April Reign

Speak your mind even if your voice shakes

Canada

Rural Politics

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Image via MorguefileRural areas of Canada and the U.S. are strongholds for Conservative/Reform/Republican politics. Words like liberal, welfare, rights, environmentalism are bandied about like slurs, while abstract concepts like pullling yourself up by your bootstraps, making your own work, and loyalty to your country and used almost as religious mantras and identifiers of the true believers. Spin doctors are quick to latch on to this blind faith and give impassioned speeches about the farmer, the way things were, the heartland. But do they really have their best interests at heart? Time and again it seems the answer is no.

Travel back with me to Alberta circa 2004 when having been promised a major bail out from the government farmers found out that;

…more than 10 per cent of the province’s $400 million in mad cow aid went to two meat-packing companies: Lakeside Farm Industries and Cargill Foods. The province’s agriculture minister says they got the biggest cheques because they have the most invested in the industry.

CBC

…Phil Agre wrote [..] “Conservatism is the domination of society by an aristocracy … [it] is incompatible with democracy, prosperity and civilization in general. It is a destructive system of inequality and prejudice that is founded on deception and has no place in the modern world.”…

That doesn’t sound like they value the Canadian farmer above their corporate buddies now does it?

Now what about that “respected” think tank the C.D. Howe Institute and their report that Canada Post should be privatized? A decision that the Harper administration seems set to move on.
From the report, “..First, it is not clear that the USO requires strictly uniform prices and services across regions. As with other goods or services provided to remote or sparsely populated communities, one of the burdens of residing in such communities is the additional transportation and communication costs of providing goods and services over longer distances. The costs of travel to a hospital, for example, or the cost or scarcity of public transportation, are more burdensome for rural communities…”

What this is saying is the postal rates will increase exponentially the further away from a major center that you are. And in some instances you may have to travel to a designated area to pick up your mail. Said designated area not likely the local town post office you deal with now.

Image via WikipediaThe problem is that private companies do not care about the citizenry as whole. They care about the bottom line and ways to inflate it. Providing service and miles of wire to a few scattered homes is not in their shareholders best interests. And so while the report on Canada Post assumes that the slack will be taken up by internet transactions they fail to recognize that most rural homes rely on dial up service which is not the ideal way to conduct business online. The takeover of BCE seems to be presenting no improvement for rural service either.

Bell Aliant could be sold if the new owners aren’t interested in rural wireline service, or they might purchase the stake it doesn’t already own.

CTV
The report also presumes that everyone has access to a computer or knowledge of how to use one. CAPS programs which are especially useful in rural areas are regularly being scaled back, underfunded and at risk of being scrapped altogether.

The Harper government has shown utter contempt for grain farmers.

From GrainAction.ca

In June, for the third time in 11 months, a federal court ruled that his government willfully broken Canadian laws. In October 2006, the PM erased the CWB’s right to speak freely to the farmers it serves.

Keep in mind that any communication with farmers is paid for by farmers, not taxpayers, and the Wheat Board is controlled by farmers.

Ruling on the gag order case, Federal Court Justice Robert T. Hughes was shocked by the government’s actions, and said, in part, “It is entirely clear … that the (government) directive (was) motivated principally to silencing the wheat board…”.

The Harper government has slashed proposed Canadian Grain Commission funding by up to 67% in some areas – putting at risk vital programs that protect producers and Canada’s international reputation for quality grain.

The proposed cuts are in line with the Harper government’s plans, but legislation (Bill C-39) to gut the Canadian Grain Commission has not yet been approved by Parliament. Now that the House of Commons has adjourned for the summer, the government has no business carrying through with these planned cuts.

Please join with us to urge Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz to reverse his government’s planned cuts.

I was often surprised when I was living in a rural area at the tory talking points that were repeated as gospel based on the assumption that the government represented their views and their concerns. Yet so often this was not the case.

Many women on farms work in the closest town to supplement family income and require daycare. Yet they voted in droves for a government that not only refused more spaces but cut some of the precious few there were.

These are but a few of the ways this government fails those who support them.

Other parties need to stop letting the ‘Conservative’ governments set the talking points. They need to show rural communities real interest, real support and peel back the facade exposing the reality of a government whose true loyalties follow the money.

quote source

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Happy Canada Day!

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I can’t think of a place in the world I would rather live. Which makes me wonder why some in our country are so hell bent on importing the mindset, laws and wars of another country.

For all I love about Canada there are some things I would change. For a start I would expect corporations to pay fair taxes. Business success should not absolve one of responsibility toward the country in which you are making your profit. Fair tax share by corporations instead of politically sanctioned corporate welfare would ensure that our social safety nets could be reconstructed and kept strong. That there would be money for infrastructure and that having had a hand in building the country corporations might feel a pride and sense of responsibility toward it. If a mother on welfare had misused the minuscule funds she receives the way GM in Ontario misused their handout she would be paraded as a Welfare Queen and her picture splashed across the Sun and National Post. I look forward to a day of CEO perp walks and a welfare system which recognizes human dignity.

…A Canadian
is someone who knows how to make love
in a canoe
Pierre Burton…

I would also crack down on the influence of religion on politics. If churches want to be a part of the political process it is high time they started paying taxes. And quasi religious lobby groups like Focus on the Family have no place lobbying government for restrictions on women’s rights, gay rights and other human rights their hate filled, vile beliefs speak against. They have their freedom of religion and have the right to pursue such hatred in their gathering places. I, for one, do not expect and cannot condone my government spewing the same narrow minded bigotry.

I find it hard to believe you could find a majority of Canadians who feel that your ability to access medical treatment should be based on your wallet size and yet that is exactly what our governments have been inching towards. When Harris, Harper and their Frasier Institute buddies argue against social funded health care they are in effect looking at people who are suffering and dying and shrugging their shoulders. That is not the picture of Canadian caring that I believe most of us embody.

Parliament Building in Downtown OttawaImage by Derek Farr ( DetroitDerek ) via FlickrWe have the ability to effect change, to bring back our vision of ourselves as a caring inclusive country and that power lies in voting. While other countries around the world struggle with outright vote fraud or presumed fraud we are still lucky enough to be able to have faith in our democratic process. Voting is not a chore or a hassle or imposition, it is a right, a privilege and a duty of each citizen to make their voice heard. It is also the right and privilege of opposition parties to speak for us and against the government in power should they forget they are our representatives not our masters.

I wish each of you a happy and safe Canada Day and leave you with these jokes from Harper.

~ If you want to be a government in a minority Parliament, you have to work with other people.

~ It’s the government’s obligation to look really to the third parties to get the support to govern.

~ This party will not take its position based on public opinion polls. We will not take a stand based on focus groups. We will not take a stand based on phone-in shows or householder surveys or any other vagaries of pubic opinion.

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Judge Rules U.S. Violated Human Rights

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The treatment a U.S. official said Omar Khadr received at Guantanamo Bay to prepare him for an interview by a member of foreign affairs was a violation of international human rights, a Canadian federal court judge ruled on Wednesday.

It is no great surprise that human rights violations are going on in Guantanamo, it is damning however that two governments of countries who pride themselves on rights and freedoms allowed the torture of a child. In Canada Khadr if charged with a crime would be protected under the Youth Act. And yet Canadian officials raised no alarm when they found out he was being subjected to torture.

Canadian and American governments bear an enormous responsibility not only in setting back human rights but also in ensuring there will continue to be terrorist incidents. Some of course find the torture of a child perfectly fine. The comments at both CTV and CBC are disgusting and as one commenter said “makes me less and less proud to be Canadian”

Scene of the Firefight in which w:Omar Khadr was capturedImage via WikipediaSome have argued that he was responsible for the death of a soldier. To which I wonder is that not the risk our governments are willing to take when they send troops to war? Is the new war rich countries sending troops to rob poor countries of their resources and the people of those poor countries rather than protect themselves are supposed to say OH HAI! and serve tea/beer/crumpets?

How does one murder a combatant in the heat of battle? In any case the original details of the incident were shown to be wrong. Khadr was not the only person who could have thrown the grenade and likely wasn’t.

It is time our government showed some respect for human rights, the Geneva Convention and basic decency. Bring Khadr home. As commenter carlbailey said to another commenter with the mindset of the conservatives;

quote mr.calgary:
“I knew what was right and wrong when I was 15.”

so, how old were you when you forgot the difference?
or did you just decide to ignore it altogether in favour of blind ignorant hatred.

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Abortion and time travel

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Those who like to think of themselves as “pro-life”, “pro-family”, “pro-values” are in fact far from it. The governments and policies these people support has done more to hurt families than perhaps any government before it. Save for the injustices done to the native Canadians and the internment of the Japanese families during the war.

These ‘not your father’s Conservatives’, are an unhealthy blend of blinkered, literalist religion and unshackled corporatism. In no way should they be confused with the likes of Bill Davis.

These anti choicers often claim they want a return to the 50’s and 60’s as if there was no sex then, no out of wedlock children, no rape, and that corporate profit was valued above all.

Being the product of a 1950’s out of wedlock sexual experience I can testify that even then teenages felt the urge to merge. The sad thing was that so many were forced into giving their babies away or giving them to family to raise. Which impacted not only thier lives but the lives of the children involved.

Rape was as common then as now, it was just blamed on the woman. Heh, I guess that hasn’t really changed much.

Corporations, however, did pull their own weight, paid their taxes like good citizens and in fact carried a much heavier tax load than did the average hard working Canadian, as is appropriate. Interestingly, they managed to do all that and still provide plentiful and usually decent paying jobs.

The upside of this besides the job availability was that schools, health care and other social programs were being properly funded and there was increasing recognition that taking care of “the least of these my brethren” was not only a proper Christian thing to do, but benefited society in general.

I remember schools being open during the summer months with arts & crafts, sports, movies, and other programs being run by university Recreation students. These provided stay at home moms with a break and kids with something to do. These programs were free of charge, drop-in and definitely “family friendly”. I very much doubt the so-called pro-family sorts would support their tax dollars going to it however. Other free programs that provided entertainment for children were swimming pools, ice rinks, and parks provided programs and places to play ball.

Health care funding came into being and was amply supported by the corporate tax base. Now that that base has been so throughly eroded health care appears to be an undue burden when in fact it is the change of tax base that is the unfair burden.

It had been recognized that providing at least a semi decent living for families out of work, single mothers and the children associated with these families was a good thing. Then the CONservatives came along and othered the poor. Now there are Canadian children going to school without boots or properly warm coats, going to bed without dinner and poverty related businesses like pawn shops, buy & sells and pay day loans are booming. Diseases like TB once thought to be under control are flourishing again as are other poverty related illnesses.

Anti-choicers in the U.S. and Canada are working ‘incrementally’ towards making abortion unconstitutional. Well lets look at that in practice.

Section 12 of the Philippine constitution reads;

The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception. The natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency and the development of moral character shall receive the support of the Government.

oooh a fetus fetishers wet dream come true.

Or maybe not so much. Let’s look at how this works in practice.

Official estimates put annual abortions at 400,000 to 500,000, and rising. The World Health Organization estimate puts the figure at nearly 800,000, one of the highest rates of unsafe abortions in Asia.

Seventy percent of unwanted pregnancies in the Philippines end in abortion said Jean-Marc Olivé, the country representative of the World Health Organization. One of four pregnancies in the Philippines end in abortion, according to Pro-Life Philippines, an anti-abortion group.

According to the Department of Health, nearly 100,000 women who have unsafe abortions every year end up in the hospital.

The Philippines, with its high population growth rate (2.6 percent) and low rate of contraceptive use (an estimated 35 percent) also has an increasing number of teenage pregnancies. As many as 17 percent of all unsafe abortions are done on teenage or young mothers, according to the Department of Health.

Use of contraceptives is actively discouraged

Women in the Philippines are trapped in an unbearable dilemma: the Catholic Church, whose influence over the country is strong, prohibits all forms of contraception, but extreme poverty prohibits large families. As a result, the Philippines has a very high abortion rate: 20-30 out of every 1,000 women of childbearing age have had an abortion, despite its illegal status. Filipino women, in an effort to keep their abortions secret, use crude methods, such as inserting sharp objects into the uterus or drinking toxic chemicals. The problem is so severe that illegal abortion is now the fourth leading cause of death among Filipino women.

Well now doesn’t that sound terrific? And I mean that as in the Latin terrificus : terr?re, to frighten + -ficus, -fic

Before you decide that bills like C-484, and campaigns like The Pill Kills, are of no consequence remember the stats above. Making abortion illegal, making contraceptives illegal does not stop the reality of the need for abortion. Indeed all it does is make criminals out of women exercising control over their bodies and of mothers trying to ensure there is enough for their already born children. From Reuters, ” Most women who have abortions in the Philippines are married, Roman Catholic and mothers already with at least three children. The majority terminate their pregnancy because they cannot afford another child.”

Those who truly believe in families, in values and indeed in a glorious being, will recognize the value in a political system which does not seek to make women’s reproductive capacities state infrastructure.

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Canada’s wordmark and March for Life

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During the 2007 “March for LIfe” protestors were seen carrying signs bearing the official Canadian wordmark in both official languages, as seen in the pictures below taken from a YouTube video.

This is of course, not something to be done without official permission, it is in fact illegal. After the 2007 March bloggers asked if this government had officially sanctioned the use of the wordmark.

The government at the time launched an investigation and sent a cease and desist letter. Knowing that most MFL’s are right wingers and knowing that the majority of right wingers are hardcore the law is the law types one would immediately assume that action would be taken this year to ensure no banners carried the symbol.

huh…well you know what they say about assumptions. When asked about this continued flouting of the law

CLC national organizer Mary Ellen Douglas called the whole thing
“ridiculous,” and insisted that she never even saw the sign — she was too busy with the “eight thousand people” on the Hill for the march. She repeatedly excoriated the media, in general, and ITQ, specifically, for ignoring the “real story”, and instead focusing on a “tiny little sign” (that, we should point out, was
on a banner that required nearly a dozen ralliers to carry); she blamed the oversight on the “sign printers”, who, she said, were “asked to remove it,” but “accidentally left it on.” It won’t be there next year,
she said.

As for violating TBS policy, she says that, as far as she knows, the department hasn’t complained about the use of the logo at this year’s march.

It won’t be there next year, sounds familiar, almost as if it was just last year….

Hughes … says that CLC is more than happy to remove the wordmark from the banners, and will do so immediately.

Shouldn’t people who want to pass laws on others people’s reproductive organs at least pretend to give a damn about the laws we already have?

My Canada doesn’t include Republican Politics!

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It is time to take back our country from the religious and idealogical extremists.

Say no to the dissolution of the Wheat Board.

Say no to extremist groups controlling women’s bodies.

Say no to religious control of Canadian arts.

Say no to bribery and vote buying.

Opposition parties must STAND UP! Stand up for Canada, cause Harper won’t. Stand up for women, cause Harper won’t. Stand up use your voice… use your vote …end the Republicanization of Canada!

Image credit:thefilter.ca

Inspiration :mrgreen: