The Greatest Canadian

Thomas Clement Douglas was voted "The Greatest Canadian" of all time in a nationally televised contest organized by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 2004. Tommy Douglas started his career as a lightweight boxer, and in 1922 he won the title of Lightweight Champion of Manitoba. He won the title again the following year. He had a Master's Degree in Sociology from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and later continued his graduate studies in Chicago. Following his studies, he became a Baptist minister in Saskatchewan, and in 1935 he was elected to the Federal Canadian House of Commons. He then went on to become the Premier of the Province of Saskatchewan.

"Well ... *Yawn* ... you say. So far, pretty dull".

Well, okay, yes. But wait ... there's more.

Many of you may not recognize his name, but Tommy Douglas was Donald Sutherland's father-in-law, and Keifer Sutherland's ("24") grandfather, and I'm sure you have all heard of Donald and Keifer Sutherland. Keifer bears more than a passing resemblance to his grandfather, Tommy Douglas. And yes, Donald and Keifer Sutherland are both good old Canadian boys, kind of like Bob and Doug McKenzie. My father was a big fan of Donald Sutherland, and he was an even bigger fan of Tommy Douglas. He used to call him "the tough little bantam chicken".

During Tommy Douglas' first term in office, his government enacted innovative legislation, most of which I will not bore you with here, except for passage of the Saskatchewan Bill of Rights, which preceded the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations by 18 months.

In the summer of 1962, Saskatchewan became the centre of a hard-fought struggle between the provincial government, the North American medical establishment, and the province's physicians, who brought things to a halt with the 1962 Saskatchewan Doctors' Strike. The doctors believed their best interests were not being met and feared a significant loss of income as well as government interference in medical care decisions even though Douglas agreed that his government would pay the going rate for service that doctors charged. The medical establishment claimed that Douglas would import foreign doctors to make his plan work and used racist images to try to scare the public. In 1964, Supreme Court Justice Emmett Hall, Chair of a Royal Commission on the national health system, recommended the nationwide adoption of Saskatchewan's model of public health insurance. In 1966, the Liberal minority government of Lester B. Pearson created such a program, with the federal government paying 50% of the costs and the provinces the other half. ... Wikipedia

It is for this that Canadians voted Tommy Douglas "The Greatest Canadian". Given all the choices, and there were hundreds initially, which were whittled down to 50 and then to ten, Tommy Douglas was chosen by Canadians over all the other contestants as "The Greatest Canadian" for his establishment of socialized health care in Canada.

The top ten were:

1. Tommy Douglas (father of socialized health care, Premier of Saskatchewan)
2. Terry Fox (athlete, activist, humanitarian)
3. Pierre Trudeau (Prime Minister)
4. Sir Frederick Banting (medical scientist, co-discoverer of insulin, Nobel Medicine Prize Laureate)
5. David Suzuki (geneticist, environmentalist, broadcaster, activist)
6. Lester Bowles Pearson (Prime Minister, former United Nations General Assembly President, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate)
7. Don Cherry (hockey coach, commentator)
8. Sir John A. Macdonald (First post-Confederation Prime Minister)
9. Alexander Graham Bell (Scottish-born scientist, inventor, founder of the Bell Telephone Company, which later became the American Telephone and Telegraph Company)
10.Wayne Gretzky (hockey player)

Neither Céline Dion (thank God) nor Jim Carrey even made the top ten. You will notice that the list contains two Nobel Laureates, however.

Tommy Douglas one famously said, "I don't mind being a symbol but I don't want to become a monument. There are monuments all over the Parliament Buildings and I've seen what the pigeons do to them."

He also said, “Courage my friends, it’s never too late to make the world a better place.”

Socialism ... Or Society?

La Grande Famille
René Magritte
1963

No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. ... John Donne

I am definitely not a socialist -- at least I don't think I am. Canada is not a democracy in the strictest sense of the word, but rather can be aptly described as a Constitutional Monarchy. The highest ranking official in government is not an elected representative, not even a Canadian (residing in or born in), but rather an un-elected British monarch. The United States does have an elected head of state, yet it too, is not a democracy in strictest sense of the word. Rather, the US can best be designated as a Republic. Both countries are democratic in that the will of the people is exercised by elected officials. ... United North America

Since I am neither an economist nor a political scientist, I don't fully understand the difference between socialism, communism and democracy. I hear the words being thrown around all the time, and some of the words have a negative connotation to them. Socialism loosely means "something for everyone in a society". When you really think about it, is that so wrong? We all live in social networks, whether it is online (Twitter, Facebook, Blogger ... ) or the social networks in our real worlds. Our social networks are designed so that we support each other. We are all part of the whole.

John F. Kennedy once famously said, "To those whom much is given, much is expected." That is the whole premise of a socialist society. I think we need to take the sting out of the word socialism and call it something else -- humanism, perhaps, but I think that is already taken, and has an entirely different meaning.

What is wrong with everyone in a society looking out for each other? Doesn't that make people feel more safe, more connected to the whole? Socialized health care is criticized, but health care is one thing that should be socialized -- the emphasis should be on the care. Why would a society be afraid to take care of its weakest members. It doesn't make sense to me. Don't forget -- everyone gets a turn.

Koda and Kale

I can't think of any closer relationship than between a child and a dog. It's almost as if they are two parts of the whole. When I was growing up on Vancouver Island, we had an assortment of dogs -- Scottish terriers, golden labs, golden retrievers, and one dog in particular, a border collie named Sporty, who once saved me from drowning. I slipped on the mossy rocks next to a creek, and Sporty held my head out of the water by my blouse collar until someone could rescue me. I believe dogs are much more intelligent than people realize, and they have a sense of understanding that is deeper than we appreciate. I read a story in our local newspaper this week that confirmed what I believe about dogs. Here is the story, courtesy of the Globe and Mail.

When a young British Columbia family stopped to make camp in the Yukon wilderness they were surprised to see a scruffy dog that looked a bit like a coyote come out of the bush. They saw the mongrel had porcupine quills sticking out of its face and tried to help, not knowing that a simple act of kindness would be repaid in the most remarkable way – with the deliverance of their son from a life-threatening ordeal.

Two-year-old Kale disappeared into the bush wearing only a T-shirt on a cool and rainy night late last week. More than 24 hours later, search-and-rescue authorities found him alive, thanks in part to Koda, the yellow mutt with the quill-covered snout who protected the toddler and kept him warm overnight.

“A bear could have got him. Anything could have happened," said Mike Bondarchuk, a local hotel owner who volunteered in the search for Kale. “What we do know is the dog stuck with him, all night and all the next day."

Kale and Koda will now be able to stick together for good – Koda's owner has given the dog to the toddler's family. “He was meant to be there at that time," said Kim Dolan, the owner of Koda, who had been missing for about a week before meeting the boy. “It was tough to give him away. I was in tears … but it was the right thing to do," she said.

I think she can rest assured that Koda will be well-loved by a little boy named Kale.

School's Back...

Tomorrow is the first day back to school for most of the children here in Canada. I still feel the excitement of it, even though it has been a few years since I went to school. It's a big day -- seeing friends again, finding your new classroom and your new teacher. Will you be stuck with Mr. Grumplemeyer again this year? Will your best friend be in your class again? Sometimes it's hard to get to sleep the night before.

"Will everyone like my new school clothes? Will I look cool?"

Unfortunately, every year some little tyke is hit by a car on the first day of school. Children under the age of eight years-old cannot judge the speed of a car. They see the color first, before they can assess how close it is or how fast it's going. Also, their field of vision is one-third less than an adult's. So it's up to the big people to watch out for the little people. I often see yahoos adults speeding through a school area, and I just want to smack them up the side of the head. "Slow down, you moron...!" So, everyone, please remember to watch out for all the excited little kids heading back to school tomorrow. They might not always be watching for you.

Exercise Won't Make You Thin

While it's true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger, Time.com reports. That causes us to eat more, which in turn can negate the weight-loss benefits we just accrued. Exercise, in other words, isn't necessarily helping us lose weight. It may even be making it harder. ... Time Magazine

Well, that's good to know. Now we learn we can sit around all day, play at the computer, watch TV, read, and still lose weight. Oh, goodness, where do they come up with these silly ideas? But I do think, sometimes, that people are fighting a losing battle. We are all genetically different.

The female body is classified in four body shapes -- "banana", "apple", "pear" or "hourglass". A study of over 6,000 women carried out in 2005 found that almost 51% of the women were banana, 23% pear, 16% apple, and 10% hourglass. Another study has found "that the average woman's waistline had expanded by six inches since the 1950s" and that today women are taller and have bigger busts and hips than those of the 1950s. So women are dieting and exercising themselves into shapes that are unnatural to them. The hourglass shape is the most desirable shape, and yet only 10% of all women have a natural hourglass shape. How many of you recognize your shape in this picture, and how many try -- unsuccessfully -- to morph it into one of the other shapes, through exercise?

I would love to be tall and willowy. Tall women always seem to be smarter, more capable, more talented -- everything -- than shorter women. It's true. The shorter women struggle more to be seen and heard, "Over here, over here; me ... me ...!" We can't change our height, and for the most part we cannot change our body type. Diet and exercise won't change us from a banana into an hourglass, or an apple into a pear. We can eat healthy food, get fresh air and aerobic exercise such as walking or playing sports that we enjoy, and let the potato chips fall where they may. And occasionally we should curl up with a good book, exercise our mind, and stop fretting about the fact that we may not be perfect, as most of us aren't.

Forgiveness and Compassion

Flowers in a Vase
1866
Pierre-Auguste Renoir

I think most people struggle with the concept of forgiveness. It doesn't come easily to many of us. It is somehow contrary to human nature. Often our first instinct in retaliation for a wrong against us is to get revenge. "Just you wait...!" Compassion, however, is entrenched in human nature, and most people -- unless they are psychopathic or sociopathic -- feel deep compassion for our fellow human beings or other creatures who are in distress. People will rush to the aid of strangers, and even put themselves into danger to ease someone else's suffering. However, when forgiveness and compassion are two sides of the same coin, it becomes complicated.

Forty years ago, during the infamous "Manson murders", 21 year-old Susan Atkins stabbed 26 year-old Sharon Tate to death, as Tate begged for her life and that of her unborn baby. Susan Atkins told Sharon Tate that she had no compassion for her, and proceeded to stab her 16 times. These were two young women in their 20s, they had never met each other before that night, and the act of violence perpetrated by one young woman on the other is inconceivable to most of us. And now it is Susan Atkins' turn to beg for compassion. Yesterday her plea for compassionate release from prison was denied. She is bed-ridden and dying from terminal brain cancer, and she is not likely to be a threat to the community. But, here is where the concept of forgiveness comes into play. How many people would be able to forgive Susan Atkins for what she did, and thereby show compassion towards her? I have thought about this over the past day or so, and I struggle with it. If I were on that parole board, what would I do? Forgiveness and compassion -- two similar but different concepts -- what would you do?

Red

Today is the anniversary of my father's death, and it is always a difficult day for me. My father was my Rock of Gibraltar, and ever since he died, I have always felt slightly less anchored to the earth. I remember the day after he died, I thought, "This is the first day of my life without my father, and nothing will ever be right again," and it never really was. I was only 31 when he died, and I thought he would be in my life for a lot longer. My happiest memory is of the two of us, sitting on the banks of the Somass River on a bright summer afternoon, talking about all the important things in life. I was only four years old, but my father listened to me as though I were an adult. To him, nothing I said was childish, and he took me very seriously, even though he always called me "Kidlet". I felt he was the only person in the world who really knew me. I have rarely had that connection with any other human being.

My father was sort of an early-era hippie. He was well-educated, he was a Chartered Accountant, an accomplished pianist, a keen outdoorsman and an avid reader. He had a wonderful library of books, and when I was very young I would browse through them, and get lost in "The England of Elizabeth" about Queen Elizabeth 1, or I would lie on the lawn in the backyard reading "The Collected Works of W. Somerset Maugham". My father introduced me to "The New Yorker Magazine" and all the wonderful writers in it -- James Thurber, Philip Roth, John Updike, John Cheever, Vladimir Nabokov, Raold Dahl -- so many more.

My father decided, after practicing as a C.A. for a few years, that he was becoming desk-bound, so he uprooted himself, his wife and his oldest son and moved to Vancouver Island -- God's Little Acre, as he called it. He loved the outdoors, and he taught us to love the outdoors as well -- swimming, hiking, fishing. He taught us to feed the whiskey jacks out of our hands, and where to pick the best wild blackberries -- before the bears got them.

My dad had flaming red hair and his nickname was "Red" -- naturally -- and he had a temper to match. He had an innate sense of right and wrong. How often I heard him say, "Well, that's just not right!" He believed everyone had an inner compass that could detect right from wrong. If one of his children got into trouble for something, we could be reduced to rubble by my father yelling at us, "You bloody well know the difference between right and wrong, and what you did was wrong!" We never repeated that particular transgression again.

My father could also size someone up in less than 60 seconds, and he was always correct. It was uncanny. There are certain people in this world with whom there is no subterfuge. What you see is what you get. My father was one of those people. It would not occur to him to be otherwise. A person always knew where they stood with Red, and people liked him for that. Whenever my parents entertained their friends for the evening, and they were going to be serving drinks, my father would take the bottle of Canadian Rye Whiskey, or Vodka -- or whatever it was -- out of the liquor cabinet before his friends arrived. I once asked him why he did that, and he said it was just "good manners to know beforehand which drinks and even which brands our guests preferred, and to have it out ready for them rather than to take it out in their presence". It took me a long time to understand and appreciate the nuance of being that gracious a host.

I think a lot of the rough patches in my life might have been a bit easier if my dad had been around a bit longer. Occasionally when I am feeling low about anything in life, I think about my father, and the fact that he liked me. He approved of me, and his approval meant a lot, and still means a lot to me. And it's very strange, but I still feel that connection with him.

Not Just Another Pretty Face...

A harbour seal leapt from the water and dragged a five-year-old girl off a dock at a marina in West Vancouver on Tuesday, according to the child's father. Mike Cunning said he was cleaning fish at the Thunderbird Marina on Marine Drive, just east of Horseshoe Bay, when he heard a splash. (CBC News)

"And I looked over and my daughter had disappeared, and I thought, well, Caleigh has fallen into the water. She has her life jacket on, so she'll just pop back up to the surface," Cunning said. But it was few seconds before his daughter surfaced about two metres from where she fell in.

"When she popped to the surface, she said, 'Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, the seal!' and I said, 'What?'" he said.

A neighbour on a nearby boat then told Cunning a seal had jumped out of the water and pulled Caleigh from the dock.

"This thing must have taken a running start to be able to launch itself four feet out of the water, grab a 50-pound five-year-old and then drag her underneath the water with a life-jacket on," Cunning said.

He initially thought his daughter's hand was broken because it was badly swollen and bleeding with four large puncture wounds at the base of her wrist. The little girl was traumatized and taken to the hospital to be treated for the puncture wounds, but is otherwise OK, Cunning said. Caleigh had been feeding the seals at the fish cleaning station earlier in the day, and Cunning said that's why he suspects it attacked his daughter.

After the incident, she told her father she thought it was very rude of the seal not to ask if she wanted to go for a swim, and she doesn't want to feed the seal or be its friend anymore. Cunning said he has heard of seals attacking small dogs on leashes and dragging them into the water to eat them, but never attacking a child.

"Thank God she had the life-jacket on. I can't imagine what would have happened," he said.

Harbour seals can reach up to 1.8 metres in length and 130 kilograms, and are considered curious and intelligent. Their normal diet is mostly fish and shellfish. ...

... and little girls.

All's Well That Ends

Every once in a while something happens that reminds us perhaps we're not so bad after all. My next door neighbour, Amy (*not her real name), who is a member of the Strata Council, had been away on vacation during all this scandalous business with my birdhouse. As soon as she came home and heard what had happened to me, she resigned from the Strata Council. In her resignation she said to them:

"I've known Jo for almost 12 years, she has always been a great neighbor and a wonderful friend. When the council, in their stupidity, almost chopped the cherry trees down five years ago, Jo saved them. She has always been here to help folks when they need help. This is a not just a building, it is a community of people. We don't treat our neighbors like that, and we certainly don't treat our friends like that...!"

Omigosh...

Omigosh...!

Every once in a while, things sort of work out as they should, don't they?

The Mandelbrot Set

The Mandelbrot set, named after Benoit Mandelbrot, is a fractal. Fractals are objects that display similarity to the original shape at various scales. In other words, if you magnify a fractal, it seems to be duplicating itself. The process of generating a fractal is based on an extremely simple equation involving complex numbers. That’s about as much as I understand about the Mandelbrot set. Most of you probably understand more about fractals and the Mandelbrot Set than I do. No one could ever mistake me for a mathematician. I am fascinated, though, with the shapes that fractals produce, and the thing that amazes me is how the Mandelbrot set resembles a human figure.

I have always loved finding shapes in other shapes. I never just look at a tree or a flower, or a chair. I find other shapes within the shapes of those objects. Art and mathematics are two sides of the same coin, and mathematics is at the heart of all beauty. The eye likes symmetry, even in chaos, and a mathematically correct picture will be more pleasing to the eye than one that is not. Jackson Pollock, Picasso, Rembrandt -- all different styles -- but all mathematically correct. And Mozart’s music is said to be mathematically perfect, and therefore beautiful to the ear.

Looking at this strange little video always gives me goose bumps. It’s like looking into the eye of God at the moment of creation. As you can see in this video, these exquisite, intricate shapes are made by mathematical equations. After first seeing this a few years ago, I was never able to look at shapes the same way again. The next time you are out for a stroll in the forest, take a look at the shapes of the ferns growing along the path, and you will see fractals. Or gaze closely at a perfect daisy, and you will see the mathematical equations that created it.