Canada's Climate Shame
Monday, December 7, 2009
The Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) is happening in Trinidad. The issues at stake: human rights violations. Uganda's death to homosexuals policy. And Zimbabwe's murderous regime.
Climate change is also on the agenda. At the blast CHOGM 2 years ago, Canada shocked to forum by refusing to set strong targets, waiting instead to follow the lead of other nations.
Time was, (and as a Minister who headed many Canadian delegations to Commonwealth meetings, I can attest to this), when Canada stood strong and principled; decrying violations from such countries as Nigeria; insisting on compliance with land mines treaties in India; demanding that there be a stand down on nuclear arms during the India/Pakistan threat and taking sanctions against South Africa's apartheid.
Smaller Commonwealth Nations looked to Canada for support. Larger ones looked to us for leadership.
Today Commonwealth nations, like India who do not have the same experience trust and reputation as Canada, have filled the vacuum and assumed the mantel of leadership. India, is a new economy which can claim a certain amount of innocence in terms of man- made climate damage. Yet it has set bold targets and commitments toward lowering carbon emissions.
Yesterday the Secretary General of the UN chided Canada for its laggard behaviour at the UN prep meeting in New York on the environment early this year and for its reluctance to play its usual role in finding common ground in difficult negotiations.
As we slide to the bottom of the heap in every global index that marks a responsible and progressive society; the razzle dazzle of Harper's PR machine continues to mesmerize a nation that once prided itself on substance over style.
What has happened to Canada? Indeed.
A Lost Legacy
Today, Dec 6, I MCed a memorial ceremony for the 14 young women who were so brutally massacred in Montreal at L'Ecole Polytecnique 20 years ago.
It was a bitterly cold morning, with the wind slicing through our clothes as we walked silently, in a circle around the stone benches that bear the names of the 14 women, in Thornton Park, in East Van.
We wore red scarves and white scarves, red hearts on our sleeves.... A disparate group: young and old, men and women, aboriginal elders, politicians and activists, from all walks of life.
We listened as the choir sang, their voices snatched and dispersed by the cutting wind. We remembered. I remembered that shocking day 2 decades ago when canadians, horrified, learned that a man , Mark Lepine, with semi- automatic rifle separated and brutally killed those 14 women because they were women, "feminists" as he called them.
14 lives cut short. 14 dreams unfulfilled.
14 whose potential will never be realized.
14 who will never themselves know love, laughter, motherhood.
I talked yesterday to Suzanne LaPlante Edwards, the mother of one of the women. She is 70 now. She remembers. But she is angry again. The anger sustains her.
What kept her going after her daughter's murder, was the passionate goal of ensuring that her daughter's death would not be in vain.
She told me:
" I know that nothing will bring my daughter back, but if the tragedy could spur a legacy that would help to prevent other daughters and mothers, other women from such a brutal end then it would be sufficient"
That legacy was the gun control legislation. The firearms registry. She and other mothers dedicated their time and years of lobbying to secure that legislation, as a legacy to their 14 daughters.
How bitter it is for her to see it about to be canceled.. repealed.. Undone..
by Conservative MP Candace Hoeppner's private member's Bill that passed in Parliament recently and is now at committee.
For Suzanne and other women that vote in Parliament, was the undoing of their daughter's legacy, the end of their living memorial.
She vows to begin again, to fight to ensure that this will not come to pass, that Parliament will hear her lament. She is determined in her bitterness and anger.
She wanted me to say this at the Memorial ceremony on Sunday. I did.
She wants me to speak out. I will.
We pinned our blood-red scarves and pale white scarves to the clothes lines under the trees at the end of the ceremony on Sunday morning.
As we walked away they fluttered; whipped by the chill breeze: ragged pennants, a memorial to loss.
A challenge.. Lest we forget.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The past three decades have seen great advances in medical science; people living with HIV/AIDS lead lives that were unimaginable in the dark, early days of the disease. There have been great strides made in prevention as governments and communities work together to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Immense progress has been made in educating the public that HIV and AIDS have affected us all, regardless of income, region, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or age.
We can take pride in these achievements, but we cannot rest. Far too many people contract HIV/AIDS every day. Far too many people live with the unjust stigma attached to the disease. Far too many lives are still being lost. We still have much work to do.
While progress continues to be made in developed nations, in the developing world the situation is grim: here lies the great tragedy of this disease.
HIV/AIDS is already a crisis of catastrophic proportions in sub-Saharan Africa and is growing at an alarming rate in Asia. There are an estimated 33 million people living with the disease worldwide, and AIDS has killed an estimated 2.1 million people, including 330,000 children. HIV/AIDS is a truly global pandemic that threatens not only public health, but economic and political stability in our increasingly interdependent world. We Canadians do not live in isolation from our global neighbors, and we must join together with all nations to stem the rising tide of this disease.
This World AIDS Day let us recommit ourselves to this fight with fierce determination, working together towards a world without HIV/AIDS.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Interesting cartoon in Halifax Herald on Nov 6. The topic? MP Candace Hoeppner's Private Member's Bill to ban the long gun registry, which recently passed to got to Committee stage.
The triptych like cartoon, shows a car in panel one, a dog in panel 2 and a rifle in panel 3. Under panels one and 2 the simple words: REGISTERED. Under panel 3, with the rifle, the words: NO FIXED ADDRESS.
As someone who championed Liberal gun control legislation in the mid 1990s, I have always asked that same simple question: if u must register your car, your dog, your bike, all of which are in theory non-lethal items; what is the problem with registering a lethal weapon?
The argument put up by those who espouse the right to bear arms; (which incidentally is not a constitutional right in Canada) is that guns do not kill people, criminals do. An interesting argument, that I would like to see someone who hit a pedestrian with his/ her car, use in court.
That people are offended if asked to register a rifle, intrigues me. I know the story, a farmer and others who live in rural and isolated areas of Canada need a rifle to defend themselves from wild animals; Aboriginal Peoples (who do have the right in the constitution) to hunt for food.
But the registering of a rifle does not negate those uses. It is just a way of telling who has a rifle and where!
The police need to know if they enter a home for a domestic violence investigation or whatever other legitimate reason, whether they are at risk or not. Seems fair to me.
If you have a legitimate reason for having a rifle; why all the offended dignity when asked to register it? No one is accusing you of criminal intent any more than registering a car presupposes that you are a would- be be a hit and run driver or that registering your dog means that you are harbouring a violent man-eating creature.
What is even more confusing is that the Harper Government which professes to be "tough on crime", should be soft on registering guns.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Gender discrimination is prohibited under our Charter but the IOC is outside of our Charter's jurisdiction.
True.
Yet, with a bit of political will and some sharp elbows the whole affair could have unfolded differently.
This is the only Olympic Sport that continues to discriminate by gender. The arguments made by the IOC are not feasible.
They say the women do not meet Olympic Standards and that there are not enough participating countries to qualify for the event. Yet,the women are good enough for World Ski Events and the number of would- be participating countries are more than the "Skeleton" luge, which became eligible at Salt Lake City Olympics for the first time.
How did Salt Lake City succeed in pushing the IOC where it used to resist in the past?
A gutsy politician, the Mayor of Salt lake City, decided that under her watch and in her territory, the IOC would play ball according to her rules. She dug her heels in and pushed. The IOC buckled.
It could have been thus in Canada. In March 2006, I learned that the IOC were unwilling to allow the Women's ski jumping team to qualify as an event.
I thought, silly me, that since the Federal government, using public funds, was bankrolling a huge part of the 2010 Olympics, especially the infrastructure, that we would have some muscle ( he who pays the piper and all that..). The Mayor of Salt Lake city had set a sterling example.
So I spoke to the then Fed Minister of Sport pointing out the fallacy of the IOC's argument, the Charter etc..was given the gentle brush off and forwarded to the 2010 Minister, a BC heavy weight. He didn't even bother to meet with me, but sent his officials, who promised to " do something".
By the spring of 2007, a new female. Sport and 2010 Minister took over in Ottawa. Having openly supported the Ski team who were now joined in the fight by the Mayor of Salt Lake City. (Imagine! A US politician supporting Canada's Charter); I though we were in luck..so I wrote to the new Minister asking her to intervene with the IOC, before it made it's decision in fall 2007. Silence!
Four months later I was graced with an offer to meet. Minister skipped at the last minute and again, I met only the officials who have no authority unless the Min so instructed.
Fall 2007, IOC said no. The die was cast. So the women athletes went to Court. The rest is legal history and massive costs to a group who could ill afford.
The spunky mayor stayed the course.
I had to lay off while the case was in court, and the female federal minister began to look interested, because of the threat of an embarrassing legal challenge. Too late. The IOC had spoken and face saving was impossible.
So Canada has its 2010, everyone tut-tuts and gender discrimination prevails.
All for lack of political will! Pity! Another sad case of disinterest by a federal government that has made a habit of refusing to stand up for justice for all and for Charter rights.
The Billy
Yesterday, as always after the Cenotaph ceremony and the usual visits to Beaty St. and Seaforth Armouries; I ended my day at the beloved Billy Bishop legion on Laburnum.
Everyone ends up at the Billy, on Nov 11. including the pipe bands. How we all manage to shoe-horn into that small house is beyond me! Yet we do.
This year as we sang along, many of us off-key, to Bea, in her 90s, on the piano and Bert the WW11 vet, leading the vocals at his 'post'; I was struck by the fragility of it all.
'Blue birds' may forever fly, 'over the White Cliffs of Dover', but the Billy may not be there, next year, to remember them in off- key nostalgic voices. I hope this thought makes you as sad as it makes me.
The 'Billy' sits back of a wanna-be garden, an old stucco building with the insignia of the Canadian Legion and the name of Canada's famous WW1 flying Ace proudly printed on the front. It is weather beaten, because it cannot afford the upgrades, but the garden is tended the pub on the main is always warm and the people friendly. There is always the ageing vet to be seen. Always the story to tell. Always the draft to quaff.
The Billy is an institution in Kits.
Over the 17 years that I have been going to the Billy I have taken it for granted. But the legion building may be gone soon. It owes years of back taxes to the City of Vancouver; taxes the struggling managers cannot pay; taxes the City says it cannot forgive, because the "city's Charter does not allow it".
The Billy is part of our Heritage. The ghosts of the WW1 and WW11 vets still sit there, of an evening, with a pint.
The Korean and Afghanistan vets will yet want a place to belong. We cannot let the 'Billy' go.
As they passed the Jar around for donations to Save the Billy last evening, I felt my heart sink. I approached the Mayor, and I hope he meant it when he agreed that all three levels of government can and must come up with a creative solution. We will do so.
Until then, you can become a member of the legion at the Billy. You don't have to be Veteran, nor the child of one. You just have to care about saving this integral part of our history.
So I lift my voice with Bert, as he kisses Lili Marlene under that ever glowing lamplight, and Bea tinkles the ivories, without missing a note, as she has done over all the years of the Billy....
And I hope " we'll meet again.." for all the years to come, as will our children and grandchildren, at the Billy: to remember the courage, the valour and the songs of a generation that gave so much...
Lest we Forget.
Last week, I spoke on a panel at the Trans America conference, put on by the Franklin Institute for Global Policy Exchange. US Congress persons, Canadian Parliamentarians and Public policy gurus were there.The topic was Canada's future agenda for a US/ Canada relationship.
Interesting topic, to say the least. In the midst of a global recession with "Buy America" protectionism rampant in a bid to save as many US jobs as possible; with security anxiety at the border taking an almost hysterical tone; the idea of a relationship seems to stretch the imagination.
Yet, our two nations did have a tradition of long and calm relations for almost a century. While Europe's internal borders shifted violently; while central and south American nations seemed locked in interminable hostilities and revolutions; Canada and the US were allies and friends; neighbours who
"borrowed the cup of sugar" across an unguarded fence. Families visited, intermarried. We traded. Indeed 80%of Canada's trade is with the US.
Canadians, as good neighbours, were there in times of need: Tehran, when our Embassy served as a sanctuary and bemusedly, we watched signs, draped thankfully, from tall buildings in New York proclaiming "we love you Canada" in typical US exuberance.
We fought side by side in Korea, but eschewed the Vietnam conflict, and were a haven to US conscientious objectors: a tradition that parliament has twice voted to maintain in the case of Iraq war resistors, only to have the Harper minority government ignore Parliament's will.
Bit I digress.
Though we were together, in the First Gulf War, Canada refused to participate in 2003 action against Iraq for reasons of principle.
Friends and neighours, we maintained our sovereignty even as we remained allies and trading partners. We differed on forms of government, institutions of justice and on foreign policy. We did not always follow where the US led, yet still we maintained a friendship.
Canadians believe in multilateralism and were active participants in The UN, Commonwealth, Francophonie OAS and OSCE. Not so The US, who participated in many fora, but do not seem to believe in multilateralism; never signing on to the Conventions. Though, It seems that the current government has adopted this new attitude, lately
All of that seems to have changed since the tragedy of 9/11. The borders between us have hardened. Canada is now viewed with suspicion "harbouring terrorists".
The new Obama administration openly supports the myth that the 9/11 perpetrators came from Canada. This generation, forgetting the past and the long relationship, forgot that we gave "harbour" to thousands of stranded US citizens during that fateful event.
The "Trading Partnership" has also suffered through Soft wood lumber appeals, salmon wars, film making and distribution boycotts, BST protectionism and now through recessionary "Buy American" actions.
Yet, we must of necessity maintain a "relationship" with this neighbour to the South. We should not be reactionary. But maybe it's time to change the way the relationship functions.
There are the benefits:
We speak the same language, share the same democratic traditions and to some extent cultures. As the Americas and Caribbean Hemispheric power begins to strengthen itself (as it must) to compete with growing Asian and European economic Blocs, we will once again develop common cause.
There is a great deal of confusion, anxiety and misunderstanding about H1N1.
Commonly known as the Swine Flu; it is not spread by pigs/ hogs. So no need to stop eating pork!
The common autumn/ winter flu, can still affect many. It has not gone away. The most susceptible are the elderly, small children, persons who are immuno-compromised and persons with chronic lung disease. If you are in this group get the regular flu shot, still.
H1N1 is a more severe virus. The most susceptible are children, youth, those under 64, (especially in their 20s and 30s), pregnant women over 20 weeks, people with chronic illness eg: diabetes, asthma, and as always, people who are immuno-compromised eg: with HIV/Aids or on chemotherapy.If you belong to this group, get the H1N1 vaccine, as soon as possible. In BC you can go to your family physician for this or to a clinic.
Spread: H1N1 is spread:
• through droplet infection ie: coughing/ sneezing
• Through contact ie: hands, infected paper tissues/ hankies and surfaces like doorknobs, tables etc.
Therefore to prevent spread:
• Cover your face with your upper arm sleeve, (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze.
• Try not to shake hands or hug.
• Wash hands with soap and warm water after contact. Wash for 20 seconds ( sing row row row your boat twice).
• Carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer with at all times, if you cannot wash hands.
• Do not rub nose, eyes and mouth if u have not cleansed hands after contact.
• Dispose of infected tissues in the garbage.
The basic public health principle in the case of a contagious/ infectious disease/ epidemic is:
•To stop or limit spread of the disease.
•To identify the cause, spread and the most susceptible.
•To prevent them from becoming infected.
Infectious diseases are not politically correct. They do not care whether one is rich or poor; VIP or not, so, neither should public health policy
Good public health policy must be objective. If as in the case of H1N1, it is spread by physical contact then to limit physical contact is important. So not hugging friends who have " colds"; using sanitizer after you shake hands; using paper towels or elbows to push doors; staying away from crowds; should not be seen as an insult to others but a good way to prevent spread of a disease and the responsible way to behave to protect yourself and others.
Especially now when there is not enough vaccine.
Take care and stay healthy.
The story is that I asked for a special clinic on the Parliament Hill for MPs and staff, so they could "get ahead of the queue".
This is not so.
It's interesting what can happen when clips are cut and taken out of context… it seeds misinformation and misunderstanding.
My actual statement, as a physician, was that there should be a clinic on Parliament Hill for the security guards and restaurant workers who are in direct contact, every day, with thousands of visitors from across Canada and around the world. After I made comments to that effect, two reporters suggested that MPs also "shake a lot of hands". I repeated and agreed with their statement.
There has always been a yearly “flu clinic" on the Hill, precisely because of the high exposure, to the flu virus, by certain workers. Yet this year, when there is an even more severe flu virus, the clinic has been canceled. Having a flu clinic on Parliament Hill is common sense and good public health procedure.
This in no way suggests that those on the Hill should be given priority ahead of others. However, when vaccine is available, and after identified high-risk groups have been vaccinated, there should be a clinic on the Hill, just as there should have been clinics in schools and at universities and at institutions where crowds tend to congregate and risk of contagion and spread is high.
However, the questions that should be asked are:
• The federal government is encouraging everyone to be vaccinated. Yet there is not enough vaccine. Why not? Without sufficient vaccine, physicians and public health nurses have to choose who should and should not receive treatment; turning away thousands of anxious people.
• H1N1 influenza surfaced in early spring. Why did the federal government not plan and act, proactively, then, for the expected autumn outbreak? The government could have ordered vaccine earlier and from a larger number of sources. The United States did. Why was the federal government not as well prepared?
• There was no vaccine ready for the beginning of the school year in September, even though the government knew that this was a susceptible age group. Why not? Now some schools are closing across Canada, because kids are getting and passing on H1N1.
• Why did the government not give early warning to those who were most susceptible to H1N1 such as pregnant women, young adults, children, and persons who are immuno-compromised and chronically ill with conditions like asthma and diabetes mellitus?
• What happened to the $400 million dollars set aside since the SARS outbreak, by the last Liberal government, specifically for a public education campaign, and for the added assistance and resources needed by provinces and territories?
So let us be really clear on the issue.
The federal government abdicated their responsibility to lead on this file. They mismanaged a problem of critical importance to the health and well being of Canadians.
Last week was "small business week".
It's a fitting time to 'tip your hat' to that daring band of entrepreneurs who risk all on the product, invention, talent, idea, dream; that they know is going to "make it".
It takes courage and confidence to start a small business, alone or with partners. There are the long hours of work, the time away from family, the sacrifices made. Many fail, but by far many others stay the course.
SMEs are the engines of Canada's economy; creating over 75% of jobs. Sadly these are also the folks most under stress in a recession. They are the first to fall: The retailers, gift shops, restaurateurs, small and medium sized enterprises. As citizens lose their pay checks and tighten their belts, this is where they cut back spending.
In the past few months SMEs in BC have been hurting.
The burdens of a rising loonie, for service providers the new 7% added HST (Harper Sales Tax), the increased $13 billion, federal payroll- tax and the new incursions of Credit card companies into the debit card sector.
These all signal an extraordinary increase in the cost of doing business.
From a policy perspective those taxes could not have been timed any more badly.
They are crude tax grabs that in a jobless recovery penalize the people who create the majority of jobs. They are thoughtless, opportunistic and show a lack of understanding on the part of the federal government, of the "collateral damage" that poorly- planned, one-off public policy can wreak.
SOMEONE'S CHILD
October 14, 2009
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So the Harper government is appealing the Federal Court’s decision to return Omar Khadr to Canada for trial.
There is something so predictable about that. After all this is the government that does not stand up for its own citizens who have been accused of no wrong, other than having a difficult-to-pronounce name, look like an immigrant and be foolish enough to travel outside of Canada with a Canadian Passport. The recent harassment by their own government of Suaad Hagi Mohamud and Abousfian Abdelrazik stand as examples.
So what hope does Khadr have? He has actually been accused of a crime.
Never mind that he was a child when he was arrested. Never mind that in placing him in Guantanamo Bay, the US violated its own Constitution, the Geneva Convention and the UN Convention on the Rights of the child!
The Harper Government flouts rule of law; picks and chooses which type of Canadian it will support and abuses its powers, as government, in a purely subjective manner unheard of since Canadian-born Japanese and Ukrainian internment and the house arrest of Italian-Canadians.
We used to say those were the bad old days: an ugly chapter in Canadian history, but understandable in a time of war.
We used to believe that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Citizenship Act, the Multiculturalism Act changed all that. Indeed Mr Harper apologised profusely to those wronged in the "bad old days". We believed him. We all felt safe in this wonderful pluralistic democracy.
I guess we did not yet know that his Government's words would not match its deeds! We did not expect the consequences of the new changes to the Citizenship Act.
So some of us still foolishly think that as Canadian citizens we can travel, work, study and visit family, in foreign lands and to return to home. And hearth; that our children born during one of our sojourns abroad will be allowed to return with us.
Not so! I have constituents who, after a few years of working for a firm abroad, cannot bring their babies born outside of Canada home with them...Even on proof of birth.
Welcome to the new Canada and the brave new world of the Harper government!
Don't leave home.
Yesterday, while the ED of the Maritime Museum in Van, cheerfully took credit for the autumn like weather, "a cooling down" as he called it; the rest of us shivered (sort of) over our pancakes as we celebrated of 50 years of the. Vancouver Maritime Museum, under the stalwart eye of the St Roch.
Typically, there were no media to mark the occasion and so they missed the extraordinary and articulate Jim Delgado's story of the Museum's remarkable history. Though the lack of fanfare typified the understated character of a museum that taught over a million Vancouver kids about the ocean, the seas and the forgotten, glorious, maritime history of the West Coast that tells the story of a nation of gutsy explorers.
The Maritime Museum nestled on the shore line of Legacy Harbour, off Kits Point is a million dollar trove of artifacts and historic collectibles donated by BC philanthropists.
I used to love to take my own children there and watch as they clambered over the weather worn decks of the RCMP's St Roch, awe struck and inspired by the idea that men lived and endured on that tiny wooden ship with their bold husky dogs, as we Canadians, charted the North West Passage.
Canadians do not easily recall the glorious history of the wild waters of the Pacific, nor of the Seafarers: Captain Vancouver, Simon Fraser and Larson of St Roch, nor of the spirit of exploration and daring that mark us as a Maritime nation and BC as a ship-building coast that built and launched the same St Roch off the North Van docks, before she set sail to discover and circumnavigate the north west passage.
There were few who saw the re-enactment of that journey in 2000 when the St Roch 11 (Nardon) with RCMP crew left Coal harbour to rerun that famous voyage.
Nor do we remember the immigration history of this Coast, until we see the artifacts from the Empress of China, at the Museum, that remind us of the role BC played in building a nation from Coast to Coast with Canadian steel and the Chinese grit of those bachelor immigrants. Yet we all hear-tell of the Bluenose and read the exploits of the Eastern maritimers.
Strange isn't it? I was proud to work with Jim Delgado to launch the National Maritime Museum on this Coast and to fulfl the dream of seeing the St Roch resplendently displayed, finally back home, on the same North Shore docks where she was built and launched and once again recall the glorious history of our RCMP.
But the money to build that national museum has never surfaced. The current Federal government sits mum.. About the promised 9 million dollars that holds back the project.
How many of the world know of our Maritime History? How wonderful it would have been to show it to those who come to 2010!
What a missed opportunity! Who knows it might have
inspired a new generation of explorers, of lovers of the seas that surround us, telling of our history of the Arctic, of our coasts, our reverence for the glass reefs and ocean ecosystems that once sustained us.
Goodness we might even be so crassly mundane as to revive a national bicoastal ship-building industry; or to rebuild ourselves as ocean explorers of a different ilk: scientists and oceanographers, exploring our
seas, finding in them the bases for new learning, new life and new humility.
Having been one of the earliest advocates for the Olympic inclusion of women's ski-jumping in 2010; I read with sadness and frustration the BC Supreme Court's ruling on the issue.
Sadness: because I knew it would end this way. Obviously the Charter of Rights and Freedoms cannot be imposed on an international body like the IOC.
Frustration: because the IOC's decision could have been influenced, perhaps even prevented, if we had a federal government that was on the ball, cared about women's equality and a federal Minister of sport/2010 who had the guts and the interest to take the issue on.
The Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini pushed hard and successfully to have women's "skeleton" in her city's Olympics. She got the bit in her teeth and wouldn't let go. In fact she later took on the issue of women's ski-jumping, coming into Vancouver and doing a press conference with me (2010 critic @ the time) and some of the athletes at the Van. Art Gallery.
In March 2006, I wrote to, spoke to and met with, the then, Conservative Minister of Sport, Michael Chong. He referred the matter to David Emerson, 2010 Minister. I met with the 2010 bureaucrats (David "missed" the meeting) and told them that the IOC was scheduled to make the decision in fall of 2007 and that the issue was (a) blatantly discriminatory, which the BC Supreme Court justice confirmed and (b) contravened our Charter.
Since the feds were ponying up 50% of the $ for the Games we should be leery of going against our own Charter and we should push hard and early, take a page from Salt lake City, encourage VANOC to do the same and allow the IOC to save face @ the same time.
The subsequent federal Minister of Sport, Guergis, ignored my letters on the issue for months, finally agreeing to meet in summer of 2007 and reneging on the meeting (this seems to be a Conservative tactic).
By the fall, the IOC had decided, Ms Guergis reacted to the media fall-out by meeting with the women ski jumpers. Too late! The IOC had to save face and stick to its guns. We all knew it was futile after that.
Sad thing is that the women athletes who had worked and wished so hard had their hopes finally dashed last week. Sadder yet is that it could have been avoided!
As I attended a rally, on the Art Gallery Steps yesterday to mark the day ten years ago, when Iranian students staged a peaceful demonstration against the violence and tyranny of Khomeini rule; I felt for the first time a sense of despair.
Here we are ten years later and little has changed in that beleaguered nation. The violence that erupted following the student demonstration has escalated. Students who went missing then have still not been found. Human rights are denied daily: against women and gays, against freedom of speech, against the right to assembly and against democratic elections. Executions and seizure without just cause continues.
Six years ago Canadian citizen and photo journalist, Zahra Kazemi was arrested and later brutally murdered, despite Canadian government protest. Today another Canadian- Iranian journalist, Maziar Bahari, is being held, though there has been no effort by the current Canadian government to intervene.
History not only seems to be repeating itself in Iran, it seems to have stood still. More ominously, the Iranian government is working to build nuclear arms. When rogue nations, like North Korea and Iran, exhibit scant regard for the rule of law and thumb their noses at world opinion; we should be afraid but not paralyzed. We should urge our government to actively engage these nations, to try peaceful means but to speak with firmness and clarity. So far the Canadian government has done neither, only engaged in bombast.
Yet what saddened me yesterday was not that failure on the part of our government; but the absolute disinterest of Canadian citizens. Yesterday only a handful of people gathered outside the Art Gallery: two federal Liberal politicians, dozens of Iranian-Canadians and a handful of "others". The media were not even there to record the event. What has happened to us in the last four years? Have we forgotten to care?
Each year Canadians across this great land celebrate Canada Day together, or in their own way. In the 142 years since confederation this day has come to symbolize all that Canada is: our natural wonders, our vibrant cultural mosaic, and the ideals of freedom and justice that we share. I hope you will join with me today in expressing our love for this country and a renewed sense of hope in what we can achieve, together.
As Iranians in Canada mourn the loss of life, liberty, and democracy in their native land; Canadians of non- Iranian origins must visibly, join in their silent vigil.
Sadly, Canada’s embassy is closed to the victims: the very Teheran embassy which
once was a brave and principled haven in the 1990s.
While Canada seems to have lost its voice and principled leadership internationally, the Canadian people must not shirk from filling that vacuum. We must speak out and stand up, for human rights and against injustice; without fear, without prejudice, regardless of what regime is the perpetrator. This is indeed the essence of principled leadership.
For over 40 years, Canada was trusted and looked to for exactly this type of principled leadership. People without voice, peoples who were victims of violence, injustice and loss of civil liberties by their own and foreign governments could "make book" that Canada would stand for them. I know this first hand: during my time as a Minister I led delegations to the UN, Commonwealth, Francophonie and Organistion of American States on issues of human rights, xenophobia and gender equality.
Canada would be clear to differentiate between the people of a nation and their governing bodies; standing for the one while speaking out against the other.
Our own media often reviled this tendency to be the "boy scouts of the world", chastising us for being so bold as to reach beyond our grasp. Yet, it was little Canada that took a leadership role on the land mines treaty, that stood up each time for nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, and that spearheaded the drive for an international criminal court.
There are worse things than being a boy scout. We seem to have forgotten that taking a principled stance is often not a popular undertaking, but it is the hall mark of leadership.
The Harper government's mismanagement of the Chalk River Nuclear Reactor led to its three month shut down.
The reactor produces 1/3 of the world's supply of nuclear isotopes necessary for diagnostic tests in heart and cancer patients. Each day in Canada, approximately 5000 patients need these particular tests.
So, the shutting down of the reactor is a medical catastrophe.
Canadian physicians are gravely concerned that the shortage of these isotopes will affect their ability to give patients the urgent care they need. As a physician, I know well, that early diagnosis of these diseases improves the chances for successful treatment. Delays can have tragic consequences. As a physician I am appalled and saddened at this thoughtless and avoidable harm.
But, the federal Minister responsible for the reactor, Lisa Raitt, apparently, was strangely elated by the catastrophic turn of events. She was of the opinion that since they related to "cancer" and "radiation" these were "sexy" consequences, that would garner massive media attention, and put her in the limelight that would benefit her career.
We know this, because her hapless assistant accidentally taped a conversation in which the delighted Ms Raitt voiced said opinions. Then same assistant forgot the tape recorder at a media studio.... and failed to pick it up for over three months.
The media, as would be expected, played the tape, and wanted to air the conversation. A judge agreed that they could and the die was cast.
Generally speaking, anyone who would take advantage of the suffering of others to advance his/her cause may be considered by many people to be callous and self-absorbed. These traits in Minister of the Crown may prompt some to ask questions about ethics and integrity. The sad thing is: This situation could have been prevented.
In August 2006 Canada's Auditor General warned the Harper government about safety concerns over the Chalk River Nuclear Reactor.. These warnings were ignored. In Dec. 2007, 15 months later, the Chair of the Nuclear safety Commission ordered the Reactor to be shut down, for one month, for repairs or she would not grant the renewal license to operate. The Prime Minister fired the Chair immediately.
Now, after 17 months of government inaction, dangerous leaks have finally forced a shutdown of the reactor... for 3 months.
Did your mother warn you, as did mine, that "a stitch in time saved nine"?
The conservative ministers in charge of the Chalk River Nuclear reactor obviously forget that dictum. Sadly there is more at stake here than an undarned hole in a sock.
Canadian patients are the tragic causalities of this government's incompetence. Their ire and that of their physicians have damaged, further, the already waning credibility of Harper's government. The only dubious beneficiary would seem to be Minister Raitt, who is certainly getting the attention she craved.
Adding insult to injury, the government asks us to trust this same Minister to fix the problem they ignored for two and a half years. This concept, alone, stretches credibility.
But, they also ask us to believe the Minister of Health's platitudinous assurances that Canada will get the isotopes we need from other countries; countries that together, have only been able to produce 2/3 of the global supply, depending on Canada's other 1/3 to fill the world need. Even if these countries, with all good will, upped their isotope production (a feat that will take 3 to 6 months to achieve) they would still be unable to produce the required amounts.
They will, as any common- sensed person will tell you, first serve their own national demand for isotopes and send Canada what small amount is left. At the same time, there will begin a bidding war by countries that used to depend on Canadian supply.
So there are no guarantees that we will get the supply we need. Especially if we remember that Canada's nuclear isotope supply served 5000 Canadians a day, with enough left over to support the US, with ten times the need, as well as Japan and other countries.
The Minister of Health further reassures us that there are substitutes. What she omits to explain is that these substitutes, such as Thallium, used in tests for heart disease; are insufficiently produced to be able to meet all of Canada's needs.
She also fails to mention that there are no substitutes for many necessary nuclear isotopes (in paediatrics for example).
Today, she went out on a limb, and told Parliament, that she thinks she can get enough isotopes to supply 50% of Canada's needs. She did not guarantee that claim.
Let us stretch our imagination and believe her claim.
We then have a conundrum, which 50% of Canadians will get to have the diagnostic tests that can save their lives and which 50% won't?
Who will decide? The physician?
As a physician I can say that for us, our patients are not statistics they are individual human beings who depend on us to give them the best care we can. How can we be asked to make such an impossible choice?
The position is untenable. It was preventable.
The Harper Government has deprived physicians and patients of the tools for essential health care.
But, at least Minister Raitt gets the headlines she sought.
SAN PEDRO SULAS, HONDURAS - This day is an historic one. Today the Organisation of American States (OAS) rescinded a long standing clause written in 1962 that excluded Cuba from membership in the OAS.
This means that the door has now been opened, if and when Cuba wishes, to discuss membership. It will still be necessary for negotiations to take place, since member states of the OAS have clear criteria for membership. These include adherence to democratic principles and human rights observances.
It should be noted that the willingness of the new Obama administration to be open to a new relationship with Cuba has been one of the major catalysts for this development.
Many Caribbean nations have retained a relationship with Cuba, over these last years and Canada has maintained trade and friendship with Cuba since the days of Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Nonetheless the US as the wealthiest and most powerful of the OAS nations and carries enormous clout.
The negotiations were difficult because some states notably Nicaragua, San Salvador, Bolivia and Honduras were prepared to accept Cuba without conditions. Other states felt that the credibility of the OAS depended on the adherence to the principles governing the OAS charter.
Interestingly it was the Caribbean Bloc (Caricom) that saved the day, bringing a credible, neutral and pragmatic but principled voice to the negotiations.
The ball is now in Cuba's court.
In times of recession, when many jobs are lost and unemployment seems to last for a long time, most people think that those deductions off their pay package each month will just kick in. Well it may or it may not. Depends on where you live in Canada. Here in Metro Vancouver, you need to have worked for 700 hours before you can qualify... One hour less and you're out of luck!
In Saskatchewan you need 420 hours to qualify. If you are a part-time employee like many women are, or if you only just got out of university or school and this is your first job. You can forget it!
Statistics from HRSDC show that 6: 10 Canadians who paid into EI do not qualify, based on the region in which they live.
Now this made sense when unemployment was low, in certain regions like BC, Alberta and Ontario, during the last decade. In these regions, if you lost a job, you were certain to find a new one, quickly.
But times are different. In this recession BC Alberta and Ontario have suffered massive sectoral job losses. It is time for government to be responsive to this reality, to be flexible, and during the recession, to set one standard rate for access to EI across the country!
... We, liberals suggest 360 hours.
...The Conservatives counter that Canadians will abuse the system!
How's that for government trusting the hardworking stiff and being there for citizens in time of need?
Instead the Conservatives announce more $ for training.
Great! We all agree, but when you tie that training to EI eligibility and don't improve access to EI; in regions like BC, those folks don't qualify for training either!
Talk about hitting Canadians when they're down.
Thanks Harper! Your government proves once again how out of touch with reality you are!
Or are is it just that you are too ideologically "bloody minded" to change?
The inanity of the Conservative attack ads against Michael Ignatieff makes the mind boggle.
Who researched the issue? And what exactly is the message?
Aside from the fact that the ads expose a Conservative government out of touch with, and disinterested in, the reality that its citizens face; the ads raise a host of questions!
For instance, if a Canadian-born citizen is unfit to lead because he/she has lived and worked outside of Canada for many years, what's the net value of those of us who weren't born in Canada?
Does my middle son who was born in Canada but spent 8 years in Australia studying medicine and finishing his specialty in Emergency and Trauma, still qualify as a valid Canadian? or should he be demoted?
What if one only left Canada for a two-week holiday once a year. What are the cumulative number of weeks or years allowed before one is disqualified as a worthy Canadian? 5 years? 10 years? Should these be each year or does one get special merit points for going every other year?
What if one never left at all but stayed within a "fire wall in a province"? Does one get to jump to the front of the class?
Ah the questions that flood the mind!
What are the criteria? Number of years spent outside Canada? Age at which those born outside Canada must have entered Canada to be considered worthy?
How many times can one mention association with another country before being declared unfit? One, two, three? Does the level of emotion count? Should there be a sliding scale?
...and immigrants who were actually once citizens of a foreign land; are we disqualified forever? Or does it help if we came before the age of 5? Or 10?
It is all too much for one mind to sort out...I think we need a Royal Commission that can travel (only within Canada of course) and make recommendations.
Meanwhile, more jobs will continue to be lost, more bankruptcies filed, and the PM can carry on fiddling while Canadians get burned.
...Ad absurdum
Why does Monty Python come to mind?
So it’s back to scare tactics for Stephen Harper.
As the economic crisis worsens and the Conservatives remain in denial of their record of economic mismanagement, Stephen Harper has resorted to an old strategy: the attack ad!
I’m sure the 700,000 unemployed Canadians shut out of EI, and the 130,000 who have declared bankruptcy, aren’t laughing.
Nor are the scientists who are being pushed out of Canada due to the Conservative cuts to basic research. Nor are the artists who are victims of Harper’s attack on arts & culture in Canada.
Even some Conservatives are tired of this worn-out tactic. Conservative MP Cathy McLeod recently told Kamloops This Week that, "unfortunately, it seems the tactics have success or otherwise they wouldn't do this — but again do I like it, no."
But really, it was only a matter of time before partisan political attacks came flying out of Tory HQ.
Last fall, when the Harper government failed to see the downturn in the economy when it was obvious to all, and then didn’t take action when it awoke from its slumber, it plunged the country into an economic crisis and then turned that into a national unity crisis.
And now, when Canada needs economic leadership, Stephen Harper is trying desperately to change the channel.
Perhaps he should actually watch the evening news, and see how misplaced his attack ads are between the ads for credit counseling and reverse mortgages that blanket the airwaves these days!
CBC FUNDING CUTS
April 27, 2009
So the CBC is downsizing, narrowing its scope, cutting essential corners. |
