Talk is cheap.

Monsters of Folk- baby boomers.

If I was ever premiere…

Ontario, I do not want to give you what you want. I want to give you what you need.

Like with all good things in life, change its not going to be pretty, easy or all together enjoyable, but if I can have your faith and your support we can do this together, and I will make a government that will support your efforts.

I am not here to sell myself. This is a debate. Last time I checked, debates were discussions about what should happen next. My platform will change, just as each and every other candidates here… but you should already know that by now. Just take a look at the history of politics.

So please let me bend your ear. Yes, this might burn.

In the same way your children’s body fat will burn away. We will promote healthy eating, healthy snacks in schools, tax cuts for after school programs that are outside or active, and most importantly education for expecting parents and emphasis on healthy diets. Maybe we will make some harder hits, now that smoking education has been around for a long time maybe smoking related cancer will not be covered, maybe adulthood obesity will not be covered ( if not clinical). Maybe there will be some hard hits slowly phased in to remind people that they must work on themselves, we must be hard on ourselves. We are in challenging times.

Maybe those on welfare will have to volunteer their time in order to maintain it. Maybe EI will be more demanding on its recipients. No more free hand outs, I have never seen that be a success.
Entitlement is a black hole.

Seniors who are concerned about their pensions? You will be taken care of, as long as you are still contributing as much as you are able. If you are not able we will not let you fall though. Our generation knows now that those promises of yesterday are no longer realistic for tomorrow, so lets be pragmatic together.

Energy.

I will not cut your bill, but I will educate you on how to cut it yourself: use less water, turn your lights off. I will give you credits for retrofitting.Tax cuts for bikers. Education and resources will be made available.

I will do the ndp thing of cutting corporate tax to companies who show devotion to Ontario workers. None other.

We all have to work on this, its not in my hands as much as it is in yours.

Dear Candidates,

Ontario does not need a salesman, nor a popularity contest. Ontario needs a leader.

Someone to stand up and turn a mirror on the people- Be the change you want to see.

Entitlement

Now.

That is an interesting term. So very relevant in today's society. I was walking down bloor street after a lovely dinner with a thought provoking boy. The boy was nice enough to buy me dinner so when I was waiting to meet him ( him on subway, I on bike) at Bathurst station for the next part of our adventure, I was inclined to talk to a woman on the side of the sidewalk. She was asking for change. She was asking for a quarter. I offered her a meal of her choice. I had been planning to pay for a salad and 2 beers and I figured I owed a karma payment plan at least that much.

Its funny though. She asked for the most expensive thing on the menu, and a coca cola to boot. I was shocked. Why? well mostly because usually when someone offers me something I decline, or take as little as possible, ideally. When I offered this woman some food she requested a 12 dollar meal. I obliged and the night went on as planned. I told the woman how much her platter cost and she answered " well, I was really hungry dear. " when I asked her if she wanted to go inside and eat the meal with me, she replied" Im actually on a monetary schedule right now, I cannot leave the street. Oh! and can you get it in a bag? I am going to eat it at home".

On further inspection I found that this woman lives on the lake shore, she only comes up to bath and bloor when she "needs more money".

So why was I turned off? because after I offered she asked for more. What gives her the right eh? to ask for more than I offer.

I considered for a second I don't buy meat for myself, why should I buy meat for someone else. She should be eating vegetarian, she should be eating on a plate! but then I remembered that I am one of those lucky few who have the privileged to worry about the environment. She is probably not. But i did not get the full story...

Entitlement is something I desperately want to explore more.
How can a kid who has just graduated university consider themselves entitled to go on EI and ski for 5 years?
How is that different from an un-enthused person on welfare who asks for more and more when the government offers?
Is a pan handler deserving of welfare?
What happens when more than 50% of the system are takers and less are givers?
Unions!?

Entitlement. I want to burn the word. I think we would all be better off without that sentiment. But we all feel it at some point, I suppose. Survival instinct, eat as much as you can while the eating is good. I know I felt it when I was trying to make a living in Canmore. However it takes a removed ego to go through with accepting charity.

So what are we all deserving of?

Another chance, an ear to speak into, a chance to return the favor.
Maybe we just are not giving each other that chance to fend for themselves, or maybe there are those who feel entitled not to take it.

The sky will spin again.
More adventures to come.


No pictures for this one, sorry. Her name was Pat.

Today I took a big step.

I approached a man I did not know and I talked with him, interviewed him, took photos of him.

This was not a big step because of our conversation but, instead, because I approached him, not the other way around. It took me nearly an hour, sitting on the lawn of the metropolitan united church in the heart of downtown Toronto; Here I was, little white girl with a big black camera crouched beneath a tree trying to suss out a good subject. There was one gentleman pacing around the space, circling near his shopping cart full of bags and suitcases. I thought for a while that he was the one, but when he finally sat down he began scratching himself under the shirt, back of the pants, on the belly... I started to have second thoughts about getting too close.

It is surprising how intimidating people in a park can be. You are either looking at the under privileged of the city, the hospital workers on lunch, or the rebellion. I wanted so badly to walk up to the chess players and ask them questions, but once again, there were many and I was few. Eventually I noticed a man sitting on the other side of the park. He was nearly a shadow; long black hair streaked with grey from age and a thin figure leaned against large roller suitcase. He seemed to be watching nothing in particular,  just calmly observing life in the park.  Stories were seeping from his aura. When I smiled at him I had no response, which in my opinion was better than a negative one, so I approached.

The exhilaration was almost too much for me as I sat down in front of him and introduced myself, asking his name. " Where are you going?" I prompted, pointing at his suitcase. "nowhere" he smiled, "I will be here for a while". Meanwhile,  a large number of wasps surrounding me changing the tone of my excitement. " Geez, popular place for wasps eh?" I laughed. He calmly pointed " you are sitting on food" I jumped up, revealing a pile of chicken bones under my camera bag. " ha, oh boy" I covered my embarrassment. The man must have been covering too, because there wasn't even a hint of entertainment in his eyes, only sympathy.

Wasps and bones

We got on, talking about his life, his work, the places that he has lived. He was a photographer once, he traveled all over the world photographing artists, musicians, politicians, he was very well known. Javid spent the past 2 decades, almost, in southern Ontario though. " I love the big city, the opportunity, the geography" He said, smiling. The first thing he wanted to do when he arrived in a city was establish himself, establish which direction the streets went and how he can get around.

We talked about cameras, him reminding me that even with technology, a good photographer captures the life of the subject, not everyone can do that. You must capture the essence of a scene in order to really be a photography, the essence of a subject matter in one shot. Our conversation made me nervous as I was still hoping to shoot a couple of him.

We discussed weather. How in his home country, Iran, There are no shadows at noon. But here in Canada we always have shadows. From a photographer to a computer programmer, Javid walks around and is always programming in his mind. Even without a computer, as he currently is, he is still programming.

It makes you wonder about the hard wiring in people, how similar we are to computers. here you have this man, sitting in a park, completely open to the experiences which approach him, and you have this girl, completely oblivious to the experiences that are occurring to her.

At the end of our conversation I asked Javid if I could take his picture. he looked hesitant so I told him it would only be for my personal development, taking photos of strangers. He agreed. I gave him my camera too so he could try it out, he did and I think I can post that photo for this story if nothing else.

Anyways, this was written quickly. But consider it just the beginning. there will be much more to come.

A long way to go, little journalist, a long way to go.