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Saturday, December 04, 2010

Food for Thought

Canada has a state-of-the-art ice-breaker in the Arctic Ocean. It is used mainly for assessing the effects of climate change. Frequently it gets loaned out to oil companies to help in their search for oil under that ocean. Incongruous? Yes, but, as the head of the program says, 'at
$50 000 a day rental, it helps to pay the ice-breaker's way! The logic escapes most sane people.
 On the poverty front, good news. A House of Commons committee, after three years of study, has put forward solid recommendations to combat the scourge of poverty for three million Canadians. Unfortunately, the fact that it is a supplementary report signals its low priority. In 1989, parliamentarians voted unanimously to eliminate child poverty. They still
haven't. Of course, we know, it's endemic to the profit system.
Nowhere in Canada is poverty more obvious than in First Nations' communities but some chiefs are pulling in large salaries, such as at Peguis First Nation community. The Toronto Star reported (31/Oct/2010) that in that nation, where many houses are mould-infested, the chief earned $355 000 a year, and his predecessor made $665 000. In Toronto there are 75 000 families waiting for a subsidized place to live while there are many empty houses. The Toronto Star reporter who investigated met a woman who waited for 21 years to get an affordable apartment. By then, her kids had grown up! The old rubric of money to fix
up housing for the needy is offered. Meanwhile 131 city owned houses are rotting. Homelessness and poverty are not just the domain of the cities. In my mainly rural township of Cramahe in the county of Northumberland, local papers are reporting increased numbers of those needing help. The Cramahe food bank's roll of those in need has risen from 8-10 households when it began eight years ago to 75-100 households per month today. Homelessness in the county is mainly invisible because 'couch surfing' is the usual course of action for those without shelter, or the house that is maintained for short stays. All agencies are asking for help because money is tight for those trying to help, but freely available for some, as you can see from the next item.
Meanwhile, money is no problem for the financial industry. The G20 countries bailed out the rich to a tune of $5 trillion (Toronto Star editorial, 13/Nov/2010). Now the austerity measures brought in by almost every government hit, of course, the most vulnerable the hardest. Do we expect anything different? No, but it would be nice if the protests were
bigger and had a real purpose like establishing socialism. John Ayers

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