the jimmymac attack!

Traveling is wonderful for so many reasons. It is great to see new places. It's great to experience new cultures and people and language. And another plus is coming home again. Going to another country always makes you look at your own country a little differently. In the 1990's the UN voted Canada the best place to live in the world for about eight years. Our Prime Minister was very proud of this and liked to boast about it. I'm sure Canada is probably one of the best countries to live in if you are not one of the unfortunate Canadians living in poverty. In Toronto there are so many homeless and poor people that tourists take pictures of them to show friends back in Europe and other places. Canada could be the best place in the world if some priorities were changed. The biggest news these days is the price of gas. Gas, cars, material things are far more important to average Canadians than the plight of the poor. It is a common view of average Canadians that poor people are lazy, stupid, dishonest and deserve their fate. I wish there could be a sea change shift in this view. I don't think anyone deserves to be homeless or live in poverty. It's true many of them do drugs and alcohol. This is one way they try to cope with the desperation and it's part of the vicious circle. Drugs and alcohol lead to more problems of course. Others suffer from mental health problems. Others have emotional or physical problems. Imagine if Canada put the health and well being of EVERY person ahead of every other prioity. No more new $20 million Opera Houses. No more Aquariums costing millions of $. No more additions to the Royal Ontario Museum. No more renovations to the Art Gallery of Ontario. No more extra, unessential frills until every Canadian has a home and some useful work or program to help them become healthier, happier Canadians. It would be good for everyone. Imagine all those people helping to contribute to Canada instead of being a drain on the economy. It would be better economically in the long run. And of course it would make Canada a more humane, healthier place in so many ways.