Saturday, December 21, 2013

A Canadian and Gospel Heart

Conservative Senator Hugh Segal will retire next June after nine years in the Senate to head up Massey College in Toronto, he announced Thursday. 

God's mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. Luke 1

All Canadian senators are greedy lay-abouts who are immersed in the public trough, right? Well, have you listened to Hugh Segal, a conservative senator who has a passion for this country and the conviction that all Canadians deserve a decent life. I have heard him interviewed several times  recently, twice speaking about the concept of a guaranteed annual income for all Canadians. He points out that he remains a fiscal conservative but is convinced that a GAI would benefit the Canadian economy, lower health care costs, and reduce crime. In those interviews he pointed out that a great many Canadians who need assistance from food banks and other social services are actually working, but they don't have a living wage.  He offers reasons for his somewhat surprising outlook and points out that he is not a neo-conservative. He describes neo-cons as driven by self-interest without regard for the greater good.

I wondered about his clarification in the interview that followed Industry Minister James Moore's comments that “Is it my job to feed my neighbour’s child? I don’t think so" and “is that always the government’s job to be there to serve people their breakfast?”  I emailed Moore almost immediately suggesting that the Three Ghosts of Christmas and Tiny Tim wanted to set up a meeting with him.
Cartoon about James Moore

To be fair to Moore he also said “Of course nobody wants kids to go to school hungry… We want to make sure that kids go to school full-bellied… Empowering families with more power and resources so that they can feed their own children is, I think, a good thing.” and he eventually apologized, first claiming that the reporter was a liar.  

Did Segal want to distance himself from Moore? Sure we want to empower families so they can feed their own children, but we hear report after report about the growing gap between rich and poor in this country and the disturbing number of Canadians using food banks. Something just isn't working here.

After I listened to Segal I thought that I would like him to be Prime Minister and --full disclosure here-- I have never voted Progressive Conservative or Conservative. He has insight and a heart that is truly Canadian and truly gospel from my perspective.

Oh yes, Segal is leaving the Senate to become master of Massey College at the University of Toronto. Our loss.

Does it surprise you to hear about a guaranteed annual income? Does the idea make you suspicious or does it make sense? Do you know about Hugh Segal?



3 comments:

Laurie said...

The idea has been around for some time. The Croll Senate Committee did a report on GAI in the early "70's. I think it is a great idea and hope some day it goes through. I too have never voted Conservative But I do admire Hugh Segal.He would be a vast improvement over what we do have leading that party.

Unknown said...

I agree with you, David, and with Laurie ... and I have never voted Conservative, either!

colinm said...

Sadly, GAI is not enough. Most of the institutions that underpin our society have been and continueto be eroded, like education, social services, andhealth. Without these as a foundation in our society, wage earners are at the mercy of the markets.