As May fades into the past and June bursts forth with all the energy that mother nature can give I feel like there is a need to become activated and energized once more. May has been a difficult month emotionally and this usually causes me to rev up the engines and bring peace to my troubled mind. There are so many events that impact me least of which are the problems I see with our country.
Personal events strengthen a person and leave you counting your blessings, but events on the larger scale frustrate people because as one person there is very little you can accomplish. The last few years have been difficult ones for many countries and the endless bloodshed in the middle east has been nothing less than tragic.
Reading the accounts of the world issues makes us who live in Canada appreciate our own true safe and abundant life style. Even with this in mind there are 200,000 homeless people, close to the same number living in homes without clean water and healthy food. Children who if not nurtured in an atmosphere conducive to a proper Canadian life will become our next generation of needy and unemployed persons.
With so much to be done we have a government who believe that the balanced budget is the most important issue. It is an important goal but care of its citizens must be the top priority. Many people never see the poverty first hand but if you walk the streets of our major cities or observe the activity at our food banks you see the face of poverty - of poor, needy people.
We now take for granted that the poor will be looked after by handouts from volunteer organizations and government can dismiss their obligations and look the other way. One United Nations observer was invited to look at the poverty of many Canadian people, particularly our First Nations, and when he made his report he was loudly and publicly criticized in open session of parliament. His report stated that he could not understand how one of the wealthiest nations in the world would have such a problem of providing food and care for its people.
I feel very strongly about how our government looks after the elderly, handicapped, homeless and the needy. Looking at this as a criteria for the health of our democracy shows that we have much to be thankful for, but much to be desired as well.
Showing posts with label policy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label policy. Show all posts
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Reports From G20
After nearly two years the official written evaluation of how the security was handled by our police forces states what most people thought in the first place. The RCMP came out of the mess with the highest marks and were treated rather well for their role in a combined force of thousands.
The Toronto police and its staff drew a sad picture of their role as prime security stake holders. From the Prime Minister not taking the advice about the location of the meeting to the wasteful spending of a billion dollars was called into question. The Toronto police were cited for poor planning, training and communications which caused the front line police to be confused , poorly guided and overacting to many peaceful demonstrations.
The Chief of police was in charge once he was directed by the government officials and with his senior staff members issued orders that gave the police the right to react to the people as if they were terrorists. On the first issue of the black block being dealt in a casual manner on the first day caused much damage and confusion. Security seeing the mess gave orders to take back the city from the terrorists. From that moment the police were combating terrorists and not monitoring peaceful demonstrations.
The change from lawful, peaceful demonstrators to terrorists gave the front line police the go ahead to do as they pleased and many overacted and committed crimes against the people. The most awful abuse of power was with the kettling of hundreds of innocent people, many just going to work to be kept standing in the rain and thunder storm for hours. The senior commander who made the call is in real trouble.
The other matter was the arresting hundreds of people and herding them to a detention center where human rights were abused again. All this is over except the issue of accountability and needless to say the ones at the very top will be hardly scathed while there will be many of the police at the front will be dealt with in a summary manner.
We are all glad this is over and when the dust settles most of us will have our faith in our police system restored. The over a thousand who were treated in a shameful manner will remember and will not soon forget their ordeal.
I have heard from many people whom I respect give a simple answer to the abuses and I get sick when I hear their excuse. If they did not want trouble they should not have been there. How stupid a statement when this all happened in the center of a city of millions where people had to go to work, catch buses and carry on their life in the middle of a unnecessary circus that went bad because our security blew it, they then became the problem rather than the solution,
There were thousands of Innocent protesters who looked to the police to protect them as they exercised their lawful privilege in a democracy to protest. I hope this will never occur again and our government use our tax dollars for our needs and not on excessive photo ops.
The Toronto police and its staff drew a sad picture of their role as prime security stake holders. From the Prime Minister not taking the advice about the location of the meeting to the wasteful spending of a billion dollars was called into question. The Toronto police were cited for poor planning, training and communications which caused the front line police to be confused , poorly guided and overacting to many peaceful demonstrations.
The Chief of police was in charge once he was directed by the government officials and with his senior staff members issued orders that gave the police the right to react to the people as if they were terrorists. On the first issue of the black block being dealt in a casual manner on the first day caused much damage and confusion. Security seeing the mess gave orders to take back the city from the terrorists. From that moment the police were combating terrorists and not monitoring peaceful demonstrations.
The change from lawful, peaceful demonstrators to terrorists gave the front line police the go ahead to do as they pleased and many overacted and committed crimes against the people. The most awful abuse of power was with the kettling of hundreds of innocent people, many just going to work to be kept standing in the rain and thunder storm for hours. The senior commander who made the call is in real trouble.
The other matter was the arresting hundreds of people and herding them to a detention center where human rights were abused again. All this is over except the issue of accountability and needless to say the ones at the very top will be hardly scathed while there will be many of the police at the front will be dealt with in a summary manner.
We are all glad this is over and when the dust settles most of us will have our faith in our police system restored. The over a thousand who were treated in a shameful manner will remember and will not soon forget their ordeal.
I have heard from many people whom I respect give a simple answer to the abuses and I get sick when I hear their excuse. If they did not want trouble they should not have been there. How stupid a statement when this all happened in the center of a city of millions where people had to go to work, catch buses and carry on their life in the middle of a unnecessary circus that went bad because our security blew it, they then became the problem rather than the solution,
There were thousands of Innocent protesters who looked to the police to protect them as they exercised their lawful privilege in a democracy to protest. I hope this will never occur again and our government use our tax dollars for our needs and not on excessive photo ops.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
What Are We Trying To Do?
Every day the papers and television are covering stories coming out of Ottawa that must make people very confused. The government use at every turn of the road the excuse that they are empowered to do as they wish because they won the election.They claim that because they made promises to change things that proper debate needs not to take place because they have the power. Several promises they made were supported by some thirty five percent of the folks that supported the Conservatives.
My concern became close to outrage when the changes to the criminal code were announced without proper consultation. The next move was to build more prisons to hold the new found criminals. The sentences were to be longer with less opportunity for parole. The gun legislation followed with less restrictions on lethal weapons such as machine guns and self loading long guns.
The resulting actions would result in the closing of the long gun registration against the wishes of a majority of Canadians. This move will make the NRA very happy and the criminal element feeling safer from precaution. Law enforcement agencies used this registration on numerous occasions to carry out their duties every day.
The table is now set for laws to incarcerate more people longer, more jails to keep these people under lock and key all at a huge cost to the Canadian taxpayers. This in spite of the fact that crimes have decreased every year in Canada for the last ten years. It boggles my mind that this government was elected to try to solve our problem of unemployment. I suppose we an assume that this is their program to solve the serious issue of jobs, jobs and jobs.
The right wing conservative movement is sweeping the Northern Hemisphere. It is very dangerous as it is aggressive and seems to walk over reasonable thinking. Ideology takes precedence over facts and a more liberal approach. Canada has been a country of reasonable, conservative law abiding citizens. We do not need to have the right wingers moving our perceptions too far to the right.
Hopefully parliament will bring some balance to the scene and hold the powers of the Prime Minister in check and put democracy back into the system. My faith is with the people but there has been less emphasis on the House of Commons and more on the shoulders of the PM and his cronies. What are we trying to do?
My concern became close to outrage when the changes to the criminal code were announced without proper consultation. The next move was to build more prisons to hold the new found criminals. The sentences were to be longer with less opportunity for parole. The gun legislation followed with less restrictions on lethal weapons such as machine guns and self loading long guns.
The resulting actions would result in the closing of the long gun registration against the wishes of a majority of Canadians. This move will make the NRA very happy and the criminal element feeling safer from precaution. Law enforcement agencies used this registration on numerous occasions to carry out their duties every day.
The table is now set for laws to incarcerate more people longer, more jails to keep these people under lock and key all at a huge cost to the Canadian taxpayers. This in spite of the fact that crimes have decreased every year in Canada for the last ten years. It boggles my mind that this government was elected to try to solve our problem of unemployment. I suppose we an assume that this is their program to solve the serious issue of jobs, jobs and jobs.
The right wing conservative movement is sweeping the Northern Hemisphere. It is very dangerous as it is aggressive and seems to walk over reasonable thinking. Ideology takes precedence over facts and a more liberal approach. Canada has been a country of reasonable, conservative law abiding citizens. We do not need to have the right wingers moving our perceptions too far to the right.
Hopefully parliament will bring some balance to the scene and hold the powers of the Prime Minister in check and put democracy back into the system. My faith is with the people but there has been less emphasis on the House of Commons and more on the shoulders of the PM and his cronies. What are we trying to do?
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Cutbacks Everywhere
All over the world countries are having a crunch time with their budgets and lack of control over deficits. In Canada we appear to be in a better position than most but it concerns me where we are cutting to reach our goals. I recently wrote a blog about the lack of control for our safety in the production of food products from, chickens, pigs and cows. This week we see the federal government cutting the food inspectors who check the major producers in western Canada. Now 14 of the slaughter houses will have no government controls or checks and the industry will self regulate. This is letting the fox in the chicken house.
Recently three noted scientists from Canada released a study outlining the effects of the use of hormones [growth], antibiotics and other enhancing products in our food chain. Their study was accepted world wide and when it was released in Canada to make the government aware of the dangers from the use of these products they we fired from their government posts.The food lobby did not agree with their findings which proved that super bugs were being generated as a result of the indiscriminate use of these products. After nearly three years of hearings these men were fired and legislation was passed permitting the use of these products.
The difficulty of permitting self regulation is apparent as more and more we are finding that outbreaks of various types of super bugs originate in our meat products. There are few or no new control drugs for the containment of these super bugs. The same degree of indifference can be seen with the overuse of antibiotics in humans as they put us at risk again and hospitals are having to deal with super bugs like C.difficle.
When we make cuts as we must there should be some assurance that they do not put we the public at risk with health issues. Governments are lobbyed all the time and the result is not always productive for we the people. The profit motive often drives the direction of the legislation. Sad.
Recently three noted scientists from Canada released a study outlining the effects of the use of hormones [growth], antibiotics and other enhancing products in our food chain. Their study was accepted world wide and when it was released in Canada to make the government aware of the dangers from the use of these products they we fired from their government posts.The food lobby did not agree with their findings which proved that super bugs were being generated as a result of the indiscriminate use of these products. After nearly three years of hearings these men were fired and legislation was passed permitting the use of these products.
The difficulty of permitting self regulation is apparent as more and more we are finding that outbreaks of various types of super bugs originate in our meat products. There are few or no new control drugs for the containment of these super bugs. The same degree of indifference can be seen with the overuse of antibiotics in humans as they put us at risk again and hospitals are having to deal with super bugs like C.difficle.
When we make cuts as we must there should be some assurance that they do not put we the public at risk with health issues. Governments are lobbyed all the time and the result is not always productive for we the people. The profit motive often drives the direction of the legislation. Sad.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Gun Registry
As an owner of firearms used for hunting, I was skeptical about the registering of long guns. As a law abiding citizen I registered each one and paid the fee. The government agency returned the money at a later date when they found that the fee was a barrier to the poor in registering their firearms. With the registering my personal long guns I also became aware of the careless manner in which I looked after them and the manner in which I protected ammunition.
Because of this I installed a proper vault and separate place for ammunition. This made me a responsible gun owner. During my life I have seen first hand the careless handling of weapons that have lead to serious accidents. As coroner in the Arctic I investigated incidents where long guns were the accidental cause of death. Well meaning people were careless because for years it was part of the northern culture, and a necessary tool for existence hunting.
With a little training in proper use and storage of these guns few accidents occured. A program was started whereby gun cabinets were made and distributed to owners of long guns and proper security was taught. During my years up north very few accidents were reported.
Today in Canada we have an excellent registry after years of chaos and wasteful problems. Every law agency and group except the NRA and similar groups laud the registry. Police are protected and warned of guns in a home before they visit a situation in a home where there is a possibility of violence. People who are mentally unstable are denied the purchase of firearms and the list goes on.
Very soon the Government of Canada will vote on the disbandment of the gun registry. There is a call by the RCMP to continue the registry, but a small voice backed by a right wing conservative minority who are determined to vote it down, have the power to do so if they get the support of a dozen NDP members. If this occurs it will be the third Billion Dollar mess this year by our politicians. We trust better thoughts will prevail from all sides and we keep this important tool for our law enforcement officers in place.
Because of this I installed a proper vault and separate place for ammunition. This made me a responsible gun owner. During my life I have seen first hand the careless handling of weapons that have lead to serious accidents. As coroner in the Arctic I investigated incidents where long guns were the accidental cause of death. Well meaning people were careless because for years it was part of the northern culture, and a necessary tool for existence hunting.
With a little training in proper use and storage of these guns few accidents occured. A program was started whereby gun cabinets were made and distributed to owners of long guns and proper security was taught. During my years up north very few accidents were reported.
Today in Canada we have an excellent registry after years of chaos and wasteful problems. Every law agency and group except the NRA and similar groups laud the registry. Police are protected and warned of guns in a home before they visit a situation in a home where there is a possibility of violence. People who are mentally unstable are denied the purchase of firearms and the list goes on.
Very soon the Government of Canada will vote on the disbandment of the gun registry. There is a call by the RCMP to continue the registry, but a small voice backed by a right wing conservative minority who are determined to vote it down, have the power to do so if they get the support of a dozen NDP members. If this occurs it will be the third Billion Dollar mess this year by our politicians. We trust better thoughts will prevail from all sides and we keep this important tool for our law enforcement officers in place.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Asbestos Re-visited
Canada's ugly little environmental secret is not a secret anymore. International pressure to stop the exporting of asbestos to Asian countries is growing. All the scientific evidence formalized the need for the stopping of the use of this mineral. In almost every country there is a ban on it's use but in spite of this Canada condones the export of this mineral to Countries in Asia. The untold deaths as a result is a black mark on the industry which produces it and the country which supports this industry.
Canada had the perfect opportunity to close this industry down as the readily available resource had all but disappeared. The two operating mines are near bankruptcy and their only hope of continuing their mining is if they get government aid in the way of loans, grants and loan insurance. Private capitol is not available because of the nature of the product mined. Now the ugly story is coming out.
The province of Quebec and their premier Jean Charest and Prime Minister Stephen Harper are about to rescue this killer industry. At stake are three seats in parliament. Apart from the moral issue of exporting asbestos disease for profit we as taxpayers might ask why two supposedly business minded politicians are risking public funds and Canada's international political capital to breath new life into an industry that has been notorious for its record of economic disaster and public health tragedy.
Premier Charest is about to loan $58,000,000 to develop an underground Jeffrey Mine that will produce and export 200,000 tons of asbestos yearly for the next 25 years to Asia and perhaps Africa. There are no regulations to deal with in this market. The amount of suffering and death will be enormous for decades to come. With Quebec providing the financing Harper will provide the international political protection to stop the industry from being regulated. Harper is the only Western political leader who supports asbestos and the only Canadian leader to do the same.
With the ruthless cutting of budgets supporting scientific research and aboriginal healing programs there was no cutting the grant to the asbestos industry [Chrysotile Institute ] lobby group. There was no hesitation with this grant in spite of the objections of the Cancer Society of Canada and numerous health experts. This grant is for $250,000 and is used to assure developing countries that asbestos can be used safely.
There are several disturbing facts about this whole mess. One is that the Quebec government studies show 100% failure rate to handle asbestos in Quebec itself. Another is that the exported mineral carries the logo of Canada on its products indicating it is endorsed by Canada. The third is the most troubling in as much as our Prime Minister has made a commitment to the industry that as long as he is Prime Minister he will support the export of asbestos and will block the UN environmental agreement, the Rotterdam Convention, so as to prevent chryostile asbestos from being put on the list for hazardous substances. This request has been made by the convention's expert body.
Blocking the Rotterdam Convention is a powerful gift given to the industry and one lobbied hard to our government with funds provided by public taxpayers dollars. If asbestos made the list as a hazardous substance every product would have to be labeled accordingly.
I am not suggesting that the Prime Minister is a genuine enthusiast of asbestos as his home at 24 Sussex drive is presently costing a small fortune to remove asbestos and his workplace the House of Commons also. I suggest his motivation is political and to win a couple of seats in the asbestos-producing region. Both the Prime Minister and the Premier of Quebec will be judged harshly by history because of their reckless behaviour. I would suggest if you are interested to talk to your member, and stand back when you get their take on this: Canada's ugly secret - ASBESTOS.
Some of the information I used comes from printed material I have read and some from public information. This is an issue that will not go away and I am dedicated to help it disappear.
You may be interested in:
Asbestos Exposure and Cancer Risk, National Cancer Institute (USA)
Basic Facts About Asbestos, Environmental Protection Agency
Canada had the perfect opportunity to close this industry down as the readily available resource had all but disappeared. The two operating mines are near bankruptcy and their only hope of continuing their mining is if they get government aid in the way of loans, grants and loan insurance. Private capitol is not available because of the nature of the product mined. Now the ugly story is coming out.
The province of Quebec and their premier Jean Charest and Prime Minister Stephen Harper are about to rescue this killer industry. At stake are three seats in parliament. Apart from the moral issue of exporting asbestos disease for profit we as taxpayers might ask why two supposedly business minded politicians are risking public funds and Canada's international political capital to breath new life into an industry that has been notorious for its record of economic disaster and public health tragedy.
Premier Charest is about to loan $58,000,000 to develop an underground Jeffrey Mine that will produce and export 200,000 tons of asbestos yearly for the next 25 years to Asia and perhaps Africa. There are no regulations to deal with in this market. The amount of suffering and death will be enormous for decades to come. With Quebec providing the financing Harper will provide the international political protection to stop the industry from being regulated. Harper is the only Western political leader who supports asbestos and the only Canadian leader to do the same.
With the ruthless cutting of budgets supporting scientific research and aboriginal healing programs there was no cutting the grant to the asbestos industry [Chrysotile Institute ] lobby group. There was no hesitation with this grant in spite of the objections of the Cancer Society of Canada and numerous health experts. This grant is for $250,000 and is used to assure developing countries that asbestos can be used safely.
There are several disturbing facts about this whole mess. One is that the Quebec government studies show 100% failure rate to handle asbestos in Quebec itself. Another is that the exported mineral carries the logo of Canada on its products indicating it is endorsed by Canada. The third is the most troubling in as much as our Prime Minister has made a commitment to the industry that as long as he is Prime Minister he will support the export of asbestos and will block the UN environmental agreement, the Rotterdam Convention, so as to prevent chryostile asbestos from being put on the list for hazardous substances. This request has been made by the convention's expert body.
Blocking the Rotterdam Convention is a powerful gift given to the industry and one lobbied hard to our government with funds provided by public taxpayers dollars. If asbestos made the list as a hazardous substance every product would have to be labeled accordingly.
I am not suggesting that the Prime Minister is a genuine enthusiast of asbestos as his home at 24 Sussex drive is presently costing a small fortune to remove asbestos and his workplace the House of Commons also. I suggest his motivation is political and to win a couple of seats in the asbestos-producing region. Both the Prime Minister and the Premier of Quebec will be judged harshly by history because of their reckless behaviour. I would suggest if you are interested to talk to your member, and stand back when you get their take on this: Canada's ugly secret - ASBESTOS.
Some of the information I used comes from printed material I have read and some from public information. This is an issue that will not go away and I am dedicated to help it disappear.
You may be interested in:
Asbestos Exposure and Cancer Risk, National Cancer Institute (USA)
Basic Facts About Asbestos, Environmental Protection Agency
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Asbestos
A multi million dollar road project has been put on hold pending an investigation about asbestos found in some of the fill used for the project. Small amounts were discovered by inspectors monitoring the project. Work was halted even thought the fill used was to be covered by feet of other material. For this action to be taken supports the idea of just how dangerous a commodity we are dealing with.
Years ago the use of asbestos was banned in Canada for building projects. Schools and other public buildings had to be cleansed of this material and huge amounts of money were allocated to this end. The very use of the word asbestos brought bad thoughts to mind because of the deadly effect it has had on people who breathed the deadly fibers only to find lethal results years later.
In spite of the evidence and laws banning its use in Canada the government turns a blind eye to the export of this commodity to other countries like India and China. In these countries there is wide spread use of asbestos as a hardener for concrete and building materials. Few or no special care is taken during these processes and workers are in direct contact with this material daily.
Perhaps the asbestos lobby from Quebec is so strong that it has become a political hot potato. With all conscience, to turn a blind eye there must be fear on the part of the government to lose votes if action results in dollars being lost to the lethal industry. This double standard is present in other policies where votes outweigh common sense.This is not a 2010 problem but for many years every government has neglected its duty to act and act responsibly.
The other issue is the tar sands and our greatest contributor to pollution and climate change. Since the USA imports 40 per cent of its oil and gas from Canada and Alberta fills its coffers from the royalties there is little incentive for the government to act in a responsible way. There is a huge lobby for lack of control in the oil patch and it is not likely to change. This is the reason Canada has eased up to the American policy on global warming and forsook its independent stand on the world stage.
These issues are not new but it would be helpful if our government would face these issues in the new year and bring about productive , creative resolution to an otherwise destructive situation
Years ago the use of asbestos was banned in Canada for building projects. Schools and other public buildings had to be cleansed of this material and huge amounts of money were allocated to this end. The very use of the word asbestos brought bad thoughts to mind because of the deadly effect it has had on people who breathed the deadly fibers only to find lethal results years later.
In spite of the evidence and laws banning its use in Canada the government turns a blind eye to the export of this commodity to other countries like India and China. In these countries there is wide spread use of asbestos as a hardener for concrete and building materials. Few or no special care is taken during these processes and workers are in direct contact with this material daily.
Perhaps the asbestos lobby from Quebec is so strong that it has become a political hot potato. With all conscience, to turn a blind eye there must be fear on the part of the government to lose votes if action results in dollars being lost to the lethal industry. This double standard is present in other policies where votes outweigh common sense.This is not a 2010 problem but for many years every government has neglected its duty to act and act responsibly.
The other issue is the tar sands and our greatest contributor to pollution and climate change. Since the USA imports 40 per cent of its oil and gas from Canada and Alberta fills its coffers from the royalties there is little incentive for the government to act in a responsible way. There is a huge lobby for lack of control in the oil patch and it is not likely to change. This is the reason Canada has eased up to the American policy on global warming and forsook its independent stand on the world stage.
These issues are not new but it would be helpful if our government would face these issues in the new year and bring about productive , creative resolution to an otherwise destructive situation
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