Category Archives: Uncategorized

Another couple of ways we could go

Maybe to go another way?

I have been wondering what is really wrong with our system of politics here in Canada, and it leads me to realize some very simple truths, probably the biggest of which is that:

Today’s government is not for the people and hasn’t been for some years now.

Oh I know there are those who say I am just supporting some sort of corporate takeover conspiracy, and maybe they are right, but let’s really look at what has gone wrong.

There was a time when members of the House of Parliament or the Provincial Legislature were representatives of the people of their ridings , a throw back to the “good old days” of England when they represented the landowners who spoke for their surfs…! Far from ideal but for that time it worked as well as any system had.

Even the American system with it’s checks and balances for the three levels of government, Administration, Congress and Judiciary was a great idea for a republic.

So again what happened?

Groups of elected people (mostly men at that time- in fact probably all men) got together for each other’s ideas to be presented and accepted by the level of government, simply put,
“ I like this, that, your idea and will support you. Will you also support my idea?”
It seemed that this lead to the eventual formation of like minded getting together to make life easier than canvassing every other member, and thus the development of parties that started the wielding of power as each party sought to have the final say.
Naturally this had to spread to the voting public so that each party could come up with a proposal or “platform” from which the voters were asked to choose. Of course by then the concept of party leaders was established and we were on the slippery slope to where we are today where one man controls the lives of every man woman and child in Canada, even if he does not have the majority of Canadian behind him. Nor does it even matter if he chooses to promote the benefits of corporations over the people, he is the supreme “God” of Canada as he can make and break the rules with impunity, and thumb his nose at the people because he really only needs them at an election time of his choosing.

How far we have come from:

Our self governing Dominions are united by the ties of a common allegiance to the Crown: but the Crown has become the symbol of the people’s sovereignty.
According to our concept and practice of government, the King reigns to execute the will of the people who rule. The strength of the Empire rests upon the eternal foundation of liberty expressed in the ideal and consummation of autonomous self-government which is vested in the people of the self-governing Dominions as of right and not of grace. – Sir Robert Borden. 29th December 1914

Obviously in his day it was the King and now it is the Queen, and her present representative described it this way:

Our executive is the Queen, who doesn’t live here. Her representative is the Governor General, who is an appointed buddy of the Prime Minister.
– Stephen Harper June 1997

In an address to the Council for National Policy (an American republican group) at which he also said:

“Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worse sense of the term, and very proud of it”.

The History of the party system in Canada shows that the system only works for the country as a whole when the interests of the people are the same interests of the ruling party or the oposition parties. Our current government is a prime example of what can happen when those interests are diametrically opposite to each other.

So is there a solution?

Yes there are two that immediately c0me to mind.

One is the Single Transferable Vote used in some other countries and retained for instance in Ireland although the politicians there wish to get rid of it. This is relatively cumbersome and like all voting today, subject to the ability of certain interests to manipulate the outcome in the voting machines.

The other I find much more interesting.

Abolish all party politics.

Yes that’s right no parties at all.
No pre-ordained leader for whom to vote regardless of the quality of the local candidate.
No overall platform, just the constituents and their candidates who wish to represent them.
Now we are getting to the quality of the candidates and away from the lying ability of the leader of some party or another.
So you ask what then when the members are elected what happens?
All members of the House of Commons elect from their fellow members 15 members to head up the various cabinet posts. There are no party lines and no need for shadow ministers or critics as those ministers would be reporting directly to the House of Commons, not just blindly and obediently following the PM’s wishes.

Those 15 members select from the remaining members two person,

One as Speaker of the House, and

One as Speaker for Canada, that would be the Prime Minister although he or she would not have a ministry (no change there) but would represent Canada and her people to the world through the decisions of the ministers with the House of Commons members’ approval. Each event the prime minister attended would be with the minister responsible for that event. In the event of weddings, state funerals etc., he would be accompanied by the governor general. Another useless position? Maybe, but a certain level of pomp and ceremony is good.
In the event that a minister or even the “Prime Minister” lost the confidence of the House he could be replaced by a simple vote in the House.

This same system should and could also apply to all provinces, but with a smaller cabinet in the various legislatures.

If we are to return to the Canadian People having a say in the way our Government works then we must have the control to be able to stop the government when they want to do anything against our wishes.

Simple question…Whose country is it?

I think it belongs to the people – all the people not just a few.

To whom does it belong now?

Harper as PM, and his corporate buddies.

I welcome improvements to the idea.

Jeremy Arney

Letter to Senator Dellaire on Remembrance Day

Honourable Senator Dellaire,

I thank you for your e-mail with those comments about Canada and her soldiers, past and present, with the video of Mr Ignatieff’s speech in the House.

I no longer go to a cenotaph unless there are veterans from a local Vet’s hospital who wish to be pushed there in a wheel chair, and in the last few years there are very few who wish to do that as their new hospital has a warm chapel and a large overflow area.

A few years ago I realised that the ceremony was not so much a memorial as a celebration of the act of war and dying performed by those who sent the men and women to die. The Military Chaplain compared those at Vimy Ridge with those in Afghanistan doing their duty to support a commercial war being waged by some corporate entities who were not invited to come or to help with a problem the locals did not consider they had, and that comparison did not and does not sit well with me.

Terrorism is created by reaction to terrositic attacks by another in the name of greed or aggrandisement usually disguised as trade protection or resources theft.

What I do instead is go to a high place in Beacon Hill Park in Victoria BC where there is a huge Canadian Flag flying at half mast on November 11th. There are benches there in the open or under trees, and I can hear the guns performing their salute. There I think of my two uncles who died in WW2, and those of my friends who were killed in Korea, Malaya, or even Ireland. I think of those on the “other side” who believed that they too were fighting to defend their country and way of life. I grieve for them all under the Beacon Hill Park trees and hate the waste of human beings both military and civilians who died for a cause not of their making and not for their benefit nor for the benefit of their loved ones.

As young men at school in England we were taught to fight so we would be ready for the armed forces, and little time was given to the concept of talking to and trying to understand our fellow human beings. I am an old man warrior, brother to a real soldier, and with my “pen” I will battle evil just as those soldiers over the centuries believed they were doing, little realising that the same evil people were bankrolling both sets of armies for their own benefit and financial gain.

That evil, based not so much on religious beliefs but on monetary gain is what we have to face today, more so than at any time in our present civilisation. The faceless ones who control governments, who create hatred based on colour, sex and religion, who care not for human life at all. Regretfully those we elect in all supposedly democratic countries are subdued by these faceless entities, and forced to obey their will, not the will of those who elect and pay them. Such evil people who threaten not the warrior but the warrior’s children simply to have a bigger bottom line.

This is not news to you as you are a wise man with years of experience in many fields.

I grieve not only for those whose noble sacrifices were in vain, but also for those young people growing up tomorrow who will not know freedom, who will not know how incredible the world was just a few short years ago.
The next generation of young who may never see a whale, an eagle or a polar bear or maybe even a blue sky, a sunset, or a sunrise.
Tomorrow’s young who will be so toxified by pharmaceutical drugs and fake food that they will not be able to give me great grandchildren.

This is where we are going now and how did we forget the unselfish deeds of those men and women we sacrificed and then said we would never forget? We forgot because there are now Remembrance Day sales in stores open on what is supposed to be a Day of Remembrance, not a day of commercial profit sales.

“Lest we forget” is a catchy phrase which means less and less each year, and I mourn for those so betrayed by that.

Respectfully,
Jeremy Arney

A bit of a rant

On the 26th of October 2010, after 2 hours and 50 minutes of HESA Committee meetings – they could not be called hearings except by the mentally impaired – and at a cost of $15,500 or $91 a minute – a few cosmetic but immaterial amendments were proposed by the Reform / Alliance team simply to keep some Liberal Senators happy, were accepted, naturally, and the clause by clause was completed. This was at about 11.13 am.

The report was presented to the House of Commons on 28th October 2010.

The first order of the day on the 29th was the third reading of the Bill and right after Question Period it was bought back again and all done, by somewhere close to 1.30 pm.

Now it is up to the Reform / Alliance coalition loaded Senate to rubber stamp it.

King Harper and his Northern Fairy have given the gift to Canada which will just keep on giving and giving us regulation after regulation from overseas.

It was done so fast that I missed it and wasted valuable time writing meaningless letters to the equally traitorous Iggy and Jacko over the weekend, and I am really pissed at them all.

It is absolutely incredible to me that not one of the 308 MPs has even bothered to answer my question about overseas regulations being enabled by this Bill C-36 and the intended Act. The closest was the pathetic Minister of Justice providing excuses for his incompetence, and blaming it on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms !

As Minister of Justice, I am required under section 4.1 of the Department of Justice Act to report any inconsistencies with the Charter to the House of Commons. I would like to assure you that this process is completed for all tabled bills, including Bill C-6. It should be noted, however, that the rights and freedoms guaranteed under the Charter are not absolute and are subject to limitations under section 1 of the Charter, including reasonable limits prescribed by law that are demonstrably justifiable in a free and democratic society.

My bold

Can someone tell me how something guaranteed can not be? Either the Charter is a meaningless piece of paper or the Min of Justice is crazy. After all if it is meaningless why quote from it, and if it is valid then obey it. Simple enough even for him I would have thought. Perhaps he hadn’t received clear enough instructions from the PMO.

I wish there was a mainstream media in this country that was independent enough and interested enough to let Canadians know what is happening to them.

Stop and think about it for a moment.

We have been rejected as too inadequate on the world stage to be part of the UN Security Council, and thank you for that because we are enough of a hindrance to the world already.
We have torpedoed the Copenhagen climate change meeting; we have destroyed thousands of acres all over the world with our rotten mining practices, destroying families and communities in the process. We have a government backed and protected tar sands which is a blight on the planet. We have fracturing of shale taking place, and our water supply is being ruined for power, copper, gold and uranium to help kill families overseas. If ever there was a country which deserved to not make it to the Security council it is Canada. I am not proud of that, I am disgusted.

Our banks require our armed forces to be there to keep them safe whilst they rape the local people and governments of third world countries which have something we want, all for the sake of the bottom line in some corporation based in Canada but which banks in an offshore non taxation country. So much for the role of peacekeeping when it is not to protect the local people but rather Canadian Mining corporations and banks. We call these free trade deals. Hah, free for whom?

At the G6 and G20 meetings we refused to allow what most of the other members wanted on the agenda, we refused to allow the concept of help to pregnant women, because it does not fit with Harper’s ideological christianity, but it does with the Canadian people as a whole. We spent more money on security alone than any other country has spent on the whole event, simply because we are becoming a hated country in the eyes of the world.

We refuse to recognise the rights of aboriginal peoples or even the rights for everyone to have water.

For Harper, and thus unfortunately from the world view of Canada, Israel can do no wrong and all Muslim countries are not to be trusted. Now what kind of a Canadian ideology is that? Is that what we are being required to do at home now too, hate the Muslims and tell the Israelis that they are wonderful no matter how murderous they are? Harper makes the rules so I suppose so. The CPCCA will soon get him to make it law that any words of dissent against Israel will be a hate crime. Our useless and pathetic opposition will allow it to pass too.

It seems likely that Harper’s bosses, the Republicans, will gain control of the US House of Representatives tomorrow, and that will embolden his highness to step up the pressure on the necks of we the Canadian people.

Why are we not buying the Russian fighter which is already flying now? Why wait for the inferior and very expensive US model? Obviously we need it for something Harper has in mind – like attacking Iran for Uncle Sam, ‘cause Uncle Sam’s too tied up and busy to do it – so let’s get with it and get the Russian plane. I am sure if you asked them they would be happy to put the manuals and switch nameplates in French and anglais.
Hey if we talk nicely to them, they might swap some for asbestos!

We are developing into such a police state and soo fast that most people are not aware of what is happening. Why in spite of  billion dollar price tag are vandals allowed to destroy property in Toronto and peaceful demonstrators and singers of the national anthem are herded into a tight square, beaten up, arrested and thrown into jail? Why are the police now arrestors, judges and jury on the roads of BC.

Why are jails being built for the perpetrators of unknown crimes…come on people , I will probably be in one of them, because I refuse to lie down quietly and be a good little old man. That will be the unknown crime I’ll bet. Dissent. Just disappear to that place north of Fort Nelson.

So if my blog goes quiet for too long that is probably where you will find me, just in time for that pagan holiday now called christmas.

I am not a happy camper today, maybe tomorrow I will have recovered my sense of humour after I have spent some time with my two grandchildren, who help me see things more clearly. But for now I am mad as hell.

Jeremy Arney

Letter to the MPs of CPCCA

To those MPs who make up the CPCCA.

 
On the face of it your Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism is a noble thought, though I wonder why only anti-semitism, which is on the decline, is selected when there is so much real hatred around.
However the purpose that appears to be behind this CPCCA is not so noble at all.
Firstly let me look at Canada.
Quebec has a very special place in this country as they retain their French heritage and have French as their first and main language, and Canada has an official two language policy as a result.  Does this follow throughout the country? The answer is no.
In New Brunswick people are truly bi-lingual in French and English, but in BC it is English and Hindi or Mandarin, and in Alberta the second language is probable Ukrainian. In the north it is probably English, French and the language of the Inuit.
Because of ignorance due to lack of proper education most Albertan and BC people have no time for Quebecers, believing them to be separatist. This is acerbated by the present government constantly feeding into their perceived distrust of the Bloq. Personally I believe the best Prime Minster for Canada right now could be the leader of the Bloq.
So let us for one moment take the position of Quebec and separatism.  The last referendum to separate was defeated, narrowly yes but defeated.  This means that there were more people who wish to stay in Canada than those who wish to leave.  Our current Prime Minister ignores that majority as he disparages their representatives in the House of Commons claiming falsely that they only wish to break up Canada, thus fuelling the fires of ignorant anti-Quebec feelings in his part of the country. He is encouraging the attitude of hate towards Quebec, First Nations people, gays, artists and women all in the same way.
 
Canada is rife with racial, religious, life style and political hatred spurred on by the bigots from pulpits and political leadership.
 
Does this mean that criticizing the Canadian government’s actions in causing all this hatred is also criticizing the Canadian people who are brainwashed and apathetic? Are we now to correlate with your intention and make criticizing Canada also a hate crime?  Surely our right to freedom of speech applies to both Canada and Israel.
 
Should not your ad hoc committee be also looking at that?
 
The point here is that people such as I, and I know with the younger generation this is also true, really do not care who and what you are because you are another human being travelling between birth and death doing the best you can.  I may not understand you, I may even hate what you stand for but I stand by your right to have those beliefs.  I do not stand by your right to exert those beliefs on either myself or any one else any more than I have the right to force my beliefs on you. 
 
If you are a black, gay, female Jew, then good for you.
 
However, I also claim the right to be critical of the governments of Canada, Israel or North Korea in equal measure.  In a perfect world those governments would represent their people but in these three cases they do not.  A criticism of those governments is not an indictment of the people of those countries anymore than it is an indictment of a Jew, North Korean or Canadian living in New York, on Vancouver Island, or in Australia.
Israel claims to be the home state of all Jews but does not accept that many Jews do not wish to be there and many Jews do not condone the actions of the government of Israel.
 
Anti-Semitism has been around for centuries and will be with us as long as it is promoted by organizations such as yours, which in spite of its name now wishes to promote a “new anti-Semitism”, in order to include the State of Israel in that definition.
 
Israel is just another country which should not expect and should not receive special treatment from anyone, nor should they be above international law.   Do you have even one really good reason why this should not be so?
 
I would go so far as to say that the two most terroristic countries in the world are the USA and Israel, and we, through this Reform/Alliance coalition government particularly, blindly befriend them both, so what does that make us?
 
Lastly I am reading a book entitled Antisemitism Real and Imagined, which is largely comprised of submissions which your committee received but neither acknowledged nor considered as they did not fit with your pre-determined outcome. They were all against the concept of criticism of Israel being considered a hate crime in Canada, which appears to be your real reason for meeting.
 
As with those learned writers, mostly Jews, so am I against such an aim by the CPCCA considering it a hypocritical waste of time, and because you are all paid by the people of Canada, I object to such a waste of money as well. Perhaps you would all do well to pay attention to your constituents instead of your masters from Israel.
 
Jeremy Arney

Fall out from G20 police stupidity

It has been bought to my attention that a young man who help organise a totaly peaceful protest aimed at both The Canadian Government and all that government’s (and therefore Canada’s) guests was picked up by the police in Toronto, held in jail for 3 weeks and is now under house arrest and not even allowed to send e-mails.
This is the result of organising part of a peaceful protest, whilst the real black shirted offenders were just watched, maybe even applauded for all we know, and then a thousand other peaceful  protestors trapped into an ever decreasing square and told to dispurse only to find they were not allowed to do so, thus being accused of disobeying a police order; they were arrested taken to holding pens (pre set up of course and so they must be filled) and abused both mentally and physically whilst there.
What in the HELL has this country become under this corporate control ?
Is this part of Stephen (I make the rules) Harper’s democracy?
Is this what Stephen (I make the rules) Harper plans to do to fill his privately owned jails built with unreported crimes in mind?
I say privately owned as Stephen (I make the rules) Harper  doesn’t have the money to care for children’s education, health or day care; for the old and sick; for the out of work thanks to corporate give aways which will only get worse. So how on earth can Stehpen (I make the rules) Harper afford jailors at these new jails, like the one north of Fort St John in BC?  He can’t but he can afford to pay huge sums of money to those private contractors who will provide those jailor services.
To return to the young man in Toronto, what of him?  My informant tells me he is a broken person, obviously abused, probably beaten and thoroughly shaken about his belief in Canada and freedom to congregate with peaceful speech in mind.
Combine that with a 51 year old woman who is sueing the Toronto police and I would say that Stephen (I make the rules) Harper is hell bent on damaging everyone.
 
Or perhaps Stephen (I make the rules) Harper thinks this will ingratiate him with the corporate powers which will allow Canada into the UN Security Council….or not.  If they had any sense they would kick us out of the UN and the G8 and G20.
 
Serve us right for allowing such a dictator to be in power in the first place.
 
Jeremy Arney

B C Elections belongs to Campbell now

Dear Ms. James
Leader of the Provincial  NDP and Opposition in the B C legislature.
 
I received this email and immediately thought that there must be a reason that you and the NDP  our BC opposition in the legislature and therefore the watchdogs of government have been silent on this issue.  
Or is it that you and the NDP do not have the ear of the MSM in a province so thoroughly disgusted with its government, and so you decided no action at all is best for your party and the people of BC. 
Does this mean you agree with the Liberals actions?
Does this mean it is OK with you for the Liberals to control Elections BC which is supposed to be impartial?

Subject: Re: Elections BC

Rafe here – 
I received this in the mail and while I can’t vouch for its accuracy, it raises very serious concerns that must be answered and dealt with.
>I have worked at Elections B.C. on and off for many years…since the 1980’s…retired now. I am friends with a number of people who still work there. Elections is a (was a) non-partisan office…it says so on the door. And I know from experience that the measures taken to live up to that were total at every level particularly during the tenure of Harry Neufeld (CEO) and Linda Johnson (the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer). Linda knows the Elections Act inside and out…an extremely knowledgeable and competent person who has been with Elections for 28 years..the last 19 of them as Deputy CEO. The appointment of Craig James to replace Harry was a mystery. He has no experience with Elections or the Election Act yet here he is…the CEO. (It is now clear he was hired to “clean house”). James called a staff meeting at EBC and said that he had come from the Legislature and a meeting with officials there and Vaughn Palmer (why him?)….he announced that it was Linda’s last day. The staff was stunned. Could this have anything to do with the fact that the Liberals spent $780,000 on brochures to sell the HST and then weren’t allowed to send them out because they hadn’t followed the rules in the Election Act and Linda told them so? This is obviously a revenge firing. The time line is revealing. What is truly amazing is that there is was no reporting of this in mainstream media. This is outrageous. This Liberal government is corrupt and ruthless…if I didn’t know this before I sure do now. It is a mystery to me why the NDP have not picked up on this abuse of power by the Liberals and demanded an investigation and let the public know how despicable this is. This is BC’s democratic process being dismantled to suit the governing Liberal Party. The silence in the mainstream media is deafening. Craig James is “restructuring” Elections BC at the behest of the Liberals…so much for being non-partisan. The Legislative Committee asked Elections BC for advice on the HST mess. The Liberals didn’t want the Deputy Chief Electoral Office answering questions about a referendum..like how much would it cost..who decides on the wording etc. Linda J got fired before she could answer this…James conveniently went to Africa the next day after the Committee met and wanted to ask this. He doesn’t know anyway.
>

 
Ms. James, ordinary people are fed up and want to know what they can do to get our politicians at all levels to listen to us.  They do not believe you are interested in what we have to say, and so far you are proving that to be true.
 
Campbell sits there with his stupid little drunk’s smile and manipulates you, the legislative process and the courts, selling off or destroying the commons set up so carefully over the years, and what do you do for the people to stop that?
 
He has absolutely no interest in what the people want, never has and never will.  His contempt of all the people of BC is astounding and yet we hear nothing of value from you.
 
Are you just waiting for Bill Vander Zalm and the people of BC to do your work for you?
 
How is that a private person who is no longer in politics can do so much for the people of BC whilst you who are there in the thick of things can do so little?
 
You are part of the scene.
You have the power to do things. 
Yes you do damn it.
Do you not have the will?
 
Anyway, I believe that because of your lack of action on so many issues you will face stiffer opposition from the BC Refed party than the so called Fiberal party in the next election, and I for one am very seriously thinking of running in this next provincial election for them or as an independent. The Refeds are for the people to control the provincial, and eventually federal governments, not the corporations, unions and special interest groups that run things now.
 
I may be old but my grand children deserve better than the shambolic mess we have in our governments today. If you younger people who are already there will not deal with it, then old foggies like me must re-gird our loins and step in again.
 
 
Jeremy Arney 

MPs impotency

Sent by email to all Canadian MPs 18th Sept 2010

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have reached a state here in Canada which has passed all logic into a realm even beyond the dysfunctional.

The House of Commons in the Canadian Parliament is no longer even interested in the views of the people of Canada, nor is it responding to its duties.

It needs not be pointed out that our Prime Minister, even though he dictates from a minority Reform / Alliance coalition government masquerading as a Conservative party to be acceptable to some 33% of the more wealthy Canadians who bother to vote, has totally sold out to the corporations of the world.

The sad part is that there are none of you willing to tell him or your party leaders that enough is enough. Maybe you don’t see it or don’t want to see it .

A small country called Bolivia showed us that it is possible to recover control of our Parliament from a corporate dictatorship, and that all we need to do is to nationalise you as if you were an asset which heaven knows you are not.

If and when that happens and we start to regain control of our resources by nationalisation instead of them being owned by foreign companies which strip us of all monies made from those resources, and we start to use the Bank of Canada instead of multi national ‘compounding interest only’ commercial bankes; when we cancel all the terrible trade deals and retake our country for the people; provide education, health care and old folks security and aid to starving and sick people around the world, in a totally affordable way, then we will be re-inventing our forefathers’ dreams for this country.

Can any one of you honestly look yourselves in the mirror and tell yourselves that you are working for the best interests of your constituents unfettered by absolute party dictates?

If you can, please identify yourself as you may be the backbone of the future government we the people seek.

Your leaders have surrender their souls to the “money men” and must be caste aside like worn out shoes and replaced with leaders who have all the peoples of Canada in the forefront of their hearts and minds and deeds, and to be willing to share what we in this incredible country have with those who have not.

It is possible to have a peaceful freedom loving country with plenty for everyone and some to spare for those who have not once we do away with rule by the bottom line mantra of the corporate world. There is plenty of room for profit, but no need for unfettered greed.

Mother earth, all the species who dwell on her, including humans are looking to governments to start the rescue process.

Canada is not part of that process but it should be and can be.

Will you be part of the renewal of Canada or are you too enmeshed in the dysfunctionality?

There is a new session starting soon, please stand up and be counted as a supporter of Canada and all the Canadian People or step down and let someone who can be counted upon take your place.

Jeremy Arney

Beautiful or best place

To Gordon Campbell.

I have been a BC resident on and off since 1967. I have seen many changes since then, most of which were designed to be of benefit to the people of BC. I have seen BC grow from being a place of real beauty, with friendly people and generous help being the normal.

But now in the last few years I have watched in horror and disgust as you have dismantled our social services, have reduced business taxes to the point where there is not enough money coming in to provide what few services we have left. Soon there will not be enough profit for the companies that now run our health and that soon will have control of BC

You have openly permitted the land itself to be destroyed by mining, drilling for oil and gas, pipe lines and hydro transmission lines to service these ventures, and the destruction of lakes and rivers being a part of your plan, not as you claim preservation of the same.

Lakes are to be converted to tailing ponds, rivers are being destroyed under the guise of clean energy production and how you can claim that as being green is beyond me.

Our forestry section is destroyed thank you, along with the satellite processing mills. Raw logs leave our shores at no profit to BC and we have to buy them back after they have been used in a manufacturing process which could so easily have been here not overseas. For instance presto logs come from Washington State or Saskatchewan.

Our wild fish are being destroyed by your Norwegian friends, and you are planning to drill for oil and gas off our most beautiful and dangerous coast line with no thought to the first nations people or the wild life which will be contaminated when the inevitable super tanker or drilling rig oil spill takes place…oh yes, what will you say to your Norwegian buddies then as their farms and fish turn black?

BC is now the place to be for the corporate friends you have, not for the people who are the brunt of your contempt and dismissive arrogance.

Even this latest undemocratic HST nonsense has been defended by your ministers in the legislature as being of benefit to endless lists of corporate or business organisations but none of them mention how the people will benefit and that is because they will not. This is further proof to me that you do not care about the people of BC. Your claim that trickle down employment will take place is as ridiculous as the theory was when Regan tried it – it simply does not work.

I have heard that you talk about your grandchildren and what you will be leaving for them. If you really had them in mind to live here you would be more careful of this incredible piece of the world.
I have this constant nightmare in which all the people of BC will be servants of General Electric, Monsanto and Merk, lining up at the end of the work shift to collect their meal slips for their families for the day. No work -no food. This is what you appear to want to happen, and I feel sure that you have already made arrangements not to have your family living here when it does.

Perhaps Hawaii with a constant supply of Mai Tais to be sipped as you reel in the money from your directorships eh?

I actually feel sorry for you because your legacy is one of total destruction, not building one damn thing for the people of BC who employ you.

Some sort of luck to you

Jeremy Arney

Omar Khadr

Omar Khadr is now on trial for war crimes.

Killing is the main purpose of war. One side tries to kill the other. It has been this way for ever. The purpose of the war is not important to soldiers, but killing the enemy is as a means of surviving.
So what is so surprising about Omar Khadr ?
Well, he was a boy of 15 – maybe the case could be made for him being almost a man- but classified by the conventions of war as a child soldier. Even though he was shot in the back (twice we are told by a brave opponent no doubt), and blinded in one eye, and buried in rubble he, just like so many Canadian soldiers before him, managed to take out an opponent. That is war is it not and therefore fair.
No it is not because first it was not really war but an occupation by foreign armies, and the soldier he took out was an American and that is not allowed.
I know nothing about the American who died, how many civilians he might have killed or even if one or both of the bullets fired into Omar’s back were his.
He was a soldier and therefore immune to prosecution from killing innocents, but Omar is charged with a war crime because he had the ability to kill an American soldier who was attacking him.
Something about this picture stinks so highly I have trouble in staying calm when I think about it.
Well over a million civilians are reported to have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to the best of my knowledge not one single soldier, airman, or navy man from the invading armies has been charged with murder, never mind war crimes.
I do agree that some contractors got their wrists slapped in Iraq once but they are hired assassins anyway and not real soldiers.
So please tell me why when those responsible for this whole mess can come and go as they please here in Canada, or just sit in Texas drinking and counting their oil money, our Reform / Alliance coalition government allows one Canadian child to be made into a war criminal.
What are you frightened of Harper et al?
Omar Khadr was frightened too but he fought and now the USA military system is going to crucify him and you sit there in Ottawa not even wringing your hands.
When I came here 43 years ago to make a new life and raise a family of proud Canadians I had no idea I would be so ashamed of a Canadian government who do not and will not answer to the Canadian people. Those same people who are served by a complacently pathetic media and therefore are themselves indifferent through lack of knowledge.
But that is how I feel now.
As a foot note I see that Judge Patrick Parrish is of the opinion that Omar was not tortured. Well Patrick how would you feel if you were told in your country club locker room that there were some big black men in the showers who were going to rape you because you had made a bad decision and lied on the bench even if you had not?
Maybe you are gay and would think that would be very exciting. Who knows? Most people would consider that mental torture.
By the way I object to the concept that only big black men rape other men. In my view it is more likely to be some ignorant homophobic hillbilly from the religious south eastern states of America.
Jeremy Arney

Canadian Sovereinghty? really?

Dear Barbara Yaffe,
Vancouver Sun.
I read your piece called “Harper must not dilute sovereignty message” with some curiosity, and then searched for and found a 39 page (not 13) paper called Statement on Canada’s Arctic Foreign Policy which must be fairly recent as it mentioned the Gulf of Mexico and most of the other things you mentioned in your article too.
Actually it mentioned sovereignty 27 times in 39 pages which includes 3 opening cover pages.
This I found this VERY interesting as Harper has announced his intent to trade Canada’s sovereignty off for some trade deals in order to become part of the global economy.
He actually said it was vital for our survival to do so.
Interesting oxymoron even for him.
Re America being “premier partner in the arctic and our goal is a more strategic engagement of Arctic issues”, might I suggest a look at the softwood lumber agreements, FTA, NAFTA, and the recent deal which gave our Canadian companies 5 days to bid on USA stimulus contracts and gave US companies 2 years to rape our provinces, municipalities and even our school boards. Done of course during the proroguing of parliament so there was no oversight.
By the way it may not have mentioned in the piece you read that there will be no drilling in the Beaufort Sea until 2104, then I assume BP will get the green light on their leases.
Sovereignty? I think that is right up there with democracy, freedom of speech and the right to protest, a thing of the past with this Reform / Alliance coalition government masquerading under the Conservative name.
Regards
Jeremy Arney