The Fluidity Of Our Charter Rights

Judging by both past events and current practices, I think it is safe to say that neither Premier Dalton McGuinty nor Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, along with his underlings, have a great deal of respect for Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

First, of course, there are the well-documented violations of those rights that took place during the Toronto G20 Summit of June 2010, a summit in which both the above-mentioned conspired to deprive thousands of their charter rights throuh illegal arrests, detentions, and search and seizures, both 'leaders' fully aware of their complicity in illegal behaviour.

Unfortunately, however, these Charter violations continue on a daily basis. There is a program in Toronto called Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS), fully endorsed by both McGuinty and Blair and recently guaranteed permanent funding by the Premier, that aims to reduce gang violence in The Big Smoke which this summer has been beset by gun violence.

And while I don't pretend to know what the answer to this problem is, I hardly think it makes sense to go out of one's way to alienate the black community, which already has ample reason to be suspicious of the authorities.

Today's Toronto Star has a disturbing story with accompanying video about four young black men, ages 15 and 16, who decided to assert their rights against arbitrary police stops by refusing to identify themselves and attempting to walk away from the authorities. As you will read in the story, that attempt to enforce their charter rights had a very unpleasant consequence that could have ended in fatalities.

So my question is this: has anyone ever checked on the constitutional legitimacy of programs such as TAVIS? Indeed, would they withstand a Charter challenge?

Enbridge Apparently Spares All Expense

Unless you are one of those naive souls who believes in corporate integrity, this video should disturb you:

H/t 404 System Error

Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall...

It isn't always pleasant to look into the mirror, but I'm glad we have people like Chris Hedges to force us to on a regular basis.

Another Unpleasant Fact of Omnibus Bill C-38 Revealed

Given that it is a government with a well-known contempt for openness and democracy, the Harper regime rarely shocks me anymore. Its vilification campaigns of those with opposing views, its use of government power to muzzle the voice of science, its almost demonic obsession with resource extraction at any cost has left me pretty much inured to any emotional reaction other than disgust.

Yet even I was both shocked and appalled at what I learned reading The Toronto Star's editorial this morning.

The headline tells it all: Drilling for oil in the Gulf of St. Lawrence without a clue:

Buried within the more than 400 pages of this spring’s federal omnibus budget bill is an invitation for resource companies to open a new frontier in Canadian oil: the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The gulf, which touches the coastlines of Canada’s five easternmost provinces, is the world’s largest estuary. It’s home to more than 2,000 species of marine wildlife — an ecosystem integral to the health of our Atlantic and Great Lakes fisheries.

Now, due to measures deep in the federal budget, that ecosystem may be under threat. The bill explicitly highlights the region’s potential for petroleum extraction and includes amendments to the Coasting Trade Act that give oil companies greater access to exploration vessels.

The editorial reveals that a company called Corridor Resources Inc. has applied to drill the first-ever deep-water well in the gulf, a development with dire environmental implications. Even without an oil spill, the seismic drilling will have profoundly negative effects on marine life, and to compound the environmental crime, there will be no way to measure those effects:

The budget rescinded the requirement for environmental assessments of exploratory drilling and crippled the Centre for Offshore Oil, Gas and Energy Research, the federal agency best equipped to deliver such assessments.

In a world already in the midst of the biggest disaster ever experienced by humanity, climate change, the Harper regime is unbowed in its headlong rush to give the corporate sector every opportunity to 'live for the moment," something it has historically proven to be very adept at.

Climate Change - Much Worse Than We thought

James E. Hansen has some very impressive credentials. Not only has he headed the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies for 31 years, he is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University.

But wait, there's more:

Hansen is best known for his research in the field of climatology, his testimony on climate change to congressional committees in 1988 that helped raise broad awareness of global warming, and his advocacy of action to avoid dangerous climate change. In recent years, Hansen has become an activist for action to mitigate the effects of climate change, which on a few occasions has led to his arrest.

In other words, here is a man eminently qualified to pronounce on the environmental catastrophes currently overtaking the earth. He is also the bane of the benighted, a.k.a., climate-change deniers.

In a piece appearing in The Washington Post entitled Climate change is here — and worse than we thought, Hansen offers some startling conclusions about his1988 Congressional testimony:

I was too optimistic.

My projections about increasing global temperature have been proved true. But I failed to fully explore how quickly that average rise would drive an increase in extreme weather.

In a new analysis of the past six decades of global temperatures, which will be published Monday, my colleagues and I have revealed a stunning increase in the frequency of extremely hot summers, with deeply troubling ramifications for not only our future but also for our present.

He goes on to detail some very alarming truths about the speed with which climate change has taken hold:

... the extremes are actually becoming much more frequent and more intense worldwide.

I hope you will take the time to read the entire article, and peruse some of the many responses to it that also show there is no convincing some of our present peril, including these nuggets:

Climate-Change is voodoo science and Ronal [sic] Reagan proved it....except Bill Clinton and A Gore destroyed the evidence.

All these Leftist-Marxist Climate-Changers are just trying to shut down more and more American industries to "re-distribute" the wealth to their favorite "poor countries"....Climate Change is as serious as collecting "beanie-babies"....

And here's my personal favourite:

It was warmer in the world during the time of Christ, 2000 years ago. How do you account for that?

H/t Alex Himelfarb

Sun TV - A Blight On Critical Thinking

Personally, I think we all give far too much attention to that parody-of-news-organization known as Sun TV. From the puerile rants of Ezra Levant to the sanctimonious pronouncements of religious hypocrites like Michael Coren, Sun TV is an egregious insult to anyone with a modicum of critical-thinking skills.

Yet here I am, adding to the cacophonous denunciations of this propaganda wing of the Harper Conservatives. Oh well, I will blame my lapse on the oppressively humid weather outside (now 41 degrees with the humidex). That, and this blistering article from Rabble.ca exposing the organization for what it is.

Harper's Parody of Democracy

Yesterday, I wrote a post expressing cynicism about Heritage Minister James Moore's tough talk concerning Enbridge, expressing the view that it was just more political posturing on the part of Harper Inc. since the company has come under much media scrutiny due to its record of oil spills.

Reading another story today about the time limits and restrictions placed on the NEB hearings into the pipeline, and the fact that it will be the Harper regime that makes the final determination about the pipeline, made me think back to my teaching days.

I always regarded school committee with disdain, and rarely sat on them, since they were generally gatherings characterized by a lot of talk and a paucity of action. On a few occasions I broke my embargo, each time coming away from the experience realizing I had thrown away many hours of my life for nought.

The very last time I sat on one (and I forget what it was for), the end result was that the principal entirely ignored our recommendations, imposing the decisions that he had hoped we would recommend.

Why even go through a charade of democratic participation when the end result is preordained, and the role of the committee is only to lend the air of legitimacy to the autocrat?

That is precisely what I believe is going to happen with the NEB hearings - after all of the applicants are heard, and thousands of hours of testimony are given, no matter the recommendation, the pipeline will go ahead. The best indicator of the future is found, of course, in this little nugget:

The government [has] formalized new rules that for the first time give the Harper cabinet the final word on whether the pipeline should go ahead, even if the arms-length NEB-led panel concludes the project is environmentally unsound.

Were the hearings anything but an empty public-relations exercise, would such a stipulation exist?

Another Corporate Bully

A medical device manufacturer named Vante, while defending its employees' rights to hold and express their own opinions, has fired its chief financial officer and treasurer for expressing his opinion of Chick-fil-A:

Another of Donald Trump's Depredations

While watching this video, which accompanies a story on Salon.com about 'the Donald's' depredations in Scotland, I couldn't help but think of a well-known biblical rhetorical question.

Harper's Political Posturing

Given the recent spate of 'bad luck' experienced by Enbridge over its propensity for oil spills, the Harper regime knows it is facing an uphill battle to convince Canadians that the company can guarantee the environmental integrity of the lands over which its pipelines run. In his column today, Tim Harper points out that because the government is running out of opponents to vilify, it is trying a new tact through its mouthpiece, senior minister for B.C./Heritage Minister James Moore:

“This project will not survive public scrutiny unless Enbridge takes far more seriously (its) obligations to engage with the public and to answer those very legitimate questions about the way in which they have operated their business in the very recent past,” Moore said.

Wow! A Harper minion talking tough to business! That surely will solve all the problems, especially when the company repackages its empty and worthless assurances in a new communications' campaign.

And Moore's 'outspokenness' should certainly dispel any impression that Harper Inc. is simply a tool of big business interests.

UPDATE: The emptiness of Moore's rhetoric is attested to, I think, by this announcement today by the federal government.

The West Virginia Police

There to Protect and Serve (the coal industry):

H/t EcoWatch

Upper Class Twit of the Year?

I have long given up trying to fathom the 'mind' of America. The behaviour of its political leaders, both Democratic and Republican, and the following such behaviour inspires, leaves me particularly perplexed.

However, Mitt Romney's recent foray abroad to display his foreign policy bona fides has at least provided me with an opportunity to wax nostalgic about the Monty Python comedy troupe, especially this classic:

All kidding aside, the fact that Romney is considered a serious candidate, as Thomas Walkom points out today in The Star, should be cause for world-wide alarm.

Democracy Watch's Indictment of Harper Government Hypocrisy

The following concise indictment of Harper corruption and hypocrisy says a great deal, doesn't it?

PM's ex-aide charged with fraud, July 28

The federal Conservatives responded to the influence-peddling charges that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former adviser Bruce Carson is facing by with this statement: “Any individual who doesn’t respect our laws must face their full force, as well as the consequences that come with them.”

This is a deeply hypocritical statement from the Conservatives whose leader has done nothing to penalize dozens of Conservative cabinet ministers and MPs who violated federal good government rules by handing out government cheques labelled with the Conservative Party logo.

For instance, he has done nothing to penalize cabinet ministers Christian Paradis (who violated the federal ethics law), Tony Clement (who violated federal spending rules in the G8-G20 fiasco), Jim Flaherty and Peter MacKay (who violated federal budget rules by hiding the actual cost of the fighter jets and who also violated rules by using a military helicopter for a personal purpose), and Bev Oda (who violated rules governing expenses, and also misled Parliament).

In some cases, these ministers and others have faced no consequences for violating key rules also because a watchdog agency like the Auditor General or Ethics Commissioner has no power to penalize them, or has failed to enforce the law effectively and properly and no one is allowed to challenge their improper enforcement in court.

Because nothing can be done to force a Prime Minister to penalize Cabinet ministers and politicians who violate rules, the watchdog agencies must be required to conduct random audits and to investigate all complaints and situations in which there is evidence of a violation, and must be given the power to, and required to, penalize violators, and everyone must be allowed to challenge any watchdog in court who fails to enforce rules properly.

As well, the huge loopholes must be closed in key good government laws because these loopholes currently make it legal in many cases for people involved in politics to be dishonest, unethical, secretive and wasteful.

For example, loopholes in the federal lobbying law, and weak enforcement, have meant that no one has been prosecuted for failing to register as a lobbyist since the law was enacted in 1988, and dozens of lobbyists have been let off the hook.

Recently, a House of Commons Committee has recommended some changes to close some of the loopholes in that law, and to strengthen enforcement, but not enough changes to stop secret, unethical lobbying of the federal government.

Tyler Sommers, Democracy Watch, Ottawa

The Scourge of Online Anonymity

I have spent the better part of my life, it seems, writing letters to the editor and occasionally newspaper articles. Never once, during all those years did I ever think twice about the publications' policies requiring the use of the writer's real name. My reasoning is, if I have something worthwhile to say, I will stand behind it with my identity disclosed.

On the Internet, however, these requirements do no seem to apply, as newspapers and other publications with readers' forums allow for the use of pseudonyms, an identity-concealing facility I have never availed myself of.

Judging by any perusal of such sites, however, it is readily apparent that anonymity frequently lowers the level of discourse to mere sniping and hate-mongering. With rare exceptions I have stopped, for example, reading the comments following Globe articles, as the first few may be insightful, but what invariably ensues are attacks on the constructive commentator's politics or intelligence. The term used to describe such attackers is trolls.

Alternet, one of my favorite alternative news and commentary sites, has an interesting article entitled Why Online Comments Are So Toxic. Written by Lisa Selin Davis, it is well-worth reading.

Media Quietude Over Climate Change

A few months ago, when we were seeing mid-summer temperatures during early spring, I remember Tom Brown, the CTV weatherman, looking grim and saying words to the effect that "This is something we all need to be concerned about." It was, I assume, a brave but oblique allusion to climate change.

Why brave? Since it was an observation never again repeated, I assume old Tom knew he was treading dangerously close to something that the corporate ownership of CTV does not want discussed, lest it offend sponsors or potential sponsors whose ultimate message is to consume like there is no tomorrow (rather prescient in some ways, aren't they?)

I had occasion to think about that reference last evening as I was watching my local news, and there was a report on the extreme weather we have been experiencing this summer (extreme humidity, drought, and sudden destructive storms), yet not a word was said about the broader implications of this weather.

Earlier this month, The Guardian ran a story by Amy Goodman, who is the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over 1,000 public television and radio stations worldwide. In it, she observed that in U.S. reporting,

The phrase "extreme weather" flashes across television screens from coast to coast, but its connection to climate change is consistently ignored, if not outright mocked.

In her column today in The Toronto Star, Linda McQuaig, makes similar observations about the cone of silence that permeates weather news in Canada:

CBC TV’s The National announced a report on this summer’s “wicked weather.”

...But the report focused on “storm chasers” — people who follow tornadoes for a hobby. And it raised the question of whether the wild weather could affect our insurance rates. Not a word about whether the unusual heat, drought and storms could be a symptom of what we’re doing to the planet.

McQuaig goes on to suggest:

...the issue seems to have lost its cachet with media managers, who apparently consider it too negative or tedious for audiences they feel obliged to entertain. Media commentators tend to ignore it or dismiss it, apparently afraid of looking too earnest or Earth-hugging, and therefore out of sync with our money-driven corporate culture.

I guess it is a truism to say that we are a very short-sighted species that prefers to ignore things until they can no longer be ignored. We seem to have reached that point, but one has to wonder how long it will be before the mainstream media acknowledge that fact.

Chris Hedges On The Perversion Of Scholarship

One of my favorite writers, Chris hedges, continues to do via alternative news what is so rare today in the mainstream media: challenge the status quo.

His latest salvo is against the tyranny of conformity endemic in post-secondary institutions which, he posits, are no longer places where one goes to learn how to think, but rather where one goes to be told what to think.

Hedges suggests that the veneration of athletes and their coaches, admittedly greater in the United States than in Canada, is symptomatic of the pervasive influence of the corporate agenda on places of higher learning.

Hedges reserves his greatest contempt for the Big Ten Conference colleges where, he suggests:

The student is implicitly told his or her self-worth and fulfillment are found in crowds, in mass emotions, rather than individual transcendence. Those who do not pay deference to the celebration of force, wealth and power become freaks. It is a war on knowledge in the name of knowledge.

He says much more in the column, which I hope you will get the opportunity to check out on Truthdig.

Sayed Shah Sharifi Arrives In Canada

Thanks to the doggedness of The Toronto Star, for whom social justice and journalistic integrity are more than mere words, the long tale of Sayed Shah Sharifi, the Afghan interpreter, is finally over.

In a world where victories are often few and far between for the 'good guys,' today is a day we all should celebrate the fact that despite all of the efforts by Immigration Jason Kenney to prevent his immigration to Canada, likely out of spite for making a public fuss over delays, Sharifi is now safely in Canada.

You can read the full story here.

The Cost of Profound Ignorance

At the risk of sounding arrogant, I have to admit that the profoundly ignorant deeply distress me, especially those who revel in that ignorance, wear it as a faux badge of independent critical thinking, and refuse to entertain the possibility of error.

Take, for example, climate-change deniers. Despite the overwhelming evidence that it is taking place, indeed, accelerating at unanticipated rates (see, as an illustration, Kev's graphic at Trapped in a Whirlpool) and has almost universal agreement amongst scientists that it is mainly human-caused, they blithely dismiss such data as mere 'opinion.'

I had reason to reflect upon this sad fact the other day when I ran into a neighbourhood woman walking her dog. As is the norm when talking to people we don't know well, we discussed the weather, specifically the incessant heat, humidity, and drought that has plagued my part of the country this summer.

While I realize that the volatility and harshness of any one season cannot be attributed to climate change, I opined that perhaps we are paying for our environmental 'sins.' Immediately she snorted and pointed out that there had been a dustbowl in the thirties. I responded by saying that the problem now, unlike the thirties, is that a pattern has clearly emerged in which the frequency and extent of meteorological volatility stands in marked contrast with previous periods.

She informed me that she doesn't 'believe' in climate change, and that the aberrations we are now experiencing are simply part of 'natural cycles.' Her logic eluded me, and I had to wonder when belief in scientific data became optional and simply a matter of opinion.

It does not bode well for our survival as a species, does it?

Well, time to go out for a bike ride. This morning is one of the few days this summer without a humidex.

UPDATE: The Guardian reports the following:

In a survey of more than 1,000 readers of websites related to climate change, people who agreed with free market economic principles and endorsed conspiracy theories were more likely to dispute that human-caused climate change was a reality.

As well, you might find this of interest: The Conversion of a Climate-Change Skeptic

A Remarkable Revelation!

I am a person who believes in a transcendent reality. I mention this only to provide a context for the book I am currently reading entitled Paranormal: My Life in Pursuit of the Afterlife, written by Raymond Moody, the psychiatrist who for the past four decades has done pioneering work in the near-death experience.

While reading the memoir, I have come to the point where Moody is talking about his psychiatric residency, during which he interacted with an array of the mentally diseased, including those in the maximum-security wing for the criminally insane.

On page 123, he talks about one night finding three cards with the seal of the Secret Service on his desk with the following message (all ensuing italics are mine):

If this individual escapes from your institution, do not fail to contact the United States Secret Service!

Moody then found that he had three new patients, and "all of them had been rounded up by the Secret Service and dropped at our institution for safekeeping. President Ronald Reagan was in town, and the people assigned to protect him came in advance and institutionalized those who were thought to pose a threat during his visit."

Moody goes on to say the men were very angry about being detained until Reagan left town.

And that's all he has to say about the episode.

While I realize to the seasoned student of human nature, this is an entirely credible story about U.S. constitutional violation of its citizen's rights, I wonder if anyone can shed light on American past practices of labelling people as mentally ill in order to neutralize threats or opposition voices.

Reminiscent as it is of the Russian tendency to relegate political opponents to the gulag, I eagerly await information about this patent abuse of power.

The Harper Attack On Canadian Values

As I have written elsewhere in this blog, for various reasons I have never believed that democratically elected governments are necessarily a reflection of the values or the will of the electorate. I have also written of my strong belief that governments do, however, have a potentially huge impact on the national ethos. By their policies, rhetoric and treatment of opposing ideas, governments can and I suspect do frequently deform the souls of nations.

The eloquent lead letter in today's print edition of The Star reminds us all of how far Harper Inc. has taken us down a road that darkly deviates from the things that our country has traditionally held dear:

Supposedly, our federal government acts in the best interests of citizens. Ample evidence proves otherwise. On matters of immigration, human rights and justice, they not only break faith, but act with an unbelievable lack of humanity and compassion.

When the Supreme Court decreed that Omar Khadr’s rights had been violated, that young man still agreed to plead guilty and face a longer sentence in order to return to Canada. The United States expected Canada to act immediately; the government has still stalled.

Only after extreme pressure from citizens has the government lived up to its obligation to give shelter to Afghan interpreter Sayed Shah Sharifi, even though his aid to Canadians was verified by the military and foreign correspondents. He has been told that he has a seat reserved on a flight to Canada on July 28. Again, the government moved with extreme reluctance.

In an unbelievably petty and cruel bureaucratic ruling, a Canadian woman who has lived here since the age of 4 and has taught generations of Canadian schoolchildren, is being denied Old Age Security because she could not supply landing papers showing the date that she arrived here from England. What absolute nonsense.

At one time, Canada had visitors from abroad to learn about our increasingly progressive prison system under Commissioner Ole Ingstrup. Sadly, we have regressed and are now considered below UN standards.

When Public Safety Minister Vic Toews passes on to the next world, I fervently pray that he is placed in a “perfectly appropriate” double-bunk situation for a minimum of one year. It will be too late to help current prisoners, but it is a sentence that I feel the minister deserves.

I resent intensely this government that to me represents ever more frequently a betrayal of Canadian values and that persists in diminishing the Canada that I love. When the next election rolls around, my vote will be ABC.

Shirley Bush, Toronto

Toronto District School Board Blinks

As I suspected, after yesterday's Star story about the Toronto District School Board's outrageous demand for $3.6 million to release work order information related to the costs incurred in their exclusive contract with Jimmy Hazel's maintenance and construction skilled trades council, the board is singing a different tune today:

The Toronto District School Board is revising its $3.6 million estimate to provide data for a Star investigation.

How much the fee will drop is unclear, but a top official said the board is committed to finding a way to release the information.

“I am confident we will find a solution,” board education director Chris Spence said Thursday.

Let us hope that Spence, a man who is never short on bromides and platitudes, is not engaging in politically expedient posturing here.

Given The Star's journalistic tenacity, I'm sure we'll soon find out.

How Much Is The Lowest Price Guarantee Worth?

Despite years of repeated denials, I think there are few who doubt that Walmart is anti-union. Stories abound of the pressure the giant corporation applies anytime someone within the employee ranks tries to start a move toward union certification, including termination of the troublesome individuals and even store closures.

Because of these strongarm tactics, a group entitled Our Walmart is trying a different approach by pressing Walmart to accept a declaration of workers' rights which, in many ways sounds like a contract. Its worker groups hope to gain at least a measure of bargaining power by joining together to press the company for better wages and treatment.

However, even that has proven unacceptable to a Los Angeles store which recently fired five employees involved in organizing the workers to that end.

And of course, Walmart insists, as they always do, that the terminations had nothing to do with those activities.

Perhaps something to keep in mind in our incessant and often frantic consumer search for 'the lowest price in the land." It does come at a very real cost.

H/t Matthew Elliot

UPDATE: Apparently the anti-worker virus has spread north, this time infecting the Weston family, according to The Huffington Post.

TDSB To Star: It's Gonna Cost You To See My Hand

The Toronto Star, after conducting an excoriating investigative series on the fiscal incompetence of the Toronto District School Board in its very costly arrangement with Jimmy Hazel's Maintenance and Construction Skilled Trades Council, has learned the price of getting the complete picture of that incompetence: $3.6 million.

That's how much officials have told the paper it will cost to get more than a peek at their fiscal cards following a request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act for the board's electronic database of work orders showing what taxpayers have been charged for maintenance and construction projects at local schools.

Despite the fact that The Star requested a copy of the electronic database, the board, which, with a straight face insists on its commitment to transparency, lists the following charges that would be incurred in meeting that 'commitment':

• $1,125,000 to search for the records in the SAP database, which would take 37,500 hours at $30 per hour

• $1,350,000 to prepare the records for release, which would take 45,000 hours at $30 per hour. She estimates one-quarter of the records would have to be “severed,” to remove information they objected to releasing. The Star has seen sample pages from the records and there is no personal information, which is typically the type of information removed.

• $1,080,000 to photocopy the records, even though the Star asked for an electronic copy of the database. The TDSB said there are 5.4 million pages detailing the work orders and the charge levied would be 20 cents a page.

Apparently the information is stored on what is called a SAP database which, according to Wikipedia, is an enterprise-wide information system designed to coordinate all the resources, information, and activities needed to complete business processes such as order fulfillment or billing. According to The Star article, the database shows when a work order is requested by a school, when the work is done, how many hours are charged, how many workers are involved and other details.

I suspect after the general public reads about the TDSB's outrageous attempt to conceal the full extent of its ineptitude through these prohibitive charges, the information will soon be available at 'firesale' prices.

The Power of the Consumer

According to this email I received, forwarded by a friend of mine, we have quite a bit of power. At a minimum, the following should give us pause as we go about our consumer lives:

This is TRULY worth reading and considering.....

A physics teacher in high school once told the students: That while one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn't Slow a train very much, a billion of them would. With that thought in mind, read the following, obviously written by a patriotic Canadian:

Shopping in Lowe's the other day for some reason and just for the fun of it I was looking at the garden hose attachments. They were all made in China. The next day I was in Home Hardware and just for the fun of it I checked the hose attachments there. They were made in Canada!

Start looking...

In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else - even their job.

A quote from a consumer: "My grandson likes Hershey's candy. I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now, instead of Smiths Falls, Ontario. I do not buy it any more".

My favorite toothpaste, Colgate, is made in Mexico now. I have switched to Crest.

You have to read the labels on everything.

This past weekend I was at Wal-Mart. I needed 60W light bulbs. I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off-brand labelled, "Everyday Value". I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in - get ready for this - Canada at a company in Ontario.

Their Equate Products are also made in Canada, and are very good.

Just to add my own experience on buying Made in Canada, I was looking for canned mushrooms that were made in Canada and could never find any, so I would buy fresh. But recently I found Ravine mushrooms - made in Canada with a little red maple leaf on the can. A little more money but when I opened the can I looked at mushrooms that look like real mushrooms, not a mushroom that looks like it was cleaned in bleach.

Another product I no longer buy is Del Monte or Dole canned fruit. Del Monte is packaged in Taiwan and Dole is now a product of China.

Why should we pay for their fruit when our growers are left with fruit rotting on the trees. E.D. Smith is still made in Canada... buy theirs, at least you will know what is in it and have some quality control.

By the way, all pickles with the Presidents Choice label and the No Name yellow label [Superstore] are made in India. Think about it, water from the Ganges is used... yes THAT Ganges, the one that the people use as a toilet.

So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here.

My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made In Canada. The job you save may be your own or your neighbour's'! (Your children & grandchildren, also.)

If you accept this challenge, pass it on to others in your address book so we can all start buying Canadian, one light bulb at a time! Stop buying from overseas companies! (We should have awakened two decades ago.)

Let's get with the program. Help our fellow Canadians keep their jobs and create more jobs here in Canada.

If President Obama insists on a 'Made in America ' Policy, which is commendable of him, to support American workers, we should do likewise.

BUY CANADIAN! Read the labels. Support Canadian jobs.

An Easy Way To Gauge The Moral Fiber Of Canadian Politicians

Ask them for their stand on the indefensible export of asbestos.

Why?

Because sometimes we need a larger perspective:

Monsanto Sued By Migrant Workers Over Labor, Housing Conditions

It seems the bigger they are, the more intent corporations are on squeezing everything they can out of workers, doesn't it?

H/t GMWatch and Sandra Harris

More on Rob Ford

I hope that I can be forgiven for what might appear to some as either an unhealthy obsession with Toronto's chief magistrate or an Ontario-centric regional preoccupation. It's just that I continue to be fascinated by the fact that Canada's largest city is led by someone so manifestly unsuited for the job. What it says about the current state of democracy in Canada I will leave to you to ponder.

After Ford's 'crime-summit' with Dalton McGuinty yesterday, here is what The Star's Martin Regg Cohn had to say:

The tone was civil, but the bottom line is that Ford brought nothing to the table.

No ideas, no money, no serenity in a time of anxiety for the people of Toronto.

Sadly, that assessment could also be applied to Ford's entire mayoralty thus far.

Chris Hedges On Contemporary Journalism

H/t Disinformation for this:

"We Need Justice"

So says a young Hispanic boy in the following video, a followup of the police brutality in Anaheim I posted about yesterday:

A Success Story Rob Ford and Other Reactionaries Won't Like

Those who see issues in simplistic and absolutist terms will not care to even acknowledge the existence of this letter from a Star reader. It speaks to something that neo-conservatives are loathe to acknowledge, the fact that we live in a society where interdependence and co-operation rather than selfish and exclusionary individualism are key factors in success on many levels:

I grew up at Black Creek and Trethewey. I ran with a tough crowd. I have been in more stolen vehicles than I can count. I hid a gun in my locker in high school for a friend. I was popular — everyone knew who I was. I had parents who seemed to not care what I was doing or where I was. I was playing basketball outside three blocks away on the night police officer Todd Bayliss was shot.

So how did I get out? How am I not in jail? How did I go to university, graduate, get a job, get married, move to Milton and have two kids? Why didn't I get pregnant in junior high like three of my classmates?

I'm not sure I have the definitive answers. I got involved in sports teams and music. I had teachers who cared if I showed up. One teacher asked me what I was going to do with my life. I didn't have an answer. When he asked me about my university applications, I laughed. We didn't have any money, my parents were uneducated and not concerned with school. My situation was not uncommon. After that conversation I was approached by many of my teachers with offers to help with applications, loans and scholarships and a higher paying summer job. Something clicked from there. I was important to people, they didn't want me to fail.

Community and school programs work — maybe not for everyone but they work. We need to show kids that there is hope, that people care what we become, that we can have pride in ourselves and our achievements. Pointing out “immigrants” and trying to deport gang members doesn't work. They come back.

What is the solution? Start young, give kids options, and put money into keeping them off the streets and out of gangs.

It's not a short-term solution, it's a long-term one. There is no quick fix, this takes time and investment. Aren't the kids worth it?

Deanna Churcher, Milton

Another Home Run for Ibbitson

In his quest to become the top scorer in the Harper admiration society and ensure a much-coveted seat in the Red Chamber, John Ibbiston hits another home run in yet one more of his sycophantic endorsements of dear leader in today's Globe.

Police Brutality In Anaheim

Can there be any justification for firing non-lethal weapons on unarmed people, including women and children?

H/t Sandra Harris

Concern For The Collective

For whatever reason, I am one of those people with a deeply ingrained sense of fair play that recognizes we are more than simply individuals 'doing our own thing' in isolation and with no regard to others; I happily acknowledge that we are part of a larger agglomeration that we name 'society.'

So yes, I readily admit to being one of those who counts the number of groceries in the basket of the person ahead of me in the express checkout at the grocery store; I am also someone who uses highway passing lanes for their intended purpose and not as my personal conduit or as a semi-permanent solution to avoiding merging traffic while driving at a speed that shows no regard for cars behind me. I also get outraged if a page is defaced or torn out of a library book.

In my mind, all of the above are serious crimes against the collective, selfish refusals to consider others as worthy of our respect and co-operation as we live out our lives.

And yet it is an attitude that seems all too common today, as governments and cultural imperatives urge us to be self-absorbed consumers whose highest values spring from the dictates of the marketplace, not our consciences, values, spiritual beliefs or regard for the common good.

It was therefore refreshing to read in today's Star an article entitled Harvard professor Michael Sandel examines ‘moral limits of markets’ in new book. In it, Sandel, a highly regarded Harvard professor of political philosophy, asks questions that we seem to have become reluctant to ask today:

Sandel says that we are increasingly reluctant to talk about what kind of society we want. We are reluctant to allow moral and spiritual concerns into public debate. Instead, we’ve come to rely on the market to assign value.

“Part of the appeal of markets,” he writes in the book, “is that they don’t pass judgment on the preferences they satisfy. They don’t ask whether some ways of valuing goods are higher or worthier than others.”

The market is only interested in efficiently matching buyers and sellers. It is not interested in what is being distributed, or whether it is fair — let alone whether some things should be distributed at all.

Sandel talks as well about the growing inequality gap that essentially has us living on different worlds, something that seems so very evident when we look at the direction the Harper regime is taking us in Canada:

By putting a price on just about everything, by having things of great value up for sale, we end up widening the gap between those with money and those without. “At a time of rising inequality, the marketization of everything means that people of affluence and people of modest means lead increasingly separate lives,” Sandel writes. “We live and work and shop and play in different places. Our children go to different schools. . . It’s not good for democracy, nor is it a satisfying way to live.”

He does not oppose inequality everywhere, but believes that too much of it is dangerous. “Democracy does not require perfect equality,” he writes, “but it does require that citizens share in a common life. What matters is that people of different backgrounds and social positions encounter one another, and bump up against one another, in the course of everyday life. For this is how we learn to negotiate and abide our differences, and how we come to care for the common good.”

In a world that encourages lazy thinking, reactionary rather than thoughtful responses, and the embrace of absolutisms, Sandel is a refreshing and much-needed voice of reason and reflection. For those who are especially interested, he also has a 12-part television series available on the Internet that explores many of these questions.

Another Reason To Be Cynical About The MSM

The implications of this are truly and deeply frightening.

A Victory To Celebrate

I have expressed more than once in this blog my opinion that the Harper regime aims to make Canadians feel powerless and disenfranchised, thereby facilitating the government's efforts to remake Canada in its own calloused corporatist image. Once in a while, however, a victory comes along to remind us that we still have power and need to continue the fight against that agenda.

Thanks in large measure to The Toronto Star and reporter Paul Watson, Afghan interpreter Sayed Shah Sharifi is soon to come to Canada, after having been initially rejected under an Immigration program designed to rescue those Afghanis who had put their lives at risk helping Canadian soldiers.

Initially adamant in his rejection of Sharifi's application, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney was forced to reverse his department's decision after a groundswell of public indignation arose following Watson's stories.

The latest developments can be read in today's Star, and the entire episode serves as an important reminder that no matter how dispirited and disheartened we may become, none of us must ever stop fighting the intransigence and ideological madness of the Harper government.

Making Political Hay

Well, you have to hand it to them. The Harper regime never forgoes an opportunity to exploit tragedy:

In an interview airing on CBC's Power & Politics on Friday, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said "clearly the recent rash of gun crime in Toronto is connected to criminal gun activity, and we are aware that there have been foreign members, sometimes leading members of criminal gangs in Canada, able to re-commit offences while delaying their deportation."

Kenney went on to specify that his comments were "not in relation to any particular crime, or any alleged particular criminal" but about Bill C-43, which the government introduced last month as the faster removal of foreign criminals act.

Excessive Force Or Standard Police Operating Procedure?

You decide.

'Sheriff' Ford 'Clarifies' His Statements

I wonder if there is anyone within the Rob Ford administration with the courage to tell him to just keep his mouth shut for the sake of Toronto's rapidly-waning reputation?

On The Harper Regime's Lawlessness

Once again, Star readers come through with their perceptive indictments of the Harper regime's contempt for both the rule of law and democracy:

Re: Ottawa’s misrule of law, Opinion July 17

Professor Audrey Macklin’s piece on Ottawa’s disrespect for the law points to a culture of justice by vendetta and racism in this government. How is it otherwise when one sees a white Anglo-Saxon indicted felon received in this country without question, and sought out by the press, while the government dumps all over a boy soldier the likes of which Canada signed the international convention to protect and rehabilitate?

This government has demonstrated on a number of issues now that it thinks it is above the law; it chooses to break it at will and challenging us to stop them. So far nothing, and no one, has.

So, where is our “democracy,” the rule of the majority?

Frank Arturi, Toronto

If we live in a country that has majority government that was not elected by the majority of voters, and if that government refuses to abide by the laws and constitution of our country, and if the political representatives belonging to the governing party refuse to condemn its behaviour, “by definition” are we living in a democracy or an oligarchy?

Randy Gostlin, Oshawa

The Sun: Demagoguery, Not Critical Thinking

As a contrast to my earlier post about the Star and critical thinking, take a look at this poll and readers' comments about Omar Khadr from Sun readers.

h/t Norm Spector

Mainstream Media's Silencing of Important Voices

Probably two of the most important voices challenging the status quo today are rarely if ever granted access to mainstream media anymore. Both highly respected, Pulitzer Prize winner and former New York Times journalist Chris Hedges, and Noam Chomsky, a towering intellect who has for decades been warning us of the fabricated reality being imposed upon us by corporate power, are, however, no means silent.

Thanks to alternative news sites such as Alternet.org and Truthdig.com, as well as their many books, both continue to provide sustenance to those yearning for more than the self-absorbed and avaricious consumerism relentlessly promoted today at the expense of critical and independent thinking, qualities that in many ways are actively discouraged by our corporate 'overlords'.

Today, the cherished freedoms promised in Magna Carta, the foundations for the West's constitutions, guaranteeing for example, freedom from arbitrary arrest, as well as the concept of 'the commons' encapsulated in "The Charter of the Forest' are under ongoing attack and devolution. Professor Chomsky writes lucidly on these issues in an address given in Scotland recently, which you can read by clicking here.

Critical Thinking From Star Readers

That I am a faithful subscriber to the Toronto Star is in large measure due to its strong cadre of journalists and the capacity of its letter-writers for critical thinking. Rarely the reactionary, carping and simplistic fare to be found in many newspapers, Star letters reflect a readership that is unwilling to accept the bromides and platitudes that frequently pass for penetrating insights today.

One such example follows. Enjoy:

Re: PM's science blindness will only harm Canada, July 14

Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre states: “In all cases, science and facts should rule our decisions.” When did Stephen Harper make this stunning 180-degree complete reversal?

GST cuts, long form census, mandatory minimum sentences, the F-35 debacle, government pension “reform,” refugee health care and environmental safeguards all ignored science, and facts for blatant political gain. How stupid does Harper think Canadians are?

Harper Conservatives cannot afford $2 million for globally respected Experimental Lakes Area program but spends that much on the one off War of 1812 celebration. Another $2 million goes to Tony Clement’s riding for the Norman Bethune centre. Harper lectures world leaders on the need for austerity while he rolls out even more pork.

Wake up, Conservatives. Your man Harper is doing a masterful job of driving Canadians into the open arms of the dreaded socialists. My Canada is dying slowly by a thousand political cuts.

Doug Haslam, Stratford

A Moment of Sanity From Rachel Maddow

Were it not for Americans like Rachel Maddow, I would not be able to hold out even a glimmer of hope for the benighted nation:

BTW, you need to click on 'hide ad' before the video will play.

More Brilliance From Montreal Simon

Many thanks to Montreal Simon, who created this trenchant attack ad:

Two Letters About Omar Khadr

Yesterday I wrote a post on the contempt for the rule of law evident in the Harper regime's refusal to thus far repatriate Omar Khadr from Guantanimo.

Following are two thoughtful letters on the topic from today's Star I am taking the liberty of reproducing:

I am disgusted at the vitriol spewed by some people over the fate of Omar Khadr. Apparently the rule of law is a mask to be discarded at will.

Canada signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including the protocol on child soldiers. If Khadr was a combatant, he would be covered by that protocol, which states he is to be returned to his home nation for rehabilitation. If Khadr was not a combatant then there is no reason to hold him.

Moreover, in the sham of justice that was the Guantanamo military tribunal, Khadr struck a deal with the prosecution to plead guilty in return for him being returned to Canada. In short, under anything even remotely passing for law, Canada has no choice but to accept his return.

In fact, Khadr is the only foreign national still held in Guantanamo. Citizens of other nations have all been repatriated even though they were sometimes adult combatants.

Of course, Canada should do far more than simply take him back. The evidence that has come out over the last decade shows that Canada was complicit in the torture Khadr was subjected to. This violates other international agreements that Canada has signed and is also a violation of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Canada has a moral and probably a legal obligation to make amends. Had Khadr been a 15-year-old gang member convicted of killing someone in Toronto, as a young offender he would be be free by now. Instead, as a boy dragged into a war zone by his father and caught up in a firefight where he was severely wounded, he has become, to some people anyway, a symbol of terrorism for whom no punishment will suffice.

Their thirst for vengeance at the expense of justice does not represent the Canada that I grew up in. We need to return to the rule of law. We need to rebuild our reputation as a lawful, just and compassionate nation.

Gary Dale, West Hill

With respect to Omar Khadr’s return to Canada from Guantanamo Bay at the request of the American government, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews says, “A decision will be made in due course.”

The decision was made 20 months ago when then Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon provided a diplomatic note promising favourable consideration for Khadr’s return last November.

To argue otherwise is to admit that the government made a written promise to both Omar Khadr and the American government without any thought to its eventual execution. That would clearly be irresponsible and incompetent.

No, the only decision that the Harper government has to make at this time is whether or not they keep their promises.

Robert Betty, Edmonton

Making Politics Out Of Tragedy

The terrible shooting in Toronto that saw two people killed and 24 injured elicited this response from Julian Fantino and Rob Nicholson. I have no words to express my feeling toward this craven exploitation of tragedy:

Joint statement by ministers Julian Fantino and Rob Nicholson:

Our Government was very saddened to hear about this shooting in Toronto last night. We condemn this brazen shooting and extend our heartfelt condolences to the victims and their families. Canadians are concerned about violent crime, that’s why over the past six years our Government has introduced tough-on-crime legislation, like the Safe Streets and Communities Act, to keep dangerous criminals and gang members off the streets and out of our communities. We have also taken steps to ensure our border is open to legitimate travel and trade but closed to criminals and gun smugglers.

Our Conservative Government has introduced mandatory minimum penalties for all serious firearms offences. We call on the Opposition to support victims and our actions to improve the safety of Canadian families. Canadians can count on us to stand up for victims and to continue strengthening our justice system so that those who commit serious crimes, particularly with firearms, serve serious jail time. Illegal guns and the criminals who use them have no place in our society.

Our Government is committed to ensuring criminals are held fully accountable for their actions and that the safety and security of law-abiding Canadians comes first in Canada’s justice system.

May there be a special place in hell for those two.

Contempt For Law Invites Contempt Of Harper Government

Despite its well-oiled propaganda machine spewing out rhetoric defending its 'law-and-order-agenda', the Harper regime is so awash in its contempt for the actual rule of law and its moral underpinnings as to fill any right-thinking person with nausea.

While countless instances of this contempt abound, probably one of the most egregious is its refusal to repatriate Omar Khadr from Guantanamo, despite a pronouncement by the Supreme Court of Canada on the matter and Harper's promises to the United States to do so.

Putting aside the fact that Khadr was a child soldier at the time of his alleged crime, imbued with extreme views by a fanatical father, justice and our Charter of Rights demand his return to Canada.

That, government hate-mongering notwithstanding, is not a matter of dispute, debate, or public opinion. It is the law. To flout that law is to be a renegade regime unworthy of its citizens' respect or support.

Today's Star has an editorial on this ongoing injustice well-worth reading.

Exposing More Harper Lies

Those who believe the Harper propaganda that the changes to environmental oversight contained in Omnibus Bill C-38 are simply 'housekeeping' and 'streamlining' measures may find this notification from the National Energy Board of interest:

As a result of the amendments to section 118, the Board no longer requires applicants for oil and gas export licences and gas import licences to file the following information under the Part VI Regulations:

12. (f) information respecting the potential environmental effects of the proposed exportation and any social effects that would be directly related to those environmental effects;

Information to be Furnished by Applicants for Licences for Importation

13. (e) information respecting the potential environmental effects of the proposed importation and any social effects that would be directly related to those environmental effects;

The full notification can be read here.

H/t Bill Hillier