The irony of the head tax reimbursement is that the vast majority of the people who paid it would not be allowed into Canada under current immigration laws.
Under the points system, you usually need a degree, related work experience and speak English and/or French.
If you speak neither, have no post-secondary education and have no family in Canada (like most Chinese immigrants who Came to Canada under the racist head tax program), you are out of luck. Granted, the point system applies to everybody, without regards to race. And there are plenty of non-white countries where many people have mastered English or French as a second language (Jamaica, Cameroon, India, etc.).
The American Green Card lottery blatantly discriminates against the Chinese. There is a quota per region and per country. Canada is disqualified because too many Canadians immigrate to the USA under other programs (obviously, that is not racist). In some places, like Northern Ireland (treated as a country for the lottery!), you are much more likely to win a green card than in China.
The American lottery is better than Canada's point system in the sense that all sorts of people get in. It is also much simpler and relatively efficient (no need to prove work experience, degrees or language qualifications). By removing the current regional bias of the lottery, it would be quite fair indeed.
What I propose is an auction system. The spots would go to the highest bidder. That way, it would be win win. Canadians would benefit (income to their government), no particular profession would be affected (as is the case now) and it would keep out the rift raft.
Sure, you might get some criminals being the highest bidder, but let's face it, the "investor class" (immigrants who invest $250,000 and "create" 3 jobs) probably admits some now.
There probably aren't that many people who want to move to Canada. So it isn't as if the bids would be that high. In fact, it would probably be about the same as what some people spend on fees and lawyers to get into Canada now.
And an auction would be much more colour blind than the current system. Seriously, how many Chinese Engineers speak English and French? They are much more common in Europe...
-Four GTA residents are repaid for head tax ;
-Immigrate to Canada ;
-If I Ran Canada;
-Let's auction off the immigration slots;
-LINKS-LIENS ;
2006-12-16
2006-12-15
Global Warming: Don't Blame Me!
I don't have a car (when you stop making payments, they take it away). I don't fly (I can't even afford the bus). I live in a 1 bedroom apartment and I walk to the grocery store...
I'm the ultimate environmentalist. And yet I still pay taxes that "combat" global warming. Global warming isn't MY fault. It is the fault of the people who have cars and/or houses.
THEY should pay. Not me.
I'm the ultimate environmentalist. And yet I still pay taxes that "combat" global warming. Global warming isn't MY fault. It is the fault of the people who have cars and/or houses.
THEY should pay. Not me.
New Brunswick Minimum Wage Going Up From Last to Last
The minimum wage in New Brunswick, currently $6.70, the lowest in the country, will go up to $7 an hour on January 1st, thanks to the newly elected Liberals. That will make New Brunswick's minimum wage... the lowest in the country.
Still, minimum wage is the jackpot when you are on welfare in the province. Single people physically and mentally able to work get a whopping $276 per month! Rents in NB are pretty low outside of Moncton, Fredericton and St John, but not THAT low!
Having such a low minimum wage is crazy. There are very few if any jobs that could leave the province if the minimum wage went up. The only jobs that pay minimum wage are in the services (fast food, dry cleaning, etc...) . Those jobs would continu to exist despite the higher pay. There are 9 other provinces that have proven it.
-If I Ran Canada;
-Low density zoning ;
-New Brunswick Election ;
-Lazy bums
Still, minimum wage is the jackpot when you are on welfare in the province. Single people physically and mentally able to work get a whopping $276 per month! Rents in NB are pretty low outside of Moncton, Fredericton and St John, but not THAT low!
Having such a low minimum wage is crazy. There are very few if any jobs that could leave the province if the minimum wage went up. The only jobs that pay minimum wage are in the services (fast food, dry cleaning, etc...) . Those jobs would continu to exist despite the higher pay. There are 9 other provinces that have proven it.
-If I Ran Canada;
-Low density zoning ;
-New Brunswick Election ;
-Lazy bums
New Brunswick is Now an Independent Nation
Unlike the sissy dependent nation that is Quebec, New Brunswick is now an independent nation. The new Liberal government in Fredericton voted in legislation proclaiming New Brunswick an independent nation. Outgoing Progressive Conservative leader Bernard Lord declared "c'est bon" when asked if he supported the legislation.
As there is no senate in New Brunswick, the law came into effect immediately.
Thu Dec 14, 8:45 PM
By Raf Casert
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Suddenly and shockingly, Belgium came to an end late Wednesday.State television broke into regular programming with an urgent bulletin: the Dutch-speaking half of the country had declared independence and the king and queen had fled. Grainy pictures from the military airport showed the dark silhouettes of a royal entourage boarding a plane.
Only after a half-hour did the station flash the message: "This is fiction."
It was too late. Many Belgians had already fallen for the hoax.
Frantic viewers flooded the call centre of the RTBF broadcaster that aired the stunt. Embassies called Belgian authorities to find out what was going on, while foreign journalists scrambled for confirmation.
"Ambassadors who were worried asked what they had to tell their capitals," said Belgian Senate chair Anne-Marie Lizin.
"This fiction was seen as a reality and it created a catastrophic image of the country."
The broadcaster RTBF defended the program, saying it showed the importance of debate on the future of Belgium. But the network won few friends.
Even the Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister from neigbouring Luxembourg, was angry and let it be know at the opening of the European Union summit.
"This is not the kind of issue you play around with," he said.
The RTBF's phoney newscast reported the "Flemish parliament has unilaterally declared the independence of Flanders" and King Albert and Queen Paola had left on the first air force plane available.
The broadcast showed jubilant demonstrators waving the yellow-and-black flag with the Flemish Lion outside the legislature. A small crowd of monarchists rallied outside the royal palace waving the Belgian flag.
Sending the royal family fleeing in record time also did not go down well at the palace, which said in a statement the hoax was in "bad taste."
"It is totally unacceptable," said Vice-Premier Didier Reynders.
The linguistic demons pitting Dutch-speaking Flemings in the North against the Francophones from Brussels and Wallonia in the South have been mostly quiet for the last two decades, ever since far-reaching autonomy was granted in the 1980s.
Yet the economic disparity between rich Flanders' wealth and struggling Wallonia has recently intensified the political debate. The North is demanding more autonomy, while the South clings to a unity that better spreads the economic spoils. The royal family is often portrayed as the glue that holds the country together.
Independence is not an aim of any of the major parties in power, whatever their linguistic preference.
It explains why the program was so widely condemned Thursday.
"It is abhorrent. It defies belief," said Yves Leterme, Minister-President of the Flemish region.
"It is a caricature of Flanders."
His Walloon counterpart, Elio di Rupo, was just as negative.
"Never in my long political life have I seen such worry. Anguish came from around the world," he said.
The Francophone minister who oversees the RTBF network called the top management of the company in for consultation, with rumours swirling some would be fired.
About the only people who enjoyed the program were the separatist far-right Flemish Interest party. It wants to dump the king and country and thought it could see a flash of its future.
"I want to congratulate the RTBF for this daring show," said Flemish Interest leader Filip Dewinter.
"It caused a shock in Wallonia where they come to the conclusion that the scenario of Flemish independence is no longer utopia," said the politician generally consider the biggest foe of Francophone Belgium.
Idea Spam and Abuse of Power
Jason Cherniak, self appointed president and administrator of the Liblogs blog aggregator/ blogroll, uses his position to idea spam.
He has a "successfull" blog, why spam?
From Jason Cherniak (Thu, 14 Dec 2006 23:43:25):
Note to Cherniak, Liblogs isn't a cult! You are not our leader.
To add insult to injury, my blog was removed from Liblogs over a month ago (Cherniak decided I was lying about my location). He is just to damn lazy to take me off his mailing list!
He has a "successfull" blog, why spam?
From Jason Cherniak (Thu, 14 Dec 2006 23:43:25):
Hi all,
In his final press conference of the year, Harper referred to "so
called
greenhouse gasses". I don't know about you, but I believe that this is
a
big screw up on his part.
If you agree, please mention it. It is the sort of thing that the MSM
should be forced to pick up.
Blogger Support Services: a non-profit corporation operating as
<http://www.liblogs.ca/> Liblogs
per: Jason R. Cherniak
President
< http://jasoncherniak.com/> http://jasoncherniak.com
Note to Cherniak, Liblogs isn't a cult! You are not our leader.
To add insult to injury, my blog was removed from Liblogs over a month ago (Cherniak decided I was lying about my location). He is just to damn lazy to take me off his mailing list!
2006-12-12
Dangerous Jobs and the CBC
According to the CBC supper hour news tonight: "5 Canadians die everyday because of work". Well, the stat should have been on the average work day, 5 Canadians die. 1097 Canadians died in 2005 because of their job (or former job). More than half because of illness (read: Asbestos desese). So that is 3 per day. It only become 5 when you take out weekends and holidays and two weeks vacation.
Still, 3 per day is alot.
Those gruesome statistics are something to keep in mind next time your local police force asks for a raise. Their jobs are actually relatively safe.
From memory, something like 2000 Canadians die every year in vehicle accidents.
The moral is stay home... but avoid that death trap that is the bath tub.
Still, 3 per day is alot.
Those gruesome statistics are something to keep in mind next time your local police force asks for a raise. Their jobs are actually relatively safe.
From memory, something like 2000 Canadians die every year in vehicle accidents.
The moral is stay home... but avoid that death trap that is the bath tub.
2006-12-07
Mobility is a Part of Freedom
People have been writing about Stéphane Dion and his dual Canadian-French citizenship. Here in Edmundson, Fraser Paper regularly advertises for jobs REQUIRING dual citizenship (American and Canadian). Fraser's Edmundston (Canada) mill makes the pulp and the Madawaska (USA) plant turns it into paper (it is shipped via a big pipe).
One of the local American border guards has dual citizenship and lives in Canada !
A good chunk of the local population has dual Canadian and American citizenship. Most do not, however, and there a regular stories about people being barred from entry. And did you know that if you are engaged to an American you need a visa to enter the USA?!
Anyway, seems to me that Canadians should be able to live and or work in the USA and vice-versa. The French and Irish can in the UK. New Zealanders can in Australia. Norwegians (not part of the EU) can in Sweden. Many other countries have similar arrangements. Why not Canada?
Don't blame the Yanks. Canada doesn't even have a mobility agreement as part of its Commonwealth or Francophonie membership. That is just silly.
We send our troops to Afghanistan to defend the USA but Canadians can't work in a Maine Tim Hortens at the height of the summer tourist season! Canadian construction workers can't work in Florida during the winter despite the huge need for temporary workers (especially after a hurricane).
There are many Portuguese construction workers working illegally in Toronto. I'm sure many Canadians would like to live or work in Portugal. Seems to me like a mutual agreement would benefit both countries.
Maybe having a Liberal leader who can live in 25 countries (thanks to his French and EU citizenship), and who has studied in France, will move Canada just a bit closer to allowing its citizens the ultimate freedom: to chose where to live.
One of the local American border guards has dual citizenship and lives in Canada !
A good chunk of the local population has dual Canadian and American citizenship. Most do not, however, and there a regular stories about people being barred from entry. And did you know that if you are engaged to an American you need a visa to enter the USA?!
Anyway, seems to me that Canadians should be able to live and or work in the USA and vice-versa. The French and Irish can in the UK. New Zealanders can in Australia. Norwegians (not part of the EU) can in Sweden. Many other countries have similar arrangements. Why not Canada?
Don't blame the Yanks. Canada doesn't even have a mobility agreement as part of its Commonwealth or Francophonie membership. That is just silly.
We send our troops to Afghanistan to defend the USA but Canadians can't work in a Maine Tim Hortens at the height of the summer tourist season! Canadian construction workers can't work in Florida during the winter despite the huge need for temporary workers (especially after a hurricane).
There are many Portuguese construction workers working illegally in Toronto. I'm sure many Canadians would like to live or work in Portugal. Seems to me like a mutual agreement would benefit both countries.
Maybe having a Liberal leader who can live in 25 countries (thanks to his French and EU citizenship), and who has studied in France, will move Canada just a bit closer to allowing its citizens the ultimate freedom: to chose where to live.
2006-12-06
Conservatives Notwithstanding Same Sex Marriage
I was under the impression that Quebec still had a Charter of Rights notwithstanding clause in effect to allow its language law. However, I was wrong. The Charte de la langue française was modified in 1993 to require that French be predominant on outdoor commercial signs. The government did not invoke the notwithstanding clause for the new version of the law.
That would certainly explain how Stéphane Dion can defend Quebec's new and improved language law.
Amazingly, there is currently no legislation in effect, federally or provincially, that uses the notwithstanding clause.
More about the notwithstanding clause from the CBC (excellent).
Since the clause can be used every 5 years, I suspect that it is quite likely that a Conservative majority would use it to outlaw same sex marriage.
I like the notwithstanding clause. It puts democracy first while keeping a nagging reminder that you are violating Charter rights.
That would certainly explain how Stéphane Dion can defend Quebec's new and improved language law.
Amazingly, there is currently no legislation in effect, federally or provincially, that uses the notwithstanding clause.
More about the notwithstanding clause from the CBC (excellent).
Since the clause can be used every 5 years, I suspect that it is quite likely that a Conservative majority would use it to outlaw same sex marriage.
I like the notwithstanding clause. It puts democracy first while keeping a nagging reminder that you are violating Charter rights.
2006-12-04
Stephane Dion is a Former Separatist!
As a leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, I guess it is better to be a former separatist than being a former federalist. But still.
As a youth, Stéphane Dion campaigned for the Parti Québécois!
According to tonight's Téléjournal on Radion-Canada, Dion was in favour of the Meech Lake Accord and, get this, he is in favour of Quebec's Charte de la langue française (aka Bill 101, bill 178, the sign law)!
I wonder how long Kennedy's support for Dion will last.
As a youth, Stéphane Dion campaigned for the Parti Québécois!
According to tonight's Téléjournal on Radion-Canada, Dion was in favour of the Meech Lake Accord and, get this, he is in favour of Quebec's Charte de la langue française (aka Bill 101, bill 178, the sign law)!
I wonder how long Kennedy's support for Dion will last.
Gerard Kennedy Will Make a Great Minister of Youth and Sports
That is all that Kennedy can aspire to in a Dion government.
-The Kennedy Echo Chamber ;
-Leader Académie débute présentement.
-The Kennedy Echo Chamber ;
-Leader Académie débute présentement.
2006-12-02
Even in their wildest dreams, separatists never imagined that Stéphane Dion could become Prime Minister of Canada
I predicted Quebec would be a country in 2008. I wasn't kidding.
"Même dans leurs rêves les plus fous, les souverainistes n'ont sans doute jamais osé imaginer que Stéphane Dion devienne premier ministre du Canada." ( Le nouveau vilain, Michel David, Le Devoir, 2006-12-02).
Translation: Even in their wildest dreams, separatists never imagined that Stéphane Dion could become Prime Minister of Canada.
Back in 1995, there were two federalists at the Université de Montréal (Quebec's largest university with over 50,000 students): Stéphane Dion and myself. That may be an exaggeration, but I honestly knew of no other student but myself who supported the no campaign. Dion was a political science professor and a regular debater on TV presenting the No arguments.
My excuse at the time was that I was half English-Canadian and from Gatineau, a region that would not benefit from civil service jobs moving to Quebec City. And when you are a university student, jobs in your home town are very important. I was especially concerned with being able to work outside Quebec ( i.e, in Ottawa).
Like many Quebec federalists, I left Quebec in the 90s (Quebec has only recently stoped hemorrhaging citizens). Even today, the salary difference between Quebec and Ontario is quite significant (no to mention the tax savings). In the late 90s, there were no jobs in Quebec, so I left reluctantly. But being bilingual, at least I could.
Toronto was as a shock. Thank goodness it was multicultural because being with English-Canadians was, to be polite, different. I actually had to tell my boss that referring to French-Canadians as frogs was insulting. A radio station was trying to compete with Howard Stern by Quebec bashing. A prospective employer told me how surprising that not everybody in Quebec spoke English and she insisted that Canada was NOT a bilingual country. In fact, that seemed to be the consensus among my English-Canadian colleagues: Canada was an English country populated by a minority group too lazy to learn proper English.
Franco-Ontarians were even worst. They watch TV in English only. Listen only to English music and generally consider English the language of business, even when dealing with other francophones.
The laws providing for services in French were ignored both at the federal and provincial level (Harris was in power). In New Brunswick, the condition of the French language is only slightly better despite the fact that Acadians have 30% of New Brunswick's population.
Suddenly, the language laws of Quebec didn't seem so crazy. I realised that labour mobility was probable even if Quebec became an independant country (like between Ireland and the UK, NZ and Australia or Sweden and Norway).
Jane Jacob's book convinced me. Quebec becoming a country wouldn't be a national tragedy. At worst, it would be a minor nuisance.
Stéphane Dion, like Jean Chrétien, is perceived in Quebec as a sellout. "Un vendu". Not only is he against Quebec being a country, he is really against it. He inexplicably trusts English Canadians to do the right thing. According to him, there are only positives to be part of this English speaking country where French is tolerated.
Put me in a room full of nationalist Quebeckers and I'll start signing the praises of Canada. But for the last 10 years, I've been in a room full of nationalist Canadians and I don't like it.
Perhaps dealing with people like Gerard Kennedy will help convert Dion. Help convince him that English-Canadians can not be trusted with Quebec's future. We'll see.
-Liberals Forget Canada is Bilingual;
-Will Quebec Being a Nation Affect the Price of Beer? ;
-OUI ;
-Est-ce qu'on peut etre separatiste et Liberal? ;
-National Defence Should be a Provincial Jurisdiction ;
-Time to Bring Back the Charlottetown Accord ;
-The Process of Becoming Anti-Quebec ;
-Dion Makes Kennedy Sound Coherent ;
-Abolish the Monarchy in Canada ;
-Climate Change: local governments must pick up the slack, or else... ;
-Enjeux: discrimination
"Même dans leurs rêves les plus fous, les souverainistes n'ont sans doute jamais osé imaginer que Stéphane Dion devienne premier ministre du Canada." ( Le nouveau vilain, Michel David, Le Devoir, 2006-12-02).
Translation: Even in their wildest dreams, separatists never imagined that Stéphane Dion could become Prime Minister of Canada.
Back in 1995, there were two federalists at the Université de Montréal (Quebec's largest university with over 50,000 students): Stéphane Dion and myself. That may be an exaggeration, but I honestly knew of no other student but myself who supported the no campaign. Dion was a political science professor and a regular debater on TV presenting the No arguments.
My excuse at the time was that I was half English-Canadian and from Gatineau, a region that would not benefit from civil service jobs moving to Quebec City. And when you are a university student, jobs in your home town are very important. I was especially concerned with being able to work outside Quebec ( i.e, in Ottawa).
Like many Quebec federalists, I left Quebec in the 90s (Quebec has only recently stoped hemorrhaging citizens). Even today, the salary difference between Quebec and Ontario is quite significant (no to mention the tax savings). In the late 90s, there were no jobs in Quebec, so I left reluctantly. But being bilingual, at least I could.
Toronto was as a shock. Thank goodness it was multicultural because being with English-Canadians was, to be polite, different. I actually had to tell my boss that referring to French-Canadians as frogs was insulting. A radio station was trying to compete with Howard Stern by Quebec bashing. A prospective employer told me how surprising that not everybody in Quebec spoke English and she insisted that Canada was NOT a bilingual country. In fact, that seemed to be the consensus among my English-Canadian colleagues: Canada was an English country populated by a minority group too lazy to learn proper English.
Franco-Ontarians were even worst. They watch TV in English only. Listen only to English music and generally consider English the language of business, even when dealing with other francophones.
The laws providing for services in French were ignored both at the federal and provincial level (Harris was in power). In New Brunswick, the condition of the French language is only slightly better despite the fact that Acadians have 30% of New Brunswick's population.
Suddenly, the language laws of Quebec didn't seem so crazy. I realised that labour mobility was probable even if Quebec became an independant country (like between Ireland and the UK, NZ and Australia or Sweden and Norway).
Jane Jacob's book convinced me. Quebec becoming a country wouldn't be a national tragedy. At worst, it would be a minor nuisance.
Stéphane Dion, like Jean Chrétien, is perceived in Quebec as a sellout. "Un vendu". Not only is he against Quebec being a country, he is really against it. He inexplicably trusts English Canadians to do the right thing. According to him, there are only positives to be part of this English speaking country where French is tolerated.
Put me in a room full of nationalist Quebeckers and I'll start signing the praises of Canada. But for the last 10 years, I've been in a room full of nationalist Canadians and I don't like it.
Perhaps dealing with people like Gerard Kennedy will help convert Dion. Help convince him that English-Canadians can not be trusted with Quebec's future. We'll see.
-Liberals Forget Canada is Bilingual;
-Will Quebec Being a Nation Affect the Price of Beer? ;
-OUI ;
-Est-ce qu'on peut etre separatiste et Liberal? ;
-National Defence Should be a Provincial Jurisdiction ;
-Time to Bring Back the Charlottetown Accord ;
-The Process of Becoming Anti-Quebec ;
-Dion Makes Kennedy Sound Coherent ;
-Abolish the Monarchy in Canada ;
-Climate Change: local governments must pick up the slack, or else... ;
-Enjeux: discrimination
Prediction: Dion wins, Quebec leaves Canada
This is my prediction (14:38 AT, December 2, 2006). This isn't necessarily my wish or anything, just my prediction.
-Dion will win the Liberal leadership (seems obvious).
-The BQ will win Quebec in a landslide.
-The PQ will win Quebec.
-The PQ will go into a referendum on Quebec Independence
This time next year, Quebec will be negotiating the details of Quebec's Independence from Canada.
-Dion will win the Liberal leadership (seems obvious).
-The BQ will win Quebec in a landslide.
-The PQ will win Quebec.
-The PQ will go into a referendum on Quebec Independence
This time next year, Quebec will be negotiating the details of Quebec's Independence from Canada.
Belfast Girls
Category: TV
"In a bar when I guy chats you up you ask him where he lives and then try to figure out if he is Protestent or Catholic. The best way is to ask what his favorite teem is." Girl in the excellent documentary " Belfast Girls" airing this weekend in Canada on the documentary channel.
This happened to me. Only it was a 7 foot guy trying to decide if he should beat the living crap out of me. I'd forgotten which teem was which, so I didn't know if he was Protestant or Catholic. It wouldn't normally matter, but in Northern Ireland, it does.
Living in Belfast, something occurred to me: people can't tell if you are Catholic or Protestant!
There are two small ghettos in Belfast. Both are adjacent. Both are poor. One is Catholic, the other is Protestant. The rest of Belfast is essentially mixed, including the downtown area where most of the shopping and nightlife occurs.
The documentary follows two girls, one Catholic, one Protestant. Their lives are so similar you'll quickly forget which is which (the Protestant has a kid). There are some great moments, like when the Catholic girl is brought to tears when describing a stretch of road she wouldn't dare go down. Then she giggles as two people walk by. "They must be senile!"
In an other scene the same Catholic Girl attempts to describe that Protestants wear their hair differently, to which her friend responds that she hadn't noticed.
It was a crazy civil war. But it was real and many people paid the price with injury, death and jail time. Peace wasn't that great either with Catholics being economically discriminated against in a clear attempt at "ethnic cleansing" by some Protestants.
Amazingly, there are still Catholic and Protestant schools in Northern Ireland. So for people living in the ghettos (where most of the violence came from), there isn't that much fraternising with the others.
The documentary is great. My only criticism is the lack of subtitles. Even having lived in Belfast, I found the girls difficult to understand. Record it and watch it again, otherwise you will miss most of the dialog.
Related post:
The Boxer: IRA in Belfast
Other Blog:
http://belfastblogger.com/ (contains links to local newspapers)
"In a bar when I guy chats you up you ask him where he lives and then try to figure out if he is Protestent or Catholic. The best way is to ask what his favorite teem is." Girl in the excellent documentary " Belfast Girls" airing this weekend in Canada on the documentary channel.
This happened to me. Only it was a 7 foot guy trying to decide if he should beat the living crap out of me. I'd forgotten which teem was which, so I didn't know if he was Protestant or Catholic. It wouldn't normally matter, but in Northern Ireland, it does.
Living in Belfast, something occurred to me: people can't tell if you are Catholic or Protestant!
There are two small ghettos in Belfast. Both are adjacent. Both are poor. One is Catholic, the other is Protestant. The rest of Belfast is essentially mixed, including the downtown area where most of the shopping and nightlife occurs.
The documentary follows two girls, one Catholic, one Protestant. Their lives are so similar you'll quickly forget which is which (the Protestant has a kid). There are some great moments, like when the Catholic girl is brought to tears when describing a stretch of road she wouldn't dare go down. Then she giggles as two people walk by. "They must be senile!"
In an other scene the same Catholic Girl attempts to describe that Protestants wear their hair differently, to which her friend responds that she hadn't noticed.
It was a crazy civil war. But it was real and many people paid the price with injury, death and jail time. Peace wasn't that great either with Catholics being economically discriminated against in a clear attempt at "ethnic cleansing" by some Protestants.
Amazingly, there are still Catholic and Protestant schools in Northern Ireland. So for people living in the ghettos (where most of the violence came from), there isn't that much fraternising with the others.
The documentary is great. My only criticism is the lack of subtitles. Even having lived in Belfast, I found the girls difficult to understand. Record it and watch it again, otherwise you will miss most of the dialog.
Related post:
The Boxer: IRA in Belfast
Other Blog:
http://belfastblogger.com/ (contains links to local newspapers)
Liberals Forget Canada is Bilingual
When you give a political speech in the Quebec nation, don't forget to speak French! At least 50% of the speech should be in French and you should start in French.
Tip to Canadian politicians: when you give a "bilingual speech" to a unilingual audience, use Brian Mulruney's trick and pepper your French with "amour", "respect", "democratie", "Canada" and other French words that even Albertans can understand.
What you don't want to do is forget to speak French. Bob Rae spoke "without a net" last night and it showed. He only talked in French when talking about Quebec. And he didn't talk much about Quebec.
And get this, from the Liberal Party web site:
When you give a speech in Montreal, you start off in French. Ignatieff didn't do this. He spoke French about 25% of the time. Not enough. Rae was the worst offender. He was at least half way through the speech before he spoke a few words in French. Then he quickly reverted back to English.
Gerard Kennedy's French is still horrible, so I wont complain about the lack of quantity. How he can still make grammatical errors while reading his speech (that I assume he rehearsed) is a mystery. He is the only top 4 candidate for whom I didn't flick between the French station and the English stations. I was glad there was a translator to figure out what he was saying. Oh, and parts of Gerard Kennedy's French web site are still under construction! And the "dans la médias" error is still there.
Stephane Dion's English is less than perfect, even when read. You'd think a guy with a Canadian PHD in political science would speak better English. He reminds me of the Political Science teacher I had in college who kept using obscure Belgium examples but couldn't answer the simplest question about the USA. Did you know in Belgium they do exams orally? It was cool that my teacher imported the concept as that was the only course in which I didn't lose 10% for bad spelling.
Contrary to popular belief, the majority of Quebeckers are not fluent in English. Heck, the majority of Quebec university graduates are not fluent in English. So when you give a speech to people who don't have simultaneous translation, keep it simple. Not Gerard Kennedy simple, but simple enough to be understood by people in their second language.
The speech should be about 50% in English and 50% in French. By that standard, all the candidates failed.
If you read French: Julie Bélanger
Tip to Canadian politicians: when you give a "bilingual speech" to a unilingual audience, use Brian Mulruney's trick and pepper your French with "amour", "respect", "democratie", "Canada" and other French words that even Albertans can understand.
What you don't want to do is forget to speak French. Bob Rae spoke "without a net" last night and it showed. He only talked in French when talking about Quebec. And he didn't talk much about Quebec.
And get this, from the Liberal Party web site:
Notice, December 1, 2006
Montreal - The Liberal Party of Canada inadvertently played
an English-only version of a video produced by the campaign of Mr. Scott Brison,
rather than the bilingual version supplied by his campaign. The Party
unreservedly apologies to the Brison Campaign and all delegates for this error.
When you give a speech in Montreal, you start off in French. Ignatieff didn't do this. He spoke French about 25% of the time. Not enough. Rae was the worst offender. He was at least half way through the speech before he spoke a few words in French. Then he quickly reverted back to English.
Gerard Kennedy's French is still horrible, so I wont complain about the lack of quantity. How he can still make grammatical errors while reading his speech (that I assume he rehearsed) is a mystery. He is the only top 4 candidate for whom I didn't flick between the French station and the English stations. I was glad there was a translator to figure out what he was saying. Oh, and parts of Gerard Kennedy's French web site are still under construction! And the "dans la médias" error is still there.
Stephane Dion's English is less than perfect, even when read. You'd think a guy with a Canadian PHD in political science would speak better English. He reminds me of the Political Science teacher I had in college who kept using obscure Belgium examples but couldn't answer the simplest question about the USA. Did you know in Belgium they do exams orally? It was cool that my teacher imported the concept as that was the only course in which I didn't lose 10% for bad spelling.
Contrary to popular belief, the majority of Quebeckers are not fluent in English. Heck, the majority of Quebec university graduates are not fluent in English. So when you give a speech to people who don't have simultaneous translation, keep it simple. Not Gerard Kennedy simple, but simple enough to be understood by people in their second language.
The speech should be about 50% in English and 50% in French. By that standard, all the candidates failed.
If you read French: Julie Bélanger
2006-11-26
The Boxer: IRA in Belfast
Once in a while, IFC justifies the 2$ or so a month that I pay for it. Tonight I watched The Boxer (1997). A truly excellent film.
The film isn't about boxing, it is about an IRA prisoner let out after 14 years who tries to adjust to life in Norther Ireland in the 90s.
Perhaps it is because I briefly lived in Belfast in 1999 or that I'm the same age as the main character, but I really enjoyed this film.
In 99, Belfast still had the watch towers, the walls, the violent murals. More importantly, there were also all those young men limping around (after getting their knee caps knocked out). Belfast is a crazy place. There is a Protestant ghetto and a Catholic ghetto. Everybody seems to get along well enough in the rest of the city but in those two ghettos, it is civil war. In the ghettos there are no buses and there actually is a wall with a door between the two neighborhoods.
All this in the context that Dublin and London are not that far away and much more prosperous. You'd think the locals were trapped in Belfast. Many of the husbands are. In some areas, one household in three had a member in jail.
The events this week about the released prisoner trying to blow up the NI parliament makes this movie current.
Monday, the Canadian Parliament will be recognising Quebec as a nation. Far better than the Irish and British ways of doing things if you ask me.
The film isn't about boxing, it is about an IRA prisoner let out after 14 years who tries to adjust to life in Norther Ireland in the 90s.
Perhaps it is because I briefly lived in Belfast in 1999 or that I'm the same age as the main character, but I really enjoyed this film.
In 99, Belfast still had the watch towers, the walls, the violent murals. More importantly, there were also all those young men limping around (after getting their knee caps knocked out). Belfast is a crazy place. There is a Protestant ghetto and a Catholic ghetto. Everybody seems to get along well enough in the rest of the city but in those two ghettos, it is civil war. In the ghettos there are no buses and there actually is a wall with a door between the two neighborhoods.
All this in the context that Dublin and London are not that far away and much more prosperous. You'd think the locals were trapped in Belfast. Many of the husbands are. In some areas, one household in three had a member in jail.
The events this week about the released prisoner trying to blow up the NI parliament makes this movie current.
Monday, the Canadian Parliament will be recognising Quebec as a nation. Far better than the Irish and British ways of doing things if you ask me.
2006-11-25
Oh, the irony: Adscam and Rae Blogger
Disclaimer: I am unemployed and have not and will not receive direct compensation or promise of employment for writing this blog. However, I do get a few dollars from advertisements on this blog, including regular Adsense ads from the Gerard Kennedy campaign.
The following is from the Google Cache of dissension-delivered.blogspot.com. The author, "Skip", was outed today by the Globe and Mail.
[link added by me]
-Complaint by Shoshana Berman;
-Crazy people and blogs;
-Banned from Liblogs for living in Toronto. ;
-The CRTC Should Regulate the Internet: Gerard Kennedy ;
-Gerard Kennedy and "la grande seduction"
-I Still Support Michael Ignatieff ;
-New Liberalism in the First International Country of the 21st Century. Werner Patels and Gerard Kennedy Make Me Laugh. ;
-From the Teleprompter of Gerard Kennedy ;
-Canadian PMs and Part of the Former Ottoman Empire ;
-Reasons 6 to 9 of 995 Not to Vote for Gerard Kennedy ;
-I Am Not Anti-Israel, I Even Sleep With a Jew ;
-Gerard Kennedy Avoiding Francophone Media ;
-Gerard Kennedy Campaigned Against the Federal Liberals ;
-Gerard Kennedy is Advertising on Blogs! ;
-Gerard Kennedy Campaigned Against the Federal Liberals ;
-The Government is reading this blog ;
-Rona Ambrose Does Not Exist ;
-MySpace may be worth $15 billion .
LINKS-LIENS
The following is from the Google Cache of dissension-delivered.blogspot.com. The author, "Skip", was outed today by the Globe and Mail.
[link added by me]
Michael Ignatieff's Calamity of Errors...When the Globe and Mail somehow links your blog to Adscam, I'd guess you have a "communication" problem. Skip's solution was to delete his blog. Even more ironic, both the Globe and Mail and "Skip" (author of dissension-delivered.blogspot.com.) quoted Shoshana Berman!
"Oops, I did it again." A fellow blogger once used this famous Brittany Spears line to describe Ignatieff's communications strategy. I am increasingly in agreement. I mean, this guy can't seem to help himself - not even with all eight of his communications assistants working their buns off.Which brings me to the latest reason for discussing Mr. Ignatieff's ability (or lack thereof) to communicate with the media.
-Complaint by Shoshana Berman;
-Crazy people and blogs;
-Banned from Liblogs for living in Toronto. ;
-The CRTC Should Regulate the Internet: Gerard Kennedy ;
-Gerard Kennedy and "la grande seduction"
-I Still Support Michael Ignatieff ;
-New Liberalism in the First International Country of the 21st Century. Werner Patels and Gerard Kennedy Make Me Laugh. ;
-From the Teleprompter of Gerard Kennedy ;
-Canadian PMs and Part of the Former Ottoman Empire ;
-Reasons 6 to 9 of 995 Not to Vote for Gerard Kennedy ;
-I Am Not Anti-Israel, I Even Sleep With a Jew ;
-Gerard Kennedy Avoiding Francophone Media ;
-Gerard Kennedy Campaigned Against the Federal Liberals ;
-Gerard Kennedy is Advertising on Blogs! ;
-Gerard Kennedy Campaigned Against the Federal Liberals ;
-The Government is reading this blog ;
-Rona Ambrose Does Not Exist ;
-MySpace may be worth $15 billion .
LINKS-LIENS
2006-11-24
Will Quebec Being a Nation Affect the Price of Beer?
Minorities
There are relatively large French speaking populations in Switzerland and Belgium. Does that make France less of a nation? There are French Canadians outside Quebec and there are English speaking people in Quebec. Calling Quebec a nation won't change that. Quebec separating won't change that.
Beer and Nations
I live in Edmundston, New Brunswick, located on the border with Maine and very near the Province of Quebec. Even though beer is significantly cheaper on the other side of the bridge in Maine, I don't buy it there because I'd be supposed to declare it on my way back. If I didn't, and my car was searched by Canadians for the first time ever, I'd have my beer confiscated. More to the point, I'd have a file, so every time I went through Canada Customs (see page 26 of 28) I'd be under suspicion.
Buying beer in Quebec and importing it into New Brunswick is technically illegal. I'm not sure what the law is, so don't ask me what the penalties are. Beer in Quebec is much cheaper than in New Brunswick. Partly that is because of lower taxes, but mostly that is because beer in Quebec is sold in convenience and grocery stores. You sometime have to shop around, but generally the prices are much lower in Quebec.
The law against cross border beer purchases isn't really meant for individuals. If you were doing it for reselling, then maybe you might get arrested. I know in the Maine-New Hampshire-Massachusetts border area, police occasionally hold sting operations. In one case I read about, the local police charged the out of state police force with loitering!
Anyway, calling Quebec a nation doesn't change a fundamental fact: there are no custom agents at the Quebec-New Brunswick border and the RCMP (New Brunswick's police force) doesn't have beer buying sting operations. So this nation thing won't affect the price I pay for beer. So why should I care? Why should you care?
2006-11-23
Complaint by Shoshana Berman
Sometimes reality is better than fiction. Well, Shoshana Berman's reality anyway. To paraphrase that guy on Weeds last night (HBO in USA, Showcase in Canada), "Crazy women are sexy".
-education of shoshana berman;
-shoshana berman;
-Crazy people and blogs ;
From: "Jason Cherniak"
To: "liblogs"Subject: Notice re: Complaint by Shoshana Berman
Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2006 18:03:57 -0500
Dear Libloggers,
A former member of Liblogs, Shoshana
Berman, recently told me that there is"a publication ban on a personal matter
regarding [her] son". I have notyet been provided with a copy of this
order. Although I do not know whetherher claim is legitimate, I feel that
it is only fair for me to warn of youthis claim.
Ms. Berman has threatened to
take legal action against Liblogs, mepersonally and any blogger who contravenes
the court order by publishinginformation relating to her assault trial. I
reject any suggestion thatLiblogs has any legal liability in this matter at all,
but I will protectthe good name of the corporation if necessary.
Ms. Berman
has also contacted individual members with complaints. I do notknow at
this time whether her complaints have any legal legitimacy. Youwill have
to use your own judgement - and hire a lawyer if you feel itnecessary - if you
receive such a notice. I do not believe that Liblogs hasany legal
responsibilities in this regard. To be safe, though, I ask eachmember not
to search for and post copies of any articles that are out there,including any
articles already printed by the Guelph Examiner, since theLiblogs aggregator
would automatically link to the post on Liblogs.
I am really sorry to bother
you with this, but I don't think it would beright for me to not inform the
membership of this situation.
Blogger Support Services: a non-profit
corporation operating as<http://www.liblogs.ca/>
Liblogs
per: Jason R. Cherniak
President
-education of shoshana berman;
-shoshana berman;
-Crazy people and blogs ;
I'm Feeling Lucky with Gerard Kennedy
I've been pretty critical of Gerard Kennedy, but I feel he deserves it. Still, the following may be a tad unjust:
Go to Google.ca in English or Google.com, write "horrible French" with or without the quotations and click on "I'm Feeling Lucky".
Try it! It lands you on one of this blog's pages complaining about Gerard Kennedy's horrible French. To my surprise, there are only 9,120 "horrible French" on the Internet. Seems rather low.
--------------
Update (2006-11-24): No longer works as "horrible French" in Google now puts my site in 11th place.
--------------
To my surprise, the French version of Gerard Kennedy's web site has been updated. No, the "dans la médias" template error has not been corrected, but now there is more "content" on the "ressources" page. Now, under Matériel graphique pour blogueurs is "En construction"! That's better than the heading for "Trousse de communication": Share the message Kit (sic, in English!).
Some times, I think the Kennedy camp should have done like Martha Hall Finlay and pretended francophone Canadians don't exist (her website is in English only).
Go to Google.ca in English or Google.com, write "horrible French" with or without the quotations and click on "I'm Feeling Lucky".
Try it! It lands you on one of this blog's pages complaining about Gerard Kennedy's horrible French. To my surprise, there are only 9,120 "horrible French" on the Internet. Seems rather low.
--------------
Update (2006-11-24): No longer works as "horrible French" in Google now puts my site in 11th place.
--------------
To my surprise, the French version of Gerard Kennedy's web site has been updated. No, the "dans la médias" template error has not been corrected, but now there is more "content" on the "ressources" page. Now, under Matériel graphique pour blogueurs is "En construction"! That's better than the heading for "Trousse de communication": Share the message Kit (sic, in English!).
Some times, I think the Kennedy camp should have done like Martha Hall Finlay and pretended francophone Canadians don't exist (her website is in English only).
2006-11-18
Americans Blog in Canada
L-Girl has an excellent post about the "deep integration" nonsense that has been circulating thanks to "vivelecanada" et. al. The only point I disagree with is:
I wouldn't bet the house either way, but I'd certainly bet with L-Girl if she gave me odds.
The Idealistic Pragmatist has an interesting post comparing Steven Harper to Hillary Clinton. I disagree with his conclusions about the people, but she does make good points about their respective parties.
I strongly disagree with L-Girl's post on Scottish, United Kingdom MP George Galloway:
More importantly, they [the Conservative Party of Canada] are not going to cruise to majority government. No one can predict the future, but that outcome seems highly unlikely.
I wouldn't bet the house either way, but I'd certainly bet with L-Girl if she gave me odds.
The Idealistic Pragmatist has an interesting post comparing Steven Harper to Hillary Clinton. I disagree with his conclusions about the people, but she does make good points about their respective parties.
I strongly disagree with L-Girl's post on Scottish, United Kingdom MP George Galloway:
When Galloway speaks tonight, I hope the Liberals will be listening.
George Galloway supported Saddam Hussein. "You are doing a great job" he said to Hussein after the Gulf War. Galloway was one of the people who got kick backs from the oil for food program. He says he didn't ask for them... Regardless, the fact that he supported the genocidal Iraq leader is beyond comprehension. Galloway should be ignored, not listened to. Who is sponsoring the speaking tour? Some Syrian association. No, Liberals will NOT be listening to Galloway.
2006-11-16
Banned from Liblogs for living in Toronto.
Frankly, I could accept that as a legitimate reason for being banned from from Liblogs. But what really irritates me is that I don't live in Toronto. I live in Edmundston, New Brunswick. Sean Liddle of Belleville, Ontario, (aka Gorthos or Gortrix) posted that, based on my IP adress, I was in Toronto. UFO enthusiast Sean Liddle then complained to Jason Cherniack, Liblogs Administrator, about an e-mail I sent him. Cherniack must thinks he is also the e-mail police as he then "banned me" from Liblogs.
From: "Jason Cherniak"(...) You also lie about your location. You are out.
He actually only removed my blog from the blog agragator. If my blog has been "banned", shouldn't it also be removed from the Liblogs list?
Altavistagoogle, The Canadian Republic.
2006-11-15
OUI
Ça prend du courage de dire oui. De vouloir que le Québec soit un pays.
On ne veut pas briser le Canada, le diviser ou le détruire. Être souverainiste, séparatiste, indépendantiste, c'est positif.
Les frontières du Canada ont été modifié considérablement depuis 1867. En 1867, le Canada ne comportait que 4 provinces. Six nouvelles provinces ce sont ajoutés. La dernière, Terre-Neuve, a joint le Canada en 1949. Le Nunavut a été créé en 1999.
À sa création, le Canada n'avait qu' environ 3,5 millions d'habitants. Le Québec aujourd'hui a plus de 7,5 millions d'habitants.
Le Canada s'est séparé du Royaume-Uni, n'obtenant le pouvoir de modifier sa constitution qu'en 1982!
Plus d'une centaine de pays ont été créé au cours du vingtième siècle. Dites OUI pour que le Québec soit un des nouveaux pays du 21ième du siècle.
L'Action nationale
Bloc Québécois
Génération Québec
Impératif français
Institut de recherche sur le Québec
Le Québécois
Québec-Radio
Le RIQ (Rassemblement pour l'indépendance du Québec)
Mouvement national des Québécois
SPQ Libre !
Parti Québécois
Opération Québec
Québec, un pays !
RPS Québec
Société St-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal
L'aut'journal
IPSO - Les intellectuels pour la souveraineté
Union des Forces Progressistes
Vigile
Souveraineté La Solution
Groupe Le Québec, un pays ! - Outaouais
La Table Ronde de l'Indépendance
Le Conseil de la souveraineté du Québec
On ne veut pas briser le Canada, le diviser ou le détruire. Être souverainiste, séparatiste, indépendantiste, c'est positif.
Les frontières du Canada ont été modifié considérablement depuis 1867. En 1867, le Canada ne comportait que 4 provinces. Six nouvelles provinces ce sont ajoutés. La dernière, Terre-Neuve, a joint le Canada en 1949. Le Nunavut a été créé en 1999.
À sa création, le Canada n'avait qu' environ 3,5 millions d'habitants. Le Québec aujourd'hui a plus de 7,5 millions d'habitants.
Le Canada s'est séparé du Royaume-Uni, n'obtenant le pouvoir de modifier sa constitution qu'en 1982!
Plus d'une centaine de pays ont été créé au cours du vingtième siècle. Dites OUI pour que le Québec soit un des nouveaux pays du 21ième du siècle.
L'Action nationale
Bloc Québécois
Génération Québec
Impératif français
Institut de recherche sur le Québec
Le Québécois
Québec-Radio
Le RIQ (Rassemblement pour l'indépendance du Québec)
Mouvement national des Québécois
SPQ Libre !
Parti Québécois
Opération Québec
Québec, un pays !
RPS Québec
Société St-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal
L'aut'journal
IPSO - Les intellectuels pour la souveraineté
Union des Forces Progressistes
Vigile
Souveraineté La Solution
Groupe Le Québec, un pays ! - Outaouais
La Table Ronde de l'Indépendance
Le Conseil de la souveraineté du Québec
2006-11-13
Est-ce qu'on peut etre separatiste et Liberal?
En décembre dernier, j'ai esseyé de donner 100$ au Bloc Québécois, mais j'ai été refusé parce-que je n'habitais pas au Québec (je voulais surtout le reçu afin d'écoeurer un cousin).
Paul Martin a perdu et je peux maintenant être partisan du parti Libéral à 100%. Mais des fois, je suis 55% souverainiste. Des fois c'est juste 45% et alors cela ne crée pas de problèmes.
Mais quand je suis souverainiste à 55%, est-ce que je peux continuer d'être partisan à 100% du parti Libéral du Canada? La souveraineté du Québec ne fait pas partie des sujets qui me préoccupent le plus. Je n'habite pas au Québec, et à moins que les salaires y augmentent considérablement, je ne compte pas y vivre bientôt.
La plupart du temps, je trouve le Bloc Québécois inutile. Un peu comme un parti Rinoséroce glorifié. Des fois ils nous font sourire, on les apprécie. Mais dans le fond, qu'est-ce que ça donne?
Mais est-ce que je peux être favorable à la souveraineté du Québec, favorable à ce que le Québec soit un pays, tout en étant partisan du parti Libéral du Canada?
Les jours des drapeaux gratuits à la Sheila Copps et des affiches "Canada" au 20ième étage sont terminé. Du moins, je l'espère. Les affiches sont encore là, mais s'ils tombent, sûrement qu'on ne les remplacera pas.
Mais dois-je me cacher derrière mon blog? Est-ce que je pourrais dire haut et fort, mon nom est Sam Tremblay*, je suis membre du parti Libéral et je suis souverainiste. Oui, je sais que je pourrais le dire, mais que seraient les conséquences?
*Ce n'est pas mon vrai nom
Paul Martin a perdu et je peux maintenant être partisan du parti Libéral à 100%. Mais des fois, je suis 55% souverainiste. Des fois c'est juste 45% et alors cela ne crée pas de problèmes.
Mais quand je suis souverainiste à 55%, est-ce que je peux continuer d'être partisan à 100% du parti Libéral du Canada? La souveraineté du Québec ne fait pas partie des sujets qui me préoccupent le plus. Je n'habite pas au Québec, et à moins que les salaires y augmentent considérablement, je ne compte pas y vivre bientôt.
La plupart du temps, je trouve le Bloc Québécois inutile. Un peu comme un parti Rinoséroce glorifié. Des fois ils nous font sourire, on les apprécie. Mais dans le fond, qu'est-ce que ça donne?
Mais est-ce que je peux être favorable à la souveraineté du Québec, favorable à ce que le Québec soit un pays, tout en étant partisan du parti Libéral du Canada?
Les jours des drapeaux gratuits à la Sheila Copps et des affiches "Canada" au 20ième étage sont terminé. Du moins, je l'espère. Les affiches sont encore là, mais s'ils tombent, sûrement qu'on ne les remplacera pas.
Mais dois-je me cacher derrière mon blog? Est-ce que je pourrais dire haut et fort, mon nom est Sam Tremblay*, je suis membre du parti Libéral et je suis souverainiste. Oui, je sais que je pourrais le dire, mais que seraient les conséquences?
*Ce n'est pas mon vrai nom
2006-11-12
National Defence Should be a Provincial Jurisdiction
To most people, myself included, the idea of downloading Canadian defence responsibilities to the provinces is absurd. However, it isn't that outrageous. After all, the United States have "national guards" that fall under the responsibility of their respective States. And those national guards aren't ceremonial, many members are currently serving in Iraq.
Still, I think some responsibilites are better left to the national government. Education is not one of them. Education has always been a provincial jurisdiction, and it should stay that way. Gerard Kennedy has not convinced me, not that he tried very hard. Towns, cities, water, sewars, sidewalks, none of them should have anything to do with the federal government.
Other Blogs:
We Need Dion More Than Ever
Oh Jason, How Naïve is Thee?
Still, I think some responsibilites are better left to the national government. Education is not one of them. Education has always been a provincial jurisdiction, and it should stay that way. Gerard Kennedy has not convinced me, not that he tried very hard. Towns, cities, water, sewars, sidewalks, none of them should have anything to do with the federal government.
Other Blogs:
We Need Dion More Than Ever
Oh Jason, How Naïve is Thee?
2006-11-11
Time to Bring Back the Charlottetown Accord
The Toronto Star reports that Steven Harper is looking at a way to limit the federal government's power to spend on provincial jurisdictions. Liberals are arguing over a potential "nation" clause in the Constitution .
The Charlottetown Accord was negotiated in the summer of 1992 at the Prime Minister's official cottage at Meech Lake. To avoid the moniker of Meech II, people called it the Harrington Lake negotiations. Harrington Lake is really more of a bay of Meech lake, so to drive home the difference, the accord was signed in Charlottetown and has ever since been known as the Charlottetown Accord.
I turned 18 in the Summer of 1992. I was a life guard that Summer. My pool season finished early so in August I did some replacement work at Meech Lake. I was working one day with a gorgeous blond and we talked about politics. She was English Canadian from the other side of the Ottawa River. Meech Lake is part of the Gatineau Park that encompasses much of the Gatineau Hills. The Gatineau River Valley below is not part of the park. Just the hills. Nearby towns in the valley like Chelsea and Wakefield had always had an English Speaking majority so was no surprise that most users of Meech Lake were English speaking. I don't even remember if my colleague spoke any French. I do remember that we spoke in English.
She said something that really shocked me. To her, Lord Durham, who wrote that Quebeckers should be assimilated, was correct. I had learned that Durham was the devil incarnate. To her, it was too bad that Quebec had not been assimilated.
Being in the Gatineau Hills, Meech Lake can be chilly in July, in August, there were few swimmers. At one point in our discussion, she looked around, all the people on the beach had left and we were life guarding our selves pro bono, well after the end of our shift.
We rushed to put away the equipment because, in addition to now working for free, she was late for a party over in Ottawa. She biked daily between Ottawa and Meech and man did it show. So it was very embarrassing when I dropped the life guard boat on my foot. It was even more embarrassing that I needed her help to get the boat off my foot. It hurt so bad that I had to take my sneaker off to make sure all my ten toes were still attached to my foot. I was relieved they were, but when I looked at my colleague, I realised there was no way I was going to be invited to this party she was late for.
The only positive of the foot incident was that I had an excuse for letting her peddle ahead without me. I was used to biking to work all Summer as well, but in the Ottawa Valley to my pool, not in the Gatineau Hills. Clearly, life guarding a pool or biking on flat ground is not a good way to stay in shape.
So it was with my soar foot, my bruised ego and the disbilief that there were English Canadians in Ottawa who wanted to assimilate French Canadians, that I biked back home to Hull. As I struggled up the first hill, I had plenty of time to ponder all this as five stretched limos zoomed past me.
I was a political junky then as much as I am today. I was disappointed that the significance of the event was taken away from Meech and sent over to Charlottetown, but that didn't stop me from voting in favour of the accord. My history teacher did his best to talk us out of voting in favour of it. But I knew the accord backwards and forwards and I was voting "Oui". Frankly, I was amazed the country was still together after the failure of Meech, the original. This surely was the last chance.
That referendum was the first time I ever voted. It was the first time I ever could vote as I'd just turned 18 a few months before. It seemed most of the good people were voting Yes (or Oui). Only losers like Preston Manning and Lucien Bouchard were voting against it. I knew evil people like the gorgeous lifeguard and my history teacher would be against it.
I was incredulous that the No side won. Young Quebec Liberals had been demanding a referendum on Quebec sovereignty only a few months earlier. Liberals!
Trudeau won. His vision of Canada, his Constitution. His Charter has proven more powerful than ever expected.
I hope it was Trudeau that won. Because some times I think it was that gorgeous life guard who might have won. She thought Lord Durham's message of assimilating Quebeckers was still valid. Maybe it was Preston Manning who won.He complained Ottawa was to bilingual. Maybe it was Lucien Bouchard that won. His inflammatory demagogary makes me cringe, even today.
Preston Manning encouraged Western Canadians to vote "no" in the Charlottetown Accord referendum because recognising Quebec as a distinct society "wasn't fair". Quebec wanted it for its language law because using the notwithstanding clause to allow the language law was embarrassing for people like Robert Bourassa, the then Premier of Quebec. And who knew what other laws could be challenged and ruled unconstitutional by the anglophone majority on the Supreme Court.
Three short years later I voted "Non", contrary to the vast majority of my University of Montreal colleagues, in the referendum on Quebec's independence from Canada.
At that point in my life, I had only lived in Quebec. In the 11 short years since Quebec's independence referendum, the Liberal government of Jean Chretien ran federal affairs like the Meech Lake Constitutional amendment had passed. Quebec gained control over immigration, opted out of man power training and even has its own parental leave program, opting out of the federal program.
In the last 11 years, I've spent most of my time outside Quebec. I'm happy to report that the evil life guard is in the minority. I've only been called a "frog" by an employer twice, and one of those times was in England. Still, I'm surprised by all the educated people who think that everybody in Quebec should speak English even thought they don't speak a word of French. I had a colleague with a masters degree who couldn't believe that a mechanic in Lévis couldn't speak any English. My colleague couldn't speak any French, but the mechanic in Lévis should, according to him, speak at least a bit of English.
I'm not so sure, as I once was, that Quebec's language law is such a bad idea. At least two cities in Eastern Ontario, Clarence-Rockland and Casselman, have made bilingual signs mandatory for businesses. And frankly, there are way to many businesses here in Edmundston that have signs in English only, despite the fact that 95% of the population of the county has French as a first language. Businesses on the west island of Montreal often have signs in French only, even though the local population speaks English and bilingual signs are allowed as long as the French is bigger. Businesses are lazy. They go Coca-Cola and treat the world like a homogeneous group. At one point in time the island of Montreal was considered English, so businesses put up signs in English. Now it is part of French Quebec, so they put up signs in French only. No nuance.
Small businesses are worse. Many signs here in Edmunsdston are bilingual. You have to be bilingual to read them. They don't make sense unless you understand both languages! According to the 2001 census, 63% of the population say they can understand English and French. That is one of the highest levels in the country. But that still leave 37% of the population who say they don't understand one of English or French. You would think that businesses would recognise that a good chunk of the local population, never mind locals in nearby Quebec or Maine, can't understand their signs. There is a language law for food labels. Why can't there be one for signs that respects the constitution?
Obviously, to encourage bilingual signs, cities should allow them to be twice as big. But no city in Canada has such a by-law because they are all afraid of a constitutional challenge. In fact, many people, including myself, assumed Clarence-Rockland and Casselmen's new by-laws, and the new Ontario law that "allow" them, would have been challenged. But no court challenge yet.
What brought on the by-law in Clarence-Rockland was the new super sized Canadian Tire. The City went to a lot of trouble to accommodate the new store: official plan amendment, re-zoning, new road, new swer and water line, etc... Getting a Canadian Tire was big. One less reason to venture into Ottawa. And what did the franchise owner do? He posted a big sign saying "Grand Opening", in English only. English only. 85% of the population of Clarence-Rockland has French as a first language. The concentration is even higher up the road, presumably part of the customer base.
The owner says he didn't know! The City Council reacted. From then on, people would know that Clarence-Rockland wasn't in French Quebec and it wasn't in English Ontario. People would know that it was a French City in an English province. The vast majority of the population supported the idea. Those who didn't were mostly English speaking and they had a hard time justifying their opposition to the mostly French speaking population.
All this legislative accommodation had me thinking that maybe Trudeau won in 92 after all. That maybe his Constitution was the best option.
Then came Gerard Kennedy. Then came his supporters. Kennedy wants national standards for education. I don't know about you, but I'm quite happy with my education. I've used what I learned by working in three provinces and I haven't noticed any shortfalls yet. I'm not sure what the advantages of national education standards would be. I really don't. Based on Kennedy's French, Manitoba isn't doing to good at teaching French as a second language. But I'm not sure national standards would do any good, even in that subject.
What if the people who think everybody in Quebec should be bilingual so they don't have to learn French, get into power in Ottawa. Worse, what about that life guard I worked with when I was 18, the one who still thinks Lord Durham was right, that Quebeckers should be assimilated, what if she gets into power in Ottawa.
Belinda Stronach thought she could be Prime Minister of Canada without speaking French. So did Preston Manning, the man who voted no to Charlottown, who though Ottawa was too bilingual.
Maybe Trudeau didn't win the 1992 referendum. Maybe it was Lucien Bouchard and Preston Manning that won.
I say it was a tie. Time for a tiebreaker.
I recently took a look at the Charlottetown Accord. Still looks good. A compromise document for most people, but I don't think we could get a better one today. Canadians of 1992 were wrong to say no. Let's give Canadians of 2006 a chance to say yes.
The Charlottetown Accord was negotiated in the summer of 1992 at the Prime Minister's official cottage at Meech Lake. To avoid the moniker of Meech II, people called it the Harrington Lake negotiations. Harrington Lake is really more of a bay of Meech lake, so to drive home the difference, the accord was signed in Charlottetown and has ever since been known as the Charlottetown Accord.
I turned 18 in the Summer of 1992. I was a life guard that Summer. My pool season finished early so in August I did some replacement work at Meech Lake. I was working one day with a gorgeous blond and we talked about politics. She was English Canadian from the other side of the Ottawa River. Meech Lake is part of the Gatineau Park that encompasses much of the Gatineau Hills. The Gatineau River Valley below is not part of the park. Just the hills. Nearby towns in the valley like Chelsea and Wakefield had always had an English Speaking majority so was no surprise that most users of Meech Lake were English speaking. I don't even remember if my colleague spoke any French. I do remember that we spoke in English.
She said something that really shocked me. To her, Lord Durham, who wrote that Quebeckers should be assimilated, was correct. I had learned that Durham was the devil incarnate. To her, it was too bad that Quebec had not been assimilated.
Being in the Gatineau Hills, Meech Lake can be chilly in July, in August, there were few swimmers. At one point in our discussion, she looked around, all the people on the beach had left and we were life guarding our selves pro bono, well after the end of our shift.
We rushed to put away the equipment because, in addition to now working for free, she was late for a party over in Ottawa. She biked daily between Ottawa and Meech and man did it show. So it was very embarrassing when I dropped the life guard boat on my foot. It was even more embarrassing that I needed her help to get the boat off my foot. It hurt so bad that I had to take my sneaker off to make sure all my ten toes were still attached to my foot. I was relieved they were, but when I looked at my colleague, I realised there was no way I was going to be invited to this party she was late for.
The only positive of the foot incident was that I had an excuse for letting her peddle ahead without me. I was used to biking to work all Summer as well, but in the Ottawa Valley to my pool, not in the Gatineau Hills. Clearly, life guarding a pool or biking on flat ground is not a good way to stay in shape.
So it was with my soar foot, my bruised ego and the disbilief that there were English Canadians in Ottawa who wanted to assimilate French Canadians, that I biked back home to Hull. As I struggled up the first hill, I had plenty of time to ponder all this as five stretched limos zoomed past me.
I was a political junky then as much as I am today. I was disappointed that the significance of the event was taken away from Meech and sent over to Charlottetown, but that didn't stop me from voting in favour of the accord. My history teacher did his best to talk us out of voting in favour of it. But I knew the accord backwards and forwards and I was voting "Oui". Frankly, I was amazed the country was still together after the failure of Meech, the original. This surely was the last chance.
That referendum was the first time I ever voted. It was the first time I ever could vote as I'd just turned 18 a few months before. It seemed most of the good people were voting Yes (or Oui). Only losers like Preston Manning and Lucien Bouchard were voting against it. I knew evil people like the gorgeous lifeguard and my history teacher would be against it.
I was incredulous that the No side won. Young Quebec Liberals had been demanding a referendum on Quebec sovereignty only a few months earlier. Liberals!
Trudeau won. His vision of Canada, his Constitution. His Charter has proven more powerful than ever expected.
I hope it was Trudeau that won. Because some times I think it was that gorgeous life guard who might have won. She thought Lord Durham's message of assimilating Quebeckers was still valid. Maybe it was Preston Manning who won.He complained Ottawa was to bilingual. Maybe it was Lucien Bouchard that won. His inflammatory demagogary makes me cringe, even today.
Preston Manning encouraged Western Canadians to vote "no" in the Charlottetown Accord referendum because recognising Quebec as a distinct society "wasn't fair". Quebec wanted it for its language law because using the notwithstanding clause to allow the language law was embarrassing for people like Robert Bourassa, the then Premier of Quebec. And who knew what other laws could be challenged and ruled unconstitutional by the anglophone majority on the Supreme Court.
Three short years later I voted "Non", contrary to the vast majority of my University of Montreal colleagues, in the referendum on Quebec's independence from Canada.
At that point in my life, I had only lived in Quebec. In the 11 short years since Quebec's independence referendum, the Liberal government of Jean Chretien ran federal affairs like the Meech Lake Constitutional amendment had passed. Quebec gained control over immigration, opted out of man power training and even has its own parental leave program, opting out of the federal program.
In the last 11 years, I've spent most of my time outside Quebec. I'm happy to report that the evil life guard is in the minority. I've only been called a "frog" by an employer twice, and one of those times was in England. Still, I'm surprised by all the educated people who think that everybody in Quebec should speak English even thought they don't speak a word of French. I had a colleague with a masters degree who couldn't believe that a mechanic in Lévis couldn't speak any English. My colleague couldn't speak any French, but the mechanic in Lévis should, according to him, speak at least a bit of English.
I'm not so sure, as I once was, that Quebec's language law is such a bad idea. At least two cities in Eastern Ontario, Clarence-Rockland and Casselman, have made bilingual signs mandatory for businesses. And frankly, there are way to many businesses here in Edmundston that have signs in English only, despite the fact that 95% of the population of the county has French as a first language. Businesses on the west island of Montreal often have signs in French only, even though the local population speaks English and bilingual signs are allowed as long as the French is bigger. Businesses are lazy. They go Coca-Cola and treat the world like a homogeneous group. At one point in time the island of Montreal was considered English, so businesses put up signs in English. Now it is part of French Quebec, so they put up signs in French only. No nuance.
Small businesses are worse. Many signs here in Edmunsdston are bilingual. You have to be bilingual to read them. They don't make sense unless you understand both languages! According to the 2001 census, 63% of the population say they can understand English and French. That is one of the highest levels in the country. But that still leave 37% of the population who say they don't understand one of English or French. You would think that businesses would recognise that a good chunk of the local population, never mind locals in nearby Quebec or Maine, can't understand their signs. There is a language law for food labels. Why can't there be one for signs that respects the constitution?
Obviously, to encourage bilingual signs, cities should allow them to be twice as big. But no city in Canada has such a by-law because they are all afraid of a constitutional challenge. In fact, many people, including myself, assumed Clarence-Rockland and Casselmen's new by-laws, and the new Ontario law that "allow" them, would have been challenged. But no court challenge yet.
What brought on the by-law in Clarence-Rockland was the new super sized Canadian Tire. The City went to a lot of trouble to accommodate the new store: official plan amendment, re-zoning, new road, new swer and water line, etc... Getting a Canadian Tire was big. One less reason to venture into Ottawa. And what did the franchise owner do? He posted a big sign saying "Grand Opening", in English only. English only. 85% of the population of Clarence-Rockland has French as a first language. The concentration is even higher up the road, presumably part of the customer base.
The owner says he didn't know! The City Council reacted. From then on, people would know that Clarence-Rockland wasn't in French Quebec and it wasn't in English Ontario. People would know that it was a French City in an English province. The vast majority of the population supported the idea. Those who didn't were mostly English speaking and they had a hard time justifying their opposition to the mostly French speaking population.
All this legislative accommodation had me thinking that maybe Trudeau won in 92 after all. That maybe his Constitution was the best option.
Then came Gerard Kennedy. Then came his supporters. Kennedy wants national standards for education. I don't know about you, but I'm quite happy with my education. I've used what I learned by working in three provinces and I haven't noticed any shortfalls yet. I'm not sure what the advantages of national education standards would be. I really don't. Based on Kennedy's French, Manitoba isn't doing to good at teaching French as a second language. But I'm not sure national standards would do any good, even in that subject.
What if the people who think everybody in Quebec should be bilingual so they don't have to learn French, get into power in Ottawa. Worse, what about that life guard I worked with when I was 18, the one who still thinks Lord Durham was right, that Quebeckers should be assimilated, what if she gets into power in Ottawa.
Belinda Stronach thought she could be Prime Minister of Canada without speaking French. So did Preston Manning, the man who voted no to Charlottown, who though Ottawa was too bilingual.
Maybe Trudeau didn't win the 1992 referendum. Maybe it was Lucien Bouchard and Preston Manning that won.
I say it was a tie. Time for a tiebreaker.
I recently took a look at the Charlottetown Accord. Still looks good. A compromise document for most people, but I don't think we could get a better one today. Canadians of 1992 were wrong to say no. Let's give Canadians of 2006 a chance to say yes.
2006-11-09
An Elected Senate is a Bad Idea
An elected Senate is a bad idea. Take Maine for example, they just elected Democrats to Congress and a Republican to the Senate. How does that make any sense?
Senators in Canada have a small role: review of legislation. They look at it and occasionally send it back to the House of Commons. But they rarely if ever hold back legislation for very long, even when they disagree with it.
Senators in the USA essentially have the same role. However, since they have to get elected every 6 years, they tend to be more active. But they shouldn't be. Their role is to look at legislation approved by the house and make sure there aren't any obvious flaws with it. Bad legislation does get through. A senate is expensive but so is bad legislation that results in court cases. A Senate slows things down, but that can be a good thing in a democracy. We need a sober second thought process.
Canada's Senators may be at times too sober. But I think that is better than being drunk with power.
Senators in Canada have a small role: review of legislation. They look at it and occasionally send it back to the House of Commons. But they rarely if ever hold back legislation for very long, even when they disagree with it.
Senators in the USA essentially have the same role. However, since they have to get elected every 6 years, they tend to be more active. But they shouldn't be. Their role is to look at legislation approved by the house and make sure there aren't any obvious flaws with it. Bad legislation does get through. A senate is expensive but so is bad legislation that results in court cases. A Senate slows things down, but that can be a good thing in a democracy. We need a sober second thought process.
Canada's Senators may be at times too sober. But I think that is better than being drunk with power.
Une nation sans la monarchie
In English
Si ça vaut la peine de demander la reconnaissance de la nation québécoise dans la constitution canadienne, pourquoi ne pas demander la fin de la monarchie au Canada?
Sans rapport? Au contraire. Le reine, qui préside l'Église anglicanne, est symbole de l'oppression anglo-protestante au Canada. Cette oppression qui a déporté 20 000 acadiens, qui a interdit l'enseignement du français en Ontario et qui avait comme objectif avoué d'assimiler les Québécois dans la langue anglaise.
Nous avons un drapeau canadien. Il est temps d'avoir un chef d'état canadien.
Nous sommes habitué à Elisabeth, mais Charles, non-merci. Il pourrait être un pédophile pis on serait pogné avec. Ça n'a pas d'allure!
Les Irlandais du Nord et les Écossais n'endurent pas la reine sur leur argent, pourquoi nous?
Si ça vaut la peine de demander la reconnaissance de la nation québécoise dans la constitution canadienne, pourquoi ne pas demander la fin de la monarchie au Canada?
Sans rapport? Au contraire. Le reine, qui préside l'Église anglicanne, est symbole de l'oppression anglo-protestante au Canada. Cette oppression qui a déporté 20 000 acadiens, qui a interdit l'enseignement du français en Ontario et qui avait comme objectif avoué d'assimiler les Québécois dans la langue anglaise.
Nous avons un drapeau canadien. Il est temps d'avoir un chef d'état canadien.
Nous sommes habitué à Elisabeth, mais Charles, non-merci. Il pourrait être un pédophile pis on serait pogné avec. Ça n'a pas d'allure!
Les Irlandais du Nord et les Écossais n'endurent pas la reine sur leur argent, pourquoi nous?
2006-11-08
Jeanette Arsenault-Kennedy Needs Your Money!
Jeanette Arsenault-Kennedy, Gerard Kennedy's spouse, needs your money to attend the Montreal Liberal leadership convention. No joke, check out the web site !
From site:
-Francoise , Carrier Gobeil : CLUB LIBERAL UNIVERSITE DE CHICOUTIMI
-Jean-Philippe , Ayotte CLUB LIBERAL UNIVERSITE DE CHICOUTIMI
-Guillaume , Dubreuil : CLUB LIBERAL UNIVERSITE DE CHICOUTIMI
- Reta , Parent : Saint Jean (in the Montérégie region, east of Montreal)
- Jacques , Faille : Pierrefonds-Dollard
- Richard , Plante : Wetaskiwin
-Maurice , Foster : Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing
- Gerard , Kennedy : AMOUNT TO RAISE : $995 RAISED TO DATE : 0 RIDING : Parkdale-High Park
-Julien , Arsenault : Egmont (PEI).
-Leonce , Bernard : Egmont (PEI)
- Anne , Bertrand : Fredericton (Capital of New Brunswick. No, it is not Moncton)
-Jean Pierre , Cadieux : Glengarry-Prescott-Russell
- Jean Marc , Lalonde : Glengarry-Prescott-Russell
- Jean-Guy , Richard : Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe
-Claude , Tétrault : Winnipeg North
Quebeckers (language unknown):
-Joseph W. , Allen : Pierrefonds-Dollard
-Diane , Martin : Pierrefonds-Dollard
-Mary , Samborsky : Pierrefonds-Dollard
-Hannah , Cowen : Westmount-Ville-Marie (the subway isn't free you know)
Possible francophones:
-Joel , Attis : Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe
-Armand , Brun : Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe
- Justin , Cormier : Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe
- Betty , Lavigne : Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe
From site:
Jeanette Arsenault-Kennedy
AMOUNT TO RAISE : $995
RAISED TO DATE : 0RIDING : York South-Weston
I am excited to let you know that I've recently been elected as a Gerard Kennedy delegate for the upcoming Liberal Leadership convention in Montreal, Nov.27th - Dec.2nd, 2006.
Attending the convention, however, is an expensive proposition. The overall cost of the trip will vary, but at a minimum it will include: a $995 convention fee <$495 if a youth>; transportation to Montreal; and accommodation for the week of the convention.
According to campaign rules the maximum donation to delegates must not exceed $5,400, no matter how many delegates you choose to support.
Donations made towards the $995 convention fees are tax deductible in accordance to political tax rules.
To help me pay my delegate fees please donate via credit card below.
I found her by looking for francophones.
Below are some that I found. Clearly, my prediction that there would be less than 6 Francophone Gerard Kennedy delegates was off by at least 13. I am shocked. Using the names, I have no way of knowing for sure if they are French-Speaking or not. But most probably they do speak French as a first language learned and still understood (Statistics Canada's definition of a francophone).
What I really wanted to find out were the names of the Quebec delegates. I'm missing the ones in Chicoutimi-Le-Fjord and Roberval-Lac-Saint-Jean. The 9 others are accounted for.
Ottawa-Orléans:
-Maurice , Lamontagne : Ottawa-Orléans
- Suzanne , Blanchard : Ottawa Orléans (OWLC)
-Suzanne , Dupuis : Ottawa-Orléans
-Jean , Hébert : Ottawa-Orléans
-Rollande , Chénier : Ottawa-Orléans
-Alexandre , Maheu : Ottawa-Orléans
-Francoise , Carrier Gobeil : CLUB LIBERAL UNIVERSITE DE CHICOUTIMI
-Jean-Philippe , Ayotte CLUB LIBERAL UNIVERSITE DE CHICOUTIMI
-Guillaume , Dubreuil : CLUB LIBERAL UNIVERSITE DE CHICOUTIMI
- Reta , Parent : Saint Jean (in the Montérégie region, east of Montreal)
- Jacques , Faille : Pierrefonds-Dollard
- Richard , Plante : Wetaskiwin
-Maurice , Foster : Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing
- Gerard , Kennedy : AMOUNT TO RAISE : $995 RAISED TO DATE : 0 RIDING : Parkdale-High Park
-Julien , Arsenault : Egmont (PEI).
-Leonce , Bernard : Egmont (PEI)
- Anne , Bertrand : Fredericton (Capital of New Brunswick. No, it is not Moncton)
-Jean Pierre , Cadieux : Glengarry-Prescott-Russell
- Jean Marc , Lalonde : Glengarry-Prescott-Russell
- Jean-Guy , Richard : Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe
-Claude , Tétrault : Winnipeg North
Quebeckers (language unknown):
-Joseph W. , Allen : Pierrefonds-Dollard
-Diane , Martin : Pierrefonds-Dollard
-Mary , Samborsky : Pierrefonds-Dollard
-Hannah , Cowen : Westmount-Ville-Marie (the subway isn't free you know)
Possible francophones:
-Joel , Attis : Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe
-Armand , Brun : Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe
- Justin , Cormier : Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe
- Betty , Lavigne : Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe
Just Say No to Traffic Calming
Blast furnace suggests Hamilton needs traffic calming in order to prevent horrible pedestrian deaths such as the one he mentions. However, he is wrong.
Yes, but it would make the road more dangerous. Cars would indeed slow down, but that is because the risks are higher. There is no net safety gain (but you do have slower cars).
Hamilton, like the city of Ottawa and kind of like the city of Oshawa, has a series of wide one way streets that allow you to get through downtown pretty quick. The street lights are synchronised to around 50 km/hr, the posted speed limit. During rush hour, they work very well. The problem is out of rush hour when the lights stay green for longer and there is no traffic preventing cars from drag racing between blocks.
Roundabouts do reduce the injury rate of other vehicle occupants at high risk intersections, but they increase the total number of collisions (most are minor) and also are MORE DANGEROUS for pedestrians. After spinning around the intersection, cars have to suddenly stop at a random white line in order to let pedestrians the chance to cross the street. Roundabouts are actually more appropriate on rural roads where speeds are high, traffic is lite and pedestrians are virtually non-existent.
The most appropriate solution to slow cars down is enforcement. If the city can't/wont pay for enough police, then Ontario should consider Alberta's solution of traffic cameras. Making the road more dangerous with "traffic calming" techniques is not the solution.
Traffic calming, such as taking out a lane of traffic from each
direction, chicanes and rumble strips, and replacing some of the more
dangerous intersections with roundabouts.
All of these would force cars to slow down.
Yes, but it would make the road more dangerous. Cars would indeed slow down, but that is because the risks are higher. There is no net safety gain (but you do have slower cars).
Hamilton, like the city of Ottawa and kind of like the city of Oshawa, has a series of wide one way streets that allow you to get through downtown pretty quick. The street lights are synchronised to around 50 km/hr, the posted speed limit. During rush hour, they work very well. The problem is out of rush hour when the lights stay green for longer and there is no traffic preventing cars from drag racing between blocks.
Roundabouts do reduce the injury rate of other vehicle occupants at high risk intersections, but they increase the total number of collisions (most are minor) and also are MORE DANGEROUS for pedestrians. After spinning around the intersection, cars have to suddenly stop at a random white line in order to let pedestrians the chance to cross the street. Roundabouts are actually more appropriate on rural roads where speeds are high, traffic is lite and pedestrians are virtually non-existent.
The most appropriate solution to slow cars down is enforcement. If the city can't/wont pay for enough police, then Ontario should consider Alberta's solution of traffic cameras. Making the road more dangerous with "traffic calming" techniques is not the solution.
2006-11-07
Toronto Debate Question (in French): Should the federal government regulate the content offered on the Internet? Gerard Kennedy (in French): Yes.
1:11:00 into the debate. (Google the error message if you can't open it).
The YouTube link I posted earlier missed the best part (the question):
In French (my translation):
Question: Should the federal government continue to regulate the contents of the electronic press? Should the federal government regulate the content offered on the Internet? Should foreign ownership rules continue to apply?
Gerard Kennedy: Yes. The short answer is yes. A federal government presence is necessary to regulate the contents of the Internet and new forms of communication. Switched to English (see English version).
Original quote:
La réponse simple est oui. Il est necessaire d'avoir une presence du gouvernement fédéral, de réglementer le contenu de l'Internet et des nouvelles technologies.
Earlier post: The CRTC Should Regulate the Internet: Gerard Kennedy
The YouTube link I posted earlier missed the best part (the question):
In French (my translation):
Question: Should the federal government continue to regulate the contents of the electronic press? Should the federal government regulate the content offered on the Internet? Should foreign ownership rules continue to apply?
Gerard Kennedy: Yes. The short answer is yes. A federal government presence is necessary to regulate the contents of the Internet and new forms of communication. Switched to English (see English version).
Original quote:
La réponse simple est oui. Il est necessaire d'avoir une presence du gouvernement fédéral, de réglementer le contenu de l'Internet et des nouvelles technologies.
Earlier post: The CRTC Should Regulate the Internet: Gerard Kennedy
The CRTC Should Regulate the Internet: Gerard Kennedy
When I listened to this the first time, I'd didn't catch it. But I'm pretty sure Gerard Kennedy said he thinks the CRTC should regulate the Internet!
He also wants to give LESS funding to the CBC and MORE funding to others (perhaps on the Internet).
Will this blog one day be sponsored by the federal government? Hey, regional voices are important. Kennedy said so. I feel my New Brunswick voice is being buried under all that Toronto Internet content. Gerard Kennedy to the rescue!
I still can't believe Kennedy said the Internet should be regulated by the CRTC for Canadian content.
***************
Update: I'm pretty sure that Kennedy didn't say, in French: "Yes, the government should rule the Internet". I think that is a case of Kennedy's mediocre French being misunderstood by the translator. Also, I'm no longer sure what Kennedy's position on the CBC is.
"There should be a box that people can access". That part has me confused.
****************
Update II (2006-11-07, 23:12 Atlantic)
Well, I stand corrected. Accurate translation. Just in case there was any possible confusion, to the question "should the contents of the Internet be regulated", Gerard Kennedy said "the short answer is yes".
Details:
1:11:00 into the debate. (Google the error message if you can't open it).
Question: Should the federal government continue to regulate the contents of the electronic press? Should the federal government regulate the content offered on the Internet? Should foreign ownership rules continue to apply?
Gerard Kennedy: Yes. The short answer is yes. A federal government presence is necessary, to regulate the contents of the Internet and new forms of communication. Switched to English.
La réponse simple est oui. Il est necessaire d'avoir une presence du gouvernement fédéral, de réglementer le contenu de l'Internet et des nouvelles technologies.
He also wants to give LESS funding to the CBC and MORE funding to others (perhaps on the Internet).
Will this blog one day be sponsored by the federal government? Hey, regional voices are important. Kennedy said so. I feel my New Brunswick voice is being buried under all that Toronto Internet content. Gerard Kennedy to the rescue!
I still can't believe Kennedy said the Internet should be regulated by the CRTC for Canadian content.
***************
Update: I'm pretty sure that Kennedy didn't say, in French: "Yes, the government should rule the Internet". I think that is a case of Kennedy's mediocre French being misunderstood by the translator. Also, I'm no longer sure what Kennedy's position on the CBC is.
"There should be a box that people can access". That part has me confused.
****************
Update II (2006-11-07, 23:12 Atlantic)
Well, I stand corrected. Accurate translation. Just in case there was any possible confusion, to the question "should the contents of the Internet be regulated", Gerard Kennedy said "the short answer is yes".
Details:
1:11:00 into the debate. (Google the error message if you can't open it).
Question: Should the federal government continue to regulate the contents of the electronic press? Should the federal government regulate the content offered on the Internet? Should foreign ownership rules continue to apply?
Gerard Kennedy: Yes. The short answer is yes. A federal government presence is necessary, to regulate the contents of the Internet and new forms of communication. Switched to English.
La réponse simple est oui. Il est necessaire d'avoir une presence du gouvernement fédéral, de réglementer le contenu de l'Internet et des nouvelles technologies.
2006-11-06
Education of Shoshana Berman
I'm starting to understand why former Education Minister Gerard Kennedy is so adamant we need national education standards: After dealing with Ontario teachers, he must be completely freaked out.
Confirmed Ontario (Waterloo County Board of Education) teacher Shoshana Berman recently posted what follows:
In the comment section she adds:
If you agree with her, please don't teach my kids anything to do with numbers.
Confirmed Ontario (Waterloo County Board of Education) teacher Shoshana Berman recently posted what follows:
Remember the sample size is one quarter of all delegates, which is
massive. Normal political polls are 1000 out of 20 million voting Canadians
this poll was over 1100 out of approximately 5000. I really think the margin
of error of 2.5% is exagerated. It's a standard margin of error for a
poll of 1000 people; but not for a total population of 5000. Anyways,
the poll is going to be bang on. This is like polling the electoral College in the US,
not the electorate.
In the comment section she adds:
Remember curiosity this is not your average poll. An average poll asks 1000
people out of 20 million what their opinion is on voting preferences. This
poll is like polling 5 million Canadians aboout their voing prefences. A full one
quarter of delegates were polled. This is absolutely massive. you can't compare
it to other political polls at all. This is more like polling the electoral
college in the US, if they had more than one vote. These numbers are solid to
say the least.
If you agree with her, please don't teach my kids anything to do with numbers.
"Gerard Kennedy's French Not Good Enough" LeSoleil
Quebec City's newspaper LeSoleil interviewed Gerard Kennedy last week (Kennedy's first newspaper interview in the province!) and called Gerard Kennedy's French "acceptable one on one, but the quality was not good enough for a debate or a TV interview":
Gerard Kennedy was referred to in the article as "Mr. 1 percent" because of his performance in the delegate selection in Quebec where he finished in sixth place.
Kennedy says he "remains unknown" [in Quebec] but gave no signs of being discouraged.
As far as I know, this is only the second in depth interview Gerard Kennedy has given in French in the entire campaign! So if he remains unknown in Quebec, he has nobody to blame but himself.
The gist of the article is that Kennedy says that English Canadians are not ready for Quebec to be recognised as a nation but that there should be some kind of recognition of Quebec. "We need to find the right expression".
Gerard Kennedy had called Quebec a nation in the last Montreal debate but then briefly explained to a CP reporter a couple of days later that "Quebec was a nation only in French".
M. Kennedy s'exprime dans un français acceptable dans un tête-à-tête. Mais malgré un séjour d'immersion d'un mois au Québec cet été, la qualité de sa langue ne franchit pas encore la rampe dans un débat public ou une entrevue télévisée.
Gerard Kennedy was referred to in the article as "Mr. 1 percent" because of his performance in the delegate selection in Quebec where he finished in sixth place.
Kennedy says he "remains unknown" [in Quebec] but gave no signs of being discouraged.
As far as I know, this is only the second in depth interview Gerard Kennedy has given in French in the entire campaign! So if he remains unknown in Quebec, he has nobody to blame but himself.
The gist of the article is that Kennedy says that English Canadians are not ready for Quebec to be recognised as a nation but that there should be some kind of recognition of Quebec. "We need to find the right expression".
Gerard Kennedy had called Quebec a nation in the last Montreal debate but then briefly explained to a CP reporter a couple of days later that "Quebec was a nation only in French".
- Gerard Kennedy and "la grande seduction"
- "Gerard Kennedy Does Not Speak French" (La Presse).
- According to Gerard Kennedy, Quebec is a Nation Only in French!
- Gerard Kennedy Calls Quebec a Nation
- Gerard Kennedy Avoiding Francophone Media
- Gerard Kennedy on RDI: Horrible French.
- Gerard Kennedy est trop peureux pour Tout le monde en parle!
- Gerard Kennedy a/in Gatineau: je parle le French tres beaucoup
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