"You know, you cannot exercise your powers to the point of humiliation for others. That is what the Western world -- not only the Americans, the Western world -- has to realize. Because they (the have-nots) are human beings too. There are long-term consequences if you don't look hard at the reality in 10 or 20 [or] 30 years from now... I do think that the Western world is getting too rich in relations to the poor world. And necessarily, we're looked upon as being arrogant, self-satisfied, greedy and with no limits. And the 11th of September is an occasion for me to realize it even more."
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien reflects on September 11th, and
not all Canadians agree with him.
posted by tranquileye
on Sep 12, 2002 -
65 comments
Canada gets it own Star Chamber. New "anti-terrorism" bill allows police to arrest and hold "suspects" for 72 hours without a charge, allows the government agency that monitors foreign communications to spy on Canadians, and creates "investigative hearings" in which you can be compelled to testify before a judge.
posted by tranquileye
on Oct 16, 2001 -
8 comments
We're getting some new cable channels in Canada, and one of them is
PrideVision,
the world's first gay, lesbian, and bisexual television network. Even ten years ago, would anyone have thought we'd someday see
programmes like Closeted Hollywood,
Dyke TV, Queer as Folk, and
Metrosexuality on North American television? And as a category 1 service, Canadian cable companies are required to make PrideVision available as part of their digital service.
posted by tranquileye
on Aug 31, 2001 -
14 comments
Another benefit of globalization: Third World-style political oppression right here at home. From the Ottawa Citizen (of all places): "Officers from various police forces and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service have infiltrated, spied on or closely monitored organizations that are simply exercising their legal right to assembly and free speech. Targets of such intelligence operations in recent years... [include] a senior citizens' satire group that sings about social injustice... Individuals have been arrested for handing out literature condemning police tactics... "
posted by tranquileye
on Aug 20, 2001 -
5 comments
I guess we'll walk. Much of eastern Canada is currently in the grip of one of the worst summers for smog on record, and a recent poll showed that 58 per cent of Canadians support the idea of limiting car use on smoggy days. However, just 37 per cent said they were willing to pay more taxes in order to improve public transportation.
posted by tranquileye
on Jul 30, 2001 -
14 comments
Canada's newest political prisoner? "Well-known activist Jaggi Singh, accused of using a wooden catapult to lob teddy bears at police during the Quebec City summit two weeks ago, faces a preliminary hearing on May 16... Mr. Singh is the only protester still in jail among the 463 people arrested during the [FTAA] summit, at which of 34 countries in North and South America met to discuss reaching a hemispheric trade deal by 2005." Of course,
the National Post has its own take on things.
posted by tranquileye
on May 3, 2001 -
15 comments
Could next month's Summit of the Americas transform Canadian political culture?
Michael Valpy thinks so. He writes: "Canadians have lost deference for their traditional political institutions and leaders. They have become surprisingly ready -- more ready than Americans -- to engage in protests, boycotts and civil disobedience, according to political-science studies... Likely not since the 1919 Winnipeg general strike and the Great Depression marches of the unemployed has an event so galvanized the energies and imaginations of Canadians on the left side of the political spectrum."
posted by tranquileye
on Mar 10, 2001 -
4 comments
The body that regulates cable in Canada, the
CRTC, is licensing 283 new channels. All will be available only through digital set-top boxes.
Along with the expected Biography, Mystery, and ZDTV channels, in the mandatory tier we're getting Book Television from CHUM, a gay and lesbian channel, a documentary channel, and Land and Sea, a rural service from the CBC. If that wasn't wacky enough, the optional channels will include BBC Canada, the Wine Television Network, two wedding channels, several hockey channels, and channels dedicated to theatre, poetry, jazz, dance, pets, South Asian culture, international film, horses, law, martial arts… just about anything you can think of, actually.
While I don't expect they can all survive, it should make for an interesting six months.
posted by tranquileye
on Nov 24, 2000 -
7 comments
In the other important election still to be decided:
The Canadian Alliance Party and their creationist leader, Stockwell Day, is proposing that if 3% of the Canadian electorate request it, the government should be obliged to hold a referendum on just about any issue. Up until now, many Canadians had been concerned that under a Alliance regime they would be facing endless referenda on limiting abortion rights, immigration, banning gay marriage, native rights, and so on. It was a sad, depressing prospect, as anyone living in Quebec knows.
Last week, however, the CBC television program This Hour Has 22 Minutes found a "hidden issue" I and many other "silent Canadians" can support: changing Mr. Day's first name from Stockwell to Doris.
If you are a Canadian citizen, add your name at the 22 Minutes Web site.
posted by tranquileye
on Nov 17, 2000 -
20 comments
Today I saw
an ad on TV
complaining that American health care is being “Canadianized.” All I can say is
that I wish these Americans would stop
lying about the Canadian health care
system. While most Canadians seem to agree that our health system is
a bit of a mess,
we also seem to agree that
we
don’t want the American system, thank you very much.
The US market-driven
medical system spends about 14% of its economy on health care, while Canada's
cost is about 9% of GDP. Both countries' health care costs stood at about 7% in
1971, when the Canadian system converted to the public system and the US decided
to stick with a market-driven private system. Yet the Canadian system covers
everyone; the American system doesn’t. Private delivery of health care means
money is lost to the profits investors demand (as much as 15%), higher executive
salaries, higher marketing/advertising costs, and lost economies of scale.
Why
attack the Canadian system? Part of the answer lies in the fact that to the
American health care industry, Canada is just one huge, untapped market that
they would love to have access to.
posted by tranquileye
on Jun 16, 2000 -
24 comments
