Chicken Soup for the Soul !

Well, here I am, lapping up my 15 minutes of fame!

In a year that has been super busy, with many family events, and little time for writing, I am pleased to say that a piece I submitted to Chicken Soup for the Soul, was accepted for publication in their new Christmas in Canada book, which went on sale last month.

Having a book launch for my own (unfinished) book is still a far off dream, so I decided to take part in the  Chicken Soup for the Soul book launch in Toronto last week.

Thirty-four of the ninety-six contributing authors were present at the event. 

 

We signed a lot of books.

That task was enjoyable as I got to know fellow contributors Crystal Thieringer from Ottawa (left) and Judi Peers from Peterborough (right).

I've known about my story making it into this book for a while now and although pleased with the news, I've been downplaying it. After all, this means that I have written only 1% of a book. (There are 101 stories in every Chicken Soup book.) However, now that the book is in the stores and I have been to the launch, I am more excited about the whole venture. 

At the launch, Canadian editor Janet Matthews spoke about the constant barrage of depressing, negative, often violent stories in the media.  Chicken Soup books are a little helping of something positive, something cheerful, a gentle reprieve. If you have been reading my blog, you know that I am sometimes negative myself, often grouching about local or federal politics. So I am pleased to have  a bit of my more cheery writing included in this inspiring book of Christmas stories. 

My story is simply a tale about our three fun-loving kids. There are other, more dramatic stories in the book. I'm not finished it yet, but many of the stories that I have read so far, are really heart-warming. Positive stories are welcome at any time of year but maybe especially now. In these short dark days, as we approach Christmas, in the aftermath of so many disturbing events, it simply makes me feel better, to read these stories that celebrate the goodness of people.

As I said, it's in bookstores now. If you pick it up, I hope you enjoy reading it.

Leiper Win in Kitchissippi

What an exciting win for Jeff Leiper! Usually it is tough to unseat an incumbent but he did it handily last Monday with 7557 votes to Katherine Hobbs' 4197. Although his group ran a great campaign, they did not expect such a lopsided win. My involvement in his campaign was minimal. We had a meet and greet here for our neighbours and we worked as scrutineers on the day of the election, for those last crucial hours of 4 to 8 pm. Still, it was enough to make us feel that we were a part of the effort to bring a new face to city council. It was fun to go to his victory party and see a lot of neighbours there, who were just as happy as we were.

Big provincial and federal campaigns are largely fought in the media, with so much money for TV ads. It seems that municipal campaigns are a lot more work at the grassroots level. Voters get involved because they are concerned about local issues. Even such a simple gesture as having a lawn sign means that you talk to your neighbours more, because they may not have heard of your candidate. That's why door to door visits are so important; to put a face to a name. Jeff estimates that he knocked on about 16 000 doors over the past nine months and dropped over twenty pounds in the process. (I should get out and walk.) 

On election day I was impressed with the steady stream of voters, many who waited in lineups to cast their ballots. Sad to say, but the turnout across the city was a very pathetic 39.9%, probably because there was no real threat to Mayor Jim Watson. Here in Kitchissippi ward, the turnout was the best in the city, with 48.3%. That's still awful.

Mayor Watson cited a few issues the next day, things that he thinks folks are concerned about, like garbage and transit. What I am hoping is that new councillor Jeff Lieper will be able to pass along the message that he was elected because of concerns about developers. Many of us in this ward are sick and tired of developers in our city running the show and transforming our communities without consideration for established neighbourhoods. Go Jeff!

Ottawa, again

Well, they have started picking up the flowers and gifts from all around the National War Memorial. It's time to prepare the site for Remembrance Day ceremonies. Last Sunday, a few days after the incident, we visited there. I have never seen the War Memorial scattered with so many flowers. Not since Pierre Trudeau's death has Ottawa seen such a spontaneous outpouring of people and flowers.

No doubt the aftermath of this terrible incident will be felt in many places, for a long time.  Places of government in many countries have now adopted tighter security measures, as a result of our tragedy. The ongoing debate now is whether or not this really was an act of terrorism. 

I appreciated the comment I read in The Ottawa Citizen editorial of Oct 30th: "So while the shootings may fit into a broad definition of "terrorism", it's also important to remember that Zehaf-Bibeau's spiral

was a societal failure that needs to be discussed alongside any attempt to boost anti-terrorism legislation. In the end, it may be that getting help to vulnerable people before ISIL trolls on the internet ensnare them, would prevent many more potential strikes that weakening judicial oversight of police activities would."

As I said in an earlier post, we have spent millions on security around Parliament Hill over the past decade. It sure didn't seem to help that day. What about the Citizen's idea of getting help to vulnerable people?

While there are no guarantees, better funding for young families can only help Canadian society. Better access to childcare, improved access to affordable housing, increased funding for mental health facilities and drug treatment programs, increased funding for special education, more psychiatrists and psychologists; all of these measures would go a long way towards improving the lives of so many of our young people.

Right now the wait for subsidized housing in Ottawa is many years. It is almost impossible to get in to see a psychiatrist. If your child has learning issues and you cannot afford to pay for a private psychological assessment, you could wait years for your school to have one done. Poverty, untreated academic and mental health issues do not build model citizens.

This week I heard an interview with a refugee, speaking about the federal government's new legislation, which would restrict social assistance for refugee claimants. In the words of this refugee, "Canada should not accept refugees if they are not going to provide for them. It is like inviting someone to stay at your house and not giving them a meal or a bed." If the new measures pass, he predicted that many more refugee claimants will end up in homeless shelters.

So yes, we do need to have a good look at security on the Hill and find out what failed on Oct 22nd. However, guns in the hands of our guards and more bollards are not going to solve the problems facing our troubled families and young people.