Harry Shannon
Some years ago, McDonald’s in Canada had an ad campaign using the line: “There’s a little McDonald’s in everyone.” Meaningless, of course, but I assume it worked to sell their food (or, as some people would argue, their ‘food’).
Then the Toronto Star ran an article about how the population is getting too fat becau…
Tag: Hamilton Spectator
A divided city?
Harry Shannon
Just over 20 years ago, the Ontario government created a new City of Hamilton by amalgamating what had previously been the city with surrounding towns. At the time it was highly controversial. One town, Dundas, held a plebiscite (an unofficial vote) on the issue. About half the electorate voted - far more than typically turn out f…
Failure to sample can be dangerous to your health
Harry Shannon
Background: Municipalities in Ontario held elections last week. A couple of days before, the Hamilton Spectator published a letter complaining that an opinion poll reporting on the race for Mayor was useless. I responded and the letter was in the print edition a few days later. Below is the letter I sent; there were some minor edi…
Should we raise the retirement age? No
Should we raise the retirement age? That’s what an opinion article in the Hamilton Spectator last week proposed.
The author argued his case using data on life expectancy (LE). He noted that back in 1965, when Canada Pension Plan began, LE for men was 66.8, for women 73. He then stated that, since the pension age was 65, men only got CPP for a…
Evidence-based?
Harry Shannon
This comes from the Hamilton Spectator. The two extracts are shown exactly as they appeared side-by-side in the printed version. No comment needed.
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Horror-scopes?
My latest letter to the Hamilton Spectator
Harry Shannon
The letter wasn’t published, but others making some similar points were. It followed a column by the Toronto Star’s public editor, Bruce Campion-Smith. (Torstar owns the Star and the Spec and the two papers print the same horoscopes.) Campion-Smith noted that the astrologer who wro…
Try living on the minimum wage – my letter in the Hamilton Spectator
Harry Shannon
Background: A story in the paper on March 3 reported that Hamilton (Ontario) city council turned down a proposal to pay various workers a living wage. The vote was 14-4 against.
My letter was just one of three in today's (March 7) paper criticizing the decision. There was a fourth letter on the topic. It began: 'A living wa…