I will be the first to admit that I have completely sold out to Apple. I, or someone in my family owns just about every single one of their products, ipods, iphones, ipads, macbooks, macbook air, macbook pro – these are just some of the products that sit on shelves in my house. And I don’t just buy these technology gadgets because I think they are cool (although I do think they are cool) – I like Apple products because they work and because I like the way they treat me as the customer – I never feel like I am just a sale or a number – I feel like I belong to their community.
Early yesterday morning I was sitting at my kitchen table reading The Toronto Star as per my daily habit. Unlike most days, however, the front page was notlittered with the usual murder trial, hockey star or international crisis. Instead it was a picture of a young man dangling from high a top a skyscraper. Rooftopping in Toronto the headline read and the article went on to tell the exploits of photographers who take great risks to take pictures from dangerously high buildings with no safety systems in place.
- Today as I was driving my kids to school I came across an interesting topic on CBC Radio's "The Current". The program was talking about the 10% of people in Canada who live below the poverty line, including children.
I listened with intensity as they talked about children who will wake up this Christmas morning with no presents, My stomach was knots as I thought about my own children and the beautiful presents they will receive.
"All we can hope for as a family is workplace safety." So said the aunt of a 24-year-old man killed in Toronto this week when a drilling rig fell onto his front-end loader on a construction site.
Kyle Knox's body was trapped within the cab of his loader for almost a day; he was pronounced dead at the scene. Five other male workers were hurt by the rig which also fell on top of a backhoe; they were all hospitalized with minor to major injuries.
I have just come back from Saskatchewan where I spoke to 700 business and government leaders in Regina and Saskatoon. I also took teams out to impact three high schools in Regina.
One of the amazing efforts we saw in that province is the mandatory Job Readiness Certificate (online test) that all 14 and 15-year olds must write and get it signed off by a parent or guardian. It makes good sense - similar to all new drivers having to write a beginner's licence test before they start driving.
