More on Politics

This is especially in reply to Mercy's comment.

Man, we should talk. Since I started in government I feel bursting with ideas - but who's interested in politics?

Part of the problem - media reports on the sensational. Progress and hope do not make the news much.

Let me tell you about a couple of things of hope:

1. The teen pregnancy rate is dropping all over Canada. I just reviewed the stats myself in the last while. That is good news as less kids are born to mothers who are not ready to look after them. And probably less abortions will go on, too. We often hear about the problem of teen pregnancy, but how many of us know that in Manitoba it is 3/4 of what it was a few years ago?

2. There are many programs that have been introduced in Manitoba that are improving parenting - this improves kids' chances. Evaluations are showing that these things really do make a difference. In Manitoba, in regards to children at least, there is much more of an emphasis on implementing solutions that have shown themselves to be effective and evaluating to make sure what we do is working. It's not just about throwing money at things, it's about outcomes.

There ARE good things happening - they just don't get much air time. Even though the federal Liberals, for example, have done such STUPID things, they have also had policies that have helped families - expanding mat and parental leave, uping EI to 80% coverage for low income families, giving greater Child Tax Credits, implementing Millenium scholarships and RESPs for families who can't afford to contribute for their own children, and universal child care is, IMHO, a very important step to help all families, but especially families in poverty.

In short - there is waste, but not all money is wasted. Governments do good things and bad things - kind of like us.

I do work in a part of government that is a bit more progressive - many people have told me that my exposure is not an accurate picture of government. So maybe I'm unrealistically optimistic. But I do think change is possible.