Frank McKenna confessed Monday that politics is a trap that can drag you down and rob you of balance in your life, reported CanWest News Service Jan. 31. The former New Brunswick premier sounded like a textbook case of a recovering workaholic bowing out of a field that is rife with the destructive addiction, experts say. Politics, by its nature, is rampant with workaholics who are in so deep that it is rare to recognize the affliction, let alone publicly acknowledge it, said Ron Burke, professor emeritus of organizational behaviour at York’s Schulich School of Business. Parliament Hill, which is widely considered the pinnacle of a political career, is one of the worst breeding grounds, he said. “With the Ottawa scene, they have to spend a lot of time in the evenings at social functions and then when they come back home they have to spend time with their constituents,” he said. “People keep telling me about the high divorce rate among politicians and the number of dicey marriages. That might be one of the symptoms [of workaholism] for those who have to work so hard.”
On air
- Amila Buturovic, a professor of Islamic studies in York’s Division of Humanities, commented on dramatic increases in Islamic study courses at York, on “A Channel News At 6” in Barrie Jan. 27. She also commented on a $1-million gift to create a new Chair in Islamic studies at York, on “OMNI News: South Asian Edition” in Toronto Jan. 27.
- Victoria Smith
, an adjunct professor at York’s Osgoode Hall Law School and co-author of Collaborative Family Law published by Carswell, talked about the move toward this new way of dealing with family disputes, including divorce, with CBC Radio’s Michael Enright on “Sunday Edition” Jan. 29.
- Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion is becoming a marketing success for her city, said Alan Middleton, a marketing professor at York’s Schulich School of Business, on “680 News” in Toronto Jan. 30.
- Alan Young, a professor at York’s Osgoode Hall Law School, talked about the legal status of compassion clubs, on CBC Radio news reports aired Jan. 27 in Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John, NB, where a local woman is challenging the country’s medicinal marijuana laws and appealing her conviction for trafficking pot at her cannabis café.