In 1988 I took a job helping eight AIDS service organizations assemble a coalition to demand a better response to a national epidemic largely ignored by our government. The group was small, underfunded, politically naïve, and had collectively never worked in policy at any level. Yet by 1991 it gave rise to one of the most effective and innovative public health responses of our time.
Having been on those front lines to witness one of the darkest moments of a deep failure of politics and then the pivotal change to systemic reform, I believe there are valuable lessons to be learned — many replicable to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic we now face.
Pandemics expose systemic failures; therefore, systemic solutions are required if we hope to respond effectively. COVID-19, like its cousins HIV, SARS and Ebola, is a merciless teacher of weakness — perhaps more so in our political system than in any other.
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You can see the parallels clearly between HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. What went wrong in the response to the HIV/AIDS crisis from 1983 to 1991 was a massive failure of politics, but what went right was the subsequent political movement that funded science, treatment, prevention, civil rights protection and health care access. When we sought solutions for HIV/AIDS, we didn’t look at band-aids to systems, but rather at reforming and innovating the public health system that had failed millions of people.
This is exactly what must happen now with COVID-19.
These situations are not perfect analogies, but the pivotal role politics has and will play before, during and after their emergence reveals a few hard lessons learned that can be applied to our current crisis.
The public health imperatives for COVID-19 mimic the recommendations made for HIV/AIDS — namely massive testing and contact tracing. Yet before we could test the most vulnerable populations and seek their cooperation in contact tracing, we needed trust. Trust that a positive test didn’t mean a death sentence, unemployment, eviction or isolation from family and friends. Systemic failures and inadequate support drives people away, underground and anonymous — it also spreads a deadly virus.
There is an alarm bell going off in the disparities the impact COVID-19 has on vulnerable communities across America right now. And that’s exactly what happened between 1983 and 1991, when the government only sowed distrust and alienation, leading to the erasure of entire communities. This is not an easy truth, but it is an essential one that we must heed in our response to COVID-19.
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The turning point of the HIV/AIDS epidemic was when political forces that had denied it and stigmatized it changed their tune. That moment was the passage of the Ryan White CARE Act — the nation’s first and still most comprehensive response to the care and treatment of people with HIV/AIDS. The bill was written by the front-line leaders I worked with at AIDS Action—the eight organizations on the ground every day serving the sick and suffering. Their insight into policy solutions and the practical demands of service are the cornerstone of the bill’s continued success.
The same should be the case for our policy responses to COVID-19. Enough with throwing fluffy accolades at first responders and health care workers; instead, invite them to the policy table and ask them how the government can address this pandemic more effectively and with lasting results. The answers are there if politicians listen.
In these moments, three things must prevail: sound policy formed by experts in close alignment with science and facts; mature politics by leaders who set aside ideology, take responsibility and unite us under comprehensive legislation; and public knowledge of facts, not spins on stories that propagate more confusion and distrust. There will be accountability when these trying times are over, as there was with HIV/AIDS. Today’s politicians should understand that, throughout our present pandemic, the country is watching them.
History is our best teacher; actions are our best hope for the future. Politics and pandemics are inextricably linked, and our future lies in the balance, once again.
Thomas F. Sheridan is a 30-year veteran lobbyist, with advocacy efforts including Bono’s ONE Campaign, AIDS Action and Save the Children. He served as lead lobbyist for the Americans with Disabilities Act and is author of “Helping the Good Do Better: How a White Hat Lobbyist Advocates for Social Change.”
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
