From My Perspective

It seems that Senator Mike Duffy’s known penchant for harvesting the bounty of buffet dinners also extends to taking the most from the public purse. Mr. Duffy has been a resident of Ottawa for decades and yet when he received an appointment to the senate, he opted to exploit the perks of the plum given to him by the Conservative government. Senators are allowed to claim a housing allowance if their permanent residence is over 100 km’s from Ottawa. As Mr. Duffy already lived in Ottawa, he was not entitled to the allowance. What to do? No problem, declare that your long-standing cottage in PEI is your permanent address and voila, you scoop up some extra cash!

Senator Duffy continued to collect the allowance; he was really not entitled to, until the issue was raised in the media. Senator Duffy got caught. Embarrassed, or perhaps not, he decided to repay the $90K+ before getting hauled before some committee and subjected to a well deserved dose of ‘naughty boy’ admonishment from his fellow senators. As the senator seems to be in dire financial straits, his apparent friend, Nigel Wright, comes to the rescue with a gift, not a loan, of the entire amount owing. Notwithstanding Nigel Wright’s generosity and his apparent fondness for Senator Duffy, there are some obvious questionable implications when the Prime Minister’s chief of staff gives a sitting senator a financial gift of over $90K to repay a debt owed to the government. Not just any debt but a debt created as a result of doing something that was ethically unacceptable.

Perhaps the best thing for Senator Mike Duffy to do now is to complete the necessary paperwork that will result in the word “former” in front of his current title.

Many of Canada’s aboriginal reserves are isolated communities extremely far away from what most other Canadians may take for granted. The people living in those communities have been there for generations. Self-sufficient many decades ago, it remains an ongoing challenge for many of them to survive and develop without the financial assistance of others, primarily the federal government. Some reserves are situated in flood prone areas and can often require the emergency evacuation of residents. Understandably, this ongoing exercise of transporting residents out, providing interim food and shelter, repairing the structures damaged by the flood and then returning the residents is a cost that will continue on an annual basis. Why is this ongoing costly and avoidable situation acceptable to Canadians?

While I can understand the interest of certain people to live where they may have established roots, perhaps of historical or individual significance, if there are issues with regard to the longer-term practicability of these locations then they should be addressed. Unfortunately and based on political considerations, the resolution of the various problems associated with life in isolated or remote communities has not been approached with a firm resolve to change. As such, Canadians will continue to pump money into these bottomless pits until someone says ‘enough’. The federal government has the responsibility to take the required leadership.

The real unfortunate matter is that the preceding comments will likely be the same next year and the status quo will continue to prevail.

The question “Is the glass half empty or half full?” is often used in relation to determining whether an individual tends to be either a pessimist or an optimist. While some people may be inclined to toggle back and forth from being a pessimist to an optimist, there are those that spend more time at being one or the other. Being around optimistic people is rewarding. They are usually cheerful and their positive outlook can be infectious to those around them. Pessimistic people on the other hand can suck the energy from you. Those that are best described as “glass half empty” people sometimes do not even recognize their negativity. Negativity is their normal.

Accepting that people need to follow their own path, finding answers to those matters that concern them, some individuals will simply travel the path of pessimism throughout their life, perhaps luring others to join them along the way. Resist that temptation. Although the path of optimism can have its share of stumbling blocks, overcoming life’s particular challenge is often softened with a positive attitude.

For when all is said and done, life is about choices. You can either decide to be negative and miserable or positive and happy. It’s up to you.

PS: I think some people are probably saying they know individuals that are happy being negative. You really want to avoid those people.