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NOVEMBER
2008
Updated
November 17, 2008
Whiskey
Alpha Romeo came down today...this is an overview of the space.
From
left to right : Two photographs provided by Cpl Jeff Black of his
time in Afghanistan. #2 is a beautiful medal display from WW1
presented by Hugh Conway. #3 is flag from Jeff Black from his
company in Afghanistan. Propoganda posters from WW2, a make shift
theatre for showing the film Nurse Edith Cavell (which still hasnt
arrived from Turner Classic Movies!!). Artwork from various
artists...
The
glass encasement with the British flag housed Staff Sgt Lorraine
Wilkinson's present day field medic dress and combat gear. Our
1940 radio was rigged to play CBC and BBC radio broadcasts from
WW2. Our draft dodger had a great couple of weeks listening to
those!
Some
poetry by one of the original Brewster Packers as he laments the
loss of his friends and a childrens table rounded out the display.
BETTER
IMAGES AND EXPLANATIONS COMING SOON
This
display would not have been as interesting and complete as it was
without the help of Sandy Robinson, Jeff Black, the Fairmont Jasper Park
Lodge, Hugh Conway, David Baker, Tommy Carr and Lorraine Wilkinson.
JASPER
MUSEUM NOVEMBER 6-16
I
grew up in an era where independence and self sufficiency was impressed
upon me as a youth. As such, defying authority and questioning
everything was almost a creed. (much to my parents chagrin)
So
when November 11th rolled around I often wondered what 'Lest we forget'
meant. Shouldn't that be 'let us forget'. Why remember such
horror - why an annual 'celebration' of war? Get over it.
Why do we continue to put our young men and women into armies that
foster such ideologies? Didn't someone say 'You can't
simultaneously prevent and prepare for war?'
This
distaste for this annual day of remembrance stayed with me into my young
adult years. Until I found myself doing something at the local
Royal Canadian Legion. Tacked to the wall of memorabilia was a
letter addressed to a soldier - dated 1980ish. It was from two
sisters in Europe to a Canadian soldier. They wanted to thank the
Canadian for his part in saving their lives during the war. At
that time they were only children - aged 10 and 12. Even after 35
years they had sought out the soldier that had saved them from something
I as a Canadian can only imagine - the terror of being 10 and in a war
torn world.
So,
having been 10 once - and if I remember correctly my biggest stress was
deciding what to do first on summer vacation - swim or go boating!
And having a daughter of my own...I never questioned this annual day of remembrance
again.
This
November 11th remember - remember swimming or boating or any other
freedom we as Canadians have. And what the heck - go to your local
Legion. You never know what you will learn.
_________________________________________________________
Election
Time Again...
Updated
October 9, 2008
Everyday
we are asked to think outside the box, brainstorm, collaborate,
wordsmith…all necessary skills in a world of rapid change.
For many of us these skills involve development and constant
workshops to stay sharp. For others this kind of evolving creative thinking comes
naturally…they are the ‘artists’ or ‘creative class’ amongst
us. In this time of extreme
changes in economics, societies and environments we should be looking to
those individuals who educate, comment on and stimulate thought through
their art to learn yet again (who do you think designs those workshops
and development seminars), from their examples, on how to face change.
Instead we find that they are the first to lose their financial
supports.
Initially
this is an atrocity to many ‘artists’, to others it’s just an
ongoing mandate for adaptation to an ever-changing world where little is
assured. For those of us
who think that structures to take care of our daily needs like water
treatment plants take of our water and rivers…municipal officials will
take care of our daycares and schools…medical services will always be
available…and security comes with a military force…are more likely
the ones to be shocked by change.
Artists
allow us to escape momentarily while at an exhibit.
Theatre allows us to leave our office work at the door.
Graffiti on trains and walls makes us aware of lives we cant
relate to, yet are part of our communities.
We live next door to the worlds largest exporter of culture.
Our youth are watching FOX and CNN and learning very little about
what makes us Canadian. In
a global society culture is what defines us as Canadians.
‘Art’ is a social education whether you want to admit it or
not. It allows us to be
diverse in our thinking, it offers points of view we would never see in
a society where security comes with a military force.
No
– we don’t need the black tie galas and high-end events of state
that sometimes take precedence around an arts event (you can bet it
wasn’t at the suggestion of the artist).
But what would every single conference, annual meeting,
fundraiser, year end party, festival, tournament…do without those
prizes of art that every artist has been asked to donate?
For
years we have bantered about what we each hear from different
politicians and advocacy groups…finally we can stop that.
We no longer need to hear more – we have listened now and the
facts are in. 600,000 jobs,
8% of the GDP, exponential spending in communities, competitive
sustainable markets…the cultural industry is now as lucrative as the
auto industry! I find it
hard to argue with stats and numbers – but maybe that’s just the
creative class in me – which no doubt will change!
(and if you think that passion and emotion – components of the
arts - have no place in
politics, spend the 14th in a candidates office!)
________________________________________________________________
VIVE
le Canada
____________________________________________________________________
This
is the story of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers only 90 years
ago.
The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed
nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking
for the vote. And
by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards
wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the
33 women wrongly convicted of obstructing sidewalk traffic.
They
beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and
left her hanging for the night.
They
hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashing her head against an iron
bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis
was dead and suffered a heart attack.
Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging,
beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.
Thus
unfolded the 'Night
of Terror'
on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia
ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there
because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right
to vote. For weeks, the
women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it
colorless slop --infested with worms.
When
one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied
her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her
until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was
smuggled out to the press.
So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year
because-why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work?
Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?
Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new movie
'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women
waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my
say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.
All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the
actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote.
Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege.
Sometimes it was inconvenient.
It
is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a
psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be
permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor
refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her
crazy. The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often
mistaken for insanity.'
PS In Canada the women of Manitoba got the right to vote in 1916 thanks
to the efforts of Nellie McClung and her colleagues. The rest of
Canadian women were allowed to vote in federal elections when the
Women's Franchise Act was passed in 1918. However, it was not until 1940
that the women of Quebec got the right to vote in provincial elections -
the last province to accord them this right of suffrage.
_________________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Parties
must address hollowing out of Canada’s economy
By DAVID CRANE Economics - The Chronicle Herald, Halifax
AN ELECTION CAMPAIGN is the best time to tell the politicians we want
some straight answers on their plans for Canada’s future and how we
will have good jobs and healthy Canadian businesses for a much tougher
global economy.
One
serious concern is the hollowing-out of the Canadian economy, as more
and more of our major corporations are acquired by offshore
multinationals. The examples are well-known — they include Alcan,
Dofasco, Stelco, Algoma Steel, Falconbridge, AltaSteel, Westcoast
Energy, Inco, Cognos, Prime West Energy, Four Seasons Hotels and many
more.
The
concern is that as companies are taken over, decision-making on future
jobs and investment in Canada is transferred to foreign head offices,
while Canadian head offices that once provided good jobs and create many
opportunities for suppliers of business services are seriously downsized
in their capacity.
In
July last year, the Harper government established a task force of
eminent Canadians, headed by Red Wilson, to provide some advice. The
task force produced its report just over two months ago.
Wilson’s
task force had some important proposals to help build a stronger Canada.
But its recommendations on foreign takeovers, paradoxically, would seem
to make it even easier for foreign corporations to expand their grip on
the Canadian economy.
While
a research paper for the task force by the Ontario Institute for
Competitiveness and Prosperity argued that there was no evidence
indicating that head offices of Canadian-owned companies are more
important than those of foreign-owned firms, actual submissions by those
with hands-on corporate experience came to the opposite conclusion.
Alan
MacGibbon, on behalf of the major accounting firm Deloitte & Touche,
said his firm shared the concerns of Canadians worried about
hollowing-out.
The
loss to Canada, he said, "extends well beyond the companies being
acquired. It also results in significant loss of business for their
suppliers, a shift of important decision-making outside Canada and the
loss of effective oversight and accountability to the Canadian
marketplace."
The
importance of having strong Canadian-owned companies headquartered in
Canada could not be overstated.
"It
is our experience that, when control of Canadian companies is acquired
by foreign investors, there immediately follows a shift away from Canada
in the company’s decision-making, highest-paying jobs and demand for
professional services."
MacGibbon
said Deloitte’s own experience, when a Canadian company is acquired by
a foreign company, is that the scope and work of Canadian auditors is
significantly reduced.
Likewise,
"when Canadian companies are acquired by foreign entities, the
requirement for consulting and other advisory services, except tax
compliance, becomes even more limited."
At
the same time, important decisions on capital investment and funds for
research and development in Canada could lose out because of the
internal politics and strategic preferences of the foreign parent
company.
In
its submission, the Canadian Chemical Producers’ Association, which
includes subsidiaries of most major multinationals, acknowledged that
hollowing-out is an issue.
"Loss
of local head office function and decision-making power, R&D and
becoming a branch plant within a global structure is happening," it
said.
While
skirting the "hollowing-out" issue, the Information Technology
Association of Canada stated that "as Canada has found out with
respect to the auto industry, Canada can be an ideal location for
knowledge- and innovation-based work even in traditional industries, but
it is often not considered for this because firms will naturally look to
their global headquarters location for such activities."
Likewise,
Manulife Financial’s Dominic D’Alessandro stressed that "having
Canadian-owned, -managed and -based institutions is fundamental to our
national sovereignty and autonomy."
He
said that Manulife would never have become a highly successful global
company headquartered in Canada if there had not been strict federal
rules preventing a foreign takeover of his company. He called for more
such rules to ensure more Canadian global champions.
If we
don’t have successful Canadian-owned global champions, D’Alessandro
argued, "Canada will not keep pace and lose relevancy and Canadians
will increasingly look elsewhere to realize their ambitions."
Clearly,
this is an important issue for Canada. We deserve to know what each
party’s position is before we cast our vote.
( dcrane@herald.ca)
David
Crane is a Canadian economics writer.
___________________________________________
The
September 1st _New York Times_ tells us that " 1.85 million
Americans go bankrupt due to medical bills in one year." So much
for the really dense people who would like Canadians to move towards the
U.S. health care system.
Mel Hurtig
_________________________________________________________________
Diane
Frances is at it again, grossly exaggerating Canada's dependency on our
exports to the U.S. in a colonial supplicant mentality at work.
Frances
joins the likes of Frank McKenna, Allan Gotlieb, Paul Tellier, the
Conference Board among many others who make the same mistake.
Instead
of the 40% of our economy she claims, a more accurate figure from
Statistics Canada would be somewhere between 20 to 23%.
See pages 239 to 241 of _The Truth About Canada_ for more details.
If
you get any Canwest paper you might want to write a letter to the editor
saying Frances doesn't know what she is talking about.
As an
aside, in my new book you'll find that about 2 million jobs in Canada do
depend on our exports to the U.S., while
5.2 million American jobs depend on U.S. exports to Canada,
Mel
Hurtig
___________________________________________________________
The
man who cried wolf has a point
LAWRENCE
MARTIN
May
12, 2008 at 8:46 AM EDT
With
the publication of another Mel Hurtig book, the temptation is to run
for cover. Oh gawd, spare us another rant on how the elites have sold
out the country.
Megaphone
Mel, a sprightly 75, is the great wolf crier. His previous book was
called Rushing to Armageddon. Before that - understatement
never being his forte - there was The Vanishing Country.
Before that, The Betrayal of Canada.
His
latest is The Truth About Canada. The chapter headings with
their subtitles give you the drift: There's Canadian Social Policy -
An Utter Disaster; there's Big Business Investment in Canada - The
Weakest in Our History, and, of course, Foreign Takeovers - A Disaster
for Canada.
Instead
of beating around the bush, why, one wonders, doesn't he just bring
out the sledgehammer.
But
sarcasm aside, sometimes the brazen approach, and the utter
persistence he has demonstrated, is necessary.
Mr.
Hurtig started railing about foreign takeovers in this country in the
1970s and never let up. Here we are more than three decades later and
people are finally concluding that he was on to something. The
hollowing out of Canada is an issue that has even caught the eye of
today's Conservative government. It was the Conservative government of
Brian Mulroney that eliminated the Foreign Investment Review Agency in
the 1980s, creating in its stead a more encouraging agency, Investment
Canada.
The
former book publisher was a powerful voice against joining the U.S.
missile defence program. He wrote Rushing to Armageddon in
2004 and organized a grassroots campaign. The government listened. It
said no to missile defence.
Another
long-time Hurtig cause has been poverty in Canada. His book 1999 book,
Pay the Rent or Feed the Kids, charted the story. In 1989
there had been a government promise, supported unanimously, to
eradicate child poverty by 2000. Today, disgracefully, the child
poverty rate, is basically the same as it was back then - this despite
a doubling of our GDP in the meantime. Mr. Hurtig's voice obviously
wasn't heard on this one. But he has been on the right track.
As
well, Mr. Hurtig has been a lonely voice in taking on corporate
Canada. In the face of their gigantic profits, he has argued against
the constant lowering of corporate taxation. His efforts have been in
vain.
But
has he had a case? Check how little the corporations have thrown back
into new plants and equipment and into research and development.
Check
how the tax breaks have done nothing for productivity. "The lower
our corporate taxes have become," Mr. Hurtig says, "the
lower our productivity has become in comparison to U.S. levels."
Mr.
Hurtig's new book will drive some people bananas, at least those
defenders of how well Canada is supposedly doing. He looks at most of
the big issues. He looks at energy policy, trade, health care, big
business investment, foreign aid, distribution of wealth and drives a
stake into the country's gut.
Although
we do better on a wide range of indices than the U.S., in comparison
to other OECD countries, we're far down the list.
The
style in his new book, as in his other ones, is to buttress his
arguments with stacks of statistics. As everyone knows, statistics can
be misleading. They can be twisted to suit any argument one cares to
deliver. With his vast array of stats, Mr. Hurtig tends to overlook
such things as the country's impressive economic growth rate of the
past dozen years. That said, a lot of his strident criticisms about
our competitiveness, productivity, low rates of social spending, are
hard to refute. He has assembled some impressive research. Even on
free trade, an issue on which he and his naysaying ilk have been
derided for years, he brings forward some eyebrow-raising stuff. He
compares where we stood in the two decades previous to free trade to
the two decades after. On issues such as per capita income, family
income, GDP increases, share of the U.S. market, it isn't, he argues,
a pretty picture.
His
basic message is that the more corporate interests have come to
control the country, the more the country has slipped on the scales of
social and economic justice.
As
with his other books, The Truth About Canada will likely be
scorned by establishment critics. But the courageous campaigner for an
independent Canada needn't worry. His track record stands the test.
_________________________________________________
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