Ford vs. Thomson: An International Woman’s Day Nightmare. 2 Weeks Later.

Mayoral candidates from 2010. From left to right: (front row) Rob Ford, Rocco Achampong, Sarah Thomson, John Pantalone, George Mammoliti, (back row) Keith Cole, Rocco Rossi, George Smitherman. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

International Woman’s Day (previous called International Working Woman’s Day, originating in 1909) was March 8th this year and the focus of the day ranged from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to celebrations for women’s economic, political and social achievements.  This day began as a Socialist political event, and in some countries it has morphed into a day for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day, while in many countries, the political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.

In Toronto, a very odd event came to light on this day, which may or may not have occurred, the previous night at an event for CJPAC.

Sarah Thomson, the editor of the Woman’s Post and who ran for the mayor’s office in 2010, claimed on both social media and in several interviews that Mayor Rob Ford grabbed her buttocks (“Grabbed my ass” were her exact words on the radio) while taking a photo with Ford at the event.  Ms. Thomson also said in an interview that Ford suggested to her that evening that she should have been in Florida with him because his wife was not there.

Ms. Thomson also posted a very unflattering picture of the Mayor on her Facebook page –  his eyes were closed and there was either a stain on his shirt or he was sweating a lot.

In a radio interview, she continued to pile on the accusations by suggesting that Ford was high on cocaine that night.  Apparently she Googled cocaine use and concluded that “…it’s, you know, sweaty, talking quickly, out of it, arrogant. Like all these things were on there.”

While Thomson has continued to stand by her allegations, she has also thrown her own allegation into doubt because she said, “I looked up the symptoms and it looked like it was cocaine use, it could have been anything like that, I’m not sure what it is. I’ve also read that diabetes could have some odd effects. I’m not sure what was wrong with him, but there was definitely something wrong with him that night.”  Oops.  Cocaine, diabetes… Well, he was “erratic” and “arrogant” that night so it might have been one of those.

When Thomson was asked if she’d ever taken cocaine herself, she said she didn’t know, as she spent time on the street in her youth.

But it gets even more odd from here…

Two councillors from Richmond Hill, who were at the event, were part of a crowd when Thomson allegedly was devising a plot to get a photo of the mayor’s hand on her assistant’s rear end.  She planned on using this ”evidence” to corroborate her story and she told the group it would be put to good use when she ran for Mayor again in 2014.

Thomson has ruled out pressing sexual assault charges against Ford; “It’s a big waste of time to go through the legal procedures,” Thomson said. “Now, I looked at it and I realized I had no proof.”

Thomson put herself at risk of being sued by making the public allegations against Ford.

The mayor had responded to her accusations on Friday in a written statement calling them “absolutely, completely false.”

Thomson responded to the mayor’s comments by saying that HE was trying to discredit HER.  “Decades ago powerful men who sexually assaulted women would call them ‘hysterical,’ or ‘crazy’ to debase their credibility,” Thomson said. “It pushed many assaulted women into silence…. He will not push me into silence and I hope his accusations do not re-ignite the old fears that once silenced women.”

Thomson went on to say, “I did not make these accusations lightly.”  And as for her hopes of one day being Mayor, she said the approach she took may not have been the best one; “I admit I did not handle the press perfectly.”

The problem here is not about he said vs she said, or is drawn along political lines.  It’s about a very serious allegation, made on a very important day and what the implications are if one of these parties is not telling the truth.  Since Ms. Thomson has in fact announced in public that she was sexually ‘assaulted’ by the Mayor of Toronto (in front of dozens of people no less) then I would think the police are duty-bound to investigate it to see if there are sufficient grounds for charges against the Mayor.

If it turns out however that this was just a politically motivated, vexatious, stunt by the publisher of a women’s-only magazine made purposely on the eve of International Women’s Day then of course SHE should be criminally charged with public mischief and making false accusations.

Criminal sexual assault is a very serious crime. Making public, false, allegations about it are equally so.

At the end of the day, this is very sad because either Sarah Thomson was assaulted by Rob Ford on the eve of International Woman’s Day, or Sarah Thomson was playing the victim and trying to set up the Mayor in order to further ruin his reputation and ultimately for her political gain.

Given the recent troubles Ford has had publicly under the attack of the left, a situation like this certainly causes people to question Ford’s ability to lead and make many people wonder if he is promoting a good image of Toronto for the rest of the world to see.  In light of the recent information revealed by Georgio Mammoliti we know the left have been targeting the reputations of right-wing politicians.

One of these two people made a horrible decision on the eve of International Woman’s Day.

Shame on him if it’s true and shame on her if it’s not.

Toronto City Council’s Secret Left-Wing Agenda Revealed!

Giorgio Mammoliti speaks to reporters (Photo credit: hyfen)

When Toronto City Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti alleged he, Mayor Rob Ford and other “right-wing” councillors at Toronto City Hall have been victims of a “left-wing conspiracy”, everybody laughed.  When Mammoliti said that a preliminary investigation he has conducted has pointed to a group of people “out to do some damage, personal damage” to the right-wing councillors on City Council, people again laughed and thought Mammoliti was going crazy.

A former member of Mayor Rob Ford’s executive committee, Mammoliti claimed that he has been followed by private citizens here in Toronto and that his home and office phones have been tapped.  He raised the question about just how badly do the left-wing councillors really want him, Ford and the other right-of-centre councillors out of office, replaced with the free-spending, union-loving, tax-the-rich, left-leaning council which almost brought Toronto into bankruptcy.  (Insert Olivia Chow here).

Mammoliti revealed that an investigation has pointed to a number of key suspects; city councillors, private citizens, lawyers in this city, who have united together to ruin the reputation of the right-wing candidates, force the public to sour on them and run them right out of office and we need to look no closer than the legal actions brought against Mayor Rob Ford by a private citizen – a very pro-NDP citizen, no less – which was handled pro-bono by another pro-left-wing lawyer in Toronto, Clayton Ruby.  This legal action resulted in the temporary removal of the Mayor from office and tarnished his reputation.  The citizen who was the front-man of this lawsuit and his lawyer were eagerly expecting the Mayor to cover the court costs, around $150,000.00, however, upon winning the appeal Ford had gone to the court to ask his costs be covered by this duo.  They in turn have asked Ford to cover the costs by taking the money from the taxpayers of Toronto, stating the individual who brought the case against Ford does not have those kinds of funds.

Oops.

We’re also waiting to see if lawyer Clayton Ruby is going to follow through on his pledge to waste more taxpayers money and take the appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.  This case is that important but it’s not going to challenge the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, is it??

So what do you make of this conspiracy?

Following this failed attempt to remove Ford from office, came an audit of his 2010 election funding in which Ford over-spent by $40,000.00.  Yes, he kept very detailed books and records and the auditor was impressed by that, and yes there was no further action against him, but I’m sure every single Councillor would be in contravention of the Elections Act if scrutinized by audit.  Where are the other audits of team lefty?  Oh, yeah.  Not in Toronto.

Did you know Mammoliti is also up against the same audit?

What about the audit of George Smitherman when he ran for Mayor?  He promised to reveal who donated to him campaign but never did.  Something to hide, maybe?

So let’s move on to the conspiracy…

When Mayor Ford announced (for probably the 50th time) that he was seeking right-leaning (fiscally Conservative) citizens to run in the next election, in order to get better traction on some of his ideas to reel in spending, cut costs and reduce duplication of services, the cries from the left were deafening.  I think the most critical of them all, Adam Vaughan, wanted to haul Ford before some panel or committee or something, yet again, to be slapped on the wrist.  Apparently it’s in bad taste to say it, but it’s okay to skulk around with your left-wing colleagues to find ways to overthrow the Mayor.

Mammoliti mentioned specific knowledge of secret meetings of left-wing councillors and their “inner circle” with their plans to run the “righties” out of City Hall and that… Well, that is okay.

So as the crack researcher that I pretend to be, I have uncovered their plans and compiled a list of the top thirteen items on the secret agenda of these left-wing councillors.

13. Hire unionized workers at $85.00/hour to remove all the doors at City Hall which open to the right and re-hang them so they open on the left.

12. Re-name any streets in the Greater Toronto Area which bear the name “Ford” to “Fraud”.

11. Create their own newspaper aimed at reporting items supported by the left and trashing any thoughts or suggestions by the right. Oops, that one was done already in triplicate; Toronto Star, NOW magazine and the Grid.

10.  Move to teach children left-wing socialist views at schools and institutions of higher-learning.  Oops.  That already happens too…

9.   Remove the term “Right of Way” from the Highway Traffic Act and replace it with “Wrong Way”.

8.   Pressure Ford Canada to rename its Canadian operations and to give its unionized workforce the credit they deserve, so all cars coming from their factories will cost $350,000.00 each, but a wealth tax on the rich will bring the price down to $45,000.00.

7.   Bringing in a fat tax aimed to penalize fat people, especially ones who take office and do not lose weight like David Miller did.

6.   Ban football in Toronto.

5.   After sending that CBC “comic” Marg whatever her name is to harass Ford on his driveway, the lefties are lining up more characters to disrupt Ford’s personal life including; Doink the Clown, David Suziki, ummm, other famous left-wing Canadiens like Brandon Prust, Max Pacioretty and Travis Moen, and the gravy train and a few others…  If they’re smart, however, they will stay out of Ford’s backyard.

4.    Toronto will implement a new wealth tax on all citizens making more than $65,000.00 a year (politicians exempted) and the new tax will be call the “Open your Wallet” tax whereby those rich bastards – damn them for getting educated and working hard to earn money and pay taxes – will pay to ensure that Toronto’s lowest class are able to move into Forest Hill or the Bridle Path like everyone else.

3.   Shows like AM640, SunTV and the like will come with disclaimers warning the risks associated with their dangerous, fiscally conservative views.

2.   Left-wing media will post unflattering pictures of Ford everywhere, including putting his head on top of a naked body in order to… Well, I don’t know why they did that actually…

1.   The number one thing that the secret left-wing group will do is to continue to pester and harass all the right-wing candidates in Toronto, in Ontario and in Canada and turn all the moderates into fiscally Conservatives resulting in right-wing political leaders at all three levels of government for a long time.  This secret operative will forever be known as Operation backfire.

In addition, there will be many new jokes as a result of this secret plan, such as; “How many socialist, left-wing people does it to take down Mayor Rob Ford?”  Answer:  We’re not sure yet.

Related articles

• Did Toronto Star reporter Royson James just call me a Simpleton?!? (urbandaddy.wordpress.com)
• Councillor calls for investigation into Rob Ford’s football charity, again (macleans.ca)
• Councillor Mammoliti probing secret plot (thestar.com)

Did Toronto Star reporter Royson James just call me a Simpleton?!?

Whenever I see articles that come from the Toronto Star which relate to Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, I cannot resist the temptation to read through them – not to see what the Star has to say, but more to see how the Star spins it to show the Mayor in a negative light.  Clearly still upset that Ford will not speak with them because of their pro-George Smitherman, anti-Rob Ford stance in which they tried to promote Smitherman for teh top post in the city even though the Pronvicial Ministry he oversaw wasted a BILLION dollars of taxpayer’s money.  Since that time, The Star just keeps finding ways to alienate readers through their opinions on Toronto City Council and the Mayor.

But, the article that came out on February 14th was a classic, even for the Star!

In this article (and I noticed there was nowhere to leave comments), author Royson James takes three pot shots.  One at Mayor Ford, one at voters in the City of Toronto and one at those of us who are fiscally conservative.  I could not believe my eyes.  I actually reread the article 3 times.

The Title of this article is; “Ford’s ‘mandate’ not what it appears – Most voters neither expect nor want Rob Ford’s campaign pledges to be fully fulfilled.”

How could I not read on…

Shot number one comes in the first paragraph, here; “Torontonians left no doubt that they wanted Rob Ford as their mayor when 383,501 of them — 47 per cent of those who voted — chose him to lead the city in 2010.”  47%, eh?  So 53% didn’t want Ford is what I am reading here and why that is important to point out, I don’t know other than to make the point that there was not a clear mandate from the citizens in Toronto to have Ford there, or to point out to voters that if 53% vote for a certain candidate in the next election, Ford will not be re-elected.  Either way, not so important in this article but worth noting.

Shot number two comes in this sentence; “Except for a few simpletons and wilfully blind acolytes who consider grants to cultural and community groups a waste of tax dollars, few drank the Kool-Aid. Most citizens liked the rhetoric. Few expected he could carry out his threats. City council wouldn’t allow it.”

I’m sure Royson didn’t mean to imply that by “drinking the Kool-Aid” that people were just following a leader blindly to death as referenced in the Urban Dictionary; A reference to the 1978 cult mass-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana.  Jim Jones, the leader of the group, convinced his followers to move to Jonestown and then late in the year ordered his flock to commit suicide by drinking grape-flavoured Kool-Aid laced with potassium cyanide.  In what is now commonly called “the Jonestown Massacre”, 913 of the 1100 Jonestown residents drank the Kool-Aid and died.  One lasting legacy of the Jonestown tragedy is the saying, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.”  This has come to mean, “Don’t trust any group you find to be a little on the kooky side.” or “Whatever they tell you, don’t believe it too strongly”.

Even more interesting is the use of the term “Simpleton”, because only a “simpleton” would consider grants to cultural and community groups a waste of tax dollars – well, I guess we need to re-define simpleton for Mr. James, because this simpleton (armed with a MBA) - and probably many of the 47% who voted for a stop to the “Gravy-train” have plenty of issues dismissing that any funding – even to community groups and cultural organizations –  is not being duplicated through another part of government or to assume that 100% of any funding – no matter to whom and for what - is used for what it was requested for, or that these organization need to be funded by the taxpayers of Toronto at all.

To wave a hand and insult any fiscally conservative person in the Greater Toronto Area is not only insulting but a little short-sighted unless Mr. James knows for a fact where each dollar of grant money goes and that each and every cent is being used according to plan.  Or maybe Mr. James prefers that those in the city who earn the most money simply keep their wallets open for the local government to use as their bank account whenever they need money or want to sue someone to prove a point.  This narrow-minded left-wing attitude in the City has to be stopped.  If the City spent more time performing checks and balances on where the money goes when it leaves City Hall and less time looking to see how it comes in (ahem: $3500 donation to a football team), our taxes would not be so high, our streets and infrastructure would not be crumbling and City Council might work better.

I mean when you write this; “For one, the mayor’s promises of cuts to government spending rested on the shaky ground of no service cuts. Ford has cut some services, so the foundation of the promise and mandate is fractured” and don’t or cannot name the service cuts (if there were any at all), then you are eluding to something which may not be there, maybe so the “simpletons” who read your articles will think Ford is a fraud.

So no matter how much the Toronto Star tries to justify the agenda of the left, or promote their own agenda at City Hall, they have to realize that by making comments like this, “If citizens expect the mayor to do the best he can to achieve his campaign promises — not necessarily achieve them 100 per cent — then the same citizens expect city councillors to save the mayor from doing outrageous things.  Apparently, at city hall, the mayor’s mandate is not sacrosanct; it’s as flexible as the mayor’s ability to convince and win over city council with sound arguments and compromise.”  When in actual fact, citizens want the councillors to not “save” Ford, but “Support” Ford.  The Mayor will not be able to work with Council not because he’s a brute, or a bully, but because the majority of Councillors on Council have fundamental differences in opinion as to how they personally feel about the role of government and are unable (or unwilling) to cast that aside and work on a truly non-partisan council.

Did you know, Mr. James that before the election, I reached out to my City Councillor, Joe Mihevc and asked him on the phone and then again in an email if he would support Rob Ford as Mayor of Toronto, if Ford was elected, because if he said yes, he would get my vote as councillor.  If Mr. Mihevc said no, then my vote would be directed elsewhere.  Mr. Mihevc was adamant that he would support Ford as Mayor and work with whomever was chosen to represent us, his constituents, blah, blah, blah.  Then the moment Ford was elected, there is Mr. Mihevc blathering about what a poor choice it was and how he would need to keep Ford in check and now 2-years later, each newsletter.

Here was Mihevc even before the election; “it is absolutely imperative that I/we do everything possible to stop Rob Ford from becoming mayor. This is a powerful driver for me. Rob Ford and his associates would destroy so much that we value about our city – its diversity, animated neighbourhoods, care for the newcomers and the poor, our quality of life. Very simply, and without getting too personal, I have watched him for the last 10 years as a colleague on Council, and Rob does not have the skill set required to lead a complex city hall and its agencies. Simple one-liners, an angry persona, a divisive disposition is not leadership and will only hurt Toronto.  Under Rob Ford, City Council will not function, our city agencies will be in disarray, economic development will be hurt and our city will suffer in many ways.”

Short of predicting that a Ford win would topple the CN Tower, maybe Mihevc was worried that a right-wing council would question how a $42-million dollar St.Clair traffic right-of-way turns into $142 million dollar driving disaster.  Say what you will about St. Clair – pro or con – but to drive it is a fiasco and with parking already at a premium they’ve done a great job to ensure that those outside the strip find other streets to shop along because of the headaches involved in waiting in long-lines or making left-turns.  Expecting residents to use public transit because you think they should is not the mandate of Council, and if they really cared about moving people quickly in cars, on foot, through transit and on bikes, they would build subways already, open up the road and add dedicated bike lanes and enforce rules for cyclists.

I’ve called him on it and will continue to call him on it because my ward does not deserve to be represented by someone who will tell you one thing to get elected, then another once in power.  All along, Ford said what he was going to do, and every day in office, the left find ways to hold up council, make Ford look bad and slow down the proceedings at City Hall.  Hello… Bag tax?!?

I digress.

So before the Star calls out the citizens of Toronto for their support of Ford keep in mind that the 47% who voted for Ford want AND expect him to cut waste in government, and reduce the red tape, and where red tape should not exist, make that go away too.  If City Council does not want to get in line and follow – if they want to go more than 3-times over budget and try to explain it away on additional hidden repairs – then that tells me that they either have no idea how to plan through a project from start to finish or that they just don’t give a damn about taxpayers money and they will continue to spend, then raise taxes and blame it away on Ford’s inability to run council, or on his weight, either one.

I’m sorry, Mr. James, but I cannot and will not support a councillor, or council, who disrespects and takes for granted my tax dollars, any longer.  I trust you understand this simpleton and understand that for all the negatives that come with Mayor Ford, the positives far outweigh them (pun intended).

P.S. I have actually used big words like ”Sacrosanct” before (Regarded as too important or valuable to be interfered with.  Holy.)

Shucks.

I’m such a simpleton.

Related articles

• James: Toronto politics ramp up some more as Smitherman and Thomson reappear (thestar.com)

Keep the Champagne on Ice, lefties, The Rob Ford Saga is not over yet.

Toronto City Council Chambers. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As soon as I heard that a judge had ruled that Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was found guilty of violating the Municipal Conflict Of Interest Act and ordered to be removed from office in 14 days, I knew that lefties in Toronto and on Toronto Council were in celebration mode.  I also knew that my Facebook page and blog were going to be quite popular with the “I told you so” comments.

I was correct.  Not only were there plenty of comments about the situation and questions about what happens next, but thrown in were the regular attacks on Ford for being; fat, boorish, dumb, uncultured, uneducated, balding and ignorant.  Whew.  Such attacks for a man who was voted in as Mayor or Toronto and was removed over $3100 which he never received but which went to an organization which helps children.  I guarantee no-one in Toronto would have ever done this to previous Mayor David Miller.  Never.

Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler, the man who brought Paul Magder and Clayton Ruby together to bring down Ford in this conflict-of-interest court battle is a labour relations specialist for the association representing Ontario civil servants claims.  On his Twitter feed he states that he is a “non-profit exec” and “an advocate for strong communities and accountable government”.

Chaleff-Freudenthaler was a regular fixture around City Hall when David Miller was in power and he was a part of Olivia Chow’s Toronto Youth Cabinet.  As a union-employee and given Ford’s anti-union attitudes in Toronto (TTC, garbage collection, employees, etc) it’s no surprise that this played out the way it did.

You can read the entirety of the judge’s decision here.

The decision created an uncertain situation at Toronto City Hall.  Next steps will depend on the success of the Ford’s appeal and, if successful, the length of the ensuing court process.  If his appeal is not granted or is unsuccessful, Toronto City Council will either call a by-election or name someone as the interim Mayor for the duration of the term.  Already posturing for this interim role is the left-wing hope, Adam Vaughan, who speaks very well, rarely raises his voice, asks great questions and is slowly selling out the downtown core that is his ward to developers.

Even my left-leaning City Councillor, Joe Mihevc couldn’t hold back the giggles as he stated “Justice was done. There is not a law for people with power and those who don’t have power–it’s the same law. If you are the mayor of this city you have to respect conflict of interest legislation.”  Bad for Toronto, but great for the left-wing block in a non-partisan municipal government.

As Mayor, Ford provided the city with much less leadership than many had expected from him, instead finding him caught up in left vs. right politics and picking fights with anyone who dared to question or delay his clear vision on how Toronto should be run.  Granted, there were many on council like my own councillor Joe Mihevc who were ready for fighting from the day Ford was named Mayor.  With a council stacked with left-wing councillors, and the Toronto Star peeking in his backyard, Ford could do not right and the lefties attacked like never before.  Ford is too fat, he didn’t lose enough weight, he was not smart enough, he spent too much time on football, he was too tight with his brother… The list is seemingly endless and the public attacks on Ford were justified again and again by folks in downtown Toronto who Ford called “Commie Pinkos” and they felt that Ford discredited the city by being mayor, something I never understood.

Look at the alternative in the past election, George Smitherman.  Fresh off blowing $1 billion dollars of taxpayers money as deputy premier and former Minister of Health, the eHealth fiasco was the tip of the iceberg for the Ontario Liberal Party, yet somehow those in downtown Toronto felt Smitherman would be a better choice that Ford.  Maybe they could look past the horrid fiscal mismanagement and lack of apparent leadership but most Torontonians could not.  Smitherman as Mayor would mean tax, upon tax, upon tax.  Toronto would be bankrupt, but Smitherman would look good, eh?

Personally, I never found Ford to be the Mayor-type.  I recall his drunken outburst at a Leafs game quite a while back and I know he’s had some issues both personally and professionally, but Toronto was facing a major cash-crunch, property tax increases of 3% a year were the easy solution for the previous Mayor David Miller and a fiscal conservative was needed to get the books in order.   With no other choices, Toronto selected the one who pledged to “respect taxpayers” and Ford was brought to power.

Rough, crude, abrasive and brutish, Ford fought with everyone not because his views were unpopular, but because every decision he made was so heavily scrutinized in the left-leaning media that he was forced to defend each issue which he did a poor job of.  It got so out of control that even author Margaret Atwood was brought into the fray when Ford said that he was looking for “gravy” – or areas where he could reduce expenses by closing or selling off assets that the City owned or operated that he felt the City should not be responsible for.

Was it wrong to look at parts of the City where there were libraries very close to each other and suggest that one be closed and the other used instead?  Absolutely not, unless you’re a right-wing politician, then you are deemed to be anti-literature and next thing you know there are polls showing that Ms. Atwood would be a better choice for mayor.  That public outcry on this issue was embarrassing to the City.  The thought that a professional author could run a city was as asinine as suggesting that a councillor could write best-selling novels, yet the downtown Toronto folks lapped it up.

Was it wrong for Ford to contract out garbage pick-up in order to save money?  Not at all, and because this has also turned into a major service upgrade, no one complains.  How about contracting out the cleaning of TTC buses?  Another Ford suggestion which was faced with fire from unions only because they know that if taxpayers knew the TTC paid their unionized workers upwards of $80.00 and hour to clean only 2-buses on their shift, there would be an outcry.  Contracting this out may go against the unions but the cost-savings would be huge.

And was Ford wrong to suggest that Toronto needs subways, not LRT’s?  Again, no.  Toronto wants to be a world-class city but at the current pace and costs we’ll never see coverage of this expanding city in our lifetime.  Unionized workers are too expensive and take too long and Toronto cannot afford it, and Ontario blew all their money on stupid decisions not called eHealth but might be related to powerplants and buying elections so they cannot contribute.  Things were moving forward until Karen Stintz stepped in the way, drawing the ire of the Ford brothers and forcing on Toronto what they do not want.

It’s been a challenge for Ford, that’s no lie, and he’s played right into the hands of those who don’t want him there.  Instead of hiring people to act as buffers he preferred to lead as he always had as a long-serving councillor and that meant some bumps in the road, gaffs, and lots of photo-ops of him with a double chin and naked in a Toronto magazine that I will not mention here.

At the end of the day, no matter who the mayor of Toronto is, the left vs. right conflict has to come to an end.  Councillors are supposed to be non-partisan and should be serving their constituents and finding ways to expand transit, reduce gridlock, keep neighbourhoods safe, while preserving the history of the city and not wasting the taxpayers hard-earned money.  Our city should not be divided for political purposes between left-wing and right-wing or by downtown vs the suburbs.  We are all residents of Toronto and no matter where you live you should be able to receive answers to your questions and see progress in making this city more accessible and not wasting your tax dollars.

As an aside, see what punishment other Canadian Mayors in conflicts of interest situations received, here;

Related articles

• CHARLES ADLER – Dark day for democracy in Toronto (sunnewsnetwork.ca)
• Why Toronto’s left shouldn’t over-celebrate Mayor Rob Ford’s removal (o.canada.com)
• Blatchford: Behind the people who brought down Toronto Mayor Rob Ford (canada.com)

US Presidential Election: What you need to before you vote, Canadian style.

Official photographic portrait of US President Barack Obama

As a follower of Canadian politics it’s easy to look at what is going on south of the border and be amazed at the pomp and circumstance that surrounds the election of the US President. 

To be honest, it never seems to stop.  Once the election is over there is intense review and scrutiny of the new president and the former challenger and that occurs daily, right through milestones like “First 100 Days in Office”  to “First year as President” and continues through the halfway term as President and then it all starts all over again as the leaders gear up for a 2-year run to see who is going to run the country for another 4 years.

During this time you will see and hear opinions and endorsements from news stations, other politicians, celebrities and talk show hots, to name a few.  If you’re a democrat, you detest republicans and if you’re a republican, you loathe democrats.  It’s so clear, and so in your face that it’s almost like a scripted affair. 

So if you find yourself today, the day of the election, still undecided then you should understand that it’s okay.  You clearly do not fit into the mold of being either a typical Republican or a Democrat and while it’s wonderful to be open-minded and see things from both sides, it really sucks that you need to make that choice on who to vote for.

Would it not have made your choice so much easier if a politician came out and said something like’ Don’t vote for this guy because his policies don’t make sense because of this (insert actual proof here) or, don’t vote for this guy because he hates kittens.  Right now, in Canada and in the US, the leaders are so polished and they say nothing.  As a result, especially in the US, news media have to track down and interview other party representatives and hope that they say something controversial, not along party lines, or how they actually see something, in order to have something substantial to report on.  The leaders of course, distance themselves from those who made the comments – usually asking them to resign – which starts in motion the typical and expected damage control where the other party concludes that the whole party feels that way and are hiding it, while the party in damage control explain away the comment as if it were uttered by a crazy person.  

We also used to vote based on the way the leaders acted – and looked – during debates.  We cannot do that nowadays because both parties play the debates so well, it’s become a wasted exercise.

So you’re undecided and have to vote.  Here is what you need to know;

President Obama is black.  Awesome.  But that was so 4-years ago.  He’s still black and last time I checked that had absolutely nothing to do with his ability to run a country.  He’s an educated human being, the first black president in the history of the United States and a Democrat.   He’s also been the president during a horrible global recession, so you cannot judge his record on the economy, because it’s not like here in Canada where after all the meltdowns, Canada was seen as the leading country heading out of the recession.  To many, what happened in Canada was expected given that the Prime Minister is a Conservative, and Conservative’s are better with money than Democrats are.  Sorry.  It’s true.

Now, I like Obama for what he did – getting elected, fighting racism, much like I like Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty who also seems like a really cool guy.  They’re both a little teflon in their own right.  When they talk, people listen.  They are kind, compassionate and appear understanding.  When you accuse them of something underhanded, while they explain, you feel sorry for them and it’s easy to look poorly at their opposition. 

In Ontario, that’s not hard considering Conservative leader Tim Hudak doesn’t exactly give you that warm fuzzy feeling when you look at or listen to him.  He’s not all that compassionate and he doesn’t strike you as a financial wizard.  He’s blah, but he may be an absolute genius and we just don’t know it yet.  Ontarians are waiting for the real Timmy Hudak to break out of his shell, otherwise, the Ontario PC’s are going to need a new figurehead to push their message, and fast.  NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has that charisma, but she’s playing for the wrong team, and while Quebeckers may have been fooled into voting for Jack Layton’s NDP, Ontarians will never fall into that same mistake of voting in a NDP government into this have-not province.  We have recent experiences to fall back on.  It’s not so clear in the US, however.

Back to the US.

The opposition for Obama comes in the form of a gentleman named, Mitt Romney who is a Republican.  Voting for him does not mean you hate black people, nor does it mean that you believe in Pro Life or no-taxes for the super-wealthy or any other tags that the left-wing media like to throw at those on the right.  What it means is that you are taking an open-minded look at a candidate who amassed considerable personal wealth while a citizen of the country you are voting in.  Romney is a businessman.  A very successful businessman who knows how to work with people, with suppliers, and more importantly, he knows how to spend money wisely and where he should and can cut costs.  That experience is invaluable when faced with near crippling debt, I would think.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is also a very successful businessman and having all that knowledge and ability in your back pocket helps, especially in times of recession, when you need to look at the country (or city) as a giant organization, which is what it is.  You cannot discount that experience and success.  Sure, Ford is quite rough around the edges, but common sense tells me, and told many voters in the last election, that when times are tough and there is less money floating in the economy that spending more of it just does not make sense.

American’s have lots of needs heading into the next four years and the next leader has to deliver.  They need jobs, they need infrastructure and they need to figure out if bankrupting their country to flex their international muscles is worth it right now.  Americans need to be better educated and Obama knows that.  He wants to hire more math teachers and bring up the collective math knowledge of Americans.  Awesome.  I also agree with a universal health care system – whatever form it takes on doesn’t matter – so long as finally those Americans who have been left behind, and those areas in the US which have been left behind are brought along with it. 

I also feel, however, that there are parts of the US which seem so far behind from the rest of the world, and that is either in their views on equality of all people or straight out accepted racism towards “minorities” and that has got to be eradicated in this President’s term, but doesn’t get enough press.  Geographically, areas, destroyed by the economy – and Detroit comes to mind – has to be propped up by the government so those citizens have a chance to succeed.  In Canada the government tends to prop up delicate economies or regions by placing government offices there and hiring locals to perform government jobs.  The US needs more of that.

All in all, it’s up to you and your political views.  If you believe government’s role is to help those who are unable to help themselves, then you are going to vote for the Democrats and Obama gets a second term. If, however, you feel the government is mismanaging your tax dollars and you want them to do a better job of that, then you are going to turn towards Romney and give him your vote.  But at the end of the day, it’s not the leader you are voting for, nor the colour of their skin, or who they are married to, or which state them come from. 

If, on the other hand, you are casting your vote based on colour, state, looks, or anything superficial – and that’s okay too - because you are getting out there and voting… It’s your democratic right.

If you don’t vote, you cannot bitch about the outcome.

Related articles

• Do Americans Actually Move to Canada After Elections? (mentalfloss.com)
• Poll finds most Canadians want some U.S.-style election practices (o.canada.com)

Service Canada’s Live-In Caregiver Contract: Very Important for Employees and Employers.

The importance of contracts!

I thought it might be useful to post the link to Service Canada‘s Live-In Caregiver contract.  I have posted many articles over the past couple years about the importance of a contract for those participating in Canada’s Live-In Caregiver Program (LICP) – both for employer and for employee but a formal detailed contract is equally as important for live-out caregivers and nannies who are living in, but not through a formal program like the LICP.

The contact forms the basis of a legal agreement between employer and employee as to what is expected and agreed upon by both sides and is used in case of disagreement to support the previously agreed upon terms.

In a nutshell, if you want to hire someone, they have to agree to all the work arrangements in the contract and if you want to be employed by someone then the contact tells you what the employer expects from you and outlines every detail from hours worked, to amounts renumerated to specific tasks.  It’s like going to get a job anywhere else in the world, where you sign the contact before they agree to hire you and it’s about time the contract has become formalized for nannies to avoid employers from taking advantage of them.

Too often I hear and read about employers who think their live-in nannies are on call 24/7 at their disposal to take care of them and their kids, and their house and their pets… It’s ridiculous.  Also hearing about employers placing curfews on their nannies, or making them address you as Mr. or Mrs. like they are a servant.  Most of it is not allowed and some of it is just not right.  If you accepted a job working at a top law firm, or in the warehouse of WalMart would you allow for them to treat you like that?

As a result of some of these abuses of nannies from overseas, the Canadian government has been tightening up the LICP program - prospective nannies can apply from the program by following this link; http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/caregiver/apply-how.asp.  Part of the application process, requires that nannies MUST sign a written contract with their future employer, and the employer must also sign the contact which is them submitted together with the positive Labour Market Opinion (LMO).

The LMO is issued to the employer by the government after a lengthy review of the submitted documents and the information is verified, an interview is conducted by phone, and once the employer is deemed to be a suitable employer who has followed all the government requirements and regulations for the LICP.

Employers must also provide to the government their payroll BN number with the CRA, and have available suitable space in their home for a nanny to live, and prove that they have children in need of caring for and the financial capabilities to support a nanny.

The contract must be the same employment contract submitted to HRSDC/SC by your employer, unless you provide an explanation of any changes (for example, a new start date).

The written employment contract will ensure there is a fair working arrangement between you and your employer. The employment contract must demonstrate that the Live-in Caregiver Program requirements are met by including a description of:

•mandatory employer-paid benefits, including:

◦transportation to Canada from your country of permanent residence or the country of habitual residence to the location of work in Canada

◦medical insurance coverage provided from the date of your arrival until you are eligible for provincial health insurance

◦workplace safety insurance coverage for the duration of the employment

◦all recruitment fees, including any amount payable to a third-party recruiter or agents hired by the employer that would otherwise have been charged to you

•job duties
•hours of work
•wages
•accommodation arrangements (including room and board)
•holiday and sick leave entitlements
•termination and resignation terms

The contract the government is expecting to see does not have to look exactly like the one provided for in the link – that one is merely a template - but it must contain all the information and clauses indicated as mandatory.

The use of an alternative contract format may delay the processing of the LMO application as HRSDC and Service Canada officers will need to determine if the contract complies with LCP requirements.

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eforms/forms/sc-emp5498(2011-09-005)e.pdf

Related articles

• Things You Need to Know When Hiring a Live-Out Caregiver in Canada (urbandaddy.wordpress.com)
• Not just for the nannies: Signs you may be getting fired! (urbandaddy.wordpress.com)
• Hiring a Nanny in the US: Not an Easy Task. (urbandaddy.wordpress.com)
• Hiring a nanny has tax perks (business.financialpost.com)

IVF Funding in Canada: Infertility Impact on Grandparents

Over the past year-and-a-half I have had the pleasure of researching and writing quite a bit on the impact IVF has on couples and the burden that is born by taxpayers in Canada. The province of Quebec, in recognizing this, has been funding IVF treatments and thus reducing the stress on families and the costs on taxpayers. My hope, and the hope of organizations like Conceivable Dreams, http://www.conceivabledreams.org/ is that other provinces in Canada will step forward, understand the true impact of infertility and in the very least, fund IVF treatments while researching the causes of infertility to help those in need.

One area which I had neglected to review was the toll infertility takes on the couple’s extended family – specifically grandparents – both current grandparents and the future grandparents. I found some articles on the Internet on IVF and grandparents and there were written by some pretty amazing people who have gone through IVF treatments and they discuss the difficult time they had discussing their feelings with their families and friends but found solace in their grandparents and the support – financial and emotional – whic helped them through the treatments whether successfully or unsuccessfully.  I also found much discussion around the shame associated with infertility and the typical responses to infertility from those unprepared to have this significant discussion.

There is no question that struggling to get pregnant can be a serious blow to the self-esteem of both women and men – women unable to carry the baby and men unable to create the child. It impacts their relationship and can cause permanent discord which some relationships are never able to recover from.  Imagine a couple going through this difficult and challenging time without support from their parents? Who could they turn to for support? What if they have no close friends who understand infertility? It can be very isolating, I would imagine.

In researching the role that grandparents play in infertility issues, I came across Dr.Alice D. Domar, Ph.D., the executive director of The Domar Center for Mind/Body Health, Boston IVF who pointed out that; “The desire to start a family is a strong one, and failing to achieve that can impact everything from the marital relationship to interactions with future grandparents and friends who become pregnant.”

Unfortunately, many couples find it easier to hide their infertility troubles than announce it to family and friends which often results in these couples feeling isolated and adds additional stress to them.  I read, and have heard, from the many people that I have spoken to, that couple resort to telling others that they have decided to not have children, rather that confessing that they are having fertility issues. That is very sad that there is a stigma attached to infertility among those who have not had to go through it, yet those who have had challenges getting pregnant fully understand the stress and would be more than willing to offer support without hesitation. Often in discussions about children, it rarely comes up that there were difficulties unless the conversation starts there.  Couples assume they are alone with their infertility issues and that it was easy for other couples to have children, but often they realize that is far from the case.

I also found some great resources for grandparents if they want to have this discussion with their children / grandchildren around the issue of infertility at www.Grandparents.com, in an article entitles, “10 Ways to Support a Fertility-Challenged Couple”.

This author of this article suffered from infertility issues and required IVF treatments in order to have her baby, and she points out ways (prospective) grandparents can help, more than financially, the couple and outlines ways in which the grandparents can actually cause more harm than good by withholding certain information or pressuring the couple.

I absolutely agree with this author and feel that the common sense rule applies here (and in SO many other aspects of our lives).  If after reviewing the scenario in your head doing or saying something might hurt or offend the other person – or you if you were in their shoes – then it’s best to not say it at all.  Chances are they have already thought it and stressed about it.

I also think it’s best to get the issue out there, especially to parents in order to set the ground rules.  Most couple do not expect to have issues getting pregnant and after having issues, research has showed that they felt they should have started seeking answers earlier, but clearly going through it is a long, stressful, frustrating process and having a loved-one shoot out a comment like; “Relax” or “Stop worrying” or “It will happen for you.  It just takes time”, may be seen as being encouraging by those who say it, but show the couple they have no support there.

Link to the original article here; http://www.grandparents.com/health-and-wellbeing/emotional-wellbeing/supporting-a-fertility-challenged-couple

Another great article I came across is here; http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100122/Infertility-can-lead-to-isolation-and-impact-on-couplee28099s-relationships.aspx, outlines how infertility can bring a couple closer together but also leads to them holding back information from prospective grandparents in order to keep their stress levels lower since most parents would do anything for their children and will try to offer the best suggestion to help the couple conceive when the couple just needs support and understanding.

This puts the grandparents in an awkward position as they want to help out and do what is best for their children but usually by the time they find out that their children are suffering from infertility, the couple has already met with specialists, confirmed the infertility, read a ton of articles, Googled it, and have spoken to friends or acquaintances who themselves had fertility issues.  Deep into the stressful period of infertility, couples usually have little time or patience for questions or suggestions which show a lack of understanding of the actual root cause of the infertility or the stress the couple has been holding in.

There are also some wonderful Canadian sources, such as this blog posted by @TJZmommy on her site “Telling My Story”.  http://tjzmommy.blogspot.ca/2012/09/the-impact-of-ivf-on-grandparents.html about the support she received through her battle with infertility.

If you have been impacted by infertility I welcome you to share your story in the comment section of my blog and I guarantee you will be supported by me, and the many readers who have expressed their support for IVF Funding across Canada.

You should also take a moment to check out Conceivable Dreams and please follow @OHIP4IVF on Twitter or the hash tag #OHIP4IVF to support government funding for IVF.

I support OHIP funding for IVF here in Ontario, and strongly feel that helping other couples become parents, who really want to be parents, should be accomplished without the financial burden that comes with infertility – for the couple and the taxpayers.

You can also help the cause by sending a note to the Minister of Health in your province to tell them that funding IVF treatments is the right thing to do, both emotionally and fiscally for everyone involved.

The Ministers of Health are;

Ontario – Deb Matthews; dmatthews.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org, ccu.moh@ontario.ca

Alberta – Fred Horne; edmonton.rutherford@assembly.ab.ca

Saskatchewan – Dwight Duncan; dduncan@mla.legassembly.sk.ca

B.C. – Michael de Jong; hlth.minister@gov.bc.ca

Manitoba – Theresa Oswald; minhlt@leg.gov.mb.ca

New Brunswick – Madeleine (Mado) Dubé; madeleine.dube@gnb.ca

Nova Scotia – Maureen MacDonald; healmin@gov.ns.ca

Newfoundland – Susan Sullivan; SusanSullivan@gov.nl.ca

PEI – Doug Currie – dwcurrie@gov.pe.ca

Canada – The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq – Minister_Ministre@hc-sc.gc.ca

*Disclosure: I am honoured to share this story of IVF as a valued and compensated member of the Conceivable Dreams blog team.

Related articles

• IVF Part 2. Provincial Funding of IVF and Infertility are needed. Addressing Reader Emails. (urbandaddy.wordpress.com)

9.11. 11th Anniversary. What the US response should have been.

English: A room in the Al Bustan Rotana hotel, Dubai, UAE. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today represents the 11th anniversary of the horrific terrorist attacks in the United States in which a whole lot of innocent people and heroes lost their lives.  While I’m sure those who thought up and carried out these attacks felt they were justified and that this was an acceptable response to address their issues, the loss of innocent lives, the destruction of New York and fear that it brought to the Western world which is still being felt to this day, shows these terrorists made a huge mistake in getting the attention of the Western world.

Say what you want about the US response, to try to flatten Afghanistan, enter Iraq and getting involved in the human right issues of other “Arab” nations but when the videos hit the net of the kids in West Bank and Gaza Strip celebrating and cheering, I’m pretty sure we all knew the world would never be the same.

The actions of the Allied forces through their armed maneuvers, the terrorists still attempted to attack the West and Western values in a more subvert manner through “sleeper cells” in order to continue to wreak havoc on the lives of ordinary citizens on a daily basis, even going as far as having that idiot Nigerian Islamist who tried to blow himself up on Christmas day, 2009 with explosives in his underwear.

All in all, looking back, I think the US / Allied approach was wrong.

Before I go further, let me state for the record that I understand that these attacks were carried out by extremists and my issue is with these extremists only – no matter what their religion or race may be – but it has been portrayed as being a Western world vs Islamist world issue and until someone steps up on the Islamist side and states clearly this, nothing is going to move forward in making that distinction.

So while we remember those who lost their lives, let’s look at a different event, on Arab soil and see how they handled it and possibly gain some insight into how the West could have dealt with this right away without harming the citizens already living in these Western countries who have nothing to do with these horrific events.

Case in point, below;

In 2010, one man, named Mahmoud Abdel Rauf al-Mabhouh was killed in a 5-star hotel in Dubai after being drugged and smothered by a pillow.  His death was blamed on the Israeli spy agency Mossad.

Al-Mabhouh was a senior Hamas commander and one of the founders of a military wing of this political organization who were involved in several armed actions targeting Israel, including the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989.  In more recent years, al-Mabhouh had assumed an important role procuring weapons for the al-Qassam Brigades.

Al-Mabhouh had arrived in Dubai from Syria under an alias and using one of several passports.

Dubai police investigated his death and came to the agreement that the assassins must have been from Israel, and that they used fraudulently obtained passports from several countries so Dubai responded by arresting and kicking out Israeli officials and gave warning to European and Australian officials as well because the “26-member” team of assassins that entered Dubai used European and Australian passports.

But they did not stop there – let’s look at the reaction.

Dubai’s police chief says travellers, suspected of being Israeli will not be allowed into the United Arab Emirates even if they arrive with alternative passports.

The Emirates will now “deny entry to anyone suspected of having Israeli citizenship.”

Alright…  So if you are Israeli, have been to Israel, or have a Jewish sounding last name you are barred from entering the UAE.  A very black and white solution when you are the judge, jury and executioner and have no one to answer to.  So even if you’re not Israeli you are punished – guilty by association – and no one questioned the UAE when they did this.

Imagine if the West took the same actions…

I think we would have seen a whole lot of people, organizations and groups speaking out against these terrorist attacks and against extremism if the perpetrators knew the impact on the rest of their people.

Or if this all just wishful thinking?

After US President Obama’s reaction yesterday to the storming of the US Embassy in Egypt over displeasure about a film portrayal of the prophet Mohammed – apologizing for the film – Libyans fired grenades and gun fire into the US Embassy in Libya killing the ambassador and 3 staff.  Libya, if you recall, was freed from the rule of Gaddafi by Western forces.  Unbelievable.  On 9.11 too.

If there was ever a time to send a non-violent message to these terrorists, I think now would be the time.  Maybe the UAE had it right all along.It’s hard dealing with people who put no value on human life and there has to come a time when you look in the mirror and decide it’s time to spend the trillions of dollars on war to a different cause, maybe within your own borders.

I don’t know the answer and I don’t think there is one.  It would have been nice if everyone from ever nationality in the world stepped up and denounced extremism.  That clearly didn’t happen so the wounds of the attacks on Western ideals and values remains wide open.

So sad.

9.11

We Shall Never Forget.

Related articles

• On 9-11… The Obama Administration Apologizes to Islamists and Attacks the Constitution (thegatewaypundit.com)
• A Day Symbolic of the Obama Presidency (redalertpolitics.com)
• US envoy thanks Israel for standing by America ‘in its darkest hour’ on 9/11 anniversary (timesofisrael.com)

Breaking Down Barriers: Toronto’s Neshama Playground Officially Opened In Oriole Park.

On July 21st, we happened to be at a previously unnamed playground in Toronto’s Oriole Park community when we came across the ceremonial opening of this fantastic all-inclusive park, now named the Neshama Playground.

Since I love municipal politics, we joined the festivities.

We saw The Honourable David C. Onley, former City-TV broadcaster, current Lieutenant Governor of Ontario as well as Councillor Norm Kelly (Ward 40 Scarborough Agincourt), who is the Chair of the Parks and Environment Committee, and Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 22 St. Paul’s).  There were a ton of community members which told me this project had the full support of the community and it showed.  I knew there were some delays in completing this project which I’m pretty sure began in 2010, but it was well worth the wait.

The Neshama Playground features a water play area, sensory musical features for kids with autism, Braille panels for the seeing impaired, an enclosed climbing merry-go-round and bounce pad, accessible swings and play structures, and colourful, cork / rubber springy surfacing to allow for wheelchairs.  There was a great swing for children in wheelchairs which I had seen before and made me wonder at that time why our parks are not fully accessible to all children.  Have we been living in caves?

On the placard it made reference to “A bunch of guys” as being key donors and I had to find out more.  It turns out that this project was initially the brainchild of Thomas Caldwell from Caldwell Financial, and Toronto lawyer Steven Skurka.  They went to the community and recruited Theo and Brendan Caldwell, friends and associates who became known as “A Bunch of Guys.”  Collectively, they raised over $700,000.

Neshama Playground is the first of its kind in Toronto and is consistent with the City’s policy direction for universal accessibility.  Whether physically challenged, mentally challenged or able-bodied, all children love to play. Now they can.  Here.

I read that the idea for this playground was inspired by one just like it in Maryland.  I also read that a group called “Friends of Jeff Healey”, – Healey a legendary Canadian musician who, when he was one-year-old, lost his sight due to retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes.  He passed away in 2008 at the very young age of 41 due to cancer – are already raising funds to retrofit a west-end playground in the Humber Bay area, named in memory of the Canadian jazz and blues legend, to become more accessible.

Yet another innovative park, called Toronto’s Underpass Park, officially opened earlier this month.  This park makes use of what was wasted public space and it provides a public space to all members of the community downtown.

If this is the start of a trend in Toronto, I hope that all community members will contribute their thoughts, suggestions, recommendations and money to help bring all Toronto parks up to grade in order to be accessible to all members in the community.  congratulations to Thomas Caldwell and the Bunch of Guys for this project and hopefully in 5 years you will see the how you changed Toronto for good!

As for the ceremony itself, it was fantastic and if you can find video of the unveiling or of kids playing in the park, you are sure to find this Urban Daddy watching the ceremony, sneaking in on the official picture and pushing his daughter Berry on the swing for 25 minutes.

IVF Part 2. Provincial Funding of IVF and Infertility are needed. Addressing Reader Emails.

English: Causes of infertility, data compiled in the United Kingdom 2009. Reference: Regulated fertility services: a commissioning aid – June 2009, from the Department of Health UK (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As a follow-up to my earlier piece on IVF, and the need for provincial governments in Canada to fund it for humanistic and financial reasons, I wanted to address some of the comments I received via email.  I found it odd that no one had posted comments on my blog, but when I logged into my email, I saw that people felt more comfortable emailing me from a fake email address and under the name “anonymous”.

The tone of the emails centred around a belief – by many – that the reasons for infertility and the recent focus around IVF treatment – and request to have taxpayers fund it, comes from a belief infertility issues are created by woman who are choosingtheir careers over their responsibility to bear children.  This waiting is causing less fertile eggs and hence problems conceiving and thus, it has been pointed out to me, the obvious solution is to not play G-d, but for woman to start having babies earlier in life.  Problem solved.

WOW.

Wrong.

So to be clear and to address that belief, I scoured the Internet for hours, days, weeks and months in order to find some supporting data on which to make this assertion.

First off, this is not just a “Western” issue with woman wanting careers first, then babies, and when they cannot conceive they know they have this expensive not-guaranteed treatment in their back pocket.  In fact, the rate of infertile couples is on the rise both in developed and developing countries.  Infertility is a cause of great suffering for those involved and their legitimate desire to have a child / children, requires the attention of society.  With that, it must be stated that modern lifestyle patterns do play an important role in the problem of infertility.

But infertility needs to be addressed – IVF aside as it is one possible treatment for the greater problem.  Infertility is caused by multiple factors and, consequently, necessitates a broader response from prospective parents, doctors, scientists and government than just looking to find a possible solution after infertility has been diagnosed, by turning to research in artificial reproductive treatment.

I think those people who sent me the anonymous messages are familiar with the work of a scholar named Hans Rudolf Tinneberg, who teaches at the Justus-Liebig University in Germany because he feels that ”the true challenge is that of changing the mental attitude of people so that they procreate when it is biologically the optimal age to do that, between 21 and 23 years old”.

Hmmmm.

This changes everything, right?  To suggest that woman place procreation at the top of their list at such a young age, when they are still in University / College, just getting started in the work force and find their way would appear to be a backward statement on a forward thinking society.  Yes, it makes sense to bring attention to being healthy from that age forward, but to do anything else would be met with great resistance and so it should.

This is, after all an “expert” speaking from a scientific perspective on what the most effective solution to infertility would be!  Surely, this statement should not be taken completely out of context, right?  When referring to lifestyle playing an important part in infertility, it’s not just couples waiting to have children, but also it depends on social and economic structures that lead people to marry and decide to have children at an older age.  Not everyone wants to wait until they are in their late 30′s to have children and not every family can afford to have children in their early 20′s.

So now we find that there is a role which must be filled by government in order to combat infertility and that is through education.  Eating disorders like anorexia, obesity, excessive body exercise and stress, need to be mentioned at an early age and the acknowledgement that there is a negative impact of environmental pollution on fertility and the harmful consequences of active and passive smoking to female and male infertility.  Not that a 15-year-old is going to understand that when trying to fit into a size zero prom dress like her friends can and like they do on TV.

There also needs to be some discussion around infertility beyond just the science of it, to include spirituality, psychology and environmental impacts because the problem of infertility is not just a medical issue.

Until the government comes up with a plan to combat rising infertility for all people, then it should provide assistance for those wanting to have children by funding IVF.  The savings on the healthcare system have already been clearly documented – the aftercare for multiple births is very expensive and paid for by taxpayers and multiple births are caused by the fact that IVF is expensive and couples (and doctors) are attempting to fertilize multiple eggs at once hoping one birth will stick.  This process is clearly broken.

What we can find comfort in, is that all experts concurred on the fact that IVF is not the only solution to infertility and should not be presented as such when infertile couples call upon family doctors, gynaecologists and fertility specialists for help.  Moreover, it is evident from empirical research that IVF does not address the causes of infertility and it is statistically proven that, since its outcome, it didn’t solve the problem of infertility. The problem is still there.

I could not find Canadian-specific numbers but studies conducted in the US, showed that  99.5% of couple with infertility issues were not able to conceive through IVF, in the US, and in addition often IVF is presented as the sole solution.  Without diagnostic investigation patients are left  unaware about the true cause of their infertility and with a lot less money as a result of the cost of this procedure.  I’m not even sure the year from which this data came, but you get the point.  This process is broken and available to those who have money or who wish to risk everything for the chance to bear their own children.

Everyone who emailed me agrees that it would be questionable to fully fund IVF without spending the time and money to research the problems of infertility and make progress to tackle its roots at the same time.  This would also be a perfect time to study whether infertile couples were being correctly diagnosed, keeping in mind the multi factors of infertility, and eventually have access, if it is the case, to easier and cheaper treatments other than IVF, but this is still very much down the road.

Until provincial governments like Ontario and Alberta are able to address infertility growth, then they should do the right things and help these families, help all families, get equal access to IVF treatment, save taxpayers dollars, then research infertility on a bigger scale and let’s get this broken process fixed.

Infertility is a serious problem and needs to be tackled accordingly.  NOW.

UK’s IVF funding effort ‘feeble’ (bbc.co.uk)

• Schools failing to teach pupils about infertility (guardian.co.uk)