Talking in Circles

Aboriginal people talk in circles, both figuratively and physically.

Circles are a natural part of our lives; consider the sun and moon both appear as circles, our eyes appear as circles, and even our traditional homes are formed as circles. The Inuit iglu is a circle of snow and ice, the tipis of the Prairie Nations are built round a circle, and closer to home, and the Okanagan kukuli is built in a circle.

Non-Aboriginal people can get frustrate when discussing a mater of importance with a traditional Aboriginal person, as it is considered impolite to just blurt out the nature of a concern or request without providing the entire background of the situation.

I was recently talking to a young Aboriginal woman who wanted to convey to me her desire to educate youth at a public forum. From the time we met, to meeting her purpose, the time elapsed was almost two hours, whereas non-Aboriginal person may have come to the point in under 10 minutes. The significance of this reality becomes a conflict when culturally insensitive counsellors loose patience with clients who take too long to come to a point, talking circles around the question, concern or request.

Corporate Canada has an analogy when they talk about the ‘elephant’ or the ‘moose’ in the middle of the room that everybody ignores, talking around the problem instead of the problem, and generally encourages participants to get to the point so that meetings are not dragged on infinitum. This flies in the face of tradition Aboriginal concepts of problem solving.

When we want to discuss an item of interest or importance with three or more people, we form a circle so we can see each other when speak, giving equal importance to all in the circle. From the time the first person speaks, it is the person to their left that speaks next, and continues around the circle. If there is more to be said once a person’s turn has passed, the person must wait until their turn comes again around the circle. It is not unusual to have three or four ‘rounds’ before everybody has finished talking.

Talking circles are considered to be sacred, confidential, and safe. In Aboriginal communities, anything said in the talking circle is not repeated outside the confines of the circle, and those who have ignored this basic tenant have found themselves ostracised from entire communities or even entire nations.
Knowing that rumour, innuendo and gossip are favourite pastimes of all human cultures it can take a long time or a position of considerable trust for a non-Aboriginal person to be invited to a talking circle, as the concepts of confidentiality are less ingrained in European based communities.

For my non-Aboriginal friends, if you are invited to a talking circle, consider it to be an honour, but if you are excluded, please don’t take it personally. It can take months if not years to earn the privilege to take part in our traditional means of community problem solving.

The Day After…

The day after the provincial election there a lot of people who are wondering: “What Happened to a BC NDP majority government?”

The day after the provincial election there a lot of people who are wondering: “Where were the Greens other than Vancouver Island?”

The day after the provincial election there are hundreds of ‘armchair quarterbacks’ trying to figure out why the pollsters, pundits and those-that-think-they-have-all-the-answers were so wrong on so many levels with their predictions that were 180 degrees away from the results.

The day after the provincial election we are looking at a new stronger mandate for the BC Liberal party, which means we get more of the same thing we have been used to for the past 12 years.

The day after the provincial election Adrian Dix can hold his head high because he stuck to his principles of running a clean campaign for the NDP, even if it lost the election for the party.

The day after the provincial election Jane Sterk can hold her head high because she did not waiver from her platform of making BC a cleaner, more environmentally friendly place to live, which pushed the Green Party to its first ever seat in the legislature.

The day after the provincial election Christy Clark won the provincial political war, but lost the battle for her own seat

The day after the provincial election our electoral system of ‘first-past-the-post’ has resulted in a majority provincial government which, in my opinion, is a dangerous thing as it potentially precludes meaningful debate and legislative votes become a Liberal Rubber Stamp.

The day after the provincial election life goes on as it did the day BEFORE the election – with fewer political advertisements.

Please Vote

On 14^th May 2013

At the BC

Provincial

General Election,

I don’t care HOW

you vote

I care THAT

you vote.

PLEASE VOTE

NDP? Why Not?

I live in a stronghold of the BC NDP party, and with the BC Provincial election on 14MAY, if the most recent polls are any indication, not only will our local NDP candidate get in, but the party will form the BC Government until 2018.

Being of a certain vintage, I have seen the results of a variety of government policies over the last 40 years, and based on past experience, I cannot in good faith support the NDP as without exception over the last four decades they have spent funds on social programs without the corresponding income being generated to offset the costs, therefore running annual deficits which adds to the deficit.

Mr. Dix has promised to be different – making one practical change at a time, but is still forecasting five years of deficit budgeting (at least he is saying so up front).

The choices we have in Skeena are not much better, between the Christian Heritage Party with radical policies based on the Bible, independent and green candidates that nobody has heard of, the Conservative Party that is far too bigoted for my liking, and finally the BC Liberals who have a recent track record of ignoring citizen voices (Enbridge [Northern Gateway], Kinder-Morgan, HST, DWI laws, government relationship with Teachers, etc.).

At this time I am considering it is better the devil I know, rather than the unknown of NDP political promises. :-(

Smoke or Dope?

Disclaimer: I am a reformed smoker, being tobacco free since 1984

I have an ethical issue with outlets that have pharmacies that also sell tobacco products, and I am on a one person crusade to have the College of Pharmacists considered an "either/or" policy / directive on this issue. There is a level of logic that could not condone selling tobacco in one area, and smoking cessation products in another. 

Tobacco products can be sold from just about anywhere where there is a cash register (gas stations, pubs/bars, corner stores, etc.) to the 17% of the people who still use such products and continue to ignore the health risks to do so.

Pharmacies on the other hand are part of our health system and somewhat sacrosanct if the wealth of professional knowledge is tapped (I trust my pharmacist as much / more than my MD and see him far more often). The choice of the retail end of the store to sell life threatening, although legal, products is diametrically opposed to the function of the pharmacy and therefore makes no ethical sense.

As a citizen with a myriad of health issues, I am requesting the College of Pharmacists to seriously consider drawing a draconian line in the annual licencing of pharmacies: specifically, the retail store EITHER sells/markets pharmaceutical products, OR tobacco products, but not both.

Some retail stores may opt out of having a pharmacy as part of their mix, then reluctantly, I may have to change where I purchase my medication  but it will be better than compromising my ethics.

If you have a thought on this, you too can write to them at info@bcpharmacists.org

SAT or FFC

As BC election-day draws closer I am torn between the “Spend And Tax” policies of the BC NDP and the ”Fact Free Campaign” of the BC Liberals. Both want my vote, especially in a predominantly NDP riding (Stikine).

My choices are actually much wider, having the luxury of being able to choose from

• Roger Benham: Green Party of BC,
• Jonathan Dieleman: BC Conservative Party,
• Doug Donaldson: BC NDP,
• Sharon Hartwell: BC Liberal Party,
• Jesse O'Leary: Independent,
• Rod Taylor: Christian Heritage Party of B.C.

While I have nothing personal for or against any of the individuals who have shown the intestinal fortitude to publicly wear a specific political stripe, I find four of the party choices to be somewhat distasteful, leaving me to choose between the best of a poor bunch: specifically the Liberals and NDP (order is alphabetical, not preferential).

In the early 1970’s Dave Barrett ran for (and won) the election for Premiere of BC under the NDP banner, the celebrations were short lived as the NDP created ICBC and the Agricultural Land Reserve, lowered the drinking age to 19, preserved Cypress Bowl for recreation; started the SeaBus; air ambulance service; ended logging and mining in the provincial parks, created the Labour Relations Board, the Human Rights Code and the Provincial Status of Women Office. … then taxed BC Citizens to the point of bankruptcy. Such is the legacy of the NDP. It took us 20 years to get out of that financial quagmire.

The last 12 years of BC Liberal rule have not been a joy ride either. Two Premiers who think that traffic laws apply to lesser beings, labour unrest as contracts are torn up (literally) and long standing feuds with Nurses, Doctors, teachers, College staff, Government Staff just to name a few. The debacle of the HST (three months to bring in, two years to go out) and the resulting cost to everybody in BC and finally their claim to have a ‘balanced budget’ when the Auditor General has stated to opposite. I am convinced that the Liberals have a lot to hide, as the current Premier refuses to answer direct questions about Moody’s Bond rating, instead tangentalizing on how she intends to pay off the provincial debt within 15 years.

Doug, I would like to support you and the SAT (NDP), except I don’t want to see the Province go bankrupt in the next five years.
Sharon, your leader has a lot to answer for and she refuses to with her FFC, so BCL is a very scary place to be putting faith at the ballot box.

I still have a few days to decide…