Barris Beat

Need for charity no greater than now

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Jonathan Wilson (red shirt) and Cagney, the black Lab, at launch of 2017 walkathon.

Jonathan Wilson will graduate in about a year. He’ll complete the Journalism and Mass Media program at Durham College. Despite having to adapt to online learning for the past year from his home in Uxbridge, he’s getting A’s in his grades, and earning praise for his portfolio of stories.

Once he graduates, Jonathan will start beating the bushes for full-time work as a professional journalist. His mom, Lisa Wilson, is proud of her son’s accomplishments. She’s also thankful for the charity of others.

“If it wasn’t for the Lions Foundation and Dog Guides Canada,” Lisa told a handful of us this week, “none of this would’ve been possible.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Strangers in the blight

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Col. Dr. Ian Anderson, though retired, continues to serve Canadians in a time of pandemic.

We met because of COVID. Having retired from a surgical practice just before the pandemic struck, Dr. Ian Anderson found that he had a bit more time on his hands. Consequently, he began to read more of the non-fiction books on his shelf, in particular writings about Canadian military medical personnel. During the Alberta lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, he found time to read my book Rush to Danger: Medics in the Line of Fire. That’s when he corresponded.

“I read history and biography,” Anderson wrote in a letter to me in 2020. “The truth is always better than the imagination.”

Thus began a correspondence that has continued through the pandemic. (more…)

Barris Beat

Wrong cause using the wrong symbol

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Rally at Vimy Memorial in Saskatoon’s Kiwanis Park. CKOM photo.

At first, I wondered why? Why would a TV news reporter in the middle of the country email me to speak about a COVID-19 question? I’m not a medical professional. When I called him back, he said he wondered if I would offer a comment on an event in Saskatoon? I lived there back in the 1970s, but what was it he needed?

“A group of anti-mask, anti-vaccine protestors staged a demonstration last Saturday,” he said.

“That’s disappointing,” I said.

“That’s not why I called,” Nate Dove of Global TV News continued. “A number of people showed up for the demo at the Vimy Memorial, here in Saskatoon. Some claimed that the location was important because it symbolized freedom of expression.”

“Not really,” I said. (more…)

Barris Beat

An injection of kindness

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Muffin mystery began at my front door.

For those of us who can afford to, the toughest part of coping with COVID is the waiting. Waiting for the wave of cases to pass. Waiting for the vaccine. Waiting for the chance to be social again. And again, because I can, I begin most mornings with a long, brisk walk around town. My timing often follows on the heels of the morning newspaper deliveries. So, along my routes, I regularly pick up some of the plastic-bag-wrapped papers and deposit them on the porches of their recipients.

“Why not save my neighbours a few steps,” I figure, “especially if the weather’s inclement?”

Anyway, one day a few months ago, I returned home from my walk. Hanging from my front-door handle was a bag containing a cardboard box with two (still warm) muffins inside. There was no note, no identification, not even a logo, just the baked goods. (more…)

Barris Beat

How to pay for paid sick days

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Premier Doug Ford isolating away from the Legislature at Etobicoke home. CPAC photo

It’s been seven days since the premier apologized to Ontarians. It’s been 13 days since he did what he apologized for – unnecessarily closing outdoor recreation facilities and giving police the power to randomly stop citizens during the stay-at-home order. And it’s been nine days since Doug Ford went into self-isolation at his mother’s home in Etobicoke, after a member of his staff tested positive for COVID-19. In other words, the premier has not physically served in his office, nor at the Ontario Legislature since a week ago Tuesday.

In other words, technically, Doug Ford has not been at work.

He continues, of course, to be paid… which means Premier Doug Ford is getting paid for sick days!

That means the premier has received nine days of his annual salary – about $5,148 of his $208,974 annual income – all against the stated policy of his own administration. (more…)

Barris Beat

Portrait of a war artist

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Artist Dave Sopha about to reveal a unique tribute, August 2013.

Not a large man, he stood about as tall as the art easel he was about to unveil. But by the motion of his hands as he spoke and the animation in his face, we knew we had to listen. He wore a bright red and white shirt (I think I’ve always seen him in the colours of Canada). His commentary spoke of pride. His eyes sparkled telling a veteran’s story.

Then, he pulled away the easel’s covering to reveal his latest portrait honouring Second World War veteran and friend Harry Watts. There was instant applause from the audience, there to honour Harry’s 90th birthday in 2013. Then, portrait artist Dave Sopha and veteran Harry Watts hugged a genuine hug of appreciation and respect.

“Veterans like Harry Watts are larger than life,” Dave said. “We owe them everything.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Opposites attract in a pandemic

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Gifts from my friend who’s purging during the pandemic.

For about a year now, I’ve received packages in the mail from a friend in southwestern Ontario. He’s a military-history enthusiast. So, we have much to share in telephone conversations, letters, emails and the periodic packages he posts to me. But when the pandemic hit, suddenly the packages began to increase in number and frequency.

Not just once a week, but several times, his packages (many of them two and three kilograms in weight) would arrive jammed with clippings, magazines and books. And most of his mailings include cryptic notes.

“Two light, two-pound envelopes are on the way,” he wrote last week. “Probably the last of my house cleaning.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Deal with the vaccine deserts

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Vaccine rollouts are missing the so-called vaccine deserts for the other less populated hot spots. healthing.ca

Earlier this week, a delivery van pulled up at my neighbour’s house. The driver hopped out of his vehicle. He was fully masked and went to the door, kept his distance, and ensured that the package was delivered into the right hands. He then photographed the street address of his delivery and was walking back to his van when we exchanged greetings.

“Pardon me for asking, but have you received a COVID-19 vaccination yet?”

“I don’t mind,” he said, “but no, not yet.”

“I’ll bet you do dozens of deliveries a day and run the risk of either being infected or infecting others,” I suggested. “Don’t you think you should’ve had a shot by now?”

“Of course, but the company hasn’t made it a priority.” (more…)

Barris Beat

From small boats, mighty deeds

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Suez Canal Authority tugboats free wedged container ship. cbc.ca

You could almost feel the jubilation from there to here. Video flooded on-air newscasts and social media late Monday. It was nighttime in the Middle East, but the lights on the canal made it seem like day. And the cacophony of maritime whistles and horns blowing seemed deafening. Container ship horns, police boat horns and especially the horns of the Egyptian tugboats on the Suez Canal leapt from every video I watched. One videographer shot images of a jubilant tugboat crew.

“Mashhour is number one!” the sailors shouted.

Mashhour is the name of the dredging vessel that helped clear the tons of sand at the bow and stern of the massive container ship MV Ever Given, that was wedged sideways in the Suez Canal for nearly a week. (more…)

Barris Beat

Getting priority jabs straight

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Soldier in body armour (a.k.a. flak jacket) 1942.

It’s one of those moments that’s haunted me for years. It was a Second World War story about army medics preparing for the invasion of France in 1944. Just prior to D-Day, some U.S. Army medics apparently saw assault soldiers being issued a new piece of equipment. Incorporating two-inch-square steel plates, and sewn into a canvas vest, the device would apparently protect the wearer against shrapnel and some bullet penetration. Today, police officers call it “body armour.” At any rate, the story goes that a D-Day medic asked the officer handing these things out, “What’s that?”

“Flak vest,” the officer said.

“What about giving it to us medics?”

“They’re for assault troops,” the officer said. “Besides, there’ll be so many casualties, you can have your pick of vests from the dead.” (more…)