The Anth Zone

Lady Liberty’s grin will be gleaming down on the House of Commons this evening after the opposition joined together in a trilateral force to protect the civil liberties of Canadians by successfully defeating the extension of the anti-terrorism measures.

Irwin Colter abstained because he felt, “the fact that [the provisions] have not been used means that they have not been abused, but they maybe needed in the future.” I can understand the position that Colter has taken and I agree with him to a degree. The measures could protect us in the future from acts of terrorism on Canadian soil in the future. The likelihood of such an attack has heightened since September 11th.

The federal government has been reminded that they cannot use a permanent felt marker to blackout the freedoms that are guaranteed under the national charter.

Under the former provisions under the anti-terrorism act the following sections were ‘blacked out’: ‘right to life, liberty, and security of person’ (s.7), ‘right from unreasonable search and seizures’ (s.8), ‘freedom from arbitrary detainment or imprisonment’ (s.9), ‘right to be informed of reasons for arrest including the right to retain counsel upon arrest’ (s.10), & ‘rights in criminal and penal matters such as the right to presumed innocent until proven guilty’ (s.11).

I’m not a student at Thompson River University (TRU) in the BC Interior, however I have friends that are and who want to major in Political Science but they’re unable. They need at least 1000 - 2000 signatures to take to the school’s administration. Please sign it.

Create a Political Science Major at Thompson River University.

Prime Minister Paul Martin has finally stepped out of politics. He has several humanitarian projects he’s committed his dedication to. The former-Prime Minister is involved with the African Development Bank and a pilot program in Ontario, which is aimed at aboriginal students to finish high school. Paul Martin is a brilliant man who served his country over a decade in Parliament against the Progressive Conservatives, the Canadian Alliance and the Conservative Party.

Good luck in the future, and Paul, don’t be a stranger!

The highest court in the country has ruled unanimously against the security certificate system because it violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The government used this program to detain foreign born nationals without due process or be faced with deportation to a nation that sponsors torture.

The Supreme Court has given the government one year to amend the law; Stockwell Day has said the government is ‘optimistic’ to make the necessary changes pertaining to the court’s rulings on the security certificates. The federal government’s responsibility is not to have national security infringe on the civil liberties declared in our constitution.

Your moment of zen.

Oh, Bev Oda!

I’m not going to write anything this evening, however I saw these comics on CBC.ca, and I thought I’d share them with all of you.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he’ll respect the passage of the bill that requires the government to meet the nation’s Kyoto commitments. Stephen Harper stated; “Of course, if and when that becomes law, the government would respect it.” It’s expected to receive overwhelming support from the Liberal dominated Senate.

The battered Prime Minister said, “I’ll just point out that the bill has no plan of action in it; the bill gives the government no authority to spend any money to actually have a plan of action.” I’m pretty sure that the government could act on the environment by taking the initiative to protect and by educating Canadians on how the country can take action to resolve the crisis of our time.

The Prime Minister appears to be taking a step backwards from previous government threats that they’ll ignore the Kyoto Implementation law and that they’d be prepared to face off against numerous lawsuits and even a non-confidence motion.

In other news relative to the environment, former-Vice President Al Gore has announced Live Earth concerts. Concerts already confirmed are going to be hold in the following cities: Shanghai, Johannesburg, London and Sydney, Australia.

The concerts will all be held on July 7th of this year. Artists and groups that have said they’ll take part of the behemoth event: Snoop Dogg, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, the Foo Fighters, Lenny Kravitz, Sheryl Crow, Korn, Black Eyed Peas, Duran Duran, Pharrell, Faith Hill and Bon Jovi. I do hope that they have a concert close or in Vancouver, B.C., I would so buy tickets to support Al Gore’s movement on the environment.

. . . . . . . . . . . I wished he’d ask me to be one of his Young Ambassadors for spreading his message around the world for climate change . . . . . . . .

The Liberals and the opposition parties have teamed up against the Conservative government voting in favour of the Kyoto Protocol. The Conservatives tried to kill the bill hours before the vote was held by trying to have it declare invalidity; however as we all know the bad guys always lose.

Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez ten months ago introduced a private member’s bill for the government to recommit to Canada’s Kyoto targets. Last week a motion introduced by Stéphane Dion was voted in favour of Kyoto. The government is doing terribly, as I’ve mentioned previously Canadians favour Kyoto and not the Conservatives’ made-in-Canada plan.

Liberal M.P. Ujjal Dosanjh suffered from a mild heart attack in Ottawa. I hope he has a speedy recovery and continues to stand up for Canadians in the House of Commons when he’s ready and able.

I first met Ujjal during the 2005-2006 election campaign. He’s a great man.

I found this amateur animated cartoon to be funny in some parts, I thought I’d share it with the rest of you.

h/t to While the Earth Burns.

The Conservative Party of Canada bought news headlines on the web illegally.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff are expected to visit with Peter MacKay, David Emerson, & Stockwell Day on February 23rd in Ottawa to discuss the ways on how Canada should improve border security.

I do agree with that border security is a very important sensitive issue; the United States doesn’t realize that this is a bilateral decision where both sides should take charge and not a unilateral decision by the United States’ Government to enforce on the Government of Canada.

CTV’s Robert Fife stated, “Americans are very concerned that Canada is dragging its feet.” There hasn’t been any polling researched done on the question, articles relative to the issue on American newsprint or websites, or report on American news broadcasts that I’ve searched Google for and ended up empty handed. I am pretty sure that Mr. Fife meant Americans as in their elected officials in the Bush Administration.

In regards of this information I have learnt: I am pretty sure that Peter MacKay has the entire weekend planned with his newfound love, Condi. The itinerary planned so far is; Tim Horton’s, Tim Horton’s and more Tim Horton’s. Of course they’ll get to the heart of the matter and I’ll be reporting more on PetCon over the course of the visit.

With news that Garth Turner may come across the floor to sit as a Liberal, it has certainly made me ecstatic. I first came across Garth Turner back in August, when he disagreed with the Prime Minister on reintroducing the vote on Same-Sex Marriage.

The Conservative caucus expelled Garth Turner for ‘breaching caucus confidentiality’ on his blog where Garth continues to deny the allegations sent out against him; I believe Prime Minister Harper wanted a pure conservative right winger to represent the Halton constituency. The Prime Minister likes to play dirty politics, there is no doubt and the last two election campaigns are my proof.

I welcome Garth with open arms, however there is still the possibility that he may sit as the Green MP. To my Conservative friends; can we consider this a trade? You got Khan, we get Turner?

UPDATE: Garth Turner has crossed the floor to sit as a Liberal. Garth thanked Dion by saying, “welcoming me, even knowing that I’m a pain.” Welcome to the party, Garth!

“The Liberal party is as close to my PC roots as I’m going to get,” Garth stated in a press conference with Stéphane Dion, “The progressive part of the Conservative party is gone.” A lot of Progressive Conservatives came to the Liberal Party after Peter MacKay sold the party’s mojo (or soul) to the Canadian Alliance to form the Conservative Party of Canada.

UPDATE #2: I discovered this video done by Garth Turner and he explains in-depth of why he came to the Liberals. I thought I’d share it with you.

The motion introduced by Stéphane Dion to reaffirm Canada’s support for Kyoto has passed in the House today, 161 – 115. This is a step forward in the right direction; repair Canada’s international reputation, after receiving a crucial damaging blow almost a year ago when the Harper government announced their intentions to withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol.

It is certain that Canadians have mixed feelings on climate change and the Kyoto Protocol; however, the majority has ruled in favour of the Kyoto Accord over the Conservatives’ made-in-Canada plan. (63% for Kyoto commitments, 30% for made-in-Canada plan; Source: Canadians Pick Kyoto Over New Environmental Plan, Angus Reid Global Monitor.)

It is clear that Stéphane Dion and the Liberals speak for the majority of Canadians across the country. The environment will be the key issue in the next election, I don’t think Steve has enough pixie dust in his accountability bag.

There are a few things that I wanted to write on today. I do apologize for my inactivity recently.

• Stéphane Dion has given Justin Trudeau the OK to run as a Liberal in the next general election in an electoral district in his home province of Quebec. There are currently in-depth discussions with Justin and senior party officials on which riding he’ll run in. Justin has expressed interest in running in Jean Lapierre’s former riding, Outremont after his retirement from federal politics to serve as a political analyst for a Quebec based television network.

• The British government’s Environment Minister David Miliband has announced that the government will be sending copies of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth to every secondary school throughout the country. This transpires after an Opposition M.P. suggested sending the film to every home. I applaud the British government for educating Britons on crucial issue in our time.

• Canada’s Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor has announced a $3.4B cargo plane deal with Boeing. The Canadian Forces need these aircraft so we don’t need our troops to thumb a ride with the Americans to go overseas to Afghanistan and countless other missions that our country is involved with. However, the timing of the purchase announcement is
  inappropriate, with news that the military doesn’t have enough funding to keep our naval vessels afloat. The Conservative government has to rethink its military renewal strategy.

• British Columbia is in greater risk of a major earthquake this week after seismologists reported a series of minor earthquakes creeping up from Washington. I think it’d be wise for the Conservative government to increase funding towards seismic research, and redeveloping BC’s infrastructure to protect Canadians from these horrendous natural disasters.
  

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