Bill 21 on role to disarming Canadians

by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU. CHISU, CD, PMSC, FEC, CET, P. Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East It is a fact and a reality now that the government of Canada is continuing its wrongful objectives in leading the nation out to rough seas. The newly proposed Bill 21 with its significant amendment is essentially directed against law-abiding citizens possessing firearms, instead of concentrating on how to enforce the law against illegally possessed firearms, their widespread availability, and crime generating environment. The significant amendments made to Bill C-21, a bill initially crafted to ban handguns, illustrates how determined the Liberals are to take away the rights of law-abiding citizens to posses firearms of their choice, as allowed by traditions and heritage. With the additional firearms to be banned, the bill is an attempt to revive, in new clothes, the most hated gun registry, the darling of Minister Bill Blair. Last month, the federal government proposed amending its gun control bill to define what an "assault-style" weapon is. It includes a clause that would ban any rifle or shotgun that could potentially accept a magazine with more than five rounds. It builds on a regulatory ban of more than 1,500 models of what the government considered "assault-style" firearms last year. The proposed reforms have reopened the debate about what firearms are to be prohibited, restricted or non-restricted in the country, and concerns about whether the criteria used to make those decisions are being applied consistently. The concerns arise because the definition applies only to some variations of certain models, depending on bore diameter and muzzle energy. So the proposed definition is essentially lawyer-generated wordsmithing with no basis in the real world. Let us assume for a moment that there is no hidden agenda, and the ultimate goal of the government is the protection of Canadian citizens. If that is the case, wouldn't it be more effective and economical to enforce the law and strengthen border control against illegal traffic of guns instead of establishing a new version of a useless and costly firearms registry? Indeed, we have the experience to realize that the cost of such a registry to taxpayers is millions of dollars, with zero results in reducing firearms related crimes. So here we have it: A Liberal amendment to Bill C-21, which is currently being studied to death (yet again), by members of Parliament, would set out a regulatory ban on what the government calls "assault-style weapons" by putting an evergreen definition for such firearms into law. The phrase "assault weapon" is not currently a legal term and the automatic weapons that the phrase typically refers to are already prohibited in Canada. The federal government, though, has frequently used the term assault or "assault-style" to describe weapons capable of firing more than one shot in quick succession, even if they are not automatic firearms. The amendment to define "assault-style" firearms in law has drawn criticism from firearms groups and some federal politicians, despite assurances made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that: "We're not going after rifles and shotguns used by hunters and others in a law-abiding way, but we are going against those guns that are designed to kill the largest number of people in the smallest amount of time," Trudeau said. "Those guns have no place in our communities across the country, and the federal government will continue to be strong on that as we move forward." Despite the assurances given by the PM, in view of his record in governing and making promises, it seems reasonable to have doubts about the intentions of this bill. I am personally afraid that there are other plans in the making, for a future for the nation that we are kept in the dark about. Maybe a new world order inspired by the World Economic Foundation (WEF)? It is clear that the firearms tragedies recorded in the past were due to the blatant lack of professionalism in those who were responsible for controlling the issuing of weapons permits. We have the example of Switzerland to look to. There, all kinds of weapons are present in the households of citizens, yet nothing like what happened in Canada has occurred there. Perhaps our parliamentarians should take a look at how the Swiss are dealing with the issue, or am I asking for too much? So, the government continues to beat the drum against possession of firearms, period. There is no clear definition of what they want to ban, as the real purpose of the ban is probably to exercise more control over the population. Considering how things are going in parliament today, Bill 21 will eventually be banning hunting guns too, despite assurances to the contrary. When we observe that the minister usually noted for his controversial remarks which border on misinformation, is making assurances that Bill 21 will not harm hunters, how can we help being suspicious? Here is what he declares in a loud voice, with full confidence. You be the judge: In an interview with CBC News Network's Power & Politics, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino also tried to allay fears that the government is targeting hunters. Mendicino noted that the bill is still being considered at committee and hasn't been finalized. He also said banning hunting models would be a "red line" for the government. "We're not going after guns that are commonly used for hunting. We are after the guns that exert the most lethal force in the shortest period of time," Mendicino told host David Cochrane. How about enforcing the law, Minister? As Public Safety Minister isn't it your role to go after criminals? Or are you capable of nothing but spouting the empty verbiage you are so famous for? Anyway, I think there are issues of far more immediate concern the Liberal Government should be working on, for the best interest of the nation. How about stopping the inordinate amount of government spending? How about doing something effective to get the economy rolling? Current practices, including the hiking of interest rates only exacerbate the problems. What do you think?

Most Likely Reasons Your Job Search Isn't Going How You Wish

By Nick Kossovan Job searches are inherently stressful because they never go as you wish. Jobs don't go to the most" qualified" candidate. The reality is that there is no such thing as the "most qualified candidate." There's no way to know without a doubt who's most qualified for a job. This is why job searching never appears fair from the job seeker's point of view. Viewing job searching through the lens of "fairness" will drive you mad. It simply is what it is. No doubt, my assessment of who is most qualified will differ from that of another hiring manager. This discrepancy in assessment is caused by our inherent biases. Having biases-shortcuts to making decisions-doesn't make hiring managers bad people any more than your biases make you a bad person. Every decision you make is influenced by your biases, including whether you like someone. Therefore, you have no right to judge a person's bias. Truth Bomb: Generally speaking, hiring managers prefer candidates similar to themselves. This universal human trait is known as looking-glass merit, whereby hiring managers look for candidates who make them feel comfortable. Before you get judgmental ask yourself: If you were hiring your next colleague, would you hire someone you'd enjoy working with eight hours a day or someone you'd have to tolerate? Trying to fight biases is a waste of your time and energy. Your focus is to get on a payroll, not fix the world's wrongs that you perceive as your obstacles. Instead, let's look at what I believe are reasons-reasons you have some control over-your job search isn't unfolding as you wish. You don't value networking. "The wealthiest people in the world look for and build networks; everyone else looks for work." - Robert Kiyosaki. Let that sink in for a moment. Through networking, you gain access to employers and those who can introduce you to them. Therefore, all the human bias stuff I just mentioned gets negated. Although the biases persist, they shrink and do not affect the hiring manager as much as if you're an unknown (READ: stranger). Actually, networking creates its own bias, you become familiar, and we all lean towards those with whom we're familiar. Furthermore, networking uncovers unadvertised job opportunities, but you already know this. - You feel entitled. "Success is not an entitlement. It has to be earned." - Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks. A sense of entitlement, a vibe your interviewer will feel, is a huge turnoff. Get rid of any sense of entitlement that you may have that you're owed a job, a living or even a certain lifestyle. - Your image doesn't align with the position you're seeking. People judge you based on how you present yourself. - Image is everything! The image you display is the first thing a person will see and judge. It happens instantly and subconsciously. It has nothing to do with rational reasons but rather impressions and emotions. You either feel right or not. Hence, how you present yourself profoundly impacts all aspects of your life. Carefully consider how you want to be perceived by employers and the rest of the world, then craft an image accordingly. Image formula: Appearance + Behaviour + Communication - You lack confidence. Having confidence is critical to your job search and career success. Lack of confidence is the most common reason I reject a candidate. I hire candidates who have a positive attitude, are motivated and enthusiastic, and-most importantly-have convinced me they're a can-do person capable of getting the job done. When interviewing, you want to come across as a go-getter, fast-track type of person. You want your interviewer to believe in you, which is essentially the purpose of an interview; to make your interviewer believe in you. If a candidate doesn't believe in themselves, why should I? - You don't take calculated risks. Like it or not, a job search is fraught with risks. When the essence of a job search is to present yourself to employers to determine if you're worth hiring, how could it not be? Considering you're already taking the biggest risk of all, asking strangers to judge you, what are a few more risks, especially if they can help you further your job search or, better yet, bring it to a conclusion? Job search risks worth considering: - Taking a temporary role. (An income is much better than no income.) - Taking a pay cut. (Same reason as taking on a temp job.) - Changing company size. (Not all great careers are made in Fortune 500 companies.) - Switching industries. - Relocating There is one risk I strongly suggest every job seeker take; choosing an employer based on culture rather than salary. If you want to exponentially shorten your job search, heed the advice I give all job seekers, search for your tribe! Don't look for a job. Instead, look for where you'll most likely be accepted. Think: "I'm not looking for a job; I'm looking for my tribe!" If you're having a tough time with your job search, I guarantee it's because you're trying to fit into companies where you don't belong. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers advice on searching for a job. You can send him your questions at artoffindingwork@gmail.com

A Spoonful Of Sugar

My husband and I have been married only 11 months. We always had problems, but our relationship was never this bad before. I am wondering if I should stay with him. Since the beginning, we've had arguments almost every day. I admit I start most of them. I get mad at him so easily when he doesn't do what I want, or leaves me home to go with his friends to nightclubs. Yesterday I found out he is posting saying he is not married. This is not the first time he has done this, and some of these women he's called. He says he does this because I hurt him, get mad so easily, and don't let him do what he wants. Today he said, "I love you, but I'm not in love with you." I still love him and want to be with him. I want to repair our marriage, but I'm scared. Maybe we should separate since we've tried to make it work and failed so many times. Courtney Courtney, learning the meaning of the word "but" can clarify your life. Everything which comes before the "but" is sugar to make the medicine go down, everything which comes after is the medicine. Too often we hear both parts of the statement and end up confused. "I love you, but I'm not in love with you" means "I am not in love with you." That is the message your husband lacks the courage to say plainly. Whenever you hear "but", remember the second part is what the speaker means. We tell people the word "but" should go off in their head like a gunshot. Pay close attention to what follows. It is the part which matters. You wanted to get married, but you had problems in your relationship from the beginning. You ignored the "buts" while you were dating, but it is not possible to ignore them now. Wayne Simple Arithmetic I am single, never married, have a good career, and hold four academic qualifications through a university. I enjoy working with people at a professional level. Five years ago, I met Mr. X while traveling to work, and we became friends. At first, he did not tell me he was married. A friend told me. When I questioned him, he admitted it, saying they were separated. I was also told the wife keeps coming and going in his life. After about a year, I had no more calls from Mr. X. When I investigated, I found the wife was back again. I decided to move on, and when I was fine, received a call from Mr. X saying she moved out. He promised not to take her back, so again we got together. However, he refused to go out in public. All he wanted to do was book a room and chat about his situation. After much complaining by me, we went to a movie. He would not walk alongside me, and even in the cinema, he sat as if being watched. He forgets my birthday, and when I am writing exams he does not even inquire about the result. In May, he stopped calling. Now he wants to come back to me as his wife is moving out again. I am tired of this situation, but I do not know what to do. Serena Serena, some things in relationships are as clear as the multiplication tables. You say three things about Mr. X. He won't take you out in public, he won't introduce you to friends, another woman keeps appearing in his life. Any number multiplied by zero is still zero. Three times zero is zero. If this was a question on an exam, you would have the answer. Wasting time trying to revise the multiplication tables prevents you from finding the correct answer and the correct man. Tamara Wayne & Tamara are also the authors of Cheating in a Nutshell, What Infidelity Does to the Victim, available from Amazon, Apple and most booksellers. Wayne & Tamara write: Directanswers@WayneAndTamara.com

What A Dog’s Nose Knows

W. Gifford-Jones, M.D. and Diana Gifford-Jones What a wonderful world if people could be as generous to humankind as dogs. Regardless of our faults, dogs provide unfailing loving care. A new study suggests dogs may be able to use their sniffing powers to know when someone is having a really bad day. Who knew there is an aroma to being stressed, but dogs seem to detect it. In this, they have a huge advantage over humans. The nose of a dog has 220 million smell cells compared to a meagre 5 million in humans. The powerful sniffers of dogs have long been effective in detecting cancer. A report years ago in the British Journal Lancet reported that a woman’s dog repeatedly sniffed at one mole on her thigh but ignored others. When wearing shorts, her dog had tried to bite off the mole! She presented the issue to her doctor. The diagnosis was a malignant melanoma. We now know that cancers contain alkanes and benzene derivates which are not present in healthy tissue. Scientists have shown dogs can detect either a single chemical or a combination of them. Bloodhounds have a reputation as the best in tracking down criminals. But other breeds, like poodles, are suited for medical careers. Studies show that dogs are right 99 percent of the time in diagnosing cancer. Another study showed that dermatologists and plastic surgeons were right just 66 percent of the time! Clara Wilson, a doctoral student at Queen’s University, Belfast, School of Psychology, is one of the authors of a new fascinating experiment. She set out to learn if your dog, or in fact anyone’s dog, could smell your level of stress. Wilson collected samples of sweat and breath from 36 people before and after they faced a difficult math problem – with a time difference of just 4 minutes. Apparently these people were not mathematicians, as the numerical test induced a faster heart rate and raised blood pressure. Four dogs trained in selecting scents from a line-up were then put to the task. The dogs accurately identified the samples taken from “stressed” participants, ignoring the “relaxed” samples from the same person. “The research highlights that dogs do not need visual or audio cues to pick up on human stress,” Wilson explains. “Dogs can smell stress from breath and sweat alone, which could be useful when training service dogs and therapy dogs.” We know that dogs can offer great psychological support to people afflicted with anxiety problems. They also help those recovering from a traumatic injury. But there are times, such as the death of a loved one, when the degree of stress in a dog’s brain is overwhelmingly apparent. For instance, Dave Ross was a police dog handler who lost his life. His German shepherd, Danny, attended the funeral. It was apparent to all that the dog was whining while lying at the casket. We don’t know the nature of that German shepherd’s anxiety. But one thing is certain. The dog was not begging for a bone. Man’s best friend was hurting. Future science will dig deeper into the workings of a dog’s nose and brain. The foundation for such work has been laid by pioneering scholars like Marc Bekoff, Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder. His brain imaging work with animals shows evidence of their abilities to feel grief, fear, love, and compassion. For now, just know that those 200 million cells in the nose of a dog can tell when you are having a bad day. Sign-up at www.docgiff.com to receive our weekly e-newsletter. For comments, contact-us@docgiff.com. Follow us Instagram @docgiff and @diana_gifford_jones

A GLASS OF WATER

By Joe Ingino Editor/Publisher ACCOMPLISHED WRITER/AUTHOR OF OVER 800,000 Published Columns in Canada and The United States “I live a dream in a nightmare world” Always Remember That The cosmic blueprint of your life was written in code across the sky at the moment you were born. Decode Your Life By Living It Without Regret or Sorrow. Before you read this. I want you to go and get a glass of water and put it in front of you. Go ahead. Once you have in front of you. Look at it. What do you see? Most will say. A glass of water. Then I want you to tell me what kind of water do you see in the glass. Most will say. Tap water obviously. A glass full of clean water. Ok. Now that we have established that it is a glass of water let’s talk about how clean an pure it truly is. That water to the average person looks clean and we are told that it is potable. Why is it Called Potable Water? Potable comes from the Latin potare, meaning "to drink." The Romans came up with the word and built some of the world's first aqueducts, above-ground channels that brought potable water from the mountains to the cities. Now in this form the water coming in was deemed cleaned by nature. Never been compromised by use or tainted by any additives. Is this the same water in the glass in front of you? Obviously not as the water in your cup comes from a public works plant that recycles water from the lake. The USGS defines clean, safe water as “water that will not harm you if you come in contact with it.” When we're talking about clean water, we are often referring to drinking water, but it is also essential that water for all domestic use is clean. With this said. Nothing is stated from source. Let’s take this a step further and look at it from another point of view. We all go to the bathroom. We all dump all kinds of chemicals down the drain. Where do you think these chemicals and waste ends up? Yes back in that water you are looking at in that glass on top of your table. Potable water normally was virgin water coming from a stream that was governed by nature’s property. Today potable water comes from a cocktail of liquid sources purified at a local municipal works facility. Then if so how clean is our water? How potable in it’s pure sense is that water. Well some may argue that one way to further clean that soup of liquids we call potable water is to boil. Boil. If you don't have safe bottled water, you should boil your water to make it safe to drink. Boiling is the surest method to kill disease-causing germs, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites. adding a pinch of salt for each quart or liter of boiled water. Unfortunately it is the same composition of liquids that we started off with only further cleansed. Technically the water we drink today is a cocktail of all kinds of liquid. Bodily fluids, man made chemicals. This bringing to question the impact that these purified cocktails are having on our DNA composition. As water is so much needed for the body to survive. Without water the human body would just dry up and die. We must look at modern recycled water impact on human DNA. How it is changing and how it will affect future generations to come. We hear on how ill prepared we as a civilization were when it came to global COVID. Should we not be preparing for an attack on our water supply and the way we so called clean it? We live in a fragile society that prepares after the emergency is upon us. That is not preparedness. That is plain insanity as billions of lives are at stake. So what are you going to do. Will you sill drink that soup of liquid chemical that have been deemed the only choice in order to preserve your life? Or will you demand real result when it comes to our water supply?

Canada and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement

with the European Union (CETA) by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU. CHISU, CD, PMSC, FEC, CET, P. Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East Every September since 2017, Canada and the European Union toast their now five-year-old Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Statements from both sides combine data showing increased two-way trade with heartfelt expressions of the shared principles that are said to be enhanced and put to work by the deal. Great optimism! However, the rhetoric and the statistical numbers give us only a partial and, in some cases, a very misleading picture of how the Canada-EU trade deal works and to whose benefit. In some areas, the effect of CETA in Canada has been worse than we predicted it would be before the deal was signed, and the government has done nothing to correct it. For example, patents on brand name drugs are getting longer in Canada. We don't yet know how much that will cost public and private drug plans, but the best guesses out there suggest it will be a lot. Longer patents mean longer delays for cheaper generic versions of the same drugs. This patent term restoration only applies to drugs approved after CETA came into force in 2017. Generic versions of those drugs will only begin to hit the Canadian market in 2023 and we cannot know how they will be priced or how well they will sell. Therefore, it is difficult to accurately predict how much annual drug expenditures will go up due to CETA. What we do know is that, to date, Health Canada has granted patent term extensions-officially called certificates of supplementary protection, or CSPs-to 71 of 93 applications. In 62 of the 71 cases in which a CSP was issued (87%), the brand name drug patent was lengthened by the maximum of two years. Why would Canada agree to such a costly concession to the EU and Big Pharma generally? The official reasoning is that stronger intellectual property rights attract investment and jobs in innovative sectors like pharma and the life sciences. However, to date we have not seen such a trend, and our drug procurement problems during the pandemic confirmed it. In fact, at this point, what began with a promise to protect Canadians has ended up with a commitment to support pharmaceutical companies. Mostly foreign brand-name pharmaceutical companies have increased their power and profits at the expense of Canadian drug consumers. Another area which was much heralded in the negotiations was meat exports. Here Canada's performance has been, well, non-existent. Despite increases in their duty-free quotas, beef and pork exports have stagnated. Canadian beef has hardly used any of its allotted export quota and pork exports are not worth mentioning. Imports of European beef and veal into Canada, on the other hand, have grown considerably, while the doubling of European cheese import quotas is regularly filled each year by Canadian importers. The EU claims that if Canada has not yet managed to benefit fully from its beef and pork tariff rate quotas, it was related to the need to ensure respect of EU sanitary and phytosanitary standards and, in particular, the ban on the use of growth hormones. Canadian producers of meat products could abide by those EU food standards if they wanted to, but elected to complain about them instead. With the Canadian government's help, they have voiced their complaints in bilateral CETA committees and in the media. Here again, the government has shown its inability to act. One of CETA's most controversial elements in Europe, as in Canada, is the agreement's proposed investment court system. This would be a more permanent version of the ad hoc investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) tribunals empowered by international trade and investment treaties to hear corporate complaints against government policy. Canada agreed to remove ISDS from the "New NAFTA," or CUSMA, partly because of the chilling effect it can have on trade policy. However, the Trudeau government is dead set on making sure CETA's investment court system sees the light of day. That can only happen when all EU member states have fully ratified the agreement, and just over a dozen, including Germany, have yet to do. The idea that CETA would be a "living agreement," able to grow and adapt with the times, was sold to the public as a great benefit, again with progressive potential. Currently there are 20 CETA committees populated by public servants that meet at least once a year to discuss how the agreement is working in areas such as food standards, agricultural trade, biotechnology, access to raw materials, regulatory cooperation, etc. Canada and the EU use these committees to raise trade irritants with each other. Meeting agendas are published in advance and summaries posted afterwards, but, largely, this work takes place below the radar for most people and elected politicians. So again, the public servants are making the decisions rather than the elected officials. The latter continue to trust the public service blindly, and authorize their decisions without necessarily knowing what they are signing. CETA yearly celebrations make for convenient political and public relations exercises. The agreement itself might be better forgotten if we didn't have to live with its bad effects and unbalanced outcomes. In conclusion, in CETA Canada's procurement and industrial strategy options are unreasonably compromised compared to those of other countries. The animal agriculture export quotas are going unfilled despite using up much of Canada's leverage in the EU negotiations. Furthermore, as the burgeoning bureaucracy is rapidly getting out of control, these so called low-key CETA committees have created new avenues for corporate lobbying on both sides of the Atlantic. So the question: Is the Canadian government doing anything to help Canadians achieve real benefits in the CETA?

Mitigating Being Laid Off from Your New Job Is Your Responsibility

By Nick Kossovan Is it just me, but does it not seem downsizing is more prevalent this year than during the post-pandemic years following the 2008 recession? I say this because, for the past six months, I frequently receive emails from readers telling me they started a new job only to be laid off months later. Several readers have told me they've been laid off twice, sometime three times, in the last five years. It surprises me how few candidates vet my employer during an interview; I'm rarely asked the hard questions. I realize that thoroughly vetting an employer when whatever savings you have is rapidly shrinking and financial pressures are mounting is easier said than done. Most job seekers just want to get on a payroll, so they don't ask questions that might raise red flags. On the other hand, your diligence may result in you dodging a bullet. Examples of financial questions I'd ask my interviewer and/or founders at a start-up company: - Is the company profitable? If not, when do you project it will be? - What does the company's runway look like? (Amount of time before they run out of money.) - Is the company raising capital? If yes, what is the amount and how much is committed? For public companies, a great deal of financial information is public and most likely on their website; therefore, I'd look at: - The company's "SEDAR" (System for Electric Document Analysis and Retrieval). All employees of a publicly traded company and job seekers seeking employment with such a company should be familiar with SEDAR, a database maintained by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA). SEDAR is comparable to the U.S. SEC's EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval) database. You can access SEADR at www.sedar.com. - Recent quarterly earnings reports. - Recent letters to shareholders from the CEO. Reviewing this financial information will inform me of any economic headwinds the company is experiencing and what they anticipate for the future. I am looking for growth, profitability, and capital on hand. Note asking the 'hard' questions doesn't guarantee you'll get honest answers. Prepare for a deep dive into all aspects of the company, including speaking with current employees. Always verify the information you're given. Google is a job seeker's best friend. As a corporate world survival tip, keep in mind that no matter how careful you are, there are always unknown variables (e.g., a pandemic) that can affect your job's existence. So, heed my advice, whether you're an active job seeker or a long-term employee-always be looking. The days an employer could offer lifelong employment ended in the mid-80s. To mitigate the risk of being laid off from a new job, job seekers should consider the following two things, regardless of what their due diligence reveals. Seek revenue-generating roles that contribute directly to the business's profitability. In most cases, cost-center positions are the first to be cut when cuts need to be made. Such job cuts will have little impact on sales; hence, avoid taking on a cost-center position. A revenue-generating employee is less likely to be laid off than a cost-centre employee, who is a distraction (READ: liability) to the company's profitability. It's a cold business reality that employees who bring in the money have more value than those employees who can't point to adding dollars to the bottom line. In tough times, businesses need folks who can ring up sales. I'm not privy to Elon Musk's strategy with Twitter, but I find it interesting that he can let go 50% of Twitter's employees, have 20% more walk out, and the platform, as I write this, continues to function. What does this say about the value of the work most Twitter employees were doing? Before pursuing a job opportunity, ask yourself: How would the company's bottom line be affected if this position suddenly disappeared? - Ask for a healthy compensation structure, but not so high that you become unaffordable at the slightest downturn. All the self-proclaiming career experts are selling the warm and fuzzy narrative to seek your worth. Yes, getting a big salary feels good. However, "big salaries" come with strings, one being more is expected from you. (An employee's compensation needs to be justifiable from a business ROI perspective.) The other is that you may make yourself unaffordable should the business need to cut costs. My advice to jobseekers is to negotiate a base salary they can live with. Then, as applicable, negotiate a commission or bonus structure, profit sharing, RRSP matching, additional benefits, and perks as part of their overall compensation package. Accounting-wise, it makes more sense for a company to lay off an employee making $85K a year as opposed to an employee earning $45K plus 5% commission, even though their combined base salary and commission may be more than $85K. Now's not the time to be greedy. Finally, when you start a new job, make it your mission to show your new employer that you fit in, that you're willing and able to contribute to the company's success, and that hiring you was a good business decision and always be looking. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers advice on searching for a job. You can send him your questions at artoffindingwork@gmail.com

Age Old Question

I am newly blind and very depressed over the guy situation. Since I've lost my sight, it's almost like males have disappeared too. I've always attracted men and enjoyed dating. I still laugh and flirt, and I'm very open to questions. I want people to be comfortable. I just turned 36 and feel old and ugly, like I'm no longer a person worthy of a relationship. I am careful not to let the outside world see this side of me. I know there is nothing more of a turnoff than a whiner. So, what do I do? Where do I meet men who aren't afraid of a woman who isn't "normal?" Darla Darla, there is no timetable or technique which guarantees you will find a man. Sighted or not, the wisest advice remains the same. Be fully engaged in life, follow what most deeply interests you, and fill your own well. Filling your own well is never a waste. At worst you will become a happier, more complete, more fulfilled person. Often when we stop chasing, things come because it is then time. There are people offering gimmicks to get someone. What they won't tell you is that it may get you someone, but not your someone. For a relationship to last, it must be your someone, not just anyone. The divorce rate confirms this. Live your life with gusto! If you allow yourself to be moved by what stirs you, a larger plan will unfold. It will seem right, even though it may be something you never imagined. Just because you are 36 and want a man, it doesn't mean today he will arrive. Men are not like Chinese takeout. Tamara The Same Boat Please excuse the untidiness of this letter. It is the first time I have put my life in writing. I read with great interest the story of the young couple that were virgins before marriage, and a year later, still are. Their story is my own. I speak from 45 years of lost love, sex, and caring. I remained a virgin two years after marriage. I had such migraine headaches from the stress my boss would not allow me back to work without a doctor's note. How could I go back to the doctor I knew since childhood, a virgin two years after he attended my wedding? So I saw another doctor. I cried myself to sleep many nights. I needed someone to hold and love me. Eventually, we did indulge, and I got pregnant immediately. I had a child all my own to love. Three years later we got together, and again I was pregnant. Four years more passed, and I was given the gift of pregnancy for my anniversary. Now, with three children, life did not improve. My husband worked in law enforcement, so he worked around the clock. Obviously, he kept himself happy while I craved love so desperately. I don't think it is good for children not to see love between their mother and father. Our last child was especially aware because I left the useless bedroom while she was young. The moral of the story is this. Young man, get out of your loveless marriage. At 65 I'm too old now to make the change, plus my friends would be stunned. Vera Vera, many people carry a secret without realizing how many others carry the same secret. Even though you feel it is too late for you, you shared your experience to help another whose life is still ahead of him. There is another moral. A secret exposed loses its power. The fear of revealing a problem traps you in the problem. When you overcome fear and openly express your feelings and the need for help, a solution becomes possible. Locked in the fear of discovery, the problem denied, there is no solution but more secrecy. Wayne & Tamara write: Directanswers@WayneAndTamara.com

Poor Sleep Can Lead to Inflammatory Problems

W. Gifford-Jones, M.D. and Diana Gifford-Jones An old Irish proverb says, “A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.” But research suggests it would be wiser to think of good sleep as an ingredient of wellbeing – a starting point for health, not a fixer-upper. Sleep is an essential building block of good health, along with quality nutrition, moderate exercise, socioeconomic connectivity, mindfulness, and ample good luck. Guidelines recommend “7 to 9 hours of good-quality sleep for adults aged 18 to 64, on a regular basis, with consistent sleep and wake times for health benefits.” For adults aged 65 and older, a slightly modified “7 to 8 hours of sleep” is advised. But sleep is too often neglected – insufficient in both quantity and quality. According to a global sleep survey, 62% of adults worldwide feel they don’t sleep well when they go to bed. Surveys show that North Americans, on average, sleep just under 7 hours a night. Some are getting more – and good for them. Some are getting less – with serious consequences. Poor quality sleep has harmful implications for insomniacs. The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute reports, “Sleep deficiency is linked to many chronic health problems, including heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, obesity, and depression.” But drowsy people have negative implications for other people too. Lack of sleep is a major factor in deadly car accidents and other transportation tragedies. Both the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster and the Exxon Valdez oil spill involved workers affected by sleep deprivation. Although people commonly try to “catch up” on sleep during the weekend, studies have found this to be a losing strategy. For one thing, less weekday sleep equates to later nights, awake and snacking, which leads to weight gain and involves challenges in managing diabetes, for example. It may be disappointing to learn more bad news. Research now shows that even long periods of sufficient sleep don’t make up for sleep deficits. Not getting good sleep? The damage is done. Scientists are starting to unpack exactly what kind of problems develop from lack of good sleep. One study founds that consistently losing an hour and a half of sleep a night can increase the risk of inflammatory disorders and cardiovascular disease. The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, showed that sleep disruptions in both humans and mice led to the same loss in the protective effects of their immune systems “actually making infections worse”. In effect, poor sleep causes trouble in blood cell production, leading to overproduction of white blood cells that normally fight infections, but the overabundance instead results in inflammation. Another study involving more than 7,000 men and women at the ages of 50, 60 and 70, found that people at age 50 getting five hours of sleep or less were “20% more likely to have been diagnosed with a chronic disease and 40% more likely to be diagnosed with two or more chronic diseases over 25 years, compared to people who slept for up to seven hours.” Those are big differences! Those two more hours of sleep gives the body enough time to complete one full sleep cycle, allowing brain and body to recuperate and immune systems to function effectively. What are some tips for healthy sleep? Get natural daylight exposure. Limit alcohol before bed. Eliminate noise and light disruptions. And at bedtime, allow into the mind those things that sooth the soul. These days, that means turning off the evening news and turning instead to a good book. Sign-up at www.docgiff.com to receive our weekly e-newsletter. For comments, contact-us@docgiff.com. Follow us Instagram @docgiff and @diana_gifford_jones

I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE RECENT RECOUNT

By Joe Ingino Editor/Publisher ACCOMPLISHED WRITER/AUTHOR OF OVER 800,000 Published Columns in Canada and The United States “I live a dream in a nightmare world” Always Remember That The cosmic blueprint of your life was written in code across the sky at the moment you were born. Decode Your Life By Living It Without Regret or Sorrow. I have a question of concern over the recent municipal elections. Am I to believe that the people of Oshawa are happy with the quality of life in Oshawa? With the open use of drugs on our streets. With people living on our streets. With the increase in petty crime? Just recently a recount took place in ward 1. The original count was Theresa Ann Corless 1,094. Rosemary McConkey (incumbent) 1,107. Ahmad Rashed Formuly 208. The recount numbers came back Theresa Ann Corless 1,093. Rosemary McConkey 1,101 and Ahmad Rashed Formuly 208. First point of concern. How is it that Corless lost one vote. Rosemary 6 and Formuly stayed at 208? Does it not sound like something is wrong in Oshawa. Formuly the same. The other two lost votes. Out of the 11 positions on council. Only one was changed. Could it be that the 18% that turned out are the same 20% minus death of those voting? Where did the other 82% go to vote. Well obviously they did not vote. This is not only not good for Oshawa but for democracy. Think about it. 82% surrendered their voice. They voided their opportunity to be heard. We as a society can we be so docile. So uncaring? So unaware of the danger of our inactions? We the modern people of society are doomed to be lead without voice. They talk about the ‘BIG RESET’. We by our own action or in this case inaction are becoming a number in a global bingo game. We are not a person. But a number that may be manipulated and controlled. By our actions we surrendered our individuality and our voice. This compounded with the sea of misinformation and high tech tabulation of studies, polls and elections. We as a people, as a civilization are an easy picking for a new world order to take over and control our every aspect of life. In all past civilization the more the general population feared the state. The more power. Fear has many faces. In the past fear was brought about out of ignorance. The church promoted scripture in order to entice compliance to church and state norms and laws. The more sophisticated the society became the elaborate the schemes of enticing fear have become. It seems we are in conflict at all times. War on drugs, sex, and so on. In today’s world. We are confused by the overwhelming amount of data that we must process. Our minds become polluted and easily manipulated to believe things and ideologies that we truly do not understand. Our fear mongering to compliance comes as the applications that drive such machines base their premise on basic instinct of survival. It not any more a foreign enemy or a God. Instead it is about self preservation. Take the shot and save lives. Wear a mask and stop the transmission, cut risk. It appears it never ends. Viruses keep jumping at us in order for us to comply. Locally this past week with this re-count has shown that the manipulation is bigger and stronger than that of which we can control.

The Canadian puppet show

by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU. CHISU, CD, PMSC, FEC, CET, P. Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East As there is nothing more important to do for the nation, a show is being put on in the usually dull capital city of Ottawa. The actors are many and the audience is the nation. It takes the form of another taxpayer funded commission of inquiry, this time, into the invocation of the Emergency Act, in response to the truckers' Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa. The Public Order Emergency Commission is in its sixth and final week of public hearings, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expected to testify on the last day of the proceedings. A final report is expected to be delivered to Parliament by early next year. The cover up is astonishing, with different definitions of 'threat to national security' emanating from the Canadian Security Agency Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Justice Department. Earlier this week, the commission heard that while CSIS Director David Vigneault didn't believe the self-styled Freedom Convoy constituted a threat to national security as defined by the CSIS Act, he did support invoking the Emergencies Act. He testified that he sought a legal interpretation from the Department of Justice and that it was his understanding that the Emergencies Act definition of a "threat to the security of Canada" was broader than the one in the CSIS Act. Do you find this interesting, or even reassuring, that the nation is well protected? At his end, the Canadian Constitution Foundation lawyer Sujit Choudhry argued, that the solicitor-client privilege shielding on the legal opinion should be lifted. "In fairness to the commission's process, the federal government should waive solicitor-client privilege and publicly release this opinion," he said in a media statement last week. A spokesperson for the Justice Minister David Lametti told CBC that the principle of solicitor-client secrecy is vital to the judicial system and the minister doesn't have the authority to waive it in this case. How nice! Is this how justice is being served? "Minister Lametti is committed to transparency and assisting the inquiry led by Commissioner Justice Rouleau in their work," the spokesperson said in an email. "[But] he is unable to speak on matters that are covered by solicitor-client privilege without violating his obligations to the government as his client and affecting ongoing legal proceedings." It seems the Minister is both client and solicitor, but the show goes on. The legal interpretation of the Emergencies Act has become a key point as the commission works to determine whether the federal government was justified in invoking the law. Under the Emergencies Act, the federal cabinet must have reasonable grounds to believe a public order emergency exists - which the act defines as one that "arises from threats to the security of Canada that are so serious as to be a national emergency." For the record: CSIS's definition : Service?means the Canadian Security Intelligence Service established by subsection 3(1);?(Service) Threats to the security of Canada?means (a) espionage or sabotage that is against Canada or is detrimental to the interests of Canada or activities directed toward or in support of such espionage or sabotage, (b) foreign influenced activities within or relating to Canada that are detrimental to the interests of Canada and are clandestine or deceptive or involve a threat to any person, (c) activities within or relating to Canada directed toward or in support of the threat or use of acts of serious violence against persons or property for the purpose of achieving a political, religious or ideological objective within Canada or a foreign state, and (d) activities directed toward undermining by covert unlawful acts, or directed toward or intended ultimately to lead to the destruction or overthrow by violence of, the constitutionally established system of government in Canada, but does not include lawful advocacy, protest or dissent, unless carried on in conjunction with any of the activities referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d).?(menaces envers la sécurité du Canada) The act then points back to such a threat - which cites serious violence against people or property "for the purpose of achieving a political, religious or ideological objective," espionage, foreign interference or the intent to overthrow the government by violence, which, let's be serious, is difficult to point to in the convoy protest, especially in Ottawa. It is true that citizens of Ottawa might have been disturbed, but hey, this is the Capital of Canada for the moment, and people have the right to protest. By the way, with the woke culture in vogue in Canada, perhaps the time has come to move the Capital of Canada to a more suitable location in the centre of the nation. Such moves have been accomplished in other nations, such as Australia and Brazil. Do not forget that Ottawa was established as the Capital of Canada by Queen Victoria. As she has become less popular in some strata of the population lately, witness the toppling of her statue in front of the Winnipeg legislature without judicial consequence for the perpetrators, this move might prove popular, at least with the Liberal Party. Beside the Minister of Justice, let's look at the less than brainy performance of the Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Bill Blair. This is the same Bill Blair who, as Chief of Police in Toronto, made a mess in the city during the G20 summit. His record shows his inability to deal with protests, even less demanding ones. But the crowning glory of incompetence, awarded for his arrogant and contradictory actions and statements regarding the protest in Ottawa, belongs to the Public Safety Minister, Marco Mendicino. He received intelligence from both the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP, that there was no serious threat to Canada from a badly organized protest that offered no tangible plots of violence nor had any ideologically motivated violent extremist groups in attendance. Instead of acting on that intelligence, he pursued his own feelings, like a Moses on the Holly Mountain. At one point, commission counsel asked what prompted his concerns that the protest could spiral and overwhelm police services across the country. "It came from observation," he said, a classic example of marshalling evidence to confirm predetermined convictions and dismissing evidence that contradicts them. Considered a seasoned and competent lawyer, the legal profession must be proud of Mendicino's specious justification for his actions - that CSIS's mandate is confined to espionage and foreign interference threats, not an illegal, national protest. What a unique interpretation. Well done. No wonder he is famous for his arrogance in action and inaction. This is the man in Canadian government, who stated, among many other pompous and misleading declarations, that a NATO allied nation is guilty of genocide. So the puppet show goes on, and we wait for the chief puppeteer to close it. Yours to watch and rate the show.

Steps I Would Take if I Were Beginning a Job Search

By Nick Kossovan M. DeFalco of Winnipeg, MB, emailed me this question: How would you start searching for a job today? Many factors influence a job search, such as the job seeker's age, location, profession, level of experience, digital footprint, expected starting salary, and if they cultivated a professional network. In addition, there's the ongoing carnage in the job market, especially in the tech sector, and an economy rapidly heading south. Nowadays, the job market is hostile, which job seekers must tame. If you had asked me when I was in my 20s what my dream job looked like, I'd have answered: - A well-known company, preferably a household name (e.g., GE, Bell, GM, Ontario Hydro). - A title that bolsters my professional image and resume. - High pay, with plenty of benefits and perks. - A wide range of internal career paths I could pursue. - the opportunity to work on creative projects. - Gaining career-advancing experience. If you ask me now: - Company stability, both financially and in terms of industry. - Believing in the company's mission. - Alignment of the company's values with my own. - A harmonious working relationship with my boss and coworkers. - Having a direct, measurable, and visible impact on the company's success. - Having autonomy. If I were starting a job search tomorrow, the four steps I'd take are: Step 1: Make an announcement. My first step would be to heed the adage: A closed mouth doesn't get fed. I'd inform, via phone calls, everyone I know-family, friends, my entire professional network-that I'm looking for a new job. I wouldn't simply say, "I'm looking for a job." I'd specify the type of job I'm seeking (industry, title, location). For example, "Unfortunately, I was part of Ponsonbys downsizing, which you may have heard about in the news. I'm now seeking a digital marketing position with a mid-size fashion house, ideally based in mid-Toronto." The more people are aware of my situation, the greater the likelihood of opportunities being presented to me. In addition to my announcement, I'd activate LinkedIn's 'Open To Work' feature. Activating this feature will display a green banner (#OPENTOWORK) on my profile picture, indicating that I'm interested in new employment opportunities. Step 2: List the benefits of hiring me. Today businesses are focused on keeping their workforce pared down to business-critical functions only. Having overhired and an expected recession are the reasons for most of the layoffs and hiring freezes so far this year, which I believe will continue throughout next year. Companies are cutting jobs that are distracting from the company's profitability. Keeping in mind today's businesses have a lean mentality, I'd list all the benefits of hiring me. In other words, what would an employer gain by hiring me? - My extensive industry experience, including being well-connected within my industry and profession? - My expertise as a subject matter expert (SME) in a particular area of my profession? - My having a proven and measurable track record? - My being bilingual? I'd list all my skills (hard and soft) along with my experience using my skills, which is worth paying for. Step 3: Update my LinkedIn profile and resume. Employers hire for results. Therefore, I'd edit, where necessary, my LinkedIn profile to be results-oriented. Instead of using non-quantifiable statements that seem like opinions, I want my profile to be filled with quantifiable sentences-sentences with numbers that quantify. Using quantifiable sentences will make my work structure, productivity, and results tangible. - Unquantified: Improved staff performance across all divisions, resulting in increased profits. - Quantified: Led a staff of 20 employees with innovative policies that yielded a 27% increase in profits over the previous year. - Unquantified: Answered calls. - Quantified: Handled 80-100 inbound customer calls per day. I'd reflect on my past 10 years and ask myself where and how I: - Increased revenue, profit, or generated sales. (The more you can speak to this, the better.) - Increased (or reduced) X by Y%. - Saved time. - Improved a process, thus saving money and/or time. I'd also think about what accuracy I've achieved, the quantity of work I did and the amount I processed. Very few job-related tasks can't be quantified in some way. Once my LinkedIn profile reads as I want it to, including having filled out all the sections (e.g., education, licenses & certifications, skills, languages, volunteer experience), I'd update my resume, so it too was result oriented. NOTE: Studies have shown that complete and optimized profiles increase the likelihood of being found and receiving opportunities by 40 times. Step 4: Lastly, before officially kicking off my job search, which'll mostly involve my reaching out to hiring managers and recruiters to tap into the hidden job market, I'd reflect on what I want my next job and employer to look like and, most importantly, where I see myself fitting in. As I've mentioned in previous columns, making finding where you belong a priority is the best compass a job seeker can use. Therefore, my job search won't be the traditional "I'm looking for a job." Instead, I'll be looking for where I'll be accepted. Hence, I won't be looking for a job; I'll be looking for my tribe." -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers advice on searching for a job. You can send him your questions at artoffindingwork@gmail.com

Do we have a government?

By Joe Ingino Editor/Publisher ACCOMPLISHED WRITER/AUTHOR OF OVER 800,000 Published Columns in Canada and The United States “I live a dream in a nightmare world” Always Remember That The cosmic blueprint of your life was written in code across the sky at the moment you were born. Decode Your Life By Living It Without Regret or Sorrow. I guess for Canada the ‘’GREAT RESET”, has begun. Can anyone please explain this to me. How is it that we the people are being openly raped at the grocery stores and our government does nothing about it. Come on folks. This blaming it on COVID does not cut it. This blaming it on the economy has been played before. How can anyone rationalize the cost of a head of iceberg lettuce to go from 99 cents to 5.99. Banks are recording profits. Insurance companies laying low on the profit radar but still making billions. Oil companies never had it better. Could this be the beginning of the new world order. Oh wait, then we have Justin running around fighting foreign wars giving out billions of dollars. REEEEEALLLLLLY - Canadian are going to bed with no food due to prices. Canadians are loosing their homes due foreclosures. Canadians can’t get a decent job to pay for the out of control house prices. And Justin is giving billions to a foreign nation so they don’t suffer the perils of war. You got to be kidding me. How about taking care of your own people first Justin. How about investing those billions back in Canada. We the people are living on the street. We the people are living day to day with fear of not being able to supply for family. But wait. I forgot. We the Canadian people through our own ignorance have become nothing more than a number in a huge bingo ball drum. A number that means nothing as long as that big drum keeps going around and around pushed by empty promises and the facade of Canada is doing great. We the people have been force to comply. We the people are being condition to accept. Look at the recent transit strike. What a joke. Oh the picketers only picket in controlled areas. Picketers are bound by law and social norm. Picketers are not on strike. They are puppets in a corporate play, string pulled by the union and the employee. It disgusts me on how this great nation is being raped and pilladged from within. The trojan horse is eating away at all aspects of Canadian quality of life. We have no culture, no h istory, no standards. We are being forced to accept under the guise of democracy. A political system that has proven to not be led by a majority. But instead by a majority made up of a very organized minority. I feel for our youth. I feel for the future of this great nation. Politically in Canada we are bankrupt. It is not about democracy and the people’s choice or voice. It is about who ever is in public filling their pockets as much as they can in order to retire a millionaire... or billionaire. All 3 major political parties are one of the same. No matter who is in power. We the people suffer. We the people pay the ultimate price. We should maybe stop worrying about the environment so much and worry about those living. Those in need and those suffering. Where are our priorities. We are nothing but blind sheep to the slaughter. BINGO - Your number is up. You just lost your house, you family.

Health Canada needs to be reformed

by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU. CHISU, CD, PMSC, FEC, CET, P. Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East Health care in Canada is in shambles. The problems range from incompetent administration at the provincial level, to disarray at the federal level in providing the necessary support and supply that ensures the basic means of providing health services to Canadians. Our health care system has reached dramatic lows. In a country that claims to provide the best environment for raising a family, how can we justify or even explain the mess surrounding the supply of vaccines during the Covid 19 pandemic, or the today lack of medicines for children so prevalent today? Children's cold and flu medications remain hard to find on pharmacy shelves, at a time when families are in need of them most, as we enter flu season. The question is: Are we on the brink of becoming a third world country? In August, Health Canada confirmed a shortage of children's pain relief medications across the country. The scant supply of medications, including liquid Children's Tylenol and chewable acetaminophen tablets, has been attributed to a combination of supply chain issues, and heightened consumer demands due to what drug makers have called an "unprecedented" Canadian cold and flu season. If these stories sound familiar, it is because we were fed similar stories about the Covid-19 vaccine shortage. In addition, it now seems that amoxicillin, a first-line antibiotic used to treat many common bacterial infections, is also in short supply. Let us review the latest November developments. Health Canada said last week that a foreign supply of children's pain and fever medication should land on Canadian retail shelves in the coming weeks. Let's hope they meant, before the new year! The agency, which had previously announced it was importing acetaminophen and ibuprofen to be distributed to hospitals, said the new retail supply should help families struggling to treat their sick children. The move follows a months-long shortage of Tylenol, Advil and alternative brands that has sent many parents and caregivers scouring bare shelves and swapping tips on drug sightings. No wonder hospital emergency rooms have become overwhelmed. But never mind, there is always someone else to blame for shortcomings. This seems to have become the rule of the day in Canada, a sad reminder for me, of the old communist days in Romania. The shortage of medicines, the agency said, was fuelled by a triple threat of COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, a common fall and winter illness in children known as RSV. This illness emerged in late summer, earlier than expected, and continues to slam hospitals. Has Heath Canada learned nothing from the recent pandemic vaccines shortages? While the government has said, based on the advice of the public servants in charge, that a new supply of acetaminophen is coming, it did not say how much or where it's being imported from. The agency only noted that the medicines will meet all of Canada's standards. Let us hope it won't be like they 'met Canadian standards' in the case of Covid vaccines, with expired vaccines being deemed OK, and a month after the expiration date they were being administered. "All information related to cautions and warnings, dosing directions, ingredients, and other important details will be made available in both English and French to ensure parents and caregivers clearly understand what medication they are using and how to give to their children," Health Canada said. "This work is being done in parallel to obtaining the additional foreign supply." How nice! Note the emphasis on the language issue before the product is available. What does that say about the origin of the product? Why isn't it being manufactured here? The agency is asking consumers to purchase only what they need, to ensure other parents and caregivers have access to the medicine. A typical communist approach to cover their own shortcomings. I ask again: What were they doing to arrive in this situation? They are paid from taxpayer's money to assure the best health care for Canadians, especially for our children. The agency is saying now that the foreign ibuprofen bound for hospitals has already been imported and is being distributed. This raises the question of why we do not have a Canadian pharmaceutical company manufacturing it. As we saw during the Covid-19 vaccine crisis, Canada does not seem to have any strategy for dealing with essential medical shortages or being prepared to cope with a health crisis. In my opinion, the current situation is due to the combined incompetence of elected officials and public service personnel in decision-making related to health care issues. What do you think?

Impress Your Interviewer with Your Questions - Part 2

By Nick Kossovan This column is the second of a 2-part series on asking your interviewer questions that'll impress them, thus setting you apart from your competition. In my last column, I advised job seekers to ask their interviewer my favourite question, How will you manage me? This question allows me to gauge whether I'd be comfortable working under a potential boss' management style. Here are a few more questions I ask to help me determine whether the job, my potential boss, the company, and its culture are a good fit. - What keeps you up at night? As I mentioned in the previous column (Part 1), a job search is a sales process. Hence, an interview is a sales meeting. Selling Principle 101: People buy solutions. Thus, companies don't hire employees; they hire solutions. "People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!" - Professor Theodore Levitt By asking your potential boss what keeps them up at night, you create the opportunity to sell yourself as "the solution," which you can only do if you know the problems (READ: pain) your interviewer/the company is facing. The key to being different-impressive-is to focus on the pain(s) your potential future boss is facing rather than just promoting yourself, which is what most job seekers do. "It's as if the job description was written specifically with me in mind. I have the six years of programming experience you're looking for, experience completing projects under tight deadlines, which my previous boss will attest to. Given my background and skill set, I'm confident I'd consistently meet your project deadlines within budget, which you've said hasn't been happening for several years." Sell yourself as the quarter-inch drill. - What will my first 15, 30, 45, 60, and 90 days look like? You want to be sure your new employer will set you up for success. Therefore, you want to know the following: - Will there be any formal training? - Will you be buddied up for the first few months? - Are you expected to hit the ground running from day one? - Would you be inheriting neglected projects or clients? - Will there be formal reviews to gauge your progress? If you like what you hear, then great! "Thank you for outlining your onboarding process. It's clear you want to set up new employees for success. Besides what you outlined, are there any books, magazines, reports you recommend I read, or websites I should visit to enhance my learning curve further?" Some hard-learned advice: If you have a gut feeling you won't receive full support during your first six months, listen to your gut and move on. - In this role, how is success defined? Success and expectations differ widely from company to company. Now's the time to lay all cards on the table, especially regarding expectations. Consider whether you're capable and willing to meet those expectations. Honestly, assess yourself. Are you willing to make the sacrifices necessary to succeed at Gekko and Co.? If the answer is an unequivocal "Yes!" then say so. "This sounds like a challenge I'd like to take on. At Consolidated Insurance, I made no less than 45 cold calls daily, setting at least five appointments for our brokers. I don't see it being a problem to make the 35 to 40 cold calls you expect me to make." Think twice if you feel the expectations are unrealistic or beyond your current abilities. After "You're not a fit," failure to meet expectations is the most common reason for terminating a new hire. - What skills does the leadership team here value? Make your interviewer aware of matches between your skills and those valued by the company. "I'm glad you mentioned continuous learning is valued here at Globo-Chem. Currently, I'm pursuing my project management certification through evening classes at Hudson University." Here are additional questions you could ask your interviewer that'll impress them and help you decide whether the opportunity is right for you. - What are your pet peeves? - How will my performance be measured? - If you could have added one thing to the person who previously held this job, what would it be? - In my first year, what would I need to accomplish to prove to you hiring me was the right decision? - What are the characteristics or traits of your top people? - What new skills can I learn here? - How do you see this position evolving in the next three years? - What would you change about the company if you could? - What's the most frustrating part of working here? - What is holding the company back? - What's an example of a client challenge you have recently faced? - What is the question you wanted to ask me but didn't? When you ask questions to gain insight, not only do you impress your interviewer you also create opportunities to explain why you're the right candidate, a crucial aspect to getting hired-to making the sale. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers advice on searching for a job. You can send him your questions at artoffindingwork@gmail.com

The Innocent Party

Ten years ago, I am ashamed to say, I had an affair with my husband's best friend. My husband and I stuck it out, and I am happy to say we are still together. The problem is this. A few months ago my husband went to this former friend's house to have a beer with some men from work. When I found out, I was very upset. After talking it over, my husband said he understood why I was upset and promised not to do it again. Tonight, on the way home from picking up our son at daycare, I drove past this friend's house. Who did I see sitting at the picnic bench in his yard? My husband, the former best friend, and another man. I am upset all over again. I told my husband I do not want this man in our lives, and that he is pouring salt in the wounds. He said he won't do it again, but that is what he said last time. I don't get it. Isn't this weird behavior on his part? I should mention about six years after the affair, this friend took it upon himself to "clear his conscience" and tell my husband. That is how my husband found out. However, his best friend did not feel compelled to tell his wife at the time about our liaison. Viveca Viveca, there is nothing weird about your husband's behavior. His best friend was forcibly expelled from his life. He wants things back as they were before. This man's presence reminds you of the affair, but his absence from your husband's life reminds your husband about the affair. You want to punish your former lover for telling, but paybacks don't work when you are the one in the wrong. It is your husband's choice. You are trying to turn the tables on him for the very thing you benefited from, staying in a relationship. Are you afraid the bond between the two men is stronger than your marriage? Two terms are being used loosely here. A "wife" doesn't sleep with her husband's friend, and a "friend" doesn't sleep with his best friend's wife. Wayne & Tamara Still In Love I am dating Bud, a 52-year-old widower. His wife, Bianca, dropped dead of a heart attack on the ski slopes 18 months ago. He told me psychologically he is ready to move on, but the house has been left exactly the same. Her clothes are still hanging in the closet, her perfumes and brushes still on the dresser, her sunglasses still on her desk. Pictures of them abound, and the urn with her ashes is somewhere in the house. I didn't ask where. I haven't said a word about any of this, but I think it is a little bit strange. Recently we went boating, and the inside of the boat is the same as the house. I met Bianca's best friend Ava. In 48 hours she mentioned Bianca at least ten times, and even asked Bud to bring out pictures of one of their last vacations together. I thought this insensitive and thoughtless on Ava's part. Am I overly sensitive? Is Bud still grieving? I am not sure I want to meet any more of Bud's friends if they are going to spend the entire time talking about a man's dead wife. I don't know what to say except that I have lost loved ones too. Laura Laura, if I lost Tamara the opening would not be there for another woman. Our lives are that tightly interwoven. Bud's house is a testament to his love. It may take years or decades for him to move on. Or Bud may never love another woman as he loved Bianca. The connection he lost was his alone. It is not for you to set a timetable for him or for his friends. Wayne Wayne & Tamara are also the authors of Cheating in a Nutshell, What Infidelity Does to the Victim, available from Amazon, Apple and most booksellers. Wayne & Tamara write: Directanswers@WayneAndTamara.com

The last frontier

By Joe Ingino Editor/Publisher ACCOMPLISHED WRITER/AUTHOR OF OVER 800,000 Published Columns in Canada and The United States “I live a dream in a nightmare world” The human mind. The last frontier. As they say. We are nothing but animals with the fortunate ability to communicate and socialize like no other animal. The animalistic fundamental roots are all the same across the animal kingdom. Fight or Flee is something we have enbedded as part of our DNA. The difference in humans is in the way we interact and live in a system of hypocritical beliefs that hamper our success in life. Constantly having us to deal with negativity and the enforced flee due to oppression and mental compromise. We are brought up from birth to be good. To do what is right. To be honest and up front. To not lie or cheat. To fear a God. To follow rules and norms and to not question but to follow the status quo. We go for the first 20 years of our lives living a code of ethics and morals that slowly ravels with the realities of living in a society that rewards unfairness.... that is governed by laws that oppress and prosecute the innocent. A system that is contradictory to all that we have been brought up thinking. The good become intertwined and used to rationalize bad and negative living. Charity becomes abused off the backs of good natured people that refuse to give up and or believe that society is hypocritical and unfair. Good people that live a dream in a nightmare world of constant struggle. The church once deemed the essence of hope today is compromised by alternative rationalization of events in biblical scripture that renders once the almighty holly book nothing more than just a book of wisdom but far from Godly essence. Modern day society is infected by mental health issues that in part have been self induced. The less we believe the less hope we have to cope and understand our environment. Governments are scrambling all over the world on how to deal with this epidemic of confusion and lack of control. This compounded by the new world of high tech internet broadcast and interchangeable opinion and information, the people are confused. Just about every political ‘Ism’ is under threat. The talk of a new world order seems to predominate conspiracy thinkers. The reality is that the world does need a new world oder. The question becomes by who? Democracy is proven to be a failure as the majority is made up of an outspoken radical minority. Communism, has had it’s challenges and oppressed. Then what is the answer? Maybe there is no answer? Maybe we are becoming that of what other civilization have to endure. Extinction

When in oshawa please don’t drink the water

By Joe Ingino Editor/Publisher ACCOMPLISHED WRITER/AUTHOR OF OVER 800,000 Published Columns in Canada and The United States “I live a dream in a nightmare world” Always Remember That The cosmic blueprint of your life was written in code across the sky at the moment you were born. Decode Your Life By Living It Without Regret or Sorrow. When in Oshawa, please don’t drink the water. How else do you explain the recent municipal election results? Can there be that many stupid people in one city? The City is offered a golden opportunity to improve the quality of life for everyone and the people appear to be happy with people living on our streets. With people over dosing and dieying on our streets at an alarming rate. People are ok with our parks and ravines being turned into make shift home for the homeless. Or that our parks and ravines are not safe to go for a walk. It appears that people are ok with being harassed when visiting the core. Or that the quality of service keep going down while taxes keep going up. How do you justify the huge number of homes being built and the tax that they bring to expenditure, waste and relation to any tax increase? There is none. Tax increases are money that municipal officials use to grease palms. To solidify support during elections. How else do you explain the results? The status quo is acceptable? First only 18% actually cared enough to turn out and vote. This means that like in most global democracies. The majority is made up of a minority. A minority that has proven to lack any sense of knowledge of what is taking place in our city. Out of the 11 municipal positions in Oshawa. The people only changed 1. I blame the other 82% that did not even bother to turn out. It has to be the water... Please explain it to me. Could it be that the same people keep coming out every election? Think about it. Last election it was a 22% turn out. Are voters that care about democracy actually dieying? In the downtown core alone. The same two councillors win!!! Councillors that are directly responsible for the homeless and the poor safety/health condition of our core. We reward failure with another term and thank them by forking over taxpayers money for them to continue doing nothing positive for the core? People always wonder. Why is it that we do not have more professionals put their name forward during municipal elections. Well, these results make it obvious why. Why would anyone want to put their name forward when people do not vote on credentials. The vote on name recognition. Look at what took place in the Mayoral race. On the eleventh hour. A nobody, clerk looking to up her pay and job title puts her name forward as the vote by sex vote. She came second. A person with no real accomplishments. Limited education. No real business life experience. No real interest or understanding of the issues of the City. Did we not learn from voting Carter in... that the pity vote is not in our best interest? Don’t get me wrong. I am not bitter, but disapointed that society is failing and we are on course to self destruct. Look at the COVID situation. Were we ready for disaster? Socially we are heading towards dangerous times. Democracy led by a majority made up of minority is not democracy. Everyone is quick to complain about tax increase and the cost of living. Yet, no one is prepared to make the right changes to bring positive change. Please when in Oshawa. Don’t drink the water. Better safe than one of the 18%

Age Old Question

I am newly blind and very depressed over the guy situation. Since I've lost my sight, it's almost like males have disappeared too. I've always attracted men and enjoyed dating. I still laugh and flirt, and I'm very open to questions. I want people to be comfortable. I just turned 36 and feel old and ugly, like I'm no longer a person worthy of a relationship. I am careful not to let the outside world see this side of me. I know there is nothing more of a turnoff than a whiner. So, what do I do? Where do I meet men who aren't afraid of a woman who isn't "normal?" Darla Darla, there is no timetable or technique which guarantees you will find a man. Sighted or not, the wisest advice remains the same. Be fully engaged in life, follow what most deeply interests you, and fill your own well. Filling your own well is never a waste. At worst you will become a happier, more complete, more fulfilled person. Often when we stop chasing, things come because it is then time. There are people offering gimmicks to get someone. What they won't tell you is that it may get you someone, but not your someone. For a relationship to last, it must be your someone, not just anyone. The divorce rate confirms this. Live your life with gusto! If you allow yourself to be moved by what stirs you, a larger plan will unfold. It will seem right, even though it may be something you never imagined. Just because you are 36 and want a man, it doesn't mean today he will arrive. Men are not like Chinese takeout. Tamara The Same Boat Please excuse the untidiness of this letter. It is the first time I have put my life in writing. I read with great interest the story of the young couple that were virgins before marriage, and a year later, still are. Their story is my own. I speak from 45 years of lost love, sex, and caring. I remained a virgin two years after marriage. I had such migraine headaches from the stress my boss would not allow me back to work without a doctor's note. How could I go back to the doctor I knew since childhood, a virgin two years after he attended my wedding? So I saw another doctor. I cried myself to sleep many nights. I needed someone to hold and love me. Eventually, we did indulge, and I got pregnant immediately. I had a child all my own to love. Three years later we got together, and again I was pregnant. Four years more passed, and I was given the gift of pregnancy for my anniversary. Now, with three children, life did not improve. My husband worked in law enforcement, so he worked around the clock. Obviously, he kept himself happy while I craved love so desperately. I don't think it is good for children not to see love between their mother and father. Our last child was especially aware because I left the useless bedroom while she was young. The moral of the story is this. Young man, get out of your loveless marriage. At 65 I'm too old now to make the change, plus my friends would be stunned. Vera Vera, many people carry a secret without realizing how many others carry the same secret. Even though you feel it is too late for you, you shared your experience to help another whose life is still ahead of him. There is another moral. A secret exposed loses its power. The fear of revealing a problem traps you in the problem. When you overcome fear and openly express your feelings and the need for help, a solution becomes possible. Locked in the fear of discovery, the problem denied, there is no solution but more secrecy. Wayne & Tamara write: Directanswers@WayneAndTamara.com

Poor Sleep Can Lead to Inflammatory Problems

W. Gifford-Jones, M.D. and Diana Gifford-Jones An old Irish proverb says, “A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.” But research suggests it would be wiser to think of good sleep as an ingredient of wellbeing – a starting point for health, not a fixer-upper. Sleep is an essential building block of good health, along with quality nutrition, moderate exercise, socioeconomic connectivity, mindfulness, and ample good luck. Guidelines recommend “7 to 9 hours of good-quality sleep for adults aged 18 to 64, on a regular basis, with consistent sleep and wake times for health benefits.” For adults aged 65 and older, a slightly modified “7 to 8 hours of sleep” is advised. But sleep is too often neglected – insufficient in both quantity and quality. According to a global sleep survey, 62% of adults worldwide feel they don’t sleep well when they go to bed. Surveys show that North Americans, on average, sleep just under 7 hours a night. Some are getting more – and good for them. Some are getting less – with serious consequences. Poor quality sleep has harmful implications for insomniacs. The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute reports, “Sleep deficiency is linked to many chronic health problems, including heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, obesity, and depression.” But drowsy people have negative implications for other people too. Lack of sleep is a major factor in deadly car accidents and other transportation tragedies. Both the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster and the Exxon Valdez oil spill involved workers affected by sleep deprivation. Although people commonly try to “catch up” on sleep during the weekend, studies have found this to be a losing strategy. For one thing, less weekday sleep equates to later nights, awake and snacking, which leads to weight gain and involves challenges in managing diabetes, for example. It may be disappointing to learn more bad news. Research now shows that even long periods of sufficient sleep don’t make up for sleep deficits. Not getting good sleep? The damage is done. Scientists are starting to unpack exactly what kind of problems develop from lack of good sleep. One study founds that consistently losing an hour and a half of sleep a night can increase the risk of inflammatory disorders and cardiovascular disease. The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, showed that sleep disruptions in both humans and mice led to the same loss in the protective effects of their immune systems “actually making infections worse”. In effect, poor sleep causes trouble in blood cell production, leading to overproduction of white blood cells that normally fight infections, but the overabundance instead results in inflammation. Another study involving more than 7,000 men and women at the ages of 50, 60 and 70, found that people at age 50 getting five hours of sleep or less were “20% more likely to have been diagnosed with a chronic disease and 40% more likely to be diagnosed with two or more chronic diseases over 25 years, compared to people who slept for up to seven hours.” Those are big differences! Those two more hours of sleep gives the body enough time to complete one full sleep cycle, allowing brain and body to recuperate and immune systems to function effectively. What are some tips for healthy sleep? Get natural daylight exposure. Limit alcohol before bed. Eliminate noise and light disruptions. And at bedtime, allow into the mind those things that sooth the soul. These days, that means turning off the evening news and turning instead to a good book. Sign-up at www.docgiff.com to receive our weekly e-newsletter. For comments, contact-us@docgiff.com. Follow us Instagram @docgiff and @diana_gifford_jones