Photo by Katie Rainbow via Pexels

On a cloudy February day in Edmonton, Alberta, a giant trans pride flag flies over Dr. Wilbert McIntyre Park, marking the meeting place for a rally in support of the trans community. It’s days after Premier Danielle Smith, in a seven-minute video posted online, announced the most restrictive gender policies in Canada under the guise of “preserving choice for children and youth.” Alongside my 15-year-old daughter, who has many non-binary friends at school, and my best friend, whose child is gender diverse, I join the growing stream of people heading to the gazebo at the centre of the park.

The crowd eventually balloons to over 1,000 people as we wait to hear from the speakers—politicians, Two Spirit Elders, and organizations fighting for trans rights and reminding us to celebrate trans joy. Everywhere are Pride and trans colours and handmade cardboard signs. Some are cheekier than others, like the one that says, Someone come get your ‘Auntie’ Marlaina, she’s harassing the youth again. Marlaina is the premier’s given first name, but she prefers to go by Danielle—an irony she failed to appreciate while telling Alberta’s youth that all name and pronoun changes at school need to be approved by their parents.

While it’s a scary time for young trans and gender-diverse kids and their families, protests like the one happening today show how much solidarity there is in the community, letting these students know they’re not alone. There’s also a clear message that, no matter what policy the province tries to implement, those who know and love them will not stop seeing them for who they are. All around us, clusters of teachers hold signs saying they will never out their students. We run into the parents of a trans kid who lives in our neighbourhood and have a big group hug.

We’re all in need of comfort. At their AGM in November 2023, the United Conservative Party (UCP) overwhelmingly adopted three policies all related to “parental choice.” An opt-in consent for “any subjects of a religious or sexual nature,” including enrolment in extracurriculars or distribution of instructional materials relating to them; one supporting parents’ rights to be informed of and in charge of all decisions to do with all services paid for by the province; and the requirement for parental consent for name or pronoun changes for anyone under 16.

The UCP government wants to take things even further. They are proposing legislation to restrict gender-affirming healthcare for minors—no puberty blockers for anyone under 15 years of age and no gender-affirming surgeries for anyone under 18.

In her video, Smith said that gender-affirming care “poses a risk to [children’s] futures that I, as premier, am not comfortable permitting in our province.” It’s horrifying to know that Smith believes her feelings override actual medical evidence and best practices, or that parents, doctors and minor patients need her permission to choose the right treatment plan for any health concern.

There is a real fear, echoed by many health-care associations and gender-supportive services across Canada, that these policies will result in more harm to this vulnerable and at-risk community. In the Canadian Paediatric Society’s position statement on caring for trans and gender-diverse youth, they clearly state that adolescents who have access to gender-affirming medications have “lower odds of suicidal ideation over the life course.” Denying trans and gender-diverse youth access to the care they need when they need it is the real risk to these children’s futures.

Regardless of Smith’s position on the matter, many caring adults know this, and are fighting for students’ rights to be themselves. In a powerful member statement on the first day of the spring legislature session, Brooks Arcand-Paul, Alberta New Democrat MLA for Edmonton-West Henday and a Two Spirit person, stood proudly, wearing a floral and rainbow ribbon skirt gifted to him by his community, and condemned these policies and the divisiveness they are stoking.

Arcand-Paul says he’s pleased that many Albertans and organizations like labour unions are coming together to support the trans community. The vice president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association spoke at the rally in February, and the United Steelworkers, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees and the Canadian Union of Public Employees all came out with strongly worded statements denouncing the proposed policies.

But Arcand-Paul also warns, “if this government intends to take rights away from one group, it’s certainly not going to stop there.” He says Albertans need to continue to contact their MLAs and voice their concerns about the proposed policies. “Sometimes we say something once and think it’s good enough, but we have to keep pushing the gas on this one and we can’t lose steam.” Arcand-Paul suggests people donate to organizations like Skipping Stone and Egale Canada, who are establishing legal advocacy funds and gearing up to challenge these policies in the courts if necessary.

As we left the rally, I still had the progressive Pride flag pinned to my jacket. We headed to the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market for a pre departure coffee. Within minutes, three people stopped me, curious about the flag and the rally. I gladly answered their questions. It made me realize how powerful the simple act of showing up can be—and that we can’t assume everyone knows what’s happening in Alberta politics, or that they don’t care.

The queer and trans community have been fighting for their rights for a long time, but for some of us, this is new territory. It’s imperative that progressive Albertans continue to show up and commit to defending the Charter and human rights of all people, and to keep the pressure on this government with individual calls and letters, attendance at rallies and protests, and donations to the grassroots organizations leading these actions.

Given their track record, it’s hard to say if these actions will be enough to force the UCP government to change its course. But we have to try.

All that being said, I’m now going to do that thing where I completely discount everything I wrote in the opening paragraph. That’s 30 seconds of your life you will never get back, and for that I sincerely, sincerely apologize.

Brian Pallister. Courtesy CBC.

This is leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, Brian Pallister. You might remember him from the time in 2005 when he copped to “what’s known as a woman’s answer […] It’s a sort of fickle kind of thing.” When questioned about his dithering on future plans. He later apologized.

You may also remember the time Ol’ Brian “your pal” (imagined self-imposed nickname) Pallister, hilariously chided then CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint, Dave Dingwall, in the House of Commons with a delightfully clever, and by clever I mean incredibly lame, parody rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2).” He was responsible for these unforgettable lyrics:

“You don’t need no information,

we’re in charge of thought control,

fine wines with caviar in the backroom.”

And then his fellow Tories chimed in with:

“Hey Tories, leave those Grits alone

All in all, it’s just another ding in the wall”

That was also in 2005, a banner year for Pallister, and song parody enthusiasts the world over. Anyways, all of that aside Pallister again said something incredibly stupid and this time on camera! In the video below he wishes “infidel atheists” a happy holidays, and then paternalistically adds, “I don’t know what you celebrate during the holiday season, I myself celebrate the birth of Christ…If you wish to celebrate nothing and get together with friends that’s good too.”

The contents of what he is saying is not particularly offensive to me. As an atheist, I wasn’t really looking for Brian Pallister’s go-ahead to celebrate the holidays. What is offensive to me is the condescending “pat on the head” he is giving to a group of people who don’t believe what he believes. Also particularly galling, is the internal struggle you’re witnessing of a man who seems to want to rage against the increasingly secular nature of Christmas (As in: We can’t even say Merry Christmas anymore! What is the world coming to!?!?!), but knows he can’t because he’s a politician.

I recognize that this is just an ignorant person not really knowing how to mask their ignorance. He’s trying his darndest to get his stupid thoughts from his brain, where it makes perfect sense, to the rest of us without coming across as stupid. The problem is he doesn’t have enough skill or cunning to pull it off. And yes Brian, I too know that infidel means non-believer, so while you weren’t crossing any strict definition lines, you purposely used a charged word to intensify your argument in favour of good, clean, Christian celebration of the holidays. Really, though, it would be as awful as me calling someone a faggot homosexual and then earnestly arguing that faggot technically means a bundle of sticks. But I know it’s a charged word and so did you, so no amount of saying “I respect your choice, all the best” is going to deflect from the molotov cocktail you lobbed two sentences earlier.

One of the many independent tow trucks on hand at Queen's Park.

One of the best ways to get noticed is to disrupt the morning commute. That is exactly what a convoy of independent tow truck drivers did this morning as part of a protest against the Ontario Provincial Police’s proposal to contact its use of tow truck companies to a selected few. Together, those 50 plus drivers from in and around the GTA, slowed the morning commute to a crawl on the 401, 427, Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway. It didn’t stop there.

At about 10 a.m. a mass of tow trucks arrived at Queen’s Park and turned the street into a parking lot. When I arrived, at 11:30 am, the sides of the streets on the walk toward Queen’s Park were still lined with large diesel trucks, all with their orange and red lights flashing atop their idle ride. Many of the motorists in the area had no idea what was going on or why traffic had halted. ”

Currently tow truck drivers work on a first come first serve basis. This system essentially gives truck owners a level playing field and what many independent drivers see as fair competition. The new proposal would abandon this practice and give contracts to a few larger companies. As a result, these companies would have claim over all tows the OPP orders because of driving infractions. This is bad news for independent companies because OPP tows make up the majority of their business.

The argument for contracting out to larger firms is for “consumer protection”. Base pricing would be set to expel the claims of over pricing.

Allen Yeldea works for Discount Towing and doesn’t believe this to be a rational system. “The OPP would basically call whoever they want which is not fair,” said Yeldea. “We’re sitting out there putting in diesel every day, pulling in ridiculous hours, 15 to 16 to 17 hours and if they do a contract we are all getting screwed.”

Yeldea believes that larger companies such as Abrams Towing Services and CAA would likely be awarded the contracts. This move would likely see independent tow truck operators driven off the map.

Roy Loveless, another independent tow truck operator from Fergus, ON, came down to Toronto to voice his concerns. “I’m here to protest against the request for a proposal that the government put out to have 56 box store towing companies take care of all impoundment tows for the province of Ontario.”

Roy's Towing and Recovery, an independent business, sits idle out front of Queen's Park.

Loveless is the sole owner of the company which bares his own name, Roy’s Towing and Recovery.  Parked out front of the Provincial Legislature, he hopes to generate some awareness. Part of the problem at hand according to Loveless, is that the majority of population have no idea about what’s going on.

“There was actually a media ban on the contract and on the proposal. They didn’t want anybody speaking about it. They didn’t want any of the companies talking about it,” said Loveless, who is also the treasurer of the Ontario Federation of Independent Towers (OFIT). Independent operators, he said, have worked overtime and doubletime to prevent the move, and to bring the deal into the public eye. “Now the only option we have is to come down here and make our horns be heard.”

It’s always a tough call in determining the success of a protest.  Loveless has heard a lot of mixed feeling around the success of the event. “I would say it was successful but maybe others would disagree,” he said. “Obviously the motoring public would disagree a little bit, but unfortunately they don’t know about what’s going on in our industry and we have to do what we have to do to makes ends meet.”

Many of the independent tow truck operators are planning to come back down to Queen’s Park on May 24^th for another similar event.

Wildrose Alliance leader Danielle Smith stumping during her summer tour of Alberta. The far-right party has weakened the right flank of the Progressive Conservatives. Image courtesy Wildrose Alliance.

At Marv’s Classic Soda Shop, Marvin Garriott, known for his oiled handlebar moustache, is often asked to speak of politics. He’s the local prophet on the subject; all small towns have one. A two-term councillor sitting for the 1,900-person Southern Alberta town of Black Diamond, Garriott poses for tourists and reporters, mugging in a bowling-alley inspired uniform matching the laminate, post-war decor of his pop shop. He knew the federal Conservatives would sweep to a majority, predicted the fall of the Liberals and even says he foresaw the Orange Crush (and the demise of the Bloc).

Ask Garriott to predict the outcome of the upcoming provincial leadership race and his vision goes dark. “It’s going to be an interesting one,” he says, passing judgment on the provincial Progressive Conservative party with a wince and a so-so motion of his left hand. “They weren’t listening to us. And the whole health-care issue has been a fiasco, and it still is.” Albertans face a leadership contest and probable election come fall, and are calling for change. Considering Black Diamond is in the dark blue heart of Tory country, Garriott’s verdict is a surprising vote of non-confidence.

For 40 years, the Conservatives, under the auspices of King Ralph Klein and lately “Steady Eddie” Stelmach have boasted vote margins envied by now-deposed Middle Eastern despots. At least, until Stelmach’s bumbling leadership style cost him the support of party insiders. Facing declining oil royalties, ongoing economic sluggishness and a rogue MLA forcing the party’s failing health-care policies into an unflattering news spiral, the Conservative caucus is “dissolving,” according to David Taras, a media studies professor at Mount Royal University. “People elected [Stelmach] thinking he was experienced, but it turned out there was nothing steady about Eddie,” Taras says. “When 45 percent of your budget goes into health-care, that’s the gold standard. That’s the standard by which you will be judged.”

Following in the out-sized footsteps of the iconic Klein, Stelmach’s path was bound to be bumpy. But his political missteps have been scrutinized more severely by the formation of two new parties: the centrist Alberta Party and far-right Wildrose Alliance. The latter, led by charismatic former journalist Danielle Smith, has quickly leeched the support of the populist-minded and arch-conservative alike (though the pendulum may be swinging back lately).

Stelmach’s fading fortifications were dealt a fatal coup de main during budget talks in January. His finance minister, Ted Morton, reportedly threatened to resign rather than deliver a financial plan easy on cuts and leaning heavily on the province’s reserve savings. Stelmach beat Morton to the podium. The premier resigned during a hasty news conference. He took no questions. Two days later, Morton announced himself a leadership contender. The Conservatives are now staging a six-way race to elect a leader in a five-party province.

The turmoil may even lead to an actual contest come election day—a rarity in a region where there’s more competition within parties than between them. The root of Alberta’s electoral intractability lies in its history, according to Taras. Early American immigration, strong religious communities and the hangover of the Trudeau-Era National Energy Program mean it may be decades before the province sees any real political movement—the election of superstar Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi being the exception. Up to a quarter of Alberta’s budget relies on oil royalties, and the rest of the country is growing increasingly hostile to oil sands development.

The result is a hankering for a strong leader who can stand up to the environmentalists and robber barons of Eastern Canada: “The lesson is that we need majority governments that have to be strong vis-à-vis Ottawa, because if they’re not strong, bad things can happen,” Taras says. “People see environmental politics through the lens of ‘what’s Ottawa going to do to us now?’”

And here, it should be noted, Albertans have a point. Last year, the province’s taxpayers gave the federal government $7 billion more than they received in revenue and services—about the same as what Quebec received in equalization payments. The province also receives less than its fair share in health-care transfers.

Since the ’70s, Alberta’s politics have revolved more around the protection of regional interests than the promulgation of truly conservative social values. That leaves a cadre of leadership candidates that run the gamut from Red Tory to Stockwell Day—just as long as they support oil and gas, all seem to be welcome under the big blue tent. For decades, that made for a broad, stable conservative dynasty; now that base appears to be fracturing.

Gary Mar, a former MLA, recently quit his job as the Alberta representative in the Canadian embassy in Washington. He’s emerged as an early front-runner in the leadership race. High on his list of self-described credentials are his lobbying efforts for the Keystone XL pipeline—a tube that would carry crude oil to the U.S., angering environmental groups on both sides of the border.

At 48 years old, Mar is young and eloquent: traits he shares with fellow candidate Doug Griffiths, who holds the title of youngest MLA to serve the province at 29. Former energy minister Rick Orman and deputy premier Doug Horner both have strong resumes, but may be seen as too old-school to tap into the restless undercurrent.

Alison Redford rounds the centrist Tory position. Socially progressive, she supports boosting Calgary as a world energy capital. She’s also pulled some of the campaign brains behind Nenshi’s purple revolution, which saw the mayor sweep last year’s municipal elections. “We can’t continue to presume that an election takes place, we elect a certain set of officials and then those politicians go away to make decisions, and then ask people to vote for them again,” Redford says. “People are demanding a different conversation with their politicians.”

Then there’s Mr. Et-Tu? Morton, who stands for a more conventional, American-style conservatism that blends fiscal utilitarianism and hard-right values such as opposition to same-sex marriage. Whether he has a shot at the top seat in Alberta as the Wildrose splits the right remains to be seen. “The Wildrose has made a lot of inroads,” Garriott says. Stelmach, with his humble rise to the top, should be popular among the types of people who frequent Marv’s soda shop. He’s not. “For a country boy, [Stelmach] lost touch with reality.”

In Alberta, the reality these days seems to be: expect the unexpected.

On February 8, roughly 1,500 Quebec crown prosecutors and lawyers went on strike in frustration over being the country’s most overworked and underpaid public lawyers.

The strike is believed to be the first in Canada. Prosecutors were given the right to strike in 2003 by the provincial government, who opted for contracts and incremental raises instead of binding arbitration. The aim of the strike was to close a 40 percent income gap separating Quebec from the national average.

An episode of CBC’s The Current examined the pay discrepancy and resulting backlog of cases. Lawyers discussed the low morale that comes with insufficient time to do justice. Decrying an understaffed system, one guest spoke of rape victims only getting 90 seconds to speak with a prosecutor.

A group representing the striking prosecutors says low salaries prevent the province from retaining the most competent lawyers, who must challenge the arguments of well-paid defence lawyers. Lawyers have left the provincial system, lured by competitive salaries in the private sector and other provinces. The result is a high rate of turnaround, with younger, less experienced prosecutors filling spaces left by those seeking greener pastures.

After the two weeks of picket lines, Quebec Premier Jean Charest legislated provincial prosecutors and lawyers back to work. The strike threatened provincial legislation, as state lawyers write the laws passed by the National Assembly.

As part of its back-to-work legislation, the province implemented a pay rise of 6 per cent over five years. It also announced plans to hire 80 new prosecutors and 65 related staff. The group that mobilized the strike estimates that Quebec lacks 200 crown prosecutors — 45 percent of its current workforce.

The resulting outcry is affecting the provincial government on multiple fronts. Not enough prosecutors have stepped forward for an upcoming biker-gang trial implicating 155 Hell’s Angels members. The government created an anti-corruption unit to prosecute those allegedly involved in organized crime in Quebec’s construction industry; crown prosecutors have boycotted the project. Last week, half the province’s top prosecutors asked to be reassigned, citing precarious working conditions.

Quebec’s current predicament is similar to the 2009 Legal Aid Ontario lawyers’ boycott. Legal aid lawyers refused to participate in long-term trials involving violent crime, saying they lacked sufficient pay and resources to provide a fair defence. Yet again, provincial lawyers were underfunded, threatening the pursuit of justice.

With a federal election looming, Stephen Harper is pursuing a tough-on-crime agenda, with stiffer penalties for young offenders, more prisons and fewer programs like prison farms. Toronto mayor Rob Ford wants more cops — something even the police union disagrees with — in an effort to grab the public safety vote.

All these proposals are empty hypocrisy without more crown prosecutors and lawyers, and adequate funding to pay them. They’d have to be well-paid to avoid the precarious conditions now experienced in Quebec. Otherwise, we risk undermining one of society’s most crucial institutions.

Louisiana (USA). May 6th, 2010. Aerial view of the oil leaked from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead, the BP leased oil platform exploded April 20 and sank after burning. The picture was taken in the vicinity where the platform sank from an altitude of 3200 ft. Photo by Greenpeace USA 2010.

Even as the Deepwater Horizon spill releases an estimated 25,000 barrels of crude oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico—making it, in some experts’ estimates, an even greater ecological disaster then 1989 Exxon Valdez spill—Chevron Canada Ltd. is pursuing plans to create one of the deepest offshore oil wells in the world off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.  While President Obama and California’s Governor Schwarzenegger have passed a moratorium on offshore drilling in the U.S. in response to the Gulf explosion and the Canadian National Energy Board has announced a review of arctic safety and environmental offshore drilling requirements for the Canadian north, Chevron is preparing to drill 2.6 kilometers under water in the Canadian Atlantic—nearly 1 kilometer deeper then the BP well in the Gulf of Mexico.  The Chevron drill ship Stena Carron will be drilling in the Orphan Basin in the North Atlantic, 430 kilometers northeast of St. John’s; and while many have raised concerns about the dangers of another possible leak, the federal and provincial governments are doing their best to assuage those fears and press on with the project unchanged.

In a debate before the provincial legislature, Newfoundland and Labrador’s NDP leader Lorraine Michail voiced her concern: “Why won’t they put a halt to this project until we know how to deal with incidents so far beneath the ocean?” she asked, referencing BP’s inability to deal with the ongoing spill in the Gulf and their slow reaction time in drilling a relief well.  In response, the province’s natural resources minister Kathy Dunderdale has defended the project, asserting that unlike the Deepwater Horizon ship, the Stena Carron is equipped with three backup systems; “we have a degree of security—as much as one can rely on—that the proper measures and countermeasures are in place,” she said.

While the federal government is assuring those concerned that our safeguards are tougher than those in place south of the border, some analysts worry that Chevron’s backup plans are not designed for this new class of superdeep well. Ian Doig, an oil industry expert, commented to the Globe and Mail that only two rigs are located near enough to the Orphan Basin to be of any help in case of a spill, but that neither of those rigs are equipped to drill relief wells in the depths proposed. “If Chevron gets into problems at the total depth of its proposed well, neither of those two rigs in the area have the capability of going down to that depth […] They’ll just have to stand back and watch,” Doig said.

If Canada’s intractability comes as any surprise to you, it shouldn’t. I only have to point you to George Monbiot’s condemnatory Guardian article accusing Canada of representing the single largest impediment to positive environmental change on the global scale or to Zoe Cormier’s postcard from London last September in which she documents Canada’s place as public enemy number one for many environmental groups.  The reluctance or inability of our government to enforce greater accountability on the oil industry is merely the latest manifestation of an attitude that has spawned the ecological disaster of the tar sands, the world’s dirtiest oil project and the largest single industrial source of carbon emissions.

While Chevron has assured the government that the project is as safe as it can be, the question must be asked: how much of the environment is our government willing to sacrifice for the economy?

Michael Schmidt, the dairy farmer whose David-and-Goliath battle with the Ontario government has turned him into somewhat of an emerging folk hero, wants to restore liberty to the dairy aisle of your local supermarket. There is, he says, no place for the state in the kitchens of the nation.

Schmidt successfully defended himself last month in an Ontario Court of Justice against 19 charges relating to the sale of milk products, and last week it was announced he’ll be headed back. We highlighted Schmidt’s crusade in January as part of our Legalize Everything issue, and, briefly, it seemed Schmidt’s campaign was moving forward. But as the National Post reports, the government of Ontario has other plans:

The Ontario government will appeal last month’s court ruling that made it legal to distribute raw milk in the province under certain circumstances…The judge had ruled that Mr. Schmidt’s “cow-share” program constituted a legal work-around of the restrictions against selling raw milk. The appeal argues that Justice of the Peace Paul Kowarsky made several legal errors.

The Government of Ontario maintains that raw milk is a health hazard and allowing its sale could have serious consequences. Karen Selick of the Canadian Constitution Foundation, who has aligned herself with Schmidt in his defense, explains that JP Kowarsky’s ruling pertains specifically to Schmidt’s case and meticulous care for his product and “should not be seen as carte blanche for irresponsible yahoos to start peddling unpasteurized milk.”

But the Durham, Ont. farmer insists this is not simply a milk issue, but rather an issue of the rights of an individual to decide what one puts in their body. While last month’s ruling might have given Schmidt some wiggle room, his crusade is far from over.

Mr. Schmidt had argued that if he were found guilty of violating the law, the statutes themselves should be struck down as a violation of his constitutional right to “life, liberty and security of the person.”

In Canada it’s legal to consume raw milk, but the sale and distribution of it is prohibited. This makes access to the product all but impossible for those living outside of rural areas. Schmidt has vowed to take his cause all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. No date has been set for the province’s appeal yet. We’ll keep an eye on the trial and keep you updated.

Find out how to fight back against the TTC.

Last Wednesday, the following ‘letter to the editor’ appeared in Toronto’s Now Magazine:

Disabled stay home

I am a person with a disability who does not use Wheel-Trans, as others need it more and my needs have been better met by riding the subway, which is conveniently located half a block down my street. It’s the main reason I moved here.

The new fare increase (NOW, November 19-25) will limit my ability to access my city.

Those of us who are disabled do not get a fare rate reduction like seniors or students, and yet many of us live below the poverty line.

Adding insult to injury is the token freeze, which now means I either have to pay cash to get onto the subway or use up my precious energy going the extra distance to use another entrance. Merry Christmas to me!

How well Canadian politicians look out for the least among us. Hey, maybe this is their way of telling people like me to stay home?

Michelle Moore
Toronto

I feel Michelle’s pain. When I surveyed Canada’s public transportation systems for a 2006 article in Abilities Magazine, Toronto did much worse than anticipated for a major metropolitan centre with the highest disabled population in the country.  Since that article was written, a few more subway stations have become accessible, but there’s no visible progress on the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, as the clock toward the fully-accessible deadline of 2024 keeps ticking down. The AODA Alliance continues to make transportation recommendations at the government’s request. Even the long overdue accessible streetcars, scheduled to begin appearing in 2011, will be implemented on a incremental basis. It remains to be seen how accessible the planned York University subway extension will be.

As Michelle points out, the token freeze further squeezes the already dwindled resources of the disabled population. People with disabilities occupy the highest segment of unemployed persons in the world.  (Full disclosure: I write this blog for free) However, the token freeze doesn’t just squeeze us financially, like the fare hike, it also squeezes us physically. At many stations, the token activates the gate automatically making it the most accessible and independent way to get to the platform. Relying on cash is much tougher because many of the lanes are too narrow to get an electric chair or scooter up to the window. Many of the counters are too high to place your money on by yourself, so even if you wanted to pay — you couldn’t.

Combine that with the fact Toronto has not followed most civilized cities in the world, and instituted a discount program for disabled people and I feel well within my rights to actively con the TTC every time I use their services.  Why support a system, so ill equipped to support me?

The “Bad Man” Broverman Guide to Riding the Rocket for Free

1. “Friendlies” Get the right TTC employee at the counter and make like it’s a real struggle to pull out and count the change. Nine times out of ten they will wave you through, no questions asked, especially if your holding people up. **NOTE: Bus drivers will usually ask you to put your money away.
2. “Slight of Hand” Sitting in a glass box all day can get tiring. Take advantage of laziness, slowed reaction-time and the lack of a sight-line (thanks to mobility devices being lower than the counter) and deposit whatever change you have on hand. Make sure you group the coins together, dropping them fast and all at once into the box with your palm facing towards you.  By the time they count it, you’ll be long gone.  **NOTE: also works with foreign currency denominations that, from a distance, look similar to Canadian quarters.
3. “The Sneak” By far the most difficult technique, this one works best at rush hour. Find someone with a stroller (they will need to use the gate) and follow them close enough that when the attendant opens the gate you can sneak through before he can close it. You can also ask someone on the platform side to press the button for you. Most of them will assume you paid.

I can’t guarantee success, but these methods have worked for me and hopefully they’ll work for you. Remember, if you make a reasonable attempt to pay and can’t, there’s no harm in catching a break where you can.

One of the options the C.D. Howe Institute sees to avoid a major hit to the workforce as the Atlantic Provinces's populations age is to discourage early retirement and to offer incentives to working longer like allowing RRSP contributions later in life.

We’ll all get older, and start to slow down. It’s just a fact of life. But in the Atlantic Provinces, the population as a whole is getting older, and that’s going to lead to tough times ahead unless the provincial and federal governments step-in and make some changes.

A report released Monday by the C.D. Howe Institute says the region could face a shrinking workforce as soon as next year. As the baby boomers retire, the old-age dependency ratio (people aged 65 and over relative to the working-age population) is rising. This, coupled with low birthrates, high out-migration, and a declining workforce means there will be more people using public programs, like health care, than paying in to them.

Young people grow up, go to school and leave the Atlantic provinces in droves. I know this because I’m one of them. I lasted longer than some of my friends, and only headed West, earlier this year. A lack of meaningful employment and proliferation of low-paying jobs sent me packing.

Most of the people I graduated from high-school with also left within a few years. We didn’t stay at home to work, pay provincial and municipal taxes, or buy homes. Our children won’t be attending publicly funded schools so there’s a savings, but it’s really nothing compared to the rising health care costs as the population ages.

This poses the question: if there were no jobs for those of us born in the Atlantic Provinces, why would anyone want to move there from the rest of the country or abroad? According to the Howe Institute’s report, they don’t. In the last 25 years, out-migration has topped in-migration consistently, with the exception of  2007 when the two were almost equal.

The Howe Institute has suggestions to avoid a future where the Atlantic provinces are trapped under an enormous tax-burden caused by too few workers and too many people seeking health care and government pensions. They include motivating people to retire later by changing tax laws on pensions and RRSPs, prefunding pharmacare programs, and attracting more immigrants with the Provincial Nominee Program.

Aside from the PNP, these options sound like possible temporary fixes — they won’t change the fact that people will retire eventually, and there has to be someone there to take up their job when that happens. The real solution is to offer the remaining young people a way to build a life for themselves in the Maritimes, instead of heading for Toronto  or Fort McMurray.

[Image by kiringqueen. Used under Creative Commons]

With swine flu in the air, the Calgary Flames went to the front of the line. Are they the mythical "Second Tier"?

[Editor’s note: today we introduce “Body Politic,” a new blog column about medicine and public health, written by Lyndsie Bourgon. Visit her website or follow her on Twitter. Body Politic will appear every other Thursday.]

As the Calgary Flames hit the ice this weekend they appeared to show no great superpower, which is what I was hoping would happen when they got their H1N1 shots before the rest of us.

Both the Flames and Maple Leafs made the news for stepping ahead of the pregnant, young, old and needy for flu jabs recently, and in doing so they became unwilling examples of what could happen if a two-tiered health care system were adopted in Canada — that is, if it hasn’t been already.

As flu clinics were overwhelmed and shutting down in Calgary’s Brentwood community, the Flames and 100 of their closest associates and family members lined up for the shot separately. And it’s no surprise that it’s an Alberta team that was one of the first to get caught asking for a preferential care during a global pandemic.

Alberta’s health care policy plays an important role in the debate surrounding two-tiered health care in Canada. For years Albertan politicians have argued that the “third way” of health care could be the saving grace of a backed-up, overwhelmed medical system. What better way for the privileged to get the care they need than by paying for it? And those poor people can still receive their public option, too.

Officials fired the two top health care workers related to the case, and Ontario is “investigating” how players received the shot. But it was Alberta Liberal opposition leader David Swann who hit the real issue:

“It’s a failure of leadership that we are providing vaccines willy-nilly to whoever has money, to whoever has access, when cancer patients, when chronic lung patients, when pregnant women and their children can’t get it… It’s a violation of the basic principles of public health care.”

While it’s true that two-tier health care could theoretically relieve some strain on the health care system by lessening wait times and work loads at public facilities, the H1N1 vaccine debacle shows what’s likely to happen when the idea is exploited in Canada — during true medical emergencies, those with enough money will trump those who are in true need of treatment that cannot (or will not), for whatever reason, jump the line.

But who can blame them? What’s wrong with this scenario is not just that the Flames or the Leafs decided to hunt out the H1N1 shots for themselves. It’s the idea that players are somehow socially exempt from waiting in line with us common folk because they can pay for something more. It’s the same treatment that skips them to the front of months-long wait lists for MRIs and reconstructive surgeries.

Hockey might be our national pastime, but our players shouldn’t be treated like superheroes when it comes to the health system.