Some Food for Thought

Perhaps it is because I am currently reading The Trouble With Billionaires, by Linda McQuaig and Neil Brooks, but I have become especially sensitive to the increasingly shrill anti-union rhetoric by CEO's and some allegedly 'ordinary' members of the public. Were we to accept the word of lavishly-paid corporate leaders and their minions, Air Canada and Canadian postal workers are living in the past in their fights to prevent the introduction of two-tier wages and benefits (including pensions0 for new hires.

It is therefore refreshing to see the other side of the question being represented in newspapers such as The Toronto Star, which thus far has resisted the trend to simply becoming organs for the business agenda.

I am providing links here to an article and two letters found in today's paper that help to provide non-business perspectives on these issues.

Good jobs not in the plan, is written by John Cartwright, president of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council.

This is followed by two letters that question the motives of the Conservative government and Canada Post respectively.

Another Sad Story of Police Misconduct

The headline in yesterday's Globe (on-line edition) really says it all: Peel police officers fabricated evidence in prostitution case: judge

The story tells of how the two offending Peel officers claimed that a fake i.d. allowing a 17-year-old to work in Brampton sex clubs was found in her pimp's wallet. The truth is the i.d. had been turned over to the police by the girl herself. Because of this malfeasance, some very serious charges against Courtney Salmon, including human trafficking, had to be thrown out of court.

While Superior Court Judge Douglas Gray severely rebuked the officers, saying that he had to throw out the case to protect the integrity of the justice system, his words and action will be have been for naught if the offending officers are not charged and, if convicted, dismissed from the force. The erosion of public trust in the police continues unabated.

The Ugly Truth About Shark Fin Soup

I was pleased to read in today's Star that two Toronto city councillors, Glenn De Baeremaeker and Kristyn Wong-Tam, are making a motion this week to ban the sale and consumption of shark fin soup, long regarded by the Chinese community as a status symbol. Perhaps not everyone knows the barbaric cruelty involved in bringing such a dish to the table, but essentially it involves cutting off the fins of living sharks and then dumping them back into the ocean to either drown or bleed to death. Amazing how indifferent we can be to the earth's other creatures, isn't it?

An excellent documentary on the industry, especially strong in Costa Rica despite its illegality, is Sharkwater, which is availble for viewing on You Tube. To watch the first part, click on the image below and also learn the vital role sharks play in ocean ecology, upon which we are dependent for our survival:

Syria's Torture and Murder of Its Children

Despite this being an age of almost instant communication and information, it has become very easy for us to isolate ourselves from the larger world, ensconced as we are in our protective shell of flat-screen televisions, blu-ray players, and myriad other technological wonders. Once in a while, however, the reality of that larger world breaks through that shell and throttles us.

One of those moments occurred last night while I was watching Anderson Cooper 360 as he presented graphic video depicting the kind of brutality we may have become inured to in movies but not in real life. I should warn you that this video, showing beatings and shootings of unarmed Syrian citizens, is difficult to watch; even more horrifying is the segment that deals with the torture, mutilation and murder of Syrian children, their only 'crime' being their participation in peaceful protests.

As well, if you really want to think about it, the Syrians' thirst for democracy and freedom and what they are willing to risk for it puts our own cavalier attitude toward democracy, as evidenced in the recent federal election, to shame.

Finally, a G20 Police Arrest

There is little doubt in my mind that the relentless efforts of the Toronto Star played a major role in the arrest of Toronto police officer Glen Weddell in the G20 beating of Dorian Barton, the Toronto baker whose only crime was to take some pictures of police horses at Queens Park during the G20 Summit in Toronto last June. That it took almost a year for this to happen is a sad commentary on the leadership of Police Chief Bill Blair and the officers on the force who obviously willfully concealed the accused officer's identity.

Whether justice will actually be served remains to be seen, given the double-standard of justice the courts often apply to the 'brotherhood of the blue."

Linda McQuaig on Canda's Role in Africa

Although Canadians have traditionally regarded themselves as champions of the underclass, that image is challenged in yesterday's Toronto Star column by Linda McQuaig as she examines how the Candian Government's support of multi-national corporations is contributing to the fact that resource-laden countries such as Tanzania are getting a mere pittance for the gold extraction operations of Barrick gold.

As well, she talks about how a private member's bill that would have made Canadian companies more accountable for their actions (think of last month's killings of several Tanzanians at Barrick's gold mine) in the countries of their operations was defeated.

As is often the case, the image of Canada's benign influence on the world is at steep odds with the truth.

Cost-Saving Innovations in Policing

Dismayed as I may be over the sometimes heavy-handed actions of police, I would never suggest that the necessary role they play in society is exaggerated. Nonetheless, there appear to be ways of providing service that help to reduce overall costs without sacrificing effectiveness.

A story in yesterday's Star, called The thinning blue line discusses how American forces are coping with declining budgets by using civilian investigators to do the paperwork for non-violent crimes such as burglaries, as well as adopting new technologies that replace the human factor. It is an article well-worth reading.