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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2007-02-21, Page 4Page 4 February 21, 2007 • The Huron Expositor e need more balance Opinion Proprietor and Publisher, Bowes Publishers Limited, 11 Main St., Seaforth, ON, NOK 1WO Nobody on their death bed ever said, "I wish I'd spent more time at work." In spite of that sage advice to focus less on our careers and more on our families and relationships, Canadians continue to ,increase the amount of time they spend at their jobs, according to a study recently released by Statistics Canada. If that news comes as a surprise to you, you're not alone. Even the study's author, Martin Turcotte, did not expect the results he discovered. Aren't families always commenting on the amount of time spent running children from sport- ing events to piano lessons to school events, and then all that time watching or participating in their activities? Hasn't the advice about a life spent focussing too much on work made younger parents realize they need to spend more time with their families? That's what Turcotte expected to find in the • study, entitled Time Spent with Family During a Typical Workday. Even some previous research had indicated workers aged 25-34 do not want to sacri- fice their family life for their careers. But the study found that all Canadian workers, regardless of age, are putting more time in at work at the expense of their families. On average, work- ers spent 45 minutes less time with their families during workdays in 2005 than they did almost two decades ago. That 45 minutes each day translates into 195 hours each year based on a 260 -day work year. On average, Canadians worked 536 minutes or 8.9 hours during a typical workday in 2006, up from 506 minutes or 8.4 hours two decades earlier. Certainly the belt -tightening at companies that has cost many North Americans their jobs, has also left those behind with added responsibilities and more work. But each worker needs to ask whether the extra time spent at work is really because more is required o us or are we simply driven to "succeed" like so many in North American culture? Or, is it possible that we have become victims of our own financial success that allows us to buy all the new gadgets that often pull families apart? We may just end up on our deathbeds wishing we had spent more time with families or friends, when it's far too late to make a change. The Stratford Beaco,I Rerald U.S. voters could face historic choice for president While here in Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and PM -hopeful Stephane Dion continue to lay out their plans for com- bating global warming as a possible federal election looms in the not -so -distant future, in the United States, a much more inter- esting, and possibly his- toric race has just gotten started. While our neighbours to the south won't be asked to elect a new president for another year, commentators are already calling the election the most open presidential race in more than 50 years. And while the likes of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Senator and past party candidate John McCain have- thrown their hats into the race as possible successors to George Bush in the Republican Party, all eyes should be on the race for the next Democratic presidential candidate. For the time being, it looks to be a three-way race (with Senator John Edwards being the third). But the candidacy could very easily, as the latest polls suggest, come down to two candidates that 50, or even 15 years ago would never have had a chance - Senators Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. These candidates, if elected the Democratic presidential candidate, and then to the White House, would represent a significant first in U.S. history - either a woman or an African American president. In the 231 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it's only been in the United States' relatively recent history that women and African Americans have been con- sidered "equal". It was 87 years ago that women in the United States were given the right to vote, and it's only been 50 some odd years since laws were put in place to put an end to racial segregation and African Americans were entirely free to vote. The possibility of having a woman or African American elected leader of the most - powerful nation in the world would be both a giant step forward in progressive thinking and a real reason to believe that the majority of U.S. citizens want to begin putting hun- dreds of years of hatred and discrimination behind them. The times when women lost many of their rights upon marriage, and when slavery and segregation were the accepted norms, are dark periods in the United States' history that will never, and should never, be forgot- ten. And too much discrimination still exists today - in the United States and around the world. Electing the first woman or African See FIRST Page 8 Ron & Dove Today, boys and girls, we are going to have speeches from the candidates for class president. Vote for me because my opponent is a POOPYHEADI Poopyhead? by David Lacey Someday all politicians will be elected this way! 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