Personal Impressions Matter In Politics.

Wouldn’t it be great if all Candidates seeking public office were at their peek in health, fitness, energy levels, and wisdom. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case.

Remember when Justin Trudeau was first elected as Prime Minister?

In 2017, Justin was young, physically fit (an amateur boxer, no less), energetic and (by some counts, not mine) handsome. With a “sunny ways, sunny days” election motto and a powerful, well-funded Liberal election campaign team backing him and corporate media organizations fawning all over him, he rode a wave of popularity to the top job in Canadian politics.

The heady days of “Trudeau-mania Lite” were upon us during Justin’s first national election campaign and his early “honeymoon” period as Prime Minister. It was reminiscent of the more robust version of Trudeau- mania that followed Justin’s dad in the early 1970s. However, cracks in the armour of positive public opinion for both Trudeau Sr and Jr began to appear increasingly as time went on.

In hindsight, it is now cleat Justin Trudeau has not “as advertised”. He suckered the majority of Canadians into choosing him as Prime Minister on two occasions. “Sunny days” is not exactly how many Canadians today would describe Justin’s reign as Canada’s top political figure. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me” is the adage that I would choose to says to Justin, his caucus and everyone who voted for him.

The Municipal Election of the City of Kawartha Lakes

Last nite, I attended another All Candidates Event in Lindsay Ontario for the Municipal elections that are currently in full swing. It was held in “the Armoury” with perhaps 400 electors in attendance. Over 20 Candidates for Council for its 8 wards were each assigned a desk and table to pass out their campaign pamphlets and answer election questions. The 6 Candidates for Mayor also had the same stations. Only the mayoral candidates were also asked to address the audience from a central podium to answer 5 election questions over the one hour allotted for this purpose.

My impressions of the Mayoral Candidates are my own

Like everyone else, I hold a biased perspective regarding elections and candidates. My perspective has, to some extent, been influenced by a lifelong interest in human health and performance. This influences include my by university degree (Honours B.Sc.Kinesiology - the study of human health and performance), my age at 71, my lifelong preoccupation of remaining physically fit and slender, and by a concern for the epidemic of Metabolic disease which affects over 90% of Americans and likely similar levels in Canada.

Metabolic Syndrome is discussed extensively in one of the recent The Drive podcasts broadcast by Dr. Peter Attia who explores the Science of Longevity on his show. The Drive is one of the favourites of my wife and I. After my own personal background and listening to many of Peter’s interviews with other experts in fields related to longevity, it should come as no surprise that My Life Lens is infused by the information that I have absorbed from these sources and others related to this ongoing topic of interest.

As Peter and his guests have explained, Metabolic Syndrome is overtly manifested as obesity in most cases, but even slender people can be afflicted and not know it. Dietary habits, lack of exercise, and chronic system inflammation that produces bodily pain in joints and elsewhere, low energy levels and sometimes overt disability - these are all know causes of this illness.

Clinically, epidemiologists have reported strong causal links to advancing Metabolic Syndrome in conditions like diabetes (and “pre-diabetes), heart disease, hypertension leading to strokes and lung clots, and cancers. Of course, this disease also advances steadily with age;  this explains why so many of our older citizens are undergoing treatments and taking a variety of medications for chronic health issues.

So, what does Metabolic Syndrome have to do with last nite’s All Candidates event?

Part of my assessment as a voter is based on a risk evaluation concerning a Candidate’s likely ability to perform the Mayor’s job given his or age and health as it may relate to Metabolic Syndrome. I am not a medical doctor or scientist so I depend on epidemiology reports and experts like Dr. Peter Attia. This information and subsequent risk assessment is one of several parameters that I consider in my process of reaching an “informed” decision as a voter.

These are my observations from last night of the 6 Candidates for Mayor. 4 are visibly over weight. At least 2 of those 4  (perhaps more) are over the age of 70. The short walk from their chair to the podium to answer questions was traversed unsteadily by more than 1 of them. The most energetic and most healthy-looking of the 6 Candidates were the 2 youngest and least overweight.

Politically incorrect?

I know that my statement of these observations is politically incorrect. We are not supposed to “judge a book by its cover” in this day and age, but it’s difficult not to with my life lens. I know that two risk factors are at the top of the list to virtually guarantee a shorter lifespan accompanied by higher rates of chronic medical conditions; one is obesity, the other is smoking.

Oddly, the entire science of Epidemiology must also be politically incorrect because it’s entire purpose is to study demographic factors that determine the incidents of disease and to feed public policies that will help our Public Health and Medical professionals to help us to avoid engaging in unhealthy behaviours and choices. Some people may ask what right I have to evaluate political candidates on my observations concerning that state of Metabolic Syndrome. If I had a PhD in epidemiology after my name, few would be concerned about my observations, but I don’t.

Regarding age, this report shows that the average Ontario man dies before the age of 80. More recent reports reveal that this number has fallen over the pandemic years, more so in America where obesity and other lifestyle factors as a greater threat than here.

As an educated and informed layman, and someone who believes in “informed consent” in more than one area of my life choices, I watched and listened to my 6 choices for Mayor. I was wondering who had the best chance of survival over the next 4 years given their apparent age and evidence of advanced Metabolic disease? Who also possessed the energy levels to carry out the demands of the Mayor’s office without succumbing to the stress.

Sadly, some of the Candidates who bring the most experience to the job are also the one’s who would score poorly according to my Metabolic disease risk assessment. It would be wonderful if all Candidates seeking public office were at their peek in health, fitness, energy levels, and wisdom. However, this is rarely the case.

We, the public, do not choose from our communities who will step up to the challenge of running for public office.  The Candidates choose themselves for better or worse. The electors in City of Kawartha Lakes currently have a short list of 6 self-selected Candidates for Mayor out of a population of tens of thousands of residents. Are these candidates the best from within our communities?

As a former professional recruiter, I wish there was another acceptable way to encourage the best, brightest, healthiest and wisest citizens to this Municipal leadership contest. If that was possible, I am certain that the tone and substance of this essay would likely have been very different.

DISCLAIMER: The above opinions are mine alone. They do not represent the opinions of any other persons or groups with whom I am and have been associated. As such, this essay does not constitute any form of advertising. My authority for expressing these opinions is derived from Canadian constitutional law and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.