November 6, 2020
comment 1

Whole Foods bans poppies – yikes!

Back before I stepped away from the work-a-day world, I did PR and Communications work for a number of years. I don’t think much about that kind of stuff these days, but every now and then some organization does something so bone-headed and ill-advised, it catches my attention and gets me scratching my head.

The folks at Whole Foods, oblivious to just what a bad move this really was, decided to ban employees from wearing poppies. It seems this symbol of remembrance does not conform to their dress code (honest, that’s the best they could come up with). Could it be that the Whole Foods corporate executives really thought this was not going to be a big deal? Note to self – sometimes very well-paid corporate executives inexplicably make remarkably dumb decisions.

Perhaps poppies are not such an important symbol in America as it is among Canadians – and Whole Foods is an American company (I believe owned by Amazon). I don’t know – I’m really stretching to figure this out. What would ever cause them to shoot themselves in the foot like this?

Today Premier Ford announced to the province his family would be boycotting Whole Foods. Ouch!

From the Newtalk 1010 website: “I think it’s disgusting and I think it’s disgraceful,” Ford told NEWSTALK 1010 sister station 580 CFRA in Ottawa. 
“My girls go to Whole Foods…they aren’t going to Whole Foods anymore until they reverse this,” Ford said.
Ford later tweeted, “We will introduce legislation that prohibits any employer from banning their staff from wearing a poppy during Remembrance Week.”

I’m certain most media relations pros in Canada would advise any company to forget any idea that involves messing with the annual poppy program (and would cringe when the company ignored that advice and went ahead and did it anyway).

I will be surprised if this goes away, and I expect Whole Foods will have to trot out some hapless executive to publicly fall on his sword.

UPDATE: Whole Foods caved before the end of the day.

November 6, 2020
comment 0

Flu Shot Followup

I ranted the other day after the folks at Rexall cancelled my flu shot appointment (and everybody else’s). I was going to go to an outdoor clinic on Saturday, but they cancelled too, saying they didn’t get vaccine. Then yesterday I got a message from my friend Tim, who said he got a shot at the pharmacy at the No Frills at Lansdowne and Dundas (here in Toronto) while he was grocery shopping. No wait. No appointment.

First thing this morning, I sallied forth to this No Frills, which happens to be a great store. It’s the one that many years ago was the old Knob Hill Farms location. It’s huge and has a great selection and good prices. I wandered up to the pharmacy kiosk at the far end of the store.

Got any flu shots?
Let me check (looks in the fridge)….yep, you’re in luck. 4 left.
I filled in my form, got the shot and in minutes was doing some grocery shopping.

November 5, 2020
comment 0

What’s going on in the Greenbelt?

This morning over breakfast, Tuffy P was perusing the morning Toronto Star and stopped at a headline buried on page 17: Greenbelt agency member resigns. City zoning order over Pickering wetland was ‘last straw’ for appointee. (article by Noor Javed)

Premier Ford has something called a Greenbelt Council. Their job is to provide guidance on the protected lands known as The Greenbelt. One of the members was Linda Pim, who the article tells me is an environmental biologist and planner. She has sat on the committee since 2018. Her concern has been with Ford’s government increasingly using ministerial zoning orders, known as MZOs. These orders give the Minister of Municipal Affairs power to override normal planning processes – and this includes eliminating public consultation and environmental assessments. The idea is to fast-track development.

One of these MZOs was issued for a project called Durham Live that would replace 22 hectares of sensitive wetlands in Pickering with a warehouse and movie studio. The article quotes Pim: “I find that with the issuance of the MZO for Durham Live and its complete destruction of an irreplaceable Provincially Significant Wetland, I have simply had enough.”

I recognize that the provincial government wants to make it easier to green-light development, but it is troubling that they would use a special order to circumvent public participation and the environmental assessment process, particularly around a site that the Province itself has determined is a Provincially Significant Wetland.

I wondered if anything else like this has surfaced recently. A quick Google search came up with a CBC article from September of last year by Mike Crowley:

“The Ontario government spent nearly a year in talks with a developer about a pitch to build housing in the province’s Greenbelt, despite Premier Doug Ford’s promise not to touch the protected area, CBC News has learned.

The discussions involved a 60-hectare property in the northeastern corner of Vaughan. The land is owned by a family whose members have donated more than $100,000 to the Progressive Conservative party in recent years, including to Ford’s 2018 leadership bid. “

In January 2019, CTV news reported:

“Ontario will not move forward with a controversial element of proposed legislation that could have opened up the province’s protected Greenbelt to development.

Municipal affairs minister Steve Clark says the government will abandon plans to create a specialized planning tool for municipalities that would have allowed them under some circumstances to override certain laws, including those that safeguard the Greenbelt.

In a message posted on social media Wednesday, Clark says the government has heard from legislators, municipalities and stakeholders who were concerned about the impact the bill could have on the protected lands”.

This morning’s article suggests to me that the Ford government has found another way to open up protected lands. Is Linda Pim’s resignation much like the proverbial canary in a coal mine? I wish the Ford government would stop their shenanigans and keep protected lands protected.

November 4, 2020
comment 0

A Walk in the Park

Redhead duck

I feel really fortunate to live a short walk from Sam Smith Park in Toronto. I wandered about the park for a couple hours this afternoon, taking in the sights.

black-crowned night heron

I might have missed this black-crowned night heron if I hadn’t seen it in the air, landing on the shore of the pond quite a way from me.

witch hazel

Witch hazel is in bloom and it will keep blooming right into December. Seeing some is always a happy autumn highlight.

The kite people were out today. At one point there were 5 or 6 of these daredevil kite surfers taking advantage of a brisk breeze today. The lake must be so cold, but I guess the suits they wear keep them warm.

November 3, 2020
comment 0

P-Q4

The latest episode of The Agency Podcast is up. It’s called P-Q4 (2 Geeks who Suck). Listen here or find us in all the good places. You guessed it – we watched Queen’s Gambit – and much more!

The Agency is a broad-ranging arts and culture podcast in the form of conversations between Candy Minx in Chicago and me in Toronto. Please join us.

November 2, 2020
comment 0

The Road to Fort Coulonge

Reg Hill on fiddle….

Mr. Hill was also the fiddle player for Mac Beattie and his Ottawa Valley Melodiers. I really enjoy listening to his recordings.

By the way, this is another tune recorded when I was 4 years old in 1964.

Several years ago now, I suggested to Canada Post’s Stamp Advisory Committee a stamp series celebrating Canadian fiddlers past and present (anyone can make these suggestions). I imagined stamps honouring the likes of Reg Hill, along with Ward Allen, John Arcand, Patty Kusturok, Calvin Vollrath, April Verch, Don Messer and more. We have really rich fiddle traditions in Canada and several regional styles including Métis, Cape Breton, Quebecois, and Ottawa Valley Ottawa Valley. I thought and still think our fiddle history is culturally highly significant and would have made a splendid stamp series. Unfortunately there was no interest in this little dream at the time.

November 2, 2020
comment 0

Live Lightnin’

I stumbled across this gem on the YouTube machine. It was recorded in 1964 when I was 4 years old. I love the understated guitar playing in this performance and the emphasis on the whole song rather than on exaggerated guitar solos, volume and power.

November 2, 2020
comments 2

Flu Shot Woes

I saw the Get Your Flu Shot Here sandwich sign outside my local Rexall pharmacy, and it reminded me I should be getting a flu shot. I had heard there were some supply issues and many more than the usual number of people getting them, but there was the sign in front of Rexall. They must have them. I went in.

At the back by the pharmacy there was a second sign on the counter. This one told me to book an appointment for my flu shot. Oh, OK. I have to book an appointment. I wait for the pharmacist to wander over after counting out some pills.

I’d like to book a flu shot please.

You can’t do that here. You have to book your flu shot online.

Well, I’m here. I saw the big sign out front. How about I book my appointment in person.

No, you can’t do that. You have to book online.

Maybe your sandwich sign should read: book your flu shot appointment online instead of get your flu shot.

Icy stare.

Ok, I think I’ll go home and book my appointment online.

Have a nice day.

I went online and went through the screening questions. It was going to be 3 weeks before I could get an appointment – Nov 9. It seemed to me that the screening questions weren’t going to be useful since they were backed up until the 9th, but OK. I booked the appointment. Done.

I only mention this because this morning I received an email from Rexall:

Hi Eugene,

Your flu shot appointment has been cancelled due to a lack of vaccine supply across Ontario. Vaccine supply is determined and allocated by the provincial Ministry of Health. All efforts are being made by our Pharmacy to secure additional dosages promptly. We will send you a notification if flu vaccines become available. We appreciate your understanding. Take Care and Be Well, Your Rexall Pharmacy Team.

WTF? Should I try my luck at other pharmacies? Do I have to go see my doctor to get a flu shot? That’s what Tuffy P is doing – she goes this afternoon. I thought they were being distributed through pharmacies to keep the pressure off doctors’ offices? I hear on the radio the province has or will have plenty of vaccines. Where are they? What’s going to happen when a COVID vaccine is finally available? Will there be the same scramble to get one?

UPDATE: Rexall has cancelled all appointments for flu shots. It seems they may or may not have received all the vaccine they were allocated. Premier Ford came out today and said, Rexall knew what they were allocated and they shouldn’t have overbooked. The Province has ordered 5.1 million doses, according to CP24, of which they have already delivered 4.7 million doses. Demand is apparently up 500%. Do you think that is maybe because we’re in the middle of a COVID pandemic and the Ontario government has launched their biggest ever awareness campaign for flu shots? Could be.

I’m not giving either Rexall nor Ford a pass on this. It’s been bungled and both parties have to take some responsibility. Meanwhile, there is an Outdoor Flu Clinic coming up in my area on Saturday. I’m going to go early and try to get my shot there.