Lanark Country makes front page

Yes, again our region has made the Ottawa Citizen news. And it's not for a good reason.
(Ottawa is our nearest big city.) Lanark county's 9 teen suicides last year made the news.

Teens in Lanark, Leeds, Grenville most stressed in region: survey

The rural area southwest of Ottawa, which has seen a cluster of teen suicides over the past year, has the region’s highest rate of stressed-out young people, according to the first-ever health survey ...

The issue with suicide and depression is that it *is* catching. Teens, already going through teen-aged angst, trying to find themselves, in a world that their parents cannot understand. When one young person commits suicide, another sinks into this abyss. I freely admit that I wrestled with this when teaching, and raising children. They call it 'suicidal ideations', and the more a person sinks into a depression, the more likely s/he is to respond in the same way another time. The brain's response is the same without therapy and managing the depression. Unfortunately, there are antidepressants that cause young teens to be more likely to commit suicide. Wise parents must research this with professionals.

Recession

 It is difficult to understand what they are living with during this era.  Our precious teenagers have had many issues facing them, and the recession which affects many families, has added to the burden.

They seek relief in partying, and in addictions that help them sink lower.

Teens have been getting into trouble in chat rooms, sexting inappropriate images to apparent friends.  This generation has access to so much more information, yet they lack the wisdom to use technology wisely. A depressed teen, drinking, is further depressed. This is what alcohol does to the body. Peer pressure works both positively and negatively. But those in a depression are unable to reach out. They listen to friends, or isolate themselves.

We have to ensure that south east Ontario towns, being hit by American head office decisions to close local plants, survive the US's deeper recession. ( E.g., Cornwall's recent 400 job losses, Smith's Falls loss from Hershey's plant closures, Stanley Tools, and Rideau Regional Centre.)

Education
This morning's CBC radio program interviewed a man wiser than I about university. U of T professor, Nick Mount, said that there is a great myth that the only way to success is through a degree. This is something that must be changed. Success doesn't mean a Ph.D., it means an education that will give you a job. With Toronto's new Afrocentric school, other groups are examining education of their children.

Maria Rodrigues, the trustee ... wants to look at such a school for Portuguese-Canadians, too. In the TDSB, just 48% of Portuguese students graduated in 2005, though the number rose to 66% by 2009, the board’s number show.


If you look at this area of the Toronto community, however, these kids go into the family business. They aren't out on the streets. They learn a trade, apprentice (as in the good old days), and get the type of education they need. This is the same for rural families. There are jobs in the trades. There are jobs that allow these kids to make something of themselves. Many are forced into an education they don't want, and cannot complete, or afford. Kids who go to university when they shouldn't end up failing, and there has been limited talk about this. Inflated grades and unrealistic aspirations cloud their thinking. Kids are encouraged to go to university by the universities, they need the tuition funds. Profs are encouraged to pass kids who don't belong, for the same reason.

Crime
Now, the Conservative Government, currently running on a platform of being 'tough on crime', doesn't understand. We cannot simply fill the prisons with those who are mentally ill, and suffering from addictions. The people I know who have been in prison say that it could rehabilitate, but since they are so overcrowded, they get frustrated and upset, and run, or get into more trouble.

We must determine how to keep kids out of the cycle of poverty. I have made suggestions, and CAS is one way we can support these kids. See: Homelessness in Eastern Ontario.

Stigma of poverty

Society must figure out how to give a hand up, as well as respecting those who need a hand out.
This fabulous video is just one of a series from People's Blueprint.

We started the People’s Blueprint with the goal of leveraging the opportunity of the Social Assistance Review and changing public policy for the better. The project is a collaboration between Daily Bread Food Bank and Voices From the Street, with support from the Atkinson and Metcalf Charitable Foundations. Together, we worked with eighteen people receiving social assistance, equipping them with the tools they needed to be community researchers. The researchers went back to their communities and conducted over 100 video recorded interviews that demonstrate the hopes, challenges, and abilities of people “on the system” in an intensely personal way.

Stigma from Michael Oliphant on Vimeo.

Federal Election 2011

Someone did their research! Here is a good Globe article:

Five reasons Ottawa is turning you off:

1. Ottawa's irrelevant

2. Ottawa is old, while, male

3. Parliament ignores the big cities

4. Nothing gets done

5. Hyperpartisanship turns people off

I don't agree Ottawa is 'turning me off'.
Harper is turning me off.
"Now is not the time for political instability!" he said. He blames the opposition parties for not accepting his way or the highway.
He blames them and threatens political instability in a country where we are doing much better than others facing incredibly difficult economic situations.

I agree that the reasons this minority government did NOT permit amendments seem puerile to me. In his bid for a majority, Harper risks pissing off the electorate, while generating a budget that insults seniors, parents of young kids who cannot afford art classes (which should be done in schools), those in a caregiving role who spend far more that this measly $300 tax credit will buy. See: Budget highlights: Small measures for many wrote CBC.ca/news for more details. He refused to accept what other elected MPs have said are our priorities for which we have elected them. He says that the only way to do work is to elect a 'stable national government', in his latest press conference. I think he's pretty unstable myself. They are supposed to work together to achieve a better society, to look after its citizens, and respond to the needs and desires of the electorate. His bid for a majority is going to cost us millions of dollars. This former Alliance candidate from out west, is bringing his extreme notions to the big provinces. This isn't working for him.

Election Costs

Elections Canada recorded a little more than $325 million in election expenses in 2008, an estimated $288 million of which was spent on the general election of that year.

National Post

On the eve of a potential election call, the Tories hold 143 seats in the House, just 11 shy of a majority. Could they secure one if the writ were dropped tomorrow? 


Crime
The Tories keep sending out those darned fliers, asking if we want them to be 'tough on criminals', while crowding penitentiaries and undermining any progress in reducing crime, and rehabilitating criminals. Having volunteered in a minimum security prison, facilitating a Creative Writing class, I've seen what can make criminals turn around, rather than spending big bucks on increasing prison capacity and putting more in jail. Our prison system is working hard to make a difference. Stuffing people in overcrowded prisons is causing chaos and undermining this work.

I understand that someone has to pay for government services, and while there are those who continually complain about taxes, then complain when they don't get services, well, this is truly disingenuous. I agree that 'Ottawa', and they (the media) mean the federal government by this, has few women in power!  But who can afford to spend time away from family, if you are a mother? Children suffer without parents in their lives. Ask any military family or military kid.

Healthcare

There are those who complain about healthcare, but anyone who has suffered in the US by insurance companies who refuse to pay, demand co-pays, or is living in poverty due to health issues, will appreciate what we have. 

'Death panels' by any other name This is an article about the woman who didn't qualify for Herceptin treatments as she didn't fit the profile. When on considers the $40,000 per year the drug costs, someone has to be the watchdog for our taxes.

"The average Ontarian pays $3,799.62 annually for health care, according to the Fraser Institute."

One guy wrote: 'For the left wing wankers always complaining about the rich they really have no clue how much they are subsidized by those in the top 30% of income brackets. In fact, the top 10% pay 53% of all income taxes. The top 30% of income earners in 2007 paid 65.9 % of all taxes.'

Politics: Globe & Mail

Crime and Punishment: Corrections Canada or Punishment Canada?

I was listening to an interesting CBC Sunday Edition show. It intrigued me, since I am volunteering at our local minimum security prison. I teach a Creative Writing class. It has proven quite an education for me, as well.

There are many issues in the media spotlight, which differs from the agenda that the politicians, or the public are keen to examine. Your point of view, of course, depends upon the stakeholder group from which you belong:

Are you a victim, the family of a victim, a law enforcement officer, a probation officer, the public, the media, or a politician? All of us have a stake.


The statistics:

• 70% in jail do not possess a high school certificate
• 80% have addictions
• 2/3 have mental illnesses

Other statements I heard:

• You can't punish your way into a safe society.
• We've spent $2 Billion on a long-gun registry, to sustain it is a small $3 million/year, the sunk costs are, indeed, sunk. The Canadian Police Association wants these guns registered.
• Despite the Jane Creba murder, on Boxing Day, 2007, in 2006 gun murders were down by 46%.

The politician's knee-jerk reaction is for mandatory sentencing.
We know that politicians do not have to do a good job, they just have to be seen apparently doing a good job. This issue commands a lot of emotion, not the best motivation for change and improvements to a system.

The government also wants to close the 6 prison farms in Canada. Two of the six are near Kingston. These provide meaningful work for those incarcerated. Whether inmates are plunked in a cell, or given work experience, would seem the difference between punishment or corrections. These are transferable skills. They can be applied to life experience. For those without skills, knowledge, education, such routines: working hard, working with animals, working on the land, is a good use of their energy. They produce food, perhaps becoming contributing members of society for the first time in a long time.

There are many excellent programs by Corrections Canada. There are many volunteers who seek to work with those whom society have ignored, by-passed and plunked into jails. They work with families. One such program is one whereby inmates read bedtime stories aloud, which are then sent home for their children to listen to. How many perpetrators are victims of dysfunctional families? I love this idea. They work with inmate's families to help them navigate the system.

Restorative Justice vs. Punitive Justice.
This is the debate: Is this Corrections Canada or Punishment Canada?
CAC Annual Report 2005-2006, provides details on how citizen feel we can improve the system. It is the politicians who use this topic as a wedge issue, to conquer and divide constituents and gain sound bytes.

Restorative Justice has been seen to make a difference to both victim and perpetrator.

Advisors
CACs provide impartial advice to CSC managers on the operation of correctional facilities and their impact on surrounding communities. CAC members fulfill this role by regularly visiting correctional facilities, and meeting regularly with offenders, local union representatives, and with local CSC management and employees. CACs also advise and assist local, regional, and national CSC managers to help with the overall development of correctional facilities and programs, and of the impact of this development on the community.

For those with drinking and driving convictions, there is no sentence that will bring back a victim, or ameliorate a family's grief. What is the point of mandated sentencing? What is the point of a sentence declared 'too short' or 'too long'? There is no sentence that will bring them back. Each case is different and requires individual decisions, including parole.

Statistics have shown that many who offend, re-offend. It is a logical discussion, since we know that many addicts are not 'cured'. It one has mental health, educational, or addictions issues, very few are made better by incarceration, but it does protect potential victims.

What are societal goals, then?

• To prevent it from happening again.
• To keep a perpetrator from re-offending.
• To protect potential victims and their family.
• To correct the behaviour.
• To reduce crime.
• To reduce addictions, mental health issues, to educate and train those without skills

It is difficult, determining what is right. We all deserve a second chance, one man told me he learned that money is less important than family. He sold drugs for money; gave up his family life as a penalty. He learned his lesson, he said. Family is more important and incarceration was no fun. I wish him well.