The sale of the Ontario Northland, a social democratic view

Sustainability, what is sustainability? Simply put, isn't it the idea of being able to provide for ourselves? Doesn't it mean ensuring that people's needs are met? Isn't is being able to maintain our resources to the best of our abilities long-term? At least, that's what I thought it was. Well how does it make sense that the government sells off our Ontario Northland Train because it wasn't sustainable (Gillis, 2012)  By not sustainable do they mean that it's costing them too much to provide for the people of the north? This is how we feel. Are there not ways to make this more sustainable than to completely shut it down? Do the people of the north not have rights? What ever happen to equality? This was a poor decision for both economic development and social development. 

Before closing down our more economical and development form of transportation maybe they should have asked for some ideas on how to make it more sustainable. There are some ideas us people of the north may have had, if we would have been given the opportunity. Re branding, re marketing the train, could have been done, to attract people back to the train, if passengers were a problem (Littlejohn, 2012) Isn't that what most company do to get people to buy into their products? There could have been developments pertaining to day trips, weekend trips and camps utilizing the train as the mode of transportation to these "attractions" (Littlejohn, 2012)  That would bring people on the train, money into the areas, economic development in the north and so much more. Isn't that what sustainability is about? Why didn't anyone ask the people who were the most affected by these changes what possible scenarios could we implement and try to save our train before closing it down? It was a bad investment to keep the train running apparently, what about investing in people (Littlejohn, 2012)? We learned in our community economics and social development class that the people who are best to solve the people's problems, are the people it affects. Why isn't our government working with the people to create a better north, a place were more people will want to leave, rather than tearing it down (Northern Communities Working Group, 2012)?

This is a little piece of history now erased, swiped by the government of today. It just adds fuel to the fire that a decision that affects the north so greatly was made all the way at Queen's park. I guess we didn't really need anyone from the North representing us, asking questions when this decision was announced.

Our government talks about not wanting to put more money into the train, about monies being lost and about the train being a subsidy. A subsidy, who's money does the government play with? Our money. The people's money (Northern Communities Working Group, 2012) . The government should be helping the people of the north utilize their services to assure equal chances for everyone for growth. Taking away jobs, mode of transportation, history, and so much more is not an investment in people.  They had the opportunity to really help the people of the north to make the most that we could have out of this train service. Instead, chose to shut it down.

How is this supposed to make us feel? Unwanted, less than, inequality, helpless and hopeless. If that was the purpose, mission accomplished. Without a say in our own development, we have suffered a major loss not only in income and jobs but a loss to our history as people actually used some of these services to learn more about northern culture and aboriginal cultures (Blundell, 1996). I will have to tell my kids that trains like this existed instead of being able to take them and show them myself. It is a sad sad time for people in the north right now, saying goodbye to such an important player in our economic development and social development.  

Angele

References


Gillis, L. (2012, 08 12). Queen's park liberals explain sell-off of ontario northland. Timmins times. Retrieved from http://www.timminstimes.com/2012/08/16/queens-park-liberals-explain-sell-off-of-ontario-northland


Littlejohn, E. (2012, 08 15). Design for democracy: Ontario northlander, treasured transit. Rabble.ca. Retrieved from http://rabble.ca/columnists/2012/08/design-democracy-ontario-northlander-treasured-transit

2012 Northern Communities Working Group. (2012). New deal for ontario northland. . Retrieved from http://www.nd4on.ca/

Blundell, V. (1996). Riding the polar bear express: And other encounters between tourists and first peoples in canada. Journal of Canadian Studies, 30(4), 28-51. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/203552627?accountid=46683

Health Care in the North

     For those of us who live in the North, Healthcare is a need just like the rest of the province; however when looking at this through a neoliberal lens.
     When reflecting back over the articles I have read I have come to see that the main issue is not necessarily a shortage but as discussed by Lofgren, De. eeuw, and Leahy, 2011 "it is also the fact that we now have a secondary role in decision making as discussed" (p. 193). There is also a misdistribution of health practitioners and doctors. Health care professionals seem to prefer larger cities for their practices and as a result there are fewer in the smaller Northern and rural communities of Ontario. Although Canada prides itself on a health care system that is “universal and accessible”, in some ways it falls short of that promise to people (Human Resources for Health, 2012).

     I truly believe that for individuals living in the North and rural areas having to travel hundreds of miles for specialized care is unfortunate. Also it is very sad that there are not enough doctors in some areas and thus patients must use walk-in clinics or go to the emergency department of the local hospital simply to refill prescriptions. I know that there are many individuals who are dealing with this today and believe it needs to be addressed. I find in both articles there is discussion of it being addressed; however, it still seems to fall short of the actual need.
There was discussion in this article of a study to find ways to alleviate the strain of the shortages in many areas in Northern part of Ontario. Many strategies such as financial incentives, rural medical training and recruitment programs have been proposed (Human Resources for Health, 2012). I do not know if using these methods in the future will alleviate the issue but it sounds promising and I believe at this point that anything is worth a try (Human Resources for Health, 2012). The other article I read on the accessibility of health care in the North, by (Pong , 2012) describes the many initiatives that Ontario has launched to rectify this issue. According to this article, many of these rural areas experience difficulty in securing health care because they are located a long distance from larger areas, have low populations, and some are in remote areas with limited accessibility (Pong , 2012). I felt that the issue was taken seriously, is being well researched and appropriate steps are being taken to find solutions. Do I agree with either of these articles? I will say that I agree with them both to some degree; however, I think more needs to be done to ensure that there is adequate health care to all of Ontario including the Northern and rural areas.

Angela

Human Resources for Health, retrieved from http://www.human-resources-health.com/content/6/1/24  on November 1, 2012

Pong, R. W. (2008). Ministry of Health and Long Term Care; Rural and Northern Health Care Framework/Plan, retrieved from http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/programs/ruralnorthern/docs/report_rural_northern_EN.pdf   on November 1, 2012

Löfgren. H, de Leeuw. E.J.J, and Leahy. M, 2011. Democratizing Health: Consumer Groups in the Policy Process, Chpt 13, 193-195.

European widows during mercantile times

European Widows in Mercantile times

European widows during the mercantile times, there was a great stress on the importance of status back in those times (Bennett and Froide, 1998; Simonton, 1998). Great importance was placed on marital status and whether a woman had been married and was now a widow or whether the woman had been married at all (Bennett and Froide, 1998). However, I find that seems quite odd to me as I am a single woman who has children and has never been married. It makes me wonder how I would have felt about these issues had I been in my situation back during the mercantile times. In the first source I read there was discussion of how women were viewed by society and that their roles revolved around keeping the home and rearing the children as well as taking care of the needs of their husbands(Bennett and Froide, 1998). Reflecting on this I find it quite amusing and I cannot imagine my life revolving solely around keeping up with my household and the needs of my husband and children. I personally have aspirations and the need of a working life. I do much more than those things for me and my children and I feel that I do not need a husband or a man for that purpose.

There was less of a focus on the actual marital relationship in the second source as it was a later time period to a certain degree that this information was based on. There was much discussion of women working, spending less time child rearing and having fewer children allowing them to return to work sooner. Many women, including widows, had entered the workforce and it was accepted at this time as this was right around the time of the World War I (Simonton, 1998). After reading a few pages of this particular article I found myself feeling that this was something I was slightly familiar with as it seemed to me that it was the start of a time where women were beginning to be accepted in society as equal to men to some degree. To me, this showed where the life we live now had begun and was headed towards our type of society we live in today.

Angela

REFERENCES

Simonton, D (1998) History of European Women’s Work: 1700 to the Present

Bennett, Judith and Froide, Amy Single women in the European Past, 1250-1800

Diabetes

Diabetes

 

 “Diabetes is a lifelong (chronic) disease in which there are high levels of sugar in the blood” (Diabetes, 2007).  I currently work in the social work field, and I have seen a large number of Indigenous People who have diabetes. I have also seen other cultures; however, in my profession development I have noticed the ratio is far greater with the Indigenous People in the northern regions on Ontario.
 

In one of the articles I have read it states that in the “case of Aboriginal populations, changes wrought by colonization are considered a major factor for the alarming rise in the incidence of diabetes” (Iwasaki, Bartlett & O’Neil, 2004).  One of the main reasons why the rates of Indigenous People with diabetes have been increasing is because of the change in dietary habits(Kuhnlein, Receveur, 1996). The Indigenous People have lost their cultural food, and some do not remember how to prepare and cook the food, thus having lost a large part of their culture. (Iwasaki, Bartlett & O’Neil, 2004).  There has been a direct impact on the increase rate diabetes since the Europeans have arrived. Another factor leading to diabetes is upon the arrival of Europeans, colonization began and areas were cleared for new towns and hunting area began to diminish; therefore, leaving less food for Indigenous People to hunt, becoming reliable on the food the Europeans could provide (Lecompte, McKinnon & Kristjansson). This means they have become depending on stores to buy most of their products, one of my past clients explained to me that the cost of milk and fruits were over 10 dollars for 1 bag or 1 red pepper. However a bag of chips only cost approximately 3 dollars. As a Conservative government this important that markets are increasing their revenue (Hick, 2007).  In addition, inequality is seen as a value to the Conservative government, therefore if certain people can afford more costly items to live a healthier lifestyle, then that is simply part of the policies implemented by government to create an inequality amongst individuals (Hick, 2007).    

As many people know Residential school were implemented in 1867 by the government many years ago to assimilate the Indigenous people (Hick, 2007).  In June of 2008 the Conservative government had officially released an apology for these acts of attempt to assimilate; however, the damage had been done (Anderson, 2012). Indigenous people returned to their lands and attempted to regain their culture, however found themselves struggling to use resources on the land to have a healthy lifestyle like past generations. As mentioned earlier they had lost their ways in preparing tradition food, and had relied on Europeans food source (Kuhnlein, Receveur, 1996). Now they are in need of assistant from the government. However if government was to create new services and offer funds to help Indigenous People, it would simply create a dependence on the government which is not the government wants (Hick, 2007).  The Conservatives see social programs as a hinder in the world, thus see no need to create new services (Hick, 2007).  They have other options like seeking elder teaching to return to their culture ways, or they could simply utilize the resources available like the markets nearest to them to continue their lifestyle. 

            When you live on a reserve and the cost of living becomes far greater than expected and having many of your family members living with you it becomes a struggle to attempt to purchase fruits or milk. I ask you the question if you had 7 people living with you, would you buy fruits and vegetables that would cost you roughly 100 dollars every 3 days or would you buy a bag of chips that would cost you 40 dollars for 3 days? Unhealthy eating habits (likes chips and many other things) are leading to more Indigenous people to develop diabetes.  

Christine

 

 

References:

 

Anderson, W. (2012) International Communication Gazette. ‘Indian drum in the house’: A

critical discourse analysis of an apology for Canadian residential schools and the

public’s response. 74 (6). 571-585. Retrieved from: 

http://resolver.scholarsportal.info/resolve/17480485/v74i0006/571_dithacrsatpr

 

Diabetes (2007). A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia. Retrieved

from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002194/

 

Hick, S. (2007) Social Welfare in Canada Understanding Income Security (2^nd Edition). Toronto,

On: Thompson Educational Publishing Inc.

 

Iwasaki, Y., Bartlett, J., & O’Neil, J. (2004). Ethnicity and Health. An examination of stress among

Aboriginal women and men with diabetes in Manitoba, Canada. 9 (2), 189-

212.  Retrieved from

http://resolver.scholarsportal.info/resolve/13557858/v09i0002/189_aeosaamwdimc 

Kuhnlein, H.V., Receveur, O. (1996). Annual Review of Nutrition. Dietary Change and

Traditional Food Systems of Indigenous Peoples. 16 (1), 417-442. Retrieved from:

http://resolver.scholarsportal.info/resolve/01999885/v16i0001/417_dcatfsoip

 

Lecompte, E., McKinnon, J., & Kristjansson, E. (n.d.). Food insecurity in Aboriginal Urban

Households. Retrieved

fromhttp://bitsandbytes.ca/sites/default/files/Aboriginal_food_insecurity_report1.pdf 

Pre Colonization "Justice System"

Pre-Colonization Justice System

Growing up, we learn in school about Canada's first inhabitants. Teachers taught us that aboriginals were able to provide, heal and manage themselves thus being completely self-governed and self-reliant. While researching, I found that aboriginal peoples did not have many documented social problems during the pre-contact times. However, I did find some literature supporting the existence of crimes in the Iroquois communities and the process that was taken to manage the wrongdoings.
 When you think of our justice system today, you may think of constitution, laws and by-laws, police officers, lawyers, prisons and more. Well that was not the case back then. I discovered that setting the standards for behaviours and expectations within the community worked a little differently. There was no constitution written somewhere to guide the people, there were no police officers to call or prisons to send people to keep people in line. People were “punished” using alienation and even banishment (Coyle, 1986).  If someone in the community committed a wrong against its members they were social persecuted. Furthermore, if this member held or was considering holding a reputable position within the community such as a sachem, that position would be removed or they would not be eligible to gain the position (Coyle, 1986).  Finally, if this person became a repeat offender, they risked being banished from the community (Coyle, 1986). One can conclude that just as people do now, the Iroquois longed to belong, to be accepted, thus the reasoning behind the consequence. The threat of being shunned by the tribe even banished was typically enough to keep its member acting according to community standards (Coyle, 1986).  If someone did engage in inappropriate activities that lead to them being punished by their community, they typically would do everything possible to get back in the good graces of the people (Coyle, M, 1986). 
Even though it was said that the Iroquois lived generally without crime, they did experience some forms of misconduct (Dickenson-Gilmore, 1992).  I read that there were four main types of crimes back then; sorcery, adultery, theft and murder (Dickenson-Gilmore, 1992). The first types of crimes mentioned were the less serious types and the last one required the most reconciliation and resolution. After a murder was committed, the people directly involved would get together (victim, accused) separately to discuss recent events and resolutions. It was here that the accused was pressured into admittance. If the accused confessed, they then presented an offering to the victim’s family. If this offering was accepted then the murder was forever forgiven, if not, then the whole idea of family revenge against the accused and his family came into play (Dickenson-Gilmore, 1992).  From my understanding about the culture and history, this was more unlikely then the previous scenario of the peace acceptance. Thinking of the grandfather teaching and other aboriginal concepts I have learned, the culture believes in restoration of the spirit and giving second chance. It is possible for someone to make a mistake and not deserve to be punished with retaliation forever but to be guided into restoring their life within the community. 
Research supports the fact that indigenous peoples of Canada had their own ways and methods of setting community standards of living as well as how to handle any defiance (Coyle, 1986, Dickenson-Gilmore, 1992). Looking at our legal system today, how far have we made aboriginal deviate from their ancestral ways? Is this o.k.?  There are system’s today put in place like the Aboriginal Youth Justice Committee that strives to support our indigenous youth and keep them out of the judicial system using traditional healing processes like talking circle and other youth restorative justice committees (Andersen, 1999). Through meaningful consequences and accountability, they aim to support them to make positive changes in their lives (Andersen, 1999) . Should we have more programs like this for different populations? Should our native Canadians have more freedom in self-government?  If so, what would that look like? How would that work? Questions to ponder. 

Angele                                                      References

Coyle, Michael (1986) 24 Osgoode Hall L. J. 605 Traditional Indian Justice in Ontario: A Role for              the Present

Dickson-Gilmore, E J. Canadian Journal of Criminology34. 3-4 (Jul 1992): 479-502.

Andersen, C. (1999). Governing aboriginal justice in canada: Constructing responsible individuals and communities through 'tradition'. Crime, Law and Social Change, 31(4), 303-326. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/216163257?accountid=46683

                                                  
                                                     Additional Resources
http://www.yjcontario.ca/resources-aboriginal.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLNUUmKHOVo