Checking-In: Listener Response
Checking-In with Friday host Laura Lynch and Anna Maria Tremonti
Our Friday Host Laura Lynch joined Anna Maria in studio to find out what you've had to say about the week that was on The Current.
Outsourcing Jobs: On Tuesday, hot on the heels of allegations that RBC Royal Bank has contracted a company to bring in foreign workers temporarily who will then leave with jobs now done here by Canadians. We dug into the practice of outsourcing and offshoring and what it means for competitiveness and job security.
Lots of you wanted to weigh in on this one.
First to Larry Seminoff of Edmonton who writes:
After I heard what RBC is doing, I went to my local RBC branch and transferred my money to my local Credit Union. It's wonderful, it's a better financial institution and the Credit Unions IT centre is located in my city. Goodbye and good riddance to my 40 year relationship with the RBC. Perhaps they should look to India for new clients.
Prakash Gadhia of Mississauga offered these thoughts:
The solution to outsourcing is to charge a 43 per cent tax -- the top rate for personal income tax -- on any amount that a company spends on outsourcing costs. After all Canada is missing out on personal income tax when jobs are shifted to other countries. All this 'outsource tax' collected can be spent on training Canadian workers.
Right to Die: On Monday, we talked to Susan Griffiths. Last year, she was diagnosed with Multiple Systems Atrophy, a degenerative neurological disorder for which there is no cure. Most people with the disorder die within 6 to 10 years of the diagnosis. But Ms. Griffiths decided she wasn't going to wait for that. She wanted to die on her own terms. And she has gone to Switzerland, where someone can help her die the way she wants to.
The response to that interview was overwhelming.
Jill Horn of Vancouver writes:
I was very moved listening to your interview with Susan Griffiths and her daughter. I admire her for her strength and the courage of her family for supporting her. My husband, a devout Catholic, died from ALS and was determined to 'stick it out' to the very end. I was impressed by how his religion helped to sustain him throughout his final hours. For me, however, his caregiver, it was a horrendous experience and, even after fourteen years, I am still quite traumatized by the event particularly as his doctor let him down at the time of his death. I am not religious myself and, consequently, I already have details of the clinic in Switzerland where I can go to end my own life should I be as unfortunate as my husband.
Colleen Eggertson of Calgary wrote to us about her own experiences:
I sympathize with Susan Griffiths' story. My grandmother committed suicide when she was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, and I have worked with children, adults and seniors, many of whom were disabled or suicidal or both. There are a couple of issues I think get overlooked in discussions about ending life: providing better pain relief, treating depression, anxiety and other mental health problems that make pain worse, and counseling for coping with pain and disability.
Barbara Belyea of Canmore, Alberta offered another perspective:
Susan Griffiths is a charming, resolute woman whose decision to end her own life must be respected. I find less to admire in her wish, repeated several times, to turn her private decision into a public campaign. I admire Susan Griffiths' huge courage, her calmness and deep affection for her family, her clear sense of herself in wanting to end her life the way she has lived it. But I don't accept her vision of social rights and freedoms, or her campaign to change the world she has decided to leave.
Tracking the Story: Now to revisit a story that we covered last month - on racial profiling by police officers.
Chad: Can I get your badge number sir?
Police: No, you can't.
Chad: Why can't...
Police: 666 is my badge number...
Chad: Why can't I get your badge number? And your name is...
Police: 666! Constable Hollett.
Chad: You're not gonna give me your badge number at all?
[a few seconds of silence....]
Police: You got two seconds to get in the car.
Above is part of a conversation that took place after Ottawa police stopped then teenager Chad Aiken in 2005. Mr Aiken says he was pulled over because he was a black man driving a Mercedes-Benz -- his mother's car. He says an Ottawa police officer harassed and assaulted him.
Mr. Aiken's girlfriend's recording of the incident helped bring the case to the Ontario Human Rights Commission. As part of the settlement reached, Ottawa police agreed to take on a two-year study, which will officially begin in June, in which police will collect statistics on the race of people they pull over in traffic stops. It will be the biggest such study to take place in Canada - but last month Chad Aiken's lawyer told us that she is concerned it doesn't go far enough.
Charles Bordeleau is Ottawa's Police Chief and we reached him in Ottawa this morning.
Diagnosing ADHD: On Tuesday, we looked at the increase in the number of cases of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder -- or ADHD -- being diagnosed ... and we heard from Robert Costanzo. A couple of years ago, his son PJ's teacher suggested that PJ might have ADHD. But Robert, who is a teacher himself saw PJ differently.
We heard a flurry of feedback on this part.
First to Eric Merth, who tells us he used to work at a high school in Edmonton and writes from Calgary:
My job was taking care of the school's computers and computer network. Part of that responsibility was helping my boss, a vice-principle, teach grade seven classes in computer skills. This teacher, my boss, was in the habit of telling parents of unruly students that their child had ADHD and advising the parents, rather emphatically, to get the kid on Ritalin. I challenged my boss on this a few times. Her explanation was that this the only way she could maintain order in the class room.
Connie Easto tells us she is a school psychologist and writes from Toronto.
I can honestly say that in my many years of working in school psychology I have never come across a situation where I thought that a child had been wrongly diagnosed with ADHD. In my experience, professionals take this diagnosis seriously and apply it responsibly. As the woman from CADAC pointed out, the distractibility must be causing significant impairment to the child's functioning in two or more settings - it must be doing much more than inconveniencing a teacher or annoying a parent.
Carolyn Campbell wrote to us from Calgary with these thoughts:I am an adult diagnosed with ADHD in my forties. I wish to God that someone had given me medication when I was a child. I was always a high energy kid, a "chatterbox" and because I didn't have the associated Learning Disorders, and did well in school, I was left to manage on my own. My life was relatively structured and I managed. Until I became an adult and wasn't able to manage the unstructured format of University. I would not have a job today if I had not finally received medication. I have a beautiful four year old son and I will certainly consider medication if it seems like it is required. I will NOT deny him the chance to have success in his life.
And the last word on the subject goes to Cheryl Ahola of Brampton, Ontario.
My son who is now 25 was "diagnosed" at the age of 8. Grade 3 was the beginning of what I can only call "bullying him into medication". This teacher was relentless -- I took him to a Pediatrician who told me if he was ADHD, it was mild to moderate and didn't think it was a problem and that with some behaviour modification techniques such as token rewards for good behaviour it would be fine. When I still hesitated to put my son on ritalin (it was the only medication available at this time) they told me that he would not be able to eat lunches at school on special pizza lunch days or go on school trips unless I was able to come and monitor him. As I had an infant at the time and really no babysitter available this was not an option. My only option became ritalin and so I took that option.
At the beginning of high school my son asked if he could stop taking the ritalin and hasn't taken it since that time. Looking back I wish I had been more adamant about my stand of no medication but I feel I was put into a no-win situation with my son being the loser in the end.
Margaret Thatcher: We started this segment with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher back in 1990, using the words of Monty Python's "Dead Parrot Sketch" to skewer the Liberal party. Mrs. Thatcher died on Monday from a stroke at the age of 87.
Throughout her life, the Iron Lady was certainly no stranger to popular culture. Her three turbulent terms in office provided more than enough inspiration for a generation of artists to rage against the government's aggressive free-market policies.
From screen to stage to soundtrack, the indomitable Margaret Thatcher was more than just a polarizing political force... she was cherished and despised as a cultural icon in her own right. And for some, like our next guest, it was personal.
Damian Barr is a journalist and author of the upcoming memoir, Maggie and Me. We reached him in Brighton, UK.
And one more thought on Margaret Thatcher. We got a phone call from Jaber George Jabbour - the Syrian banker in London who is developing a phonetic alphabet called SaypU - which is short for "Say As You Pronounce" universal alphabet. The idea is that words in every language should be spelled phonetically to avoid confusion. And confusion is exactly what happened on Twitter when Margaret Thatcher died. Jaber George Jabbour called us to tell us how the non-phonetic English alphabet was to blame for a curious case of mistaken identity.
* And yes, Margaret Thatcher is definitely very different than "that Cher." Because that Cher - is alive and well.
- The Current's item on Saypu
As always, if you have something to say about what you hear on this program, we'd love to hear it. Tweet us @thecurrentcbc. Find us on Facebook or email us from our website. Or call us toll-free at 1 877 287 7366. And if you missed anything on The Current you want to download, grab a podcast.
This segment was produced by The Current's Pacinthe Mattar, Josh Bloch and Gord Westmacott.
Other segments from today's show: