Two days ago, the Ontario conservatives released a plan to “overhaul” the Ontario welfare system, posted to their website ontariopc.com which as the name would suggest, is home to the Ontario Conservative party currently being lead by Tim Hudak and as the .com would suggest, uses an American server. Job creation for everyone.
As was briefly discussed on this blog yesterday, the plan does not intend to dump the responsibility of welfare on urban municipalities as the Harris government did to Toronto, but instead sets forward broad changes to a complex system. This post intends to deconstruct those changes bit by bit.
The 22 page plan entitled “Paths to Prosperity: A New Deal For the Public Sector- An Ontario PC Caucus White Paper”, begins with a full spread picture of Tim Hudak’s face. Why this is so is kind of confusing, given you’d expect something that is known to traditionally represent Ontario, like a Trillium flower or a proudly displayed Ontario flag. Or even something meant to signify this is the Conservative party plan, like the Conservative logo or a picture of smiling elderly people as is the case with most other conservative party plans so to mislead people into thinking it benefits the elderly, but no. Instead Tim Hudak asserts that he is the party by displaying a full sized picture of his face as he gazes passed the camera in an attempt to convince himself that Ontarians will like him.
Hudak’s letter which follows cuts straight to the punch, promising in the first sentence “the years following the next election will be a major change for Ontario”. The letter states that the Conservative caucus believes in providing jobs but expanding government jobs. He states “We will do less, but do those things better” then says “A successful public sector relies on private sector growth.” some may believe this implies more support to local businesses and higher corporate taxes but you would be mistaken.
He ends the letter by promising to get the government working for you (you being the taxpayer) despite the entire letter implying growth to the private sector.
The next page is a letter from Peter Shurman, the MPP of Thornhill, a place that is traditionally a police village, but chooses to use York Region Police services and the OPP instead of having a police force. A police force would cost more and the whole incentive of living in the exburb of Thornhill is the low taxes because there is literally nothing to do there and no infrastructure to support anything because Thornhill is actually in Vaughan. Shurmans letter enforces Hudaks letter, kissing the ass of the private sector while completely forgetting that transit in his ridding is more subsidized by the province then the TTC is and has less ridership. The letter mainly focuses on stuff about the private sector as if to say that giving to the private sector rather then back to the public is the job of the public sector and really only just that.
Then the table of contents then an Introduction that states “We believe the number one thing we can do to create jobs and kickstart business expansion is get a grip on public spending”. The introduction then repeats the two letters prior.
The first thing this plan imposes is across the board wage freezes. Apparently, for every dollar the government spends on services 50 cents is given to people who work for the government. According to the government, the private sector and the public sector have been living in different universes. Ontario has lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs in the last “few years”, but the Ontario government has added 300,000 jobs in the same time span, giving people income and benefits instead of forcing them to find a job from the floundering private sector which has been admittedly shrinking. 300,000 jobs worth.
“How did we get into this mess?” Asks the next sentence. As if to imply that only Ontario is in this situation and that there wasn’t an issue with the Euro, the US economy and that the Ontario government has some secret magic power to bring in these investors but haven’t done it. Instead, the Ontario government has sat on their ass and conspired to give government jobs to replace the 300,000 private sector jobs lost.
They talk about Ontario’s debt a little more how raising taxes on businesses would damage the economy. “On the revenue side we have a plan to bring in more money but we won’t do it by raising taxes. That will damage Ontario’s fragile economy. Instead we will do it with policies that get people back to work” giving people jobs to replace the ones they just lost in a time of global economic turbulence is not good enough for the Conservatives. That is not filling the roll that the private sector has failed to continue with somehow.
You can not control the global economy. This is a proven fact. See the bailouts. See the temporary boom of many a country before another country offered greedy corporations less money for more work. See the fact that this is a capitalist system which is controlled by capitalist corporations and the country which has the largest economic growth right now is China, where the government owns everything but allows for massive growth by allowing private corporations to exploit their people for cheap labor. There is no way that you as a province can compete on a global scale when the global economy is still trying to rebound.
“When the unemployed are working and paying income taxes again, and businesses are expanding and making strong profits this leads to revenue for the government” Unless those businesses are paying everyone above minimum wage I guess, but most companies will pay their employees minimum wage. Minimum wage is still under the poverty line. If you intend to make money off the businesses, tax the businesses and not the people the businesses are paying minimum wage. The company makes money off these people, they pay these people, these people pay you. But the corporations should pay as well because clearly they haven’t been paying there share and clearly this hasn’t worked.
“We need to make do with fewer government employees” Those people are working. They are paying income tax. You fire them, they will need a new job. A new job with a failing economy. It’s just this terrible circle of expecting the private sector to come here if you lower taxes for them when 1) economy globally is failing and 2) you’re competing with places that have little to no worker regulation. When governments have tried to put regulations on these companies, they have up and left for countries that will let them get away with more. You’re trying to appeal to a crowd that doesn’t want to pay taxes, treat workers with as little rights as possible and give their CEOs as much money as they can, and you’re competing with other provinces in other countries who will let them do that with less restrictions. It’s a lose/lose situation unless you yourself are willing to provide jobs until the global economy rebounds or until you start growing your businesses from the ground up instead of relying on imported pieces of other countries corporations to stimulate your economy.
There is a pie chart at the bottom of this page that reads “50.4% salaries and benefits for government employees”, “8.4% interest on debt” and “41.2% everything else”. It literally says “everything else” and provides no further explanation.
The graph is based on 2012 figures from the Ministry of Ontario finance which stated that “everything else” consists of education and not paying teachers more because need we be reminded of Bill 115. Transforming health care, in which doctors took pay cuts. Improving infrastructure, but I’m not sure if that is included as “everything else” or the 300,000 jobs because that itself provided jobs and that infrastructure is going to be used by corporations and the public alike. As well as support for municipalities to help them build. The break down of the budget is more then just “salaries” because government jobs are more then just managers and if your going to be vague as fuck by stating “everything else” don’t expect people not to look for those figures.
You’re talking about this whole private/public sector thing like if we give to the private sector they’ll come back but it’s not that simple. This isn’t a provincial issue. Economies are failing all over the world and to fool yourself into believing that if we just give a little more then the money we’re giving which is part of that “everything else”, then you’re naive.
The next part of the plan cites that they are taking inspiration from David Cameron, the PM of England, an economy that has plummeted into a recession. While the country has shrunk the public sector departments by 20%, it’s debt continues to grow.
On the next page, the conservatives continue to talk about union negotiations and how if they break down they should just end. Kind of like what Bill 115 did. Then more joint cabinet positions, rather then cutting the salary of cabinet members.
The next page proposes that we contract out government services to private companies, which would essentially add an extra hand to the pot. If you pay someone directly, they get paid. If you pay someone through a third party manager, you’re essentially saying it’s cool to cut the wage of the worker in favor of paying a third party manager. This is essentially trickle down and it will put more people in need of social assistance as now their wage has decreased in favor of a private sector manager also getting money.
The next part puts booze, gambling and electricity into the same category and proposes that we expand the LCBO and the OLG so you have something to distract the laid off public service employees from that job that doesn’t actually exist in the private sector.
And then it goes through the “paths” again in brief and then it ends with another picture of Tim Hudaks face.
As it turns out, this actually wasn’t the plan we talked about yesterday because apparently there are multiple of these. The plan we talked about yesterday is here. The child welfare plan is here and if you really feel like being adventurous, the rest of them are here.
In Brief
Bill C-279, a private members bill put forward by NDP Member of Parliament Randell Garrison from the riding of Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, British Columbia, was dubbed by “the bathroom bill” by Conservative MP Rob Anders through a petition on his official website today.
The petition put forward by Anders asked that MPs vote ‘nay’ on the “bathroom bill”, in reference to Bill C-279. Bill C-279 under it’s official short title “An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code (gender identity and gender expression)”, will see it’s second hearing this session. The bill seeks to add “gender identity, gender expression” into 5 sections of the human rights code, covering transphobic attacks as hate crimes.
The Conservative MP who struck fire and burnt himself earlier this by suggesting current NDP leader Tomas Mulcair “hastened the death of Jack Layton” , is not just under fire for the language by using “transgendered man” when stating in the petition that allowing a transgendered man (meaning a female to male transition) would somehow cause harm to use woman’s washroom.
What’s more offensive however is that the petition equates those with in the Trans* community to sex offenders and pedophiles.
What’s most offensive about his petition is that he equates transgendered people with sex offenders and pedophiles,” said Randall Garrison “This petition is obviously based on ignorance, misinformation and fear, but that’s unfortunately what we’ve come to expect from Mr. Anders.”
In contrast to MP Anders petition, the petition to support Bill C-279 garnered 3,302 signatures last year.
Where The Line of Tolerance Ends and Hypocrisy and Fascism Begins
Recently, the federal government threw 5 Million dollars at something called “The Office of Religious Freedom”, which pleased much of the Fundamentalist Christian Right.
This country really doesn’t need any more religion based institutions. Especially Christian Fundamentalist institutions. Considering most churches are tax exempt, Ontario pays for two separate school systems; one of which is centered around a religion because we haven’t yet dismantled the two tiered system of Public Catholic School/Public Non-Catholic Schools, shelters which are run by religious conservatives have the right to turn away people based on sexual orientation or gender and still receive government status and often funding as charitable organization. Meanwhile homophobic groups like CanadianValues constantly attack the government and stall the advancement of a curriculum which doesn’t cater to heterosexual ideals.
The government tends to favor all Abrahamic faiths with the exception of Islam, while promoting dangerous stereotypes about other religions. The government dismisses Pagan religion(s?)(I know nothing about Paganism, I apologize), any non-Abrahamic religion and any kind of folk religion not widely practiced while constantly demonizing Sihkism, Islam and Hinduism.
Religious Freedoms Denied In Canada
There are only two groups that come to mind when we talk about religious persecution and the destruction of religious freedom in Canada and those two groups Romani people and Aboriginal Canadians.
Not getting to force your values down peoples throats isn’t taking away religious freedom. Taking away religious freedom is what has gone on for centuries and continues to be done to First Nations bands across this country on a daily basis.
Just yesterday the Coastal First Nations, an alliance of 10 bands in Vancouver, finally received media coverage. Despite hunting for sport going against their traditional beliefs, the government has allowed bear hunting to happen for the sake of tourism for decades. The Coastal First Nations only got attention because the bear population is dropping. No attention was given when their religious rights were taken from them. No attention was given when they began to organize a plan to restore the ecosystem. No attention was given to them when they put up a sign that said ‘bear hunting not welcome’. No attention was given to their objection. This group literally had their land destroyed, their ability to practice traditions threatened if not demolished and their efforts to reconnect to a land and culture that was taken from them and repeatedly desecrated ignored. But even after all this, the government is still refusing to implement a ban on bear hunting. Is the Office of Religious Freedoms going to do something about it?
The Lakota Sioux tribes have to buy back Pe’ Sla, an area of Black Hills, South Dakota, which is considered to be the heart of all that is and is a vitally important to the Lakota Sioux tribes. It is a part of the creation story and a place of prayer. Still, Pe’ Sla is for sale and the land is threatened (if you haven’t signed this petition, please do).
The Pe’ Sla land isn’t being threaten by other belief systems. It’s not threatened by a secular school system however undoubted it is that a school system which celebrates colonialism has allowed for people to remain apathetic and ignorant, it’s not threatened by someone elses sexuality or gender, it’s not threatened by a woman’s right to choose or someones right to marry. No. Pe’ Sla, is threatened by individuals with words on paper declaring control of scared land with no mention of the people who the land was taken from or the meaning it has. People hungry for a paycheck because of an economic system that has been forced on indigenous people, is the threat to Pe’ Sla.
But one would be naive to believe Pe’ Sla is the only place where this has and continues to happen. And you would have to be as ignorant as an inanimate object or patriotic as an RCMP officer walking down the highway of heroes, carrying a Canadian flag to believe this only happens in the US.
As I mentioned already this happens in Canada every damn day. It rarely gets media attention and when it does it rarely gives details or follows the story, and it almost always portrays the First Nations Band involved as unreasonable. Appeals for unhonored First Nations Land Claims being denied and honored First Nations Land Claims being threatened or taken away, are common place here in Canada.
The Musqueam band of Vancouver briefly grasped the attention of the media a few months ago. Remains a 4000 year old Musqueam burial ground was discovered while excavating on a construction site of a future condo. The construction was stopped for a little less then a month and before anyone could file for a land claim construction began again. The Musqueam band leader tried to negotiate by offering a different land claim nearby, but the condo developer wasn’t interested and the government wasn’t going to intervene. The story only caught attention when they blocked the construction site. They weren’t asking for the land developers to vacate the land, they wanted a negotiation. The Musqueam band had to offer $4.8M to get THEIR land back.
When talking about blockades and land disputes, people looking to excuse the governments behavior and paint Native bands in a bad light, like to talk about the Oka crisis. The Oka crisis was violent. It’s easy to look at it an demonize the Mohawk band who wanted to reclaim their land in Quebec. And you can look at the Oka crisis and use it as your blueprint to keep your stereotypes in check and the Canadian government looking like the victim even though the Canadian government was the instigator. The only reason the Oka crisis is so notable is because it’s one of the few instances where a blockade got violent and it’s one of the few instances where someone was killed, but it’s one of many where the government has pushed a community to the point of physical blockading to protect their land. The government doesn’t want to negotiate and the courts line themselves against land claims and the white suburbanites believe in imaginary scholarships and colonial stereotypes. The people who want to make a difference on a reserve are stopped by legal tape, the media doesn’t care, other countries are willing to ignore the human rights abuses the government commits and people still hail Columbus as a hero. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone when a native community gets fed up with the government and starts blockading.
Leaders among the Mohawk band decided they would not use weapons unless weapons were used against them. The police were deployed with tear gas and flash grenades within the early days of the crisis. After a 15 minute gun battle, a tear gas canister backfired at Quebec police officers.
The government didn’t even offer a solution until First Nations groups from across Canada and even as far as the US began to build more blockades. An offer was only made once they couldn’t be ignored. The government offered to purchase part of the land, an offer which didn’t satisfy anyone because the Mohawks wanted ownership of their land and the government purchasing the land would mean the government owned the land. The protest didn’t end and police seized the Kahnawake reserve, preventing the residents of the reserve from returning to it or leaving it if they had not left. The silence of the government resumed and racial tensions rose.
For 78 days in 1990 in Oka Quebec, angry commuters proved that Canadians care more about being inconvenienced on their way to work then they do about the theft the government commits against Aboriginal Canadians. The residents of the Oka shouted racial slurs at the Native groups who had come from all over Canada and even the US to provide support for the Mohawk communities. Residents of Châteauguay burned an effigy of a Mohawk warrior while chanting “sauvages” (savages) aimed at a group who had a land claim denied years earlier and had no warning or say in whether or not that land became a golf course. Radio hosts and MPs joked that Mohawks “couldn’t even understand french” as if Mohawks living in Quebec weren’t part of Quebec society.
The non-native residents formed a mob that was so violent that the police force called in the RCMP and still failed to contain the crowd. The government weren’t willing to sit down with the Mohawk communities of Oka, but they were willing to bring in the army. The Canadian government is more willing to call in an army, then to sit down and negotiate.
Let me tell you something about the government. When ever they say “we want to do X, Y or Z for native communities but the native communities don’t want us to help them” that is a lie. The government will avoid talking about Aboriginal issues at all cost. Anytime you hear about a school being built on the reserve, it’s the people who live there who want it and would build it themselves if the Indian Act wasn’t in the way. Anytime you hear the government funding a recreational program for Aboriginal children, it’s already existed for years without government funding. Anytime you hear about “corrupt native chiefs” spending money, not only question that, but think about all the times the government has promised money to a Native community or group and never followed through on it.
Think about why campaign promises never include promising to remove the Indian Act, to change conditions on the reserves, to provide proper healthcare, to give resources to Residential School survivors and not just settlements that never come, to accept land claims, to provide communities with the tools to be the “future” that the Conservatives insist they support. It’s because if the anyone made those promises, half of Canadians might not remain in the dark about what’s happening in this country and the other half wouldn’t vote for them because they’re content with believing in fake scholarships and imaginary gas discounts. It’s because anyone who makes those promises would have to acknowledge the Canadian government knowingly does all kinds of terrible things and that we only celebrate other cultures if it means not having to admit wrong doings.
The way the Oka crisis ends only serves to prove that the government has no intention of negotiating or changing. Even 22 years later this country is the same place with the same values.
Negotiation with an army commander who had been assigned to watch the Mercier Bridge and Mohawk leaders resulted in an end to siege of the Kahnawake reserve. Even after the guns were laid down, several Mohawk protesters were arrested. The government created a legislation called the “First Nations Policing Policy” but still no negotiation.
While the golf course which didn’t belong was never built, the land which isn’t the governments was never returned.
If you want to read the article which fueled this post, the link is in the title
meanwhile, environmentalists and people with brains are calling the out Tory government for building tarsands at the expense of taxpayers where oilsands aren’t needed or wanted. Some may even say the Tory government is reckless in their pursuit of oil.
Oh, the irony
It’s depressing that transparency is something we need to fight for
Wild Rose Party Show Their True Colors While the PC Conservatives Trade In Their Bigoted Vests for More Hypocritical Jackets
As the Alberta campaign trail comes to end, the Wild Rose Party preaches a gospel of hate which is as to be expected for a party that is more conservative then the PC Conservatives themselves.
A hateful comment posted by the Wild Roses Allen Hunsperger a year ago, as surfaced just six days before Albertans are set to take to the polls. “You will suffer the rest of eternity in the lake of fire, hell, a place of eternal suffering,” Hunsperger said in the blog entry titled “Born this Way.”
Leader Danielle Smith says she doesn’t understand all the fuss, but I’m sure she does and is just trying to douse a flame that the Wild Rose’s ‘Firewall’ manifesto has sparked. “The views he expressed were his personal views in the context of him being a pastor” Smith said defending the comments that reek of ignorance and hate “I believe in freedom of religion and I believe that religious people do also have an opportunity and should be encouraged to run for political office,”
As much as Hunsperger’s views are bigoted and should be condemning Hunsperger to an eternity of counter Westboro Baptist style picketing, you got agree with Smith on not censoring the idiocy that spews from the mouths of our politicians. The comment which has since been deleted is not likely to lose them any votes, as they are preaching to a choir of people who believe black tidal waves of oil will save us, global warming is a myth and separation of church and state shouldn’t be a thing.
In fact maybe it will gain them some PC Conservative votes, because let’s be honest here; bible thumping bigots are going to like the fact that Smith doesn’t step away from her amazingly ignorant, uneducated hate filled, dangerous, vicious views that would leave Harper grooming her like a shiny pony when he can approve all the pipelines and stupidity that his tiny brain desires.
While the Wild Rose party sticks to their crazy train, Alison Redford leader of Alberta’s PC Party hops off the gay-hate train onto an equally as stupid train.
Choo! Choo! All aboard the hypocrisy train, right on schedule if I do say so myself. Next stop: Lost election and the next four years of back pedalling to try and gain back the support of people who think with bibles and not brains.
“If we have people like this, making these sorts of comments in Alberta, I think it’s absolutely wrong,” Redford said when asked about Hunsperger’s ignorance. See, she wants you to believe she’s referring to the content of the post itself, but what she’s really referring to the unwritten rule of hiding your ignorance when on campaign trails. If you say something stupid, don’t finish your sentence. Try to derail everything and deny you ever attempted to say something so insipid.
“The fact that these people think that’s a legitimate perspective just absolutely blows my mind.” Redford said trying to hide the fact that she sticks by former finance minister Ted Morton, who has publicly opposed gay marriage in the past. According to Alison, your opposing marriage and believing everyone who loves someone who’s not the opposite sex is going to burn in hell are two different things. “When we’re starting to talk about people facing eternity and lakes of fire those are pretty unique comments and I think Albertans will judge those for themselves,” It’s all about wording, according to Redford.
Redford’s last second attempt to win over a few votes is less then shocking. During the campaign trail both Redford and Smith have proven high school never ends. These two women of the right wing have been fighting it out on twitter, in press conferences and whatever opportunity they could get their perfectly manicured hands on. In a series of unadulterated political drama that has the appeal of a trailer park cat fight; Redford has proved herself to be indefinitely an aggressive, pushy, gossip while Smith has proven herself to be slightly less outright rude in her offense on the attacks constantly thrown at her by Redford.
Everything the Wild Rose party stands for smells of aggressive lobbying by oil companies and screams ‘forget democracy’, but you got to give Smith a tiny bit of credit for rolling with the punches and being only slightly more mature then Redford.
Late March, Smith suited up and played waitress in a publicity stunt, as politicians often do to shake that ‘I believe I am holly then thou’ image. During this little publicity stunt Smith said “I think Ms. Redford doesn’t like Alberta all that much, she doesn’t like who we are”. Redford responded to the ridiculous comment by pointing out it was a ridiculous comment.
“That’s such a ridiculous comment to make,” she said. “If other political candidates want to have that kind of a conversation, I don’t know who they’re going to have it with, because they’re not going to have it with me.”
Smith has attacked Redford for fear-mongering. Redford has attacked Smith for fear-mongering. Both deny they were fear-mongering but it doesn’t matter what they say, they were both clearly fear-mongering.
Redford said Smith’s anti-choice beliefs on abortion and banning gay marriage “frighten” Albertans. With that comment accusing Smith of fear-mongering, came an accusation from Smith to Redford that she was mongering the fear which Smith had worked so hard to cultivate and she should give it back because Smith needs that fear to win seats or money or approval from the oil companies. No one’s pointed out that the party Redford comes from stands for anti-choice and comes from a place of homophobia.
Smith has taken multiple attacks on Redford countless times for wanting to “change Alberta” when Smith herself comes from a party that makes Quebec separatists look like Canadian patriots.
It was all normal, only slightly more vicious then normal politics until an attack on Smith from Redford via Twitter crossed the line. The attack should make anyone question how she got to be the leader of anything other than a high school cheer leading squad or a college sorority.
“If @ElectDanielle likes young and growing families so much, why doesn’t she have children of her own? #wrp family pack = insincere”
Smith responded in a very mature manner stating to the press, in more than 140 characters: “In the last day the question has been raised about why I don’t have children of my own. When David and I married in 2006 we intended to have children together. After a few years we sought help from the Calgary Regional Fertility Clinic. I appreciated the support and assistance of the caring staff as we went through tests and treatments, but in the end we were not successful.”
Redford responded with this: “Alberta is made up of all types of families. Each one has a story. Each one is unique. There is no one type of family that is more authentic than the other. Last night, a tweet was sent that was entirely inappropriate. It was hurtful and does not reflect my values nor those of my campaign in any way. Once I became aware of the tweet, I called Danielle Smith immediately. I look forward to speaking with her privately. The young woman who authored the tweet has resigned from her position. From that action I know she understands the gravity of her actions.”
And the spat ended with this: “I just spoke with @Premier_Redford. I appreciate her sincerity and accepted her apology.”
So in closing of this rambling post, there’s one thing that should be taken from this. Redford and Smith both have incredibly conservative views and basically, other than the fact that one preaches from a place of religion and the other one constantly contradicts what she actually stands for, other than financially and the fact that one wants Alberta independence; they’re pretty much both standing on the same platforms yelling the same conservative beliefs.
It baffles the mind that either of them are in the positions they’re in and it’s even more baffling that they’re ahead of NDP and Liberal candidates, but it kind of makes sense because it is Alberta, Canada’s oil capital where they pay less taxes then the rest of Canada and still receive better services then Aboriginals. Both of them are reminiscent of Sarah Palin. They even got the whole “Drill baby drill” bit down.
The fact that this is the face of woman in Canadian politics in the sense that they have power and are likely to keep it, whereas woman like Elizabeth May need some time to become more established, is enough to bring a tear to the eye when you really think about what a woman in power in this country looks like.
On the very unlikely off chance that either of them ever sees this article they should probably know that both of them have put woman back a long time. And they haven’t even passed any anti-abortion laws yet. I really hope neither of them wins and they haven’t quit their day jobs.
But what do I know? I turned 18 today and my invitation to people posted earlier still stands
We care about the environment, we give 90Million dollars to protecting it, and spend millions of dollars on mining and 47 million on a pipeline, and that doesn’t even include the brief mention on the pipelines briefly explained in the budget.
A Letter to My Country
Dear Conservative Party of Canada and all who support Bill C-30,
Please do not hold off the debate on Bill C-30. Bill C-30 is a bill that will affect all Canadians and the debate should be held publicly with complete transparency. A complete list of sponsors of Bill C-30 should be released and easily accessible to the public, as it is our right, as taxpayers and citizens to have access to have all information on the bills presented by our government.
While the Conservative party of Canada has renamed the “Unlawful Access Bill” to “Protecting Children From Internet Predators Act” the bill does not prescribe harsher punishments for child predators nor does it mention children. Safety Minister Vic Toews who presented the bill, has publicly stated he “does not know what is in the bill”; maybe Toews should spend less time worrying about who knows the intimate details of his divorce and more time reading the bills he presents. Privacy is a right and if Mr. Toews would like to bring forth a bill to turn it into a privilege then he should be prepared to handle the consequences. The Canadian government has no business knowing what is in my browsing history or what is on my hard drive and as much as there is nothing to hide, there is an imminent threat when the government goes claiming that anyone with an opposing opinion “stands with the child pornographers”.
Bill C-30 will not catch the child pornographers. It would take extensive amounts of time to scan the data of Canada’s populous, for any suspicious activity that suggests someone is producing child pornography and even more time to trace the original user who possesses child pornographer and their IP addresses. In the time that the government is trying to find the user, the criminal gets away, leaving more tracks to trace and learning from their mistakes, developing new methods to hide and decreasing any chance of saving the child.
In 2010 the government busted a child pornography ring in Toronto. The perpetrator was never charged, despite the fact that he was guilty of not just child pornography but human trafficking of a young children, despite the fact all evidence of his crimes were on video which was in custody of the police, despite the fact several children formally in his care were sent back to the impoverished countries from which they came or put into foster care, despite the fact that he admitted to the crimes to officers he never once went in front of a judge. By the time the Canadian government had gotten to him, he had already held, raped and molested several young girls, but what the Canadian government had failed to discover was that when these girls got “too old”, the people of this child pornography ring would simply throw them onto the street, where they would live in shelters and make attempts to enroll in the school system, but seeing as they were not citizens and could not apply for refugee status, the young girls now teens had no choice but to remain in shelters, never receiving education. In two cases, when they applied for citizenship, they found themselves being deported back to Ethiopia or Liberia, being that it had been over a decade for both girls, the chances of them ever returning to their families is slim to none. This is not a media covered story, this is the story of a young girl from a shelter.
If the government would like to stop child pornographers, then it is wise not to make false attempts at doing so. The child pornographers will not go away out of fear of you, they will just find new ways to traffic girls and new ways to distribute child porn.
The conservative government continually changes the subject and makes ad hominid attacks on a general populous of people who do not agree with them. When accused of elections fraud the government pointed the finger instead of agreeing to an investigation. When emails are sent to Conservative MP’s automated messages are sent in reply. When opposing parties ask why the conservative government has proposed or acted in such a way that they do not agree on, the conservative party does not justify the inquiry with an answer but shut down the debate and change the subject.
Safety Minister Toews, I as a Canadian citizen, do not feel safe with Bill C-10 enacted, as it will keep people from getting jobs as they will have a record for something even the most harmless of offenses. It will put more people in jail and it will create more desperation. Bill C-10 will not make the streets safe and Bill C-30 will not stop the child pornographers.
I, as a Canadian citizen, do not feel safe with the government invading on my privacy and taking away freedoms instead of giving education and opportunity.
I as a Canadian citizen, am made to feel ashamed for criticizing the Canadian government. A government who takes half of my income; for not just services that both aboriginal and non-aboriginal status citizens deserve access to, but also for Canadian politicians own personal gains. The Canadian people do not pay you to jail, censor and spy, they pay you to educate, provide essential services and keep the best interests for the people. Not the interest government. Not the the interest corporations. The interest the people. As someone who pays you half of my income to the government, I do not feel as though you have educated, provide service equally to the the Canadian populous or kept the best interest of the Canadian people, but instead have attempted to jail, censor and spy on the very populous that elected you.
I as a Canadian citizen, refuse to feel ashamed of criticizing the government of the country I live in but instead feel it increasingly necessary to continue thinking for the future and continue to question the Conservative government and the burning question in my mind is who pays you?
There was no room in the Ontario budget for healthcare so doctors and nurses are taking pay freezes, but there was room for 25 new LCBO locations. There was no room for education so the teachers are taking pay freezes, but there was money for more OPP officers. There was very little room in the budget for infrastructure, but the business sector saw very limited cut backs. Once again I implore you, who pays you?
I want to pay for education, healthcare and good wages for all workers, especially those in the public sector, good roads and buildings that are up to code. I don’t some multinational corporation taking tax money over seas to manufacture goods in China or more police to abuse their power or continue the cycle of poverty. I don’t want more places to buy alcohol or a pipeline that has proved a hard sale, will do damage to the environment and doesn’t take advantage of the Maritime provinces potential for wind power or the territories and northern provinces capacity for solar power. I want equal opportunity for all people, Canadian born citizens, immigrants and aboriginals deserves the same opportunities, not deportation and systematic poverty. I want a country I can be proud of but instead I watch on in horror as victims of criminals become victims of police and then become victims of the system.
I do not want to associate the national anthem with protestors practicing their right to free speech only to be met with riot police. I do not want to associate the word ‘apartheid’ with the way aboriginals are treated. I do not want a government who doesn’t look at fact or support research and investigation. I do not want a government who discourages curiosity and knowledge and encourages complacency and mediocrity. I want freedom not fear; equity not poverty. I want education and politicians who listen. I want a say in the bills that are passed. When I send a letter to my MP asking for an appointment to draft a bill, I don’t want an automated email, I want an appointment.
I want Canada to invest in green energy and set a new standard, not back out of agreements instead of trying to meet the terms. Canada is one of the greatest countries in the world but I can not say in any sense of the word honesty that I trust or am proud of the government.
Who is lining your pocket? If it is not the people please give us back the half of the income you take from us. Who do you work for? If its the corporations ask them for better wages, because the people pay more then they do. Who employs you? If the answer is the public sector, then why are the MPPs not facing a pay freeze.
I am a proud Canadian who is ashamed of my government and you will not silence my voice. We, the Canadian populous will stand on guard for thee and spit in the face of hypocrisy. We, the Canadian populous will stand strong and speak up when our freedom is at stake. We, the Canadian populous will look far and wide for the truth. And we, the Canadian populous will not be bullied into your police state.
The corporations do not belong in the house of commons and neither does any attack on freedom.
Sincerely
Canada
“9 Million Dollars In Native Education” Says Harper with his fingers crossed
I hate to fear monger, but there is a giant middle finger aimed straight at Canada’s Aboriginal Community. Why speculate such things? Harper is heading to Nunavut to talk Native education in the north.
Aboriginal Affairs in Canada fallows a pattern. The government makes promises they have no intention of implementing. They apologize for residential schools, wait a few weeks, swine flu happens; send body bags instead of hand sanitizer. Go to conference to discus Aboriginal issues, promise to change the “Indian Act” in hopes of better education, don’t change a thing; plan the Northern Gateway Pipeline to go through an Aboriginal land claim. Send housing to Attawapiskat, 30 years too late to prevent an infrastructure collapse; instantly reject Band Chiefs law suit that may result in better funding for the reserves. Need we continue?
Now Harper is heading to Nunavut in “the dead of winter” to make promises he has no plan to back. Harper claims to want to contribute 9 million dollars towards raising the literacy rates and providing better job skills.
In a month or a week, we will be told that money does not actually exist. Weather Harper announces that the money better spent pushing a surveillance bill that makes apprehension of copyright breakers, come the activation of ACTA and/or TPP in 2015, is yet to be seen.
While Harper publicly recognizes Aboriginal Education is a prerequisite to economic success, what he will never admit is that that the success of the Aboriginal people would be a road block to anything economic in his agenda. The success of the Aboriginal people would be a revolutionary change in the government and the way government functions. The Aboriginal people would push for more environmental action, more solar panels and wind turbines, less pipelines and drilling. They would demand more sustainable local growth and less trade agreements with countries that have horrible human rights track records. The focus would shift to people from profit and that is the opposite of what Harper wants.
There is a huge different in the way Nunavut is governed compared to the provinces. When a motion to raise the premier’s salary was introduced the premier herself voted against it, further proving she cares more about the people then lining her own pockets. If it was anyone else, they’d likely take it in a heart beat. Believe it or not, turning down the raise is exactly what traditional native values dictate; one for the community, not community for one.
No matter how many times Harper tries to come off as caring for the Aboriginal Community, you can’t look at his half assed attempts and say “well at least he cares” because he doesn’t. Harper doesn’t care for the natives. He doesn’t even care about the people of Canada. Yes, he cares about the economy, but the people who make the economy, the people who live in this country, the children who will one day inhabit this land; no respect for them. He has no respect for the retiring generation, or the internet generation.
Harper and Ford are very much alike. They will tell you that if you don’t agree with them and want your tax money to go to something that will benefit you and not a company, then you are wrong. You don’t want your privacy invaded then you MUST have something to hide.
Harper shuts down debates and gives the same vague answer to every hard question. Ford fires people, who don’t agree with him and gets a publicity team to fake like their not a PR team calling into a radio talk show, and say they agree with him when ever council votes against him.
Harper keeps making false promises and until he changes his focus to people instead of profit, the Aboriginal Community will continue to suffer.
The Conservatives need to stop making PR moves and start making efforts.
But what do I know? I’m going to city hall later to watch people bicker.
Canada, I Am Disappoint
I used to be one of those patriotic Canadians who used to always boast “Yeah! Look at our glorious healthcare! We’re peace keepers! Yeah! America (pronounced A-mur-ee-ca) got nothing on us!”.
….I don’t feel that way anymore
Don’t get me wrong; Canada’s health care system is amazing, neither of my parents would be alive without it and I thank the great unicorn in the sky everyday for it. No one is putting a gun to my head and no one is taking away all of the little things I take for granted. No one is keeping me from doing anything or forcing me to do anything I don’t want to do. For that matter, here in Canada I don’t think we know how amazing our standard of living is. Canada is very much a free country; no argument there.
In recent months I can’t help but wonder how democratic is our democracy? While nobody is threatening to take away the Canadians right to vote (I’m 17 so one more year), and the government isn’t censoring the media, in the past few months, it seems like the way Harper is running his cabinet has been not autocratic so to speak, but less then democratic.
Now you may think I’m going a little bit far saying that, but I can give you several examples of how I got to this conclusion.
For one, despite out right opposition from environmental groups and Canadian citizens, Peter Kent the Environment Minister of Harper’s Government withdrew Canada from the Kyoto Protocol. Canadian MPs in opposition to the decision were not allowed to the attend the conference. The Keystone Pipeline and Ontario’s MegaQuary was met with the same opposition as withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol was…Hasn’t stopped Harper from doing it.
Kent says that the Kyoto standards were unrealistic for Canada. He blames the Liberal government for signing the Kyoto Protocol in the first place; conveniently forgetting to mention the programs that the Liberals had put in place to meet these goals…which have been cut by the Conservative upon their election in 2006.
Ohhhhh, and we wonder why Justin Trudeau was so angry!
Still not convinced?
Recently Green Party MP, Elizabeth May pointed out during Question Period:
“Mr. Speaker, from 1913 to 1956, a period of over 40 years, time limits on debates were used 10 times. In the last 40 days, it has been used 7 times, making a new historical record.
What used to be the exception to the rule appears to now be the rule.”
This was met with heckling from the conservative party. Why? I have no idea why, parliamentary debates these days seem to be less of debates and more of Conservatives yelling.
I understand how important Harper believes the economy is, but as a Canadian I don’t feel like the government that represents my believes. Isn’t a government that represents the beliefs of the people and open debate what democracy is about?
But then again; what do I know. I can’t even vote.
Read About Elizabeth May:
http://www.elizabethmay.ca/in-the-news/silencing-debate-a-government-in-a-hurry/
