Last battle for a happy warrior
Posted in: Latest News, Recent Articles | Comments Off
Published On Mon Aug 22 2011
By Joe Fiorito, City Columnist. Toronto Star.
Toronto Ontario – Jack Layton, a happy warrior, led a group of activists and journalists on a tour of homeless shelters one night some years ago. The evening began at a notorious burger joint in the east end. The burgers were not as great as their reputation, but Jack attacked his with gusto, which is what good pols do in public at all times.
What he did better was to display an appetite for information: he hit the street running, asking questions all night long that were designed, not just to get to the heart of the matter — or to show off in front of people who might write nice things about him — but to increase his own keen understanding of the issue.
And to make the rest of us smarter.
I was also touched by how many people he knew well enough to greet by name, people who seemed to know him as more than just a face.
His concern was real.
As was his zeal.
There were several younger people on the tour. He wore them out, which I suspect was a point of pride with Jack. He could have gone until dawn. He may have, for all I know. I called it quits at 2 a.m.
We don’t yet know what kind of cancer killed him, but we do know a bit about his medical history. All I can tell you is this: my father died of an aggressively metastasized prostate cancer, I have an uncle who died the same way and, from the family stories, I suspect my grandfather did, too.
I’m older than Jack. I know what my own odds are. I shudder. And yes, I get regular checkups.
A friend is in the hospital at the moment, after a serious operation, and then another, for a very difficult cancer. The outlook is good. His wife, also dear to me, is vigilant in her care and fierce in her love; what a marvel is our love for each other.
Olivia’s, for Jack.
Among the things that sadden me is that Jack said he was going to fight his illness and beat it. Does his death mean that he didn’t fight hard enough? His will wasn’t strong enough?
I don’t know what fighting means when it comes to illness. I do know what it means to be human. When my uncle Dave, an iconoclast, got his diagnosis — he was, I think, in his 70s — he started eating massive amounts of vitamins, and then he cobbled together enough money to go to Mexico for laetrile. He’d have been better off eating peaches.
Dave fought his cancer as hard as anyone ever has. His attitude was fierce. Didn’t save him, but he died with a marvelous head of jet-black hair, thanks to the vitamins.
Let me point out a miserable truth: We do not fight cancer. We take treatment and if we are lucky, we get the right treatment from the right doctors at the right time.
Yes, we are hardwired to hope. Many people, when they learn they have cancer, turn the rest of their lives into a display of cheery willpower. Alas, length of life depends primarily on genetics, good luck, sensible habits and timely medical care.
The lesson?
We keep our spirits up, more for others than for ourselves. And now we mourn the man, just as we grieve for his family.
I will remember him for his willingness to fight — not for his life; we all have that spark — but for his willingness to fight for the causes he believed in.
He was our happy warrior.
Joe Fiorito appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Toronto Star
Rod @ September 6, 2011
Where Have All the Squeegee Punks Gone?
Posted in: Latest News, Recent Articles | Comments Off
By Rodney Graham
Street Sheet – (Canada) 18 April 2011
The answer is simple. They were outlawed. Just about every major city in our nation went to great length to pass laws targeting these citizens. Over the years I’ve kept in touch with several I interviewed in Winnipeg in the 90s. (667 Words) – By Rodney Graham
One couple have two kids now and are close friends – and I visit them in B.C. every year. Many others have kids of their own now and are doing just fine. In a way these rebels were soldiers of democracy whether they did so purposefully or not.
In the 1990s there were hundreds, if not thousands of traveling kids washing car windows at intersections all across Canada. They were as ubiquitous at major intersections as the Dickie Dee ice cream carts on a hazy city summers day.
People still do it, but they are more likely to be locals who have learned the practice over the years from the pioneering punks. Traveling kids still do it while in transit – Until they are ticketed and hounded out of town.
Why did they do it? Simple again – Lack of resources for youth. Especially for youth who are termed ‘fallen through the cracks’. But I would say that there was never a firm foundation to help abused and neglected youth in Canada anyway. The Industry is more like a spiralling route that descends towards your eventual exit. Then you were no longer a ‘client’. Having been a homeless youth myself thirty five years ago I had a hell of a time in the system. Panhandling, couch surfing, begging off relatives, and being processed through the revolving doors of the children’s aid system then spit out at the age of 16.
One may ask, ‘Where do gangs come from?’ When society rejects you – you create your own. The squeegee kids were often kids who were mostly abused and neglected kids and they created their own resource. Societies answer for both was and still is equally brutal. Instead of treating them with respect and equality it uses the heartless force of law and the mindless self serving system in place to force them into more desperation and poverty.
The irony of it is that even though these resourceful Canadian kids used this form of self employment and were criminalized for it – they benefited others in each town and city they went to and were kicked out of.
They’ve done more to improve the democracy in our nation than most of us ever will. Local people of all ages across Canada now go out and squeegee for spare change – Because they saw the squeegee punks do it. There are a few more resources as a result (But still not enough) front line resources for homeless youth. There’s one in Winnipeg where kids can seek resources for jobs and use computers and phones. They stirred up activists and got them talking about the issues of youth homelessness. In this way, in my opinion anyway… they were true soldiers of democracy.
Personally, I have written, debated, and battled about the issue of youth homelessness since they passed the very first anti-squeegee kid by-law in Canada here in Winnipeg in 1997. The solution may not come soon. First we have to strive towards building a culture where less fortunate youth, and the less fortunate of every age are treated equally. We can start by repealing the squeegee kid by-law and the ubiquitous panhandling by-laws in Canada today.
In the long-term, cities continual ruthlessness against the less fortunate costs… In regards to lives, finances – in every area… They should overhaul the entire ‘system’ that deals with these things It’s ironic that these vagabonds share a few things in common with the hippies of old…
Yes, it’s ironic that these citizens have contributed so much to our country – yet they are treated like outlaws. Perhaps that’s just the way things work in our rather complex world…
- When will we ever learn?
Rod @ September 1, 2011
