All posts by Chris Tindal

Chasing the Cancer Answer

health

Wendy Mesley just got off CBC radio talking about her Marketplace documentary “Chasing the Cancer Answer,” which will re-air in an extended one-hour cut this Monday April 17 and 8pm on CBC Newsworld.

If you decide to watch it (and tape Prison Break), you’ll learn a lot of things someone should have told you by now. Like the fact that almost 1 in 2 children born today will have cancer in their lifetimes. Or that a recent study found that the average Canadian has 44 heavy metals, pesticides, and other toxic chemicals in their blood. Or that the Canadian Cancer Society only spends 10% of their budget on prevention (and even that is mostly spent on healthy eating and anti-smoking campaigns).

What can the government do? Well, for a start they could ban carcinogens from being used in personal products (there are carcinogens in my shampoo? in my food?), or at least require that those carcinogens are listed on the label (…labeling isn’t required?).

How is it possible there’s still only one political party in Canada that thinks this is a priority? Are we going to wait until 1 in 1 children are destined to have cancer?

Real Transparency and Accountability

democracy and good government

Listen, there are lots of things I find disturbing about this government’s performance so far. Seriously. Lots and lots. But nothing upsets me more than the way they’ve attempted to shut-out and manipulate the media, or those who disagree with them.

This is the one issue that all of us, regardless of partisan leanings, should be able to get behind. Even if you support the Conservative government, you still need to know what they’re up to.

And remember, this government was elected, above all, on a promise of transparency and accountability; as in, transparent and accountable to us. The news media, regardless of its faults, is our number one source for information on what’s going on in government.

(As a side note, during the last election campaign my communist opponent loved to opine at all-candidates meetings that “Stephen Harper is the face of George W. Bush in this country.” It’s not the most accurate statement that’s ever been spoken, but it’s a great way to get applause from a Toronto crowd. Try it some time. Anyway, the point is that this move to control the media reminds me more of the Bush White House than anything else Harper’s done so far.)

We need our government to open up. Let ministers and MPs speak their minds; hold frequent press conferences; give reporters full access. Of course, if we do that, we’re also going to need to learn to be more forgiving of politicians who talk like normal people. And bloggers who write longwinded ranty diatribes.

G.R.E.E.N. Conference at St. Clement’s School

green party

I had a great time running a workshop this morning at the (3rd?) annual G.R.E.E.N. Conference, organized by students from the Bishop Strachan School, Havergal College, Crescent School, St. Clement’s School, and Upper Canada College. The acronym stands for Global Action, Respect, Environmental sustainability, Education, NOW! Over a hundred students were there to learn more about various environmental issues and how their lives are affected by them.

These students (many of whom are either voting age or just on the cusp) were extremely impressive. For one, they showed up for this thing on a Saturday morning (no word on whether or not they were forced). But more than that, they knew more about political issues–from NAFTA and other trade issues to electoral reform to current goings-on in Ottawa–than many people I’ve spoken with. The keynote speaker, Leah Henderson, spoke about the choice between acting from a place of hope or a place of despair. Meeting these people gave me a lot of hope. I wish I could have a similar conversation with a new group every weekend. (I’m available.)

Also, I told them to ask all of their parents to give me money. We’ll see how well that goes.