PONDERABLEs
This is actually an imponderable: How many changes in our lives are there going to be by the time this is all over?
Heard a newscaster say that someone had died from “serious” life-threatening injuries. Are there any non-serious life-threatening injuries?
THINGS I FIRMLY BELIEVE
Stompin’ Tom Connors was correct when he said “too many coincidences aren’t coincidences.”
All politicians are hypocrites to some degree (otherwise they’d never get elected), so they should be judged on the degree of their hypocrisy.
A RARE FREELAND MISSTEP
I’ve been impressed by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, not just during the Covid-19 crisis, but generally. However, while promoting Trudeau’s gun control regulation she made a ridiculous statement, saying that because gun control was in the 2019 Liberal election platform they had a strong mandate to act. The Liberals have nothing of the sort. As a minority government they don’t have a mandate to do anything without the support of one of the three main opposition parties. Sad to see her slip into such Trudeau-like hyperbole.
PROBLEM SOLVING THE DALE CARNEGIE WAY
I’ve written many times about the enormously positive effect the Dale Carnegie Course had on my professional career. And even though it’s many decades since it’s five-step problem-solving approach was introduced, it’s still perfectly valid today.
Define the problem as concisely as possible.
List every possible cause of the problem.
List all possible solutions for each cause, no matter how far fetched they may be.
Choose the best possible solution for each possible cause.
Decide what action you’re going to take. (And I always added a sixth: When are you going to take it?)
THE TRANSFORMED DOUG FORD
Many people are astonished at the transformation of Ontario premier Doug Ford during the current crisis. He’s transformed from a bull-in-a-china-shop to a confidence-inspiring leader
Generally speaking, Ford has been unafraid to make tough decisions and then clearly explain his reasoning during his daily press conferences. He doesn’t avoid questions, gives straight-forward answers, and is quick to praise or blame as the situation requires. He also shares his appearances with key cabinet ministers and advisors.
Contrast Ford’s style to Prime Minister Trudeau’s. Trudeau often takes days to clarify details of his government’s policies. And even though his cabinet ministers and advisors have a daily press conference shortly after his, no one gets to share the main spotlight with the prime minister. Trudeau evades almost every question he’s asked and begins every answer with a tedious, preachy, repetitive speech, the only possible purpose of which is to hog the spotlight and extend the enjoyment of hearing his own voice as long as possible.
MY FIRST IMPORTANT PERSONAL MILESTONE
Self-isolation requires filling a lot of time, at which, fortunately, I’ve always been pretty good. A few days ago I was reminiscing about my youth and concluded that the year 1951 was probably the first really big milestone year of my life. It included a number of important firsts. It was the first time I visited Toronto, and my first time being off PEI, which led to many unique experiences, including: being in a CBC radio studio for a live broadcast of the then enormously popular afternoon network radio show The Happy Gang; my first time on a four-lane highway (the QEW between Toronto and Niagara Falls); my first NHL hockey game (the 1951 All-Star game at Maple Leaf Gardens); and my first circus (also at MLG). It was during 1951 that I: attended my first dance; acquired my first bicycle; and drove a car (just a few minutes on the St. Peter’s race track). And even though I was only only twelve years old at the time, in 1951 I played a game in goal for the Morell Senior men’s hockey team against hated rival, Souris. I read my first novel (Ebb Tide) in 1951and had my first part-time job, working overnight at the Mt. Stewart strawberry plant during the harvesting season. I received my senior Red Cross swimming badge and chatted with a celebrity for the first time, country singer Hawkshaw Hawkins, who was playing at the Charlottetown Forum. Last and certainly least, in the winter of 1951 I missed almost a month of school because of a very severe case of the measles.
It really was quite a year.