Month: October 2015

Femme Couvert

Huh?
Yes a French expression and new to me too.

I found it in an interesting piece of writing about how Canada was developed on the backs of women on their backs. Now this is not the sort of Canadian history I ever learned in school. As I recall Canadian history was mostly about Fathers of Confederation and war generals. It wasn’t about any mothers or even the cannon fodder who rotted in the trenches.

…
“not fear anyone on Earth.
I shall fear only God.
I shall not bear ill will toward anyone.
I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.
– Mahatma Gandhi

Read more from Shilpan Patel at his blog, Success Soul (or subscribe to his feed).”

Oops that’s not it. No, I have nothing against good men. I admire Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr.

I just feel that Canadian women have their stories too and I wonder whether the women who helped build this country were justly served by historians and educators and politicians and powerful entities that developed as a result of Womens’ work and sacrifice.

I wonder what those early Canadian women would think about how Canada has developed.

INCLUSION

“they sometimes tend to doubt themselves, deprecate themselves, and isolate themselves”

Here is where I found this quote.

Here is another good quote: “become useful members of society through education, employment and social adjustment, and to focus public attention to the fact that the magnitude of any physical limitation is a function of attitude ” I borrowed it from this site.

Both quotes might apply to many people or groups across the world.

So … Who are we talking about? This sound like a wonderful energetic group of people. They formed an organization in the U.S over 50 years ago, and although I’m not sure whether they are affiliated with the Americans, there have been similar groups in various parts of Canada for about 30 years. They are sometimes called Little People, sometimes Dwarves.

There is a chapter in Alberta.

Manitoba?

Newfoundland and Labrador?

I love this quote from the BC group:”We are a little organization. A little organization for little people. We are Little People of BC. With very limited resources we provide services to our members and their families. Awareness, education, social, emotional and medical support, these are our goals. Our members may be small in stature, but we have big hearts and big dreams. ”

One of the groups is hosting a Christmas Party in Burlington, Ontario in November and I hope they have the biggest and best Christmas Party ever.

It seems New Brunswick has no LP chapter. That is OK though as long as New Brunswick does its best to be inclusive.
Inclusiveness means everyone.

Here is my favourite quote found today:”It is our understanding that we cannot change the entire world. Our efforts hope to educate those who have an interest, spark one in those who have none and leave our doors open but give no attention to those who remain ignorant to the value of those who may have a difference. We invite you to explore this site with an open mind in hopes that you will be able to better understand dwarfism.”

Now about LP artists … No doubt there are some.

Job Share II

Today’s Job find
Sunday October 4, 2015
But this is Sunday. This is my day of rest.
About those folks who stop by and offer to pray for you …
Yes we know … Prayers won’t help pay the heating power during even the kindest Canadian winter. But smiles will help take away the chill and at least they took the time to stop by.
By the way, there is no day of rest for the wicked.

Do you fancy a job as
Senior Visual Designer?
Product Designer?
Design Director?
Senior Graphic Designer (UI)?
Junior Art Director?
Creative Director?
Product Designer?

RIB

RIB?
One part of a system that works best when all parts co-operate.
Connect the rib to other ribs and we have what is called a rib-cage.
Ribs are individually connected to something we call a backbone. Backbone? Really? Hmmmmmm do we really have a backbone? Or do we actually have a very flexible spinal column?

And the miracle goes on and on, one part intricately connected to another, protecting the more vulnerable parts that are inside. No part is quite like another, each with its own purpose and shape and size and ability.

Most of the time human beings really are amazing. We are well designed creatures. We can jump and dance and sing and play. We can make music and art. We can cross continents and deserts and sail oceans and climb mountains.

Best of all We can learn. Given the right opportunity we can even learn to share our wealth and care for our world.

Unless we are independently wealthy we must rely on help from family and friends. Hopefully we have such a support system in place. It is pretty scary to have to depend upon strangers in an emergency. If we call out for help let’s hope there is a response team somewhere not too far away.

4 Years Later

St Peter don’t you call me
Cause I can’t go
I sold my soul
To the company store.

So … What has happened in the four years since …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
(OTTAWA) – Canada Without Poverty today publicly released its pre-budget submission to the House of Commons Finance Committee, for comment and discussion in advance of hopeful opportunity to have discussion with the Committee this fall. The release is also in advance of two major events of Canada Without Poverty at the end of September, in part to increase public discussion on economic and social rights such as the right to food, housing and social security.
“Our recommendation is simple yet significant,” said Rob Rainer, Executive Director. “That is for the federal government to set targets and timelines for poverty reduction and elimination and to study all fiscal mechanisms, federal as well as intergovernmental, available to help reach these targets and lay out options for the committee’s consideration and consultation. This aligns with the ideas of Senators Segal and Eggleton as presented within the landmark 2009 Senate report calling for stronger federal action on poverty.”
In its letter to James Rajotte, the Conservative Chair of the Finance Committee, Canada Without Poverty connected six dots:
That Canada’s economic recovery and prosperity, and the strength of its state of public finance, depend heavily on the health and well being of its people;
That poverty – the overarching determinant of health and a critical determinant of crime – undermines the nation’s economic and fiscal well being;
That sick people work less, die younger and draw heavily on health care systems;
That desperate people sometimes turn to crime, drawing heavily on criminal justice systems;
That success in health promotion and in crime reduction will strengthen Canada’s economy and improve public finance; and
That a critical key for this success is poverty reduction and elimination.
Canada Without Poverty submitted a further hypothesis, that people who face poverty combined with other factors such as addiction, mental illness and discrimination, and who are mixed with those inclined to inflict evil on these victims, equals crime.
“The government need not start at square one,” added Harriett McLachlan, the charity’s board member for Québec. “Major reports on poverty and its solutions, like that of Senators Segal and Eggleton in 2009 and of the HUMA Committee in 2010, set the stage for action. A process can begin now to set targets and timelines. Fiscal mechanisms could include expanding on Canada’s existing system of basic income guarantees which more than anything have reduced poverty somewhat, notably for seniors.”
“As we see from the life of the late Jack Layton, parliamentarians have the opportunity to leave a magnificent legacy,” said Mr. Rainer. “And so we invoke lyrics by Rush, one of Canada’s legendary bands: And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start: closer to reality, closer to the heart.”
“Canada Without Poverty welcomes comments and suggestions from all Canadians,” said Ms. McLachlan. “Minister Flaherty recently said it and he is right: Canada is a leader and Canada can be a leader of all good things.”
Canada Without Poverty’s pre-budget consultation submission is available online at http://www.cwp-csp.ca. Its special events in Ottawa at the end of September – timed to help mark 40 years of anti-poverty activism by Canada Without Poverty – are Get Up, Stand Up: An Evening of Insight and Inspiration (September 29, 2011, Carleton University) and Will Ackerman and Friends in Concert: A Benefit for Canada Without Poverty (September 30, 2011, Dominion-Chalmers United Church).
*For the French version of the press release click here. To read the full federal budget submission click here for English and French.
For more information on Canada Without Poverty’s pre-budget consultation submission and associated events contact:
Tony Macerollo
Strategic and Communications Advisor
Canada Without Poverty
(613) 795-1423 (cell); tony.macerollo@sympatico.ca
Source:http://www.cwp-csp.ca/2011/09/federal-budget-submission-we-need-action-on-poverty/

REB

REB

Quote:”The welfare of a person is the quality of that person’s experience of life in all its aspects. Welfare consists of the impact on individuals of factors such as their physical, mental and spiritual health, as well as their physical, economic and social circumstances. Thus, determinants of welfare can include housing, employment, security, family life, community membership, and social participation, among other aspects of life. Other contributing factors to welfare are privacy and the control of information about the person, and the treatment of human biological materials according to the free, informed and ongoing consent of the person who was the source of the information or materials. A person’s or group’s welfare is also affected by the welfare of those

Chapter 1 – Ethics Framework

who are important to them. Harm includes any negative effects on welfare, broadly construed (for the relationship between risk and harm, see Chapter 2, Section B). Note that, for the purposes of this Policy, “group” and “community” are used in their ordinary sense. More detailed types of community as defined in Chapter 9 are specific to Aboriginal contexts.

Concern for Welfare means that researchers and REBs should aim to protect the welfare of participants, and, in some circumstances, to promote that welfare in view of any foreseeable risks associated with the research. They are to provide participants with enough information to be able to adequately assess risks and potential benefits associated with their participation in the research. To do so, researchers and REBs must ensure that participants are not exposed to unnecessary risks. Researchers and REBs must attempt to minimize the risks associated with answering any given research question. They should attempt to achieve the most favourable balance of risks and potential benefits in a research proposal. Then, in keeping with the principle of Respect for Persons, participants or authorized third parties, make the final judgment about the acceptability of this balance to them.

The welfare of groups can also be affected by research. Groups may benefit from the knowledge gained from the research, but they may also suffer from stigmatization, discrimination or damage to reputation. Engagement during the design process with groups whose welfare may be affected by the research can help to clarify the potential impact of the research and indicate where any negative impact on welfare can be minimized. Researchers must also consider the risks and potential benefits of their research and the knowledge it might generate for the welfare of society as a whole. Where research on individuals may affect the welfare of a group(s), the weight given to the group’s welfare will depend on the nature of the research being undertaken, and the individuals or group in question. This consideration does not imply, however, that the welfare of a group should be given priority over the welfare of individuals.”

Source of above:
Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans, December 2010.
Note: For the most recent information on amendments, please consult the official online version of the TCPS at http://www.pre.ethics.gc.ca.
Permission is granted to photocopy this material.

Source of following:http://www.pre.ethics.gc.ca/eng/archives/revised-revisee/chapter4-chapitre4/
Quote:” Application REBs and researchers shall carefully examine the relationship between the circumstances of the individuals and communities they aim to recruit and the research questions they aim to answer. They should not presume that these circumstances will either automatically preclude or qualify individuals or communities for participation. Researchers and REBs should recognize and address changes in a participant’s circumstances that may create, heighten or attenuate their vulnerability and provide special protections or consideration. This may be the case for individuals or communities who are vulnerable to abuse, unfair treatment or discrimination.

In general, researchers should be familiar with the cultural, social and economic circumstances of prospective individual research participants or host communities. Researchers should anticipate, to the best of their ability, needs of participants and their communities that might arise in any given research project. Especially when participants and their communities have a wide range of pressing needs as a result of their low socioeconomic circumstances, these needs can present significant ethical challenges for researchers.

Researchers should also be sensitive to the expectations and opinions of participants regarding potential benefits of the research, and, where possible, they should arrive at agreements with the community about the scope and nature of the potential benefits that will be provided to participants and/or their communities during and after the research. The agreements should, to the extent possible, be explicit about the planned division of responsibilities for realizing these benefits. In many cases, benefits may be delivered most effectively in partnership with local organizations to better ensure balance in the relationship between researchers and participants and mutual benefit in researcher-community relations. (See Article 9.13 on mutual benefits in collaborative research as it pertains to research involving Aboriginal peoples in Canada).

Researchers shall ensure that any potential benefits for participants or their communities are not only commensurate with the risks of participation, but also fair in terms of the overall distribution of benefits between participants and researchers. A fair distribution of benefits can help ensure that individuals and communities are not included in research merely because their circumstances make their recruitment more convenient or efficient for researchers.

Benefits may, for example, take the form of information sharing, training for local personnel, or health care or similar services. Where applicable, these research agreements outlining expectations and other considerations, whether formal or informal, should be submitted to the REB under the auspices of which the research is being conducted and by the REB or other responsible body or bodies where such exists at the host research site or country for review. (See Article 8.3).

Since researchers are not aid agencies, REBs should be vigilant to ensure that the proposed distribution of benefits is fair, without imposing undue burdens on the researcher that would make it too difficult or costly to complete the research reliably.

Researchers should normally provide copies of publications or other research reports or products arising from the research to the institution or organization – normally the host institution – that is best suited to act as a repository and disseminator of the results within the participating communities. This may not be necessary in jurisdictions when the results are readily available in print or electronically. In all cases, researchers should ensure that participating communities are informed of how to access the results of the research that should be made available to them in a culturally appropriate and meaningful format, such as reports in plain language in addition to technical reports.

Respect for Communities and Minimizing Social Disruption

Researchers should recognize that communities, as well as individuals within those communities, can be put at risk or their vulnerability may be exacerbated by research activities. They should be aware of the implications of their research for local communities and should be attentive to social changes that might be introduced by their research projects. Researchers should also take care not to create unrealistic expectations among participants within those communities with respect to the potential benefits of the research. They should demonstrate respect for the communities they engage in research by exercising due diligence to anticipate and minimize any risk and social disruption that might be created by the research.

Source of following:http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/35057.html

Ref: Prof. Tim Caulfield
Health Law Institute, University of Alberta
Law Centre, University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB T6G 2HS

Quote:”Conference on Conflicts of Interest in Research
Summary of Proceedings
Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville Hotel
February 22-23, 2007

Industry has a profound effect on popular representations of scientific developments. The media is the primary source of such information for patients and clinicians and such reporting impacts their behaviour. In media reports:
Risks tend to be underreported.
Conflicts and funding sources are often ignored.
Methodological and other limits of studies are commonly downplayed.
Interviews with investigators may give a more enthusiastic impression than is warranted.
Neither the media source nor the investigator(s) being interviewed have an incentive to downplay the significance or implications of the scientific findings. Therefore, reports of new discoveries may tend to be unduly sensationalized.”

https://sshrc.adobeconnect.com/system/get-player?urlPath=/p6uegm46tms/