Call me a social conservative...

You've no doubt heard of this by now: Carelton University Students' Association decides to stop supporting Shinerama because Cystic Fibrosis (CF) affects only white people, and primarily males. This is untrue. For the purpose of this blog, and highlighting the naiivety of CUSA's decision, let us assume it is true. 

Forty years ago the life expectancy of an individual with CF was four years. Now it is 32 years. I'm a white male, and I understand that because of the culture we have, my life has been significantly easier than that of others. But if the logic that CUSA used  to draft their motion last week was used by student unions 40 years ago, we would be punishing infants on the basis of their sex and race. Barack Obama writes about his childhood in Dream's From My Father, saying "I was too young to know that I needed a race".  Talk about inheritance, talk about race. Forty years ago, no-one would have dared suggest that we should reconsider raising funds for CF if we knew that the disease only affected white males, given that most of those affected would have died well before reaching adulthood.  So why (since we are assuming CF does only affect whites, and primarily males) is this acceptable now? 

You're a female,  and I'm a male. We're on the bus together, you're standing and I'm sitting. I'm going to give you my seat. If you're a male, tough. But if you're a white man, or a black man, or an asian woman and you can't breathe because you've got CF, I'm going to make sure you're ok, and then go make a donation to Shinerama. What on earth would ever make it  right to punish someone because of their inherited race? Race is inherited, so is CF. Back to reality: yes more whites are affected by CF than other races - but as far as I know, not being able to breathe feels just as shitty if you're white as when you're black. 

***

When I graduated from high school, I was very fortunate to recieve the Bryan Lynk Memorial Scholarship. Bryan was a young musician from Cape Breton, the same age as myself.  Bryan was born with a twin, Brendan.  Both twins were born with CF. When they were five years old, Brendan passed away. Despite the fact that we socialized in many of  the same circles, I never had the opportunity to meet Bryan. Bryan lost his battle with CF at the young age of seventeen. Spending his last hours in the IWK hospital, a local radio station played one of his band's songs on the Halifax airwaves as he listened closely. His career as a musician drew quickly to an end. 

Bryan was white. Bryan was male. Bryan had a life ahead of him as a young musician, talented, smart and charming, so I'm told.  Would his cause be any more worthy if he had been black, female, gay, or a visible minority? No. He suffered,  just like everyone with CF suffers. Is a caucasion's suffering less worthy of relief simply on the basis that his ancestors have suffered less than someone elses? No. 

Each year, Bryan's friends and school teachers continue to  work to raise money for research into the disease that took Bryan too early. An annual all-day event call BRYSTOCK raises thousands of dollars for Bursaries and Shinerama in Bryan's name. Here is how: 

Thank goodnes CUSA is revisiting their decision to ditch Shinerama. My suggestion is a good primer in Roberts Rules for their entire council, and a requirement that all information contained in whereas clauses be cited in APA or MLA style.  

 

 

Shadow wasn't just a dog in homeward bound...

Opposition parties appointed their shadow cabinets this week. For politically innocent reading this blog, a shadow cabinet is a set of opposition MPs assigned to each Minister's portfolio to critique the work they do (or in some cases, the work they don't do). Shadow is probably not the right word for it at the federal level. Unrelenting acid rain cloud is probably the more appropriate term.



The department responsible for Post Secondary Education (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada) is under the ministry of Diane Finley.

Her critics:

Liberal MP Mike Savage (Dartmouth Cole Harbour)
NDP MP Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie)

The NDP critic is responsible for critiquing the minister based on NDP policy. The Liberal critic however, in addition to being the Liberal critic for the portfolio, is also deemed the official critic of the portfolio for all of Canada as a member of the official opposition. A great idea, keep the other guys in check, but realistically I'm not sold on the effectiveness of it.

Other interesting tidbits:

• Halifax MP Megan Leslie is now the NDP Critic for Post Secondary Education and Literacy, along with some deputy critic duties for the department of Justice and first nations (urban issues). A very fitting portfolio given the landscape of our riding here in Halifax. Puzzling, however is the NDP's choice in cabinet posts. The NDP caucus is one seat short of matching the size of Harper's cabinet, yet the NDP have chosen to have critics (such as critic for Post Secondary Education, Poverty, and Youth) for ministerial positions that don't yet exist.
  
• Harper has one of the largest cabinets in recent history (with 38 MPS) rivaled only by the cabinets of Brian Mulroney.
  
• Cabinet members get tonnes of perks. Namely, a $67 700 raise from their standard MP's salary of $155 400/year (which alone puts all MPs in the top two percent of income earners in Canada). And, don't forget the limo rides.
  

Dal student union criticizes Elections Canada effort

From my new favourite online publication, U-News.

To view the report, click here.

The Dalhousie Student Union has sent a report to Ottawa on what it calls Elections Canada’s lacklustre efforts to address the needs of student voters

Steven Woodhead
Last update: November 17, 2008 9:21 am AT

Just as Elections Canada conducts its regular post-election survey to assess its performance, the students union at Dalhousie University has sent a report to Elections Canada with concerns of a poorly done job.

The letter's primary author was Mark Coffin, vice-president (education) for the Dalhousie Student Union (DSU). The document was based upon a report that Coffin prepared for the student union meeting on Nov. 5, which identifies five main problems with the voting process in Halifax this year. According to Coffin, the process in Halifax was "very disorganized".

One of the recipients of the letter from the Dal student union was the Chief Electoral Officer for Elections Canada, who must make his report to Parliament within 90 days of the federal election.

Part of his report will include findings from the survey that Elections Canada is currently conducting. Elections Canada spokesman John Enright said the survey will cost somewhere in the neighbourhood of $900,000.

Related Websites

• VP Education Council Report
• “Elections Canada asks $1.3-million question: ‘How we doin’?’” (Canadian Press)

"What we're looking for specifically is to assess an elector's knowledge, awareness, attitudes and opinions on voting," said Enright. The survey will also have a special youth-based component, which Enright says will evaluate the difficulties that people aged 18 to 24 might have had in voting this year.

"At this point, we're still evaluating the post-election material from the most recent election," said Enright. "Anecdotally, we know that there have been some complaints with respect to voter ID, for example, by not just students but by electors generally. We haven't had a chance to compile and analyze everything. We're doing that now."

A lack of consultation

Voter ID requirements are not the only problem voters encountered, according to the DSU.

Students unions in around the province are generally the go-to groups for ensuring that as many students vote as possible, with support from the office of the chief returning officers who represent Elections Canada. According to Coffin, there was a lack of co-ordination this year between Elections Canada and the DSU - the number one concern in the students union report.

The lack of consultation on issues such as how to best register students living in student neighbourhoods and how to equip the campus with the required number of polling stations is a major concern for the student union, said Coffin.

Elections Canada failed to meet many of the commitments it pledges to make every election year, as outlined in the Service Standards document it sent to the DSU, according to the report presented to Nova Scotia MPs.

The report from the Dalhousie Student Union breaks down as follows:

• Service standards for student electors were not upheld: Subsections reveal that there was not adequate consultation with the DSU prior to the election, nor were student housing areas targeted in such a way that would increase the student vote.
• Inadequate resources for on-campus polling stations: Polling stations were not set up in residence buildings, but rather in high-traffic areas of the Student Union Building. This lead to long line-ups and some students leaving without voting.
• Off-campus students trying to vote at on-campus stations: With no polling places on campus for off-campus students, it meant lengthy travel periods to polling locations during class time.
• Poor pre-election organization, and ID restrictions disadvantage student voters: There was insufficient paper literature made available to students that was clear and easy to understand about the voting process, and students found that the change in what is considered valid ID to be confusing.

Finding ways to reach out

In the meantime, Elections Canada is considering different approaches to ensure that youth are aware of how to vote.

The survey includes a web-based component that aims to reach out to 330 student and youth associations, including university and college student associations, youth community groups for those not enrolled in school, and other advocacy groups such as Apathy is Boring and Student Vote.

The survey will also measure the ways in which Elections Canada can use technology to make contact with potential student voters.

"We know that the 18 to 24 electors are very plugged in," said Enright. "So for us to be able to reach an elector with information on the voting process, it's important for us to understand how they are using those technologies so we can better inform them through those technologies."

Land of the (tax) free

In 2006, the province of Nova Scotia capped property tax assessments for homeowners at the rate of inflation (CPI) for the following year. Those who own single family residences, duplexes, condominiums, nursing homes, seasonal dwellings, manufactured homes, and even vacant land have their property tax assessments capped at CPI, so that year to year the amount they pay in taxes doesn't increase at a rate greater than the average rate of increase in costs for other goods or services.

Unfortunately, this half-thought peice of legislation neglected a significant and important part of the population: tenants of rental units. Rental units are the only type of residential property not covered under the property tax assessment cap. First glance from a layperson might suggest that this makes sense, since landlords are profit-makers, and ought to be paying out to government. But economic theory says that whatever taxes suppliers (landlords) are stuck with are passed along to buyers (in this case renters). Landlords do end up absorbing some of the costs, but will indeed pass some along to tenants through increases in monthly rent.

Still don't get it? Thankfully Killam Properties have enlisted the services of Halifax's own PicnicFace to explain it to folks like you and me:







In Halifax, the issue is particularly concerning because of the state of the housing market, with values of homes and apartment buildings increasing substantially over the past decade, and no sign of a decrease in demand any time soon.

A cap on property tax assessments is neccessary as a short-term step to stablize rent prices in Halifax. We don't have data on the average prices of rental housing for students in the HRM, but its clear that if property tax assessments continue to increase we will see a rise in rent costs for tenants. This is a first step, and a very small step down the path of solving the housing problems faced by the city of Halifax and the province of Nova Scotia.

Bob Dylan 24-7

The fight for 24-hour study space continues...

Here's a video from an email I recieved from a concerned student who wants somewhere to study.