that make the celebrity human. As a society, we expect much from our performers. We expect a masterpiece each and every time we shell out to see the latest movie. Through a recognition of tough times in an individuals life, we may learn to forgive – but not necessarily forget – their momentary humanity.

These people are not Gods; as much as we may need them to be.

Source: From a Globe and Mail column by Lyn Crosbie [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/lynn-crosbie/lohan-stumbles-and-we-watch/article1523830/

Lindsey Lohan keeps tripping her way on to fame and glory. At least it would seem that way. Despite the lack of any kind of career in the last couple of years, celebrity news reporters are still fascinated by LiLo. Whether it’s her sexual explorations, or her many attempts at getting into the bar without a couple of bruises.

Lohan claims that bouncers are being paid off by the paparazzi to push her around and make her look disheveled. This has happened not once, but twice, and maybe that is her excuse for all of her little trips and falls into the limelight. It could very well be that she never wanted to be seen and paid attention to. Maybe she didn’t really want to work with director Nancy Meyers years ago on “The Parent Trap”. It could very well be that, like everything in her life, she was pushed.

Source: From a National Post artitcle by Bart Jackson [http://www.nationalpost.com/arts/story.html?id=2769704]

According to a recent article in the National Post, a Canadian journalist is claiming the existence of a sex tape between Sandra Bullock and soon-to-be-ex husband Jesse James. The content in the video is reported to consist of James dressed in Nazi regalia, sporting a Hitler mustache and yelling obscenities as he defouls “America’s Sweetheart”. The article goes on to assume that James will attempt to use this video as a way of bargaining with Bullock when and if divorce papers are filed.

This is not the first time that a celebrity breakup has revealed the existence that our most beloved public figures actually have sex. Between Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, or Paris Hilton and whatever that other guys name was, sex tapes are made and almost immediately destined to be consumed by the public. In the previous examples, those tapes actually helped the actresses careers. Paris Hilton was destined to be just another hotel heiress socialite until the grainy, green-and-white video made it’s way to the internet. Now it’s almost like the public can’t get rid of her.

Bullock, on the other hand, does not stand to gain much of anything from the release of such a tape. She already has a bright career, with several movies being released in 2009 and an Oscar under her belt. She is, as has been stated, “America’s Sweetheart”. A sex tape, if it has any effect at all, would have disastrous consequences for her career.

Although issues of privacy are at play here (we really should not care that Bullock likes to get freaky every now and then), we are still largely guided by a moral compass that discourages those we consider to be “nice” from doing anything we consider to be “naughty”. We expect figures like Pamela Anderson to do freaky things for her husbands. This is a woman who figured prominently in Playboy Magazine and was the subject of many fantasies while starring on Baywatch. The public would have been disappointed if it had turned out there was no sex tape with Anderson in it.

It is this moral compass that is going to have the world obsessed with this story. When allegations of James infidelity first surfaced, we all thought “Oh, poor Bullock”. Now, as we are pondering the existence of Nazi role play porn with Bullock and James, things are about to get ugly.

Source: From a Globe and Mail article by Carly Weeks [ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/life-expectancy-gap-closing-between-men-and-women/article1478750/]

The life expectancy rate is climbing, with men living an average of 78.3 years and women living an average of 83, for births between the years 2005 and 2007.

Where as women used to enjoy an extra six years over their male counter-parts, that gap is shrinking. This shift is being attributed to increased health awareness on the behalf of men, as well as sharing a workload that carries with it the risk of stress-related ailments.

What does this all mean for Canada though? First, it means that government sponsored health campaigns are working. With increased knowledge, both genders are able to take better care of themselves in the important early years that can contribute to a healthier old age.

Secondly, it means that our health system is working pretty well. Despite gripes about long wait times, Canadians are still getting the care they need for the most part. Include with that better medical technology and new medical knowledge increasing our ability to manage and treat such conditions as diabetes, and an extension of our lives is surely to follow.

Thirdly, we are going to need to start asking ourselves what the financial impact of living longer is going to be. With the baby boomer’s creating a top heavy age-centered demographic, it is falling to the younger generations to provide for our parents and grandparents the way they once provided for us. This means we will be footing the bill for health-care, retirement pensions and other old-age benefits. When our lives increase, those born in the golden years of two thousand five, six and seven will be looking to their children to make sure that life expectancy is actually reached. Not only will they be expecting to reach it, but they will expect to reach it while living well.

What long-term effect will living longer have on Canada’s economy? Time will be both judge and jury on that one.

Source: From a Canada Press article by Heather Scoffield [http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100221/national/mps_pensions]

Jacob Marley and his fellow ghosts may have quite a bit of work cut out for them come Christmas time. Recent figures released by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation show that several MP’s are set to have a very nice retirement provided to them via a government funded pension plan. How much? According to calculations, these MP’s are set to earn over $100,000 a year.

The MP’s in question are former Reform Party members who notably took aim at such “cadillac” pension plans in the mid-90′s. Back then, they claimed that gutting such plans would be necessary to target the deficit. Since that time, the 11 members still serving in parliament have opted back in to the plan. Anyone noteworthy?

The fair and honorable Prime Minister Stephen Harper, should he retire soon, is set to earn just over $150,000 per year. Regular canadians should be so lucky.

According to 2009 figures, the maximum monthly benefit Canadians are entitled to receive from the Canada Pension Plan is just over $900 (1). That works out to under $11,000 over the course of a year.

Canadians who depend on CPP obviously are not going to have much to live off of. What about RRSP’s and other retirement investment plans? Given the current state of the economy, what was once thought of as a “sure-thing” has proven to be anything but. The same goes for privately funded pension plans.

When Canadian telecommunications giant Nortel filed for bankruptcy, it left many former and current employees wondering what would become of their retirement dreams. Once again, with the current economic climate, and companies dropping like flies, employer-funded pensions aren’t a sure thing either.

What is really at issue here is not just the risks that one takes in retirement planning, though. Given Harper’s once-strong feelings on a pension plan that he himself labelled as a “monstrosity”, why the sudden change of heart?

It’s a sickening display of contempt for the very constituents he claims to stand for. With the federal deficit climbing, for these MP’s to discretely opt back in to a plan that they themselves thought to be out-of-sorts is unfathomable. What happened to the notion of cutting out these benefits to help the Canadian people?

It gets even worse when one considers the situation brewing between the Treasury department and Canada’s federal public-service employee’s. Fears are rising that the March 4th budget will target these employees pension plans with massive cuts aimed at balancing the budget in a small amount of time (2).

Hopefully, the place to start will prove to be the overly generous pension plans afforded to MP’s. Although it can not be denied that everyone is entitled to retirement benefits, should those benefits really extend into the stratosphere? Harper and the other 11 MP’s who were against this benefit plan to begin with are going to have a long road ahead of them. With faith in the Conservative government waning, and questions on Harper’s sincerity in his campaign promises, maybe it’s time that Dicken’s infamous ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future pay a visit to our political representatives.

Additional Sources:

1) http://www.professionalreferrals.ca/2009/02/a-simple-guide-to-canadian-pension-plan-and-old-age-security/
2) http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Spending+cuts+says/2579986/story.html