Thank God I live in Canada! Right now, I'm truly grateful for the intelligent leadership our government is providing. Say what you will about Justin Trudeau but I appreciate his daily briefings, followed by the press conference with his ministers. Over the past few weeks we have become better acquainted with some of the top players in his cabinet, along with the medical officers of health in all the provinces. I'm grateful that Trudeau and his team are acknowledging and following the advice of Canada's top doctors and scientists.
We even have cooperation between provincial premiers and the federal team - something that would have been unheard of, just a couple of months ago. Yesterday in the National Post, there was an article about how Ontario's Premier, Doug Ford, has risen to the occasion. Click here, Ford Draws Praise from Friends and Foes.
It was Thursday, March the 12th, when Ford changed his tune. In the morning, Ford appeared at a press conference, telling Ontario families, " Go away, have a good time, enjoy yourselves."
Only a few hours later his government announced the drastic step of extending March break for two extra weeks. Finally, the reality of the situation had sunk in, as Ford and his team listened to the advice of scientists and public health officials. Over the past couple of weeks we've seen a new Ford, as described in The National Post:
"Gone is the pugnacious partisanship and populist rhetoric that opponents once used to compare Ford to U.S. president Donald Trump. The premier's regular briefings have instead drawn widespread plaudits for their calm collegial tone, as well as their comparatively progressive content."
When I look at the "leadership" on display in the U.S. and the disjointed efforts by various states, I feel even more grateful that our politicians here in Canada have managed to put aside their political differences and work together for our common good. At today's news conference, goodwill was on display again, as Quebec's premier thanked Doug Ford and Trudeau and his team.
Recently I read Michelle Obama's book, Becoming. I really enjoyed her observations on President Obama's role. Unfortunately, it is all in very sharp contrast to the current administration.
"Nighttime was when Barrack's mind travelled without distraction. It was during these quiet hours that he could find perspective, inhale new information, adding data points to the vast mental map he carried around. Ushers often came to the Treaty Room a few times over the course of an evening to deliver more folders, containing more papers generated by staffers who were working late in the offices downstairs....Most nights of the week he stayed at his desk until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning reading memos, rewriting speeches and responding to email....I was used to it now - his devotion to the never-finished task of governing. For years, the girls and I had shared Barrack with his constituents and now there were more than 300 million of them. Leaving him alone in the Treaty Room at night, I wondered sometimes if they had any sense of how lucky they were."
"When you're married to the president you come to understand quickly that the world brims with chaos, that disasters unfurl without notice. Forces seen and unseen stand ready to tear into whatever calm you might feel....His job, it seemed was to take the chaos and metabolize it somehow into calm leadership, everyday of the week, every week of the year.....How Barrack and I comported ourselves in the face of instability mattered.We understood that we represented the nation and were obligated to step forward and be present when there was a tragedy, or hardship or confusion. Part of our role, as we understood it, was to model reason, compassion and consistency."
In these regular morning appearances, Trudeau is doing just that. He is modelling reason, compassion and consistency. Thank you Prime Minister.
Tuesday, 31 March 2020
Thursday, 26 March 2020
Our New Era
So I last wrote here on January 29th...a totally different era. I keep wanting to ask, What the heck happened to our everyday lives? Some days, when I wake up, just for a second, I think we are back in the old days. Back then, I used to lie in bed and do a mental run-through of my activities for the day...go here and there, attend to tasks around the house, grocery shop, see family or friends. When I go to bed at night, same thing; I used to glance at the calendar just before going to bed, to remind myself of my commitments for the following day. Of course, all the items on the calendar have now been stroked out. There is no one to see and no place we should go. Old habits die hard. This complete change of lifestyle has happened so rapidly that I'm still adjusting my thinking.
That's part of the stress; the mental adjustments we have all had to make. Like many, I didn't grasp the reality of the situation very quickly. I didn't fully understand or acknowledge the warning signs. Bear with me...For the record, I'll try to make some sense of this past while.
Luckily for us, we have enjoyed a lot of family time over the past couple of months. We spent a week in Florida with baby Lauren, our newest grandchild, and her tired parents. It was lovely to bask in warm weather and I understand those who were reluctant to abandon their southern holiday plans. We returned on February 11th. I don't remember being concerned about the coronavirus then. It was something on the other side of the world, like when there is an earthquake in eastern Europe. It doesn't affect you. A few days after our return, we spent the family day weekend at Elmhirst's Resort (near Peterborough) with the rest of our kids and grandkids. It was our first time there and we enjoyed this family run resort. Their Sunday brunch is sensational.
The rest of February was spent participating in the kind of group activities that are now forbidden: lounging at an outdoor spa, visiting Parliament Hill for Question Period and a tour of the new Senate chambers, attending a birthday party, a funeral, book club and exercise classes. I even tried pickle ball.
By early March we were hearing more about the virus. That first weekend, we went to Toronto to visit our grandchildren before their March break trip to California. That was when everything started to go off the rails. Fortunately, Norah and Sean had the foresight to cancel their trip, scheduled for the 11th. I was upstairs and heard them telling the kids, at the breakfast table, that they would not be going to visit their cousins in L.A. I felt horrible as I listened to the kids cry.
That day, the 10th, I took the train back to Ottawa. The woman beside me used a disinfectant wipe on her armrest and tray table and offered me one. That was a wakeup call. Then came all the cancellations: the NBA, the NHL, community centres, all sports. On Thursday, the 12th, I did a lot of grocery shopping, not because of virus preparation but because Norah's family had decided to substitute our house for their California holiday. We were more than happy to welcome them home.
I sure wasn't thinking virus protection that day, as I went to several stores. Pat hit me with the big news when I returned. Ontario schools were closed for two weeks following the March break! That's when I knew it was serious. The cancellations kept piling up on the weekend: universities, libraries, concerts, restaurants, bars, museums, everything.
And yet I still didn't get it. Maybe I was just basking in having our family altogether that weekend. It was only on the night of the 17th, the day before she left, that Norah had to spell it out for me. It would probably be a long time before we saw each other again. That night, as we played board games, she had Choir Choir Choir on the laptop, leading a sing-a-long. When they sang Rainbow Connection it was all I could do, not to weep. What was happening?
The developments over these past two weeks have been head-spinning. Yesterday was Ontario's first day with only essential stores open. Our days and evenings are spent listening and watching CBC television and radio, even though this virus is the only item being covered. It's the only thing that matters anymore. It seems like we are all waging a war against this invisible killer that could be lurking anywhere.
And so we are here, inside. I feel extremely privileged, to be living in a house, in a safe neighbourhood, where I can go out for a walk. I do not have to teach or entertain young children all day long, although we did read some stories over FaceTime yesterday. We'll try to do that regularly. Parent of young children are putting in some pretty long days but what about the parents of teens? How hard must that be! What if our three kids, at university age, had suddenly all moved back in with us, without warning? How well would that have gone? There's nothing university-age kids like better, than spending time cooped up with mom and dad.
For the large families in small apartments, with no place to go, these days must be dreadful. So many of these parents are also, without warning, suddenly out of work. This morning, Davis Blair predicted on CBC radio that Canada's unemployment rate could be the highest in seventy years! If the situation is bad here in Canada, it is going to be much worse for the world's more vulnerable areas. Yesterday Stephen Lewis was on The Current, talking about how hard this will hit Africa.
So, from my place of privilege, I think it's only right to start thinking about how to help, in some small way. It's not possible to physically volunteer anywhere right now, but there are countless organizations, like The Ottawa Food Bank, that could really benefit from extra donations.
"There but for the grace of God, go I."
That's part of the stress; the mental adjustments we have all had to make. Like many, I didn't grasp the reality of the situation very quickly. I didn't fully understand or acknowledge the warning signs. Bear with me...For the record, I'll try to make some sense of this past while.
Luckily for us, we have enjoyed a lot of family time over the past couple of months. We spent a week in Florida with baby Lauren, our newest grandchild, and her tired parents. It was lovely to bask in warm weather and I understand those who were reluctant to abandon their southern holiday plans. We returned on February 11th. I don't remember being concerned about the coronavirus then. It was something on the other side of the world, like when there is an earthquake in eastern Europe. It doesn't affect you. A few days after our return, we spent the family day weekend at Elmhirst's Resort (near Peterborough) with the rest of our kids and grandkids. It was our first time there and we enjoyed this family run resort. Their Sunday brunch is sensational.
The rest of February was spent participating in the kind of group activities that are now forbidden: lounging at an outdoor spa, visiting Parliament Hill for Question Period and a tour of the new Senate chambers, attending a birthday party, a funeral, book club and exercise classes. I even tried pickle ball.
By early March we were hearing more about the virus. That first weekend, we went to Toronto to visit our grandchildren before their March break trip to California. That was when everything started to go off the rails. Fortunately, Norah and Sean had the foresight to cancel their trip, scheduled for the 11th. I was upstairs and heard them telling the kids, at the breakfast table, that they would not be going to visit their cousins in L.A. I felt horrible as I listened to the kids cry.
That day, the 10th, I took the train back to Ottawa. The woman beside me used a disinfectant wipe on her armrest and tray table and offered me one. That was a wakeup call. Then came all the cancellations: the NBA, the NHL, community centres, all sports. On Thursday, the 12th, I did a lot of grocery shopping, not because of virus preparation but because Norah's family had decided to substitute our house for their California holiday. We were more than happy to welcome them home.
I sure wasn't thinking virus protection that day, as I went to several stores. Pat hit me with the big news when I returned. Ontario schools were closed for two weeks following the March break! That's when I knew it was serious. The cancellations kept piling up on the weekend: universities, libraries, concerts, restaurants, bars, museums, everything.
And yet I still didn't get it. Maybe I was just basking in having our family altogether that weekend. It was only on the night of the 17th, the day before she left, that Norah had to spell it out for me. It would probably be a long time before we saw each other again. That night, as we played board games, she had Choir Choir Choir on the laptop, leading a sing-a-long. When they sang Rainbow Connection it was all I could do, not to weep. What was happening?
The developments over these past two weeks have been head-spinning. Yesterday was Ontario's first day with only essential stores open. Our days and evenings are spent listening and watching CBC television and radio, even though this virus is the only item being covered. It's the only thing that matters anymore. It seems like we are all waging a war against this invisible killer that could be lurking anywhere.
And so we are here, inside. I feel extremely privileged, to be living in a house, in a safe neighbourhood, where I can go out for a walk. I do not have to teach or entertain young children all day long, although we did read some stories over FaceTime yesterday. We'll try to do that regularly. Parent of young children are putting in some pretty long days but what about the parents of teens? How hard must that be! What if our three kids, at university age, had suddenly all moved back in with us, without warning? How well would that have gone? There's nothing university-age kids like better, than spending time cooped up with mom and dad.
For the large families in small apartments, with no place to go, these days must be dreadful. So many of these parents are also, without warning, suddenly out of work. This morning, Davis Blair predicted on CBC radio that Canada's unemployment rate could be the highest in seventy years! If the situation is bad here in Canada, it is going to be much worse for the world's more vulnerable areas. Yesterday Stephen Lewis was on The Current, talking about how hard this will hit Africa.
So, from my place of privilege, I think it's only right to start thinking about how to help, in some small way. It's not possible to physically volunteer anywhere right now, but there are countless organizations, like The Ottawa Food Bank, that could really benefit from extra donations.
"There but for the grace of God, go I."
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