We Will Remember Him
They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them
In memory of our fallen Canadian:
Spr Brian Collier – Afghanistan July 20, 2010
Always Caring — Always Canadian — Never Defeated
Support Our Troops — Wear Red on Fridays
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In Case the Liberals are Wondering…
Just so I’m transparent here, I am currently a Liberal supporter. I became one when Ignatieff became leader because I believe, notwithstanding my previous disapproval of him, that he had improved his performance and might just be a good leader for the Liberals.
In the intervening time, I have to admit, I have sure wondered about that decision. I know for certainty that Harper would never get my support, nor would Bob Rae. I am extremely unlikely to support Layton or the NDP. I have to admit to noticing that inspite his having to take time to battle with cancer these last few months, he sure manages to speak up about things Canadians are concerned about.
I want to not only hear that out of Ignatieff, I want him to mean it. In order for him to mean it, he can’t just shoot from the hip, he needs to do enough background to know he can carry through on what he’s saying.
Where was he when the cops in Toronto all but goose-stepped all over the rights of hundreds of Canadian citizens during the G20? Why did we hear the NDP calling for an inquiry but virtually nothing said from the Liberal camp? Since the NDP hold only the slimmest chance of actually forming a government in this country, does the absence of a Liberal stand on the police behaviour during the G20 indicate a Liberal government would have been okay with the same happening?
Is it more important to the Liberals to avoid an election they might not be ready for or for them to represent and defend the best interests of Canada? Why has the Liberal party allowed bad bill after bad bill pass them by and head for the Senate, including the budget bill loaded with issues which should have been dealt with by parliament separately?
A Liberal party focused on what’s good for Canada instead of what’s good for them should have stood their ground. I applaud the Liberals for finally taking a stand on opposing the abolition of the gun registry even if it did take the second time round. Course that vote hasn’t happened yet, and that stand could change. I hope not.
It’s nice Ignatieff is taking time this summer to get among the people. To give Canadians a chance to get a better idea of who is and what he’s like. Just remember, when you get back to Ottawa in the fall, it’s those same people you are supposed to be representing and looking out for.
Canadians want to see an Opposition which stands up for them. Then Liberals might find they have a chance at becoming the government.
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We Must Not Shrug Off Our Democratic Rights
Two weeks after the G20 summit concluded the fallout continues, and so it should. Canadians watched an unprecedented attack on our civil liberties and human rights as the result of police action during that weekend. The question is, who issued the orders which allowed this to take place with impunity?
Many Canadians remain blissfully unaware, while others are choosing to be unaware as they don’t believe what happened. Many choose to focus on the violence as justification for the mass arrests which followed the next day. The question should be: where were the police and why did they not move in to corral and stop those who were committing the violence?
All too many Canadians are choosing to ignore the facts and the politicians who should be on the hot seats are able to avoid answering to the public they are supposed to be serving.
An acquaintance of mine seems to be pretty typical of those who haven’t woke up to the assault on them that took place. When the subject came up, he immediately pointed to the violence on Saturday and said the police had to react.
When I responded by agreeing and then asking, so where were the police when this was going on? How come with an an overwhelming police presence in the downtown those individuals were able to rampage for upwards of 90 minutes. He responded blissfully that the police were told to stand back. By who I asked? He shrugged.
When I described to him the video footage I had watched on the web including the real time footage of a group eventually rounded up and arrested near the Eastern Ave detention centre early Sunday morning, his response was “they should have left when they were told to”. I described to him, again, how I watched as the group were surrounded by a ring of riot shields and met with a wall of silence when one young man asked repeatedly in which direction they could leave.
Again he shrugged, replying they shouldn’t have been there. When I suggested he should try telling that to those who were rounded for simply being on the street trying to go about their business, he gave me the same response. When I asked him when martial law was declared that would have told those people they were supposed to stay in their homes, his response was they should have used common sense and stayed away. When pointed out that those people going about their business lived there, he again shrugged.
At no point did he get it that the cornerstone of a democracy is the right to peaceful assembly and protest. He didn’t get it that it is a basic democratic right to be able to go about our daily business without fear of arrest.
The only ones who should have feared arrest were those who carried out the violence on the Saturday. They lacked fear because the police backed away from them and their rampage. Instead they went on an unconstitutional rampage against the rest of the citizens the following day.
The questions remain and Canadians should continue to push until they are answered. Who issued the orders which allowed rank and file police to disregard the constitution and human rights? Who allowed police to attack and round up citizens with impunity? Who allowed the deplorable conditions at the detention centre to occur?
Canadians have the right to know. We should not have to demand that politicians who are elected to serve us find out those answers. The refusals by the provincial and the federal governments leads to an obvious conclusion that the highest levels of authority allowed this to happen.
So, when does what happened during the G20 start to become the normal conditions under which we live start? Don’t shrug too often, it may be sooner than you think. Complacency breeds greater boldness.
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Eco Fees — A Cash Grab by Any Name
Along with the HST coming into effect in July 1st, more Eco fees came into effect covering a wide range of products. The Eco fees are supposed to be fees charged to manufactures based on the amount of products or packaging they put into the market place. Stewardship Ontario which receives these fees claims not to be government yet they were setup by the provincial government.
If they are not government, then someone or some group is getting the money we are all being forced to pay. The manufactures are allowed to pass along the fees they are charged to the consumer in any manner they choose. At this point, the fees are appearing on our sales receipts as an added fee one which we pay — you guessed it — HST. But it’s not a tax you see, you just have to pay tax on it.
There appears to be no established standard as to how the fees are assessed and as such the consumer has zero protection from the manufacturers taking whatever they want as the cost of passing on the fee. Since it isn’t attached to the product at the point of the consumer making their selection, we don’t even have buying power to limit the fees to a minimum.
There is no incentive for a manufacturer to absorb the costs into any part of their process or even to find cheaper ways to bring their product to market by keeping the eco fee to a minimum. Those products that are being charged the fees, oh yeah, you’re supposed to recycle them. While some retailers will be accepting some of those products, the vast majority of them will be recycled through municipal waste programs which, you guessed it, our tax dollars pay for.
Stewardship Ontario claims the new fees, along with those introduced in 2008 and since will “helping ensure that these products are collected, recycled, reused or disposed of in the most environmentally friendly way. And that’s good for you, good for your families and good for the environment.” Lots of luck with that boys.
If you think for even a moment that after paying this fee at the till I’m going to make sure the product ends up in a recycling depot, you have another think coming. Why would I pay for having to separate the items from my regular garbage (that I also pay to put out) and then transport it to a recycling depot when I’ve already paid a fee at the till?
They really want to ensure that more of these items are diverted from landfills, they need to do what beer and wine producers have done for years. Convert the Eco fee to an Eco deposit, with flat fees depending on the size of the items, which can be refunded when the products are brought to a recycling depot. That way, those who don’t recycle pay for the cost of running the program.
That would be too much like providing a real incentive and returning some of the cost of the effort to the consumer. Heaven forbid the taxpayer come out even when a cash grab is more fun.
This debacle was started by the Harris Conservative government and advanced under the McGuinty Liberals. This is one more nail in the Liberals coffin in Ontario. Since I wont vote for Hudak (Mike Harris lite) I may yet have to hold my nose and vote NDP in the next election.
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We All Lost With the G20
I watched in disgust on Saturday the footage of the rampage by black clad protesters as they wantonly vandalized stores and businesses in the downtown area of Toronto. I saw police cruisers vandalized and set on fire. For a while, I was willing to reluctantly consider that the almost $1billion in security costs may have been money well spent.
The question also arose in my mind though, with all that money spent and the massive police presence in Toronto — just how did that group of 100 or so vandals manage to run roughshod over areas of Toronto? It became rather apparent the police were far more intent on protecting that fence than the downtown area outside of it.
Ah yes, that fence, the same one that Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair asked the provincial cabinet to pass regulations which allowed police officers to violate our rights and freedoms to protect. The regulations which were supposed to only have effect five metres from that fence. The regulations which appear to have been applied throughout the city to accommodate whatever police state tactics the cops chose to deploy.
I read in the Toronto Star on Sunday morning that the police were aware of at least one bus load of people from Quebec who were headed to Toronto for what appeared to be exactly what we saw on Saturday. That begs the question — if the cops knew they were coming, why did they let them arrive? Being unable to prevent their arrival, why was some of that massive police presence not used to keep a close eye on them and nail them as soon as they started something?
Even being willing to understand the cops can’t be everywhere at once, doesn’t account for what unfolded by Sunday. During Saturday night I caught a couple of things on my Twitter feed I found disturbing. The first was the report from Steve Paiken of TVO about Jesse Rosenfeld who reports for the British newspaper, The Guardian, being beaten and arrested.
The second was live footage from a young man at the Eastern Ave detention centre around 2am. He was filming a peaceful protest which the police had surrounded. The people present were ordered to leave but no opening was provided for them to do so. A young man was filmed asking the police how they could leave, there were willing to leave but wanted to know in which direction they were allowed to go, they were met with a wall of silence from the cops. The footage ended as the police moved in, presumably the young man joined the rest of those in the detention centre.
Sunday, I setup a #G20 search column on my Twitter client and followed some of the links which appeared there. Several times I watched video feeds of peaceful (usually sitting) protesters being surrounded and advanced on by riot clad police. I didn’t hear in any of those feeds police clearly telling the protesters to move or which direction they could depart in.
They were advanced on and seemingly random people grabbed and arrested, people were pepper sprayed and clubbed. This is how a democracy allows free expression? These people were not near the precious security fence, they were well away from it. In many cases, bystanders and accredited media were rounded up along with protesters.
There are some who would argue that people should have stayed away. That would have been sensible, however, the right to free and peaceful assembly is fundamental to our democracy. You also might want to explain how staying away would have helped this homeowner from having his home invaded, jerked out of his bed and being arrested apparently without warrant. The person they were after lived in the other part of the house and apparently police were so sure of who they were arresting, they lacked the knowledge the house was actually two apartments.
As the day drew to a close yesterday police surrounded another peaceful protest at Queen and Spadina, once again boxing people in so they had no where to go. As the crowd finished singing “O Canada” the police line charged at them without warning. Media, including mainstream media, were ordered out of the area, some were arrested. The police arrested several members of the crowd as they stood penned in for about three hours in pouring rain and then eventually released the rest of them.
Today Chief Blair claims that dozens of people heading to that protest were arrested carrying molotov cocktails. Excuse me while I disbelieve that line in view of the behaviour which went before it on the part of the police.
The crowd there was small enough and the police presence large enough, that even if someone had managed to get into the area to cause trouble, they could have been spotted quickly. If Blair is telling the truth, then why didn’t the police create a funnel for people to leave after their bags were checked? Why hold them in pouring rain, apparently just for the fun of it?
Over 900 were rounded up off of the streets of Toronto, held in reportedly deplorable conditions and denied their basic rights of phone calls and contact with legal advise. It appears at this point it is likely the vast majority of them will be released without charges when the cops get around to it.
The police and political leaders who bear responsibility for unleashing this on the public are claiming the police did an admirable job, that the cost was worth it. Really? This attack on free assembly and expression well away from the security fence was worth it? Just how far are Canadians willing to go before they recognize what we are losing?
These so called leaders claim the G20 can’t be held in a more remote location as there would not be room to accommodate the 10-20,000 (depending on who’s talking) delegates who attend. If it is important for the 20 leaders to have this face time, fine.
Did it occur to anyone that 500 to 1000 person average entourage is excessive? Trim the attendance list and take these gatherings to more remote secure areas where Canadian’s rights and freedoms wont be coming under attack.
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How About Some Truth on Spending?
The Harper Conservatives have fancied themselves as ‘tough on crime’ by bringing a string of crime bills into the legislature and daring the Opposition to vote them down. The so called “Truth in Sentencing” bill passed in February was one of those bills.
The bill places stronger limits on when a judge can give credit for time served when passing sentence. The overall effect is to lengthen the amount of time which a convict will remain in custody, raising the average time in federal custody from 523 days to 722 days.
The overall effect will be more prisons will have to be built, more guards hired and the costs of providing shelter to those who have committed crimes will rise.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer released a report yesterday providing estimates of the cost of that bill over the coming years. The numbers are far from pretty. As per usual with this government, the relevant governmental departments like Corrections Canada didn’t cooperate with the preparation of the report and the PBO was forced to work from known models.
Most of the time, despite the government doing their best to obstruct providing their PBO with the tools and data he needs for accuracy, Kevin Page has managed to come pretty close. His report needs to be heeded.
He’s projecting the cost of implementing this bill will be about $1billion per year for the next five years. Think of a G20/G8 summit every year for the next five. We’ll have just about as much to show for it.
In 2009-2010 the correctional system cost Canadians $4.4billion to operate, by 2016 that will be $9.5 billion per year. So, will Canadians be getting value for their dollar? Will the crime rate drop and Canadians will be safer in their homes?
Similar sentencing laws in the US which resulted in longer sentences have not shown to have an impact on the crime rates at all. They have however proved to be a financial disaster for many states as the additional burden of costs have landed on their shoulders. This bill will also result in rising costs for the provincial jail systems.
The bill will increase the average number of prisoners in federal custody from 13,000 to around 17,000 which means that about 4,000 new cells will have to be built. The projected cost is about $383 million per year over the next five years. The numbers grow at the provincial level, from 13,000 in custody to 26,000 with the new bill and the construction costs to go along with.
Canadians need to decide if we want to pour billions into an expanded correctional system when past experience in other jurisdictions indicates very little, if any return on the dollar. In times of steep deficits, like right now, we need a balance between the need to punish and when that punishment starts to take a toll on the rest of the population in terms of services not available due to the cost of our prison system.
That debate should have taken place in Parliament and before this bill was passed into law. The costs of implementing this bill should have been properly debated, not left to be estimated several months after it is too late to stop it.
While the Liberals may find themselves quick to point to the Conservatives and their drive to implement laws based more on ideology than sound principles, they need to remember, this is a minority government. The Conservatives can’t get away with this nonsense without the Opposition enabling them.
When the Opposition starts to worry less about triggering an election or what the Cons will label them as and more about taking principled stands, they might just find Canadians considering them as a viable alternative to the bad government we have now.
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We Will Remember Him
They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them
In memory of our fallen Canadian:
Sgt James Macneil – Afghanistan June 21, 2010
Always Caring — Always Canadian — Never Defeated
Support Our Troops — Wear Red on Fridays
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Forget Coalition, Someone Needs to Show Some Leadership
I’m becoming more than a bit weary of the Liberals spending so much time on infighting and jostling than they are on being the Official Opposition. Lately I see a lot more in the news reports about the mechanics of the party and speculation about the makeup than I do anything else. I suspect I’m not the only Canadian feeling this way.
It is becoming rather apparent that Bob Rae is playing games towards trying to push Ignatieff out as leader. Should that happen and Rae takes the helm, this Liberal will abandon ship. There’s also been talk about forming some sort of either pre or post-election coalition with the NDP. Forget that people, you really think I’d be a Liberal if I wanted anything to do with Layton?
So, what exactly do I want to see?
I want to see the Liberal party take a stand and stick to it. They don’t really need to hunt too far to differentiate themselves from the Conservatives. As for the NDP and the Greens, adopt what is good in their platform and show the rest for the tripe it is.
As an environmental disaster of epic proportions unfolds in the Gulf of Mexico why are Canadians not hearing the Liberals hammering the government over their failure to halt deep sea drilling off of Newfoundland until the oil companies can show they are capable of overcoming accidents like this?
Why are they not hammering the government over their quiet relaxing of environmental rules for the oil companies? Why are they not taking a clear stand against Bill C-9 and the parts of it which the government is attempting to ram through as a money bill and thus a non-confidence vote.
Why are the Liberals not working with the other Opposition parties to propose and pass amendments to the bill to cut out the parts which are not truly budgetary measures? There is opposition to the bill in its current form in the Senate, so there is support to break the bill up in both Houses.
Why are the Liberals not showing some fortitude in standing up for Canadians? Canadians know the Harper gang are a bunch of bullies. They need to be stood up to, instead they are running roughshod over Canadians, our parliamentary traditions and practices and most importantly our democracy. They are running roughshod because the Official Opposition isn’t taking stands on issues and daring the bullies to let Canadians decide which Canada they want.
Yes, the Official Opposition has taken a stand on the governments refusal to release unredacted documents on the detainee issue and is showing signs of standing up to the government over their latest fiat on political staffers appearances before parliamentary committees. Don’t back off on either of those issues, they are important to how our democracy operates.
What they are not important to is Canadians every day lives. When are the Liberals going to take some serious stands on what matters to Canadians. There are many questions, let me touch on a few.
Do Canadians want to spend billions on building and maintaining prisons as part of the Harper gang’s so called tough on crime policy? Do Canadians want to spend those billions on sentencing laws which have already been shown to be ineffective and extremely costly in the USA?
Do Canadians want an effective, efficient and inclusive health care system, even if it means paying more taxes?
Do Canadians want to maintain the status quo as our environment deteriorates around us or are they ready and willing to support the changes needed to ensure the viability of this country for generations to some.
Do Canadians want funding for programs and groups to be based on fairness and need or political dogma? Are Canadians willing to continue to allow their politicians to build bigger and thicker firewalls against public disclosure of their actions?
Are you getting the picture here? Canadians need to see the Liberals proposing answers to these questions and having the fortitude to fight an election on those answers. Harper hasn’t climbed out of minority range in the polls because Canadians know not to trust him with even more power. We hunger for a viable alternative.
Yes, the Conservatives have attacked Ignatieff at a personal level. To a point they have done a number on him but to an even greater point Ignatieff has allowed that number to define him instead of ignoring it and forging forward by showing Canadians just what he and the party stand for. To put it more succinctly, “Where’s the beef?”
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We Will Remember Him
They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them
In memory of our fallen Canadian:
Sgt Martin Gouldreault – Afghanistan June 6, 2010
Always Caring — Always Canadian — Never Defeated
Support Our Troops — Wear Red on Fridays
Related posts
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We Will Remember Him
They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them
In memory of our fallen Canadian:
Tpr Larry Rudd – Afghanistan May 24, 2010
Always Caring — Always Canadian — Never Defeated
Support Our Troops — Wear Red on Fridays
Related posts
- No related posts.
