Too Smart For Canada

I am not a big fan of Michael Ignatieff but this is brilliant.

Democracy Election

While thousands worldwide sacrifice their lives for the right to free elections Canadians complain about having one.

That is not to say there are no reasons for some Canadians not to want an election. Certainly if you support the Reformatories you have it pretty good right now. With a minority in the House of Commons (and an even smaller minority of public support) they have control of the government with a majority opposition that lets them govern as if they have a majority. On the other hand if you voted for the opposition parties you twice elected a majority of Members of Parliament (representing a majority of the public) that has refused to exercise the democratic power the people gave them and lets the Reformatories govern as if they represented the majority. So what is the point of doing it again.

If there is going to be another election it must be about democracy and bringing the government back under the control of the majority of the House of Commons and establishing a more democratic electoral and governing process.

If the opposition parties are going to force can election they must pledge to form a government that represents a majority of the House of Commons and a majority of voters.

Why are they so scared to say that. Just because Stephen Harper thinks the concept of the majority of the legislature governing, as it does in the vast majority of western democratic countries, is illegitimate does not mean the opposition parties should accept that absurdity. Coalition is not a dirty word. Political parties and Members of Parliament actually co-operating to provide a democratic majority government is a good thing. It is certainly better and more democratic than the current tyranny of the minority that currently governs this country.

Perhaps the voters are collectively smarter than we give them credit for and have discovered that the concentration of power in any one party, no matter who it may be, may actually be bad for democracy. If the people want power to be spread amongst many parties rather than concentrated within one that is their democratic right and it is the responsibility of the political parties to co-operate and provide the people with the government they have chosen.

But we need more than just regime change.

I call upon all political parties and candidates that consider themselves to be progressive (and that can include Members of parties that have removed progressive from their name) to pledge to join together after the election in a democratic coalition pledged to improve democracy in Canada.

The number one priority of such a government should be to establish a more democratic electoral and governing process in Canada.

The first thing such a government should do is initiate the Parliamentary processes, including public consultations, to consider and implement the following measures, along with others that they decide are necessary, to improve democracy in Canada:

- eliminate the use of government advertising for promoting government polices and restrict it to information on how to access government programs and benefits

- ensure the independence of all Officers of Parliament, including the Chief Electoral Officer

- ensure and increase the House of Commons right to and ability to access government information, including provisions for access to confidential and classified information on an in camera basis

- establish a fixed election date every four years with the House being dissolved earlier only when a government cannot be formed that has the support of a majority of the House of Commons (to be effective after the next election)

- strengthen measures to ensure the fairness of elections so that financial resources, rather than individual capabilities and policies, do not determine the outcome of elections

- reform the electoral process into a more representative and democratic process where the number of seats a party has represents the number of votes they receive nation wide, while retaining constituency representation, paying particular attention to the systems of proportional representation used in western European countries

Following the implementation of these measures the government should then resign to allow a new election to be held under the new more democratic and representative electoral process and such an election should include a referendum on whether voters want the Senate to be abolished or reformed.

Establishing real democracy in Canada only takes, what sometimes seems to be the rarest of all things, political will. Do we, as politicians, voters, and a nation, have it.

Democracy Under Attack

Democracy is clearly under attack in Canada by those who always claim to be it's defenders, and led by the man who would be dictator.

Stephen Harper wants all the trappings of Presidential Power without the checks and balances of the separation of powers in the American system, nor the inconveniences of accountability to Parliament in our system of responsible government.

Pierre Trudeau is reported to have said that Members of Parliament are nobodies off Parliament Hill. Stephen Harper would have them be nobodies on Parliament Hill. Stephen Harper believes that the Prime Minister's Office should be the seat of all power, not Parliament.

His contempt for Parliament has been shown by his multiple prorogations to avoid facing it, his government's withholding information from and lying to the House of Commons and it's committees, its cabinet ministers doctoring official documents from public servants, and the list goes on. Indeed his government is the first in Canadian history to be formally found in Contempt of Parliament.

But Stephen Harper not only has contempt for Parliament, but contempt for the voters and the courts. His attitude to his party being found guilty of violating the laws designed to ensure that we have fair elections is to dismiss it as unimportant and simply a difference of opinion on minor regulations. Of course Stephen Harper believes the market should rule everything and that voting should be like shopping - whoever has the most money to wage the best marketing campaign, whether deceptive or not (or fought with the taxpayers money using government advertising), should get the most customers votes.

But then again, Stephen Harper does not believe that the Members of Parliament elected by the people should choose who forms the government. He seems to honestly believe there is something undemocratic about the majority of elected Members of Parliament forming a government and that only a government of the largest minority is legitimate, seemingly unaware of the principles of our Parliamentary system or the practices of the overwhelming majority of democratic countries in the world.

But the problem goes beyond the Reformatories and Stephen Harper. Unlike the vast majority of democratic countries in the world our electoral system results in a House of Commons that rarely, if ever, reflects the way the population as a whole votes in terms of party representation.

Unlike most countries in the world that have proportional representation systems Canadian elections usually result in one party having a majority of seats in the House of Commons without receiving a majority of votes in the election. This is praised because it is seen to be more efficient to have power concentrated in one party. Most other democratic countries of the world seem to manage fine with coalition governments that actually reflect how the people voted and require the different parties to co-operate and reflect the wishes of the voters.

Our system however does not just concentrate power in the hands of the party with the largest number of seats (in some cases the party with the most seats may receive less total votes than another party) but tends to concentrate power in the hands of the Prime Minister, as we have seen too well with the current Canadian regime.

This attack on democracy goes beyond contempt for Parliament and the voters - but extends to a contempt for the whole idea of government, the whole idea of the people acting collectively for their collective interests.

The Reformatories, and right wingers everywhere, like to spout the rhetoric of the evils of big government and the evils of taxation. They do not believe that the people should act collectively or spend their money collectively. They have very good reasons for being against government. When citizens act and spend through their governments they act on a one person one vote basis. When citizens act and spend individually they, in effect, act on a one dollar one vote basis, thus concentrating power in those with the most wealth.

That is the reason right wingers do not like government - because it takes power away from the wealthy and transfers it to the people.

South March Highlands: The New Map

click on map to enlarge

The Struggle to Protect The South March Highlands Simplified

What is the Most Important Thing to Know About the South March Highlands

The key things to know about the South March Highlands are:

• it is a popular all year recreation destination for people from all over Ottawa and an international mountain biking destination

• while, within the City of Ottawa, it feels like wilderness when you are in it

• it is a candidate Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI)

• it is the most biodiverse area within Ottawa

• it is the home to a huge number of species of flora and fauna, including many endangered and threatened species

• it contains old growth forests and provincially significant wetlands

• it includes Canadian Shield geology and other significant geological features

• it is the site of numerous pre-contact (pre-European) archaeological sites and may be eligible for UN World Heritage Site status

• it has been declared sacred by Algonquin First Nations chiefs and elders

• the area considered the most environmentally significant, Trillium Woods, is under great ecological threat because KNL's development plans will cut it off from the rest of the city-owned Conservation Forest

• while the privately owned land north of the city-owned Conservation Forest is zoned Environmental Protection, that has been proven not to be enough to protect the land from the threat of development

But the most important thing that you need to know about the South March Highlands is that it is one ecosystem and harm to one part of it harms all of it and if you want to protect part of it you must protect all of it.

The Next Generation of The First Peoples Looks at The South March Highlands

'Sacred Dollars' (Documentary by Aurora Finkle)

Since the tender age of 9 yrs old, Aurora Finkle has had an incredible and impressive musical career. Having won the 2000 dollar grand prize at 08's National Aboriginal Day 'We Got Talent' competition in Ottawa, Aurora has performed at numerous events. She has performed in front of the Senate, Grand Hall in the Museum of Civilization, Pow-wows, Music festivals, Gala's, Conferences as well as having appeared on numerous Television, Radio shows and Newspapers. To top it off...last year she released her debut album entitled after her middle name 'Jade'. Coming from a musical family, Aurora is amazingly comfortable on stage and can quickly command the attention of the entire audience singing everything from Jazz, Folk, Blues, Celtic. Aurora also acknowledges her aboriginal ancestory through Traditional Native songs and is a member of a local women's handdrum group. Aurora is now 11 (12 now) yrs old and continues to perform regularly. (source)

Stand Up and Be Counted for the South March Highlands

Do you support saving the South March Highlands from destruction.

If so, you are probably aware of the fact that Internet trolls, the media and even Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson seem to be doing all they can to foster a myth that this is a NIMBY issue, supported only be people who live near the Beaver Pond Forest.

However the truth is that much more than just the Beaver Pond Forest is at stake. Indeed a whole ecosystem, that has been identified as an Area of Natural & Scientific Interest (ANSI), that includes provincially significant wetlands, many endangered or threatened species and the greatest amount of biodiversity in the Ottawa region - the South March Highlands, is threatened.

And the truth is that support for saving this ecosystem, comes from thousands of people in all parts of Ottawa, and throughout Canada and even internationally.

If you want to show your support for saving the South March Highlands to the world, and the media, please send your photos to savesmhphotos@gmail.com along with your name and where you live. Photos should preferably be a height of 800 pixels, but I can easily resize them (better larger than smaller).

We would like to show the broad range of support across Ottawa and nationally and internationally so please indicate your neighbourhood if within Ottawa, eg. Bridlewood, Katimavik, The Glebe, Centretown, etc. (unless you feel uncomfortable doing so). If you live outside Ottawa please indicate your city or town and province or country. And if you do live near the South March Highlands, please send your photo in. We want to reflect reality, not distort it.

You can view the photos of people who support saving the South March Highlands at South March Highlands Supporters Photos (Coalition to Protect the South March Highlands).

You can stand up and be counted along with them.

click on map to see larger image
Other Coalition to Protect The South March Highlands Sites

Save Ottawa's South March Highlands

Ottawa's Great Forest

I want to save the land North of Beaver Pond Park in Kanata Ontario Facebook Page

SMH (SouthMarch) on Twitter

Mayor Jimmy and Mayor Larry: So Similar, Yet Different

Mayor Jimmy came into office an a platform of accepting Mayor Larry's position on the two big issues of the day Lansdowne Park and Light Rail, as well as having the Mayor's Office draw up the draft budget. Only his style was apparently different.

Ironically, neither one of them understands what leadership is. Mayor Larry seemed to think it was bossership, acting as a CEO and giving orders. Mayor Jimmy seems to think it is avoiding confrontation and issues - that running the city is about good administration, not politics, although, ironically, it was Mayor Larry who ran on the "vote for me because I'm not a politician" platform in his first campaign.

Mayor Larry was a big idea man, he wanted to turn the City into a Corporation, something Mayor Jimmy has done a better job of with behind the scenes executive decision making only rubber stamped in public with none of the annoying public debate and confrontation that democracy entails.

One thing, however, that no one could accuse Mayor Larry of was cowardice. The man had guts. He tried to break the OC Transpo workers union - a stupid but gutsy thing to do.

Mayor Jimmy, on the other hand, likes to run away from controversial issues and the public that elected him. When it comes to the battle to protect the South March Highlands he wants to pretend it doesn't exist claiming the previous Council dealt with the issue, when the last thing the previous Council did was defer a motion forward to the new Council.

Mayor Jimmy refuses to meet with the proponents of saving the forest ecosystem, even when they are right at his doorstep (on several occasions), does not answer emails and reportedly diverts emails to SPAM without even having anyone read them. We can only surmise that he does not want to know what the public thinks. But of course he knows very well what the public thinks.

He simply wants to pretend there is nothing he can do so that he can avoid having to choose between the public that votes for him and the developers who fund his election campaigns.

It is time for Mayor Jimmy to show some leadership and try to find a solution for the people of Ottawa rather than running away from the public and the issue.

Bearing Witness at the Beaver Pond Forest

Sometimes, as a social responsibility, people have to bear witness to unbearable things, such as the killing of people in state-sanctioned executions. Thankfully in Canada we have progressed to a state where we are more civilized than that.

However, in Kanata this week citizens take up the responsibility for witnessing just as uncivilized an act as they bear witness to the state-sanctioned execution of the Beaver Pond Forest, except that this execution is neither, quick, painless, nor humane.

They have my gratitude for taking on this responsibility which I believe would be too painful for me to bear.

An Atheist Visits The Sacred Fire

I am an atheist. I do not believe in god or mythical beings, nor do I believe in organized religion. I think of myself as a physical and intellectual being and not as a spiritual one.

So what does "sacred" mean to me. That is a good question for I do not usually think of things in that manner. But if I was to think of anything as "sacred" it would be the land, and in particular, land in it's natural state.

I love being in the forest, and while many safety experts recommend against it, I love being in the forest alone. I always tell people that they should not be afraid of being alone in the bush because you are never alone in the bush. But I do not fear the animals in the bush for I mean them no harm.

So for me it was important to visit the Sacred Fire to pay my respects to the forest and the land that we all want to protect and it was a particular honour to be smudged by Algonquin Medicine Man Ron “Big Bear” Goddard.

The Sacred Fire represents the prayers and hopes of many peoples. Indeed, as far as all involved know, this is the first time that non-aboriginals have been given the responsibility, and honour of tending a Sacred Fire. This is indeed a very important milestone in the development of the Canadian multicultural mosaic. And it represents what the land means to all of us.

Not that there is not some "culture clash". The media have expressed an interest in Sundays Day of Prayer for the Land, and want to know when the protest is and when the leaders will be speaking. But to the Algonquin this is not a protest and it is not a day for the leaders but a day for the people. This, of course makes it much more significant, but not so good for "sound bytes"

Indeed recent reports indicate that people all across Canada and across the world will be taking some time Sunday to participate in the Day of Prayer for the Land.

I invite all of you who do not quite understand what this is all about or the significance of it to spend some time in the forest and to spend some time sitting by the Sacred Fire.