Getting my Canada back…

Posted on October 20, 2015 by johnageddes

Today I am proud to be Canadian. More proud than usual, that is.

Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau carries a young Justin into 24 Sussex, where he will soon end up again as our Prime Minister. How cool is that?

The Canadian electorate has resoundingly chosen a new government led by the Liberal party but more pointedly by a vigorous, young, positive and somewhat idealistic leader in Justin Trudeau.

This government will, no doubt, make mistakes along the way and it will take a lot of time and effort and trial and error to get all those jobs done to bring Canada back to who we fundamentally believe we are deep in our hearts.

I am excited to see many capable men and women elected to parliament and particularly pleased to turn the reins over to the generation that will have to deal with the policy decisions made in the next four years. It seemed like my Liberal vote was giving control over to my kids and that felt very good.

Canada’s House of Commons, Ottawa.

In addition, we have basically overthrown the sitting government in a peaceful, orderly way. Do you know how significant that is? I have worked in Bosnia and Kenya and Uganda where voters feel this is impossible. The despair I have seen from young, frustrated citizens is indeed sad. In so many countries in the world, where a democratic process is ostensibly in place, the electorate still feels powerless. Governments are corrupt and cling to power with money and threats and manipulation. As our Canadian election campaign began it appeared that the the Conservatives had much more funding available to them to promote their candidates. But money did not make the difference. The groundswell of ABC – Anything But Conservative – and social media posts to encourage people to vote for change proved more powerful than money and scare tactics. World, take note. It can be done.

I am not so naive to believe there will not be snags and scandals and missteps by this government but I am eager to give them a chance. One of my friends posted a list of things that this government will need to do to keep all their promises and it ended with “walk on water”. At least we are starting out with a leader who appears to be honestly transparent, inclusive and progressive. You have four plus years, Justin. We have given you a chance to make us even prouder than we feel today.

Bubbles, not bodies, on the beach…please.

Posted on September 5, 2015 by johnageddes

I would like to think that there is something that I could do to help the Syrian refugee situation that seems to have suddenly burgeoned into a major humanitarian crisis. Of course, this is not really the case. The situation has been escalating for months, if not years, and the bandaids that the western world has applied to this gaping wound have done little to save the thousands who are scrambling for safety and security or the many who have already died in their attempts to find freedom for themselves and their families.

It is almost embarassing to see our Canadian electioneering politicians using this as campaigning opportunities. I am definitely not a Conservative or Harper supporter, but our collective anger toward the current government, expressed as “why has our Canadian government done more already?” is counterproductive and also answered by the reality that most of its citizens, you and I, have been somewhat oblivious to the problem, sidetracked by the millions of our tax dollars that are being spent to investigate and prosecute Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallen. Pathetic, isn’t it?

I am not that confident in the promises of any of the political parties running in the upcoming Canadian federal election. They all promise more. Those promises are a bit hollow given past government aid and the obvious logistical legal hurdles that any refugee or immigrant has to jump to get into Canada. We are not the country with open arms and hearts that we would like to think we are. And it doesn’t matter if individuals are willing to donate to local initiatives to help bring refugee families to our communities if the government red tape is impeding that.

I have looked at several charity websites but can find no specific plans that would assure me that my donated dollar is going directly to help a refugee family from Syria. I have written a letter of inquiry to one local initiative but received no response yet. I have found a couple of websites of groups that say they are motivated to help Syrian refugees but exactly how they plan to do it or what their financial is to accomplish this is not evident.

In the past I have donated to the Humanitarian Coalition but I think that this is appears to be a clearing house for donations to Care Canada, Oxfam and Save the Children. They take their cut for promotion and it would seem to make more sense to select the other charity directly and donate to it without the 15% cut that this group takes just to be a relay. FYI, in 2014, Care Canada had a revenue of over $100,000,000, 31% of it from government. It spent over $35,000,000 in salaries (one is over $250,000) and another $4,000,000 on consulting and professional services. Oxfam had revenue and expenditures in 2014 in the realm of $23,000,000 with four employees making more than $120,000, $1,800,000 in fundraising expenses and about $650,000 in professional and consulting services. I run an unrelated charity funding infrastructure work in Africa and I know that admin expenses are definitely necessary in order to carry out the charitable work. I am also aware of the need for accountability to donors and disciplined accountability for expenditures. I think that folks should take some note and be aware of where exactly their money is going when they donate to a charity. You can search for current information on any registered Canadian charity on the CRA website ( http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/lstngs/menu-eng.html) It is worth a look.

I wonder how I can best help people fleeing from Syria as refugees.

Now.

Please help me by suggesting a registered Canadian charity with a track record of spending at least 80% of their money directly on their charitable programming (in this case, the direct support of a refugee family or families), don’t have a CEO making $100,000, and have a concrete plan in place to actually bring a refugee family or families to Canada (not just the will to do so). I will be happy to investigate it, lend support and encourage my friends to do the same if I can be assured that my support will be effectively spent.

Bubbles in the sand on Ellington Beach, PEI

Bubbles in the sand on Eglington Beach, PEI

Where is this heading?

Posted on October 10, 2014 by johnageddes

I am worried about Ebola. It is rapidly spinning out of control.

Photo from internet

I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a four-year old African child whose mother is dying of Ebola and I can not hug her or comfort her as she is dragged off by people looking like space travellers. I can not imagine what it is like to be a health care worker in a facility where there is no clean water supply, limited resources and few beds and knowing that just touching someone who is infected to provide care for them or make them more comfortable is risking my own life.

It annoys me somewhat when I see the panicked response of the U.S. or Spain when they get one case that is treated in health care systems that have funding many, many times that of the West African countries that are struggling to manage it. When the outbreak affects thousands in Liberia, far away, the response is muted. When one person in North America is treated with it, the response is a cascade of protective efforts, likely costing billions in the long run. I am not saying this is wrong, just imbalanced and so self-absorbed.

It frustrates me to know that the international community has dragged their feet in responding to this outbreak … until it becomes obvious that, with international travel, it is only a matter of time that the disease reaches us. It worries me that other African countries will soon be at risk and that their health care systems will do their best, but are woefully inadequate to cope with the anticipated exponential spread of this virus. It troubles me to know that economies in many African countries, already struggling with poverty, will be decimated. Tourism is a major source of income. What traveller is going to pick an African vacation for their family with all this negative press and uncertainty?

When I graduated from medical school in 1974 there was no AIDS. Well, there were a few cases, scattered somewhere, but we didn’t know about it. Now millions have been infected and died of AIDS and although we have medications to manage it, we do not have a cure, nor effective immunization against it. Will Ebola be the next AIDS? Or worse?

What can we do about it? What can I do about it? So far the Canadian government has allocated about 5-6 million dollars to this crisis. They have also just approved an air bombing campaign in Iraq of undetermined cost but with estimates of 100 million dollars or more. It costs close to $17,000 per hour to operate a CF-18 and each JDAM-equipped bomb that is dropped costs about $25,000. Can we get our priorities straight? Or at least balance them? How do we influence these decisions?

I have worked for the past five years to help to provide infrastructure improvements for schools, clinics and communities in East Africa through the CanAssist African Relief Trust. Will this be at all helpful if Ebola spreads eastward in Africa? I would like to think it will help. Education about spread of the disease and protection from it is essential to avoid infection and schools are a resource to help with that. CanAssist has supported clinics in several communities and has provided improved water and sanitation to communities and schools. Hopefully this will help if the need arises. Without adequate sanitation or access to clean water, how can anyone avoid contamination? CanAssist’s work involves only a few communities – we have limited resources despite a never-ending need. But hopefully, by preparing some communities a bit with infrastructure to help manage any possible outbreak (of Ebola or any other health threat) we can, in fact, save a few lives.

I plan to return to East Africa early in 2015. In addition to continuing to monitor and support new and existing projects through CanAssist (at no cost to our donors, by the way) I will be thinking about helping to provide some medical information about Ebola to the communities that I visit in preparation for what I fervently hope does not happen there. I have often felt that if Africa was educated about HIV/AIDS early on that this scourge would not have taken hold the way it did. Maybe with some warning and information, countries neighbouring those currently affected by Ebola can prepare to prevent it from engulfing in their communities. Not a panicked, emergency response but a practical preparation for a possible threat. It is worth a try.

“If I am only for myself, then what am I? And, if not now, when?” Rabbi Hillel, 50 BC

Slums in Africa house millions of people with little access to health facilities, clean water or sanitation. How would you contain it if an Ebola strikes here?

Slums in Africa house millions of people with little access to health facilities, clean water or sanitation. How would you contain it if Ebola strikes here?