You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Canada’ category.
What a nice way of saying that there is no possibility of our party winning a majority in an election, furthermore if I fail again it will be my head on the block. Therefore, there shall be no election.
“Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he will not try to trigger an election next year, saying the government needs to stay focused on the economy.
Like Anakin, but without the redemption in the end.
“I’m not going to cause an election,” Harper told CTV News in a year-end interview. “I’m not going to call an election and we’re not bringing forward some kind of poison pill to provoke an election. We are committed to governing. We don’t need an election.”
Good on ya Steve, adhering to the first rule of politics, maintaining power is admirable and duly noted.
“We’re in a fragile global recovery. Canada is in a very good position for the long term but we need to stay focused on that and not screw around with a bunch of political games.”
Political games? Like dissent, debate and well you know that other ugly D word: Democracy. We shan’t be screwing around with the likes of those things.
“Harper also said there will be no prorogation early in the new year. He said there would be a small cabinet shuffle but he was mostly happy with his team.”
Conveniently left open for prorogation at anytime because “early in the new year” could be January 2nd. Stay tuned for more conservative tom foolery.
The wholesale price of gasoline has remained the same. Prices in Canada, however, have been fluctuating a great deal as of late.
“Competition among dealers is bringing volatility to the pumps, which means prices for consumers will take wild swings — both up and down — said Michael Ervin of M.J. Ervin and Associates in Calgary on Friday.
“When we see prices moving up and down, without any change in the underlying wholesale prices or with little wholesale price change, then it’s a reflection of price war activity,” Ervin said in an interview with CBC News.”
Usually when we think price war, it means a lower price for the consumer. As the report indicates that is not always the case.
“Strategically, tactically, dealers move their prices down for a period of time, then back up again and try to do it quickly — so quickly as to get in and get out and grab volume before the big oil companies basically take notice and change their prices,” he said.
“You can’t predict when they start; you can’t predict how they go or how long they will last. It’s localized.”
Basically, as with any purchase, it is buyer beware. Do your homework, wait for the sweet spot if you can.
The Provincial Progressive Conservative party in Alberta should really jettison the ‘progressive’ part of their name. They have not done anything particularly progressive since the latest oil company approved election campaign nominated Ed Stelmach as First Courtier to Big Business Premier of Alberta. We really do get what we deserve when we continually vote the PC’s into office, namely a province run for the benefit of business rather than the benefit of the people. It makes sense then to turf knowledgeable specialists such as Raj Sherman when he dares to make a evidence based argument instead of what the party line dictates.
“The Alberta MLA who criticized his own government over its handling of backlogs in the province’s emergency rooms has been suspended from the Tory caucus. Raj Sherman, the Progressive Conservative MLA for Edmonton-Meadowlark and an emergency room physician, made headlines over the past week for his sharp criticism of Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach and how the province has managed long lines in the province’s ERs.”
Won’t the optics look back for the Government when they boot out a doctor for speaking up about an area of expertise? Sherman says:
No more evidence based decisions for you!
“For me, it’s really a matter of principle. I guess the principles of being a doctor and advocating for patients collided with the principles of politics,” Sherman said.
“I don’t see a reason why they would have needed to collide. I think politicians and doctors, voters and patients are one and the same. But for me it’s a bit of a sad day.”
Sherman said he will now sit as an Independent.”
It is a bit of sad day for all Albertans because stuff like this gets buried so quickly in the province and then come voting time, we elect, you guessed it, more PC’s into office. So, should we really be surprised anymore when such decisions are undertaken? Not in Alberta, where a tie clip that ran for the PC’s would get elected.
Well, I guess the phrase, “Our troops will be out of Afghanistan by 2011” has more connotations than the ones most people would be aware of. Apparently it means this:
“Instead, the Harper government now wants to extend Canada’s military presence by another three years to 2014, maintaining a force of up to 1,000 soldiers and support personnel in “non-combat training roles.”
It is nice to see that our autocratic PM is being all that he can be. Furthermore, Harper is not putting this extension up for debate in the House of Commons.
“Harper and Cannon have both said a vote on the extension is not needed. Cannon pointed out Monday that a parliamentary vote was not taken when Canadian troops were sent to Haiti after the devastating earthquake in January.
Speaking on CBC’s Power & Politics with Evan Solomon, Cannon said there was “no precedent” for a parliamentary vote on the extension of the mission in Afghanistan.
“This is really a function of mission creep,” NDP MP Jack Harris said after the announcement. “We started in 2002 and we’ve been there nine years now. Last Saturday was the ninth anniversary of the fall of the Taliban.”
Canada has wilted under the pressure of NATO and the US, to keep a military presence in Afghanistan despite promises to get our troops out of the country.
Approaching contentious topics in conversation is always a touchy proposition considering my stance on most issues. The War in Afghanistan, Prison Policy, Educational Policy and Patriarchy are all minefields that are necessarily carefully navigated through as disagreeing too much with the dominant point of view only leads to consternation and frustration on both sides of the conversation.
Sadly, we end up talking about ‘other’ topics and any sort of give or take is eliminated because of the calcified nature of conservatism in Alberta. Take for instance the Oilsands, a blight in Northern Alberta that is poisoning the environment and the people who live near them. The counter argument, jobs and the economy of course. We are making money and that takes precedence over all. Once the Athabasca river is thoroughly contaminated and the people living near it have moved away or died, things will be fine I imagine.
Similarly in Afghanistan, I’m sure once we kill enough of the Taliban peace and prosperity will firmly take hold and we can make a gracious exit and commend ourselves on a job well done. The alternate picture, perpetual war against a embittered, radicalized population does not to have much traction, although it is a narrative much closer to the reality of the situation in Afghanistan at present. I imagine though that we’ll eventually end up blaming the Afghan people for being too backward, too corrupt and too sectarian for our benevolent efforts (bombing the crap out of everything) and disengage while calling it mendaciously, a victory for our side. Consider the magic woven in Vietnam where America came out of the war eventually demanding reparations from the Vietnamese for their actions… Imperial hubris is wonderful.
Hubris aside, the mentality of some conservatives can be somewhat trying, especially with regards to crime and prisons. The verdict is in, and the evidence points to one clear concept. Punishing people does not ‘fix’ them. More punishment is not the solution. Here is where I get accused of being “soft” on crime. Quite bluntly, dealing with the precursors to crime and criminality – poverty, discrimination, and inequality- is a much more efficient and effective way to deal with crime in a society. I assert with certainty we will still need prisons because necessarily, there exists in any population a percentage of people who simply do not fit in and need to be segregated from the general population. The focus though needs to be on the precursors and getting people the skills they need to become a member of society that does not need to commit crime.
Educational policy dovetails into the discussion of the justice system as it has been noted that in punishment heavy modes of operation, educational policy can act as a feeder system for the criminal justice system. Again, the idea that we can punish (people) children into becoming what we want is deleteriously wrong notion that needs to be dispelled from the schools. The fear of punishment works for many, but not all children. For those who do not have the skills to behave correctly punishing them more only pushes them further away from our goal of nurturing and educating people to become contributing members of our society.
Like the unreality of the punishment point of view the view that Feminism is over and women have achieved equality in our society is a persistent meme that needs to be corrected. The Patriarchy is not dead, our culture is a rape culture and women are still second class citizens at their very best. Is the work of eradicating the massive inequality built into our culture even close to being done, heck no. Not acknowledging that the work needs to be done retards progress significantly, as again, the case must be made, defended and writ large so the proper context can be established and the idea that feminism is not “over” can be vanquished (again).
The theme of this post has been pretty much “waaaa! it sucks having to constatantly contradict the dominant cultural and historical narrative, look how much work it is!!!!”. I realize that, but I write to educate those who wonder why when they talk about certain topics with their progressive friends they all of a sudden get that tired 1000 kilometer stare.
This is a rather tragic story of a young woman who fell into an structural blindspot of the correctional system of Canada. Because her behaviours were so extreme, she was passed around from institution to institution, always segregated and alone with herself, often 23 hours a day.
Home for 23 hours a day?
“The death of Ashley Smith, a 19-year-old woman from New Brunswick who died of asphyxia in an Ontario prison cell while guards watched, was likely an accident, not a suicide, according to a report from a psychologist retained by the Correctional Service of Canada. Smith was in solitary confinement — and on suicide watch — when she strangled herself with a piece of cloth in October 2007 at the Grand Valley Institute for Women, a federal prison in Kitchener, Ont.”
Ashley was escalating her self-harming behaviour. The guards had been instructed not to intervene until she had stopped breathing, and they did not. A sad end for a youth with serious mental health issues.
“Smith had been transferred 17 times in the final year of her life, and spent most days in isolation, shackled and handcuffed.”
Corrections Canada shuffled her around to avoid broaching the 60 day isolation cell limit. In each new institution the 60 day clock was reset allowing her isolation to continue. When you strip out hope and human contact nothing good can come, Ashley’s diary reflects her misery:
“If I die then I will never have to worry about upsetting my Mom again… It would have been nice today to stick my head in the lawn mower blade. F***, I really did have to hold back the urge. Maybe the next time I will give it a try.
Most people are scared to die. It can’t be any worse then living a life like mine. Being dead I think would just suit me fine. I wonder when the best time to do it would be. I’m not going to get locked because then I’m back on checks and they will expect me to act up then. I will call my Mom before bed and have one more chat. Somehow I have to let her know that none of this is her fault. I don’t know why I’m like I am but I know she didn’t do it to me. People say there is nothing wrong with me. Honestly I think they need to F***off because they don’t know what goes on in my head. When I use to try to hang myself I was just messing around trying to make them care and pay attention. Now it’s different. I want them to f***off and leave me alone. It’s no longer a joke. It kind of scares to think that they might catch me before it’s done and then I will be a vegetable for the rest of my life. That’s why the most important thing right now is to stay unlocked so they don’t think anything is up. It’s over.
Maybe I will use a brand new pair of socks. Fresh for me. No I don’t f***ing deserve a new pair of socks. I will use the old dirty ugly ones. Ha Ha that kind of explains me. Dirty and ugly. Two peas in a pot (sic). F*** THIS WORLD!!! Ha Ha. When [name omitted] told me she took me off fifteen minute checks I almost s**t myself. Can she help me anymore. I should ask her for a razor blade. Maybe she will give me that to. Joke of the day. Ashley Smith is no longer on checks. 12345 what the F*** is the point of being alive…. I can’t have another apartment visit because I’m f***ing DEAD! I want to die. I went to court yesterday and I though he was going to send me to adult! Time is running out. My chances are getting fewer and fewer. F***. I give up! I’m done trying.”
[Excerpt, Ashley Smith journal entry (September 4, 2006) New Brunswick Youth Centre]
This is an extreme case, but needs to brought into the public light so people can better understand what is being done on the correctional side of things. Society needs to realized that more prisons and more guards are not the answer, but rather the front end social programs that help people when they are in need and help get them established in society.
Do we really need to follow this particular mode of thought?
The idea that ideology as opposed to reality being in the drivers seat when it comes to decisions that the Federal Conservative government makes is scary. Since when did making policy based on fact become sacrosanct? Did Steven Harper need his own noun to make war on? I propose we give Steve his war, let us call it the “The War on Evidence“.
It certainly seems to be a war with recent policy decisions that are based on what seems to be the zany ideas Harper pulls out of his ass. Cancelling the long form census is the most notable example of policy that seems to have come out of deep right field. I mean the Census is the tool we use to gather data about our country and are people; lets get rid of it? The notion that the mandatory long form census is some sort of violation of privacy rights is clearly absurd. People have lost more private information on facebook in one day than the ‘intrusion’ the long form census presents.
How are we to make rational policy decisions without data? The canaries are already chirping a warning on this topic:
“OTTAWA – The union representing federal scientists says “confusing policy decisions” highlight the need for evidence-based decision-making in Ottawa.
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada has launched a campaign to raise public awareness of the work done by government science researchers.
Union president Gary Corbett says the Harper government’s controversial decision to scrap the mandatory long-form census is an example of a long-term trend in devaluing government-funded research.
Corbett says program review and departmental budget pressures are putting the squeeze on federal scientists who are also muzzled by a restrictive communications policy from sharing their research with the public.”
Our government is waltzing away from reality and no one seems to really give a damn. At least not yet.
“The Conservative government has come under repeated attack for shelving or ignoring research from its own bureaucracy on issues such as climate change and criminal justice policy.”
The entire unreported crime fiasco looms large but largely unnoticed by our recalcitrant media. We are set to build new prisons for theoretical crimes and theoretical prisoners. All of this despite the fact that we know that building more prisons is clearly not the answer. Since when did doing things we know are wrong become policy choice #1?
Cynically speaking, I would chalk the systematic ignorance and neglect of science and evidence as a structured part of Conservative policy. Why? Because much of what they support is bug-frakking crazy and faced with evidence and fact that tells them and everyone else so is not particularly good PR. The solution? Move closer to reality and evidence based policy? Hell no! Lets muzzle and undermine scientists and science so we can pass our wack-a-loon policy with no hindrance from reality.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
Your opinions…