Saturday, August 30, 2008

The creative arts community needs to wake up, now.

Harper’s new vision for the arts doesn’t include the new media either.

The Tories have just announced the cancellation of the Canada New Media Fund (CNMF).

The CMF is $14.5-million-a-year program designed to create and distribute Canadian interactive new media both domestically and internationally.

The objective of the fund that was administered by Telefilm Canada, was to further the development, production, marketing and distribution of high quality, original, interactive or on-line cultural content products.

Some examples of creative productions that were funded include:
  • Degrassi.tv, a Gemini award winning online community-style website that drew “100’s of thousands” of members and has been called a precursor of social networking giant MySpace. by GlassBOX. 
  • Race to Mars also an award winning interactive website by GlassBOX and the discovery Channel.
  • Deafplanet.com, the first TV show and website in American Sign Language for deaf children, which has also won numerous international awards.
Although predominantly centered in the our three largest cities the arts and cultural industries in Canada contribute 10 fold in return for the total investment by governments.

The federal government provides roughly 50% of the institutional funding to the creative arts and culture industries with the provinces picking up the rest.

From the recently released Conference Board of Canada report entitled Valuing Culture: Measuring and Understanding Canada’s Creative Economy who has gone into a great deal of detail outlining the size and economic impact of Canada's arts & culture industries we learn:
The economic contribution of the culture sector to Canada in 2007 was $84.6 billion, or 7.4 per cent of total real GDP, taking into account direct, indirect, and induced contributions.
Over a million people are employed directly or indirectly as a result of cultural economic activity in Canada.
With the CMF cut, the Tories can not site examples of a band named Fuck or the son of a rock being called upon to perform in Germany. This is the breeding ground for Canada's new media. What our kids see online.
“The younger generation are now consuming so much of their media online, and so much of that is being consumed at U.S. websites,” Mr. Khanna said.

“If Canadians want their kids to be consuming Canadian content online, this is the fund to spark innovation, to create jobs and to create a viable industry.

Without this fund, it's not going to exist, so this is huge.”
In typical Tory style there is no communication with the stakeholders in the industry. This is straight ideological changes to create their own narrow vision of Canada.
The New Media Fund was created by and figured prominently in the previous Liberal government's Tomorrow Starts Today program.
And the heads of the arts and culture associations should wake up up to this fact and quit sitting on the sidelines.

This government has no intent to re-install new creative funding.

Anything they fund in the future will come with a big price tag "Conservative Canadian values".





Reference: The Globe here and the Canada Council Report via pdf here.



This is what happens when companies are left in charge of food safety



From the Toronto Sun today:

Workers at the Maple Leaf Foods plant linked to a fatal, nationwide listeria outbreak cut corners when they cleaned food processing machines, a longtime employee claims.

"They haven't cleaned some of the machines' (interiors) in four, five years," said the worker, who asked to remain anonymous.

Richard Arsenault, a CFIA manager, told the Sun earlier this week that Maple Leaf conducts visual and sample tests daily and a CFIA inspector would come in for an hour a day to check the company's cleaning records. Maple Leaf, not the CFIA, does the routine checks.

"[CFIA] conducts three or four random tests a year and does one test per product every month," Arsenault said.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Lunn and Clement know squat about isotope production

On Tuesday we learned that a nuclear reactor in the Netherlands that produces medical isotopes under contract for the AECL (Atomic Energy of Canada Limited) has been temporarily shut down.

Both Lunn and Clement who were on their way to Denver for meetings with oil executives who were in town for the Democratic convention issued quick reassurances that Canada's needs were secure.
Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn issued a statement early Tuesday saying the government is working with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and suppliers to try to ensure a consistent supply of medical isotopes for Canadians.

Health Minister Tony Clement has issued a similar statement saying the government is working to ensure that Canadians will have the isotopes they need.

The government also says AECL can increase production to help close the supply gap, should a global shortage of isotopes arise.
However today we learn something about isotope manufacturing that apparently neither Lunn or Clement know.

There is a distribution protocol for isotopes in place where the distributor has no control over where it’s customers, the pharmaceutical manufacturers sell the isotopes.
In other words, the company could not guarantee Canadian hospitals would receive any extra supplies produced by Chalk River in the event of a widespread shortage.

The federal government and AECL, similarly, have little control over where the isotopes are sold.
Apparently when there is a possible crisis and you have a plane to catch, the best thing to do is just make shit up.

According to the Post article: Federal Health Minister Tony Clement could not be reached for comment.

Unfortunately we are already aware of that. He is AWOL on other issues too.




References: Tuesday story from CNEWS here and Thursday story from THe National Post here.


Thursday, August 28, 2008

CFIA admits that the new plan doesn't necessarily work as designed

With up to 15 deaths so far that sounds like an understatement.
Under a deluge of disbelief from the inspectors' union, over remarks made by Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, CFIA officials are now changing their story.

Ritz said there was 50-50 split between paperwork inspections and floor inspections.

However CFIA spokesperson has now clarified that the 50-50 split is the way the new system was designed "but not necessarily the way it actually works".

But Bob Kingston, head of the agriculture union at the agency, says inspectors are being deluged with paper audits and simply don't have enough hours in the day to do floor inspections.
The new CFIA plan was being tested at the Maple Leaf plant and like BigCityLib here, I would like to know how many other plants are being tested.

Ritz should stop defending the plan, start talking to his inspectors and come up with a system that works. One where inspectors actually inspect.




From the Globe here.

The Tories defense of their new food inspection rules misses the point

Yesterday afternoon the Tories came out in defense of the changes they have made to Canada’s food inspection processes.
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said inspectors were doing their job properly at the Maple Leaf Foods plant.
Ritz is missing the point. No one has said that the inspectors were not doing their job as defined by the new rules. The press and the union are questioning the new rules that his department has put in place.

In the past inspectors, inspected the floor, and performed actual tests, such as swabbing for Lysteria, now they only perform one test a year.

The inspectors role has been reduced to reviewing the reports prepared by the factory.
Paul Mayers a spokesperson for the department, tried to defend his department’s new rules for inspection saying that reviewing the procedural reports produced by the company was “just as important as being on the floor of the plant”.
Mayers is also missing the point made by the press and the union, if the paperwork says everything is okay, everything is okay. The point is inspectors are no longer inspecting.
Michael McCain, the President of Maple Leaf Foods, also came out yesterday and said that his company deserves to shoulder all of the blame.
While that is something that everyone can agree with, it has nothing to do with the fact that the new inspection rules that were in place at the factory no longer required the government inspectors to verify the data that the company produced.
Harper also spoke out in defense of his new rules yesterday saying the responsibility for food safety must be shared by industry and government and that there is no system in the world where every product is inspected all the time.
However with the new rules only requiring the inspectors to perform one test a year, Harper's government is not sharing the responsibility for food safety with the industry they are turning the responsibility over the industry.

When the Tories first approved the new rules back in November, the main focus was the slaughtering side of meat production, ending the funding to producers to test cattle for BSE (mad cow disease) and downgrading agency inspectors to an oversight role.
However as Michael Hansen a US senior scientist and leading BSE authority, said when the new rules were finally leaked.

"Canada is moving towards the U.S. model, where the inspectors don't actually do the inspection, they just oversee and the companies actually do the inspection. That's a really dangerous thing."
And now with 15 deaths, that is the point.





References: CTV here, Harper's comment from the Globe here and the National Post here.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Harper’s new meat inspection rules were already in place at the Maple Leaf plant.

Contrary to what we were told last week, "the Maple Leaf Toronto plant was one of the plants where the CFIA began testing the new inspection system a year ago". The inspector responsible for the Maple Leaf plant in Toronto also had to supervise up to half a dozen other facilities.
At the Maple Leaf plant behind the listeria outbreak, a single federal inspector was relegated to auditing company paperwork and had to deal with several other plants, a CFIA manager and an union official revealed, contradicting the impression that officials had left last week that full-time watchdogs were on-site.

Under the new rules, instead of heading to the plant floor to inspect with their own eyes, inspectors are sent to the office to confirm that the meat packer has performed the required tests and the results are satisfactory, said the union official.

"We don't swab for listeria any more. The industry does all that themselves," he said. "They just document all this stuff. We read their reports. If their reports say they do everything fine, then they do everything fine."
According to a Dr. Richard Arsenault a manager from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
The federal rules require only that inspectors perform three or four random tests annually at a plant, the rest of the time, inspectors rely on the company, which is required to do at least one test a month for each type of product.

"It's like in aviation, we can't look under each jet engine of an airline, but we can make sure the maintenance service works," he said.

"We expect the companies to be responsible and not just go through the motions to placate the inspectors."

"All I can say is that with the new system that has been set up, there's always an adjustment phase," Dr. Arsenault said, when asked about Mr. Kingston's criticism.
Well that's an understatement.

Meanwhile our Prime Minister has said that the massive Maple Leaf meat recall highlights the need for Ottawa to overhaul its meat-inspection regime and has rejected any suggestions that the federal government is not doing enough.

This is one time that I agree with you Mr. Harper, your government has done too much.

Harper's free enterprise ideology has put our food supply in jeopardy and he has not been forthright in coming forward with the details of his new rules and it's implementation.

Harper's government bears direct responsibility for this outbreak of Listeria and the deaths of up to 12 Canadians.





Reference: Globe & Mail here.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Call me a cynic but these look like bright shiny objects to me

With as many as 12 deaths possibly linked to the current out break of listeria at MapleLeaf foods coinciding with the Tories plans to cut back on federal meat inspectors, it seems like we are now getting a lot of stories about how the government is concerned about our public safety.

Here's some samples from the last three days:

Federal government deems 4 chemicals danger to humans

Burning incense increases cancer risks: study

Decline in smoking rates flatlines; cancer group blames contraband cigarettes

Stockwell Day says street gang prevention having positive impact in Montreal

Too much folic acid may trigger cancer

Netherlands shuts down reactor that produces medical isotopes
Both Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn and Health Minister Tony Clement have issued similar statements saying the government is working to ensure that Canadians will have the isotopes they need.

And from the Health Canada site

Expert Alert - Risking your Health for Your Job?
For workers feeling refreshed from their summer holidays, Labour Day serves as a reminder that the time has come to head back to work. Many jobs can take a toll on your health, whether it is mental or physical. In order to make sure you're at your best on the job, CIHR-funded experts are available to comment on some of the work-related health risks you may not be aware of.

It's like the NRA showing up in town for a conference after a high school massacre.

Who knew the Tories were so diligent in protecting us.



References: CBC, Macleans, CNEWS and the National Post with the title ripped off in part from a couple of my favorite bloggers.

Monday, August 25, 2008

A boat load heading to the Arctic

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will head north for his fourth visit in three years.

This week more than 500 troops will be participating in Operation Nanook 08.
"The Canadian Forces, along with our other government departments, need to be ready to respond to... threats such as environmental accidents, oil spills (and) potentially communicable disease outbreaks on a cruise ship," said Brig-Gen. David Millar, commander of Joint Task Force North.
The exercise is probably necessary once the oil companies find out who they have to pay the royalties to and start drilling.

However the real purpose of this week's PR operation which also includes CSIS, Canadian Border services and civilian agencies is to reinforce Canada’s forthcoming UN claim to suspected rich oil deposits along the Lomonsov Ridge.

The Prime Minister expected to return to Ottawa.


Reference CTV here and the National Post here.

Note to self when drowning in the Niagara River, if rescued report to US customs first


Two Toronto-area men are behind bars in Buffalo after being dramatically rescued from the Niagara River.

Both were riding Sea-Doos when they were knocked into the water after hitting strong currents.

One was rescued by a US tour boat, the other was washed ashore. They were taken into custody by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service and were charged with failure to report on landfall into the States.
They will attend a closed hearing before an immigration judge today. It's expected, they'll either be issued a removal order and deported back to Canada or the judge may dismiss the charges against them.

"If a removal order is issued, the two will need to go through an extensive application process in order to return to the U.S."
So much for that the largest unprotected border claim at least on the south side.

Canada's department of foreign affairs has declined to comment.



Reference: from CNEWS here.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Dysfunctional meetings about dysfunctional governance

What Harper has labelled as a dysfunctionally operating parliament has been more disrupted by the extraneous law suits and committee hearings than actually what took place inside the chamber.

When Harper meets with the opposition leaders he should offer to clean up some of the lawsuits that are getting in the way of a functioning parliament since many of them are coming to head this fall.
The Tories have sued Elections Canada for withholding 2006 campaign reimbursements. Elections Canada alleges that the Tories illegally funnelled advertising expenses during the 2006 campaign, allowing the Tories to exceed their national campaign spending limit by $1.3 million.
The parliamentary inquiry into the Conservative "in and out" election scheme looking into allegations the Conservative party illegally skirted its spending limit for the 2006 election.
Harper's $3.5-million defamation suit against the Liberal party for defamation of character and loss of personality relating to a statement on the Liberal web site regarding the Cadman tapes.
A federal judge is expected to come forth with a ruling on the KPIA in September. This is the case where an environment group is asking the judge to compel the Conservative government to follow the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act that became law in June 2007.
To name a few
But unfortunately in the surreal world of political rhetoric the meetings will be nothing more than posturing, so that Harper can justify calling the election. With the Canadian economy expected to decline further through 2009, there is no way that Harper wants to wait until his mandate runs out in 2009. 

As for Dion he is somewhat boxed in. At the risk of loosing the momentum that his party has gained in Quebec, he can no longer sit back and abstain from voting on the key issues. So with the next election being about who is going to get to form the next minority government, the next question is who is going to pull the trigger.

And logically it will be Harper with all the bluster and indignation he can muster.

If I was an opposition leader I would tape the meeting, but I guess that would only lead to more Tory lawsuits down the road.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Keith Moon would of been 62 today

Keith Moon was one of the first to play drums as a lead instrument in an era when drums were supposed only to keep the back beat. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest and most distinctive rock drummers.

Here he is with the Who, playing Who are you



Unfortunately he was also regarded as one of the classic self destructed victims of 70’s rock & roll. Here's a Moon the Loon story.
Once, leaving town on the way to an airport, Moon insisted the band return to their hotel, saying , "I forgot something. We've got to go back!"
When the limo returned, Moon ran to his room, grabbed the TV while it was plugged in, threw it out the window and into the pool. He then jumped back into the limousine, sighing "I nearly forgot."
Here's the band playing Baba O'Riley



However when you read about his early life even in this short bio, you realize that he was crazy before the sex, drugs and rock & roll.
At 17 a month before he joined the Who, Moon assaulted Doug Sandom, who at the time was the Who’s drummer, with a cattle prod leaving him unconscious. Sandom quit the band and during a show with a temporary replacement, Moon approached Daltrey and said "I hear you're looking for a drummer. Well, I'm much better than the one you've got." After they saw him totally destroy the drum kit they hired him.
Keith Moon died at the age of 32, apparently in the same hotel room in which Cass Elliot had died four years earlier.

US Academics fear speaking freely in Canada, at least the one with religious homophobic tendancies

From the National Post today.
A group of U. S. professors launched a campaign this week protesting plans by a prominent political science organization to hold its annual conference in Toronto next year, claiming that Canada's restrictions on certain forms of speech puts controversial academics at risk of being prosecuted.
Bradley Watson, professor of American and Western political thought at Pennsylvania's St. Vincent College, seems to be leading the charge by presenting a petition to the American Political Science Association (APSA) to re-evaluate its selection of Toronto for its 2009 conference.
Mr. Watson said that professors signing the petition are concerned that recent human rights commission investigations into Maclean's and Western Standard magazines over articles concerning Islam, and the conviction of pastor Stephen Boisson, who was ordered by Alberta's human rights tribunal in May to cease publicizing criticisms of homosexuality, suggest that professors risk being chilled from discussing important academic subjects, or ending up in legal trouble.
So who is Mr. Watson

He is a professor at Pennsylvania's St. Vincent College, home of the bearcats. He certainly is well schooled with an impressive list of degrees and awards and seems to have started his career in Canada, with a law degree from Queens and B.A. in economics and polisci from UBC before heading south.

As for his political and social leanings (since that is partly what he is concerned about) you can quickly find a couple articles by the professor posted on the web.
The first is a part of a six part series posted on Glenn Beck's talk show site here. If you don't know Glenn Beck, it is probably a good thing as he is one of the right wing, neocon talking heads, that has a spot on CNN as well as his national Rush Limbaughesque radio show.
From the first part of Mr. Watson's series we learn that he is at least a Reaganite and based on the company he is keeping a religious conservative (after all St. Vincent College is a leading Catholic University).
The second article is probably more revealing. Here Mr. Watson writes about banning same sex marriage in California on religious, conservative web site. Mr. Watson is not in favor of same sex marriage rights.
In the end I don't really understand the professor's fear other than it might just be the typical religious right strategy of making a mountains out of mole hills.

Don't worry Mr. Watson we have free speech in Canada as you must remember from your time spent here. And to make you feel more comfortable we have a number of right wing religious fanatical groups too, although we are unsure of the number.

So don't be afraid come on up, just don't get too hateful.

Besides it might give us someone else to post about instead of these idiots.




References the old National Post and Unrepentant Old Hippie

Friday, August 22, 2008

John Lee Hooker would of been 91 today



Here he is at age 72 playing Boogie Chillen with the Stones and Clapton in 1989

And here he is much younger playing Boom Boom when he was a one man show



Both songs were named to the list of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. and Boogie Chillen was included as one of the Songs of the Century.

Even though he started playing the blues in his teens he didn't get a record deal until "Boogie Chillen" in 1948 when he turned 30.

John Lee Hooker passed away in 2001 and was survived by eight children, nineteen grandchildren, numerous great-grandchildren. He was a prolific bluesman with over 100 albums.

Here's a great quote from Johnny Lee/

Women are like wet bars of soap. Hold on to em too hard and they pop outta your hands.

Tories reveal their ideological approach to... well everything

From the Globe this morning we learn that the $40 plus million that the Tories cut from arts funding over the last month will be used to finance their commitments to the Olympics.
Apparently this was part of their 2008 budget that promised to “redirect all savings” from cuts to several Department of Canadian Heritage domains to invest in the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic torch relays; the Road to Excellence program which supports Summer Olympic athletes and the Action Plan for Official Languages which promotes bilingualism.
As it turns out the Strategic Review that has supposed to be going on where the Tories uncovered examples of rampant waste in arts funding (a band named Fuck and a left wing Globe journalist receiving traveling money) was really a red herring as the decision was made back in 2007 when they were preparing their budgets.
The Tories will spend $24.5 million on the Olympic torch relay (which apparently isn’t a new event, but is actually people carrying a torch around the world), another $48 million towards preparation of athletes for the 2012 Summer Olympic and an undisclosed amount for the official languages plan.
When it comes to investing in our culture the Tories want to see results that can be measured (such as winning of more metals) and messages that reflect their ideals of what Canada is.

And that also applies to 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.

From a memo, marked secret that was released today under an access to information request, the Tories reveal the strings attached to their funding of 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.
"The Minister has recently confirmed with VANOC (Vancouver Organizing Committee) in writing that the Department of Canadian Heritage intends to invest $20-million toward the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games in order to ensure that the event adequately reflects the priorities of the Government and helps to achieve its domestic and international branding goals" the memo says.
The message from the Tories is quite simple; arts, culture and sports funding must reflect the priorities of the government and it's international branding goals.

Welcome to Harper's Canada.


References: Funds shift from Globe here and released memo from Globe here.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

An environmental plan devised for or by the oil industry

The Prime Ministers Office or PMO is the head office of the government.

The corporate board room where the top executives (senior advisers) gather with the CEO (Harper) to devise their strategies and pass down the marching orders to their managers (ministers) and front line troops.

It’s Canada’s version of the White House.

If you want something done in this country, similarly to the corporate world, you send your top sales people or lobbyists to the head office for face to face meetings with the decision makers, Harper’s senior advisers.

With July being the first month in which all lobbyist meetings were required to be disclosed, it appears that of all the various lobbyist groups requesting face to face time with the PMO, fifty percent of those granted a meeting were from the oil and gas industry.
Harper's senior advisers filled their calendars in July with one-on-one meetings with some of the country's biggest oil companies, including Shell, Petro-Canada and Suncor.

Newly released federal records show half of the lobby groups who got some face time with the PMO last month were energy companies, or their industry associations.
Responding to the obvious criticism from the Liberal opposition and environmental groups, Harper’s chief spokesperson, Kory Teneycke replied that the PMO does meet with environmental groups regularly, but could not say if there were any requests for meetings from environmental or consumer groups in July.

Although the meeting records maintained by the Registrar of Lobbyists, lack details of what was discussed, Teneycke’s further reply does provide some hint into the purpose of last month’s energy meetings.
“The environmental regulations we're bringing out will be very tough on industry."
It would appear that the Tory’s who have for the most part managed to delay the implementation of any environmental restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions, pushing everything out eight to ten years, are finally starting to put together an environmental plan to combat the Liberal’s Green Shift and the NDPs Cap and Trade.

Unfortunately they seem to be following the lead of the US oil centric administration by first calling in the oil industry to discuss those plans.

However based on the past performance of Harper’s government, one would have to question whether the oil companies were there in July to be advised or to do the advising.



Reference: Montreal Gazette here.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Robert Plant turned 60 today

Black Dog from 1973



Andy Frost brought up an interesting point on Q tonight.

How would Robert Plant celebrate his 60th birthday?

I mean your 60th is big deal and it should be one hell of a party but as the ex-lead singer of Zeppelin it would be next to impossible to even come close to some of the nights you had on the tour bus (or private jet, depending which year we are talking about).


Well I hope he gives it a try anyway.

Oil Sands produces new breed of mutated fish


A five pound goldeye with two mouths, one beneath the other, was caught last week downstream from the oil sands in Lake Athabasca.

How polluted is the Athabasca...

The Athabasca river has five pulp mills, along it as well as sewage treatment plants and then it runs up through the Athabasca Oil sands to to the lake.
The Chipewyan First Nation who live in the Fort Chipewyan area believe that the oil sands are polluting the river. 

"People are dying of rare cancers." said spokesperson Peter Cyprien. "We can't drink the water."
For the past 40 years, oil sands companies have been allowed to manage their toxic tailings waste on their own accord, without any strict government regulation around benchmarks, timelines or performance standards.

Alberta’s inventory of fluid fine tailings that require long term containment is now 720 million cubic metres.

and what has Alberta done to control the tailing ponds.

In response to 300 ducks dying and the negative criticism from the US Federation of Mayors, Democratic politicians and increased media exposure, Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) for the first time in 40 years released a new plan to better manage the the Tailings ponds.
Their draft proposes that the oil companies must now establish schedules detailing the management of the tailing ponds, and file these schedules by Dec. 31, 2009.

It also included the right of ERCB to step in and shut down an operation that failed to meet it stated objectives.

“It’s kind of ironic the ERCB is having to implement a directive which says we're going to pass new guidelines which will actually require industry to do what they told us they were going to do,” noted an executive director of the Parkland Institute.

“Shouldn’t we have been making sure industry was doing what they said they would all along”
Meanwhile Alberta's environmental facade is starting to fall apart..

Last week the Pembina Institute, a leading environmental think tank pulled it's support from the oil sands management association (CMEC ).
The "Cumulative Environmental Management Association" was created 8 years ago to come up with a plan for balancing industrial growth and protecting the ecosystem around the oilsands hub of Fort McMurray.

A spokesperson for Pembina said the government has been putting far too much time and resources approving new oilsands projects, to the point where there's often no government staff available to attend the association's meetings.

The Toxics Watch Society of Alberta and the Fort McMurray Environmental Association have also announced they will withdraw from the association.

In a new report released Monday, the Pembina Institute recommends the management association be dismantled and created again from scratch and organized so that the interests of all parties involved are heard and noted.
and unfortunately upon deaf ears...

Premier Ed Stelmach accurately explained Alberta's environmental commitment, last month when announcing his $2 billion investment in future technologies to control future gas emissions.
Alberta’s commitment to the environment is working in harmony with our position as a driving economic force in Canada.
For example, thousands of jobs are being created across Canada because of our oil sands, especially in the machinery, metal fabrication and manufacturing industries. Ed said.
as the priorities of Alberta remain unchanged.

I think we understand your provinces priorities Ed, but unfortunately you are starting to sound like the mayor of Amity Island
"Look it's probably just one fish and a handful of native people.
We need to keep the beaches open!"



References: Tar Sands Watch here, the Goldeye report from Macleans here and Pembina announcement from CNEWS here.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Tories are shuffling the cards on the fly as they tour Southern Ontario

Today the Tories admitted that there is little hope for a majority government this fall.

Somewhat trapped by his own rules on fixed election dates, Harper explained to a group in Hamilton, Ontario that he was still in charge of his own destiny this fall.

"Polls do indicate that the next election is in all likelihood a minority, one way or the other," he said.
"The fact of the matter is, what I will have to decide over the next few weeks is whether or not we can have a productive fall session of Parliament, or whether in fact the government, a government, needs a new mandate."
It's clear that none of the opposition parties intend to hold out until the fixed election date of October 2009, he added.

"They have no intention of respecting the fixed election date," Harper said. "So I think obviously we're going to have to judge how the parliamentary agenda is unfolding."

So let’s recap:

Last night in Mississauga, the Tories changed their election message from:
"We need a majority because the Liberals are blocking us from getting anything done"    - to -    "We’ve accomplished a great deal as minority government despite the Liberals interference."
And today in Hamilton they admit that a majority is out of reach.

I have the feeling that Tories are looking at different polls than the ones we are being fed and I think Harper needs to have an election in a hurry.

I think BIGCITYLIB might be right, the economic numbers are about to bite him the ass.


Reference CNEWS here.

Harper blew into town last night to talk out of the other side of his mouth


An ominous black cloud hung over Mississauga, last night as the prime minister rolled into town for a quick 30 minute speech to the people that showed up at a Croatian center for a barbecue.

To a back drop of rolling thunder the prime ministers brief appearance consisted of quick one liners poking fun at his opponent Stephane Dion's failure to force an election.

Where last week Harper was blaming the Liberals for making parliament dysfunctional and hampering his minority government from accomplishing it's agenda, last night he boasted about the gains his minority government has made.

"We have established a strong record of achievement over the past 2 1/2 years," he said.

The brief visit to Mississauga was the first stop of Harpers two day southern Ontario tour which will include Hamilton, London and Kitchener, smaller urban centers where Harper might actually have chance of gaining a seat in the next election.

Last night all he gained was a couple of hot dogs and practice talking out of the other side of his mouth.


As an aside the weather is expected to clear up today.


Reference CNews here.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Tony Clement's decisions are based on political science, not the real kind

That is a parsed quote from an article written last June by the President of the CMA (Canadian Medical Association) Dr. Brian Day.

Dr. Day's article "Ottawa's bad prescription on addiction" was written in response to the governments announcement that it would appeal the B.C. Supreme Court's decision on Vancouver's safe injection site, despite the scientific evidence of the positive role harm-reduction programs can play in society.

Instead of closing down this site, the federal government should be working with public-health officials to see if such sites might work in other areas.
Health Minister Tony Clement has stated that "science is one of the issues that must be taken into account when it comes to a public policy decision." In this matter, the science is clear: Harm reduction is a proven and effective tool.
Marginalizing an already vulnerable population and leaving them at even greater risk of disease and death is bad medicine and, as the polls show, even worse politics. And with the B.C. government's plans to intervene on behalf of Insite, Canadians should rightly wonder why their tax dollars are going to be financing both sides of this argument.
They also should wonder why the federal government seems to be opposed to safe injection sites in British Columbia, but is willing to consider them in Quebec. Clement's public hedging on Quebec's proposal is further proof that his decision appears to be based on political science and not the real thing.
When it comes to safe injection sites, Conservatives need to consider the health of all Canadians, not just those who agree with the government's ideological bias against drug-addicted patients.

And in shear political payback, Clement had the nerve today to lecture the good doctor and his professional colleagues about ethics.

"I find the ethical considerations of supervised injections to be profoundly disturbing."

No Tony, what is disturbing is that our Minister of Health is more concerned about political ideologies than ensuring the healthcare for all Canadians (including drug addicts in BC).

First by flip flopping on statements you made about Insite here,  your stance on nuclear safety here, your burying of the report by Health Canada climate change warnings here and your embarrassing performance at the International HIV/Aids conference here.


What would you know about ethics Tony?






References: Dr. Day's article from the Star here, Clements comments from the Globe here. HIV Conference from Queer Liberal here.

How Execulink Telecom could cost us universal healthcare

Today started like every other weekday morning.

I got up at 5:30 and went through the 30 or so news releases that I highlighted from the night before, plus checked for anything interesting that might have popped up during the night, to find a topic for my one post of the day,

Thought I found one here from CNEWS about the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) meeting entitled Doctors from across Canada confirm support for public health care.

My thought, reasoning and belief is that our Prime Minister is not in a big fan of universal healthcare. After all it is one of the main targets of the NCC (National Citizens Coalition), the free enterprise, corporate lobbying group, that he ran for so many years.

In fact their very first target (they call them citizen campaigns).

Basically one of those secret agenda things and I figured if he wanted to start making changes, opening the door for two tier, free enterprise medicine, the doctors would be the first to recognize this.

And the first clue might be the fact that the first motion put forth by the doctors at their annual meeting was their support for universal healthcare.

But we will never know, because just as I’m getting into the article, Execulink, my independent ISP, looses their Bell connection somewhere between Kitchener and Mississauga.

So if in the end Harper gets a majority and we loose universal healthcare, I’m blaming Execulink Telecom.



Reference: CNews article here.


Posted from Starbucks.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

An open reply to the Taliban

According the the Canadian press the Taliban has issued an open letter to the Canadian people.

In an open letter addressed to "the Canadian people," the Islamic fundamentalist group said Canada "sacrificed" its self-respect by following the "American" agenda.

The Taliban are urging Canadians to press the government to "put an end to the occupation of Afghanistan."

I may be an old, atheist, hippie that hates war and despises the politics and propaganda of right wing ideologues that promote war.

But take heed when it comes to fanatical religious extremists of any stripe that kill innocent people in the name of their fictional gods, I'm armed.

Go fuck yourselves.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Well at least he didn't sleep with the enemy


Afghanistan has finally replaced Asadullah Khalid the controversial Kandahar provincial Governor that had been accused by Canadian officials of torturing suspected Taliban prisoners captured by Canadian forces.

Tories withheld the information of torture from the Canadian public.

Documents surfaced that the Tory government was aware of the allegations of torture (since they actually were the ones that reported them) for close to a year, yet failed to advise parliament when discussing the extension of the Afghan mission and even withheld them from a Canadian Federal Court judge, hearing a case brought by a Canadian rights groups.

Earlier plans to remove Khalid were delayed.

The Karzai government had to delay plans to remove the governor when Harper’s foreign minister Maxime Bernier decided to hold a press conference in Kandahar telling the world that Khalid needed to be replaced to curb corruption in the region.

Yesterday Karzai finally replaced Asadullah Khalid with Rahmatullah Raufi a former commander of Afghan forces in the province.

Bernier was replaced much earlier by David Emerson.



References: New Governor from CNEWS here, Tory cover up from Globe and Mail here, Bernier Gaffe from the Post here,


PS: Just a Saturday reminder of how inept and secretive this Harper government is. We are supposed to be getting ready for your election call, right Steve.


Friday, August 15, 2008

Woodstock started 39 years ago today

Here's three of my favorites




Joe Cocker "With a little Help From My Friends"




Arlo Guthrie, Coming into Los Angeles

If you ever get a chance to buy or rent the "Alice's Restaurant" DVD do it (it should be cheap by now) The movie is really dated, but they have a track where Arlo, (now 61) explains the filming of the movie scene by scene, what was going on at the time, basically telling stories, some about the movie, some not.



Crosby Stills & Nash, Suite Judy Blue Eyes


I was listening to Kim Mitchell (of Max Webster) on the way home from work tonight, he's the afternoon guy on Q. Anyway he was talking about the WoodStock sound quality of the performances on the Woodstock DVD. The guitars weren't staying in tune, the performers had to keep resetting the sound levels in mid performance etc.

Kim's theory was that the sound engineers, roadies, set up crews, who were working all day, were just too high, to keep it together. Makes sense

Anyway I had to work that weekend.

Look out Harper, you just picked a fight with the wrong people

Having been caught in lies and fabrications last week about their planned elimination of the $9-million Trade Routes run by Heritage Canada and the $4.7-million PromArt program run by Foreign Affairs, the Tories silently announced the axing of five more cultural programs via web site postings yesterday.

The Tories posted notices on the web pages of programs including the Stabilization Projects and Capacity Building, two of the four initiatives under the Canadian Arts and Heritage Sustainability Program.

So far this week the announced cuts are:
  • $300 thousand in annual contributions to two A-V Presentation Trust programs
  • $1.5 million to the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund
  • $2.5 million to the National Training Program in the Film and Video Sector
and if the Post is correct 
  • $4.7 million New Media Research Networks Fund
As background
Stabilization Projects, to be shut down in April, were established in seven cities from Victoria to Charlottetown to provide financial and administrative support to arts organizations.

Capacity Building is a companion program to provide similar assistance to organizations with no access to a Stabilization Project and has given aid to 347 arts and 214 heritage organizations since 2002, but will be cut in 2010.
The Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) who represent over 400 film, television and interactive media companies across the country has warned it's membership not to wait for formal press releases from the government, but to react now.

In a written statement Sandra Cunningham, chairwoman of the CFTPA stated:
"We would offer, that this communications strategy (of making unannounced cuts) was specifically intended to minimize negative reaction from industry stakeholders."
The Tories are gambling that the majority of Canadians, do not really care about Canadian arts, artists, or our culture and for the most part consider federal funding of assistance programs to be frivolous.

Harper has just picked a fight with the most creative segment and industries in our country and by the sounds of this excellent article report by Janet Bagnall of the Gazette it will be an outright war.
For a country, this is cutting off your nose to spite your face. Two-year-olds, teenagers and irrational adults might indulge in pointless self-destruction, but governments are not supposed to jeopardize entire economic sectors no matter how angry they are that someone they don't like qualified for a grant.

A less ideologically driven government would know that Canada's $84.6-billion cultural sector, with its million-plus workers, should be encouraged and promoted at home and internationally.

As the Conference Board of Canada helpfully explained just last month, the culture sector plays "a critical role in attracting people, business and investment and in distinguishing our country as a dynamic and exciting place to live and work."

But this seems not to count for much with the Conservative government. Faced with the arts, it tends to show a distressingly Stalinist turn of mind, concerned more with ferretting out undeserving beneficiaries of state financing than acting in the country's interest.
We are about to have a battle about the definition of Canada. How we see ourselves and how we want the world to see us. 


Bring it on Harper. Perfect timing.




References: Gazette here, Globe here and National Post here.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Tories start east coast swing of their cross country Screwed Tour.


Baird took some time off from the main purpose of his eastern trip to announce funding to protect wetlands on the south shore and pet Salty the Owl.

Unfortunately like most birds in captivity, Salty has little control over who is allowed to pet him.

Then it was back to business for the environment minister as he explained the weaknesses of the oppositions plans.
“The people of Nova Scotia get screwed,”  Mr. Baird told the Chronicle Herald editorial board Wednesday.
Of course this is a major improvement over Harper"s campaign rhetoric from previous elections which was "screw Nova Scotia, who needs them".

Harper is scheduled to make a speech in Fredericton today laying out what the Conservatives have to offer as opposed to the Liberals.

It is expected that the people of New Brunswick might get screwed too.



Reference: The Chronicle here.


Wednesday, August 13, 2008

A new class of cherry picked, well seasoned immigrants is created

Back in June the Star reported that all applications for immigration filed after February 26th were being placed on hold until the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration provided new instructions.
"It is expected that Canada's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration will, within the next several months, be providing instructions to visa offices as to which applications are to be accepted for processing and which are to be returned unprocessed"
Prior to the new Immigration Law the backlog, stood at 925,000 and on average grows by 14,000 new applications a month.
The immigration reforms gave Immigration Minister Diane Finley the power to reject applications even if applicants met all the criteria, and to provide instructions to officials to "cherry-pick" immigrants based on labour market needs.
Well Diane came out with the first set of new rules yesterday by introducing the new Canadian Experience Class of immigration, which the Tories are selling as a reward for immigrants who apply as temporary workers.

In other words you can avoid the log jam by applying for a temporary work visa and if you meet our criteria you can then apply for permanent residence status.
The three criteria are:
Temporary workers would need at least two years of work experience in managerial, professional and technical occupations and skilled trades. They would also need moderate language skills.
Student qualifications would include having graduated from a Canadian college or university, having one year of skilled, professional or technical work experience, and moderate or basic language skills.
Lower-skilled foreign labourers can apply for permanent resident status if the province they're working in recommends them under what's called the Provincial Nominee Program.
Meanwhile the Saskatchewan and federal governments are working together to improve the temporary foreign worker program to ensure that they get the same rights and protections as Canadian employees, which seems like a good idea if you are looking for immigration.
The federal government has already entered into similar agreements with British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba.
The Saskatchewan government is also expanding its immigrant nominee program, which will allow foreign workers in the hospitality sector to apply for hotel housekeeping and server jobs.
The program already includes professional occupations and skilled trades.
The original critics of the new immigration reforms claimed that the rules were being changed to provide more temporary workers for the western provinces.
The booming western provinces were having a hard time filling the entry level positions like farm laborers, fast workers etc. as employers had to compete with the higher paying jobs in the oil related industries. 
Well I guess this new "Canadian Experience Class" should solve that western labour problem and at the same time allow the government(s) to make sure that these new immigrants really fit into our society before we let stay here permanently. I mean some of them just act a little to foreign.


Welcome to the Tories new cherry picked, well seasoned, citizenship program.




References: From June the Star here, yesterday's announcement the Globe here, and the Saskatchewan piece Macleans here.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Another example of Gary Lunn's micro management style

Hey I understand the appeal of the powerful oil lobby and the influence that they have over the well oiled Tory policy decisions.

But the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA)?

Apparently the NRC web site decided to tone down it’s automotive anti-idling statement after the CRFA met with the Minister in charge of Natural Resources Canada, Gary Lunn.

Unfortunately the “Idle Free Zone” website is supposed to be dedicated to helping communities and environmental groups reduce vehicle idling while consumers are waiting in line at the drive thru, for their morning double double.
According to the CBC here, the changes that were made consisted of:
  • Advising drivers to shut off their engines after 60 seconds of idling, while the previous version advocated turning engines off after 10 seconds.
  • The page no longer refers to 5,000 premature deaths annually in Canada linked to air pollution, as the previous version did, and no longer includes posters bearing images such as a girl choking and slogans such as "Idling is killing our environment."
Although not in attendance at the meeting, Carol Buckley, Director General of the Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE) confirmed that Lunn met with the CRFA on February 7th and requested that the site be shutdown on the 8th.
Buckley said the site was temporarily removed because the office didn't want to leave any misleading information online while it was being revised.
We wanted to make sure that the website reflected all of the latest data and information that was available about this topic," she said, adding that in the end the changes were "not really significant.
If the 50 seconds of idling, 5,000 premature deaths and picture of a girl choking were insignificant, why did the Minister order the site to be shutdown within 24 hours of the meeting.
The change to the recommended amount of idling time was made because of access to new research taking into account the wear and tear on a car's battery and starter caused by shutting off and restarting the engine, she said.
Previously, the site said such wear and tear was minimal.
I think the emphasis in the earlier text was a little strong. Today's vehicles are more efficient when it comes to smog emissions, she said.
Assuming that Gary didn't have several more meetings with the auto industry (who knows he might have) to verify the data over this important new research, it was more likely provided by the CRFA.

And it isn't as if the food industry is one of higher paying jobs after leaving public office and there is a limit to how much a corporation can donate to a political party or how many free donuts you can eat.

So this is probably just another example of this Minister trying to micro manage his departments.

However in typical micro managed fashion the OEE employees did exactly what was ordered and made the changes to the Idle Free Zone page of the site which now reads:
If you're going to be stopped for more than 60 seconds – except in traffic – turn the engine off. 
Unnecessary idling wastes money and fuel, and produces greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.
However if you go to the other pages of the OEE, ecoENERGY site you come to this section entitled Canadians are Becoming Idle-Free!
Believe it or not, unnecessary idling is one of the biggest problems among Canadian motorists. Idling wastes fuel, it's hard on your vehicle, and it's damaging our environment.
Don't be fooled by the old notion that idling is good for your vehicle. In fact, the opposite is true: excessive idling can contaminate engine oil and damage engine components.
So what can you do to curb the idling habit? For starters, if you are going to be stopped for longer than 10 seconds, except in traffic, turn off the engine. More than 10 seconds of idling can use more fuel than turning off the engine and restarting it again.
Hmm..

I don't think this micro management thing is working out too well for you Gary. You should of just referred them to the people in charge and then backed their decision.

Similar to what should of happened with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).




Reference CBC here.

Monday, August 11, 2008

I woke up in a new Canada today.

On Friday our Government cut funding to two relatively low cost arts programs

The first being the PromArt run by Foreign Affairs
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) was cutting all ties to culture by axing its PromArt program, a $4.7-million annual fund that sent artists into the world to speak for Canada.
And then later they announced the end of the Trade Routes program run by Heritage Canada
Administered by the Department of Heritage, Trade Routes, valued at about $9-million annually, helps cultural groups such as Hot Docs and CIRPA, the Canadian Independent Record Production Association export and sell products abroad.
Their official reason
Although Kory Teneycke, the Prime Minister's press secretary, declined yesterday to address the decision to close Trade Routes.
In the case of PromArt, we think the [funding] choices made were inappropriate ... inappropriate because they were ideological in some cases, with highly ideological individuals exposing their agendas or [money going to] wealthy celebrities or fringe arts groups that in many cases would be at best, unrepresentative, and at worst, offensive.
Neglecting of course the 297 other grants, some as small as $500 that assisted artists, writers and cultural groups from all provinces travel to foreign countries and help improve awareness of Canada and our Canadian culture.

Meanwhile with much less rhetoric, information and apparently media attention, the Defense Department announced that the national capital region as the home for a new high-tech command centre.
No construction date has yet been set, but Defence officials say the project is scheduled to be completed by 2014. The department also is developing a new $64-million information system to allow data from around the world to be piped into the centre.
It's still unclear what will be the cost of the new facility, but insiders estimate the price tag could run anywhere from $60 million to $80 million.
I apologize to the Gazette for total plagiarism here, but there is only two paragraphs on the $60 to $80 million expenditure.


Welcome to the new neocon Canada.

The hell with the arts, Canada needs defending.





References Globe on the arts here, and Dept. of Defense here.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Sadr City, Baghdad's newest gated community


According to Reuters here, the third wall surrounding Sadr City went up over the weekend.

Sadr City is roughly a 70 block, suburb in the North Eastern section of Baghdad housing 2 million, predominantly Shiite, Iraqis.

Up until May the city was controlled by the Mehdi Army militiamen loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, but after some firece fighting the Mehdi moved on.
"There is no Mehdi Army here. There is only the Iraqi Army," said Lieutenant Colonel Yahya Rasoul Abdullah, who heads an Iraqi army unit in southern Sadr City.
"There is only one language -- the language of the law."
Earlier this week a spokesperson for Moqtada al-Sadr, said he would dissolve the Mehdi Army if the US agrees to a timetable to withdraw from Iraq. However the Bush administration still refuses to set a firm timetable.

Meanwhile the US will using the Gaza like strategy will wall off one of the poorest neighborhoods in Baghdad installing check points to control movement to and from the ghetto.
One resident, who sells used cars in southern Sadr City, says there is a desperate need for jobs and basic services. Many residents only have an hour or two of grid power each day.
As a member of Sadr's bloc in parliament and a Sadr City resident said:
"People can't see their neighbors because of these walls. The walls have disrupted this city. The money spent for the walls would of been better spent on providing basic services."
Which seems to be the main point that the Americans have missed since they invaded the country.

They certainly don't handle this empire building as well as the Brits did.


Reference: Reuters here.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Apparently the lack of fabric justifies fabrication of Gitmo charges

There is a reason that the US wants to repatriate the prisoners they are holding in Guantanamo and a reason why all the western countries involved repatriated their citizens.

These are low level participants in the Taliban who happened to get caught.

The US rounded up prisoners and threw them into various prisons, where they could be tortured to provide information.

Then in order to justify the flouting of the international rules of war, in regards to the handling of prisoners, the US set up their own War Grimes tribunal and charged the prisoners with acts of terrorism.
They rejected trying the Guantanamo prisoners before normal military or civilian courts, instead designing a special tribunal that keeps classified evidence secret to protect intelligence sources and techniques, and can choose to allow statements obtained using sleep deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures or other harsh methods.
However most of the 265 prisoners at Guantanamo are low-level players without a proven record of terrorism.

Look at the sentencing of Salim Hamdan.
The jurors clearly weren't convinced that Osama bin Laden's chauffeur was dangerous acquitting Salim Hamdan of charges that he conspired with al-Qaida and convicting him mainly of driving a car.
The prosecutors, meaning the US government claim that they are justified to proceed with their “War Crime” trials.
Military prosecutors argue that even low-level Taliban and al-Qaida figures violated the rules of war by not wearing uniforms and not serving under any nation's flag.
Well it all makes sense, now.
I remember this from the WW2 movies, when the British paratroopers were jumping behind the line. “Remember if you get caught not wearing your uniform you will be executed as a spy.
With the lack of uniforms and flag being the justification for the fabricated charges, you can understand why the US wants to repatriate as many of these prisoners as possible.

Could you imagine the reaction in the UK, Spain, France or Australia if one of their citizens had been held for five years on the most heinous of charges. 

Tortured, threatened with death and rape and in the end there is only enough evidence to convict the captive of driving a car (providing material support).

Sort of explains why the Americans so quickly and quietly repatriated the British, Spanish, French and Australian captives and why those nations did not further prosecute their citizens.

Unfortunately we have Steve.
Mr. Harper, whose right-wing Conservatives won power in January 2006 on a law-and-order platform, says Mr. Khadr is facing serious charges.

Kory Teneycke, Mr. Harper’s chief spokesman, dismissed (yesterday's lawsuit against Harper) as predictable.

“It’s another attempt by Mr. Khadr’s lawyers to avoid trial on the charges of murder in violation of the laws of the war, attempted murder in violation of the laws of the war, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism, and spying,” Mr. Teneycke said.
In other words Kory is well aware of the fabricated logic of the US prosecutors, choosing which rules of war to follow.

That logic being that the lack of uniforms being issued to the 15 year old Khadr justifies the charges and conversely I would assume that if the Taliban had issued uniforms the US could of only charged him with providing material support for terrorism.

Ignoring the fact that he was a "child soldier" it might be difficult to prove that a 15 year old was capable of providing material support to hardcore militants who threatened America's existence.

The farce of these trials will continue to be displayed.


Bring the kid home.



References: MSNBC on Hamdan trial here, NYT on Teneycke quote here.