This column is an opinion by Wyatt James Schierman, a freelance writer from Alberta. For more information about CBC’s Opinion section, please see the FAQ.
It’s been a thoroughly disheartening month in Canadian political and domestic current affairs coverage; one that should test the patience of any engaged citizen with an interest in the country and the well-being of its people.
Don’t believe me?
Consider some of the national stories in the first few weeks of 2020 that galvanized the attention of Canadians.
For starters, in the opening days of the New Year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau returned to the country after a two-week vacation in Costa Rica. His arrival in Ottawa caused quite a stir, though not due to anything of substance.
Trudeau made no significant policy announcements. Nor did he declare any major staffing changes or a cabinet shuffle.
So what was all the media fuss about?
Merely that the Prime Minister came back from his holiday retreat sporting a new beard.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, seen at a news conference in Ottawa on Jan. 11. (Blair Gable/Reuters)
That was it. A bit of hair growth on his face. Some salt and pepper stubble to cover what was once Trudeau’s clean-shaven jawline.
Unfortunately, that was only the first of many banal and relatively inconsequential stories to come.
The relocation of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, to Canada was another story which consumed an inordinate amount of precious journalistic air time and prose.
Harry and Meghan’s move, along with the relinquishing of their official titles, was even more obsessively covered by media outlets. While the story deserves some attention, it certainly doesn’t warrant the immense exposure it received, especially as neither Harry nor Meghan will have any substantial impact on the health, happiness and welfare of Canadians.
Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, have said that they plan to move to Canada. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/AP Photo)
Then an even more ridiculous “news” event occurred.
Just the other week, Justin Trudeau tweeted out a photo of himself purchasing some gourmet doughnuts while en route to his government’s cabinet retreat in Winnipeg.
It all seemed harmless enough. But you wouldn’t have known it from the outrage on Twitter. Nor from the coverage the “scandal” received, extending even to American news organizations like CNN and Fox News.
And what was it that caused such furor, you might ask?
Simply that Trudeau, “elitist” that he is, chose to purchase some expensive doughnuts — and not from that staple of Canadian identity Tim Hortons, but rather from a local bakery.
Never mind that Oh Doughnuts, the bakery in question, is Canadian-owned, while Tim Hortons is not. The outrage still ensued. As did the widespread media coverage of the absurdly silly affair.
Picked up some of Winnipeg’s best to keep us going through another full day of Cabinet meetings. Thanks for the fuel, <a href=”https://twitter.com/OhDoughnuts?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@OhDoughnuts</a>. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/shoplocal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#shoplocal</a> <a href=”https://t.co/9vrgWnUdxo”>pic.twitter.com/9vrgWnUdxo</a>
Of course, this is not to say that genuinely important and newsworthy events haven’t been given the time of day. There has been in-depth coverage of a number of recent developments with major effects on Canadians, whether it be the escalation of tensions between the U.S. and Iran, President Donald Trump’s impeachment or the spread of the coronavirus.
And efforts have certainly been made to cover the Conservative leadership race here at home. Though not even that has been able to spark much excitement, now that it appears Peter MacKay’s coronation is well underway. Indeed, the race could certainly have been much more interesting if Jean Charest, Rona Ambrose and Pierre Poilievre hadn’t turned out to be such merciless teases.
But that’s beside the point.
What is the point here is that far too often it’s the trivial news stories which receive an overabundance of attention, at the expense of issues that truly matter and deserve the public’s meaningful consideration.
The January release of Oxfam’s annual report provides one such instance of an important issue deserving of much more scrutiny. In its findings, the organization detailed absolutely appalling levels of income and wealth inequality throughout the world. In fact, the inequality has become so rife that now, “The world’s 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than the 4.6 billion people who make up 60 per cent of the planet’s population.”
If you think Canada is exempt from such inequality, think again.
The latest Ipsos poll asked respondents about their financial expectations looking one year and five years into the future, and found that optimism was near a record low for the survey. (Graeme Roy/The Canadian Press)
What other issues deserve far more attention from the media and the public?
Alas, the opioid crisis isn’t the only social emergency Canadians are contending with.
According to a statement from the Office of the Correctional Investigator of Canada issued Jan. 21, the population of Indigenous Canadians in federal prisons has reached truly alarming levels and continues to grow. Despite representing only about five per cent of Canada’s population, Indigenous people now make up over 30 per cent of those incarcerated in federal prisons.
These are just a handful of the extremely important, ongoing issues in this country that deserve serious attention and consideration from both the media and the Canadian citizenry alike. Not whether two members of the Royal Family relocate to Canada. Nor whether our Prime Minister grows a beard or not. And certainly not what type of doughnuts he chooses to purchase.
There’s no doubt that the media needs to improve and prioritize its coverage of the stories of greatest importance. But Canadians, too, must be attentive and avoid becoming distracted from the critical issues of our day.
The more actively engaged we are in the really important things happening around us, the more equipped we will be — both as individuals and as a nation — to tackle these issues.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
