I think public places such as libraries, shopping centres, airports, universities, and major transit stations should include a small private room where someone can be alone for a short time.

It could contain drinking water, tissues, a comfortable chair, soft lighting, ventilation, and an emergency call button. It could help people who are overwhelmed, anxious, grieving, experiencing sensory overload, or simply need a private moment.

Similar spaces may already exist in some facilities. My proposal is that a simple and accessible version should become a standard feature in more public places.

The difficult part would be balancing privacy and fair access. A strict time limit might prevent long-term occupation, but it could also make an anxious person feel pressured to calm down quickly. Perhaps a suggested session length, gentle check-ins, and optional extensions would work better.

How would you design and manage such a room safely and fairly?

Canadians often treat moving to the U.S. for a higher-paying job as an automatic career achievement. I think that is wrong.

If someone moves because the work is genuinely more intellectually rewarding, creative, ambitious, or unavailable in Canada, that is worth respecting.

But if they could get equally satisfying work in Canada and move mainly because the U.S. job pays twice as much, why should that be admired? For already well-paid professionals without some major financial need, that looks more like shallow salary-chasing than ambition.

Canada should give more status to intellectual ambition than salary ambition.

Leaving for extraordinary work: admirable.

Leaving mainly for a bigger paycheck: shallow.

P.S. It would be nice if Canadians became known for chasing more intellectually rewarding work, not just bigger paychecks.