These are challenging times.  The news is bleak. Social media is a cesspool of bad news and bad takes. When the world needs strong, global leadership from the U.S., we get, well … we get Trump. ‘nuff said.

I have hope.  I have faith.  I have confidence in our future as a community; as a nation; as a global species.  I have a belief that we can emerge from this strong.  No doubt, it will be a struggle, but I think we’ll be ok.
I’m optimistic.

Why? 

Well, let me share some glimmers of hope on an otherwise bleak landscape … and hopefully, they give you some hope too. 

First, I have faith in entrepreneurs.  Not just the ones you see on Dragon’s Den.  I believe in the everyday inventors and innovators who see problems and find solutions. 

Story #1

About a year ago, I met a Nigeria-born, McMaster University trained physician who was working in Brampton named Dr. Dayo Olakulehin. He noticed that the hospitals and clinics in third-world countries didn’t have affordable ventilators. The units we have in Western hospitals range in price from $10,000 to $30,000 per unit.  They are critical pieces of equipment for anyone facing respiratory distress.  So, Dr. Olakulehin set about to re-engineer the ventilator and got the cost down to less than $1,000. He calls his invention the D-Box and it’s a simpler version of the ventilator that is found in every hospital in Canada, except that it can be produced more quickly and it can operate on a battery.  Here’s a story from 2016 from the Brampton Guardian.  Check out his Toronto-based company here to learn more. 

I’ve been hearing lots of stories about a critical shortage of ventilators to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, so two nights ago, through social media, I reached out to Dr. Olakulehin and re-posted the story from Guardian to my Facebook page.  Within two hours, my social-media network connected Dr. Dayo to an old colleague of mine who now works with the National Research Council in Ottawa and to another friend who is connected to a group of engineers in Sarnia, Ontario who have access to 3-D printing, prototyping and expertise to scale up production quickly.  Dr. Olakulehin has been inundated with offers to help from around the world.

That all happened in 12 hours.  Multiply that a thousand times and you start to understand the power of networks.

Story #2

Yesterday, I was surfing through twitter … we’re in isolation, we have nothing better to do … and I came across a story of a doctor from a hospital in Perth, Ontario who figured out a way to jury-rig a single ventilator so it could be used to treat nine patients instead of just one.  Presto – Ontario’s hospitals can increase their ventilator capacity nine-fold.  Incidentally, this little McGyver trick was noticed on Twitter by none other than Elon Musk who is, doubtless, working away in his own secret lair on a solution as we speak. 

Story #3

Earlier this week, Dr. Chil-Yong Kang, Professor at the Schulich School of Medicine at Western University in London Ontario was given $1 million to begin work on a COVID-19 vaccine.  Why is this a big deal?  Well, this professor has a pretty amazing track record.  A few years ago, he and his colleagues laid the groundwork for an HIV vaccine and he’s currently working on a MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) vaccine that is closely related to COVID-19.  He is a serious global rock-star in the field.  And he’s in our back-yard, just down the 401!  My only question:  Why was he only given $1 million?  Give him a $ billion, or whatever he needs!

And, by the way, did you know that one of the worlds leading vaccine manufacturers is located just a few kilometers away?  Sanofi Pasteur is at Steeles & Dufferin in Toronto and about 2,000 people work there producing vaccines for the world. They have been producing vaccines for the world since the early 1900’s – including cures for polio, small pox … all the nastiest diseases. Check out their website.  I have a feeling this is where the cure for COVID-19 will be produced – in our own backyard!

Story #4

A little closer to home, my wife received a text this morning from our dry-cleaner. He was asking how he could get in touch with the right people at Mississauga’s hospitals to figure out how he could spend his day sewing masks to help stop the spread of the virus.  I have no idea if this is even feasible, or scientifically speaking the right thing to do – that’s not the point.  Here’s a small business owner, with a young family to care for, who is getting ZERO business this week and not likely to get any for the next 2 or 3 weeks, and all he can think about is how he can use those idle hands to help.  What great spirit! 

That’s the type of story that gives me hope!  (By the way, once this crisis passes – and it will – be sure to drop off a few shirts to Sadaf Cleaners on Vanier Drive in South Mississauga. He does a fantastic job and deserves the business.)

Story #5

On Friday, The Government of Canada and The Province of Ontario both launched web-sites calling for the private sector to step up and provide critical medial supplies.  Within hours, over 3,000 companies answered the call.  The Federal government announced that they were able to secure 11 million N-95 masks … and they’re just getting started. 

In my hometown of Beamsville Ontario, Dillon’s Distilleries switched their production line from producing (really good!) gin to producing hand sanitizer.  Distilleries across Canada have done the same.  I don’t know which distillery was the first to do this – don’t really care – I just applaud the fact that they are doing this.  When this is over, pick up a bottle of Dillon’s and show your support for this company.

So, that’s why I have some hope and some optimism in the face of overwhelmingly bad news. 

This crisis will probably get worse – the science tells us it will. This is a gut-wrenching global tragedy and there will be more bad news. I’m not diminishing any of that one bit, but I choose to focus on the positive. 

I choose to focus on the stories of spirit and resilience in my community, my neighbourhood, my city, my province and my country that inspire some hope. 

I have to focus on the positive to keep my own spirit up.

We have the best hospitals in the world in our backyard.  We have the best health care professionals who are dedicated to their work beyond belief. We have solid public institutions and government that is, by and large, doing the right things and doing them for all the right reasons – to save lives.  (By the way, special shout-out to the leadership exhibited by Prime Minister Trudeau, Premier Ford, Mayor Crombie and Health Minister Christine Elliott – among dozens of others - they are all exhibiting tremendous leadership in this crisis and should make us all proud.)

We can do this!  We’ll emerge from this crisis strong. 

In the meantime, take care of your neighbours, friends and – most importantly – your family. 

Take care and stay healthy.  Stay positive.  Flatten the curve.

Mike Ras is a keen observer of public policy, politics and media. For his day job, he’s director of government relations with a prominent Canadian financial institution. A resident of Mississauga, part-time “professor” in the Government Relations program at Seneca College and an active volunteer with a number of local charities.
Connect with him on Twitter here.