Welcome to 2018.

So what was all that stuff about 150 years of Canada last year anyway?

 The politicians from four separate settler sections (provinces?) banded together and formed a corporation called Canada with the permission of the British monarch in 1867. 

 What?  Is that what really happened?

 So the politicians of Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia figured out a way to fleece their people of more money through a different level of government taxation.   Did the people of those 4 “provinces” have a say in this?  Was there a referendum of any kind?   What part did the indigenous people of those areas have to say about this development of their traditional territory, or were they so subdued by the invading settlers and soo sick from introduced sicknesses that they didn’t understand what was happening?  What about the Royal Proclamation of 1763?

 Thus the corporation of Canada was formed, subject to the whims of the British parliament and their monarch.   Who actually owns that corporation now?   We know for sure that it is not the people of Canada, however, we are responsible for all the debts that this corporation accumulates. Has this changed at all in the last 150 years?  No, just more provinces assimilated thereby creating a larger tax base for the quasi-federal government which it can hardly be claimed was or is today totally legitimate.

 At what stage in those 150 years were the people of the expanding Canada asked if that was what they wanted?   Even today our dysfunctional federal government asks for opinions and then ignores them as if they were not made.  There has been talk about sovereignty, but I would argue that since our politicians swear allegiance to the monarch of a foreign country we are hardly a sovereign nation.  It would perhaps be more realistic to swear that allegiance to the Bank of International Settlements, an offspring of the IMF, which in fact own us lock stock and barrel through our national debt to them.   Or perhaps they should swear allegiance to the Pope as I understand that Canada still tithes to the Vatican, or maybe the State of Israel which tells us who to like, approve of, fight or even criticise (or not) and our politicians pay much more attention to them and their wishes than they do to the people of Canada.   The thought of our politicians swearing allegiance to the people of Canada is of course sacrilege to them.

 When did we the people of Canada ever agree to this?  When were we ever asked? And please don’t say that we give our approval every 4/5 years through an election and that we are a democracy.   A democracy means the people have a say and that does not happen in Canada as our so-called representatives simply do what they are told by their party caucuses (read leaders) or they will lose their jobs. Freedom to actually represent those who elected them does not exist with any real hope for a future in Canadian politics.

Did we consent to this treachery?  I know I did not.   Where is the mandate our politicians received from the people of Canada to do this? Did your MP ask you for your approval on this? When was a referendum held to give MPs that mandate to represent a dictator to you rather than you to a legitimate parliament? 

 When did we agree that our federal politicians should swear allegiance to a foreign monarch?

 Does my dissent on anything get listened to by our representatives? No it does not as they were and still are busy lining their future pockets with corporate board seats when they are thrown out of power to pay attention to any of the people.  Christy Clark of BC is a prime example of this.  Once she knew she could not form a government she could not wait to get out of politics and start getting her rewards for her part in the destruction of BC, started by Gordon Campbell, and who knows how much he has made, maybe as much as Mulroney with his FTA give ways.

 

 

Are we:

Still really a Dominion under the British monarch’s control?

A corporation listed on the stock markets?

A subsidiary of the BIS?

A lackey to Israel, the Vatican and Washington?

Or just another country without a people ratified constitution?  

OR maybe all the above.

What we do know we are not is a democratic country with a functional government working for us as the people of Canada.

 Recently in BC there was hope that a new premier would finally start doing things for the people of BC, and yet again our hopes have been crushed as he is binding our great grandchildren to years of indebtedness through a dam we do not want or need but the corporations of the world do.  It is amazing that once Horgan gave the approval to continue the Site C how quickly corporations around the globe jumped on board to take a piece of this pie, and no one (especially our politicians) is really objecting. 

Question:  Who is really paying for this dam?

 Clearly, those we elect have no desire to represent us, but every intention to do what they can to line their pockets at our expense and the whole thing is a sham.   Why are we still allowing this to happen?   Are we scared that we will be personally attacked by our national rent-a-cops (RCMP)? Are we scared that our “benefits”, paid for by our own labour, will be taken away?  Or are we really scared by the thought of freedom from tyranny?  Or perhaps we are still enamoured with the concept of “things” on the “never-never” scheme as we used to call it when I was still in England.   “Things” that show we are as good as the Joneses or Trudeaus, and yet just as useless.

 Back in the 1200s things got soo bad in England that the Magna Carta came into being to slap King John down;  the landowners of that time have been replaced by the corporations of today which have no compunction in owning a king or two. Maybe we need a peoples’ BC Magna Carta to take the new “King John” and his masters down now. 

 Maybe these last slaps in the face by Horgan will awaken the people of BC to just what we can be without puppets such as he.  Party politics of today doesn’t work for the people; both the National Party of Canada and the Canadian Action Party which wanted to work for the people, not big power were destroyed showing that people parties as such do not work either in today’s corporate political climate. So forget the BC “parties”; develop and support and vote for local independents in the next election, and maybe create a separate country called British Columbia, answerable only to the people of BC and free from the Ottawa shenanigans and dictates of very doubtful legality and free from corporate plundering. Let’s work with our First peoples here in BC to create a real, free and democratic country for all of British Columbia.

Food for thought?

Jeremy

Is a new privately owned Canadian Infrastructure Bank treason?

Press release sent out on 12th May 2017 with copies to every MP Canada’s dysfunctional democracy has in it’s parliament.

Infrastructure Bank of Canada

 

There is no doubt in my mind that this bank is not in the best interests of the people of Canada, but is a huge boon to the supporters of the Liberal (and maybe even the Conservative) party of Canada.

 

How anyone in their right mind and being, as they so often claim, “representatives of the people of Canada”, can conceive that a bank created and supported by financial entities only concerned with making a profit for themselves whilst taking over the major infrastructure projects at  both federal,  provincial  and municipal levels as being in the best interests of not only Canada but also the Canadian people is beyond my comprehension until I realise that those who support such a venture are indeed traitors to Canada.

 

We have the means and the ability through the Bank of Canada, designed to bring dividends to Canada instead of rapidly increasing debt to all levels of Canadian governmental institutions, to provide both Canada and Canadians with all they need to return to being a prosperous country again.   However  both this government and the previous one are, or were, hell bent on taking Canada into a position of complete subservience to the large banking and corporate interests. Such concepts as sovereignty and democracy mean nothing to them, and those MPs who support them are not worthy of being called Canadians even though they are gladly feeding at the federal trough, and will no doubt benefit well from supporting such a bank.

 

I have no doubt that there will be huge tax concessions to all international and domestic entities which invest in this venture whilst the ordinary Canadian will continue to be taxed heavily on any small profit they make from employment, investments,  savings and more, as well as paying user fees,  to pay for the profits to be derived by this monstrous and totally unnecessary bank.

 

If it is so important to have a referendum on the way we vote, why is it not important to have a referendum on the way we give Canada away?   Where are people like Scott Reid on this subject?  As he is such a stickler for the importance for Canadians to have their say (which they actually had in the election of 2015) on election reform why is he not arguing for such a referendum on this bank?  Could it be that democratic and sovereignty matters are now strictly subjective subjects for theoretical debate and no longer apply to Canada or Canadians?

 

Our elected representatives are failing us with a completeness which proves how broken our system of government has become.

 

There is no logic for Canadians in this bank.

 

There is no profit or benefit for Canadians in this bank.

 

In our 150th year since the original confederation of a mere 4 provinces, augmented later by the eventual creation and addition of more provinces and territories, our so called federal government is handing the whole kit and caboodle over to unelected entities which have no respect for or responsible to Canadians.

 

WHERE IS THE MANDATE FOR SUCH TREASON?

 

WHERE IS THE ANGER FROM CANADIANS?

 

IT REALLY IS TIME FOR CANADIANS TO HAVE THEIR SAY IN OUR DYSFUNCTIONAL AND UNDEMOCRATIC PARLIAMENT.

 

LET’S GET AT IT WHILST WE STILL HAVE A COUNTRY.

 

Jeremy Arney

Interim Leader of the Canadian Action Party.

Sidney BC

250-216-5400

Black Clouds over Canada

VERY BLACK CLOUDS ARE REPLACING “SUNNY DAYS”.

 This last month we have been presented with our worst fears about the so called “sunny days” government of Canada.

 We understood that sunny days and sunny ways meant that we had elected a government that was willing to listen to us and work with us and for us.   That concept was refreshing and even a little encouraging despite some inherent reservations.

 Yes, we saw a balanced cabinet, yes we saw an initial change in the atmosphere in the House when it convened to pass some immediate tax relief for the upper “middle class” – really how many Canadians are actually in the “middle class” bracket?   For those on CPP and OAS or those struggling to make $40,00 per year it was a completely meaningless exercise.

 But what has happened since then to give Canadians the idea that we are important, that we matter, that indeed we even count as far as this federal government is concerned?

 Well, there has been consultation on election reform held assiduously around the country and with thousands of people making presentations to the special committee.  Since the conservatives have been insisting on a referendum first (not sure on what as the vast majority of Canadians want a change) and now the NDP are going to support that, so maybe there is little chance of there being any development by 2019. Good tactics by the Cons so they can say: “See he didn’t keep this huge promise!”   How does maneuvering like this serve the Canadian people?

 TPP consultations were held to supposedly allow Canadians to express their views, but in fact the committee was presented to 95% by corporate sponsors with a smattering of individual views expressed so a foregone conclusion was reached in a flawed process.

 The aboriginal people of Canada were promised much for education, housing and health but is the money flowing or are consultations still preventing that from happening?

 The cracks are therefore beginning to appear.

 Questions in November and December of 2015 by yours truly about the Bank of Canada and the construction of the Infrastructure Bank were brushed off or simply ignored.

Then we have the CETA, a dodo bird like investment agreement, revived by the creation of a European court of unknown jurisprudence to replace corporately controlled tribunals and signed in Belgium with still some reservations within Europe and some huge hurdles to be passed there; but here in Canada our Government will gladly give the “farm” away to Europe. Our provinces will go along with it because they are being bribed by the federal government with compensation for losses.  Will these compensations be annual or one time and who is going to pay for them?   It is unclear but either way it is a sellout of our country and surrender of our sovereignty to international corporate whims and profits.  Sunny days?  Right!  

 Did you vote for this?

 How many Canadians are aware that we have our own public bank, the Bank of Canada designed and mandated to finance infrastructure (and more)?  A bank used between 1935 and 1974 to finance the period of the greatest growth and prosperity in Canada’s history?   A period of low inflation and low national debt?  It is generally thought that Trudeau senior was responsible for the change from the BOC to international bank loans, but in fact it was the then governor of the BOC, one Gerald Bouey, who agreed to the BIS demands and agreements. At that time our National debt was a mere $22 billion owed basically to ourselves through our own bank.  Today that debt is over $1 trillion and growing with a tail of compounding interest rates that are in fact the largest payment any federal government has to make every year.

 Trudeau junior, instead of reinstating the Bank of Canada as our primary source of finance, along with his corporate Minister of Finance is going to create a new privately owned bank. The Infrastructure Bank of Canada.  The necessity for this bank does not exist, but the need to surrender our commons or rapidly diminishing resources to the corporate world apparently does.  The result is that investors in this new bank will expect a profit worthy of their investment which means a 7-9% interest, most likely compounding at that. The only way this interest can be paid is to surrender the ownership of the infrastructures created or repaired to the Infrastructure Bank which will charge for the use either by tolls, usage fees or entry fees.  Thus the commons such as roads, bridges, water, sewage, garbage collection and recycling will then be owned by corporate interests through the new bank. One wonders how this will work when and if CETA comes into effect and Europeans can compete with the Infrastructure Bank for the right to provide those services.  Can you imagine the court claims?

 In comparison, the Bank of Canada charges a minimal rate without any ownership claims and when their expenses have been paid it returns a dividend to the government, or at least it used to when it was being used to carry out the mandate created by the Bank of Canada Act of 1935.

 We can blame Stephen Harper for his desire to destroy Canada expressed in 2006 or Justin Trudeau for the continuation of that path , or we can blame ourselves for allowing them to do what their corporate masters tell them to do.

 Who benefits from turning Canada into a corporation controlled state?   You can be sure that the answer is not the people of Canada, or at least not those who are part of the so called 99%.

 If this is what you want for your children and grandchildren, then you will be happy. 

If you do not want this then look to the Canadian Action Party which has steadfastly stood not only for the return of the Bank of Canada as our source of finance, the protection of our commons and our environment but also for the people of Canada. 

We have no corporate ties and are only answerable to you.

 

Join us at http://www.actionparty.ca and have you say in the future of Canada.

 

Jeremy Arney

 

Canada’s Fall economic update, or how to follow Alice through the looking glass

Fall economic Update by Minister of Finance for Canada in the Canadian House of Commons 1st November 2016

 At approximately 1524 in the update the Minister of Finance announced this, and I quote from Hansard:

“Our communities need to keep people and goods moving. Our most vulnerable citizens need housing. Our kids need and deserve clean air and clean water. Our country needs long-term economic growth.

To solve these challenges, we need to think even bigger. We need reliable partners. Canada’s pension funds and institutional investors around the world have world-leading expertise and they are eager to make big, long-term investments in Canada.

I am happy to announce that the Government of Canada is establishing a new Canada infrastructure bank, through which at least $35 billion will flow to help us undertake transformative projects that might not otherwise get built. This bank will allow us to create thousands of jobs, get more projects built, and attract $4 to $5 in private capital for every tax dollar invested. That is progress.”

Then at 1525 or so this:

“Decades from now, when my kids tell the story of when their dad was finance minister, I want them to be able to look back and see our government’s first year in office as the year Canada began on the path towards a new, modern economy. We are well on our way”.

Now I am a simple man, not a lawyer, not a financial expert nor an economist; I have worked hard all my life to provide for my families and sometimes even myself. I simply cannot understand how anyone who claims to listen to the Canadian people, who claims to have the best interests of Canadians uppermost in his mind, and is looking to get the approval of his own children, can be so blind to the economic reality facing him.  He is privatising the entire infrastructure of Canada, from the federal, provincial and indeed to the municipal level.  The profits will not come to Canada for the benefit of Canadians but will go instead into off shore bank accounts.

 IS THIS WHAT YOU VOTED FOR?

 This bank, as he so blatantly stated, will be a private bank, owned and financed by corporate interests and the pension funds.  These investors will expect a profit in the neighbourhood of 7% – 9% or they will not invest.  Who will be paying this profit?  Why the Canadian people of course, or lets correct that, it will be the middle and lower earning Canadians, as the top earners are the ones who will be investing in this bank for profit and no doubt will find loop holes and write-offs to eliminate their share of taxes which would otherwise help to pay for this gross mismanagement of Canada’s wealth.

There is another aspect to this and that is CETA should it ever actually become a reality, because this bank could in fact stop profits from European banks which might like to invest directly in some of our projects, or make loans to our municipal or provincial governments. Not being able to do so at profit will give them the opportunity to take Canada to a European court of doubtful jurisprudence which will then dictate our laws to us and of course fine us. Wonder how much money the Minister has allowed for that and where he will get it from.

 Canada is in the enviable position of owning its own bank already, a public bank called the Bank of Canada which was responsible for financing the greatest period of growth and prosperity Canada has ever know, from 1935 to 1974.  Look at the history of financing our part in WW2, having the largest merchant navy in the world, the St Lawrence Seaway, CPP, healthcare, what used to be called Unemployment Insurance, Trans Canada highway, railways, roads, bridges, hospitals, schools – the list is almost endless and after all that and with minimal inflation we had a national debt in 1974  of just $22 billion basically owed to ourselves!

 Today, according to the World National debt clock, our national debt is over $1 trillion and rising fast.  

 What does the Finance Minister have to say about using the Bank of Canada?  I quote from part of a letter sent to me by one of his staff in reply to my letter concerning the refusal of this government to use of the Bank of Canada, and querying how the infrastructure bank mentioned in one of the leaders’ debates in 2015 would be financed:

 “It is sometimes suggested that the Government of Canada should fund part or all of its debt by borrowing from then Bank of Canada, rather than by borrowing in private sector markets. The Government does not support this approach, as it would require the Bank to create new domestic currency, which does not create any additional wealth.

In fact, the experience of many nations has demonstrated that relying on domestic currency creation to finance government expenditures results in excessive inflation.

While some inflation is desirable to ensure price stability, too much inflation can adversely affect economic growth.  Furthermore, excessive spending and domestic currency creation often lead to a misallocation of scarce resources.”

There is so much inherently wrong with these two paragraphs, but I will simply ask how can anyone really understand the logic of turning a publicly owned bank from a mandated money supplier (Bank of Canada Act 1935) and even a dividend payer to the Minister of Finance, into a simple and toothless inflation watchdog?  The logic of this is beyond me and all I can think is that the current politicians, none of whom support the mandated use of the Bank of Canada, have somehow listened to the siren calls of the big international banks and investors, and believe their call over the needs of their constituents and indeed Canada.

 The fight to stop COMER from  taking the Bank of Canada, the Finance Minister and Government of Canada to court to force them to return to using the Bank of Canada continues, with appeal after appeal from the government in spite of overwhelming evidence that they are wrong.   How can they be right when we are heading further and further into an abyss since we stopped using the Bank of Canada.

 Now we know for sure that this Liberal Government is actually as bad as or even worse than the previous Harper regime, and although they claim to listen to the people of Canada, they do not.

 At least we knew that Harper wanted to destroy Canada as he said would in 2006, but this government is racing to out Harper Harper.

 Shame on them all, and shame on us for not fighting them tooth and nail. 

 Unlike the Minister’s wealthy children looking back in pride at their daddy’s perfidy, our children, grand children and great grand children will ask us the question: “Where were you when Canada was sold?”

 

Jeremy Arney

 

 

My Submission to the ERRE House of Commons committee on Electoral Reform

Submission to the special ERRE Committee of the House of Commons.

I have been watching or reading the transcripts of as many of the hearings as I can and I have come to a rather alarming conclusion. The present discussions are about remixing the mix, not making the mix more people orientated and inclusive.

The first section of the mandate of the committee is to research ways to: and I quote

Effectiveness and legitimacy: that the proposed measure would increase public confidence among Canadians that their democratic will, as expressed by their votes, will be fairly translated and that the proposed measure reduces distortion and strengthens the link between voter intention and the election of representatives;

In all the watching and reading I have done it is clear that while STV has some advantages there is only one method of voting that will be inclusive if it is allowed to be.MMP with a secondary list for choice of party representatives will be, if allowed, inclusive of those parties registered with Elections Canada but so far not represented in the House of Commons. It matters not if those lists are open or closed if they exclude seventeen duly registered parties conforming to Elections Canada obligations, but not rich enough to compete with the current costs of a national election. By deliberate exclusion at Town Hall meetings, TV debates , local or national forums, these parties have had little chance of having their ideas heard by the general population.

While you are not here to discuss the conduct of the campaigns, you are to determine how the interests of the people are best served. When I asked Ms. May at her town hall in Sidney BC about this she suggested that any party with 5-10% of the vote should be allowed to have a list, which would exclude her party and the Bloq from having a list of representatives for the second choice and would in fact be very exclusive. We are heading into a new system and to take old figures into that system would be a rather backward step in my view.

My suggestion for your consideration is that any party that runs a candidate in a riding has the right to present a secondary list for the voters in that riding.

There is no doubt that the small registered parties have some very good ideas for Canada and Canadians and are not encumbered by donors needs and desires. To be blunt they represent their members and Canadians, not outside interests or lobbyists, and they should be included in the process of government not excluded as they are now

.By having the small parties submit lists the Canadian people would have the ability to choose for greater representation than the established party MPs are capable of providing under their current party discipline systems; new ideas and real representation can only be good for Canada.

I will be attending the 27th September meeting in Victoria BC, and if not invited to submit this proposal I will be in line to ask questions of you about this.

Thank you

Jeremy Arney

Bank of Canada slips into its new niche.

So here we go again, not that it has really stopped since 2006, but since 2011 the Canadian administration BS and bafflegab has gone hip high to an elephant.

 

On Wednesday 21st January 2015 the Bank of Canada confirmed again that it is now nothing more than an inflation watchdog. The Governor of the Bank of Canada has even proudly claimed that that is the Bank’s #1 priority  when he said on November 4th 2014, Standing Committee on Finance in response to a long garbled question by James Rajotte, and I quote from Hansard

 

“Tying that to the second half of your question is very important. The Bank of Canada has only one goal, and that’s to keep inflation on its target within a timeframe of around six to eight quarters. That’s our horizon of flexibility.”…..Hansard with my highlights.

 

 

Any economist, or for that matter teenager, knows that if you reduce your income and increase your expenditures you are heading for financial disaster. Regretfully there does not appear to be an economist (or anyone even with the acumen of a teenager) in the ranks of the present administration as they have from day one reduced Canada’s income by drastically cutting corporate tax rates, minutely cutting personal tax rates, reducing GST absolutely unnecessarily, increasing personal taxes by a thousand mini cuts such as  tariff increases etc., and their lavish expenses have skyrocketed. We need 30 more very expensive MPs , $16 dollar glasses of orange juice or million dollar ferrying of a security limo for presidential PM use in India to give just a few examples, in the same way we need holes in our heads. 

Well hold on Arney there was a melt down in 2008 wasn’t there?

 

Yes there was and it was categorically denied by the Harper government. During the 2008 election $75 billion was donated to our Canadian banks through the CMHA even while Harper and Flaherty were trying to say we were immune from the problems coming fast and hard at the rest of the world and claiming that our banks were rock solid!  This eventually topped out at a whopping $114 billion in 2009.

 

Two months later whilst still saying there wasn’t a problem Harper had to prorogue to avoid being defeated in the House and removed from power. He still could not see a problem!

 

So yesterday there he was answering questions about the economy and admitting that the price of oil was in fact costly to the Canadian bank account (Which bank are they using for their accounts by the way or are they all getting a piece of the pie)

 

So the price of oil has gone down substantially. Why? Not because it is now cheaper to extract it from the ground, transport the oil to refineries and turn it into a burnable fuel. No it’s because there is more oil available then there is a need for. A glut. Wonderful.

 

So will the price come up again? Most likely because the oil companies are too big to fail, and too blind to see the writing on the wall, and administrations such as that in Canada today will probably throw money at them that should be going to vets, seniors, the homeless, to help charities not cripple them, the infrastructure and the provinces.   Very likely that this is what will happen with Harper’s government because they are not interested in the health, fortune, wellbeing or standard of living of any Canadian who is not a card carrying CPC member and even they are often lumped in with the rest of us and told to fend for themselves.

 

Our manufacturing output is down because corporations like, CAT, Navistar (transport truck manufacturer), Kellogg’s, PACCAR( Kenworth and Peterbilt makers), Steelco, Alcoa, etc., have left the Canadian scene along with their lost jobs, union pensions and taxes.   I also understand that Bombardier are seriously contemplating moving lock stock and barrel to Mexico soon.   Now that one will really hurt.

 

So, is all lost?   Depends on how well the new ”UN”fair elections act works for the administratio with the extra tools they have given themselves to steal their 4th election in a row later this year.

 

If everyone in the country becomes registered to vote and obtains the necessary ID, then acts upon that right to vote no matter how much there is disruption at the voting places caused by the CPC scrutinizers who will try and create massive lineups and delays and make non CPC voters give up in disgust, we can get a real peoples’ government back. This distruption will be done with the aid of something called bingo cards which will tell them when their own supporters have voted and allow them to start causing a ruckus to prevent anyone else from voting.

 

If we believe that we all have the right to vote in spite of Harper’s government efforts to take that away from us, and exercise that right we can and will get rid of the worst Prime Minister, and his government, that Canada has ever had, and start the job of rebuilding what was once a nation to be believed in.

 

Of course I would want everyone to vote for the Canadian Action Party where we have Candidates as we are probably the only party which specifically wants to represent our constituents to the HOC not the HOC to our constituents. Where our MP votes will be free and caucus meetings an exchange of ideas not relaying dictums from above. Where the Bank of Canada will again be used to finance Canada’s needs at little or no cost and manufacturing jobs will return home instead of leaving for Mexico or somewhere else where labour is cheap and the products reflect that.

 

A country where once again Canadians can be proud to be part of it, and proud to help rebuild a country to help the world not cause wars, civilian deaths and destruction as in the case of Libya for instance. A nation whose standard of living was so far ahead of ours under Ghadafi until we destroyed everything he had built for his people from the safety of the air in the name of maintaining a no fly zone, turning them back into the stone age; where no government now exists and contestantly mercenary bands are fighting for control; where raping and civilian killings continue at pace, and their state owned bank has been replaced by  central bank sponsored by the IMF.

Some democracy we created there!

 So welcome Bank of Canada to your new role as inflation watchdog. Rest well for when we call on you to return to and fulfill your real role in Canada.

Join the movement to recover Canada in 2015.

Vote for CAP or anyone who will represent you to Ottawa, not Ottawa to you.

 

Jeremy Arney