Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 24, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba The View associate editor a15 from newest John Sullivan 697-7293 Winnipeg free press a forum for ideas and opinion thursday june24, 2004 americans could help non voters elect pm by Jim Uttley or. Probably should to w e All know Canada has issues with the United states ? mad cow softwood lumber Immi Gration Security it Al ? and its surprising that these issues really Haven to dented the Federal election Campaign. But even More surprising is How Canadian candidates can win or lose a rid ing Over what they think of the ., american values or both. Never in my wildest dreams did i think we americans played such an important role in determining who will be Canadas next prime minister. Our influence is not directly at the ballot Box but just by who we Are and what we believe. Since coming to Canada 16 years ago i be come to understand that our relation ship is a bittersweet one. In this election it seems that a candidate can either walk on water or drown depending on How cozy he portrays this relationship. Stephen Harper promises major tax cuts and is immediately attacked by Paul Martins liberals for taking after the americans ? after All president George w. Bush promised and delivered huge tax cuts to the scorn of his democratic opponents. Or. Harper turns around and hints that the liberals Are anti american. The liberals Are essentially saying that canadians love taxes and if they re reduced it will Drain away an essential right ? medicare. If i be heard it once i be heard it a Hundred times Canadian politicians love to Heap scorn on the Health care system ? or Lack of one. Well i Don to know what a worse need ing medical treatment without insurance or having to wait three months to get an Fri or perhaps dying in a Hospital Hall Way waiting for treatment. At least i know that id get emergency treatment in a Hospital with or without insurance. Unfortunately there Are other less fashionable differences As Well. If there a one thing that separates americans from canadians its that americans Arent afraid to speak what we really believe. Most americans Don to beat around the Bush when it comes to abortion same sex marriage or capital punishment. We often Wear it on our sleeves. There a nothing i find More offensive than a politician who says Well person ally i a opposed to abortion but politically ill vote anyone who is willing to break ranks with his conscience for political gain is not Worth supporting. Then there Are the differences in our political systems. Unlike Paul Martin Nei ther the president nor any politician has control Over when elections Are held pre scribed As they Are in our Constitution. Considering How bad things have gone in Iraq i a sure president Bush would give anything to have the election next year but its out of his hands. And there is More term limits for pres ident the fact that members of the House and Senate vote As they choose ? on everything ? and that minority politicians have a constructive role to play in co sponsoring legislation to make democracy work. Canada has none of this. Then there is the Issue of free speech. National Post columnist Elizabeth Nick son has lamented the inability to discuss certain issues during this Campaign As the latest Liberal smears against Stephen Harper show the left uses the pain of women of my generation for political gain. Same for Gays same for bilingual ism same for natives same for multiculturalism. We Are stuck. Public discourse is sharply limited and so it is in starting with this election Canadian free speech has been further severely limited by restrictions on donations to parties which again appear to Benefit the party in Power in this Case the liberals. Viewing american political ads you la find there a no restriction on speech and the Money seems to be limitless. During the last four Federal elections i be sadly had to Tell election enumerators that my family and i Are ineligible to vote because we re not yet Canadian citizens. We re especially sad because of the Apa thy we see among Canadian voters. Since the first american election i participated in i be been an avid ballot Ter believing that one is not a Complete Citi zen unless one fulfils his or her voting duty. Having lived almost half my life in Haiti under a totalitarian dictatorship elections Are the Lifeblood of democracy for me. They Are in fact the True exer Cise of Freedom. On june 28, ill bemoan the fact that i can to vote for Canadas next leaders. My Consolation is that ill vote by Absentee ballot in the Election in november. Jim Uttley jr., a freelance writer / editor has lived in Winnipeg since 1988. He and his family Are applying for Canadian citizenship. t Here is a great Deal of silly fuss these Days about the fact that Young people Are declining to vote in Ever increasing num Bers. It seems universally assumed that this is a bad thing. To the contrary i think one can find in this phenomenon much that is Good. Pundits Are pontificating journalists Are interrogating the Young and political scientists Are writing weighty papers on Why this electoral rejection might be happening. The experts think this is awful. The Young Are after All the people who will be around the longest to enjoy or suffer the outcomes of the current election. These Are the people who Are allegedly tuned in to the modern world. Why will they not see their own interest on the one hand and give us their Wisdom on the other such worriers All Overlook one Central truth if a person is free to vote but does not feel motivated to do so we Are probably All better off. The Young per son or any non voter of any age has saved a bit of time and the rest of us have been spared the count ing of an opinion that in the assessment of its owner was virtually worthless. The Choice not to vote sends one of three Mes sages. The first is that the elector does not feel qualified to make the requisite Choice. Surely we should be grateful for such restraint. There is a High probability that he or she is right. The second potential message is that the elector has better things to do with his or her time. After All the responsible act of voting should entail a Good Deal More than strolling to a polling place on june 28 and putting an a on a piece of paper. It should also entail some minimal amount of time studying the players and the issues comparing notes with others weighing ones personal advantage and the common Good and so on. This is a non trivial assignment of time and if someone has other hooked on the health care drug priorities we should respect that too. The third potential message is that the elector is so cynical about or disgusted by the system and or the choices available that they want nothing to do with it. That is something that should be of interest to us All but in that Case we should do something practical to change the system the players or both. I note in passing that getting Good players also requires a change in the system. Very few persons of Talent Are so selfless that they Are prepared to leave productive and enjoyable careers to become ciphers if in the opposition or Mere members of a focus group for the prime ministers office if they Are backbench ers or even in the Cabinet. Thank god there Are a few but not Many a message to get out there and change the system is a very valuable one. We should thank the non Vot ers for that too ? its probably the Best Way that message can be sent. Once upon a time there was a party the Reform party that stood for fundamentally changing the system. As it turned out voting for them was not an effective route to that end. The View was simply not supported outside of Western Canada so not voting in general is no bad thing and the non voting of Young people is arguably a particularly Good thing. In the Field of politics Young people know a great Deal less than older people. They Sim ply Haven to had ? and cannot have had ? the insights and judgment that come Only from the experience of watching the system for years. This Means that when Young people vote they Are almost certain to be voting either the habits of their parents ? no bad thing but not that useful either ? or More dangerously idealism and theory. In poli tics it is Good to have a Leavening of idealism and theory but pragmatism should carry the Day. Young people know a great Deal More than older people about Many things some of them of very great importance. But since such Superior knowl Edge does not extend to politics we should there fore be grateful for a certain electoral humility. There is however another age related worry which we should address ? a Brilliant idea i first saw in a column in the new York times perhaps 20 years ago never to see it resurface again. It is this our society is aging. Old people already vote More. Old people Are expensive and like All human beings rather insistent that their needs be put at the front of the queue. Senior Power has vastly enriched the government payments to them Sim ply for being old and alive ? the fully subsidized map and gis and the partially subsidized cup. I collect the first and third so feel entitled to talk about this seniors Are also medically very expensive and that is the major reason Why health care is at the top of every political list. This is Well and Good but what about the very Young people ? those under 18 ? who have no vote at All even in theory these people now in the Edu cation system Are literally our future. Where is the electoral clout that will look after their education Early childhood Heath and so on its not there in proportion to their importance. So Here is a modest proposal give parents one extra vote for each child below voting age. They would speak for their kids seniors would continue to speak for seniors people in the Middle will continue to pay the shot for everything no matter what happens and we would have a better balance. Why not just asking. Gordon Gibson is a Vancouver based commentator. His address is . by John Church w Hile it has been overshadowed in recent Days by other election issues nothing is More important to canadians than health care. It has become so Cen trial to our existence that some might say we Are addicted hooked on the health care drug and in denial about our problem. We consume More health care than Ever and we seem to be demanding More and More. All the while we continue to hear the same tired arguments made by the same voices. Some say the problem is a shortage of resources doctors nurses mris Hospital Beds. Others Tell us that if we Only managed the system better we would solve the problem. Still others Tell us that we should be allowed to buy As much health care As we want. Finally we Are told that if we can Only get health providers to work together both in hospitals and out in the Community people will get the health care they need. All of these voices have one thing in common they assume the health care system is the key to improving our health. The reality is that with the exception of some Public health measures that have been developed Over decades such As vaccination and water Quality testing much of the health system focuses on try ing to make us Well after we Are sick. This Means that for Many of us our need to use the health care system will be sporadic and will Likely occur More As we get older. Of course this is not to say that we wont use it too much anyway because like All addictions from alcohol to overeating we have a tendency to deny that there is a problem. We Are unable to Stop ourselves. If canadians were serious about saving the health care system we would admit the True nature of the problem and take Steps to beat the addiction. For example we have increasing evidence that much of the illness that we experience is related to working too much in unhealthy workplaces not eat ing properly not getting enough exercise and not getting enough sleep. We also know that people with fewer resources Are Likely to end up getting sicker. Yet for the most part the health care system does very Little to address any of these issues. So it would seem that in order to save the health care system we As individuals and organizations need to enrol in a five step program to kick the habit. Step 1 instead of continuing to insist that we Are not getting enough health care we should entertain the notion that we Are using the system More than we need. Instead of running to the doctor every time our nose is Stuffy we should stay in bed and rest for a Day or two. This simple act alone would save the system millions and perhaps make the demand for More family physicians less pressing. Over the last couple of years i have tried this and it has worked for both myself and my kids. The catch is that you May have to take some time off work. Or How about taking the stairs instead of the ele Vator when you Only have a couple of floors to go i spent 10 years working in a building with health providers who often took the elevator to get from the first to the second floor. Many were visibly on their Way to becoming patients. Step 2 create healthy places for people to work. A key to making this step work is to Start treating each other with respect. Organizations have a responsibility to ensure that bad behaviour is not tolerated. Given that workplace violence psychological and physical and absenteeism have been increasing steadily Over the past several decades the potential to improve productivity should be self evident. And of course the family responsibilities of employees need to be accommodated . Physical mental and family health. But this wont Hap pen unless organizations take a Lead role. Step 3 develop communities that allow us to carry out our daily affairs without having to get into our cars to get everywhere. Several approaches Are needed to make this Hap pen. Urban planners need to Start putting Basic necessities within walking distance of Homes. How about including Bike trails As part of All new developments while we can to undo what is already done we could fix this in areas where new development is scheduled to occur. All three Levels of government could commit to developing Strong and convenient Public transit. I used to take Public transit to and from work. When system cutbacks occurred in the 1990s, taking the bus became so inconvenient that i gave up and went Back to driving my car. Developing designated express lanes for buses and extending Light rail sys tems to developing suburbs would be a Good Start. And incentives for car pooling and environmentally Friendly cars would appease those of us who can to live without a car. Step 4 put the health Back into Public education. Over the past two decades mandatory health Edu cation and physical activity have been reduced if not eliminated from Public school curriculum due to Lack of funding. Even when i went to High school daily physical activity was not a requirement. In general Public education about How to stay healthy needs to be pursued More aggressively. Step 5 set an example for your children by getting off the Couch and away from the to. An increasing number of us Are spending our evenings and week ends sitting in front of the tube or the Home com Puter. Our children Are emulating our behaviour by playing video games in the rec room instead of basketball in the driveway. If parents Don to set a healthy example Why should we expect children to be different we Are their role models for life. In the end we could go a Long Way to saving our health care system by doing things As individuals and organizations that Don to require expensive taskforce reports or intense negotiations among different lev Els of government and groups that make Money when we use the health system. When i recently moved from an unhealthy work place to a healthier one i used this As an Opportunity to make other changes in my life. I car Pool part of the Way to work with my wife and ride my Bike the rest of the Way. In addition to the Impact on the Environ ment and the exercise i get my wife says she enjoys the extra time with me. Since i am now on the fifth floor instead of the thirteenth i walk up and Down the stairs at work. When either myself or my Chil Dren Are sick i stay Home. While not everyone is in a position to do these things i suspect there Are enough of us that we could make a major contribution to saving the health care system. Every Day is a struggle but i Mon the Patch and starting to feel better. Or. John Church a political scientist at the University of Alberta has studied health care politics for the past 20 years. Winnipeg free press editorial Board members Are Nicholas Hirst Terence Moore Gerald flood Catherine Mitchell Tom Oleson cartoonist Dale Cummings submissions to the View from the West Are Welcome. Contact associate editor John Sullivan 204 697-7293 / ;