Leadnow.ca

Leadnow.ca is an independent advocacy organization that brings generations of Canadians together to achieve progress through democracy. I support their ideals and some of their approaches, Take a look at this initiative and if you can help do so now.

We're working together to build a stronger democracy that protects our environment, creates economic opportunity while increasing equality, and guarantees that everyone receives the care they need.

We have a bold plan to make this election a turning point. Right now we need your help to raise $50,000 for powerful new technology, provocative ads and local organizers in key ridings so we can surge out of the gates in September.

Please click here to donate whatever you can - whether it’s $5, $20, $50 or more. It’s your choice, but if we all decide to give what we can, it will really add up fast.

We’re crunching the numbers. Despite scandal after scandal, the Conservative Party’s massive fundraising machine just raised more money than the NDP and Liberals combined).[3] And, with our broken electoral system and divided opposition parties, the Conservatives could still hold onto power with barely 30% support from voters.

We need to bring in some fresh energy to change things in 2015. We’re preparing a bold plan based on your feedback and key lessons from our experience and Obama’s successful election campaigns. Together we’ll rally Canadians, including many young people who did not vote last election, to get out and vote for the candidate who has the best chance of working together in Parliament for progress on the major challenges facing our society.[4]

From environmental destruction to massive growing inequality, the Leadnow community agrees that our country is heading in the wrong direction. The next election CAN be a turning point, but only if we start working together now. Here’s the plan:

1. Find people who didn’t vote last time: To design the best election campaign, we need to reach out in campuses and communities across the country to listen to Canadians, especially people who did not vote in the last election. 

2. Create a program for action: We’ll ask people who didn’t vote in the last election about their concerns and see how their answers connect with the Leadnow community’s big picture goals on democracy, climate and inequality. Together we’ll create a program for action that will motivate people across the country. 

3. Organize in ridings across the country: We’ll work together to get out and build support in communities across the country. We’ll focus efforts in places where a hundred, or a few thousand, votes will make the biggest difference. We’re doing detailed analysis now so we can spend money wisely.

4. Grow opposition to contain the damage: We’ve already stopped or delayed this government time and again. We’ll keep running campaigns to hold this government accountable on the issues that matter most to this community.[5] Together, we’ll create a list of the worst damage done by this government and build a powerful campaign to get the NDP, Liberals and Greens to commit to undo that damage after the election.[6]

5. Build support for crucial reforms: As we reach out to more and more Canadians and focus organizing in key ridings, we'll make sure the political parties respond to our community’s program for action on democracy, climate and inequality with strengthened commitments in their campaign platforms.

6. Cooperate, endorse or support before the next election: Before the next election, we’ll either secure a cooperation agreement between the NDP, Liberals and Greens, or if the parties do not cooperate then we’ll find a community-driven strategy to focus support behind the key candidates in strategic ridings. We’ll work together to find the best solution.[7]

7. Get out the vote during the election: During the next election we’ll focus our efforts on mobilizing in key ridings to inspire hundreds of thousands to vote for the candidate who has the best chance of representing their values in Parliament. 

8. Undo the worst damage: After the election, we’ll work with the new government to undo some of the worst damage that’s been done in the last few years. 

9. Pass crucial reforms: Now the real work begins! We’ll work together to ensure the new government passes crucial reforms to fix our broken electoral system, make Canada a climate leader and build a fair economy that reduces inequality. 

Okay, so that’s hugely ambitious, but there’s 300,000 of us in this community and we can accomplish so much if we work together. 

We can do it, but we need to get started now. If 2,500 people donate $20 we’ll reach our $50,000 kickstart goal to launch this campaign. 

In fact, just 150 people giving $20 a month will let us hire another organizer, and just one to three organizers can mobilize enough volunteers to to win a close riding. 

If we all chip in what we can, whether it’s $5, $20, $50 or more, we can build an effective organizing machine to reboot our democracy. 

Please click here to donate today:
http://www.leadnow.ca/summer-fundraiser-2013 

Shame on my MP James Moore for his uncharitable comments

My thanks to Ross at the Gazetteer for the following story. 

I support the food bank and I want and ask others to do the same, especially around this time of year. To hear a Minister of the Crown, come out and deny that it is his personal responsibility to help feed children is sickening. I can understand how a heartless government like Steven Harpers  can pass the buck on poverty to others (Public Policy on poverty is a provincial not a Federal responsibility in Canada). 

But most of us have some empathy and want to help out, and many thousands support our neighbours who are hungry. james moore has been touted by some to be a successor to harper when he finally leaves. From Mr. moore's statement below he will be worse than harper.


First, there was this story from CKWX'  Sara Norman:

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It appears the federal government won’t be helping BC get out of the top spot when it comes to child poverty.

“Is it my job to feed my neighbour’s child? I don’t think so.” That from Federal Minister of Industry James Moore who is also the Member of Parliament for Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam. He says it’s the responsibility of the provinces to deal with child poverty, and Ottawa has no plans to step in....

Then, there was this response from Mr. Moore via that Newswatchy aggregatorish-type guy.
where he says the quote is out of context. 

While thanks to the magic of technology here is the actual quote. or you can go here (I suspect that the quote link will be taken down by the radio station very soon, (they are supporters of the Federal Government and will not want this quote to stay up long) Notice how moore laughs at the idea of helping feed children. (His comments are at the end of the tape which is about 1: 10 seconds lon)

The mainstream media is reporting that moore has apologized and is accepting that apology. I do not. Here is the apology from the press:

But on Monday, he issued a statement that backtracked categorically.

"Caring for each other is a Canadian ethic that I strongly believe in — always have and always will. Of course poverty is an issue that concerns me, and concerns all Canadians," he said.

Moore said that "all levels of government, indeed all members of our society" need to show compassion for those in need.

"Great work has been done to tackle poverty and the challenges associated with poverty. And while more work is needed, I know the cause of fighting poverty is not helped by comments like those I made last week.

"For that, I am sorry."

A careful reading of his comment is that he is still feels he is not responsible for helping others in need, His comment reflects that he believes governments need to show compassion, but it does not reflect that he personally needs to show compassion (conservatives seem to like to pass the buck, rather than take personal responsibility, moore is no exception in this regard.) 

His comments also reflect that he is sorry that his comment made the cause of fighting poverty harder (I suspect he has only apologized since the press picked up the original story otherwise he would not have attacked the reporter when she broke the story to say that she had taken the quote out of context.) james moore is another conservative politician who would not know the truth if it was starring him in the face . I believe that he is still heartless and does not deserve to be an MP representing me.

How did we let this happen?

Some interesting pictures of people and animals in situations that make you wonder how they got into these positions and how are we going to get them out of these positions without harm to themselves or others.

A Good Catholic Joke

An oldie but a goodie, thanks to Bill for this:

The Pope and Stephen Harper are on the same stage in the Maple Leaf Gardens in front of a huge crowd.

The Pope leans towards Mr. Harper and said, "Do you know that with one little wave of my hand I can make every person in this crowd go wild with joy? This joy will not be a momentary display, but will go deep into their hearts and they'll forever speak of this day and rejoice!"

Harper replied, "I seriously doubt that! With one little wave of your hand....Show me!"


So the Pope backhanded Harper and knocked him off the stage!

AND THE CROWD ROARED & CHEERED WILDLY and there was happiness throughout the land!

Kind of brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it?

The problem is....

The problem isn't how they got in there......... it's how you get them out.

My thanks to Carl for this one

Terrorism in Canada, eh!

Police in Canada have arrested and charged a man and woman with terrorism for attempting to leave pressure cooker bombs at British Columbia’s provincial legislature on Canada Day, when thousands of people were expected to be there.

John Stewart Nuttall and Amanda Marie Korody were inspired by al-Qaida ideology but were self-radicalized, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner James Malizia said Tuesday. He called it a domestic threat without international connections.

BUT
They charged (corrected) them in MARCH – Search Traffic/Criminal
https://eservice.ag.gov.bc.ca/cso/ 

run the names..

198990-1 1 02-Mar-2013 CCC – 465(1)(c) Conspiracy to commit indictable offence Commit KORODY, AMANDA Marie/ NUTTALL, JOHN Stewart Surrey BC
198990-1 2 02-Mar-2013 CCC – 83.19 knowingly facilitate a terrorist activity Commit KORODY, AMANDA Marie/ NUTTALL, JOHN Stewart Surrey BC
198990-1 3 25-Jun-2013 CCC – 83.2 makes/has in his possession explosive substance

See the screen shot of this on he Court Services online (Removed from public view by July 2):

So What is going on, with this story? Why were these two in fact charged but not arrested  in March? Was it so they could be arrested on Canada Day to make more of an impact to serve the needs of the government?

With our corrupt governments and Police we may never know!

Source: http://westcoastnativenews.com/?attachment_id=9152 

More on the story: http://westcoastnativenews.com/2-face-terror-charges-after-canada-day-bombs-found/ 

Canada a dictatorship under Harper. More Occupy Canada views

Source is here until Harper has it removed. Posted on June 10, 2013

Stephen Harper is quoted from his own words in mainstream media news sources calling Canada a dictatorship, and having the audacity to say you won't recognize Canada when he's through with it. He even renamed the government of Canada after himself.

It's on record he's borrowed techniques from the works of dictator Joseph Stalin, China's propaganda minister, even Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels yet some Canadians are still on the fence, have their heads buried in the sand and won't see him for what he is..

Astounding the same thing happened in Germany no one saw Hitler coming or most were quiet and scared. 

FIRST THEY CAME FOR THE SCIENTISTS, THEN THEY CAME FOR THE LIBRARIANS..

Dictator speaks - What won't be recognized? Your country, your towns.

The fallacy of irrelevance presents an amusing comparison of a choice of phrases between the 'Great Dictator', Adolf Hitler, and the leader of the "benign dictatorship" of Canada, former Alliance Party founder and current Harper Government head of control, Stephen Harper.

Hitler quote (translated):
"Give me four years and I promise you you won't recognize your towns." as quoted in The Harvard Crimson review of The Bombing of Germany, Hans Rumpf; Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963.

source 1. The Harvard crimson.http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1963/10/24/bombs-over-germany-peighteen-years-after/

source 2. The official Australian War Memorial
http://www.awm.gov.au/wartime/25/article.asp

Harper quote:
“You won’t recognize Canada when I’m through with it,” as quoted in The National Post special excerpt from What We Talk About When We Talk About War, Noah Richler; Goose Lane Editions, 2012.
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/05/05/noah-richler-a-nation-playing-war/

Quote source 2. The Hill Times
Stephen Harper once said ‘you won’t recognize Canada when I get through with it.’
source: http://www.hilltimes.com/policy-briefing/2012/02/06/is-this-the-end-of-canadian-medicare/29460

CBC News: Stephen Harper calls Canada "a benign dictatorship." http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/03/30/cv-milewski-harper-coalition.html

"The Conservatives under Stephen Harper are running an effective dictatorship." -Frances Russell, Winnipeg Free Press >http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/harperites-undermine-democracy-201575301.html

Is Stephen Harper displaying fascist-like tendencies?
by Nick Fillmore, CBC journalist for 20 years, turned independent. >http://canadiandimension.com/articles/4486/, Bio: http://j-source.ca/users/nick-fillmore

National Post: Stephen Harper over the years has apparently styled himself after the former Soviet dictator, utilizing portions of Joseph Stalins' philosophy in order to divide and conquer, in order to keep himself in power.

"Harper's choice of reading material has disturbed even some of his own party members. A senior conservative cabinet minister(who asked that the national post do not release his name) claims that: Harper had "read and mastered" the biography and leadership style of Russia's Communist dictator Josef Stalin, and said the prime minister has adopted some of the same tactics. "He plays people off against one another, he attempts to inspire fear rather than respect, he is unpredictable and he is 100 per cent focused on eliminating the opposition," the senior Conservative explained."
source: http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=eaf90e25-6d16-4156-8cec-a735d758144b&k

Stephen Harper is borrowing Propaganda techniques from Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels >http://voices-voix.ca/en/news/harpers-communications-strategy-and-some-principles-propaganda

Here is an article from The Hill Times written by the late Professor William Stanbury: 'Joseph Goebbels said it, Stephen Harper lives it' - Harper's communications strategy and some principles of propaganda

The Hill Times, Monday, November 23, 2009
>http://www.hilltimes.com/stanburys-view/2009/11/23/harpers-communications-strategy-and-some-principles-of-propaganda/22832

Some readers may be shocked to learn that the principles cited and used by the Harper government are based upon Joseph Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda

Canadians growing tired of Harper’s Economic Action Plan call government ads ‘propaganda’ in recent survey
>http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/02/17/canadians-growing-tired-of-harpers-economic-action-plan-call-government-ads-propaganda-in-recent-survey/

The Globe and Mail- Stephen Harper has been getting pointers from China's Propaganda Minister, he is the leading controller of Internet and information censorship.

"Mr. Harper’s government, however, barely mentioned the three-day visit of the powerful Communist Party official. How powerful? Forbes ranked Mr. Li No. 19 on a list of the world’s most powerful people. In their words, he “controls what 1.3 billion Chinese see, hear, speak.” he is the de facto controller of media and information censorship." > http://bit.ly/HZ1n6J

Stephen Harper removed former prime ministers paintings in the lobby of the Ottawa House of Commons and replaced them with photos of himself. >http://bit.ly/TLP3RB

The Globe and Mail: "Mr. Harper's idea of what sort of art you should hang on your wall was signalled by his removal of all pictures of previous Conservative prime ministers from their lobby room - including John A. and Dief the Chief - and their replacement by pictures of none other than Mr. Harper himself. History, it seems, is to begin with him. In communist countries, this used to be called the Cult of Personality." http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/to-be-creative-is-in-fact-canadian/article716213/

"The prime minister's official Christmas card portrayed Mr. Harper looking out a living room window adorned with 24 photographs, small to large, of himself." Photo:http://blog.ounodesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/harperxmas1.301.jpg

Toronto Star: Stephen Harper renames 'Government of Canada' after himself. >http://bit.ly/gthmyi,http://bit.ly/19Qkkc5

Harper Conquers Canada though election fraud, One Robocall at a Time>http://huff.to/xJMgJI,http://bit.ly/fnI6uD, http://bit.ly/1070is5,http://bit.ly/UW1Gcg

Harper's government isn't just trying to re-write history books in schools, they're censoring or muzzling Canadian scientists, librarians, the CBC, archivists, artists, diplomats, police, even conservative MP's - they're blocking access to information and harassing whistleblowers and anyone who dares challenge them. Full comprehensive references can be read here >>>http://ow.ly/lTRg3

Here's a repository of over 80 muzzling cases in Canada:
"The hit list documents more than 80 cases of individuals, organizations and public service institutions that have been muzzled, defunded, shut down or subjected to vilification by Stephen Harper's government" >www.voices-voix.ca/hit-list

The Slow and Painful Death of Freedom in Canada
>http://huff.to/YgKZMl

"So perhaps it is time for us Canadians to wake up and smell the suppression -- no longer are censorships solely the purview of tin-pot dictators in far away regimes.
These seemingly gradual erosions to the freedoms of assembly, expression and information in Canada are all very real" - Adam Kingsmith, PhD Candidate

Everyone needs to watch this: "1984 in 2013: The Assault on Reason" - by Allan Gregg, former conservative pollster and TVO host >http://huff.to/16oPkjl, http://huff.to/QAcSIK

Stephen Harper government builds Orwellian stone wall around information: Public editor >http://bit.ly/10QWbzP

Toronto Star 'Plague of Harper government secrecy throttles Canadians’ freedom' >http://bit.ly/18yM0ig

Harper government found spying on aboriginal children advocate, including stalking her facebook page>http://bit.ly/18ttHiN

Macleans magazine: 'With the muzzling of scientists, Harper’s obsession with control verges on the Orwellian'
> http://bit.ly/11GGUxT 

Climbing down from the mountain

When I was younger back in the very early 1970's I went off to a academic retreat for a week as part of my training to become a teacher. When I returned back home, I noticed that I thought I had changed, but I noticed that the people around me had not. Live goes on as normal, even when we are away and having life changing or just wonderful experiences that force us to look at what we do differently. Talking it over with my professor (Maurice Gibbons), I think he called it the "Climbing down from the mountain" syndrome (The idea is a variation of the Mountain Top Experience that comes from religious experiences, which gave you a deep sense of your own worth and/or the beauty of life). 

This idea struck me as interesting and important and I have used the concept as a way to help my Masters of Education students think about how that experience changed them and how they had a responsibility to others around us to help them understand our journey. In brief the idea is that we find it hard to adjust to life when we have experienced a new adventure or experience that we think has changed us or our view on our world. 

The reason for bringing this up is that we have just returned from a seven week trip to Australia a few days ago. After jet lag I  immediately came down with one of the two types of flu making the rounds in my area of the country. As a result I have not had a chance to comment or catch up on the goings on in North America, but I will over the next few days and weeks get caught up on my reading and discussions with friends and family to catch up and to try to settle back into the routine of being at home so I can reconcile my experience with the routine of being at home.

One of the interesting things about being a Canadian abroad is that Canada is the realization that Canada is not a player on the world stage. In Australia, the only news of importance about Canada that I recall seeing over the seven weeks was about the Hockey lockout; this was because one of our hosts is a real hockey enthusiast, otherwise Canada was not mentioned at all in the mainstream media that I looked at over the time I was visiting.

At one point Canada may have had some influence but I suspect that Steven Harper and his government foreign affairs policies have made Canada redundant on the world stage. So without any news of Canada I missed out on the birth of the "Idle no more" movement, the hunger strike of  Attiwapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, the backlash and the support of the movement from the public the return of the ugly face of racism (for more on this check out Montreal Simon's always interesting blog,)  to the mainstream of Canadian consciousness and much more I suspect. 

As I was in an area of Australia that had no broadband, I was also not able to link to Canada with the Internet or email or Facebook, which was a bit of a shock as I think I am an information addict, and the loss of connection was hard, but after a week or two I was over the shock and getting on with the holiday.

Canadians are well received in Australia, but we are often confused with Americans and I learned to laugh and gently correct the misconception, I guess my West Coast Canadian accent must to the Australian ear sound American. Just as to my ear, the New Zealand and Australian accents sound very similar. While in Australia I had the time to write down some ideas that I will share over the next few months. 

In BC we are coming up to an election and I agree with the thoughts at "Keeping it Real" that the blogging community will play an important part in the upcoming election.

It is good to be back and I look forward on getting caught up with the life, and to my brother, whose Retirement party I missed,  as you start the second month of your retirement, best wishes and enjoy the time as you have earned it.

Ten things Stephen Harper hopes you forget by 2015

As we move closer to 2015 this article posted in June is important to Federal Politics, what else would Harper want us to forget, the list is longer and keeps growing. Canadian voters are not as stupid as Harper thinks, I hope.

Ten things Stephen Harper hopes you forget by 2015 Posted on Wed, Jun 13, 2012, 5:05 am by Michael Harris

Tyranny, the arbitrary exercise of power by a government, usually pads up behind you in stocking feet. It has to. In a democracy, stealth is the only way it can succeed.

But in Canada these days, it pokes you in the chest with an index finger while shoving you backwards with the other hand. As it turns out, Blaise Pascal might have been right: mankind can get used to anything, including the breathless loss of democratic freedoms when the usurping party masquerades as strong, competent government. Six years in to Harper rule, blue eyes and mascara

1. Bill C-38 is the first thing Stephen Harper hopes you forget in time for the next election. It is passing through parliament like an institutional kidney stone the size of the Ritz. Wags in Ottawa who briefly portrayed it for what it is, the demise of parliament, are already slipping into discount mode. There have been omnibus bills before, they say; all’s fair in love, war and politics, they say; why, it’s just Elizabeth May’s slumber party, that’s all. Bottom of Form

2. The PM also hopes Canadians will forget 20,000 police on Canadian streets during the obscenely expensive G-8 and G-20 meetings of 2010. In Toronto, the guys in the riot gear would have done Hosni Mubarak proud. The security arrangements included kettling, beatings, unlawful arrests, and other examples of excessive force not normally associated with Canada.  According to the Office of the Independent Police Review (the sort of office Harper has done away with at CSIS) there was no legal justification for arbitrary searches by police and the debacle ended with the largest mass arrests in Canadian history. And now we find out that one of the threats to national security identified by Canadian Forces was “embarrassment to the Government.”

3. Mr. Harper hopes you forget the F-35, an unprecedented fiscal, military, and political fiasco brought to you by a corrupt military procurement system in the U.S. and a rogue DND in this country unchecked by the civilian side. Too many zeros on the cheque is the government’s best defense; that, and the availability of robots like Julian Fantino, who will apparently read anything that is put in his hands. The public money about to be wasted is unimaginably staggering and on that account meaningless – or so the government hopes. But lying about the program’s costs to the tune of at least $10-billion, as the Harper government has done, is different. It offends the stuff they taught in Sunday School. People get that.

4. The Harper government would like you to forget that the Liberals in Canada haven’t been the only fiscal drunken sailors of Confederation. Only once in the 20th century did a Conservative government balance the budget – Robert Borden in 1912, thanks to a surplus handed to him by Sir Wilfred Laurier. By the next year, Borden was back into deficit. So far, the Conservatives have repeated the feat once again in the 21st century, in 2006. This time the surplus was inherited from Paul Martin. Within a year, the government was back at the job of building the largest deficit in our history.

5. It would also be convenient for you to forget that Stephen Harper once promised that he would not change the Old Age Security system to fight the deficit. He did just that. Stephen Harper doesn’t want to meet his Solange Denis, but certainly not because he has any idea of backing down the way Mulroney did. He’d rather you just forgot about it.

6. As he would like you to forget about the Accountability Act, that dress rehearsal for better Tory governance that never went into production. Other politicians give you their word, Stephen Harper gives wording. His gift as a rhetorical trickster has rarely been more in evidence than in the voluminous charade known as the Accountability Act. Duff Conacher, the founder of Democracy Watch, has graded this piece of legislation appropriately – a belly-flop from the high-diving board of political BS. It features a commitment to language and an aversion to acting on the language that conjures up the PM’s greasy undermining of the Atlantic Accord. Best forgotten.

7. It would also be appreciated by the Harper government if you took a nice long drink from the Lethe on the subject of what used to be called federal/provincial relations. The prime minister has eschewed a meeting with the premiers like a man making a detour around a leper colony. In Mulroney’s day, the view was that consensus was the only way for the country to compete and prosper. That’s what his National Economic Conference and fourteen First Ministers’ gatherings were all about. Stephen Harper’s idea of a meeting of the minds is his mind and a lot of stenographers. Just ask Jim Flaherty’s provincial counterparts on the matter of health transfers.

8. It would also be nice if you could forget that the Harper government’s first instinct on regulating the Internet was giving police the right to snoop into the private lives of Canadians without warrants. This they called law and order. Government, the hapless Vic Toews assured us, has business in the computers of the nation. And if you didn’t see it that way, you stood with the child pornographers. Yes, exactly the way that you were a subversive radical if you had misgivings about the government’s lust to build pipelines, leaky or otherwise, while paying lip service to environmental issues.
9. The government would be especially grateful if you could just let slip into oblivion that whole unfortunate incident about the beautification of Tony Clement’s cottage-country riding, that exercise in rural renewal that came at the small price of misleading parliament and misappropriating money – from the Border Patrol Agency to the Conservative Party of Canada. And if you are good enough to forget that slushy little fact, the government would be doubly grateful: that way you might not wonder before marking your ballot the next time how this particular fox could have then been put in charge of all those chickens over at Treasury Board
10. Finally, Stephen Harper would really like you to forget that he is a niche prime minister who has consistently served the wealthy and the corporate while “managing” the great unwashed as the problem children of society – the ones who go on strike, who dare to disagree, who expect too much, who cost rather than contribute to the treasury – even if they have spent a life-time doing just that. There is little patience, tolerance, proportional thinking or moral imagination in his government. What there is, spun out of a weird amalgam of Austrian economics and American neo-conservatism

The metamorphosis of democracy into something else begins with forgetfulness and ends with an eerie silence where once there was a multitude of voices.

Federal Government censorship challenged by Vancouver Actors

Will the prime minister sue a group of Vancouver actors asks the Vancouver Sun, in an attempt to gain readers and to intimidate the artistic community in Vancouver who have decided to challenge Steven Harper and his censorship of the arts. The following is from the Vancouver Sun story and  Google news


David Bloom, who's directing the Vancouver reading of the controversial play Proud, which features (Tom McBeath, John Cassini, Quelemia Sparrow and Gaelan Beatty), says the idea of a libel suit is a red herring, but he understands why artists might be afraid of offending the government.


"Obviously companies who depend on Heritage Canada - have reason to be nervous about upsetting a sitting government - The federal government can withdraw funding from an-body it likes. Would they do something punitive because of this script? Who's to say?" This would sound like paranoia if not for a few recent controversies where artists with an anti-government bent have had their federal funding pulled.


Summerworks, a Toronto theatre festival, lost its annual funding the year after a spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office expressed "disappointment" that Heritage Canada funded a festival that presented a play about terrorism.



For more information on the event link here: Staged Reading of PROUD, July 22, 8 PM 

Tickets are general admission, and by donation. For ticket reservations, email proudvancouver@gmail.com .


Vancouver artists stand in solidarity with Toronto colleagues by mounting a staged reading of Michael Healey’s controversial new play, Proud on Sunday, July 22 (8:00 pm) at PL 1422.


Michael Healey wrote Proud during his 11-year tenure as Playwright in Residence at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. When the company chose not to produce the play as part of their 2012-13 season, Healey resigned from his post. The play – a comedy – features an unnamed character called “The Prime Minister” and is about Canadian social and political values. The Tarragon Theatre denies that programming choices are effected by political pressure, but only last year Toronto’s Summerworks Theatre Festival had funding cut by Canadian Heritage after choosing to present a play that allegedly portrayed a homegrown “terrorist” sympathetically. Healey is mounting an independent production of Proud in Toronto this fall.


Vancouver’s reading of Proud is directed by David Bloom, Artistic Director of Felix Culpa, and features Tom McBeath (Death of a Salesman), John Cassini (God of Carnage), Quelemia Sparrow (August: Osage County), and Gaelan Beatty (Xanadu).


Director Bloom says, “We are producing Proud for two reasons: it’s an intelligent and provocative piece of theatre about our current political landscape, and because the greatest threat to the arts is self-censorship and fear.”


He continues, “The fact is we will never know for certain why Tarragon decided not to produce Proud. Here’s a question worth asking though: why is it so easy for us to believe they feared some kind of retribution for producing a play critical of the Harper Government™? Is it because theatre artists are innately timid, or is it because the government’s attacks on their perceived enemies have become so flagrant and outrageous? If they can set aside 8 million dollars to attack charities that disagree with their policies, surely anybody can be a target.”


Vancouver theatre companies supporting Proud include Felix Culpa, Neworld Theatre, Touchstone Theatre, Arts Club Theatre, Playwrights Theatre Centre, Ruby Slippers, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, Compassionate Bone, Leaky Heaven Circus, and Pi Theatre.

Life in Canada under harper

One day before Canada Day, I think it is important to reflect on what Canada is becoming under Harper.  The Sixth Estate has a wonderful post that paints a very realistic picture of what life in Canada today could become. The post is called  Life Under Canada’s Small Government Dystopia and was posted on June 23, but I think it is important to read it as we move to celebrate Canada Day


The following post is deliberately alarmist. Orwellian, you might say. I’m not trying to paint a picture of what things are like in Canada right now, or even what I think they’ll be like in the near future. I’m not an idiot. But I do want to paint a picture of the sort of Canada which is explicitly permitted under some of the legal changes proposed and/or actually passed by the Harper regime. Whether this represents in any way the policies of a party that used to stand for small, transparent, and accountable government, is also up to you. I think by the end of this you’ll have a good idea where I stand on that question. So some of this list has already happened, but more of it are things the government has said they want to be allowed to happen, but haven’t actually done. Yet.

We’ll start from the perspective of an immigrant, rather than a newborn Canadian. You apply for immigration, you make sure all your ducks are in order, and you wait for your application to be processed. Because the government can’t afford to process the paperwork, your application may languish for a considerable time. Sometimes, the government simply eliminates the waiting list altogether and instructs you to start over from square one. You will also need to keep your political beliefs very quiet (or make sure they agree with the government in power), because the law allows the minister to personally reject your application for the nebulous reason of “public policy considerations.”


Read the entire post here or here:  Posted by Sixth Estate under Democracy and Politics

The impact of the new mortgage rules in Canada

Garth Turner at his blog the Greaterfool.ca spends some time looking at the impact of the recent decision by the harper government to change the mortgage rules in Canada. The impact of this is going to impact all of us who own property or want to own property. The full post is here but the excerpt below should give us all pause to think, emphasis mine.


...The US media has been peppered with stories about an inevitable dump in Canuckistan real estate values now for a couple of months (this apparently seems obvious to everyone but Canadians). But with Ottawa’s deliberate deflation of housing just days ago, fear’s in the air.


No wonder. As the F-and-OSFI tag-team hits are better understood, consequences become clearer.


There are more than a quarter million first-time home buyers a year in Canada (new and resale), and at least half of them will be affected by killing off the 30-year amortization, eliminating the cash-back mortgage or jacking up borrower qualifications. A big reason house prices have advanced and unsustainable markets held has been all the virgins pouring in with their hormones and 100% financing. Underestimating the impact of these changes on them, or the market, would be a big mistake.


As the mortgage broker bible (Canadian Mortgage Trends) pointed out, dropping the amortization alone means a buyer with no debt and a $75,000 income will qualify for almost $50,000 less in financing. So he doesn’t buy, or prices go down $50,000. Either way, big outcome.


Ditto for the new debt-ratio rules. Last week some people thought they were being made more generous, but the opposite is true. The gross debt service ratio (GDS) is falling from 44% to 39%, which means a buyer earning $75,000 not only can afford less mortgage, but might also qualify for a significantly lower amount – 12%, or $57,000, less. More downward pressure on house prices.


The new million-dollar rule for CHMC insurance might be politically sexy, but it’s also a game-changer in places like Vancouver, Richmond, Unionville and hunks of 416. In the GTA and the Lower Mainland million-plus listings now amount to almost 20% of the entire market. As I mentioned last week, over 2,500 houses in Van and 5,000 across the region are priced here. Soon buyers will need at least $250,000 in cash to close these deals, which means more $999,900 homes.


And those HELOC changes are a big deal. Today you can borrow 85% of your home equity, but soon it will be just 65% (or 80% if you layer an amortized mortgage on top of a line of credit). The inevitable result will be crickets in Home Depot. But how can civilized life go on without upgrades to 14-burner gas ranges and squirting toilets?


By the way, the mortgage industry is freaking. The professional association issued a statement saying, “these changes, together with new OSFI underwriting guidelines…may precipitate the housing market downturn the government so desperately wants to avoid.”


But the fact is, F and Mark Carney now want real estate to deflate. They desire lower prices, even knowing thousands of recent buyers will be thrust under water, economic growth will be impacted, employment whacked and downtown condo towers turned into monuments to speculator stupidity and losses. As houses lose value, families will shed equity – everywhere. The wealth effect will be gone, and consumer spending impacted. Lower retail sales, fewer Best Buys and more Wal-Marts.


It underscores the seriousness of the choice: wait for a US-style, bank-kicking housing wreck, or create a Canadian-style controlled melt.

The attack on Human Rights in Canada continues

On June 6,  D day, the conservatives government in Ottawa, moved to destroy the right to be protected from hate speech and they are proud of their action. What next? Many bloggers have said, I among them, that Harper will destroy the social contract between the government and our citizens, by using back benchers to do his work.  There are calls from conservative back benchers to bring back capital punishment, the government has reopened the debate on abortion, with a move to outlaw it. Backbenchers are calling for Canada to leave the United Nations and now they are moving to dismantle the Human Rights Act, one section at a time. There is little if no outrage, and that fact is depressing


OTTAWA — The Conservative government voted late Wednesday to repeal controversial sections of the Canadian Human Rights Act banning hate speech over the telephone or Internet.


In a vote of 153 to 136, the majority Harper government supported a private member's bill from Alberta Conservative MP Brian Storseth that would scrap Section 13 of the human rights code, which deals with complaints regarding "the communication of hate messages by telephone or on the Internet."


Storseth argues the current human-rights code fails to protect freedom of speech, which is guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and believes Canadians are better off if the government repeals sections 13 and 54 — the latter section dealing with associated penalties.


"At every stage, the Conservative caucus has voted for it," Storseth, a backbencher, said Wednesday in an interview before the vote on third and final reading in the House of Commons.


"I'm looking forward to continuing to have Conservative caucus support."


Senior cabinet ministers supported the bill and the results of the vote generated loud applause from Conservative MPs




Read more: 

Occupy Canada Links updated

Its scandal after scandal with the most secretive government in Canadian history! "The Harper Regime" is taking the knife to the Canadian people with streamlining cuts while they continue to lie to the Canadian public about billion dollar expenditures.

Outrageous spending on superjails to privatize prisons, $25 billion dollar fighter jets, double the costs with 2 sets of books, Libya War spending 6x the estimates they gave, Military contracts for weapons which are double the estimates, they have all this money for security contracts yet and full federal budget cuts are being kept secret until 2013, right now there's cuts to everything from award winning rehab programs for inmates, food safety cuts (Canada is the first developed country to face such a probe by U.N food inspectors), elections Canada cuts during an ongoing investigation onto election fraud, Stats Canada cuts, CSIS oversight has been cut, Auditor General cuts, CBC cuts, border security cuts, parks Canada cuts , refugee health care cuts, 16,000 public service job cuts, programs for PTSD and suicide prevention for our Canadian military cut.. 100 E.I centres cut, the shredding of environmental review process from 40 to 3, all to line their corporate partners and themselves pockets of tax payer's money. WAKE UP CANADA

(All References/Sources Attached Below: Its a comprehensive list of references all fact checked, its very important for all Canadians to read this, please take the time!))

 BILLIONS FOR MILITARY CONTRACTS, CONS LIED ABOUT COSTS
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May 11, 2012- Quietly awarded $105M defence contract leads to accusations Tories trying to hide details of military spending
Source: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/11/quietly-awarded-105m-defence-contract-leads-to-accusations-tories-trying-to-hide-details-of-military-spending/

Canada’s mission in Libya cost almost 6 TIMES the original estimates Peter Mckay gave. The total cost of the Libya operation — a figure that includes everything from jet fuel to pilot salaries, including the salaries of military personnel — comes in at $347 MILLION
Last October, MacKay told CBC Radio's The House the Libyan mission had cost taxpayers less than $50 million.
"As of Oct. 13, the figures that I've received have us well below that, somewhere under $50 million," MacKay said.
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/05/11/libya-mission-cost-spending-canada-peter-mackay_n_1509977.html

F-35 purchase had 2 sets of books, Page says
Conservative MP Rajotte denies government did anything wrong in jet procurement process
source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/04/27/pol-the-house-kevin-page-f35s-budget.html

Harper Government lied to Canadians on F-35 $25 billion costs - Auditor General
source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYgnVJvMCsE

SECRET CON GOVERNMENT KEEP FEDERAL BUDGET CUTS UNDER WRAP UNTIL 2013
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Its a secret government, Federal budget cuts withheld from public until late 2013

Harper government the most secretive, say Canadian Association of Journalists. The federal government was named for keeping information out of public hands on files such as the F-35 program, avoiding questions at media events and for restricting both public and media access to contentious information.
source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/harper-government-most-secretive-journalists-say/article2417147/

Details of federal cuts not coming until 2013
As Treasury Board president Tony Clement trumpets Canada's plan for open government at a meeting overseas, back home, the Conservatives are facing criticism for being secretive about thousands of federal job losses, government program cuts and taking control of pipeline approvals.
source: http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/Details+federal+cuts+coming+until+2013/6484464/story.html

Handcuffed’ Tories won’t reveal full details of cuts till next spring
Canadians will have to wait until the spring of 2013 to get a full accounting of what programs and services have been cut to balance the federal books. That’s the timeline Treasury Board President (G8 legacy $50 million dollar fund fraudster) Tony Clement reluctantly confirmed Wednesday during a conference call from Brazil, where he’s taking part in a conference on “open government.”
source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/handcuffed-tories-wont-reveal-full-details-of-cuts-till-next-spring/article2406714/

Government secrecy over details of spending cuts in the 2012 budget is unnecessary and prevents MPs from performing their constitutional role as watchdogs of the public purse, the Parliamentary Budget Officer warns. In two new reports released Wednesday, Kevin Page touches on a wide range of current economic issues. The reports urge departments to address the lack of transparency over spending cuts. The first report takes issue with the fact that the government, as recently explained by Treasury Board President Tony Clement, is of the view that existing rules prevent departments from fully detailing the cuts until as late as spring 2013. The minister’s comments appeared to contradict a pledge he made before the March 29 budget was released, when he promised to provide MPs with “timely and accurate” information on spending cuts. source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/no-need-to-withhold-detail-on-cuts-watchdog-tells-tories/article2413714/

FOOD SAFETY CUT BY CONS , UN INSPECTORS DENIED
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Remember Canada listeriosis outbreak where 22 Canadians died? Canada’s food-safety inspection force will shrink by as many as 100 inspectors — cuts the workers’ union says will have an impact on the safety of food purchased by Canadians. source:http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/04/11/budgets-cuts-mean-100-fewer-food-safety-inspectors-in-canada/

Canada is the first developed country to face such a probe by U.N food inspectors/envoy
source: : http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20120507/United-Nations-food-Olivier-Schutter-Canada-120507/#ixzz1uhaOWbZB

Harper government Cabinet ministers refuse to meet UN food envoy
Several of Harper's ministers have declined requests to meet with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food as part of his first-ever probe of a developed country.
http://www.canada.com/Cabinet+ministers+refuse+meet+food+envoy/6571488/story.html

Food bank demand remains near record high
In total, 851,014 people walked through the doors of a food bank in 2011
source: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20111101/food-bank-usage-national-study-canada-111101/#ixzz1uhav5GUf


PRISON REHABILITATION PROGRAM CUT BY CONS
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Prison rehab program axed due to Harper budget cuts
An award-winning program that helps rehabilitate prisoners and protect the public by keeping them from re-offending is falling victim to budget cuts.

The Lifeline program, which provides support for those serving life sentences and helps re-integrate those who are released on parole, has been operating in Canadian prisons for more than 20 years.
The estimated cost of the Lifeline program is $2 million per year
source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/04/16/corrections-service-lineline-cut.html

TWO -TIERED WAGE SYSTEM BY CONS
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Two-tiered wage system announced by hapercons. Employers will now be allowed to pay foreign temp workers 15 per cent less than the average wage. Source: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/1168905--two-tiered-wage-system-announced-by-tories


100 E.I CENTRES CUT BY CONS
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The number of E.I claims now waiting beyond 28 days has ballooned to 80,000. Over the next three years, The Harper government (Conservatives) is going to close the majority of 120 processing centres and shift services to 20 centralized offices (Mostly in conservative ridings) source:http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/01/13/pol-service-canada-closures.html

Video: Harper Government Hijacks E.I, 100 E.I Service Canada closures cominghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53Uz9JzKG1g


PUBLIC SERVICE JOBS CUT BY CONS
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Up to 68,000 public service jobs to be cut by Harper government
source: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20120123/public-service-job-cuts-120123/#ixzz1uhY4l3sG

The federal government said it would eliminate 19,200 jobs, about a third in the National Capital Region around Ottawa, as part of a spending review that will cut $5.2 billion over three years from government departments and agencies. Source:http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/03/29/federalbudget-flaherty-public-service-cuts.html

STATS CANADA CUT BY CONS
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Stats Canada cuts .. Nearly half of the roughly 5,000 people working at Statistics Canada are being warned that their jobs are at risk, suggesting deep cuts are in store for one of the country’s most trusted sources of information. source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/conservative-cuts-put-half-of-statscan-jobs-at-risk/article2418557/

CBC CUT BY CONS
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CBC major cuts, shed 650 jobs over 3 years due to Harpercon budget
The CBC will eliminate 650 jobs over the next three years, including 475 this fiscal year, in response to deep funding cuts in last week’s federal budget.

The federal budget means the CBC will lose $115 million in funding over three years. But Lacroix noted that because of cost increases and investments, it faces a shortfall of $200 million. Lacroix said the CBC hopes to offset that with $50 million in new revenue. The remaining $150 million will be reached through staff and program cuts and efficiencies.
source: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1156594--cbc-announces-cuts-will-shed-650-jobs-in-the-next-three-years

REFUGEE HEALTH CARE CUT BY CONS
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Doctors fight for refugee health care
Ottawa cutting off free health coverage for claimants from democratic nations. Hamilton doctors are raising the alarm about refugee claimants losing drug, vision and dental coverage at the end of June. Those deemed to be from safe and democratic countries will have no health coverage at all except services needed for protection of public health or safety.

“It's a complete travesty,” said Dr. Christian Kraeker, a Hamilton internist who participated in a protest against the federal cuts in Toronto Friday. It was one of a number of protests across the country.
http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/723350--doctors-fight-for-refugee-health-care

WATCH VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiNDtUaNudk%2F

Doctors stage sit-in over refugee health care cuts
Government plan would cut services to refugee claimants. Oliver was not at his office but about 60 of the doctors occupied it for about half an hour before police arrived and asked them to leave. They continued their protest outside on the street for another two hours. source;http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2012/05/11/doctors-refugee-sit-in.html

AUDITOR GENERAL CUT BY CONS
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Auditor-General’s office cuts
cons to cut 60 jobs, reduce number of audits
The Auditor-General’s office is cutting 10 per cent of its staff – or 60 jobs – and other parts of government are scrapping a wide range of reports to Parliament, according to the latest details on spending cuts provided by officials.
source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/auditor-generals-office-to-cut-60-jobs-reduce-number-of-audits/article2429408/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A+RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Politics&utm_content=2429408

Oversight agencies slashing budgets
Auditor general cutting 60 jobs. The watchdog agencies that oversee federal government operations have not been spared from sweeping cuts in this year's budget. source: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/oversight-agencies-slashing-budgets-151229155.html

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS CUT BY CONS
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Environmental Review cuts: David Suzuki Foundation, Greenpeace, Others Blast Tories For 'War On Nature' "We're very concerned that the federal government is conducting, essentially, a war on nature and democracy," he says.

Under the new federal plan, the government would have 45 days to decide if an assessment is needed for major economic projects. They would also cut the number of agencies responsible for reviews from 40 to 3. source: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/05/07/environmental-review-war-on-nature_n_1493942.html

PARKS CANADA CUT BY CONS
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Cuts to Parks Canada Parks..Canada said 32 positions in the N.W.T., 30 in Yukon and two in Nunavut will be affected as a result of federal budget cuts. Across Canada, more than 600 jobs will be affected at Parks Canada. “These people are part of our communities across the North,” he said.
“These are jobs retailers depend on for their sales, service companies depend on for their sales, and these people are no longer going to have the income to spend in our communities. This is going to hurt our economy.” Source:http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/story/2012/05/02/north-parks-canada-cuts.html

ELECTIONS CANADA CUT BY CONS
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Elections Canada cut starting this year during an ongoing investigation into election fraud.

Elections Canada funding will be cut by $7.5 million a year, starting in 2012-13.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/03/29/federalbudget-main.html

Could budget cuts of $7.5 million annually leave Elections Canada open for more fraud next time we head to the polls? Training to make sure candidates and parties know the rules at voting time is partially getting axed. The announcement came last week. Part of the federal budget included a cut of 8 per cent to the government agency. Source:http://www.news1130.com/news/national/article/348080--elections-canada-left-open-to-scandal-by-budget-cuts

PTSD/SUICIDE PREVENTION PROGRAM FOR OUR CANADIAN MILITARY CUT BY CONS
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Harper cons cuts soldier suicide prevention program, The Conservative government doesn’t appear to be backing down from its plan to cut the jobs of Department of National Defence medical professionals involved in suicide prevention and monitoring of post-traumatic stress disorders, even as the number of suicides in the Canadian Forces has increased. source: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/03/suicide-prevention-department-of-national-defence/

CSIS OVERSIGHT WATCHDOG CUT BY CONS
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**ALARM** , CSIS watchdog to be cut in budget..The watchdog responsible for monitoring the activities of Canada's spy agency and reporting findings to the minister in
charge will be eliminated as part of the federal government's budget. Source:http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/04/27/pol-csis-inspector-general-eliminated-budget.html

CSIS freed from final shreds of oversight
If you are a Canadian citizen, landed immigrant or refugee to this country and you are even the least bit aware of the rights and civil liberties that Canada affords you, then you should be deeply worried today. Late last week, in its familiar stealth-like fashion, Stephen Harper’s Conservative government shuttered the office of the Inspector General (IG) over Canada’s spy service, CSIS.
source: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1170771--csis-freed-from-final-shreds-of-oversight

BORDER SECURITY CUT BY CONS
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Border staff cuts called direct attack on national security. Canada is cutting back on border officers even as it prepares to deepen its co-operation with the United States through a wide-ranging deal on perimeter security. Dog-sniffer teams and intelligence officers are among the more than 1,300 jobs the union says it's been told will be eliminated at the Canada Border Services Agency. The government says that while more than 1,000 CBSA will receive letters about potential job reductions, only about 250 people will lose their jobs in the end. The union disputes this.
Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/border-staff-cuts-called-direct-attack-on-national-security/article2400622/


***PRIVATIZATION OF PRISONS COMING BY CONS
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The cost of the federal prison system has RISEN 86% since the Harper government took over in 2006, government reports show.
When the Conservatives came to power in 2005-06, Canada’s federal corrections system cost nearly $1.6-billion per year, but the projected cost for 2011-12 has increased to $2.98-billion per year. source: http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/07/18/prison-costs-soar-86-in-past-five-years/

Fair questions since the Conservatives on election campaign trials have talked of spending billions on building more prisons. But it’s even more fair when you consider that registered as a lobbyist in Ottawa on crime bill issues is none other than The GEO Group Inc., a $1.3-billion dollar American private for profit prison company that trades on the New York stock exchange.
Registered with the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada as registrant 779026-278825-2 is the THE GEO Group Inc, One Park Place Suite 700, Boca Raton, FL GEO is also listed as the client of The Parliamentary Group, a registered lobbying organization which lists former Reform Party MP Deb Grey as a partner. Grey was the Reform’s first election member of parliament whose legislative assistant is now Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Source: http://www.torontosun.com/2012/04/19/is-canada-headed-towards-privatized-prisons

The Harper government plans to spend another $158 million on new prisons with the current crimes rates at an all time low
Source: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/919371--critics-say-harper-government-throwing-prison-expansion-money-away

The omnibus crime bill is a crime
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1144453--fiorito-the-omnibus-crime-bill-is-a-crime

Crime rate falls to lowest level since 1973
Canada's crime rate is the lowest in nearly 40 years, according to Statistics Canada, as the volume of crime dropped five per cent in 2010 from the year before. source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/07/21/crime-rates.html

Canada's homicide rate declines to 44-year low
Public safety minister pleased, but says Tories won't change crime approach
source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2011/10/26/homicides-statscan.html

**Omnibus Crime Bill: Mental Illness Not A Consideration.**
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson ignored questions Thursday about how a massive new crime bill will deal with Canadians living with mental illness, including young offenders who find themselves being sentenced as adults. source: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/12/01/canada-omnibus-crime-bill-mental-illness_n_1124184.html

Controversial crime bill to cost Canadians $19 BILLION: study
http://www.vancouversun.com/Controversial+crime+bill+cost+Canadians+billion+study/5832700/story.html

Keeping a male inmate in jail per year cost tax payers $109,699 according to a 2009 corrections Canada report: in 2011 it rose to $113,974 a year.

Recent government reports on the cost of Canada’s jails show costs rising on all fronts. For instance, the cost of keeping a male inmate in prison rose from $88,067 per year in 2006 to $109,699 in 2009, according to the most recent data from Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.The cost of staffing Canada’s federal prisons has also increased significantly, with 5,745 more staff hired at Corrections Canada since the Conservatives took power. Staffing numbers have risen from 14,663 in 2005-06 to 20,408 full-time equivalents in 2011-12, according to Reports on Plans and Priorities.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/07/18/prison-costs-soar-86-in-past-five-years/

$312 per prisoner, per day
Land a bed in jail via rape, murder or any other heinous criminal act, and you’re suddenly worth $113,974 a year to the federal government — nearly ten times as much. Fair? Hardly. But that’s annual average cost for keeping an inmate incarcerated in Canada, according to the latest report from Corrections Canada. It means the federal government is paying $312 per prisoner, per day, to keep Canada’s worst citizens healthy, happy and secure in the penitentiaries our killers and cretins chose to live in.
source: http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/02/28/canadas-criminal-sitting-pretty-as-price-tag-for-prisoners-soars

Americans shocked Harper crime bill gives more time to pot growers than pedophiles
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/americans-odds-harper-crime-bill-gives-more-jail-160536154.html

Texas conseratives to Stephen Harper : Omnibus Crime Bill a huge mistake
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jdw2YJb7Hw

**Texas conservatives** reject Harper's crime plan
'Been there; done that; didn't work,' say Texas crime-fighters
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/10/17/pol-vp-milewski-texas-crime.html

Crime bill unfairly targets women, aboriginals, critics say
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/crime-bill-unfairly-targets-women-aboriginals-critics-say-132223703.html

The Ontario government says the omnibus federal crime bill will cost the province's taxpayers more than $1 billion in increased police and correctional service costs.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/01/23/ontario-federal-crime-bill.html

Quebec, Ontario won't pay costs of federal crime bill
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20111101/quebec-justice-minister-jean-marc-fournier-says-province-wont-pay-costs-of-new-federal-crime-bill-111101/#ixzz1oxR05oU3

Federal prison closures blasted by union
The federal government is closing two facilities in Kingston, Ont., and one in Laval, Que. Source:http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/04/19/pol-prison-closing-toews.html

Vic Toews’ bizarre plan to introduce his own personal inflation rate to prison. He wants them to contribute 32% of their income. At 32%, it’s higher than the top federal tax rate of 29%, which applies to incomes over $132,000. So, under the Tory plan, prisoners making $260 a year will hand over more of their income than people making 500 times that much. This, says Toews, will “restore balance” to the system. Source: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/05/10/vic-toews-bizarre-plan-to-introduce-his-own-personal-inflation-rate-to-prison/


********NATIONAL EMERGENCY***********
ALL REFERENCES /SOURCES ATTACHED BELOW:
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Canada is in a National emergency, that's the truth. The Harper government has declared the Canadian people to be enemies of the state and most people don't even know it.

Harper meets with Chinese propaganda minister secretly in Ottawa.
source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/harper-quietly-holds-face-to-face-talks-with-chinese-propaganda-chief/article2409475/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A+RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Politics&utm_content=2409475

Stephen Harper thinks Canada is a dictatorship and even wrote about it- courtesy of the CBC
So, let's consider that obscure but intriguing article, written in 1997 by two brainy conservatives, Tom Flanagan and Stephen Harper. Yes, it calls Canada "a benign dictatorship."
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/03/30/cv-milewski-harper-coalition.html

Enemies of the State:
It seems hard to imagine today that a Canadian government would approve a plan to round up thousands of law-abiding Canadians and lock them away simply because they were perceived to be a threat to Canadian democracy.
CBC Fifth estate: http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2010-2011/enemiesofthestate/

The government of Canada has been hijacked
conservatives re-brand the Canadian government in Stephen Harper’s name
source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/tories-re-brand-government-in-stephen-harpers-name/article1929175/

Harper Government broke the law when dismantling Wheat Board: Federal Court, This will allow corporate GMO companies to take over Canada:http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/07/government-broke-the-law-when-dismantling-wheat-board-federal-court/

Harper Government labels environmentalists "terrorist threat" in new report
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/sustainability/2012/02/10/are-canadian-environmentalists-terrorist-threat

Under Harper's government: CSIS and RCMP equate Greenpeace and PETA with terrorists
source: http://news.sympatico.ca/oped/coffee-talk/csis_and_rcmp_equate_greenpeace_and_peta_with_terrorists/c166a26d

Terrorism Monitor Closely Watched Occupy Canada Protests
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/04/10/terrorism-monitor-closely_n_1414568.html

Under Harper's government
Natives decry military's comparison of protests to terrorism
source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/natives-decry-militarys-comparison-of-protests-to-terrorism/article2200798/

Harper government’s muzzle on federal scientists
source: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1139734--prestigious-science-journal-slams-harper-government-s-muzzle-on-federal-scientists

Harper's public safety minister Vic Toews said 'Your With us or with the child pornographers' if you were opposed to bill C-30 which is spying on ALL Canadians including your internet access and cellphone records all without warrants. source:http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/john-ibbitson/with-us-or-with-the-child-pornographers-doesnt-cut-it-mr-toews/article2337425/

Harper's Public Safety Minister Vic Toews announced a new anti-terrorism strategy that identifies as threats eco-extremists, animal-rights radicals and anti-capitalists. source: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/security-services-deem-environmental-animal-rights-groups-extremist-threats/article2340162/

Macleans Magazine: Harper's promise: a warrantless online surveillance state source:http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/04/13/harpers-promise-a-warrantless-online-surveillance-state/

**MUST WATCH**
WARNING: Harper/Toews want 1984 Big Brother Government
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhlfL9iwxu4

CBC News: Online surveillance bill opens door for Big Brother
Section 34 gives Orwellian powers to government-appointed 'inspectors'
source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/02/16/pol-vp-terry-milewski-bill-c30.html

Toronto Sun: Say hello to Big Brother Harper Government
source: http://www.torontosun.com/2012/02/14/say-hello-to-big-brother-government

Stephen Harper breaks election rules, campaigns on radio on election day
source: http://www.examiner.com/canada-headlines-in-canada/stephen-harper-breaks-election-rules-campaigns-on-radio-on-election-day

Conservative Party fined for breaking election laws
source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/11/10/pol-conservative-election-in-and-out.html

Conservative Party may have broken election law
http://www.brockpress.com/news/external-news/conservative-party-may-have-broken-election-law-1.2828426#.T3QbGdXO-So

Stephen Harper's closest advisor Bruce Carson was convicted on five counts of fraud -- three more than previously known -- and received court-ordered psychiatric treatment before becoming one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's closest advisers. And his lawyer told The Canadian Press that Carson disclosed his entire criminal record during a security check that was required to become a senior staffer in the Prime Minister's Office.
source: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20110403/carson-pm-fraud-110403/#ixzz1qUZMcgq3

Can't forget Harper's $1Billion dollar security summit which hijacked Toronto and led to the most violations of civil rights and most mass arrests in Canadian history

Researched/shared by Derek Soberal@OccupyCanada
http://www.facebook.com/OccupyCanada