April Reign

Speak your mind even if your voice shakes

human rights

I’d like to thank…

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Thinking Blogger AwardI was honoured to have been chosen by Peri’s Wrinkle for this award. If this blog isn’t on your reading list it should be.–see how I managed to make her part of the list and still keep 5 mwhahaha–
You can read about me here {I feel all narcissistic!}

The rules are as such;

The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn’t fit your blog).

That was that! Please, remember to tag blogs with real merits, i.e. relative content, and above all – blogs that really get you thinking!

Narrowing down to five eek, if I missed you I deeply apologize it is hard to only pick five out of the hundreds of blogs I read.

in no particular order then

1. POGGE, always a thoughtful and informative narrative. Reading this blog is both a pleasure and an education. If I may I would also like to single out skdadl and pogge who are both fine* writers and we get to read them for free.
*Of superior quality, skill,

2. Unrepentant Old Hippie. An irreverent straight shooter jj doesn’t pull any punches. She writes with humour but if you’re not careful you just might find yourself learning something.

3. Birth Pangs I sometimes write to this blog but won’t discount it for that reason as the main writers are fern hill and deBeauxOs. Their dedication to women’s rights and women’s choice combined with their fantastic writing talents make this blog a must read.

4. Verbena-19 Verbena’s blog is an amazing resource for those concerned with activism and human rights. I’m going to sneak liberal catnip in here too for the work on behalf of Kevin and because she has a damn good blog.

5. Betty’s Early Edition I actually only found this blog yesterday. However, this is written by a woman who truly puts “her money where her mouth is” I hope I have half her passion and courage when I grow up.

If you can, take a minute and send her a message or a few funds.

As I said at the beginning this was very hard. Took hours in fact. There are so many great writers, researchers and activists out there, this is but a sampling.

For more great blogs check out my blogroll, Blogging Change, and Rose’s Place.

Happy Anniversary

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CharterWho’s afraid of the big bad charter?

The rights and freedoms enshrined in the Charter include:

fundamental freedoms (section 2), namely freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of belief, freedom of expression, freedom of the press and of other media of communication, freedom of peaceful assembly, and freedom of association.
democratic rights: generally, the right to participate in political activities and the right to a democratic form of government:

Section 3: the right to vote and to be eligible to serve as member of a legislature.
Section 4: a maximum duration of legislatures is set at five years.
Section 5: an annual sitting of legislatures is required as a minimum.

mobility rights: (section 6): the right to enter and leave Canada, and to move to and take up residence in any province, or to reside outside Canada.
legal rights: rights of people in dealing with the justice system and law enforcement, namely:

Section 7: right to life, liberty, and security of the person.
Section 8: right from unreasonable search and seizure (only if the authorities believe someone is a threat to another, to society or to themselves, is such a search justified).
Section 9: freedom from arbitrary detainment or imprisonment.
Section 10: right to be informed of reasons for arrest including the right to retain counsel upon arrest.
Section 11: rights in criminal and penal matters such as the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Section 12: Right not to be subject to cruel and unusual punishment.
Section 13: rights against self-incrimination (this is most seen during plea bargains between the accused and the crown)
Section 14: rights to an interpreter in a court proceeding.

equality rights: (section 15): equal treatment before and under the law, and equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination.
language rights: generally, the right to use either the English or French language in communications with Canada’s federal government and certain provincial governments. Specifically, the language laws enshrined in the Charter include:

Section 16: English and French are the official languages of Canada and New Brunswick.
Section 16.1: the English and French-speaking communities of New Brunswick have equal rights to educational and cultural institutions.
Section 17: the right to use either official language in Parliament or the New Brunswick legislature.
Section 18: the statutes and proceedings of Parliament and the New Brunswick legislature are to be printed in both official languages.
Section 19: both official languages may be used in federal and New Brunswick courts.
Section 20: the right to communicate with and be served by the federal and New Brunswick governments in either official language.
Section 21: other constitutional language rights outside the Charter regarding English and French are sustained.
Section 22: existing rights to use languages besides English and French are not affected by the fact that only English and French have language rights in the Charter. (Hence, if there are any rights to use Aboriginal languages anywhere they would continue to exist, though they would have no direct protection under the Charter.)

minority language education rights: (Section 23): rights for certain citizens belonging to French or English-speaking minority communities to be educated in their own language.

Harper it would seem.

However, the Charter has often been the subject of intense debate. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has indicated in the past his concern about the power of the Charter. Soon after he became prime minister, he suggested that judges should “apply the law, not make it.”

The current Conservative government has no plans to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Charter.

Regardless of the fact that our New Canadian Government™ does not support rights and freedoms for all of Canada’s citizens, A Very Happy Charter Day to you all!

Rights for the Rich only

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The Star has an article on the Charter today,

A quarter-century later, the Charter is at a crossroads. While there may be much to celebrate, the process of using it to establish rights is time-consuming and expensive, almost entirely dependent on government subsidies and the benevolence of lawyers to bankroll cases, sometimes costing millions of dollars.

Restrictions on legal aid and a decision last fall by the Conservative government to kill the Court Challenges Program, which helped fund individuals and citizen groups fighting for constitutional protections, have made the Charter more inaccessible than ever.

Today, many experts are pessimistic about its future as a tool in battling for equality and fending off unwarranted government intrusions into people’s lives. Like fine champagne, the Charter is in danger of becoming a luxury many never taste.

Interesting quotes from a conservative on rights for the average Canadian.

Rainer Knopff, a political scientist at the University of Calgary, said the program was “a biased boondoggle that had gone well past its `best before’ date.”

The program only funded groups on “one side” of the political spectrum while “socially conservative groups never got any money. Not a penny, as far as I know,” said Knopff.
He also echoed then-Treasury Board president John Baird’s suggestion, made in defending the decision to kill the program, that it made no sense for Ottawa to spend public money helping groups challenge its own legislation.
“I don’t want to pay for surrogate litigants,” said Knopff, arguing public interest groups should raise their own money for Charter cases. “If they can’t raise the money – tough.”

Apparently conservatives feel rights are for those that can afford them. Not that this is surprising, however, it is nice to have it so neatly laid out.

One can only hope that during an election campaign these words along with those of Harper saying that ordinary Canadians aren’t protesting complete with scenes of farmers and seniors and youth out protesting, find major play in party ads.

The Optics of abortion

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In recent years, support for legal abortion has waned, which Lord attributes to the growing power of Christian fundamentalists: “We, like the good citizens of Iran, live in what amounts to a theocracy.”

A great article from Womens’ Enews showing how the media on abortion has been skewed to promote the anti choice agenda.

“Not one op-ed discussing abortion on the op-ed page of the most powerful liberal paper in the nation was written by a reproductive-rights advocate, a pro-choice service-provider or a representative of a women’s group,” reported the Prospect. “Instead, the officially pro-choice New York Times has hosted a conversation about abortion on its op-ed page that consisted almost entirely of the views of pro-life or abortion-ambivalent men, male scholars of the right and men with strong, usually Catholic, religious affiliations. In fact, a stunning 83 percent of the pieces appearing on the page that discussed abortion were written by men.”

Well isn’t that special! Nothing like equal time. [Read more…] about The Optics of abortion

Nine Year Old Canadian in Jail

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Majid and his nine-year old son Kevin are Iranian immigrants currently being held at the Hutto detention center. They’ve been forcibly detained since their plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Puerto Rico as they made their way to Canada. Kevin says: “I want to be free. I want go to outside. I want to go home to Canada.”

Please see this post on Verbena19’s blog for more details and how to contact Peter Mackay to get action this situation.