NS Provincial Volunteer Workshop -- Oct 14 and 15, 2005
Good evening.
I am delighted to have the opportunity to welcome you to the opening of the Nova Scotia Provincial Volunteer Workshop (“Strength in Community”). It promises to be a rewarding experience for all participants. It is both an honour and a privilege to address you tonight as the keynote speaker. I am both excited and delighted to be here. But I must admit I have asked myself, “Why Me?” and “How did this all happen?”
Almost a year ago to the day, I presented a paper at the International Problem Gambling Conference in Halifax. Following the presentation, I was approached by your own Racheal Surette. She asked if I would be willing to come back East again next year to speak at this conference. I, of course, replied that I would be glad to, because I never suspected that the topic would be anything but gambling, Gambling is something I can talk about for hours at the drop of a hat. It was only on August 10th that I was told that in the month of June there had been a meeting held with representatives from Addiction Services across the province. At this meeting, some people voiced a concern that there might be too much emphasis placed on gambling. I learned that the theme of the panel was to be “Building Partnerships and Coalitions”, that the theme of the workshop was to be “Strength in Community”, and that I was about to embark on a new career: that of Motivational Speaker.
So let's first examine the definition of a volunteer. The dictionary defines a volunteer as “someone who performs or offers to perform a service out of his own free will, often without payment”. Let's make a note of that definition, because I will challenge it later.
Now let's consider how I, personally, got involved in volunteer work. It was 1995 and I was operating a viable sales agency in Regina, Saskatchewan. From the time I moved there from Montreal in 1982, there had always been a casino operating on the Exhibition Grounds on an intermittent basis (that is to say, it operated on occasions that would coincide with trade shows or agricultural events). Being an ardent Blackjack player, I always welcomed the opportunity of playing at this casino which was operated by the Exhibition Association. By and large, I usually saw the same people on every occasion. All of these habitual players were usually playing their favourite games of chance. This occasional playing, however, was done in a low-limit gambling environment which did not open till 4:00 pm. and started winding down at around 11:30 pm, in order to have players and staff out by midnight.
In 1993, the government of Saskatchewan discovered that there was a machine called a VLT (video lottery terminal) that was quite popular in Alberta and Manitoba. The government of Saskatchewan also discovered that people from Saskatchewan border towns were spending their money in these out-of-province hotels and bars. And so they decided to place these same machines in the hotels of their towns that bordered these other jurisdictions. Seeing the enormous economic benefit from installing those initial machines in border towns inspired the government to expand video lottery machine gambling into all the small towns of Saskatchewan. The rationale was that this was done in order to revitalize the hotel and restaurant industry. Within a very short period of time, electronic gambling machines were everywhere, not only in every small town but also in every city. Within a very short period of time, the people of Saskatchewan were ensnared in down-spiralling process that would, in the end, lead to tragic results.
Once having become awakened to the easy-money revenue possibilities of gambling, the government decided it needed more. Only two years later, the Saskatchewan government opened the Regina Casino. The Regina Casino was open seven days a week. It was open from 10:00 am to 4:00 am. It offered the excitement of high stakes tables and countless slot machines. The good citizens of Saskatchewan, who for so many years had been frugal with their spending because they had always had to work so hard for their money, suddenly were enticed to be "entertained" at the Casino. They began to spend freely and recklessly. Before very long, the damages were done. Farmers were unable to buy seeds to plant the crops, and so they faced foreclosure and lost the family farm. Owners of small family businesses in town could not meet their mortgages, and so they, too, were closed down. In two separate instances that I personally know of, local men committed suicide.
I must admit that I, too, found myself playing too often and for too long. I decided it was time that I stepped away from the table -- while I was still able. The issues of government gambling and the damages it could do concerned me greatly. I did not like what I saw. But what could I possibly do?
It was around that time that I was asked by acquaintances (who were with the Canadian Mental Health Association) if I would be willing to establish a Foundation. They wanted to see the establishment of a Foundation specifically designed to deal with Prevention and Awareness programs regarding gambling. They suggested that the Canadian Mental Health Association would be willing to facilitate our existence by providing free office space, the use of their telephones, postage, stationary, clerical staff, etc.
Because I had seen the damages resulting from the “new” gambling opportunities, and because I could foresee what would lie ahead if government-sponsored gambling continued, I felt I could no longer stand aside. I felt I had an obligation to try to make a difference to the outcome of the future. Although I had initially assured them that I was much too busy, in a short period of time I could no longer deny (even to myself) the need to volunteer my services. I accepted their offer. I agreed to do it only on a part-time basis so that I could maintain my own business commitments.
It was not long, however, before the “part-time” increasingly began to take up more and more of my total time. In early 1996, someone I knew really well (who had found that he was now an addict – that he no longer had the ability to stop gambling) parked his truck on the train tracks and waited to be killed. When that happened, I knew I could no longer go on ignoring the issue. I closed my business and began to fully devote my time to this cause.
I decided then that I was never going to be a millionaire, but I was going to do what I could to be remembered after I am gone as someone who cared about a cause, and did something about it.
And that is how the Canadian Foundation on Compulsive Gambling (Sask.) was born. Now I was a founder and CEO of an organization and all I had to do was figure out where to start! The first step, I was told by regulations from Corporate Affairs, was to assemble a volunteer Board of Directors. What is more, if it was going to be a provincial organization I would need representation from every corner of the province. Now this ought to be a challenge! I sent out twenty-seven invitations to significant people all over the province. Most of these people I did not even know, other than by reputation. Of the twenty-seven, I was hoping that I might recruit ten or twelve of them. Twenty-seven replies came back. Twenty-six of the people had accepted. I had recruited a Board that would be the envy of many corporations. Among those accepting were addiction counsellors, Employee Assistance Personnel workers, a member of the Municipal Council, and people representing clergy, justice and education. There was a vice-chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and a representative of the Metis people. From the near and the far parts of the province they came for the inaugural meeting, and they continued to come twice annually for the general meeting and the Board meeting. These volunteers formed committees and brought to the meetings for discussion the issues that concerned every part of the province. For all of this investment of time and effort, each Director received only a per deum for travel, accommodations, and meals. Because many of them were financially independent (and knew that the Foundation was not solvent), they wouldn't even turn in the per deum sheet for reimbursement.
Under Corporate Law, the only salaries that could be paid were to the Executive Director and a part-time secretary. Unfortunately, there was no money to pay either one. In fact, the organization was kept alive through the generosity of my secretary who, because he had a substantial income from his official job with the Department of Justice, could pay the rent, telephones etc. for the offices that we now required in order to carry on our work. In time, we were able to carry on day-to-day activities. Then the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation engaged my services to train Casino staff on how to recognize a problem gambler and how to do an intervention. The success of that initiative subsequently prompted the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority to engage me to train their field workers and executives. Our Foundation also received sponsorship from the Western Canada Lottery Corporation, the Hotel and Restaurant Association and the FSIN. That still did not allow me to draw a salary. However, it enabled us to hold our Board meetings and allowed me to travel to different parts of the province where I sat on problem gambling committees that dealt with issues unique to their area.
At this point in my life, I realized that for years I had put a great deal of effort into studying Blackjack and other table games so that I could better my chances of winning. Now I decided to put equal effort into studying the attraction of gambling. At the age of fifty-five, I was not a likely candidate to enrol in university to get a doctorate, so I did the next best thing. For the next two years I attended provincial and international conferences where I networked with some of the most learned researchers in the world. One of these experts, Durand F. Jacobs, is one of the first people to have studied compulsive gambling as an addiction. Dewey, as his friends and colleagues call him, agreed to be my mentor. A number of other prominent researchers also shared their knowledge freely with me and in the second year I was already being invited to present papers at major conferences from Montreal to Las Vegas. I had been accepted as a peer.
At this point I would like to revisit the dictionary definition that referred to an individual performing a service “out of his own free will, often without payment”. It might not be tangible payment, but already we can see the psychological and moral benefit of volunteering. Volunteering can be a pathway to networking with people with similar interests. It allows us to expand our horizons and can open the door to a change in career.
My Saskatchewan experience, for the most part, was one of working in harmony with the gambling industry. When I requested meetings with stakeholders, they accommodated me because my recommendations were always believed to be for the benefit of all concerned parties. The goal was to keep the players healthy, well informed and to provide treatment for those who had already developed problems. By the spring of 1998 I felt that Canadian Foundation on Compulsive Gambling (Sask.) was functioning reasonably well. It was time for me to expand my personal horizons. I wanted now to become an advocate on a national level. I had originally planned to move further west to Calgary. But fate had a different plan in store for me.
While visiting Montreal (as I did every summer to maintain contact with my siblings and friends) I met the lady who was to become my partner in life and in business. During a career spanning twenty-eight years teaching special need students and gifted students, while raising a family of six children of her own, in her “spare time” she had completed the courses required for a Master's degree in Psychology and Counselling at McGill University. With her background and her training in psychotherapy, and my knowledge of gambling addiction, it seemed like we were destined to meet and that there was a plan intended for us to carry out. And Viva Consulting was born. I made two promises to her at the time. One, that I would make her proud of me, and two, that I would become the Canadian Ralph Nader. Mr. Nader was my idol because he had forced the automobile industry to accept responsibility for people being killed on the highways instead of blaming the "nut behind the wheel".
Five years after we started Viva Consulting, I was invited to present a paper at the Insight Nova Scotia conference in Halifax. The keynote speaker was Ralph Nader. Although I had never met or even corresponded with Mr. Nader, our addresses were amazingly similar. We both called for the gambling industry to accept responsibility for the harm created by expanded gambling and not to shift responsibility to the gambler.
Back to that dictionary definition of a volunteer: “service . . without payment”. What dollar value can one place on the euphoria of addressing the same audience as the person you idolized?
The gambling field is not the only one in which I have been involved as a volunteer. One day in the late 1990’s I read in the Montreal Gazette a story about an organization called Tel-Aide. Tel-Aide is a local organization that responds in two languages to telephone calls from people in distress. Its mission is to provide a minimum of one person in each language to answer calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This organization is not for profit and relies on trained volunteers to answer the phones. The article announced that there was a shortage of listeners to fill all of the shifts. They were appealing for people to volunteer. I called for information. I was told that people who qualified would be given twenty hours of training in active listening. In exchange, Tel-Aide required a promise to volunteer to listen to callers twice a month for four hours each shift plus one eight-hour overnight shift every second month for a period of one year. The course in active listening was amazing. I realized that we learn public speaking and other forms of communication, but most of us never learn how to listen. Most people are guilty of thinking while the other person is speaking, instead of listening. How many times has somebody finished your sentence instead of waiting to hear what you really were going to say? I stayed with Tel-Aide for almost five years. I was invited onto the Board of Directors in my first year. I was elected vice-president in my third year and declined the Presidency in the fourth year because my time was filling up again. The reward? The reward was the personal satisfaction every now and then a lonely person who had no family or friends to talk to had found an anonymous person who cared enough to be there to answer the phone, and said, "Thank you for being there”.
I have another instance of volunteerism to share with you. In 2002, I received a phone call at our office from a man by the name of Sonny Joe Cross. Sonny Joe lives on a reserve close to Montreal. He was a construction worker in New York City for forty years and is now retired. There was to be a referendum held on the reserve about whether or not to build a casino. He asked for my help to put forth an effort to elicit a "No" vote. The previous referendum held two years earlier was defeated, but only by a small majority. He had heard of my reputation as an opponent to gambling expansion. I told him that although I would stand up against any government in Canada, I felt it was not my place to meddle in native affairs. I did agree, however, to meet with him to discuss some of the strategies. Sonny Joe practically fought a one-man war against the band council and their attempts to convince the people that a casino would be good for the community and that they should vote "yes". Sonny Joe rented a large portable electronic billboard and placed it in front of his business on the main street of Kahnawake, Mohawk Territory, Quebec. You may have noticed that a minute ago I said he was retired and now I mentioned his place of business. He has owned and operated Doda's Tickle Trunk, a charity store, for the past twelve years. The store processes roughly one hundred bags of clothing, toys, books, and other items each and every week. The profits from the sales are entirely reinvested back into the community. In addition to the electronic “NO” billboard, he bought and paid for cardboard placards that people could pick up free of charge at his store to place on their lawn. He also bought and paid for T-shirts that proclaimed "No Casino" that were available for the asking. The day before the referendum was to be held, I released a news brief to the media. Data that I had just received from the Coroner's office in Quebec cited thirty gambling-related suicides in the province in the past twelve months, more than one every two weeks. The referendum was defeated by a wide margin, with a very heavy turnout of voters. Sonny Joe had won a battle, because he cared about his people, and he did something about it.
This unsung hero has done much more than that. For the past fourteen years, he has volunteered his time as a DJ at K103 radio. He brings all his music from his own personal record collection and plays old-time music for the listening enjoyment of elderly community members. This station also transmits into Montreal and all across the world by Internet. One afternoon when I drove out to the reserve and we went out for lunch (always at his expense), a man came over to our table and told Sonny Joe how much he enjoys the radio show. After the man walked away Sonny Joe said to me, "That's my pay. Just knowing that people get enjoyment from the records I play makes it all worthwhile”. He has organized an annual music festival for the community for the past thirteen years, and helped with many other social activities for the benefit of his fellow community members. All money raised from the festival is donated to the community and to the Children's Hospital. He has demonstrated, and continues to exemplify, a very high level of interest in the socio-political affairs of his community. He adds a strong presence to the collective conscience of his community. He makes the people aware of the political and social issues that concern them most. Sonny Joe says that he has no interest in profiting from his efforts. Rather, he often sees his many good works as a form of penance for his younger days. I am proud to call him my friend.
Once you adopt the attitude of a volunteer, once you believe that you CAN make a difference, opportunities abound. Mine continue to expand my horizons. Recently I encountered another situation where I felt I had to put myself forward and speak up.
Because I live in downtown Montreal, I do most of my travelling by public transportation on the subway, or as it is known in Montreal, the Metro. In Quebec, for reasons I will not bore you with today, French is the official language. Anglophones, as they have named us, have not lost the right to speak English, but most of our other rights have been taken away. As a result of this, any public service announcements or any other announcements are made in French only. I have accepted this because it is a law that came into effect as Bill 101. However, a series of events recently occurred that caused me to investigate what would take precedence in an emergency situation: the law? or common sense and logic?
Previously, I had had contact with people at the Canada Safety Council, since they had taken a position some time ago that agreed gambling was becoming an issue of concern. So on this occasion I wrote to them and said the following:
Dear Ms. Archard,
You will notice that I am extending beyond my mandate, which usually deals with the hazards created by gambling. This issue truly involves the safety of and protection of human lives. In recent years I have become a frequent passenger on the Montreal Metro system. Quite often the service is interrupted because of extraordinary circumstances including but not limited to suicides. When this occurs announcements are made over the public address system notifying the passengers awaiting subway trains of some details. Because English is no longer an official language in Quebec the STCUM is not obligated to make those same announcements in English. I am constantly irritated by the unilingualism demonstrated on a subway system that certainly caters to millions of tourists during the summer months as well as local people who do not understand French. However, given the events in London over the past several weeks, I believe that politics must be put aside in order to protect human lives in the event of an emergency. Last week in Toronto a bomb scare forced the evacuation of the transit system. The evacuation was apparently done in a very orderly manner and proved to be a test of how people would react if it were a real situation. I believe we need to know whether or not the STCUM have prepared English instruction should there be a need to evacuate our system quickly and efficiently. I frankly think that they have not. I think there would be nothing but confusion and pandemonium if an announcement was made in French only and non French speaking people had no idea of what was happening and what was being expected of them. I don't know whether or not this topic is in your mandate but if it is not could you kindly forward it to the appropriate person? I believe we need to deal pro-actively with this subject or eventually suffer the consequences.
Best regards,
Sol Boxenbaum
P.S. Although I am fluently bilingual I cannot understand what is being said due to the inferior quality of the PA system as a whole. The same day I received a response that my point was well taken and that a letter was being sent to Anne McLellan, Minister of public safety and emergency preparedness with a copy to Premier Jean Charest. The following day I was interviewed by CBC television news and it was the lead story on the six o’clock news. Within a month I was invited to the communication centre of the STCUM and I was allowed to listen to pre-recorded messages in English that would be played in the metro stations and on the trains in the event of an emergency. I was also assured that they were in the process of installing a new high-tech public address system. I do not know whether those pre-recorded messages were made in the weeks that passed between my complaint and the day of my tour, or whether they had always had them prepared nor do I care. The important thing is that they are there. I took personal satisfaction that I had not just sulked about the announcements, I took it to the people who could do something about it.
But enough about me. Let's talk about you. I am proud of each and every one of you who are gathered here this weekend for this event. I am told that many of you have been volunteering for Addiction Services for many many years. Typically, we (who are the Davids) and need to depend on cooperation from the government (the Goliaths) for funding, support, or resources, sometimes tend to get discouraged. But it is always a matter of attitude that can bring us back to an even greater level of energy.
In my mind, every time the government leads us down a different path but eventually refuses our request, it is their effort to discourage us and to make us go away. But the harder they try to make me go away, the more I raise my level of persistence. I, by myself, am only a tiny speck on the "big picture". But through forming or joining coalitions with other people or special interest groups, I become powerful. Then I can make a difference.
I do not have a PhD but I do have a PSD. I will let you figure that one out, but I will give you a clue: the P stands for Professional and the D stands for Disturber.
I believe that there is nothing that cannot be accomplished if you are willing to undertake the initiative and if you are prepared to be in for the long haul. I have a great belief that, ultimately, right will triumph over wrong.
The biggest obstacle we face is not the government. The biggest obstacle we face is lethargy: apathy among people, all those people who sit back and complain about conditions or situations, but do nothing to change them. The main speaker at the water cooler goes home at the end of the day, content to come back and face the same situation tomorrow, unless someone else does something about it. Most people claim not to have the time or the energy to “get involved”. That is inexcusable. Making time will make the difference between enduring the same situations day after day or creating a better world for us today, and for our children and grandchildren in the future. It all begins with “the power of one” and then the possibilities are endless.
And once again, to challenge the dictionary definition of volunteer: there are rewards much greater than money. Politicians get lots of money. However, with few exceptions, are they able to look at themselves in the mirror at the end of the day and say that they helped make life better for themselves and for others? I think not. But our rewards come in unexpected forms and at unexpected intervals. Our rewards are priceless. A mobilized community can accomplish miracles when there is a common goal.
Enjoy the weekend. Absorb all that you will hear tomorrow. Leave here with the feeling that you are in control. As a volunteer, know that you will make a difference, in whatever are the issues, regardless of the odds against you, because YOU have the drive, the desire and the solutions.
