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Issues & Experts Archive > Week of March 11 - 15/2002
Week of March 11 - 15/2002
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Mar 13, 2002
Reaching a deal on softwood lumber…A deal to end the dispute over softwood lumber will be a key point of discussion when Prime Minister Jean Chretien meets this week with U.S. President George Bush, as negotiations continue. SFU geographer and forest industry analyst Roger Hayter says if Canada agrees to a temporary export tax until a new deal can be reached the country is inviting U.S. interference — much as it did when a similar agreement was struck back in 1986. "Any deal, even one that includes an export tax, is an invitation for continuous American involvement," says Hayter. "The problem with an export tax is that it is tied to a shift in export management. And if it’s a temporary export tax until we reach a new deal, what if we don’t like the new deal?" Hayter can look at the dispute’s evolution over the past few decades.
Roger Hayter, 604.291.3327 (Tues) 604.984.7356 (Weds/Thurs; away Friday)
Aging crisis debunked…A new study debunks the crisis of the aging population and predicts higher pay and older workers will offset costs for health care and old age security. Gloria Gutman, director of SFU’s gerontology research centre, agrees with the University of Ottawa study. While older people consume more health care than younger ones, she says it’s primarily in late age, especially in their last few of years of life. "Prior to these last years, which are occurring later now than ever before, a majority tend to enjoy good health and to be able to do most of what they want to do most of the time," notes Gutman. "It’s also important to remember that not all older people are poor — many, especially married men, contribute substantial tax dollars." Gutman adds that in order to keep the economy moving, "we will need every older person who is capable of working, to work.."
Gloria Gutman, 604.291.5063
Pay now for long term health gain…That essentially will be the message of Tom Koch’s presentation to former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow’s travelling public hearings on Canada’s health care system. Romanow’s commission is in Vancouver on Tuesday, March 12, hearing presentations at the Coast Plaza Hotel on Denman Street. Koch, an adjunct professor of gerontology at SFU, a bioethicist and a medical writer, will be making his presentation at 2:30 p.m. Koch will briefly outline the history of the decline of universal medicare in Canada as he sees it. He will also make the argument that "in the end, we will pay more for our failure to treat than we will for comprehensive care now," if we sanction the erosion of universal health care.
Tom Koch, 604.714.0348, tomkoch@kochworks.com
Rethinking our Canadian identity…Since returning from travels in the Balkans in December, author Myrna Kostash has been struck by a radical shift around issues of Canadian identity, compared with those noted in her national bestseller, The Next Canada: Looking for the Future Nation (2000) The award-winning author wants to revisit her conclusions about the sustainability of the Canadian identity in the post-NAFTA generation. She’ll highlight her thoughts when she gives the Grace MacInnis Visiting Scholar lecture on The Next Canada Reconsidered, on Thursday, March 14 at SFU’s Burnaby campus, AQ room 4100, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. Kostash has traveled extensively to explore her own Ukrainian-Canadian roots.
Trish Graham, humanities, 604.291.5855
Roger Hayter, 604.291.3327 (Tues) 604.984.7356 (Weds/Thurs; away Friday)
Aging crisis debunked…A new study debunks the crisis of the aging population and predicts higher pay and older workers will offset costs for health care and old age security. Gloria Gutman, director of SFU’s gerontology research centre, agrees with the University of Ottawa study. While older people consume more health care than younger ones, she says it’s primarily in late age, especially in their last few of years of life. "Prior to these last years, which are occurring later now than ever before, a majority tend to enjoy good health and to be able to do most of what they want to do most of the time," notes Gutman. "It’s also important to remember that not all older people are poor — many, especially married men, contribute substantial tax dollars." Gutman adds that in order to keep the economy moving, "we will need every older person who is capable of working, to work.."
Gloria Gutman, 604.291.5063
Pay now for long term health gain…That essentially will be the message of Tom Koch’s presentation to former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow’s travelling public hearings on Canada’s health care system. Romanow’s commission is in Vancouver on Tuesday, March 12, hearing presentations at the Coast Plaza Hotel on Denman Street. Koch, an adjunct professor of gerontology at SFU, a bioethicist and a medical writer, will be making his presentation at 2:30 p.m. Koch will briefly outline the history of the decline of universal medicare in Canada as he sees it. He will also make the argument that "in the end, we will pay more for our failure to treat than we will for comprehensive care now," if we sanction the erosion of universal health care.
Tom Koch, 604.714.0348, tomkoch@kochworks.com
Rethinking our Canadian identity…Since returning from travels in the Balkans in December, author Myrna Kostash has been struck by a radical shift around issues of Canadian identity, compared with those noted in her national bestseller, The Next Canada: Looking for the Future Nation (2000) The award-winning author wants to revisit her conclusions about the sustainability of the Canadian identity in the post-NAFTA generation. She’ll highlight her thoughts when she gives the Grace MacInnis Visiting Scholar lecture on The Next Canada Reconsidered, on Thursday, March 14 at SFU’s Burnaby campus, AQ room 4100, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. Kostash has traveled extensively to explore her own Ukrainian-Canadian roots.
Trish Graham, humanities, 604.291.5855