Hot Takes – Jan 21, 2021
Every Thursday I join Round One on NEWSTALK 1010's Moore in the Morning to take on the issues of the day with a panel of pundits. Here's my take on today's topics.
1. President Biden to call Trudeau first. This is largely meaningless, but’s it’s a comfortable return to a modern tradition that reflects the historical closeness of Canada and the USA. Trudeau may bring up the Keystone XL pipeline, but his heart has never been in it and he’ll be happy he can close the door on this important economic project that conflicts with his personal desire to kill off the oil industry. As a cornerstone of Biden’s campaign promises, the XL pipeline expansion is dead for at least four years.
2. Q Anon followers reel after Biden inauguration. The freaks who bought the psychedelic ramblings of the mysterious “Q” will never believe that Trump isn’t still the president. But, won’t they be surprised when we finally learn “Q” is really just Melania Trump secretly screwing with all of them! Because she really doesn’t care.
3. Derek Sloan booted from Conservative caucus. The donation from a right-wing scumbag may not on its own have been deserving of excommunication, but Sloan has always been a loose cannon on the Conservative Party’s deck. He is never going to be a team player. He represents a vocal, but tiny, minority in a Conservative Party that prides itself on being a big tent family, happy to welcome even fringe elements into its membership. As it should. When the tent is big enough, the wingnuts and crazies Sloan speaks for fall naturally to the outermost fringes. But, going into an election, it’s important not to allow the fringistas to seize the spotlight and drive the conservative agenda. O’Toole was right to punt him before the election.
4. Doug calls Pfizer. Although critics will this is just a PR stunt, the truth is these calls do make a difference. They’re a clear and compelling signal – in this case to Pfizer – that their behaviour has been noticed and it matters to government. Nobody wants to piss off the government in power. Political leaders possess a powerful ability to shine the public spotlight where they want it. Like using a magnifying glass to focus sunlight on a piece of paper, politicians can focus public attention on a specific goal and set it alight. It should be noted that Toronto Mayor John Tory, followed Ford’s lead – forcing Prime Minister Trudeau to do the same.
5. Should government step in to ensure minimum Internet speeds for all? Remember when the Internet was heralded as “the information superhighway” back in the 1990’s? Well, it is. And, although telecommunication has always been the domain of private enterprise in Canada – it is not without government regulation. As the Internet has evolved from a luxurious distraction into a public utility, the role of government has changed. In the 1800’s, Canada invested public funds to build privately-owned railways across the nation for the public good. In the 1900’s we built highways to connect communities and enable commerce. In the 2000’s we need to focus public investment on information infrastructure. Within major cities, this should be a key role for Public Libraries. The historic role of libraries has been to curate knowledge and make it available to the people. In the 21stCentury, knowledge is no longer confined to books – it exists and evolves minute-by-minute online. In Toronto, we should stop building more book barns – we have more than all of New York City already – and our public library should focus on building out a network of public internet access points – hotspots and kiosks – across the city.
6. Pandemic driving spike in Eating Disorders This is not news. We’ve been getting these reports for months. Our baby-boomer Public Health officials and government leaders have made policy decisions that – consciously and unconsciously – are sacrificing the health and lives of our kids and grandkids so their grandparents can live a few more weeks and months. All the evidence, increasingly, is showing that lockdowns cause harm. Yet, nobody in the public health universe seems to be tracking the harm it causes. There are alternatives to unending lockdowns. But, there is little government interest in pursuing them, because it’s easier to stay the course and hide behind “the people are at fault for not following the rules.”
7. For-profit LTC homes are evil. There are many reasons some LTC homes are more prone to COVID19 outbreaks. Yes, there is a correlation between severity of outbreak and private ownership. But, there is also a correlation between outbreak severity and geographic location – LTC homes in COVID19 hotspots (mostly urban, low-income areas) have more outbreaks. Older LTC homes with shared-accommodation (4-person ward rooms) have more outbreaks than newer homes with private accommodation. Most of the privately owned LTC homes with the worst outbreaks are also older homes in hotspot zones. Many of these older homes were on the chopping block when governments couldn’t afford them anymore. Private companies bought them and kept them open to serve seniors. The fact is, most of these homes wouldn’t exist without private investors willing to take a risk and make them possible. So, before we throw private companies and their investors under the bus – we should understand how much worse off we would be without them.