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VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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SUMMER 2016, VOL. 29 NO. 4
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A word from the publisher and editor… Dear Reader, This Summer edition, Vol. 29, No.4, commemorates the lives and legacies of two amazing Canadians who were also our friends. Marguerite E. Ritchie (1919-2016) was a pioneer of equal rights for women in Canada and individual rights in general (see pp.4-6). Steve Lawson (1948-2916), an Indigenous wisdom teacher, was the Maurice, Janet and Penny longstanding coordinator of the First Nations Environmental Network of Canada; he was instrumental in the recognition and protection of Clayoquot Sound as a UNESCO Biosphere – and much more (p.7). A special Thank You to Susan McCaslin for introducing two new writers to Dialogue: Sherry Leigh Williams and Wilma Housty – each of whom shares a compelling story in this issue (p.24 and p.26). Sherry also shares a photo and a painting on the covers of this issue: the front cover is her photo of the Sun over the Salish Sea (the Westcoast marine area encompassing the Strait of Georgia, the Juan de Fuca Strait & Puget Sound). And on the back cover is her “Dance of The Salish Sea, which Sherry describes as “a fun mixed media acrylic painting – done in ‘free expression style’ – the texture beneath the paint dictates the images that emerge; it’s a super fun way to work.” Other new writers in this issue: Dee Nicholson (p.20), Soonoo Engineer (p.25) and Grace Joubarne & Christine Massey (p.36) – on the threats to personal health care choices in Ontario. Among the many powerful essays in this issue are: an Open Letter to the PM from Paul Hellyer, on banking in Canada (p.8); and Wilf Cude’s piece exploring the ‘New Canadian Senate’ (p.9); and Robin Mathew’s ongoing series on Canada & Imperial Globalization (p.12). Norm Zigarlick’s series on Justice and Indigenous People continues (on p.21) and Ken Slade concludes his series on navigating internet news sites in this age of propaganda. And don’t miss Marie Gaudet (p.50) and Dr. Derrick Lonsdale’s story (p.39) of his medical background in the U.K. In future issues, we will be featuring excerpts from Dr. Lonsdale’s book, “Why I left Orthodox Medicine.” If you enjoy reading Dialogue, why not order a Gift Subscription or two for friends or family members (or even a politician or a clinic ‘waiting room’ or a café…). And Thank You very much if you are able to help with a donation, so we can keep our subscription rate affordable for everyone. Thank you to everyone for contributing to this issue. We are most grateful for your support and your voices that give Dialogue life.
Maurice
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Janet
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www.dialogue.ca
…an independent, volunteer-produced, not-for-profit Canadian quarterly, written and supported by its readers – empowering their voices and the sharing of ideas. Now in its 29th year, dialogue provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and an antidote to political correctness. We encourage readers to share with others the ideas and insights gleaned from these pages. If this is your first issue, please let us know what you think of it. If you would like to share your ideas and become a writer in
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Deadlines: Sep. 1st - Dec. 1st March 1st - June 1st VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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Remembering Dr. Marguerite E. Ritchie – 1919-2016 By Beth Trudeau, Canadians for Language Fairness, Ottawa Archives building when names were asked for, but It is with a very heavy heart that I say farewell to a were not successful. woman I am proud to call my mentor. She was such an inspiration and brave woman whom I was proud She had a great sense of humour and a determination to call a friend. and willpower that was second to none.
Dr. Marguerite Ritchie passed away April 24, 2016. A Memorial Service (was) held for her on May 17, 2016 at the First Memorial Church at 259 St Patrick St, Ottawa. Dr. Ritchie was a great friend of Canadians for Language Fairness and attended many of our events. We nominated Dr. Ritchie as a name to put on the
We will miss her smile and wit terribly. May God Bless Dr. Ritchie. [With the article below, posted at the Ottawa Hospital Foundation website: http://ohfoundation.ca/oursupporters/dr-marguerite-ritchie ]
Dr. Marguerite Ritchie Ottawa Hospital Foundation, [Written in 2014] A lawyer who spent more than 50 years promoting human rights of women in all areas of society has given yet another generous gift to women. Ottawa resident Dr. Marguerite E. Ritchie donated an incredible $500,000 to build a new minimally invasive gynecology suite at the Shirley E. Greenberg Women’s Health Centre at The Ottawa Hospital. All her life, Dr. Ritchie, who turned 95 this spring, has worked tirelessly for women’s rights. A pioneering woman in law who is also a leading authority in the women’s field, Dr. Ritchie’s initiatives include involvement in changes to the discriminatory aspects of federal laws and regulations in the areas of constitutional and international law, the Persons Case II, sexual harassment in the workplace and divorce legislation. She was also involved in the Aboriginal women’s efforts to secure equal rights. Dr. Ritchie is the first woman to be appointed as Federal Queen’s Counsel and opened the door for other women to be appointed. She is a recipient of the Order of Canada and many other awards. As a result of her many years of dedication and expertise, Dr. Ritchie established the Human Rights Institute of Canada in 1974 to provide accurate advice on matters of the constitution, such as advising the Canadian public on the Meech Lake Accord. Dr. Ritchie was making plans for her estate when she decided to make the gift to The Ottawa Hospital. She made this remarkable gift in addition to leaving a donation in her will. She said her mother, the most generous person she had ever known, was the inspiration for her support. Dr. Ritchie recalls her mother, Marguerite Blanche 4 dialogue
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Ritchie, as a nurturing woman who loved music and books and who encouraged her daughter’s love of reading, and later on, her pursuit of a law education at a time when there were very few women in law. “My mother lived at a time when women had few rights,” said Dr. Ritchie, who grew up in Edmonton. “She looked after her children and helped us in setting and achieving our goals.” In this time of depression, there was a lack of money, but Dr. Ritchie and her mother had no shortage of heart and determination. Dr. Ritchie’s mother was so committed to her daughter’s future and success that she hitchhiked with her from Edmonton to Halifax to use the Dalhousie University national scholarship Dr. Ritchie had earned. Dr. Ritchie’s gift will be directed towards cancer care, as she believes that is the area “that will touch the most women.” Dr. Sony Singh, the director of Minimally Invasive Gynecology at The Ottawa Hospital, wants women to put their health first and make themselves a priority. His goals resonated with Dr. Ritchie. …/ www.dialogue.ca
“It’s important to me that this donation be put to work and I am proud to support The Ottawa Hospital’s commitment to women through their initiative, Healthy Women, Healthy Community. I am just as committed to women today as I was when I first set out on this journey more than 70 years ago,” said Dr. Ritchie. [Article from Beth Trudeau: http://ohfoundation.ca/oursupporters/dr-marguerite-ritchie ] ♣
From Kim McConnell: There is a great write-up in the Ottawa Citizen about Dr. Marguerite Ritchie “A champion of human rights; foe of language laws” (Published on: May 13, 2016) http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/margueriteritchie-1919-2016-a-champion-of-human-rights-foe-oflanguage-laws
All that I have to add is that it is sinful the way that everything Dr. Ritchie worked so hard to achieve in the name of women’s rights, for so many decades, we are now losing at a very alarming rate. The threat of sharia law is not only very real it will be very possible at the next election, thanks to the drastic influx of migrants being allowed in by the Trudeau Liberal government. But that’s a different story. – Kim ♣
The Human Rights Institute of Canada In 1974, Dr. Ritchie established the Human Rights Institute of Canada, a non-profit organization to champion the rights of women and to hold governments to account. She continued to work there into her 90s, until the institute closed in 2013. In 2000, she was named a member of the Order of Canada. In the last decade of her life, Dr. Ritchie was dedicated to organizing the record of her life’s work to be preserved in the archives of the University of Alberta. Archive at the University of Alberta The Dr. Marguerite E. Ritchie’s Credentials subseries contains 44 files discussing Marguerite Ritchie’s accomplishments and life. Files are arranged by topic and chronology. This subseries contains a variety of document types including resumes, biographies, correspondence, certificates and awards, newspaper clippings, portraits, newsletters, speeches, programmes, press releases, information packets, legislation, Access to Information requests, law reviews, book chapters, journals, master’s thesis, employment contracts, lecture notes, minutes of the Privy Council, reports, invitations, greeting cards, and day planners. The specific topics this subseries covers are personal biographical information on www.dialogue.ca
Marguerite Ritchie, including Access to Information requests to the federal government for all documentation on her work at the Department of Justice, government documentation on the Human Rights Institute of Canada, government documentation on the statue and plaque for the Famous Five at Parliament, Marguerite Ritchie’s resume, her employment records and work from the Department of Justice and the Anti-Dumping Tribunal, teaching records from a Constitutional Law course Marguerite Ritchie taught at Carlton University and communications with her students, work on international conventions and human rights, important legal articles Marguerite Ritchie wrote on women’s legal rights such as ‘Alice Through the Statutes,’ Marguerite Ritchie’s masters of law (LL.M.) thesis about skyjacking/ hijacking of airplanes, and documents about getting her LLM at the McGill Law School. This subseries also includes Marguerite Ritchie’s awards and accomplishments, including the Order of Canada, the Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case, and Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Alberta, as well as documentation of Marguerite Ritchie being nominated for the Order of Ontario and the ensuing complications of not having been awarded it. Marguerite Ritchie filed Access to Information requests to discover why she had not been awarded the Order of Ontario and believed the province was withholding the award as a result of her language rights beliefs and activism against the city of Ottawa’s bilingualism policy. LINK: https://discoverarchives.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/dr-marguerite-e-ritchies-credentials
Speak Up to Injustice, U of A Archive Marguerite Ritchie’s gift of the Human Rights Institute of Canada archives will be used by student and faculty researchers across the University of Alberta campus and will attract the interest of legal and humanities scholars from around the world. Article, Photo from LINK: https://uofa.ualberta.ca/giving/givingnews/2016/april/speak-up-to-injustice ♣
Photo by John Ulan
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Dr. Marguerite Ritchie, one of Canada’s brightest lights Jurgen Vollrath, Embrun ON
[From 2011] This picture of Dr. Ritchie and myself (Jurgen Vollrath) was taken at a Canadians for Language Fairness meeting back in 2008. Dr. Ritchie is my mentor. We have had a close relationship for about 10 years now. I am also on the board of directors at her Human Rights Institute. One of Canada's brightest lights over the last 40 years, I believe there
should be a statue of this woman on Parliament Hill. Her knowledge of the constitution and her unwavering love for this country is unprecedented in my mind. She is over 90 and still works almost every day preserving the real history of our country. The real history resembles nothing that is being taught at schools throughout our country. ~ Jurgen [Many readers will remember Dr. Ritchie’s excellent articles in Dialogue over the years.] Extract from article by Jurgen Vollrath of Embrun, Ont. – ‘Canada’s best - not bilingual best - should make up the Supreme Court,’ in Dialogue, Jan-Feb 2011, Vol.24, No.4 ♣
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Documentary examines exodus of English-speaking Quebecers LINK to article at CTV: http://ctv.news/eDmIBMT
By Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press, May 1, 2016 [EXTRACT] TORONTO -- Documentary filmmaker John
Walker grew up an English-speaking Quebecer, alongside French children that didn't seem to like anglophone kids like himself. Still, he says he was never "antiFrench" and when he eventually fled the province -- as an estimated 500,000 English-speaking Quebecers did in the wake of the Quiet Revolution -- he quickly felt homesick. Walker charts his personal experiences and examines the exodus of anglophones in "Quebec My Country Mon Pays," which had its world premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival on Saturday (Apr.30,’16). Interviewees in the doc include filmmaker Denys Arcand and writer Jacques Godbout.
"This is a Canadian story that hasn't really been told from a native-born, English-speaking Quebecer's point of view," he says. "It's about this major shift that took place in Canada, within Quebec, and frankly had a big impact on Toronto. "It's a story that a lot of Canadians are not aware of, but it's a very personal story." Walker appears on camera as he details Quebec's cultural change during that time period as well as his family history in the province going back 250 years. He says he was sympathetic to the independent movement in Quebec but he and many others reluctantly moved away out of fear that they wouldn't have a future as English-speaking citizens in the province. READ ARTICLE AT LINK: http://ctv.news/eDmIBMT ♣
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So-called Trade Deals and the Loss of Sovereignty, Democracy Comment re Goodbye to Democracy if Transatlantic Partnership is Passed (#TTIP) From Dee Nicholson, Toronto ON DEMOCRACY LEFT US WHEN WE SIGNED THE FIRST AGREEMENT. THE REST ARE JUST NAILS IN THE COFFIN. People need to get a grip... It is not just one of them, it is all of them. The conditions are the same. They are all secret. They all steal sovereignty. They all trump our laws. We cannot get out without suffering. We have no recourse against them because only the country can sue.
Stop playing the divide-and-conquer game and get a grip here, people.... They all have to go – if we are to get our "democracy" back. All of them. The “trade deals” are all illegal. There is no mandate for their signing. They have 6 dialogue
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no actual lawful force or effect because there was no right to sign them, nor was there informed consent to these contracts. You all need to step back and see the big picture because you are being snookered here into thinking you can beat one of them and are safe. DUH!! What does it take?? Do I have to do naked cartwheels to get you to think for yourselves? SEE the Brasscheck video and tell me it ain't so!! LINK: www.brasschecktv.com/page/29672.html THE TPP AND TTIP COULD BE LOSS LEADERS AND IT WON'T MAKE A BIT OF DIFFERENCE, PEOPLE...
I do not care what you may think of me... but if you do not pay attention here, you will look back later and think differently! PROMISE!! [shrunkshrink@gmail.com] ♣ [More from Dee on p.19] www.dialogue.ca
In honor of the life of Steve Lawson 1948-2016 From the family of Steve Lawson.... This is to honor the life and memory of well-known environmentalist, Steve Lawson, who passed during the night of May 8th as the Northern Lights danced across the sky from his home on Wickaninnish Island off Tofino to his birthplace in his Anishinabe Territory of Shoal Lake and Whitefish Bay in Southern Ontario. His life as an Indigenous child raised in foster homes to his adult life on the west coast spanned a tumultuous and changing era of recognition of Native rights and his legacy reflects his dedication to the land, waters, wildlife and natural world. His family and friends and all who knew him mourn this loss and miss him deeply. From designing and building boats to withstand the open ocean to carpentry and fishing and tour guide, he managed to be a great father to five children and then a grandfather to 5. As an Ojibwa Native man, his heart was rooted in the natural world... to the wildlife around us and to the spiritual teachings he inherently knew. A wisdom teacher and a patient, peaceful and dedicated man of few words, he was a leader in the most humble sense who strove for integrity and understanding and was an example to all who knew him. He is well known for his work as an ecologist in Clayoquot Sound and on Vancouver Island where he attempted to bring an end to the logging of the old growth forests and an end to mining in B.C.'s oldest park, Strathcona Park. He made international news in the effort to stop the trophy hunting and parts market of black bears and to ensure the wild salmon and marine life wasn't harmed by logging and fish farming on the west coast. He went to prison for blockading the old growth logging of the forests of Clayoquot Sound, standing beside many chiefs and members of First Nations communities in the defence and preservation of their lands and waters and all future generations. He has been the longstanding coordinator of the First Nations Environmental Network of Canada as well as serving on the board of the Canadian Environmental Network. Due to his passion for the living world of nature, he was awarded an Animal Action Award by the International Fund for Animal Welfare in 2006 and received a citation from the B.C. Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks in 2000 in recognition of his contribution to the protection and enhancement of British www.dialogue.ca
See also photo on p.2
Columbia's environment. He was noted for his work with David Suzuki as well as the Sea Shepherd Foundation. His legacy remains integral to the well-being of British Columbians and global policies. He represented Canada at international levels of Forest conferences for the United Nations and, greatly due to his work as well as many others, Clayoquot Sound was declared a UNESCO Biosphere and Strathcona Park was preserved from further mining and resource extraction. Meares Island in Clayoquot Sound remains today a Tribal Park, one of the few designations around the world to have that status and due to the battle for Meares Island, Aboriginal Title was finally recognized across the country in law and brought into the history books in libraries and schools. Dealing with cancer over the past year and a half brought great challenges but also brought a deeper understanding of the traditional and spiritual knowledge of his people. It is with deep sadness that his wife, Susanne, his children, Keila, Matahil, Quoasinis (Cosy), MitlaNova (Misty), Oren and his grandchildren, Laterra, Brennan, Mila, Jett and Della as well as the many friends and extended family and acquaintances mourn his passing. From being a child raised in foster homes with no close family to being adopted as a teenager by the Lawson family, then becoming an adult and finding his Native roots and birth family, he has such a great and widespread family of so many and his life has been a fulfilling, productive and powerful example of accomplishment leaving behind a better world. From Susanne Lawson: councilfire@hotmail.com ♣ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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An open letter to Prime Minister Trudeau Paul Hellyer, Toronto, June 1, 2016 /CNW
Dear Prime Minister: Congratulations for taking such a strong stand when you spoke at the G7 summit in Tokyo last week in favour of government spending to bring new life to moribund economies. Despite the skeptics, it is the only plan with a proven track record. In 1939 it was Hon. Paul Hellyer massive federal spending that got us out of the Great Depression and allowed us to become a significant participant in World War II. It appears that your G7 colleagues were not only divided on the question of promoting growth, but equally stymied about the related problem of debt, which is at its highest level in history. Our society, in general, is in denial that the world financial system is broken. It has been cracked for a very long time, but in the last few decades it has become a total write off as an operating system. This is because privately-owned banks have managed to achieve a monopoly to create "money." It is all created as debt – debt that has to be repaid in full with interest. But there is no money created with which to pay either interest or repay capital. Basic arithmetic proves that the system is a dead end. Money is the gasoline essential for any economy, but there is no way to get any except to borrow it and go deeper and deeper in debt – a lifetime mortgage on our most precious assets. There is only one solution that can save the system and that is a massive infusion of government-created debtfree money to dilute the ocean of existing debt, and an end to the banking monopoly that has enabled 62 families to acquire ownership of 50% of all the wealth in the world. In future the money-creation function must be shared fairly between government and the private banks. We don't have to look further than our own history to see how well that can work. When the federal government needed money in 1939, the Bank of Canada printed it and made large sums available at near-zero cost – just the cost of administration deducted. The new cash wound up in the banks where it became "high-powered money," – cash reserves that allowed the banks to play their legitimate part. In effect the money-creation function was shared, as it must be again. This system continued after the war ended and helped fund the great 8 dialogue
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infrastructure projects of the progressive 1940s and '50s. In 1974 the 35 best years of the century ended abruptly when Bank of Canada Governor Gerald Bouey unilaterally, and without consultation or agreement with your father, the prime minister, announced that the Bank was adopting "monetarism." There was no hint that shareholders' interests were to be abandoned in favour of policies established by the Bank for International Settlements, an organization indirectly controlled by the elite banking families. One of the new rules was to end the practice of providing low cost money to governments. They would have to borrow in the market, and pay market rates of interest. This change in direction proved to be a devastating blow to good government in Canada. From 1867 to 1974 Canadians had financed two world wars and a very long list of major infrastructure projects, while only accumulating an inconsequential $21.6 billion in debt. After 1974, however, the federal debt soared to $615 billion, and from fiscal 1974/75 to fiscal 2011/12 hard-pressed Canadian taxpayers had to pay $1.1 trillion interest on a debt that is still outstanding. This huge sum should have been available for health care, education, First Nations needs, and a dozen other essentials that have been underfunded for decades. So while we applaud your plan to begin the long overdue essential catch-up, borrowing the money is not the preferred option. Under our Constitution, Parliament has absolute authority over money and banking in Canada. Canadians own the patent to create money. Private banks have no rights; they are only licencees which must obey rules set by Parliament. A word of caution however. If Parliament ratifies either the Canada-Europe Trade Agreement or the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the disputes settlement mechanism would effect a unilateral change in the Canadian constitution and impinge on Parliament's control over money and banking. It would amount to giving up Canada's most valuable financial asset, worth trillions, to create our own money. As prime minister, you obviously want what is best for our country. I would respectfully ask that the government consider a radical, not-so-new plan of action that would benefit our country immeasurably – "A Social Contract Between the Government and People of Canada." LINK: www.canadianbankreformers.ca/newsocial-contract/
This plan would provide $150 billion a year for 7 …/ www.dialogue.ca
years to be split 50/50 between Ottawa and the provinces and territories. It will put back into the Canadian economy an amount of the same magnitude as our accumulated loss from spending our tax dollars on unnecessary interest payments, while at the same time increasing the private banks cash reserves from zero to 34%, so that the government-created money would not be inflationary! At the end of the 7 years new money creation will be split 34% for the governments and 66% for the private banks – a ratio that would allow both to meet their legitimate requirements. There is still time to put the plan into effect in June before the summer recess, and give the Canadian economy
the biggest supercharged boost it has seen since 1939. To do so would win gold for Canada in the race to provide financial relief and renewed hope for the long-suffering 99 percent. Best wishes, Paul Hellyer SOURCE: Canadian Bank Reformers www.canadianbankreformers.ca Hon. Paul Hellyer is former Minister of Canadian Defence. SEE ALSO:
www.canadianbankreformers.ca/new-social-contract/ – where you can support a petition to the PM LINK: https://ceo.ca/@newswire/an-open-letter-to-primeminister-trudeau ♣
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The Sceptical Scholar
The New Canadian Senate Senate Reform: The Tectonic Plates Have Shifted Wilf Cude, Cape Breton NS On Friday, 24 April, 2014, it seemed as if Senate reform was finished. Permanently over, done forever. Eight justices of the Supreme Court of Canada had unanimously advised the Prime Minister, Parliament and the country itself that implementing either fixed terms for Senators or provincial elections for Senators would require the consent of seven provinces representing half the population. Moreover, the same eight justices unanimously advised the Prime Minister, Parliament and the country itself that abolition of the Senate would require the consent of all provinces. And that seemed the end of the matter, since neither prospect was even remotely conceivable, either now or in any imaginable future. The twin tectonic plates of Senate reform, election or abolition, hitherto grinding relentlessly against one another over decades of controversy, at this point seemed irrevocably locked in stasis. No movement in either direction could happen, and no other option had been proposed, let alone deemed feasible. “Significant reform and abolition are off the table,” Prime Minister Harper responded, perhaps as much out of relief as chagrin. Except that in the background of that immediate response, almost obscured by all the white noise of contemporary commentary, was one observation by Stephan Dion. The Court had stressed that our Constitution was explicit on the necessity for both a lower elected and upper appointed legislative chamber: and the deliberate contrast between the two was “not an accident of history.” Executive appointment of Senators, as opposed to www.dialogue.ca
election, was specifically chosen by the framers of our Constitution in order to ensure the upper chamber could play “a specific role of a complementary legislative body.” The emphasis was then, and is now, upon the idea of “a complementary legislative body.” The job of the Senate isn’t to compete with the House of Commons as another elected body with equal powers to legislate: the House had that function exclusively, and that situation could not change. But the Senate has a crucial role in the legislative process by its ability to delay any change in the existing body of law proposed by the House: in effect, its job is to act as an independent (ie, non-partisan) body of sober second thought, unconstrained by any pressures of re-election or term limits. In all the hullabaloo from advocates of either election or abolition, Mr. Dion mildly remarked that Justin Trudeau had already arrived at the only viable solution to the problem of Senate reform: sever the partisan party affiliation between Senators and Members of Parliament by excluding Senators from the party caucus in the House of Commons. Which, of course, was precisely the process Mr. Trudeau had already initiated only a couple of months earlier. At that time, he had literally expelled the 32 sitting Liberal Senators from his party caucus, an action completely within his powers as party leader, an action with absolutely no constitutional complications, and an action that definitively ensured the instantaneous establishment of 32 fully independent sitting Senators. “The Senate must be non-partisan, composed merely of thoughtful individuals,” Mr. Trudeau explained, individuals “independent from any particular political brand.” The operative …/ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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Wilf Cude, The New Canadian Senate, contd.
word here is “independent,” the significance of which was lost to advocates of the other methods on offer. “I gather the change announced by the Liberal Leader today,” Prime Minister Harper back then sneered in the House of Commons, “is that unelected Liberal senators will become unelected senators who happen to be Liberal.” Characteristically, the man just didn’t get it. But James Cowan, leader of the Senate Liberals, most assuredly got it right away. Mr. Trudeau, he announced, “set us free.” Unlike their Tory colleagues, who then remained shackled to the Prime Minister’s office courtesy of their inclusion in the Tory caucus, and who thus remained complicit thereafter in the maneuvers of that office to subvert the Senate’s own independence during the maladroit Duffy affair, Senator Cowan and his fellow former Liberals were now answerable to nobody but themselves. They could make up their own minds on the merits of issues and major legislation before them, never mind what others in the other House might require or even wish. What the framers of the Constitution had overlooked was the tendency of Prime Ministers from Sir John A. MacDonald onwards to appoint long-serving party placemen to the Senate as reward for decades of partisan party service: and that practice ensured unthinking party loyalty in the Senate, rather than sober independent second thought, a practice cemented into place with the inclusion of Senators within either the Conservative or Liberal caucus. Subservience to the Prime Minister’s office of the day, in the Senate as well as the House, became the Canadian norm: and it was a practice that has passed swiftly into the back pages of our history, once Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister with a majority government. For with a masterstroke of policy – conforming strictly to the Prime Ministerial prerogatives of appointment stipulated within our constitution, while simultaneously introducing a permanent array of advisory mechanisms eliminating the potential for patronage placement – he changed everything in our legislative practice. The Prime Minister will continue to make all Senate appointments, selecting each new Senator from a list provided by a committee of advisors: thus far, totally in conformity with not only the constitutional requirements, but also established practice. The difference under the Trudeau innovation, however, is both subtle and astonishingly clever: both the composition of the advisory committee and the restricted nature of the list of candidates are structured to ensure only highly qualified 10 dialogue
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and thoroughly independent people make the final cut. The key factor here is absolute transparency in every aspect of the process. There are three permanent members at the centre of the advisory committee: currently, they are all highly-respected experts, Huguette LaBelle (former Chancellor, University of Ottawa) as chair, Daniel Jutras (Dean of Law, McGill University) and Indira Samarasekera (former President, University of Alberta). The committee will be rounded out by two other ad hoc members, both selected from each province with Senate vacancies to be filled. Provincial governments will be invited to select the ad hoc positions: in those appointments for the first seven vacancies, Quebec and Ontario chose to participate, while Manitoba declined. The Manitoba ad hoc appointments were thereafter filled by Ottawa, and Dave Chomiak (Manitoba government’s House leader) conceded the Ottawa ad hoc appointments were “good people who would represent the province well.” In the event, the advisory process vetted hundreds of candidates, presenting the Prime Minister with a non-binding short list of five nominees for each vacancy. Mr. Trudeau chose an aboriginal jurist, a paralympian gold medalist, a former university president, a former provincial cabinet minister, a former federal deputy minister, a pro-immigration activist and a journalist. “I note,” grumped Senator Claude Carignan, leader of the Senate Tories, “that this process yielded the same type of appointments as it has previously – former judges, provincial ministers, journalists, Olympians....” The poor guy, rather like his former leader, obviously just didn’t get it. So let’s take a peek at precisely what he has missed. First, the entire new process was thoroughly transparent: no smoke-filled party backroom wheeling and dealing here. Second, none of of the new Senators were Liberals, and all were categorically appointed as independents: unlike Senator Carignan and his Tory colleagues, they are totally free of party allegiance. And third, none of the new Senators came tainted with the suggestion they were there either as a consequence of, or a commitment to, partisan political fundraising. The short and sharp reply to Senator Carignan’s insistence that the earlier process also yielded former journalists and politicians is brutal: three names, Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau. ‘Nuff said, there. The far more credible (and telling) response from the Tory Senate caucus was that of Senators John Wallace and Jacques Demers, each of whom resigned from the Tory caucus to sit as independents, Wallace to work at revising Senate rules and procedures and Demers to pursue a long-standing commitment combatting illiteracy. …/ www.dialogue.ca
In so acting, they underscored Trudeau’s point to all sitting Senators: they are appointed to a tenured position until age seventy-five, and they are free to behave as they see fit in the country’s service, even those who chose to continue in the Tory caucus. Because now, should any current Tory Senator feel constrained by that caucus commitment, the precedent set by Senators Wallace and Demers is available: resign from caucus, and sit as yet another independent. Current standings in the Senate tell the story: Conservatives, 42; Independent Liberals, 22; Independents, 24; vacant, 15. Mr. Trudeau will fill those remaining 15 vacancies shortly, and he will also eventually fill the extra 22 vacancies created by mandatory retirements between now and 2019: all as independents, every one. Do the math. His innovation has already in essence been achieved. And it won’t change, whatever happens to Mr. Trudeau, whatever happens to the Liberal party: it won’t change, because it simply can’t. In theory, it could somehow be modified again by Mr. Trudeau’s successor, whoever that might be: but in practice, that is not in the least likely. By the time a couple of years have elapsed, the Senate will have been utterly transformed, with an overwhelming majority of members committed to independent and complementary oversight of our legislative process. Tenured members, to continue in office free of partisan meddling of any kind, free until reaching the mandatory age of retirement at seventy-five. Changing that would entail an institutional upheaval of daunting proportions. And for what? To pivot backwards to a system of proven inadequacy, a system that had evolved well over a century since confederation, a system perversely dwindling down our second legislative house into an exorbitantly expensive repository of people the party in power had previously bought. Nobody wants that. And even if some folks did, how might that be done? By dismissing out of hand the impartial and independent advisory structure created by the present government, in order to reinstate the thoroughly discredited previous status quo, the methodology of the smoke-filled party backroom wheeling and dealing, the methodology which could only introduce clones of people like Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin or Patrick Brazeau, selected solely to promote narrow partisan concerns instead of the broad national interest. Remember, there is no other conceivable option on offer save a return to the thoroughly discredited old ways, absent what Prime Minister Trudeau has achieved. Those twin tectonic plates of Senate reform – election and abolition – still remain locked in constitutional stasis forevermore: hence, the only way forward is the new way we now have. www.dialogue.ca
Which raises in turn a fascinating question: how competently will this thing work? Fascinating, yes, but intimidating as well. For this new Senate perforce comes unequipped with all the administrative apparatus the old-style Senate had evolved out of the partisan maneuverings ever since Sir John A. MacDonald’s day. As recently as the last change of government, the Senate’s rulebook governing such matters as internal structures and procedures was one crafted around the assumption of partisan caucuses that formed a government party and an opposition party, much like their counterparts in the House of Commons with which they marched in lockstep. With the fast-fading, increasingly flimsy and more embarrassingly irrelevant exception of the Tory senatorial rump, all of that is gone, vanished into the rubbish heap of history. The Independents are in a majority position, with their numbers set to increase dramatically: and their most immediate and pressing task is to determine how they are to govern themselves effectively and productively. In the absence of partisan caucuses, how might they organize themselves to explore legislation from the House of Commons, to make recommendations for Senatorial input thereafter, and to come to a final vote on what should then be done? To their credit, the Independents have rallied to the challenge, creating symposia and working groups to provide comprehensive input to the recently established special committee on Senate modernization. That committee will hear extensive testimony, not only from the in-house symposia and working groups, but also from experts in Senate reform and reform of other upper chambers fashioned within the traditions of Westminster style democracies. As Thomas J. McInnis, chair of the modernization committee, explained, the purpose is “to provide sober second thought, to exercise independence, to effectively represent the regions and provinces, to represent minorities and to provide a counter-balance to an elected House of Commons.” And good luck with all that. Within a few days of this writing, the newly-reformed Senate will confront its first major legislative test, and it’s going to be a doozy! Bill C14 on assisted dying is before the House of Commons, and it has encountered some rather daunting resistance. To be fair, that is not entirely the present government’s fault: the need for such legislation was urgently apparent right from the Supreme Court’s February 2015 ruling that consenting adults enduring intolerable physical or mental suffering had the right to end their lives with the aid of a physician, and the urgency and gravity of the matter had moved the Court to give the then current government a year’s grace in which to craft legislation supplanting the interim arrangements the ruling established. But …/ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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neither Prime Minister Harper nor Peter MacKay, his Minister of Justice, dared to address something so controversial before the last election: figuratively speaking, they quite cynically kicked everything into the legislative long grass, leaving a time-constrained legal complexity as a huge potential political hazard for the next government to handle. Yet handle it they must, first in our House of Commons, and then in our brand-new Senate. There is far more of consequence to contemplate here than media flirtations with the latest frivolous kerfuffle among members of the House of Commons. Short of wartime, our Parliament will not convene to consider any subject of greater importance than how the grave responsibility of assisted dying is addressed and implemented. Can our radical new Senate successfully provide the requisite “sober second thought” that the
looming legislative challenge might demand? Truly, as all of us are about to find out, in the words of that apocryphal Chinese curse, we do live in interesting times. Wilfred Cude, BA (RMC), MA (Dalhousie) WEBSITE: www.wilfredcude.com
Wilfred Cude is the author of A Due Sense of Differences (1981), The Ph.D. Trap (1987), The Ph.D. Trap Revisited (2001). His latest book is Weapons of Mass Disruption, An Academic Whistleblower’s Tale. (2014). He has lectured at seven different colleges and universities across the country. His next literary venture will be an account of the 1933-34 NHL Season, in which his goaltending father Wilf Cude Sr. helped bring the Detroit Red Wings to the Stanley Cup final. Wilf Jr. lives with his wife, the novelist Mary Pat Cude, in a small house they built in rural Cape Breton on the shore of the Loch Bras D'Or. ♣
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Robin Mathews Uncut
The Trans Pacific Partnership. Canada and Imperial Globalization. Part One. Robin Mathews, Vancouver BC (May 2016) A characteristic of Imperial Globalization is criminal manipulation of people and events for the profit of a few. It includes massive ‘disinformation’ about equality, benefits, social development, law, improved standards of living, etc. The disinformation is spread by “authoritative” news sources. In the hands of gigantic, wealthy, private corporations, globalization is a process which works to erase sovereign democracies and replace them with “treatied” sub-states, economic colonies ruled by faceless, offshore, often secret, unaccountable powers. Corruption – often not put into context – is endemic to globalization because the process creates lawless parallel government which uses lawless (and criminal) modes of operation that infect traditional government (apparently) working within the rule of law.
Parties and governments cooperating with globalization forces (Canadian governments have co-operated since the 1987 Canada/U.S. Free Trade Agreement) are, by their actions, committed to giving up independent democracy in favour of rule by “international”, unelected, often secretly operating front organizations (and adjudicating panels) acting on behalf of so-called “international capital”. The phrase ‘International Capital’ implies great wealth, but doesn’t suggest the full aggressive reality of the force. “International capital”, in fact, is made up of consortiums of corporate and financial power wielding 12 dialogue
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Original painting by Robin Mathews
heavy influence on most Western governments (largely working from the U.S.A.), undermining democratic forces, and having available the NATO and U.S. military to back its ‘global’ policies. A Canadian Tradition of Sell-Out Since the Brian Mulroney Conservative government acted in 1987, Canadian governments have believed that by supporting international capital and globalization the wealthy of Canada will be part of a ‘global’ club, and will benefit greatly, profiting from the erasure of democracy in Canada. That makes for consistency of policy through apparently different governments. Since 1987 no Party that has won federal government in Canada has rejected ‘imperial globalization’ … and each has, indeed, worked to enter so-called Trade Treaties which give away rights and freedoms of Canadians. …/ www.dialogue.ca
Moving in an undemocratic, fascist direction, Canadian governments (which appear to change) maintain the same ‘globalization’ policies and so – beneath propaganda about root differences – they carry forward the same basic, destructive policies. As the failure to take legal action against Mike Duffy’s (almost certainly criminal) false accusers in the Conservative structure shows, the Liberals are, apparently, too closely partnered with the Conservatives (at the invisible top) to act meaningfully against them. The complete silence on that subject in Ottawa tells (almost) all one needs to know. A Poster-Boy For Sell-Out Meanwhile, the jockeying for top national political position continues – and the competition whether to employ soft or hard fascism continues. As example we may use the cardboard cut-out figure, Conservative Peter MacKay, apparently considering throwing his cap into the ring as a contender for the leadership of the Conservative Party (apparently supported by the National Post). He was cabinet minister through most of the years of Harper misrule – as federal justice minister and attorney general of Canada – among other roles. Peter MacKay takes more than a half a page of the National Post (Apr. 25/A8) to urge Canadians (in large Capital Letters) to “RESPECT THE RULE OF LAW”. George Orwell would have loved every word of the MacKay article. In short – beneath the surface language – it says that whatever repressive government in Ottawa chooses to make as law … is law. And the guardian of fundamental Canadian Rights and Freedoms (made clear in the Charter) - the Supreme Court of Canada - has no place in the legislation process. If a gutted and criminal House of Commons passes fascist legislation – that should be the law. Period. MacKay builds the non-argument around a favourite far-Right Conservative matter – ‘tough-on-crime’ legislation. A member of the Leadership Mob that made the House of Commons a lackey-rubber-stamp for every and any violation of Canadian democracy, MacKay writes of the House of Commons as a “democratically elected and accountable parliament” and he writes of the brutal, neofascist power-core of the Harper regime as a group making decisions “through a democratic and consultative process”. MacKay writes, remember, as a member of the Conservative government that gagged scientists, destroyed valuable libraries, attempted to appoint an unqualified Supreme www.dialogue.ca
Court judge, denied the human rights of a deeply wronged Maher Arar, fired the head of Atomic Energy Canada for doing her job, sold off the Canadian Wheat Board in the face of a protesting majority of its members, worked at least two Election Scandals (In-and-Out, and Robocalls) and – most recently – was proved by a higher court to have worked in organized collaboration to entrap and deny the fundamental rights of a Canadian senator: Mike Duffy. (That incomplete list reveals Peter MacKay’s deep concern for the rule of law.) Responsible Government. For Whom? Probably most disturbing in the whole recent story of our democracy is the visible (self-chosen) impotence of the elected representatives of the Canadian people in the House of Commons. Through ten years of wilful desecration of Canadian democracy, only one Conservative Member of Parliament, Brent Rathgeber, resigned from the Conservative Caucus and sat as an Independent Member. He also wrote a book for Canadians, fittingly entitled: Irresponsible Government: The Decline of Parliamentary Democracy in Canada (2014). Corruption … At A Gallop The Mike Duffy trial revealed – almost certainly – criminal action on the part of significant Conservatives involved in government. Moreover, practised legal professionals fashioned 31 criminal charges against that Canadian – AND NOT ONE OF THE CHARGES COULD HOLD UP under fair judicial scrutiny. Reasonable and prudent Canadians may conclude that the charges were fashioned maliciously, lawlessly, in Breach of Trust, and for malign Public Relations reasons. The fact that all 31 charges against Mr. Duffy were squashed strongly suggests “a put up job”. And the (too guarded) but strong response of the judge adds another reason to believe full criminal investigation of the Affair should be undertaken to protect Canadian democracy. [I believe there is no other example in Canadian history of a single Canadian being charged, at one time, with more than 30 criminal charges – NOT ONE of which was able to hold up in court. That is because never before in history has the Canadian State staged such a brazen, criminal attack on the Rights and Freedoms of a Canadian.] Consider: a malicious, criminal machine, operated at the highest level of government, appears, baselessly, to have conspired to destroy a Canadian – who is found innocent of all 31 alleged criminal acts. His innocence is proved … and not a Member of Parliament nor a single public commentator in national press and media demands that the actors involved in concocting the 31 non-viable charges against the innocent person be fully and …/ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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completely investigated with a view to laying charges against one or many of the perpetrators, if charges are warranted. Exposed in the trial were the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, members of his office, certain senators, RCMP officers, Prosecution personnel – to name only the most visible. The failure – still! – in the House of Commons to demand full accounting means, simply, that the MPs do not represent - and make almost no pretence that they do represent the people of Canada. (If Canadian readers were told that of another “democratic” country, they would shake their heads in disbelief.) The failure of the Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau screams of covert policies (shared with the Conservative Party) kept from the Canadian people.
So What Do We Do? That present, desperate condition must change the role and attitude of all aware and caring Canadians. They must seriously consider the prospect of creating a new party (or really empowering and bulking-out a present, small one presently unrepresented in Parliament) devoted to sweeping the board of the present “club of illdoers”, and reversing the fascist directions of present Canadian government. [Send this column on to MPs, and to others!] Robin Mathews, Vancouver ♣ [ rmathews@telus.net ] See other articles by Robin online at: www.dialogue2.ca/columnist-robin-mathews-uncut.html ♣
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Question to Foreign Affairs Minister Dion: What about your responsibility to tell the truth? By Peter Ewart, Prince George BC Published online, Apr. 18, 2016, at 250news.com from Prince George BC: LINK: http://tinyurl.com/250-truth
Previous federal Liberal governments have made much ado about the doctrine of “Responsibility to protect” in foreign policy. More recently, Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion has put forward the murky doctrine of what he calls “Responsible conviction.” Not a few people feel that both of these so-called “responsibility” doctrines are nothing but excuses to justify and sugar-coat military aggression (1) (2). But, that issue aside, what about the Liberal government’s responsibility to tell the truth to the Canadian people? In that regard, Dion and his government are recklessly abdicating their responsibility and misleading the country about the $15 billion arms deal to Saudi Arabia, a country with a terrible human rights record as well as a history of committing aggression and supporting terrorist organizations. The terms of the $15 billion deal to provide combat vehicles and other military equipment to the Saudi regime were negotiated by the previous Harper government. After the federal election last fall, the new Liberal government gave the clear impression that it had no choice but to go through with the arms sale because it was a “done deal.” Furthermore, Foreign Minister Dion claimed that Saudi Arabia had not “misused” any of the huge amounts of military equipment previously sold to it by Canada and thus was eligible to receive it (3). So, according to the Liberal government, Canadians were supposed to sit back and accept a deal that the 14 dialogue
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federal government had “no choice” but to go through with, even though it amounts to pouring more gasoline onto the raging fires of conflict in the Middle East which are giving rise to so much human misery. However, as a result of a lawsuit filed by University law professor Daniel Turp, information has emerged that directly contradicts Stephane Dion and the Liberal government’s fairy tale about the arms deal. For one thing, according to secret government documents brought forth by the lawsuit, it has now been revealed that the export permits for the arms deal were signed by Stephane Dion behind closed doors only a few days ago, on April 8, 2016. In other words, contrary to the impression given by the Liberal government since last fall, the deal was not a “done deal” which somehow the Liberals were locked into. To put it plainly, as Opposition figures and media pundits have pointed out, it seems that the Canadian people have not been told the truth by Minister Stephane Dion and his government regarding the approval of this very controversial arms sale. Nor have they been told the truth about the Liberal government’s so-called “principled foreign policy” and “upholding of human rights” in regards to Saudi Arabia. According to Dion, when Canada sells military equipment it does so “in a manner that is consistent with international law, with human rights and with our national interests”. Yet Saudi Arabia just recently began bombing Yemen, a neighboring country, hitting “residential areas, hospitals, schools, markets and mosques” to an extent that human rights organizations believe that war crimes may have been committed (4). The regime …/ www.dialogue.ca
also engages in brutal and barbaric oppression of its own people, as well as supporting and financing terrorist organizations associated with Al Queda and ISIS in Syria and elsewhere. So much for the “principled foreign policy” of the Trudeau Liberal government regarding arms sales. There is another interesting development in this fiasco. The New York Times just published an article (5) stating that Saudi Arabia has threatened to sell off hundreds of billions of U.S. Treasury bills if the U.S. Congress goes ahead with legislation that allows the Saudi government to be held responsible for any role in the 9/11 attacks in New York 15 years ago. This is at a time when the U.S. government is under growing pressure to release the infamous “28 pages” that have been withheld from the public for some years in the 9/11 Congressional report. These missing 28 pages are said to implicate certain Saudi government officials in facilitating the 9/11 terrorist attack. The passage of the legislation and the release of the 28 pages would undoubtedly generate a huge controversy. If Saudi Arabia went ahead with its threat to sell off massive amounts of U.S. Treasury bills, this could destabilize currency markets and possibly impact the global economy. Yet, in the midst of all of this, here is Canada proceeding along with a massive arms export to this out-of-control Middle Eastern country that is currently bombing a neighboring country, oppressing its own citizens, supporting terrorists, and now threatening financial markets. Too often, when governments do not tell the truth to their citizens, catastrophe results, especially if it has to do with war. For example, the U.S. government did not tell the truth when it justified invading Iraq back in 2003 under the hoax that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, nor did it tell the truth when it launched the first Gulf War (justified in part with the false claim that Saddam Hussein’s army was disconnecting the incubators of babies in hospitals). A more recent example was the bombing of Libya and the overthrow of the Qaddafi government which Canada, unfortunately, took part in. The justification for this bombing was supposedly because Qaddafi was about to
massacre civilians (6). After Qaddafi was overthrown and murdered, and Libya hurled into sectarian chaos and destruction (where it still remains), it was revealed that the so-called massacre was a hoax perpetrated by opposition terrorists, some of whom later went on to form ISIS in Syria and Iraq with devastating consequences (7). Already, candidates for the U.S. presidency like Hillary Clinton are threatening further intervention in Syria (with a no-fly zone that would directly confront Russia) and the Middle East. Who knows what lies and disinformation will be used to justify future interference and aggression? Will Canada be further dragged into the wars in that region by Clinton or another U.S. president? Will we be misled by our own government once again? Misleading Parliament and misleading the Canadian people are serious offences. In fact, when it comes to military affairs, they have life and death consequences for both soldiers and people. Minister Dion should resign. Peter Ewart is a columnist and writer based in Prince George, BC; peter.ewart@shaw.ca Footnotes: 1. Cohn, Marjorie. “The responsibility to protect – the case of Libya and Ivory Coast.” Global Research. May 16, 2011. http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-responsibility-to-protect-the-casesof-libya-and-ivory-coast/24799 2. “Responsible conviction: Another criminal doctrine of Canada’s Foreign Affairs to justify aggression and war.” TML Weekly Information Project. Apr 9, 2016. http://cpcml.ca/Tmlw2016/W46015.HTM#1 3. Chase, Steven. “Liberals accused of lying about Saudi arms deal.” Globe and Mail. April 13, 2016. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/liberals-accused-of-lying-about-saudi-armsdeal/article29627989/ 4. Macdonald, Neil. “When Saudis are involved, the new boss in Ottawa is just like the old boss.” CBC. April 14, 2016. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-saudi-arabia-arms-lav-contract-liberals-conservatives-neil-macdonald-1.3534795 5. Mazzetti, Mark. “Saudi Arabia warns of economic fallout if Congress passes 9/11 Bill.” New York Times. April 15, 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/16/world/middleeast/saudi-arabiawarns-ofeconomic-fallout-if-congress-passes-9-11-bill.html?_r=0 6. Milne, Seumas. “If the Libyan war was about saving lives, it was a catastrophic failure.” The Guardian. October 26, 2011. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/oct/26/libya-warsaving-lives-catastrophic-failure 7. Cartalucci, Tony. “CNN: Libyan ‘rebels’ are not ISIS.” Land Destroyer Report. Nov. 19, 2014. http://landdestroyer.blogspot.ca/2014/11/libyan-rebels-are-now-isis.html
ARTCLE LINK: http://tinyurl.com/250-truth ♣
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The Dirty War on Syria – Prof. Tim Anderson on GRTV By Prof. Tim Anderson and James Corbett Video 22 min., Global Research, Montreal, May 31, ‘16
Government propaganda and NGO misinformation have coloured the story of the war on Syria from its inception. Stepping in to set the record straight, Dr. Tim Anderson www.dialogue.ca
explores the real beginnings of the conflict, the players behind it, and their agenda in his new book, “The Dirty War on Syria: Washington, Regime Change and Resistance.” The Dirty War on Syria has relied on a level of mass …/ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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The Dirty War on Syria, contd.
disinformation not seen in living memory. In seeking ‘regime change’ the big powers sought to hide their hand, using proxy armies of ‘Islamists’, demonising the Syrian Government and constantly accusing it of atrocities. In this way Syrian President Bashar al Assad, a mild-mannered eye doctor, became the new evil in the world. The popular myths of this dirty war – that it is a ‘civil war’, a ‘popular revolt’ or a sectarian conflict – hide a murderous spree of ‘regime change’ across the region. The attack on Syria was a necessary consequence of Washington’s ambition, stated openly in 2006, to create a ‘New Middle East’. After the destruction of Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, Syria was next in line. Five years into this war the evidence is quite clear and must be set out in detail. The terrible massacres were mostly committed by the western backed jihadists, then blamed on the Syrian Army. The western media and many western NGOs parroted the official line. Their sources were almost invariably those allied to the
‘jihadists’. Contrary to the myth that the big powers now have their own ‘war on terror’, those same powers have backed every single anti-government armed group in Syria, ‘terrorists’ in any other context, adding thousands of ‘jihadis’ from dozens of countries. Yet in Syria this dirty war has confronted a disciplined national army which did not disintegrate along sectarian lines. Despite terrible destruction and loss of life, Syria has survived, deepening its alliance with Russia, Iran, the Lebanese Resistance, the secular Palestinians and, more recently, with Iraq. The tide has turned against Washington, and that will have implications beyond Syria. As western peoples, we have been particularly deceived by this dirty war, reverting to our worst traditions of intervention, racial prejudice and poor reflection on our own histories. This book tries to tell its story while rescuing some of the better western traditions: the use of reason, ethical principle and the search for independent evidence. LINK TO VIDEO (22 min): http://tinyurl.com/CRG28264 ♣
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“One Man’s Opinion”
Justice Served or Injustice by Default? Ken Clark, Fergus ON Well finally, the Mike Duffy trial is over; or is it truly over? To me, this much heralded trial has produced more questions than answers and begs the question ‘has justice been served or has injustice at the highest level of government prevailed as a result of gross incompetence’? What really went wrong? How could an individual be charged with 31 various criminal charges and subsequently be declared not guilty, on each and every one of the 31 charges, by the trial judge?* Who failed to do their homework? Was Mike Duffy incorrectly charged in the first place; if so, why was this done?
I believe most Canadians feel the vast majority of these charges are connected to expenses claimed by Duffy; but why should this be so difficult to prove or disprove and was taking the matter to court the best or only solution? Was any concern given to the cost that taxpayers would have to come up with? What was the real reason the government took this matter to court? Then there is the question that arises from Judge Charles Vaillancourt’s resounding acquittal of Duffy and the subsequent condemnation instead of the ruthless actions 16 dialogue
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of Stephen Harper’s Prime Minister’s Office. To my mind, if Duffy is totally cleared of any wrongdoing in this matter, isn’t it quite obvious that the court needs to question further the actions of the PMO? It sure is to me; but I won’t hold my breath for this to happen. I believe that the most ironic outcome of this whole affair is that, contrary to The Charter of Rights and Freedoms’s declaration ‘that everyone is guaranteed equality before and under the law, as well as a speedy trial,’ it has not applied in this case. Mr. Duffy certainly did not receive a speedy trial, the Canadian people have not witnessed justice performed and the apparent wrongdoer seems to have got off scot-free to this point. I feel very strongly that many Canadians share my belief that pertinent information is being witheld from the public. Only when the Canadian people have heard the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, can the book be closed on this sickening scheme perpetrated by the federal government. Ken Clark *Judge dismissed 27 of 31 charges and found senator not guilty of the other four charges.
On a totally different note… a comment from Ken to promote DIALOGUE MAGAZINE further (see p.40). ♣ www.dialogue.ca
“The Fifth Columnist”
Sense and census
Michael Neilly, Dunrobin ON One of the ideological battles fought recently seems to be over the long-form census. (SEE GOVERNMENT LINK AT THE END)
Kudos to Stephen Harper for making the long-form census voluntary in 2011. But petty Liberals have overturned many of the laws passed by the Tories, among them is return of the mandatory long-form census. Here is the reason the state asks the “long-form questions”: “Complementing the data collected by the shortform questionnaire, the long-form questionnaire is designed to provide information about people in Canada based on their demographic, social and economic characteristics. This information is important for your community and is vital for planning services such as child care, schooling, family services, and skills training for employment.” I find this statement remarkable because most of the things mentioned in this list fall under provincial and regional/municipal jurisdictions. Education and health are provincial. The only thing I can see that is federal in the list is skills training. I understand that the federal government collects the data and provinces and other governments can use it. Surely the provinces can do this themselves? The state goes on to say: “Questions 7 to 9 are used to provide a profile of the linguistic diversity of Canada’s population. This information is used to estimate the need for services in English and French, and to better understand the current status and the evolution of Canada’s various language groups.” Language is the purview of the provincial governments, too. The elephant in the room is the “need” for French-language services, where numbers warrant AND don’t warrant, to prevent “assimilation”! Seriously, if (!) there were a need for English language services in Quebec, would our federal government dare to intervene? On the other hand, rest assured we’ll be building a French school in the Yukon, despite the low demand. Diversity is the snake oil the Liberal Party of Canada is selling to Canadians. Oh my gosh, Canada is not diverse enough! What rubbish that diversity will make Canada stronger. I defy anyone to explain how this can be measured (strength due to diversity) by any scientific means and proven. It is political dogma. If that makes you feel better about yourself, that your personal identity must be www.dialogue.ca
subsumed by a collective, great. But spare us the lie. And if diversity is lost, well that’s a crime against humanity, never mind the wars, torture, and famine that plague the globe. More questions about when your dwelling was built and was it in need or repairs. I’ll ask the question: is the federal government going to somehow assist Canadians in the maintenance of their homes? If I heat with propane, will the federal government subsidize clean technologies, or just tax the fuel I have to burn to stay warm for six months of the year – hello carbon tax! The question that really bothered me was 11 e). “Does this person have any emotional, psychological or mental health conditions (e.g., anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, anorexia, etc.)?” Since the trend by governments is to close hospitals, what exactly is the federal government proposing to do for people who are anxious? Will we receive a refundable anxiety credit? Again, never mind that health is a matter for the provincial governments, here is the Canadian state asking for people to self-identify as anorexic or as a substance abuser. Good luck with that. But the Canadian state wants to know. The long-form census is vintage Liberal Party, invasive, dogmatic, arrogant. But let’s face it, the previous incumbent has also squandered an opportunity to take the pulse of Canadians, to determine if Canadians are happy, if the communities we live in are happy ones. If Canada really wanted to take the pulse of Canadians, census authors could have read The Economics of Happiness: Building Genuine Wealth by Mark Anielski, which attempts to “redefine and measure wealth and progress”, and with this could have crafted a well-being census for Canada. Questions in a census might be: What do you love about your community? What works? What doesn’t? What would you like to see improved? Is our water clean? Is our air fresh? More questions they could ask, I suppose. As a little person at the bottom of this giant enterprise called Canada, maybe I’d be flattered if someone would actually asked me how I was doing, how I felt and then did something about it. But seeing how the collection of data is being abused to gauge our likes and dislikes, how you can’t do anything on the internet without agreeing to invasive terms and conditions, maybe I should just shut up and be tagged like some wild animal. Fill in the census, it’s the law! …/ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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I take some comfort in knowing that all of the data gathered will be stored in media that will be unrecoverable by future generations – remember the floppy disk?
Yes, the dogs bark, the caravan moves on. But how many dogs do you have? – Mike FED.GOV.LINK: www.census.gc.ca/ccr16f/ccr16f_001-eng.html♣
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The Federal Budget and the Bank of Canada Herb Wiseman, COMER, Peterborough ON Peterborough This Week: We have just received the first budget from the new Trudeau government and writers once again focus on the growth of debt and repaying it. The elephant in the room the vast majority of commentators (such as Dan Twomey Jr.) overlook is that prior to a sudden and very deleterious shift in the mid-1970s, infrastructure projects were often funded through monetary practices – that is, government bonds purchased by the Bank of Canada, which it owns, whereas program spending and transfers were funded fiscally – that is taxes and spending. Our present practice is like the owners of gas stations buying their gas from competitors instead of themselves. The Government of Canada borrows from the private financiers, thus paying enormous amounts of our tax dollars as interest, little of which gets returned to it unlike the gas station operators who get a share in their profits when they buy gas from themselves. In both the Harper and Trudeau budgets, the debt service charges (interest) amount to $25.7 billion per year. If the entire federal debt were to be held by the Bank of Canada, that interest would be returned to the government as revenue instead of being listed as an expense and the projected Trudeau deficit of approximately $30 billion would be a little more than $4 billion. Instead, the Trudeau government projects that due to future deficits it has planned, interest charges will grow each year to $35.5 billion by 2020. Quite the windfall for the wealthy money-lenders and shareholders of the banks! The problem is that since the mid-1970s the federal government, supported by all the political parties, is a belief that fiscal practices should be separated from monetary policies declining their responsibility for monetary policy. Instead, it
leaves monetary policy to the Bank of Canada which takes its marching orders from international banking organizations such as the Swiss-based Bank of International Settlements and the American-dominated IMF and World Bank. That is why the Committee On Monetary and Economic Reform (comer.org) is suing the government and the Bank of Canada. A graphic interactive example of recent surpluses and deficits is available from the CBC online: search for “Canada’s surpluses and deficits from 1963 to 2015” and move your cursor over the different parts of the graph. You will see the different performances of all the prime ministers since Pearson and, more importantly, the sudden change in the 1970s is readily apparent. Which brings us to the inequality issue. These practices of Lib-Con governments, while not the only cause, contribute to more inequality through the interest payments on the debt to the wealthy money-lenders. It also adds to the shareholder values of the banks. Since the mid-1970s, shareholder value has been deemed the most important goal of corporations. If the entire debt of the federal government were to be held by the Bank of Canada, it would not grow because the interest would not compound. Nor would it have to be repaid. Nor would government contribute to inequality. Nor would we need a new infrastructure bank. Herb Wiseman, Apr. 6, 2016, Vice-chair, Committee On Monetary and Economic Reform (COMER) ONLINE at: http://www.mykawartha.com/opinionstory/6441351-committee-suing-federal-government-overits-debt-practices ♣
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A proposal for banks that get in trouble Gerry Masuda, Duncan BC, gerry.masuda@gmail.com Rather than bailing-out banks, the government should provide troubled banks with interest-bearing loans, spread out over a long period. The banks should pay for the mistakes they made, not be bailed-out with taxpayers’ money. In future, government loans not bail-outs or bail-ins should be the principle used to save banks the next time they get into trouble. ♣ 18 dialogue
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NEB seeks public input on Northern Gateway permit extension Submit comments until June 27, 2016 From June Ross, Pauline Hunt "The NEB will accept public comments on Northern Gateway pipeline extension until June 27 on its website. The National Energy Board (NEB) is seeking public feedback on an application from Enbridge to extend environmental permits for the Northern Gateway Pipeline. LINK TO NEB PAGE: http://tinyurl.com/NEB-ngp-xtnd ♣
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“Prévoyance”
Observations from Erik Andersen, Gabriola Island BC
Re: How the 2016 Federal budget allows banks to rob you of your savings Erik Andersen
QUOTE FROM THE 2016 BUDGET, INTRODUCING A BANK RECAPITALIZATION “BAIL-IN” REGIME:
“To protect Canadian taxpayers in the unlikely event of a large bank failure, the Government is proposing to implement a bail-in regime that would reinforce that bank shareholders and creditors are responsible for the bank’s risks—not taxpayers. This would allow authorities to convert eligible long-term debt of a failing systemically important bank into common shares to recapitalize the bank and allow it to remain open and operating.” Source: Budget 2016, p. 223. It may help to know a little about the legal history of bank deposits. My reference is "Money. Bank Credit and Economic Cycles" by J. Huerta De Soto (translated by M. A. Stroup.). From Greek and Roman times (probably earlier but not well recorded) bank deposits have fallen into only two legal conditions. This idea has been tested in courts over the ensuing years and, as far as I can tell, remained unchanged. We know that all politicians engage in the practice of changing laws or adding new ones, but we also know from the experience of the past 10 years not all legislation endures when tested against constitutional law. Keep in mind that a federal or provincial budget is mostly a political document that may contain statements that are for the most part opinions. The first type of bank deposit is formally called a "Monetary Irregular Deposit." The legal conditions that apply to this type of deposit are: "1. The essential element (and the depositor's main motivation) is the custody or safekeeping of the tantundem.* 2. There is no term for returning the money, but rather the contract is "on demand". 3. the depositary's obligation is to keep the tantundem available at all times (100-percent cash reserve)." The second type of bank deposit is technically called a "Monetary Loan Contract." It is in fact a contract that transfers ownership (could be temporary as with a savings account or it could be longer-term as with a GIC) from the depositor to the recipient bank. The legal features of a "Monetary Loan" are: “1. The essential element is the transfer of availability of www.dialogue.ca
the present goods to the borrower. “2. The contract requires the establishment of a term for the return of the loan and calculation and payment of interest. “3. The borrower's obligation is to return the tantundem at the end of the term and to pay the agreed-upon interest.” Now back to "bail-in." The logical way to increase the cash reserves for a bank that practices fractional reserve banking (they all do) is for the bank shareholders to subscribe to new shares. Because this creates share dilution it would be likely that current bank shareholders would resist this action. In the event of a total banking collapse, as in 08/09, I doubt current bank shareholders could even come close to saving their bank with enough new cash. It looks like the next in line to help insolvent banks are the depositors. Of the two types, only the "Monetary Loan" depositors are on the shaky legal ground because they have struck a contract that transfers ownership, albeit temporarily. What kind of paper those folks would receive is unknown at this time but it almost certain there will be zero liquidity. So down through the centuries and numerous banking failures, the legal rights of an "Irregular" depositor have prevailed over all others, but that still does not guarantee full deposit recovery. The problem of recovery and so ‘deposit risk’ is directly proportional to the degree of leverage used by each bank. The smaller the bank's reserves fraction is, the greater the risk. Because bank reserves are continuously tested for liquidity, they tread a fine line between maximising shareholders returns and insolvency. If, as in ‘08 and ‘09, important reserves assets went "No-bid" then there will be trouble in "River City." You can also see the appeal of a cashless monetary system and perhaps that is why some countries are pursuing it aggressively. In a cashless system, there would be partial escape from the discipline of the legal conditions that an "irregular" deposit places upon a bank. I hope this helps. Erik Andersen twolabradors@shaw.ca
* tantundem, n.- just so much, just as much, the same amount or quantity. VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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A Discussion re Fort McMurray and Attawapiskat On May 12, 2016, Stephanie Mc Dowall, Nanaimo <smcdow@telus.net> wrote: I have no quarrel with anything that is being done to help the people and community of Fort McMurray. The destruction and emotional distress suffered by residents is taking a heavy toll. Like thousands of other folks, I have made a financial contribution. What I do object to is that, in comparison, the federal and Ontario governments are doing practically nothing and spending a pittance to alleviate the suicide crisis in Attawapiskat, a poverty-stricken, isolated community of 2,000 located 720 km north of Sudbury. To: Charlie Angus, MP: Timmins-James Bay - Angus.C@parl.gc.ca Dear Mr. Angus, All Canadians should read this wonderful letter below – by Dee Nicholson. Of all our Federal Parliamentarians, you are the most knowledgeable and sensitive to Canada’s First Nation’s People.... in my opinion. Canadians want a fair and just relationship with Canada’s Indigenous People. I hope you will take the time to read Dee’s letter. (below) – Stephanie McDowall ***************
From Dee Nicholson, Toronto (May 13, 2016):
My question re suicides in Attawapiskat: What DO you do under those circumstances? Throw money at it? Send in counselors? All tried and all failed. The problem really is that the young people in these communities have a foot in our world and a foot in their own, and it's like having one foot in each of two canoes that are not lashed together: they are destined to fall into the depths between canoes. With their access via internet to the rest of the world, and the total antithesis existing around them, how DO you reconcile their hopelessness within their situation? How DO you erase years of emotional angst, lots of drug and alcohol abuse, and major family dysfunction, in a hot hurry? General answer: you can't. It's nowhere near as simple as pointing a finger and saying "The Government isn't doing anything". This is not a situation that has just popped up out of the blue. It stems from the genocidal, oppressive actions of the colonials who took the land from them, over many, many years. Many parents are "graduates" of the residential school system, which took 50,000 of their children from their families, many of whom wound up irreparably scarred from the experience... IF they survived it. When you are raised in an environment where you feel "different", "rejected", "reviled", "unacceptable" in the white man's world, how do you regain self-esteem and self-love without the esteem and love of others to bolster this learning? It is whole families that need healing here, not just troubled kids. This is not a new issue. Back in the 70's, when Bud Drury was Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, I made a trip on behalf of the provincial Liberal party to Churchill Manitoba and was horrified to see FN people living in shacks without the basic amenities of life, with electricity 20 dialogue
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poached off Manitoba Hydro lines and doorways one had to crawl through and climb up to get inside because of the cold, and polar bears freely wandering the streets at night and even during the day. I saw an entire abandoned CFB airbase with Dee Nicholson over 600 EMPTY apartments, which were in decent shape and certainly could house these people... but Drury's office informed me that this had been offered to them and they refused the offer! My thought is that while these communities do indeed deserve all the help we can give them, such help must be what can BE of help, not what we assume will help. We need to ask the KIDS what they want and what they need, not tell them and enforce our opinions upon them. And we need to show them in no uncertain terms that they are valued for who they are, not lumped in with stereotypical images that have been fed to Canadians over the course of over a century of abuses going on right under our noses. If most of us had been aware of the residential schools and how they were run, that whole thing would have shut down before all this damage was done, but we weren't... and the schools operated, some of them into the 80's, under our collective table. This is shameful. Now we, and they, are paying a horrendous price. As with all situations where people need help, they are the best advisors, not those of us with money in our pockets. Perhaps what they need is better, more inclusive schooling, which yields more hope for the future; initiative building programs to encourage the establishment of craft industries and small businesses; mentoring and acceptance from all of us, and respect for their land and their traditional ways. And they need legislation that prevents large corporations from exploitation of both land and people, not trade rules that prevent …/ www.dialogue.ca
anything positive from happening. Attawapiskat had a good contract with DeBeers Diamond Mines... they were paid annually for the use of their land for huge profit from digging what amounts to BLOOD DIAMONDS... and while they were told there would be jobs for the community members, they later found out that the only jobs offered were cleaning and cafeteria staff: jobs that never gave anyone a future. And this is not the only horror they face now, with their waterways AND their land under threat from the Grand River and James Bay projects, with planned dams all the way down to where? The USA. No, they will not get the help they need, just with money, or interventions that are too little and too late. Fort McMurray needs money to rebuild, but has the initiative and the drive to do that rebuilding together. Money alone will not solve the youth suicide issue in isolated communities: an end to the isolation, in many small ways, can act as mortar for the bricks.
FN communities are full of artists, musicians, writers, and potential for many other careers. Our aboriginal citizens are no less talented, or intelligent, or worthwhile as people, than the rest of us. Love is always the answer: but how do you show that to people who live so far away? By asking them to share THEIR wisdom, not inflicting upon them what passes for wisdom in the southern, white populations. Additionally, by any which way you can that includes RESPECT for those who nurtured this country from time immemorial, and still know more about what this land needs than any of us. Their ways of conservation and care for the earth, the environment, and all who live upon it, could teach us much. To help heal them, we need to LISTEN, not preach.... and we need to let THEM guide us, not tell them what we THINK they need. Regards, Dee Nicholson, Toronto shrunkshrink@gmail.com ♣
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Responses to Dee’s commentary (above): From Richard Moore, Ireland I very much appreciate your compassionate perspective. From Patricia White <pwhite.red@gmail.com> I have no doubt that the genocide is on-going, and Attawapiskat is a perfect example of this. The more time I spend with Indigenous friends, the more I realize how calculated and underhanded is the plan to exterminate them as a People that is going on. It is all very well for Trudeau to sign on to the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, but continuing to steal the land via
dishonest treaty negotiations removes the land base which is the only thing that makes it possible for them to ‘be’ who they are. This is really effective in using the divide and conquer strategy; using corrupt chief and council systems to sign agreements on behalf of whole Tribes without their knowledge or consent. Also from Patricia White, Lee Creek, BC:
21 things you may not know about the Indian Act, LINK: www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/21-things-youmay-not-know-about-the-indian-act-1.3533613
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Justice and the Indigenous Peoples of Canada SO WHAT WAS IT THEY DID TO US? – PART 3 Question: “How come it’s only your (‘white’) education system that counts?” Norm Zigarlick, an itinerant senior based in Alberta [Series began in the Winter issue, Vol. 29, No.2, p.27, and continued in the Spring issue, Vol. 29, No.3, p.22]
I was once asked the question “how come it’s only your education that counts.” The point of the question wasn't about my personal education, there isn't much of it to talk about; it was about the education system in general. It was asked by a participant in a training program that I was co-managing. It came about while I was helping out in the development of an educational board game called TOPONA (The Original People Of North America). The game was part of a business training program that grew into a www.dialogue.ca
fairly well known but short-lived product. I learned the question was absolutely valid. During the research involved in putting together a question and answer bundle for the game, a whole lot of startling information surfaced. For example how many people ever give any thought to the names Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Winnebago, Canada, Kamloops, and so on? Did you know that 4 out of 5 of those names involve water? Fast Water, Muddy Water (twice) and Where Rivers meet. ‘Canada’ is the outsider there; conventional interpretations suggest it’s a knock off of the word Kanata, meaning where the houses are, or something …/ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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than the larger of the Great Pyramids in Egypt! Anyone know where one of the world’s most densely populated, nonagrarian populations on the planet was back then? It is certainly something people in the Vancouver and Seattle areas should know. Of Norm Zigarlick course what we now know as Mexico City was one of the world’s largest, 500 years ago. Who didn't know that? I was also led to believe that, prior to white settlement the Indigenous population of North America was only six or seven million people. This was based on the fact There are hundreds of medicinal treatments that were in that few locations were found that indicated substantial use in North America, long before Columbus got lost populations. and bumped into an island that was supposed to be As Homer Simpson might say, “well Duh!” Societies India. The best known is acetylsalicylic acid. Hippocrathat lived in entirely biodegradable circumstances were tes who is sometimes referred to as the father of modern not going to leave a lot of evidence behind when they medicine made reference to the stuff nearly 2500 years ago and he is generally given credit for what later turned left. And leave they did, in large numbers and in large part because of diseases white explorers brought with out to be something we call aspirin. It’s being used for them. The diseases traveled much all kinds of things from a headache faster than the explorers and by the remedy to a risk reducer for heart atWhen is a personal time the Europeans got to some retacks and strokes. “discovery” gions, 200 years later, there was little Meanwhile over on this side of the not really left to suggest any large number of ocean, boiling willow root to get the people had ever lived there. a “discovery”…? same product for use as a pain reThe population estimates handed out in liever was a fairly common practice. my time in school were wrong by a large amount; some I've not heard a single reference to any father of North people suggest wrong by a factor of 10. American medicine, perhaps it was because women were boiling the roots? Did you ever hear about the Greeks of the New Land or the Greeks of North America? This isn't a reference to Or how about the development of large cities? In the school system I was in for a brief period, I was led to be- immigrants that have great restaurants, it is about one of the most highly developed social democracies in the lieve that "Indians” were all nomadic and had no orgaworld and it was around hundreds of years ago. It exnized population centers at all. isted in North America. Have you heard of a place now known as Cahokia? The Iroquois Confederacy had a social structure so fair 800 years ago, in terms of population, the place was on and so sophisticated that when Ben Franklin and Thomas par with London or Paris of the time. It was a large and Jefferson started working out details for the constitution highly organized trading center for much of central of the newly minted United States, they openly borrowed North America. It had a metro area population of somewhere around 40,000 people. Fifteen or twenty thousand much of the material directly from the Iroquois. lived right in the city. How about when Alexander Mackenzie finally found the Pacific Ocean? Along with it he found west coast Did you know they built large dirt mounds as part of houses formed out of near perfect cedar planks. These some religious social process? A dirt mound, you say; houses were so well constructed, he thought surely there wow that's impressive! Well it is considering that the was a foreign carpenter in the crowd somewhere. …/ largest to survive contained more cubic meters of earth to that effect. Of course those houses were on the Ottawa River and the background meaning of Ottawa is people who use the river to conduct trade. There are over ten thousand place names in North America that come straight from aboriginal roots. A whole lot of them have a direct connection to water. That ought to be at least one clue as to why Indigenous people show such a strong concern over the use and misuse of waterways. Did our education systems ever point that out in any meaningful way? Nope, instead we came along and used the waterways to flush the waste out of the cities we built. Our version of progress included dumping human waste into the life blood of cultures that had used those waterways for thousands of years. Perhaps they have a solid reason to be concerned.
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Norm Zigarlick, “How come only your system counts? contd.
Yep. Columbus “discovered” America. And, like Columbus, after taking a wrong turn and winding up in the Arctic, Mackenzie eventually discovered a route to the Pacific; and so did Lewis and Clark, just a bit further south. Samuel Hearne discovered a route to a northern ocean; Desoto discovered Florida; Captain Cooke discovered the West Coast. And I discovered that they had “discovered” nothing that wasn't already well known. They were adventure tourists of the day. Much of the time they were led by people who already knew the way and spoke the languages. These were personal discoveries, like me discovering that the best looking girl in school didn't like me. Lots of people already knew that; I just discovered it in my own way. If you ever happen to be in the Calgary area, pop down south on highway two and visit the Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump. It’s a National Historic Site, a place where the same culture harvested buffalo, in the same place, for several thousands of years. What does that tell you about being in harmony with nature? We can’t keep a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet open in the same place for 50 years! But we still think our approach is the right one. [If you want to visit a Head Smashed In People Jump, go to a Donald Trump Rally, but only if you are looking for a buffalo like experience.] Our education system seemingly deliberately avoided telling us about the level of social sophistication and technical abilities that our Native North American people had. This amounts to lying by omission and it went on for a long time. It is changing now – and for the better; however we still have the remnants of a generation in power that clings to the learnings of their youth. It is far easier to marginalize people if you can first paint them in unpleasant colours. And for more than a hundred years, our educators were masterful artists. Assembly line artists, but artists nevertheless. So back to the original question was is it that it’s only our education system that counts? In the past 30 years or so, we have borrowed a lot of environmental management philosophy from our indigenous people. We dress it up and call it ours, but at least it’s getting used. For centuries we have used technologies, social structures and even medicinal remedies we learned from them, we use their languages daily without really considering it. How about having a barbeque this weekend? Barbeque is a word for a style of cooking www.dialogue.ca
taken right out of the Gulf of Mexico original cultures. And there’s another thing that we often mock. Often we will see references to storytelling as being an important part of Aboriginal cultures and say “awh, isn't that sweet.” We give it no credence at all; then we send the kids off to school, to learn Shakespeare and Mark Twain and Hemingway For several years, I was paid well to give advice on how to try and bridge the culture gaps between industry and Aboriginal people. Then it dawned on me one day that, for the most part, I was speaking to people who, by all conventional measurements, were better qualified and certainly more educated then me. I was giving very basic information to people who should have been taught this stuff decades ago, back when they were in 7th grade or sooner. Don’t take my word for any of this; start looking at the broader history of Native North American people yourself. It’s fascinating. You may come away feeling a little guilty, unless you are a bit of a sociopath. It may also cause you to give some thought to the insane economic models we use. Our view of success is based on the idea that if ‘some’ is good, ‘more’ is better. If we don't have a Prime Minister that can generate 2.5% per year in economic growth, he or she is considered a failure. We are using up resources and heading for a brick wall, at a pretty high rate of speed; yet we insist that the guy who wants to step on the gas is the guy who should be in charge. I've worked with and lived around First Nations people for a large part of my life. Not once did I ever hear even one of them say “let’s kill all the caribou as fast as we can, the grand kids can figure out what to eat later.” In simple terms, we are trying to re-educate (Indigenous) people and turn them into contributors to modern society. We are doing this while modern society seems bent on getting rid of itself. And much of that charge is being led by very well defined educational processes. Should we be surprised there is some resistance to our efforts? So why is our education system the only one that counts? - Norm Zigarlick (normzig56@gmail.com)
THE SERIES BY NORM ZIGARLICK – on Justice and the Indigenous Peoples of Canada – WILL CONTINUE IN THE NEXT ISSUE ♣
VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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Métis Me Sherry Leigh Williams, Sidney BC Our ancestors stand beside us, waiting for us to find our heart again
Sherry Leigh Williams
When I was a child, after the day was done, my father would tell us stories. All six of us would be bundled in our bunk beds, the wood stove crackling and Dad would weave a yarn. The stories would always just flow from him.
Although my father never had a chance to go to University he was a well-read man, yet there was no book that he read to us. He would describe to us then, in the soft lantern light how his grandmother had come west from the Red River in a Red River Cart. How his great grandfather had been one of the first builders of the carts in Winnipeg. My great grandfather's name was Jean-Baptiste Deschamps dit Rabaska. My little mind could see those carts rolling across the prairie. I could imagine the ruggedness, the infuriating mosquitoes, the wild animals they encountered as the shadows from the lantern danced on the walls. I loved his stories, the French words he would teach us. His grandmother spoke only Michif, the language of the Métis. I always wished I could have known my great grandmother. She was a devout catholic and lived in Edmonton, where everyone who knew them loved them. Their home stands today as historic site there in the river valley. My grandfather was a Métis fiddle player and singer who often called himself “French Canadian”, another named used to describe who we are. We knew who we were, we sang songs, and grandpa played the jigs of long ago. The fiddle strings I believe are embedded in my heart somehow still and my feet can’t be still when I hear it. The rural school I went to was small, 40 miles from the town where I eventually went to high school. It was quite a closed community because of the roads back then and the distance to any town. Hydro came in maybe in the mid-sixties and the phone also. When I went to school, though, I learned that being “Métis” was a terrible thing. The 60’s and 70’s were fraught with a movement to snatch the remaining “native” kids for any reason at all 24 dialogue
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and place them in white homes. It was part of the remaining push by the government at the time to annihilate the native way of life through the residential school programs they had been running since the turn of the century. I remember being so afraid of their power to steal children from their families. My family was not perfect, and my father was Métis. We became silent about who we were. My grades were decent in school, though I refused to strive to be the teacher’s pet in any way. Being called a “half breed” in grade two, and consequently punching the girl in the face, that uttered those words got me hauled before the principal. He was a tall intimidating white man, and I was terrified. I also knew, small as I was, that what happened was unfair and I tried to tell him. Never once did he acknowledge the cruelty of racism, instead threatened me with the strap if I didn’t apologize to her. My mother is white, and so I could pass for white if I chose. I chose not to. I learned to despise injustice. I wore a headband, and lived in my mukluks. I liked the native kids, and I protected them as best I could. I got a rap for being a troublemaker. The strap was used in school and at home, and we pretty much respected that authority. We knew though how things were and never expected it to be fair. There is a quote I love that one of my South American professors shared with me, that I have never forgotten. It goes something like this “You can be like me, without being Indian, but you will never be Indian.” I have known so many white people that romanticize the Indigenous experience. They like our culture, they like our stories, our “Indian-ness.” You cannot become "Indian", you either are or you are not. You cannot dance our dances, without also carrying our burdens. It’s like that for us, no matter how “white” we may appear, it does not change who we are because red runs deep in our veins, mingled with the deepest sorrow, and unshakeable faith that we have a right to be here. Our ancestors stand beside us, always, waiting for us to find our heart again. Sherry Leigh Williams is an artist living in Sidney, BC [ https://www.facebook.com/sherryleigh.williams ] Sherry Leigh Williams is a multi-faceted artist, writer, singer and songwriter was born and raised in the rural community of Shining Bank Alberta. She ranched in Little Smoky, A.B and Chetwynd, BC, where she raised her family. A self-taught artist during those years her work was awarded in the Images and Objects juried shows in …/ www.dialogue.ca
Fort St. John, BC, and toured the province. Williams relocated to Salt Spring Island in 1998 where she continued to pursue her artistic development. After much deliberation she relocated to Victoria, BC, to follow a lifelong dream of becoming a visual arts professor. She currently resides in beautiful Sidney by The Sea. Graduating in 2004 with a VCA Diploma in Fine Art, and was ranked in the top two percent of any student ever taught by Robin Mayor, director of Victoria College of Art. From 2004-2008 Sherry was immersed in the Bachelor of Arts program at the University of Victoria. Sherry maintained top academic standing, and was inducted into the prestigious Golden Key Honor Society. An unfortunate car accident that resulted in chronic pain delayed her academic goals. Sherry was actively involved in numerous art related events and her work has been featured in several media reports. Her photography, The 'Magna Carta Tree,' has been featured in The Times Colonist as part of a campaign by The Lands Conservancy to protect the forest surrounding Royal Roads University. Commissioned by The Bay Center in its downtown location in 2004 to paint a historical motif on her Orca, as part of The Orcas In The City project. Deschamp's Quest was a wonderful opportunity to share my own family history as a Métis person, and as a descendant of the rugged Métis Voyageurs - said Williams. Williams was community artist for Luminara Victoria where she created larger than life sized sculptures for the community lantern events.
In 2003 Williams wrote and illustrated two children's books A First Step and Parent Guide, a project that was designed to combat racism and initiative of Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Society, Williams took the books and spoke to children, kindergarten to grade 4 in the public schools in the greater Victoria School District 61. 1990-96 Sherry and Angelique Prince with the support of Yvonne Eldon of the Chetwynd Community Art Council created a Hands on Art program in the public schools. As an educator, and author Williams taught in many public schools in Alberta and British Columbia as well as jewelrymaking at Northern Lights College, Chetwynd, B.C. See more of my work at: http://sherryleighwilliams.com http://sherry-williams.fineartamerica.com Recent Exhibitions 2016: The Look Show Bay Center CAGV 2015: Touch of Salt Spring Christmas Show 2015: Mary Winspear Show First Nations, Métis and Inuit art show 2015: Tulista Gallery Summer Show 2014: Presidents Choice Award !!! 'Look Show' Community Arts Council of Greater Victoria 2014: 'Look Show' Community Arts Council of Greater Victoria 2013: First Nations, Inuit & Metis Show, Mary Winspear Centre, Sidney, BC
[A Special “Thank You” to Sherry for the beautiful images of the Salish Sea – on the front & back covers of this Summer 2016 edition!] ♣
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Life – A Prayer
L is for …
By Soonoo Engineer, Vancouver BC
Not for her the mindless ritual, the tired prayers, The soulless chants, the stifling dogma, Rather the sharp severance, the cutting denial The bold assertion of the independence and might of Man, Then the cajoling of angels, the begging and bargaining And cringing subservience to a capricious God. However expansive is the soul, and hers soared to grasp That Source inimitable - the Lord of Life The God of Love, of Truth and Peace In beauty she sought His Presence, In silence she sought His Grace, To her life was a prayer, An aspiring search through his labyrinthine ways. www.dialogue.ca
This poem is from Soonoo’s book of poetry, The Mystic Fire (Edited by Jane Slemon; selfpublished, 2006); in the chapter: Autobiographical – From Despair to Delight. A Note from Jane Slemon Soonoo Engineer taught English and History at Vancouver Community College for many years and later a course in Eastern Religions and Culture, a subject dear to her heart. Peace and interfaith causes have also preoccupied her. These poems are the roads she has walked. The wisdom of their quiet, passionate and powerful lines rings in my ears. Every word is carefully chosen, an editor’s pleasure. – Jane Slemon, editor of The Mystic Fire (at the end of the book) Soonoo immigrated to Canada from India in 1958; she lives in Vancouver. ♣ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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The Sacred Journey of Going Home Wilma Housty, Victoria BC I feel very fortunate and honoured that I am of Heiltsuk ancestry from Bella Bella, B.C. My traditional name is ‘Qaxvsṃalis and I presently reside on the homeland of the Lekwungen people in Victoria. My heart is filled with gratitude, as I have had the privilege of witnessing the revival and strength of our cultural values and traditions through our potlatch system. The drumming, singing, dancing, feasting, as well as sharing the acknowledgement and celebration of our universal rites of passage from birth to death, constantly reunites me with the ancient knowledge of our original wisdom keepers of long ago. Through the truth and reconciliation process, we have an opportunity to also reunite with one another by honouring the universal truth that cultural diversity is part of our human existence and that the rights of equality reside within each of our hearts. ***
A few days ago I saw the Royal Winnipeg Ballet performance of Going Home Star – Truth and Reconciliation. I was awestruck by this artistic performance recreating the harsh and dark history of the residential school experience for aboriginal children. The visual and emotional impact of the meaning and experience communicated through dance mesmerized me. The power and expressiveness of our body language intrigued and captivated me. I saw healthy bodies expressing emotions of health and wellness to the bodies of sickness and the darkness of racism and discrimination. The visual impact of “beating the Indian out of the child” left my stomach wrenching from the stark reality of the hidden burden that our survivors have carried consciously and unconsciously for many generations. In the ballet I witnessed the horrific and deplorable actions of the clergy who were responsible for the care of children. They were shameless and self-righteous as they physically, sexually, mentally, spiritually and emotionally abused carefree, innocent young souls who were confined within the prison walls of the government-funded institutions. My heart felt very empty as I saw the children being robbed of their integrity and their spirit of innocence. Although I sat with an audience throughout the ballet performance, miraculously, I felt that my soul was also performing on the stage of the Royal Theatre. You may be wondering how that can be possible, but it 26 dialogue
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is the truth. I too am an Indian, and, as a result, my spirit understood the agony and anguish of those dancers who portrayed the plight of our people. As a result I felt compelled to put into words the thoughts and experiences that they were communicating through the common language of our bodies. I am grateful for the wisdom of the late Elder Mary Richard who had the inspiration to approach André Lewis, Artistic Director of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, with an aboriginal-inspired story. Mary’s “ultimate hope was for a work that would bring the aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities closer together.” Her wisdom has inspired me to give voice to your story and my story which are parts of our shared Canadian history of the horrific residential school experience. I feel very fortunate that I did not attend a residential school, as my older sister, who is a survivor of that system, took care of my younger sister, two cousins and me when we enrolled in a high school in Victoria, B.C. I identified with the loneliness and the feelings of being lost as I too was in a strange land and in a large, cold, unfriendly learning environment. There were some differences, however: I was not exposed to the harsh discipline of the civilizing and Christianizing regimen of the residential schools. I am fortunate that my parents believed in providing a balance between our traditional practices and academic knowledge. With that background, I could live and prosper in this ever-changing world of today. My mother, who is now eighty-nine, often shared that she wanted her children to have an opportunity to be educated, as she never had the privilege of pursuing higher education. I am grateful for my parents’ foresight and wisdom in supporting me so I could eventually graduate from UBC with a B.Ed. degree. I was a passionate and dedicated elementary school teacher who did my best to provide an exciting, fun and enriching learning experience for the students. We learned to cooperate with one another in a safe, supportive and caring learning environment. This was a stark contrast to the terror and fear that was imposed on residential school students. My parents attended St. Michael’s Indian Residential School at Alert Bay, but they rarely spoke of their experiences. Occasionally my mother would reminisce about the friendships that she made, and my father would fondly recall memories of the high calibre of soccer skills that he and other players exhibited. These stories were always told with exuberance and laughter but not in a boastful manner. He also told stories of …/ www.dialogue.ca
Wilma Housty, Sacred Journey of Going Home, contd.
when he played trombone in a band, how knowledgeable his band teacher was and what expert players the other band members were. He spoke with great admiration of a particular student from Bella Bella who was not musically trained but had “the ear” to learn and the dedication to give a flawless performance. These were the good memories, and very rarely did they share the atrocities of their residential school experience. In August 2005 they were invited to a reunion for all those who attended the residential school in Alert Bay. They declined, and I remember my father saying, “Why should I go?” It was not the best time of his life given the hardship he had endured and worked hard to overcome. One of my father’s greatest strengths was to speak honestly in his humble, heartfelt manner throughout his lifetime. I feel honoured to have experienced this as a child, woman and eventually as a parent of a child who also had the good fortune to know this powerful virtue of his grandfather. This attribute was not beaten out of him, and for this I am eternally grateful. A few months before my ninety-two-year-old father died a family friend who had been researching online retrieved a photograph of the Junior Soccer Team from 1933 at Saint Michael’s Indian Residential School. I had a rare opportunity to see my father as a young teenager and get a glimpse into his past history. This photograph triggered a dark and brutal memory for him of being physically and emotionally abused as a child under the supervision of a former staff member. I was extremely moved by the manner in which he expressed himself in telling this story. This was the only dark aspect of his residential school experience that he shared with me. My father unashamedly and guiltlessly began to unburden a deep, hurtful and hidden secret from his past as a youth and as a survivor of the residential school. The head supervisor watched as all the boys were showering in an open area, and when they were finished they had to line up in front of a circle that was painted on the floor. Each boy then had to step into the centre of the circle naked and exposed as the supervisor hosed them down with a strong stream of cold water. He said that when it was his turn, he refused to step inside the circle. He glared into the supervisor’s eyes and sternly told him, “Don’t you dare!” He continued his story by asking, “Do you know what he did? He came up to me and slapped me across my face as hard as he could.” My father chose not to be humiliated, and he courageously stood his ground with integrity. My father’s bravery was illuminated by this ballet. His actions severed ties www.dialogue.ca
to a dark past that has released his haunting tale, not only for himself but for all of his descendants. I observed this same experience as I watched the ballet dancers express the shame, guilt and burden that was imposed on children by the clergy. I heard my father’s agonizing story once again through the background music, props and artistic visual reinterpretation through the physical and emotional bodies of the gifted dancers as they performed. I have been fortunate to witness the truth as well as forgiveness as part of reconciliation within my immediate family. In the ballet when I saw the image of an elderly woman and Annie, the contemporary aboriginal woman, dragging the harsh, heavy image and replica of the residential institution, the stark reality of our Canadian history hit me with a blast of undeniable force. Suddenly I could visually grasp the understanding of the depth and horror of the racism and discrimination that we as aboriginal people have had to endure and overcome from generation to generation. My spirit was on that stage with the dancers within a profound momentary stillness. I was able to comprehend the sickness that has burdened each generation throughout our history: yours and mine together, not separated by lies, abuse, discrimination or racism. Our common story encompasses familiar common emotions that reveal our basic human qualities, needs, desires and aspirations. Residential schools are a dreadful and horrific part of our history—yours and mine. Can you hear the cries of suffering and pain? Are you willing to witness the agony through forgiveness and compassion? Do you have patience to comprehend the process of healing and the pitfalls of our wavering need to reach out to support one another? Are you willing to risk walking beside me as I accompany you through the harsh reality of this truth? Are you willing to reconcile and journey together as one? Whenever Niska and Charlie, the dancers who represented the children, were exposed to inexplicable suffering and abuse they hung their heads with the heaviness of grief and shame. As young children they began to carry the anguish of darkness that they were continually subjected to at an early age. We could see their young bodies change and wither and die with the signs of old age, although they were still children. Again my spirit was on that stage as I recognized and identified with the shame and guilt that burrows deep into one’s soul. I intentionally embraced them, but I didn’t swallow or suffocate in their heavy burdens of suffering. I knew I also had to remain resolutely present within my body, and I could not allow myself to be reabsorbed into their …/ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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child-like bodies of long ago. How did I know this, and how did I become aware of this survival technique? Well, unknowingly I had carried generational pain that was unconsciously transmitted through my parents’ actions and mannerisms just as the dancers dramatically communicated through the unspoken word. Their bodies told the story of the atrocities of residential schools by their powerful gestures and graceful movements. Their bodies expressed the silent agonies just as my mother’s and father’s bodies had been pierced by the daggers of racism. The absurd ugliness of the hatred that revealed racism and discrimination was evident whenever my parents visited me in the city. My father’s skin was dark, my mother’s skin is fair, and I am an olive colour that ripens with the sun. I learned to ignore the disgraceful gawking stares that my father received, as it was hurtful to witness the quiet, subtle nature of shame. I did my best to distract him, and I was fiercely determined to be strong for him, just as he was strong for me as a child. The comments that I receive are, “Looks like you’ve been on holidays!” Or “Have you been to Hawaii?” When does the colour of one’s skin make a person acceptable or unacceptable? Doesn’t this illustrate the wretched sickness of racism? Like Gordon, the main character of the ballet, my parents courageously rose above the discrimination and
racism that was inflicted on them. They knew what they desired for themselves and their children; the struggle for equality pumped through their veins. Because they intentionally fought for justice, they willingly supported us to follow our dreams. Through my life’s journey I have realized that in order to attain my goals and aspirations I too had to surrender and let go of the unspoken hurts that neither I nor my descendants needed to endure or carry as part of our lives. This explains how I could be in two places at once as I sat so meditatively in a deep, soulful place as a member of the audience. The dancers of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet set my spirit free to fly, as they visually represented the freedom to explore with the physical and emotional aspects of our bodies. Their artistic interpretations allowed me to see through the eyes of multiple generations of our ancestors as well as through my own eyes that have been exposed to the depths of our unified souls—souls that refuse to be held prisoners of our history that has been silenced for too long. Your story is part of our history because we are born and will die as one people. Our hearts shine with the same truth so let’s honour and respectfully care for one another so that all our souls are free to journey to the depths of our true humanity within one healthy and abundant world of loving grace and gratitude. This is my dream for our grandchildren—yours and mine! Wilma Housty, Victoria BC ♣
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L is for…
Listening Impossible to hold such vast forerunners in mind All those unnameable names wild roses and black-tailed deer flickering across slopes where late-coming bipeds excavate while some dream of lingering in lichen crevasses withdrawing from wordy alertness letting the mountain again become stone music in the heart where the listening falls Susan McCaslin
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Susan McCaslin has published thirteen volumes of poetry. Her next, Painter, Poet, Mountain: After Cézanne, is forthcoming from Quattro Books in Oct. 2016. Previous volumes include The Disarmed Heart (The St. Thomas Poetry Series, 2014) and Demeter Goes Skydiving (University of Alberta Press, 2011). The latter was shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay Award and first-place winner of the Alberta Book Publishing Award. Susan has also published a memoir, Into the Mystic: My Years with Olga (Inanna Publications, 2014). A lover of poetry, visual art, trees, mountains and the sea, she divides her time between Victoria and Fort Langley, BC. ♣ www.dialogue.ca
Mottoes
Intimate Details
By J. S. Porter, Hamilton, Ontario
www.spiritbookword.net
Mottoes? Words you can live by or aspire to, words that guide you or light your way, words that you engrave on your heart. J. S. Porter Countries have mottoes. Officially Canada has “From sea to sea” and unofficially: “peace, order and good government.” You may not think the latter is very inspiring, but keep in mind that many countries in the world have neither peace nor order nor good government. You need all three ingredients for a national recipe that works. Individuals have mottoes too. Consider the words of Keats, as lovely in French as they are in English: Donnez-moi des livres, des fruits, du vin français, le beau temps et un peu de musique. “Give me books, fruit, French wine, fine weather and a little music…” These are words you can commit to memory, tattoo on your skin, recite in troubled times. Books, fruit and wine seem like the perfect combination, especially if experienced in the sun with music. I take as my personal motto words from T.S. Eliot: “There is only the trying. The rest is not our business.” Samuel Beckett’s stuttering variation is even more thrilling in its humour and succinctness: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” In melancholic moods, I turn to these words: “In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” There’s a deep resonant life-surge running through the line.
The words are from the French-Algerian writer Albert Camus, my writer-hero since the teenage years. I’d like my daughter to stitch the words on her heart. Words that my sister and I have stitched to our hearts come from our mother. In almost every card she ever wrote us, she’d end by saying, “May our thoughts of each other always be happy ones.” I find myself using these words in letters and inscriptions to our grandsons. I can’t think of a more beautiful legacy, hers or what I hope is mine. I once jokingly said to my father that his motto was the opposite of St. Paul’s. After periodic imprisonments, Paul was truthfully able to say, “I’ve learned wheresoever I find myself therewith to be content.” Dad’s motto, which he brought from word to flesh, was: “I’ve learned wheresoever I find myself therewith to be discontent.” His discontentment and restlessness drove him on, energized him. My wife and I find ourselves repeating what our Italian neighbour says to us on a regular basis: “Go slow, go far.” Sounds like deep Taoist wisdom or something out of Aesop’s fables. She often says these words when she sees Cheryl working too hard in the garden. The motto I’d like to pass on to our grandsons is from Rabbi Heschel, scholar and activist: “Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.” My variation of the motto is: To be yourself is a blessing; to live your own life is holy. I want our grandsons to have the courage to be themselves and to be comfortable with whatever path they choose for their own lives. Dare to be you; no one else can do it quite so well. ♣
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“If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.” — René Descartes, Principles of Philosophy ♣
“If one completes the journey to one’s own heart, one will find oneself in the heart of everyone else.” – Father Thomas Keating www.dialogue.ca
(Quoted in Field Notes on the Compassionate Life: A search for the soul of kindness, by Marc Ian Barasch, 2005) ♣ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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In a Rhino, Everything “An interesting and helpful article by Charles Eisenstein re: how we can wisely respond to things locally and globally” – Lynn Burrows ( lynnburrows@shaw.ca ) (Highly recommended by June Ross, Lynn Burrows) LINK: http://charleseisenstein.net/in-a-rhino-everything/
By Charles Eisenstein, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania I received the following email from a young woman, a student at an elite law school. I want to quote it in full, because it cuts so deep – to core issues so many change agents face. [QUOTE] I don't cry very often. But this week I cried twice. For the rhinos. It breaks my heart that they're going extinct. In order to make myself feel better, I try to intellectualize this. It's totally irrational, I say to myself, to be sad for the rhinos. Why not be sad for the fairy shrimp, going extinct right here in Southern California? There are so many things to be sad about: police shootings, for example. Right now I'm writing a memo on what constitutes excessive force during arrest and when you type in excessive force and qualified immunity to Westlaw, more than 600,000 cases come up. These cases represent a tiny fraction of incidents with police brutality; far more go unreported or are never litigated. We have a police violence epidemic in this country. I could be sad about that. And here I am reading these cases – and it's awful (the tasing, the shooting, the beating, the pepper spray, the sustained long term injuries, the easiness of getting out of excessive force charges) and I never cry. And then I read some articles about the last, aging, white rhinos in zoos around the world and I fall to pieces. How can we have failed so badly? And you're right Charles, it's grief for the dying biosphere (I have long since stopped equating the environmental crisis with global warming, and I HATE it when people do that). There's this kid in my class who really gets under my skin. He says annoying things like, "I love it when I see pictures of McDonald's in other countries, or African kids wearing Nikes, because it's like we've won. Our culture is supreme." I gave him a look when he said this. And he knows how I think because we've had conversations so he said, "I can't help it, I'm pro-American." And I said, "I'm pro-biosphere." And he says, "I think we should only keep the animals that we need to survive." And I'm so shocked by this stupidity that I'm rendered speechless. I literally couldn't talk to him for a few minutes. I didn't WANT to talk to him. I felt a little nauseous. Finally, I said, "I don't think that's possible." And he said, "Well we can TRY." Like it's a good thing to try for. He gives me a panicky feeling because I think what if he's right? What if the future just contains concrete with cows, pigs, chickens, and their shit? What would we 30 dialogue
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do with all their shit? (Previously he has told me that he could never care for an animal, that an animal's suffering has no effect on him). The scariest thing about this kid is that he's totally procarbon controls. He believes in global warming and that it's a threat and that we should do something about it. I would prefer a climate change denier with a love for animals. Really, I would. I'm really trying not to other him. I sat next to him in class this semester because I know I have something to learn from him. I try to be kind to him, even though the things he says make me ill. And it's not from a place of moral purity either. I'm trying to understand this behavior, this kind of thinking, because if I never understand it I'll never be able to confront it in a meaningful way. It's a challenge, though. Sometimes I feel my innate snarkiness rising to the surface, but I know this is just a defense mechanism on my part. Any suggestions? There's something, though, besides grief. The grief is compounded by that horrible sense of helplessness. I feel like I have absolutely no control over the fate of the rhino. I do my work, you know? I made all A's last semester... I'm disciplined. I'm studious. But I'm not doing anything real. [END OF QUOTE]
Like this young woman, I do not know why some tragedies penetrate me with grief while others do not. There are endless things to weep for. Because we cannot weep for each one that comes across our awareness, we might form emotional callouses just in order to function. And then from time to time something pierces those callouses, and all the other unmourned tragedies follow it through the breach. Sometimes, therefore, it is a seemingly tiny thing that brings me to tears or heart-wrenching agony: a parent shaming a two-year-old child, a woman unfairly fired out of sex discrimination. Or it could be a singular incident of brutality out of millions that gets under my skin. Each of them represents the rest. In fact, each contains the rest. Next time you travel to another planet and see caged wild animals there going extinct, you will know that planet also warehouses its elderly in nursing homes. A world in which the last white rhinos are aging in zoos is also, necessarily, a world of incarceration, war, racism, poverty, and ecocide. It is impossible for one to exist without the others. All are part of the same unholy matrix. Because each of these contains the others, when we grieve one of them we grieve them all. It doesn't …/ www.dialogue.ca
Charles Eisenstein, In A Rhino, Everything, contd.
matter if it is the rhinos or police brutality that pierces you. They are all expressions of the same underlying mythology: the story of a discrete and separate self in a desacralized world that is other. A level up from there live the usual systemic culprits: racism, usury-based capitalism, patriarchy, the industrial system, and so on. Consider the classmate she describes. One would like to indulge in snarkiness and call him some clever variant of stupid or evil. Actually, he is blinkered by the story he lives in. I mean something deeper than the mythology of American exceptionalism, neoliberal development, and technological triumphalism. It goes all the way down to metaphysics. If you take for granted a universe of generic building blocks, devoid of the qualities of a self, devoid of an internal intelligence or evolutionary will, then our license to manipulate nature and materiality suffers no limit except for that posed by perverse unintended consequences that we can, in principle, predict and control with just a little more information and technological know-how. Why not, then, keep only the animals that are useful to us? In the story of separation, we are fundamentally separate from the rhinos. What happens to them needn't affect us. Sentimentally it might, but not rationally. (And here we see how the dominant worldview pits sentiment against reason and heart against mind.) The same goes for the biosphere as for the rhinos. In the story of separation, what happens to the biosphere needn't affect us, except as a temporary practical matter until we develop the technology to make us independent of nature. That is the world of concrete and pig shit that my friend dreads. It is a myth, that story. In fact what happens to the rhinos does affect you and me. When you look at that picture, can't you feel part of yourself going extinct too? Here is why her observation that she would prefer an animal-loving climate change denier to this person rings true. Love violates the story of separation. Love is the expansion of self to include another, whose well-being becomes part of one's own. The healing of our planet will not come without love for our planet. It certainly won't come from technological solutions that seek to more competently deploy resources and manage consequences. That is the path toward biofuel plantations, nuclear power plants, and geoengineering schemes that threaten catastrophic consequences. If someone loves the rhinos, and loves the mangroves, and loves the forests, and loves the coral reefs, and loves the West Virginia mountaintops and the rain forests threatened by stripmines and the waters threatened by oil spills, it doesn't matter if they believe in climate change, they will oppose every new coal mine, oil well, www.dialogue.ca
fracking project, and copper mine. Conversely, without love behind it, no carbon controls will make a difference in the long run. If we want to change the minds of people like the woman's classmate, head-on debate isn't going to work. No one can logically persuade somebody to fall in love. We might be able to convince them to support one policy over another on utilitarian grounds, but engaging the planet as an instrument of our utility is what has gotten us into this mess to begin with. It reminds me of the "pragmatic" opponents of the Vietnam War and Iraq War who didn't question war as a tool to promote American interests (nor did they question the concept of American interests), but who merely said that this particular war wasn't working. The door to more war remained open. Similarly, when we say, "Let's stop using fossil fuels or we're screwed," and adopt anthropocentric interest as our primary argument, there is little to say for the rhinos. Why not try to create a world of concrete and shit, if we can do it, with maybe a few parks for aesthetic relief? Seeing the futility of overcoming such people through debate, I have turned toward deeper levels of engagement. Why would he and millions like him be attracted to the story of separation that seeks to exploit and manipulate the world? Maybe it has something to do with he himself feeling like an instrument, exploited, manipulated... He is in the same position that he wishes to put the animals and the planet. He feels out of control and near panic in the face of uncertainty. Therefore he wants to feel like he is in control, and humanity (as a proxy for the self) being in control of things feels good to him too. Not to psychoanalyze the poor guy, but if we are serious about changing the beliefs that drive ecocide (rather than gaining the psychological gratification of winning an argument) it is important to understand the experience of life behind those beliefs. I think this young woman is therefore on the right track, showing him kindness while – and this is essential – not allowing herself to be dominated by him. In a worldview of winning and losing, no one will go out of their way to serve your interests unless you dominate them, force them, pay them. In its extreme, that world has no love, no real kindness, no generosity that isn't a device to get more. That is why unforced kindness and generosity have the power to puncture the story of separation. […] Continue reading (in English, French or Russian) at http://charleseisenstein.net/in-a-rhino-everything/
Charles Eisenstein is the author of several books including The Ascent of Humanity, Sacred Economics, and The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible. ♣ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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“Earth Into Property” – a book by Anthony J. Hall Part Two of The Bowl with One Spoon Book by Anthony J. Hall (Author), Faculty Member, University of Lethbridge LINK: https://uleth.academia.edu/AnthonyJHall
Anthony James Hall is the author of many publications including the two volume Bowl with One Spoon. Volume Two, Earth into Property, was selected by The Independent in the UK as one of the best English-language history books in the world published in 2010. Anthony J. Hall is professor of globalization studies at the University of Lethbridge. He is the author of The American Empire and the Fourth World, which introduces the series The Bowl with One Spoon. Earth into Property is the second volume of The Bowl with One Spoon. Earth into Property explores the relationship between the dispossession of Indigenous peoples and the making of global capitalism. Beginning with Christopher Columbus' inception of a New World Order in 1492, Anthony Hall draws on a massive body of original research to produce a narrative that is audacious, encyclopedic, and transformative in the new light it sheds on the complex historical processes that converged in the financial debacle of 2008 and 2009. Earth into Property is divided into three sections: Part One: Accelerating Time, Shrinking Space, Privatizing the Commons Part Two: Indian Country, The Industrial Revolution, and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex Part Three: Empire &Multitude Meet the Fourth World
The book also includes a bibliography of the 62 volumes in the McGill-Queen’s Native and Northern Series (in memory of Bruce G. Trigger) About the Author Hall was born and raised in Toronto Canada. He did his BA and MA in History at York University and then his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto. His Ph.D. thesis, entitled “The Red Man’s Burden: Land, Law and the Lord in the Indian Affairs of Upper Canada, 1791-1858,” was supervised by Professor J.M.S. Careless. In 1982 Hall was hired as Assistant Professor by the Department of Native Studies at Laurentian University in Sudbury, ON. In the mid-1980s Hall was deeply involved in the work of the Canadian Alliance in Solidarity with the Native Peoples, becoming a board member and a co-president of the organization. Earth Into Property by Anthony J. Hall (Part Two of the author’s series, The Bowl With One Spoon); Publisher: McGill-Queen’s University Press (Aug 23 2010) 934 pages; ISBN-10: 077353122X
A review (from Amazon.ca) "[Earth into Property] is a must read for those who wish to understand the evolution of Globalization since 1492." – Veterans Today Part One of The Bowl With One Spoon was: The American Empire and the Fourth World, paperback – Jul 26 2005 ISBN-10: 0773530061.
[Thanks to Robin Mathews for bringing this important work to our attention.]
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Quotes
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1802-1882, American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. ****
“Sayings remain meaningless until they are embodied in habits.” – Kahil Gibran, 1883-1931, Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer.
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“You don’t think your way into a new kind of living, but live your way into a new kind of thinking.” – Henri J.M. Nouwen, 1932-96, a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian: in the Introduction to The Promise of Paradox by Parker Palmer. ****
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Will Durant, 1885-1981, American writer, historian, and philosopher. www.dialogue.ca
Book Review of Journey to the Future by Guy Dauncey I really want folks to know the truth about what is possible when it comes to clean energy and Guy's timing was fantastic with the book release. I just had to put it out there in all its simplicity in hopes that people could seriously start to 'get it' … and I hope many will see more clearly how close we are to reclaiming a better quality of life once we internalize that choice – Diane Babcock Reviewed by Diane Babcock, Nanaimo BC
Guy Dauncey has made it easier for us to envision our clean energy future and he will do his book presentation for groups all over. I was at the presentation at his home in Yellow Point-Ladysmith last Tuesday (April 19, 20160 and this is my impression of his book. In eco-futurist Guy Dauncey’s newest book 'Journey to the Future' we get a peek into an alternate reality that is already in the making for those visionaries who know the word 'possible'. Imagine Vancouver in the year 2032 as a city brimming with innovative technologies that have leap-frogged far beyond fossil fuel dependency and dysfunctional politics to create a very functional ecotopian lifestyle with syntropy at its foundation. I love brilliance and I even have some of my own, but here Guy encapsulates and incorporates working models from around the world with his own eco-know-how, and lets his imagination work to process a pictorial tale that everyone can relate to. The changes that need to happen are not a shock to the system − far from it. They are simple shifts in our thinking that we make for ourselves rather than the ones our government imposes on us; our own choice to release ourselves from the stressful lifestyle that is guaranteed to worsen if we continue in this same manner. Some solutions have a familial element in that communities of people are more vibrant because of the reduced sense of loneliness resulting from raised citizen camaraderie. Some are pure unbridled earthy creations with lush foliage woven into the architectural design of buildings, streets and cement walls − bringing us closer to nature's restorative powers. It's no surprise the sun plays a big part in our quasi-realistic future, and with so many ways to harness that
immense power we'll be paying pennies per kilowatt. It only makes sense because the sun freely gives the energy away without the need for dams or generators − we have the technology and we need to expand our use of it. Driving home from his book presentation I sensed an ambiance of anticipation I hadn't recalled since I left home and stepped out into the world on my own; a teenager with a mind full of wonder excited to be out in a great big beautiful world. The only difference now is a heightened vigilance in blocking the psycho-political dangers that would suck the life out of that big beautiful world, with me in it...and I'm not alone in my perspective. It's been very clear these past years that many minds are evolving into this self-organizing mode of thinking that allows us to troop together from our own initiative into a unified understanding in our need for a healthy planet. It's as if the Earth itself is using its magnetism to get us feeling connected to it again and the cosmos is sending thoughts that are rich with ripe solutions to those who are open-minded enough to listen.<<< For those who don't know who Guy Dauncey is, he founded many eco-friendly programs when he lived in Victoria, including his organization the BCSEA. Now he resides in the Nanaimo area and his latest novel reveals so much of what we can accomplish when we come together in like-mindedness and the Council of Canadians is in the business of finding solutions. Diane Babcock, Mid-Island Council of Canadians Nanaimo, BC – politics@dianebabcock.ca Journey to the Future book webpage: www.journeytothefuture.ca ; Guy Dauncey's Blog Site: www.earthfuture.com ; Presentation slideshow: www.slideshare.net/GuyDauncey/journey-to-the-future-abetter-world-is-possible [Article suggested by June Ross, Nanaimo] ♣
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Printable List of Companies That Use Monsanto Products From http://EdgyTruth.com In light of the recent public anger over the Monsanto Protection Act (in the US), here’s a simple, printable list of companies that use Monsanto products. By avoiding products made by companies on this list, you can help ensure your money isn’t going to Monsanto and also watch out for the health of your family and yourself. www.dialogue.ca
LINK: http://tinyurl.com/ET-monprod [Many mainstream brands are listed, e.g. Aunt Jemima, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Cadbury, Campbells, Carnation, Coca Cola, Duncan Hines, Frito Lay, Green Giant, Healthy Choice, Heinz, Hellmans, Hershey’s Nestle, Kellogs, Kool-Aid, Kraft/Phillip Morris, Lipton, Nabisco, Pepsi, Pillsbury, Post cereals, Quaker, Smart Ones, Uncle Ben’s, V8…] Toxic Glyphosate is accumulating at an alarming rate. LINK: http://tinyurl.com/365-monsan ♣ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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“Have Computer Will Write”~ Jeremy Arney
Canadian Action Party Newsletter What is the price of sovereignty and how do we define it here in Canada today? Letter from Interim Leader Jeremy Arney, May 23, 2016 (EXTRACT) When I came to Canada in 1967 to make a new life for myself and to raise a family of Canadians, Canada was a place where people with a vision could get ahead, where people spoke to each other and helped each other, and with the glaring exception of the FN schools debacle which was taking place hidden from most of us, Canada was a thriving and prosperous country. Now I spend a part of each day trying to figure out how to protect my grandchildren and great grandchildren from those we have elected to run the country… Elected officials at all levels … with little or no thought to the damage they have and are doing. I mean, really, why force a young boy to take a potentially lethal anti cervical cancer vaccine when he does not even have a cervix? We are facing so called sunny days which by any sovereignty aspect are shaping up to be worse than the decade of intolerable darkness we have just left. The constant refrain of consultation with Canadians is not what it suggests. It is consultation with stakeholder groups, not Canadian people. Governments seem to be unable to understand how to communicate with the Canadian people, and maybe it’s because they do not actually want to hear from us. Our Minister of Finance (Bill Morneau) has his head firmly in the sand because he refuses to even consider using our own Bank of Canada to finance the investments he and PM Trudeau plan to make in Canada – maybe. Meanwhile, dozens of cities and several States south of the border are seriously considering public banking initiatives on this November’s ballots because they are tired of being subservient to Wall Street and its greedy bunch, and are looking enviously at North Dakota which has had its own bank very successfully for over 100 years now. Morneau and Trudeau still want to borrow on credit from usury international organizations and repay those loans based on imaginary credit backed by nothing, with real money at high compounding interest rates. We have a jewel we were given in 1935 and as you all know there is absolutely no logical reason to not start using it again. In fact to not use the Bank of Canada is to 34 dialogue
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actually give Canada and our sovereignty away, and in my book that amounts to treason. Two Quotes to Keep in Mind… “Once a nation parts with the control of its currency and credit, it matters not who makes the nation’s laws. Usury, once in control, will wreck any nation. Until the control of the issue of currency and credit is restored to government and recognized as its most sacred …/ Jeremy Arney, Canadian Action Party Newsletter, contd.
responsibility, all talk of Sovereignty of parliament and of democracy is futile” - William Lyon MacKenzie King ***
"Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes its laws" - Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild And yet this has no resonance with the PM and his Finance department. Why? Do they not understand that we cannot be a sovereign nation if we are not in control of our own money? Perhaps “sunny days” does not include Canadian sovereignty. Sovereignty also includes being able to make our own laws and regulations without having to look over our shoulders to see who will launch huge claims against us for perceived lost profits. Ed Fast and Stephen Harper signed way too many so called trade agreements which were in fact not that at all as is borne out by our increasing trade deficit. CETA, TPP and TiSA (yes that’s a deal which has just come to light that they started in 2013 in their usual totally secret way. This one gives corporations to right to force privatization of municipal services if you can believe that – and it is not just targeted countries: Oh no, this one is worldwide.) All these investment agreements are forcing us to surrender our right to make our own laws and regulations and indeed our courts will become obsolete and subject to these tribunals with no legal standing at all. […] More and more it is obvious that the old way of doing politics is not working and has not worked for decades now and it is time for those parties such as the Canadian Action Party, which do actually want to represent the people of Canada, to have a say, indeed to have a turn at actually turning Canada around instead of heading for the rocks. […] Meanwhile we are still trying to bring the fight for Canadian sovereignty to the “sunny days” bunch because …/ www.dialogue.ca
we believe that they don’t know what it means. Thank you for reading this and for your passion for Canada. “What is physically possible, desirable and morally
right, we can make it financially possible through the Bank of Canada.” Jeremy Arney is Interim Leader of the Canadian Action Party (Tel. 250-216-5400) http://actionparty.ca/ Email: iamjema@gmail.com ♣
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Statement of Concerned Scholars on the Site C dam project, Peace River Valley, British Columbia Press Conference was held May 24, 2016, Ottawa LINK: https://sitecstatement.org/
“Based on evidence raised across our many disciplines, the undersigned scholars have concluded that there were significant gaps and inadequacies in the regulatory review and environmental assessment process for the Site C Project, a hydroelectric dam on the Peace River currently in the preliminary stages of construction. Our assessment is that this process did not accord with the commitments of both the provincial and federal governments to reconciliation with and legal obligations to First Nations, protection of the environment, and evidence-based decision-making with scientific integrity. “Accordingly, we respectfully call upon: • The federal government to revisit the Order in Council approving the Project[1] by directing the Department of Justice to complete an analysis of (i) whether the Project infringes upon the treaty and aboriginal rights guaranteed by the Constitution Act, 1982 (s. 35), and (ii) whether any such infringement can be justified under the framework established in [2] We expect the present government, with its strong commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, will make public the analysis received from the Department of Justice.[3] We ask that the federal government suspend the issuance of further permits or authorizations pursuant to the Order In Council until this analysis has been completed and publicized; • Both governments to explain why the unprecedented imposition of numerous significant adverse environmental effects is justified by a Project whose electricity output is presently unnecessary and for which less expensive and less environmentally damaging alternatives exist; • The provincial government to refer the Project for review and recommendations under Section 5 of the BC Utilities Commission Act; • Both governments to delay issuance of any further permits or authorizations until the courts decide on www.dialogue.ca
the First Nations’ issues at stake, and until the BC Utilities Commission has completed its review. “Our assessment is based on detailed research that draws on government reports and studies; this research and its sources are publicly available in Briefing Notes accompanying this Statement. The issues that we have identified are elaborated further below and in supporting documentation that details serious concerns with respect to both procedural and substantive matters. […] ” 214 signatories: Read the Statement in full: https://sitecstatement.org/ ♣
Write or visit your MP to support the Peace River Valley From StopSiteC.org If you cannot visit your MP in person, please be sure to send them a letter through the website, at LINK: www.RealSiteCHearings.org. The site will find your MP for you and automatically send your letter to them as well as the prime minister and key federal ministers. We hope you feel as encouraged as we do about this important endorsement by the academic community. We will stop this unnecessary project yet! For the Peace, Andrea Morison, Peace Valley Environment Association; Ana Simeon, Sierra Club BC; Candace Batycki, Yellowstone to Yukon LINK: Stop Site C: http://www.stopsitec.org/ ♣
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Ontario Residents Losing Control Over Personal Health Care Choices Petition: STOP New Legislative Amendments that END the Holistic Health Care Freedoms for ALL Ontarians By: G. Joubarne/C. Massey, Ottawa, Ontario EMAIL: graceplacewellness@gmail.com The 14th Controlled Act of Psychotherapy is law in Ontario and could be proclaimed any day and thus becomes enforceable at any time. After we picked ourselves up off the floor, we realized that we had two choices: allow tyrants in the Ontario medical/pharmaceutical cartel to eliminate us from the healthcare industry or (gasp!) fight back, which, for us, is not natural. We are professionals in the healing arts and particularly of the non-drug, non-surgical variety. Between us we have decades of training and experience in our chosen fields (Reiki, Reflexology, Natural Nutrition, Hypnotherapy), with a litany of happy clients. Together, with our other 10,000 holistic practitioner colleagues in Ontario (mostly women), we save our imploding and indisputably dangerous healthcare system $7-10 billion annually, since Ontarians pay for our services out-of-pocket.
Holistic practitioners have an exemplary safety record, as evidenced by the Fraser Institute’s two major studies on holistic practitioners; we cost the ‘system’ not one dime. So you would think our Premier -- the increasingly maligned Kathleen Wynne -- for whom violating personal liberties and undermining our democracy seems to be a favorite pastime, would be kissing our feet. All the opposite! In 2007, the Wynne/McGuinty government secretly passed into law two acts (Psychotherapy Act and Controlled Act of Psychotherapy) that, working in tandem, allow psychologists and psychiatrists to monopolize all mental healthcare services. These acts effectively allow these mental health professionals -- self-appointed as superior -- to redefine all manner of natural, traditional, spiritual and holistic approaches as ‘psychotherapy’ and then to restrict who can do ‘psychotherapy’. They went farther by severely restricting who is permitted to assist another with any human issue - emotional, thinking, reasoning, cognition, perception, memory, judgment, insight, behaviour, communication, social functioning or mental (including spiritual care). As the law stands, unless you’re a registered psychotherapist, psychiatrist, psychologist, MD, nurse, occupational therapist or social worker, you are not permitted to assist any human with the bumps and bruises of life. But evidence shows that these are the very groups least 36 dialogue
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likely to succeed in helping anyone with any of life’s bumps and bruises, while increasing the likelihood that all issues will worsen. The 14th Controlled Act of PsychoGrace Joubarne therapy is law and could be proclaimed any day and thus become enforceable at any time. Proclamation is a mere formality of the Lieutenant-Governor’s signature. So far, our efforts as Co-founders of the Stop Psychotherapy Takeover movement have held off the proclamation of the Controlled Act for al- Christine Massey most 3 years, as we work hard to warn and mobilize the public. The Controlled Act of Psychotherapy, which unlawfully seeks to control an entire profession that defines itself as it wishes, is vaguely and confusingly worded as: “14. Treating, by means of psychotherapy technique, delivered through a therapeutic relationship, an individual’s serious disorder of thought, cognition, mood, emotional regulation, perception or memory – that may seriously impair the individual’s judgement, insight, behaviour, communication or social functioning.“ *(RHPA), 1991, 27(2)14
Psychologists and psychotherapists are free to interpret the terms ‘psychotherapeutic technique’ and ‘serious disorder’ as they wish. The College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) was given the power to regulate the field of psychotherapy through the equally unlawful companion Psychotherapy Act, also secretly passed into law in 2007. This particular act was proclaimed, without notice, on April 1st, 2015. The new College wasted no time in exercising its powers to put countless people out of work who were offering psychotherapy and who would not or could not join the College. This was achieved through the imposition of arbitrary credentialing requirements and forced scopes of practice that violate the consciences of many members by requiring training in mental health diagnoses and eventual drug-treatments. Worse, this College activity is specifically in violation of the superior law, the Regulatory Health …/ www.dialogue.ca
Professions Act, 1991, whose intent was to ensure that most of healthcare provision was left in the public domain by way of a system of self-regulated associations with VOLUNTARY memberships and no restrictions on those who do not wish to join an association. Once the Controlled Act is also proclaimed, which could be any day, the College will be in a position to enforce all treatments of all human disturbances by verbal or non-verbal means as a ‘controlled act,’ restricting the provision of such services to registered psychotherapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists and nurses. Together, the Psychotherapy Act and the Controlled Act of Psychotherapy affect many essential, credible services that are currently performed by over 10,000 Ontario wellness practitioners, trained in diagnosis-free and drug-free treatments. The holistic approaches scheduled for elimination include hypnotherapy, energy work, spiritual care, grief counseling, natural nutrition, weight management, holistic education, family therapy, coping skills training, chiropractic care, meditation, Reiki, Polarity, Reflexology, pet-assisted therapy and many more. The late Trueman Tuck, legal advisor and healthcare reform advocate commented in his 2015 Legal Opinion on this legislation: “No legislation that so profoundly violates personal liberties of so many millions of Citizens can be viable constitutionally if challenged effectively with enough financial and grassroots support.” Despite the Supreme Court of Canada repeatedly upholding a citizen’s right to medical autonomy, the Wynne government, to date, has not acknowledged that studies show natural treatments to be safe and that the public is increasingly preferring them as healthcare treatment. If they continue to practice, valued holistic service providers could face up to one year of imprisonment and
$25,000 in fines! Fearing retribution, practitioners are moving their businesses to other provinces in Canada or simply closing their practices. BUT, our research shows that these Ontario laws are the template to be used to monopolize all healthcare in the hands of the medical/pharma cartel right across Canada, so it is safe to say that the medical totalitarianism will follow them across the country. To date almost 10,000 individuals have signed an online petition and some 500 letters have been sent to MPPs to save natural treatment professionals. MPPs have been stone-deaf and non-reactionary. The Minister of Health, a prominent member of the very medical/pharmaceutical group seeking to eliminate their competition through unconstitutional, dangerous and oppressive legislation, refuses to respond to any correspondence from our lawyers. That is not a surprise given the corruption-riddled majority government they represent. Grassroots action (Stop Psychotherapy Takeover) is underway to force the Ontario provincial government to repeal these undemocratic and harmful legislative amendments and to install ‘safe harbour’ legislation to prevent future attacks on natural treatment providers. Anyone who wants to help us collect signatures can find our downloadable FORMAL PETITION at our website www.StopPsychotherapyTakeover.ca and several other ways to assist, including preformed MPP letters and links to our on-line Petition. Especially, we need financial assistance. Contact Info: Grace Joubarne and Christine Massey are Holistic Practitioners and Co-founders, Stop Psychotherapy Takeover admin@stoppsychotherapytakeover.ca LINK: www.stoppsychotherapytakeover.ca/#unique-identifier1 - Tel. 613-422-7027
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Protecting Public Medicare for All Grassroots Referendum to Stop Devastating Hospital Cuts in Ontario “Keep the privateers out of your wallet.” – Hugh Jenney, Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) “We had to do something to save these services; something that would make so visible, so undeniable the public's opposition to the cuts and privatization, that we render it politically impossible for the government to continue to ramrod through more and more service cuts.” By Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, OHC Toronto, May 29, 2016: Massive Piles of Votes were delivered to Opposition Party Leaders outside Ontario Legislature. From across Ontario representatives from www.dialogue.ca
dozens of communities facing devastating cuts to their community hospitals carted thousands of ballots to the Ontario Legislature. The votes – 93,840 of them as of last night – were cast in a province-wide voluntary “referendum” on Saturday May 28 and in lead-in advance polls held in the last two weeks. Since last night the coalition has received hundreds more votes, putting the total over 94,000. Hundreds of votes continue to be sent in to the coalition every few hours. To put the size of the …/ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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Protecting Public Medicare for All, contd.
vote in perspective, a very large petition presented to the Legislature might have 20,000 signatures at most. More than 40 communities took part in the referendum and more than 1,000 volunteers took to the streets on the weekend to staff voting stations outside grocery stores, corner stores, busy retailers, in Legions and churches and other high-traffic areas. In total, there were more than 1,000 voting stations, including advanced polls. Health Coalition volunteers collected oaths from those voting, asking people to swear that they are 16-years or older, the age of consent for health-care decisions, and that they would only vote once. People were asked to leave their postal code to help ensure the integrity of the vote wherever possible. In more than 40 communities, volunteers set up voting stations and collected votes as part of the grassroots referendum, including: Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, St. Joseph Island, Timmins, Kapuskasing, North Bay, South River, Ottawa, Smiths Falls, Brockville, Kingston, Quinte West, Northumberland, Durham, Kawartha Lakes, Peterborough, Toronto, Hamilton, Niagara, Guelph, Orillia, Midland, Penetanguishene, Oxford County, London, St. Marys, Stratford, Seaforth, Chatham, Wallaceburg, Sarnia, Essex County, Windsor, and others. Ontarians were asked to vote yes or no as to whether Ontario’s government should stop the cuts to community hospitals and restore services to meet the population need for care. More than 99.6% voted in favour of stopping the cuts. Everywhere, people expressed their gratitude to volunteers for holding the referendum and for doing something to stop the cuts in their communities. The results as of last night (note: every few hours we are receiving hundreds more votes): “Yes” or “No”: Ontario’s government must stop the cuts to our community hospitals and restore services, funding and staff to meet our communities’ needs for care. Yes– 93,501; No– 308; Spoiled– 31; Total– 93,840. The coalition is calling for Ontario’s government to restore public hospital funding to the average of the other provinces. By every reasonable measure, Ontario’s hospital funding is at or near the very bottom of all the provinces in Canada. The coalition is also calling for public hospital funding to go to care and vital support services. “The huge turnout is representative of deeply-held values that cross all political lines and all regions in our province,” reported Natalie Mehra, executive director. “The message we received was overwhelming. People are angry about their communities’ hospital cuts. In no 38 dialogue
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uncertain terms, they want the services restored and they want to ensure that funding is adequate and it goes to care and support services, not executive tiers and consultants. They were happy to be able to vote on it.” She concluded: “We were certain before, but having gone through this massive undertaking and having spoken with more than a hundred thousand Ontarians, we can say with more certainty than ever that our current provincial government fails to listen to the will of Ontarians at their peril. Ontarians urgently want to find a way to have their voices heard, to stop the cuts and bring back the services that they are losing in their local public hospitals.” The coalition is asking the public for donations to help cover the costs of the volunteerled referendum. Background Ontario’s hospital cuts are the deepest in the country, and despite claims by government, the services that are being dismantled in local public hospitals are not replaced in community care. In fact, many communities are losing vital services and across the province whole categories of services are being privatized. Without any sound capacity planning, hospital redevelopment decisions seem to be driven by political opportunism and divorced from service needs. Tens of millions are wasted in renovations and redevelopments, only to find services closing down within a few years. Planning, such as it is, bears no relation to community need anymore. The cuts are devastating. Entire community hospitals are on the line. Services like birthing; emergency departments; medical and surgical beds; mental health units; chronic care beds; surgeries and diagnostic tests; and thousands of nurses, health professionals, caregivers, and vital patient support workers and all the work they do – all of these are threatened with cuts in different communities. In many communities hospitals are running at dangerous levels of overcrowding. By every reasonable measure, Ontario has now dropped to the bottom of the country in hospital services. We have the fewest hospital beds left – by far – of any province. Only Chile and Mexico in the entire developed world have fewer hospital beds than does Ontario. We have the least amount of nursing care per patient (both RN and RPN combined). Patients are moved out of hospital earlier in Ontario than any other province – and we have the highest readmission rates as people end up back in emergency departments. Charts showing government data on these measures and others can be found here: LINK: http://tinyurl.com/OHC-trends
Every service that is being cut is privatized, moved …/ www.dialogue.ca
out of town or lost entirely. Patients are now required to drive longer and longer distances for care, or are being charged hundreds or even thousands of dollars in private clinics for cataract surgeries, colonoscopies and other care than used to be provided – under OHIP – in our local public hospitals. People are waiting on stretchers, in the worst cases for days, for admission to hospitals that are filled to overcapacity. LINK TO ARTICLE: http://tinyurl.com/OHC-93501
Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, Protecting Public Medicare for All, Ontario Health Coalition 15 Gervais Drive, Suite 604, Toronto, ON M3C 1Y8 416-441-2502, Email: ohc@sympatico.ca Website: www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca
Visit the OHC website for news of their actions, reports and successes on health-care issues such as: cuts to hospitals and other services, privatization, seniors’ user fees for drugs, care levels in long-term care homes, home care reform. LINK: http://tinyurl.com/OHC-news-events
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“Your Health Matters”
My UK medical background Derrick Lonsdale, M.D., Strongsville OH
My medical education was at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College, affectionately known as Bart’s. In 1109 a monk by the name of Rahere went on a pilgrimage to Rome. He became sick with what was probably malaria and was nursed on an island in the middle of the river Tiber. When he was recovering, a vision of St. Bartholomew appeared to him and believing that the saint had saved his life, Rahere asked him what he could do in thanks. St. Bartholomew is said to have replied “go to London and there in the smooth field (now known as Smithfield) build me an hospital and a church”. The church of St. Bartholomew the Great (there was a smaller one known as St. Bartholomew the Less) is still standing today and in the churchyard there are many graves of people that died in the great plague in the 16th century. Because Bart’s was originally a monastery it was affected by Henry VIII who dissolved the monasteries to obtain their cash. In 1546 Henry VIII re-founded the hospital because he wanted to get treatment for himself. His disease was probably syphilis. Not surprisingly, Henry VIII became the founder of the hospital and his statue can be seen over the main gate at the entrance. Bart’s had long been known as the hospital for the sick poor, situated in the City of London. For those of you not familiar with London the city represents old London and is essentially the business district. St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Old Bailey (the law court) are situated there. The National Health Service was initiated when I was doing my resident training. The only difference that it made for me at the time was that my pay went from 9 pounds to 16 pounds a month. The pound was worth about five US dollars at that time. Because I was intending to go into family practice, part of my residency www.dialogue.ca
training was in obstetrics. Students from Bart’s had to deliver mothers in their homes within the City and if there was an abnormality they would call me. I had a 1930 car that became the “flying squad”. I would pick up a case full of the sterile equipment, then pick up a colleague to give the anesthetic, and the two of us would go roaring out to do whatever service was necessary. Many of the poor people in the city lived in tenements called Peabody buildings. Access to an apartment was an outside staircase that also served as a fire-escape. There was often an open fire in the grate of the apartment and the first thing that we had to do was to put the fire out since we were using open ether as the anesthetic. Medical education during the war was pushed through as quickly as possible. Nobody knew how long the war would last and this was an obvious attempt to produce doctors to serve in the Armed Forces. I graduated at the age of 23 in 1948 and the first thing that I had to do after completing resident training was National Service. I became a medical officer in the RAF and was posted to Germany. The area covered by the UK was known as British Armed Forces Overseas (BAFO) and I was the unit medical officer at Headquarters so I had to treat many senior officers and their families. I had a small hospital with five or six beds for minor problems, but more serious problems had to be sent to a major Army hospital. It was there that I met my future wife. She was a Sister in that hospital. The term Sister was derived from the fact that lay sisters were the nurses in monasteries. The special cap worn by a sister had evolved from the hood used by lay sisters who were also nuns. One day a Wing Commander walked into my office with three large cysts on his bald head. He promised me that if I took them out successfully he would see that I was entered as a member of a crew in an ocean race sponsored by the RAF around the north coast of …/ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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Dr. Lonsdale, My UK medical background, contd.
Denmark from Copenhagen to Kiel. Since I was a sailing enthusiast this was too good to be true and was a good incentive to successful surgery. After I completed my National Service and returned to England, I had planned to become a family doctor. Under National Health rules there were only three methods of going into practice and I must digress for a moment. Before the National Health Service came in, practices were bought and sold on the basis of goodwill. Those of you that are interested in history may not know that the Beveridge Report, written many years before the health service was initiated, was used in planning its construction and sadly underestimated its costs. The family doctor was to be, and probably still is, paid according to a capitation fee. For each person registered in his practice he would receive 1.5 pounds a year, if my memory serves me correctly. At that time, a physician would be expected to earn between three and 5000 pounds so you can see how many thousand patients he would require to make a living. Therefore, by sticking up a plate outside your house, which was one of the methods of getting into practice, you would probably starve before you collected enough patients. You could, if you wished, stay outside the service and rely on a private practice, but there were few takers in the face of the development of a new service. Therefore, the common method of entering a family practice was by applying as an assistant to a principal physician with a view to later partnership. That was of course the method that I chose. Physicians who required an assistant would register with the British Medical Association (BMA) that would produce a form for each physician providing the details of the advertised practice. A young physician, seeking such a position, would write to the BMA and receive information regarding the positions available. At that time there were many physicians who had been medical officers during the war and they were looking for entry to practice. If they wanted to become specialists they would have to go through a training process that took as much is 10 to 12 years before they could apply for a consultant post. There was considerable congestion caused by the numbers of physicians trying to get into family practice. After many applications, I received a reply from a physician in a small town in Suffolk called Beccles. Situated about 15 miles from the coast, it was the center of a farming community with a population of about 5000. I later received news that there were 150 applicants for this assistantship and we were shortlisted to 25. The 40 dialogue
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practice consisted of three partners and they rented a room in London to interview the short list. I was again shortlisted to three final applicants, all of whom were invited to lunch at the home of the senior partner in Beccles. One of the three applicants withdrew and I was eventually facing my one opponent across the lunch table. The only reason that I got the job was because I was age 27, newly engaged to be married like the senior partner when he started the practice and whose wife liked me. It had little or nothing to do with qualifications. These three doctors wanted me to act as locum tenens for each of them as they went on their summer vacations. I was to learn the district and had little or nothing else to do when they were all working, an amazing attitude after the trouble that they had taken to hire me. Being young and ambitious, I was totally dissatisfied and left the practice. I then became an assistant with view to partnership to a physician in Lee-on-Solent, a seaside town on the south coast. Between the two practices I had got married and we were forced to live in an apartment at the top of a very old house owned by the father of the physician for whom I was working. The house had three stories and I carried my bride “over the threshold” at the top of the stairs to enter our apartment. For many reasons this view to partnership did not work out and I must explain why this was a common problem. The physician, paying a salary to an assistant, would obtain income tax relief. As soon as he admitted an assistant into partnership, he would have to share his income. Until the practice had been further built up, he would obviously have to take a pay cut. The “view to partnership” often mysteriously disappeared when the promise became due. I became an assistant to a woman physician in Leicester and again my wife and I had to live in the practice house which also contained the office. She was married to a radiologist and they lived in an upscale part of the city, so I was responsible for all call duties. Again, the promise of partnership faded out and I became an “assistant with view” to a physician in a small town called Sleaford in the county of Lincolnshire. At last I got a partnership and believed that I was settled for life. Sleaford is a small market town and the patient visiting area had a radius of about 10 miles into the surrounding country. Between morning and evening office hours, I would often do as many as 20 house calls. There was, however, a great deal of competition between the three practices that were situated here that was unsettling. I had bought a large house at one end of town, a locality where a number of my patients lived. I wished to …/ www.dialogue.ca
put in an office in this house so that I could service these people for their convenience. I discovered however that I had to get permission from the bureaucratic organization known as the Executive Council in order to do this. Their offices were at Nottingham, a city about 15 miles from Sleaford. That collision with bureaucracy, together with the minor blackmail (“give me a certificate or I will leave you”) by patients made me think seriously of emigrating. One day in 1957 I came home from rounds, after a miserable morning. I told my wife that I would like to go to Canada and her answer was simply “when do we leave?” Susan, my fourth child, was born six weeks before we crossed the Atlantic in the Cunard White Star Liner, Carinthia. I served a short service commission as a medical officer in the RCAF, stationed at Centralia about 30 miles north of London,
Ontario. In 1960 I was accepted as a pediatric resident at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio and in 1962 I was invited to remain on the staff in the Department of Pediatrics. In 1982 I took early retirement from the Cleveland Clinic to practice what has come to be known as Complementary Alternative Medicine. I retired in 2012 at the age of 88 years. – Derrick Lonsdale, M.D. “Everything is connected to everything else.” Derrick Lonsdale is a retired Fellow of the American College of Nutrition and a Certified Nutrition Specialist. Website: www.prevmed.com/ Blog: http://o2thesparkoflife.blogspot.com/
* In future issues, we will be featuring excerpts from Dr. Lonsdale’s book, “Why I left Orthodox Medicine.” ISBN: 978-1-61897-092-3 (available from amazon.ca) See also: http://sbpra.com/DerrickLonsdale ♣
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Information about Chemtrails
Video: Chemtrails: Official Confirmation and Best Proof of its Sinister Toll on Earth From Stephanie Mc Dowall, smcdow@telus.net: Comment from Bob Hansen, hansen.bob5@gmail.com: Re video on Chemtrails: Forbidden Knowledge TV, Mar 23, 2016, Alexandra Bruce This is the best, most honest, least dramatic panel discusThis video is a panel discussion (from 2013) that includes scientists and commercial pilots, with official documents sion I've heard so far on Chemtrails. This spraying is a confirming the reality of geoengineering, aka ‘Chemtrails’ concern, and needs to be discussed much more. (Note and confirming this method of weather modification and as that they say aluminium can be used with 2 atoms oxya deliberate poisoning of the Earth. gen, to add oxygen to the fuel and get better perforComment from Stephanie: I watched this 1/2 hour mance from jet engines. video (by GeoengineeringWatch.org). Contains info you These people say in the U.S. there has to be a paper trail will want to know. Various professionals – former U.S. to allow domestic aerial spraying, so, what about in pilot, U.S. Airforce meteorologist, defense industry emCanada? Or is all you need is an order from the Queens' ployee – speak to this issue of nano-particles in the air. Privy Council? Go figure. A bit here on HAARP, weather modification, too. Cheers, Bob - “The Corporation IS the Enemy.” LINK :
http://fktv.is/chemtrails-official-confirmationandamp-best-proof-of-its-sinister-toll-on-earth-27607
Host, Altered Egos Radio News Magazine, CHLY 101.7FM (Nanaimo, BC)
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Feedback re Dialogue Magazine From Bob Harper, Windsor ON: Re Bob Harrington’s article in the Spring Dialogue I cannot believe there are still people believing and promoting the man made climate change scam. Twenty years ago when two of the biggest scammers that have made millions off it Gore and Suzuki predicted that by 2014 the ice caps at both poles would have melted and Manhattan and the whole eastern seaboard would be under water you would think people would learn. Most European countries that started the carbon tax and carbon trading scams years ago are abandoning them as they found out they were rife with corruption and did no good. There has been no global warming in decades if at www.dialogue.ca
all. In fact since the fifties most true scientists say the earth has been stable or even cooling slightly and the ice caps are getting thicker especially at the south pole. As per carbon dioxide without it every plant on earth would die as we all then starve. We exhale carbon dioxide and all plants require it to survive and then release oxygen which we breath back in. This was taught by grade two in school. Next the idea that we are cutting all the trees down on earth is another scam. Most countries that harvest forests for their use plant two or more trees for everyone cut down. In Ontario we plant thousands of seedlings under Conservation Societies every year. My children when younger went out with Scout Groups …/ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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planting thousands in Southwestern Ontario alone. The scammers make predictions like Bobs that by 2100 sea levels will rise 26-82 cm knowing most of us will be dead in 85 years or not remembering the predictions and a new set of scammers can begin. Remember there is no
such thing as manmade global warming, cooling, or climate change. It is a scam used by all levels of government to extract more taxes from ignorant taxpayers. - Bob Harper, Windsor, Ontario ♣
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From Gerry Brosso, Gananoque ON: Re Eileen Little’s article in the Spring Dialogue Yesterday, we received your publication containing Eileen Little's submission with our photograph. Many thanks. This was our second trip to the Netherlands, the first with my dad 30 years ago when he was much younger and last year's expedition, once again accompanying my dad, this time as caregiver. It was there we had the pleasure of meeting many of the
veterans and their caregivers and the opportunity to exchange photos, informational links and general recollections of this enjoyable time. The government frankly wasn't given sufficient credit for the manner in which all of this was arranged. Eileen's first person narrative was a delightful recollection of what many of our veterans have repeated in various electronic and print media outlets. Kudos to you for providing her the forum for edifying your readers on this venture.
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From Ken Clark, Fergus ON: In the Spring edition, under the heading on P.57, DID YOU KNOW, appeared the following comment, “The KING OF HEARTS is the only king in the pack of cards without a moustache.” Does anyone know where this statement originated or why the King of Hearts supposedly does not have a moustache? Just curious! We have several decks of cards in our household, and in at least one of them, the King of Hearts also had a moustache. In the meantime, the following are three explanations provided by GOOGLE as of Jan. 24, 2004 in case other Dialogue readers are also interested: 1) Diamonds, clubs and spades are by association linked respectively with the corruption of wealth, war and death. In contrast, the heart as an organ is pure, open, undisguised - it does not wear artifice - hence the cleanshaven King of Hearts. (Gail Hennessy, Rankin Park) 2) Most standard English playing cards used today derived from the original French models produced in the mid-16th century. For the purpose of mass production, the earliest cards were printed using wood blocks. Disfiguring occurred over the centuries as unskilled block makers distorted the original designs, resulting in hands, symbols of office and other attributes losing their meaning. Among the many distortions that took effect, the King of Hearts not only lost his moustache, but the axe he was originally holding became a sword. (Mary Carde, Cherrybrook) 3) He’s waiting for the Queen to give him some heirs. (Arthur Grey, Wentworth Falls) I found this entire subject to be very interesting and amusing – it’s good we can still laugh at events in life. ♣ 42 dialogue
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Also from Ken… Dialogue magazine -The very best of any magazine of its type. I cannot remember exactly when I first became aware of the existence of this particular magazine; possibly it was in the mid-1990s. An acquaintance of mine at the time drew my attention to it, along with the thought that I might be interested in subscribing to it, and perhaps even contributing an occasional article to the magazine. The latter suggestion made me tremble, for by my own admission, I was definitely not a writer. Over time however, his words kept popping in and out of my mind and eventually I decided to take out a subscription, and a short time later even contribute my first article. Politics had been a strong interest of mine for many years and I could never seem to grasp why so many other Canadians were so disinterested and silent on such an important subject. To my surprise, I found writing articles, on a subject I was passionate about, was not as formidable as I imagined. After a number of years I still get much enjoyment and satisfaction from expressing my views and feelings relative to the sad state of politics in Canada. At this point, I wish to thank both Janet and Maurice King for providing the vehicle to allow me to ‘Speak Out’ and express my views. For 29 years this couple has continuously and voluntarily produced an amazing …/ piece of work in the form of Dialogue. To the subscribers of Dialogue, who do not currently submit articles, I suggest you consider doing so. I’m certain you will find it a rewarding experience. - Ken Clark, Fergus ON ♣ www.dialogue.ca
Your Invitation to Contribute… If you are a new reader – or a long-time reader who has not submitted anything for publication in Dialogue recently – we hope you will follow in Ken’s footsteps (p.42) and begin sharing what’s on your mind… with a letter, an essay, a story from your life experiences, a poem, a photograph or a painting…
We look forward to hearing from you – on any topic that interests you. Why not share your personal story or something on your favourite theme, be it politics, health, Nature, nurture, etc., etc. – or a comment on something that you have read… whatever you would like to share. Mail: 6227 Groveland Dr., Nanaimo BC V9V 1B1 Email: dialogue@dialogue.ca (the editor) ♣
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“Ideas”
Intriguing Ideas from David Foster…
david.foster2@powergate.ca
Growth with its endless innovation is now counterproductive Get the book and read it. It is ‘Aha!’ stuff... Here is a plea to go get a book... An important insight to add to the mix stems from an interview recently aired on TVO the Agenda, author Douglas Rushkoff ‘Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus’. I immediately went and bought the book. He brilliantly and authoritatively rips the google-eyed economy apart with the simple underlying fact that ‘growth’ with its endless innovation is now counterproductive, and explains why. Distancing of us into becoming ‘units’ for sale through institutions where we used to meet face to face at ‘bazaars’, we now don’t meet at all. He tells how that happened and where all the billionaires came from. Growth no longer serves the public interest. For me, all the more reason to re-engage local people in local Chambers of Higher Knowledge. In my area of Scugog/Uxbridge there used to be ‘Mechanics Institutes’ with halls where the new ideas were explained and discussed. (Do any of us really understand what happened that created the tech kids world that Forbes Magazine keeps track of, Facebook, Google, e-Bay, twitter, etc. Who made the latest billion and how.) ‘Mechanics’ were the new technical class that emerged with iron, steam and railways in the 1850s. Locally people were encouraged to run their own technical schools to discuss and learn. The Mechanics Institutes bought their own books and ran their own lending libraries. Eventually the local Public caught up and caught on. The original hall in Scugog became a Church and then moved to become a gift to the Agricultural Society. A brick hall replaced it (built in 1873), now a tame www.dialogue.ca
performance theatre where no debate is allowed. Classical Debate is a key tool in Learning. The actual local educational committees allowed themselves to be Gutted by abandoning all education to Centralization and growth from Whitby/Oshawa. The local Council have no idea how to use the building or restore it. The 5 local small town newspapers all serve the ideologies of endless Growth. The writers and publishers are morons or captives to growth. The Hall in Uxbridge became a fine brick building on Mechanics Street, with a clock tower and a library that is now the local Public Library. (Uxbridge had the more successful local spur railway, in the age before good roads led south to the market and the emerging Grand Trunk Railway and east/west, and ports for shipping and other railways. And eventually the Road to Kingston or Toronto). Each town has its local library, libraries under the thumb of the local council and the Region where contentious discussion of current affairs is no longer allowed. It is what I call the ‘Blunders of Durham’... Part of Durham’s error of endless ‘Growth.’ And Anderson’s endless tentacles and no wish to give thoughtful insight as to what might be wrong... Mostly no capacity to train his replacement with something far better than him and his ilk. So you see why I suggested a new beginning of local learning centres armed with modern tools and face to face argument. David Foster, Port Perry ON ♣ See more about Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus – Next page… VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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About “Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus” by Douglas Rushkoff (Publisher’s notes, link below)
An exploration of the digital economy draws on contemporary and historical sources to argue for a new economic program that utilizes the unique distributive power of the Internet while breaking free of the winnertake-all game-defining business today. The digital economy has gone wrong. Everybody knows it, but no one knows quite how to fix it, or even how to explain the problem. Workers lose to automation, investors lose to algorithms, musicians lose to power law dynamics, drivers lose to Uber, neighborhoods lose to Airbnb, and even tech developers lose their visions to the demands of the startup economy. Douglas Rushkoff argues that it doesn’t have to be this way. This isn’t the fault of digital technology at all, but the way we are deploying it: instead of building the distributed digital economy these new networks could foster, we are doubling down on the industrial age mandate for growth above all. As Rushkoff shows, this is more the legacy of early corporatism and central currency than a feature of digital technology. In his words, “we are running a 21st century digital economy on a 13th Century printing-press era operating system.” In Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, Rushkoff shows how we went wrong, why we did it, and how we can reprogram the digital economy and our businesses from the inside out to promote sustainable prosperity for pretty much everyone. Rushkoff calls on business to: • Accept that era of extractive growth is over. Rather, businesses must – like eBay and Kickstarter – give people the ability to exchange value and invest in one another. • Eschew platform monopolies like Uber in favor of distributed, worker-owned co-ops, orchestrated through collective authentication systems like bitcoin and blockchains instead of top-down control. • Resist the short-term, growth-addicted mindset of publicly traded markets, by delivering dividends instead of share price increases, or opting to stay private or buy back one’s own shares. • Recognize contributions of land and labor as important as capital, and develop business ecosystems that work more like family companies, investing in the local economies on which they ultimately depend. Rushkoff calls on us to reboot this obsolete economic operating system and use the unique distributive power of the internet to break free of the winner-take-all game defining business today. A fundamentally optimistic 44 dialogue
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book, Throwing Rocks at The Google Bus culminates with a series of practical steps to remake the economic operating system from the inside out – and prosper along the way. More at: http://www.rushkoff.com/books/throwing-rocksat-the-google-bus/
Reviews (from the book’s publisher) “We’ve optimized for growth. But have we lost our way? As an economy? As a community? As a society with a value proposition that doesn’t make sense on a human or economic level? Rushkoff asks questions that matter. A challenging and necessary read.” – Sherry Turkle, author of Reclaiming Conversation.
“Every great advance begins when someone sees that what everyone else takes for granted may not actually be true. Douglas Rushkoff questions the deepest assumptions of the modern economy, and blazes a path towards a more human-centered world.” – Tim O’Reilly, founder of Douglas Rushkoff O’Reilly Media “If you don’t know Rushkoff, you’re not serious about figuring out what’s going to happen next.” – Seth Godin, author of Linchpin. “Rushkoff in his signature provocative and thoughtful style challenges us to “get over our addiction to growth”. In a world where we have a market that rewards personal gain at the expense of the system, it appears that science and technology that could possibly save the world may end up turning our growth into the cancer that destroys us. Whether you are researcher, startup CEO or an innocent bystander, this book is essential reading to reflect on some of our fundamental assumptions and values before it’s too late.” – Joichi Ito, Director, MIT Media Lab Douglas Rushkoff is the author of Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now, as well as a dozen other bestselling books on media, technology, and culture, including Program or Be Programmed, Media Virus, Life Inc and the novel Ecstasy Club. He is Professor of Media Theory and Digital Economics at CUNY/Queens. He wrote the graphic novels Testament and A.D.D., and made the television documentaries Generation Like, Merchants of Cool, The Persuaders, and Digital Nation. He lives in New York, and lectures about media, society, and economics around the world. Website: www.rushkoff.com/ “This is not the story of a system that has been corrupted by bad actors. It's a system behaving exactly as it was programmed to." ♣ www.dialogue2.ca
“Observations from Lithuania”
Ken Slade, Vilnius
Need New Net News Now ? by KR Slade Continued from the Spring issue…
Local-News Services ● www.cbcnews.com ‘CBC’ (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) is rarely cited by any world news-serKen Slade vices / summaries. ● www.qct.ca 'The Quebec Chronicle Telegraph' of Quebec (city); claims to be the oldest newspaper in North America’ (i.e., continuously / still publishing) . . . Publishes in English (only) . . . once was a daily; currently a weekly; highly-loyal clientele. Any Anglophone living in the Provence of Quebec would need this publication. As with all geographically-very-local publications, subscribing to one is worthwhile. In Lithuania, aside from the Lithuanian-language-only newspapers and news-services, there are several English-language choices: www.baltic-review.com (usually showing an interesting photo, accompanied by a short text); www.balticcourse.com, www.baltictimes.com, and some English-pages of some newspapers, some of which usually appear to be translated directly from Google Translate, from some Eastern-European original that bears little resemblance to true journalism. If you are interested in the ‘’nature of the news’’ emanating from the area of the Eastern Baltic Sea, then view some of the news from these regional sites. You may ask yourself: “WTF is this ???” . . . “What are they saying ???” . . . “Is this journalism ???” . . . “Is this English ??? . . . “Who wrote this ???” . . . “Who would publish this ???” . . . Decide for yourself . . . Perhaps consider: does this sort of publication actually contribute to popularity of ‘Russian propaganda’ ? There is also: www.vilnews.com ‘VilNews’ is about Lithuania, and anything Lithuanian-related; interestingly, the pronunciation of “VilNews” is the way Lithuanians pronounce the name of the capital of Lithuania -“Vilnius” (i.e., not the English way: “Vil-ni-us” or “Vilnus”) … more ‘magazine’ than ‘newspaper’ … in late 2015, resumed publication, after 2+ year hiatus. Contained some original and good writing, which had been not found anywhere else … [Affiliation note: ‘VilNews’ had published several of my articles / stories / poems, which may be found via their internal-search tool.] *** Business-News Services The following sites are considered ‘business / financial’ www.dialogue2.ca
news; however, each site does have some news beyond such a narrow focus. The sites listed below are of the highest-available quality in terms of: professional journalism, English-language usage (in ‘International English’), and absence of propaganda … For each site, if you register, you can read 10 free articles per month. The sites’ daily news identifies the most-important news; and, often offers an in-depth analysis of particular subjects / issues. If you are an investor, you should consider a subscription to all of these services. Note: a few years ago, Bloomberg and Reuters had local offices in many cities; however, in order for their executives to make more money, many-if-not-most local offices were closed, reporters eliminated, and regional offices with fewer reporters are now their basis of operations. Furthermore, it may be rare that most of their reporters ever leave their office(s); perhaps, not even the telephone is used, or any possible inquiry to sources -- other than what they see on their computer screens that has already been reported. There are some excellent articles with indepth analysis. Subscribers receive the news first, up-tothe-minute financial news, and have access to articles and vast information that is not available to non-subscribers. ● www.bloomberg.com In 2014, ‘Bloomberg News’ inaugurated a new section that focuses on luxury living. The target audience is "the clever customer who is short of time"; the goal is being "the definitive chronicle of capitalism". ● www.reuters.com The ‘Reuters News’ policy is: "to avoid the use of emotional terms and not make value judgments concerning the facts we attempt to report accurately and fairly". ● www.financialtimes.com (from London, UK) ‘The Financial Times’ newspaper stands distinctly on newsstands because the paper is pink. In mid-2015, the FT was sold to a Japan publisher. The ‘FT’ is the most-important, most-widely read, most credible of all financial publications. There are other websites for high-quality business-news, notably: www.wsj.com ‘The Wall Street Journal’, and www.economist.com ‘The Economist’. And, there may be another category of such business news (e.g., ‘Forbes’, ‘Fortune’), perhaps comparable as with looking at the expiration date on a carton-of-milk, some such sites seem to be past-their-time. Notably, some business-news sites require a subscription for full access, …/ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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although possibly available free at a university (especially business-school) library. *** ‘Micro’ -- Specialized -- News Services There are news-sites for every possible interest (e.g., your local church / club, favourite sports team, school, hobbies, advice, political, and countless others). Yahoo offers ‘Yahoo Groups’, where any Yahoo subscriber may join a group, and get their news / updates / postings; some groups offer ‘Chat’ where members may communicate with each other. A particular type of ‘specialized’ news service focuses on travel. One type is about places to visit; a second type is for offers to particular destinations; another type is how to get there. Perhaps, the most important, although frequently unused site, is: what to do when you arrive; the location’s own tourist info site is essential. Of course, any tourist would want to know the local weather. Recently, I found a ‘specialized’ site, www.lzb.lt/en/ , of the ‘Lithuanian Jewish Community’ (in Vilnius), and I registered for their daily newsletter. There are only ~300 Jewish families in Vilnius; and I am not Jewish. I am interested in knowing more about Lithuania, and …/ I am interested in history … there have been Jews in Lithuanian for 500 years; prior to WWII, Jews were 2535% of the population anywhere in Lithuania … how could I possibly know and understand Lithuania, without knowing and understanding about the ‘Litvaks’ (i.e., Lithuanian Jews) ? This newsletter is well-done, and publishes in Lithuanian / English / Russian; not uncommon to find items in: Polish / Hebrew / Yiddish. Every day, I learn more … www.wikileaks.com ‘WikiLeaks’ is a source for news; I have never read their site; I do not have the time resources to examine their huge amount of data. http://www.voanews.com ‘Voice of America’ (VOA) is something with which I have no familiarity. Moreover, in the course of my 12 years in Eastern Europe, I have never heard anyone here mention ‘VOA’. Something is wrong with this picture … Dating / introduction services are popular, for their highly-specialized offerings. This source is considered ‘news’ to a significant segment of the general population. Once secretive / clandestine, much is now considered ‘public’ / ‘socially-acceptable’. *** Russia News Services All of the Russian news-services sites -- none of which require a subscription or registration -- are deemed ‘propaganda’ by any country west / north / south of 46 dialogue
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Belarus. Aside from any consideration of ‘propaganda’, their journalism is excellent in the basic elements of knowing how to write in English, knowing how to write a story, and use of International English (i.e., without the local jargon/dialect of British / American / etc.). Some people may wonder: “If I view these Russiannews sites, will my own government be tracking me, and know that I have viewed such sites ???” … There is no cause to ‘wonder’, or for ‘concern’: there is 100+% certainty that everyone’s government is already tracking everything that everyone is viewing on the Internet; and, there is a 100+% chance that some foreign government (and not only one!!) is also tracking everything that you are viewing on the Internet. And, such tracking is not only for your computer, your browser(s), your e-mail address(-es), your phone, and your other devices; but, also for every computer ever accessing your ISP (Internet Service Provider) account(s). So: no need to ‘wonder’ or to ‘be concerned’; it’s already done (!): you have been already and completely ‘spied upon’. … Why worry ??? … (R.O.F.L.) With any/all of the Russia news sites, there is one thing that is for certain: the English-language is excellent … the English-language is ‘International English’ -- not pandering to any national / regional / local usage … note that, generally, the names of the authors are names that do not appear to be ‘Slavic’; apparently, the authors are native-English-speakers … the authors are professional journalists, with the highest abilities … is it no wonder that “The West’’ (where good journalists are not paidwell, and have been terminated from their employments), would find ‘threat’ from the Russian sites ??? ● www.tass.ru ‘TASS Russian News Agency’ (TASS is the abbreviation for the Russian phrase ‘Russian News Agency’); owned by the government of Russia. The largest news network of correspondents, contributors, and offices in Russia ● www.rtnews.com ‘Russia Today’ (RT; not to be confused with the Russia TV network of the same name), was founded at the end of 2013 by the government of Russia as an ‘autonomous non-profit organization’ … offering a Russian perspective on global events’. ● www.sputnik.com ‘Sputnik’ launched in late-2014; international general-agreement as a ‘slick and internetsavvy outlet’ of the government of Russia. ● www.rbth.com ‘Russia Beyond the Headlines’ (RBTH) resembles a magazine / journal more than a newspaper; some great photos and some interesting cultural articles; promotes tourism in Russia . . . less directly-political than the above three (3) sites. …/ www.dialogue.ca
Smart Phone Beginning ~2010, the ‘Smart-phone’ (i.e., a mobile telephone with Internet connection) has revolutionised the presentation of Internet content -- especially the presentations of news. The news has a new format: in individual ‘blocks’; frequently begun with a photo (which may have no relationship to the content presented); and a title (which also may have no relationship to the content presented), which may allow for the cursor to be placed over the title to view a brief description of the article. The essence of this Smart-phone revolution upon news is ‘simple’; meaning ‘simple multiple meanings’ . . . simple because the functioning encourages quick selection(s) … simple because related subject-matter is offered . . . therefore, ‘simple’ to use, and to encourage clicks (which earn revenue for the news providers). However, there is something else ‘simple’ about this phone news: a hand-held device discourages reading of text that is ‘long’ (i.e., any text more than 250 words); thus, the Smart-phone news has tremendously impacted the length of news articles. Perhaps, also, there is another result that is ‘simple’ … hmmm . . . err . . . how to say this without offending (?); probably not possible to not offend . . . . so, here’s the possibility: ‘simple news for simple people with simple attention using simple device ?’ . . . Oh!! News has always had some element of reaching ‘the lowest common-denominator’; now, technology has expanded the reaching-concept: to reach far-below the ‘lowest common-denominator’ -- to the very ‘bottom of the barrel’ . . . and, to get to the bottom, it is necessary to discard what was at the top . . . *** Summary We are now truly in: ‘the age of absolute propaganda’ ● don’t believe everything you hear . . . ● don’t believe everything you read . . . ● don’t believe everything you think . . . No worries about the ‘the age of absolute propaganda’ . . . it’s only a transitional stage . . . . now / next: the pendulum will swing more / further . . . the next stage will be ‘the age of critical analysis’ . . . although, most of us will not live to see any new age of enlightenment; we will see only some small steps towards there . . . Always consider the source. Do you really want to read news that does not have the date of publication, or does not state the name (and contact info) of the author? Perhaps, consider adopting your own criteria for having ‘yellow flags’ . . . I always see ‘flags’ when I see certain names / associations, such as: Soros, Bill and Melinda, many NGO’s (non-governmental organizations; i.e., www.dialogue2.ca
foundations; especially when bankrolled by the world’s top one-percent wealthy -- living or dead), and many ‘think-tanks’ (especially if from Washington, D.C. -the lobbyist capitol of the world). *** Conclusions The ‘state’ of today’s written news is not at an apogee. Most journalism today does not cover the basic elements of writing a story: ‘who, what, where, why, when, and how. There is the ‘fashion’ to use words that are highlylocalized, catchy, trending, popular, friendly, ‘in-words’, clichés, etc.; words not used according to meaning, but used because they sound nice / cute. Publishers must think that readers are stupid. The articles are often ‘nothing about nothing’, perhaps with an interesting photo, and with a ‘catchy’ title -- to make readers click on the story. English seems to follow new rules: 1) every verb must be followed by a preposition (which fact usually indicates the wrong word choice of the verb); 2) every sentence must end a with a preposition, 3) the only punctuation allowed is the period unless, to use a comma, the writer has a signed permission note from home that has been counter-signed by his/her primary and secondary school. Oh!! I do not read any news that does not have: a date, the name of the author, and a way to contact the author. I do not respond well to news written by someone trying to be my new friend; if I want to find a new friend, I do not read news, I go to a nightclub.
To facilitate your Internet news reading: ● Go to the news site, and: ●‘bookmark’ the page; put the bookmark into a category of ‘News’. ● add the site to your ‘favourites’; put the entry into a category of ‘News’. ● add the site to your browser ‘start page’ (if your browser will let you do this). ● in your e-mail: use a ‘filter’ -- to send any/all incoming e-mails to a folder that you have specified. ● If a subscription is required, you may be able to find a library that has a subscription. Any local library should be able to assist you to find a library that may have a subscription; such info is usually online, but not always easy to find. For back-issues of printed newspapers / journals, sometimes an ‘inter-library loan’ is possible (although, there may be a small charge for the cost of mail/delivery). A large library is more-likely to have more subscriptions than a small library; a university library is more-likely to have more subscriptions (and with greater specializations) …/ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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than local / regional public libraries. ● If you register to receive news updates: ● make a new folder in your e-mail account (hint: name the folder ‘<News’, not ‘News’; this will make the folder appear towards the top of your list of folders, not in the middle of your list) ● Children need to be taught to how to learn to make judgements -- this process is called ‘education’ (as differentiated from ‘protection’); teaching how to make judgements is not assisted by any prohibition of ideas
● Hopefully, adults have already learned this concept of making judgment(s), and will continue the development of the concept Welcome to being in, and knowing: our world . . . . . . nearby and far-away . . . . . . of today, yesterday, and long-ago . . . “The News”!!! All Rights Reserved: 2016 KR Slade. Email: kenmunications@gmail.com ♣
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Is the U.S.A. great? Only for promoting unfettered capitalism & fundamentalist Trinitarian Christianity Franklin O’Connor, Nanaimo BC Advancement on our planet is usually two steps forward, one step backwards; this pattern repeating itself across the millennia.
On the present U.S.A. political scene, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are two curious phenomena. Businessman Trump obviously favours keeping the accent on capitalism, while not too sure of himself on Christian teachings. Sanders is anti-unfettered capitalism (a selfstyled socialist), while, as a Jew, diplomatically silent about fundamentalist Constantinian Trinitarian Christianity. . . Jews suffered for centuries at the hands of that type of Christianity (Hitler didn’t appear out of nowhere); and Blacks and Indigenous peoples suffered because of the papal Doctrine of Discovery. In a word, there have never been any so-called “great” empires, nations; they were all caught up in the process of ‘advancement’ on our planet: two steps forward, one step backwards. Just read history, such as we know it, and you will better be able to size things up – as our research in all domains continues. Do we want a return of a Holy Roman Empire? No way. A Great Britain? No way. A racist and 2008-style U.S.A.? No way. A great U.S.S.R.? (Sorry Putin.) No way. Pope Francis is trying to advance the Vatican by two steps. Trump and Sanders, the same for the U.S.A. Justin Trudeau, the same for Canada (but curiously will not allow anti-abortionists to represent his party, yet allows Sikh turbans to stand out). My mantra: Belief systems (religious and atheist), get out of politics, including their symbols and in their anthems, songs. (Muslim: “God is great.” U.S.A.: “God, Bless America.” Britain and its Commonwealth: “God, Save the Queen.” Canada: “God, keep our land glorious and free.” And on and on…) 48 dialogue
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The constitutions of many countries (Christian, Muslim, etc.) are declared to be written under God, but: WHOSE GOD (NON-GOD, NO GOD)? It is to be hoped that after another one thousand years of conflict amongst human beings we will have decided that each nation is not under God, but in the MYSTERY and that all laws conform to the GOLDEN RULE. 3016 here we come! – I just got a message from a Martian: Are you folks down there all crazy? Stay away from here! (I prefer this to all claims of visions, etc., from beyond. Really I’d say we on this planet can get our act together before another thousand years of silly human conflict. The younger generations will demand it. The invention of printing about 600 years ago moved us forward; today’s mass communications might shorten 1000 to 500 years, or less. Franklin O’Connor, aka “Stan Smith” Independent Christian (ex-R.C.) ♣ *****************************************
There Has Been a Coup In Brazil Paul Craig Roberts In Brazil the country’s largest newspaper has published a transcript of a secret recording leaked to the newspaper. The words recorded are the plot by the rich Brazilian elite, involving both the US-corrupted Brazilian military and Supreme Court, to remove the democratically elected president of Brazil under false charges in order to stop the investigations of the corrupt elites who inhabit Brazil’s senate and bring to an end Brazil’s membership in BRICS. The Russian-Chinese attempt to organize an economic bloc independent of Washington has now lost 20% of its membership. Read more at www.paulcraigroberts.org : LINK: http://tinyurl.com/PCR-coup-brazil
11475 Big Canoe, Big Canoe Ga 30143 USA ♣
www.dialogue.ca
ON THE ROADSIDE
Ramblings
Randy Vancourt, Toronto ON
The return of summer always gives me the urge to hit the road. One of my fondest childhood memories is of the family trips we took every July; for two weeks (sometimes even three); our entire family would load into the old Pontiac Strato-Chief and head off on a camping vacation somewhere in Canada or the US. Although we spent a fair amount of these trips enjoying swimming, hiking and other camping-related activities, we always made sure to visit a few of the thousands of roadside attractions that seemed to dot the landscape back then. The roadside attraction business really began to grow in popularity during the 50’s, an era that coincided with a sudden explosion of road travel. By the time we were visiting these places in the late 60’s and into the 70’s, some of them seemed a bit out of date. I tried researching a few of the more memorable ones online and sadly, many have since closed; others have vanished without a trace. To be fair, I expect many of these places felt a bit tacky even when they were new. They were the last vestiges of true Barnum spirit, a time when you could still make outlandish, unfounded claims and charge people for the privilege. One of my favourites was a place in New England called “Mystery Crater.” It claimed to be the landing spot of a mysterious meteor that left behind strange forces that caused all manner of unusual events to occur. Most of these “mysterious” happenings were obviously accomplished through tricks and optical illusions, plus we never really did see any crater. The final insult came as we were leaving and discovered they’d stuck a bumper sticker on our car, apparently with some sort of non-removable super glue. We became a rolling billboard for this sham of an attraction. Woodleigh Replicas in PEI was a much better experience. It featured large-scale replicas of various famous landmarks from the United Kingdom and, in its heyday, attracted about 4,000 visitors a day. Sadly it fell prey to changing public tastes and closed in 2008. I just read that it is still up for sale at a cost of $239,000 www.dialogue.ca
for the 19-acre property and buildings. You could live in a miniature England for less than the cost of a Muskoka cottage. Happily I have continued the family tradition of visiting oddball tourist attractions. A few years back in Arizona I toured Mystery Castle (apparently I’m a sucker for mysteries!) The history was fascinating – in the 1930’s a Seattle businessman was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He dealt with this news by deserting his family and relocating to the Arizona desert, where he spent his remaining years building a three-story, 18 room “castle” out of inexpensive or free materials, including telephone poles and automobile parts. Yes, it looks exactly as you might imagine. The next time his family heard of him was when he died in 1945 and left the castle to his daughter. She moved into this bizarre structure and soon began offering tours. Right up to her death she would greet visitors as they roamed through her home; she was still there when I toured the place. Speaking of Seattle, no trip there is complete without a visit to the Underground City. Following the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 that devastated a huge amount of buildings, a decision was made to rebuild the city...but 12 feet higher than before. Basically the streets were raised and what were once main floors became basements. Over the years these subterranean streets fell into disrepair and were condemned in 1907. However in 1965 an enterprising citizen started taking people on tours through what was left of these streets and buildings; it’s one of the most enjoyable, and odd, tours I have ever experienced. And I’ve been in the Paris sewers. Of course Canada has its fair share of eccentric attractions: The World's Largest Dinosaur is in Drumheller, Alberta; there is a 28-foot tall Canada Goose in Wawa, Ontario; Duncan, B.C. is home to the World’s Largest Hockey Stick, and you can find the World's Largest Axe in Nackawic, N.B. For any snowbirds out there, the famed Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine, Florida is worth a visit. Although of questionable authenticity, it’s still fun to line up for a drink of its magical water, said to provide eternal youth. It stinks badly of sulphur but nobody ever said living forever was easy. …/ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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The fact that “Diamond Lil” McConnell, the woman who claimed to have discovered this fountain conveniently located on her property, died at 57 years of age shouldn’t deter anyone. Her attraction is still drawing
thousands of tourists annually, which I suppose is some sort of immortality after all. Randy Vancourt, Toronto www.randyvancourt.com
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“Stirring the Soup”
TWISTS AND TURNS AND A LOVE AFFAIR… Marie Gaudet, Edmonton AB Don’t you find life absolutely fascinating? Most of you (myself included) probably had your whole life mapped out when you were a teenager already. But if you took a selfie of your life today, would it resemble that old picture? I tried -really tried -- to shape my life into the picture I had in my head when I was 17 and I actually did achieve a lot of those dreams, though neither in the way nor following the expected modus operandi that I had anticipated.
For instance, I’d had my mind set on a career as a nurse because of my genuinely compassionate nature. There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to help people, so I equated that with nursing. But, as life has since taught me, you can help people in a thousand ways all through your life without limiting yourself to people experiencing a physical crisis in a hospital – because there are also, unfortunately, ample mental and emotional crises happening all the time in simple, everyday life (we will all go through a few of those). I have definitely used my talents in the area of what I now call “intuitive nursing” my entire life and these to the utmost. And I did work in a hospital setting for quite a while too, as a unit clerk in a psychiatric program. I wasn’t directly involved in patient health care but I suspect that the offer of respect and acceptance was probably a much-needed boon to their self-esteem anyways. My career, in the end, switched to administrative work because the universe is very devious about flaunting options, lots of options, in front of you while you’re still wading through the molasses of the last decision you made. Having made the nursing plan when I was in grade 9, I had decided to forget about it till it was time to go to work. But then one day as I was passing a classroom, I heard a God-awful racket and was moved to go offer any assistance I could. What I saw was a student typing on an old standard typewriter – 50 dialogue
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and doing it rather well, too! She was typing 80 wpm and my jaw dropped as I watched her fingers flying across the keyboard. I remember thinking to myself, “I will do that, some day.” And I went home, pulled out my sister’s portable typewriter and typing book and spent all of my spare time for the following year practicing. The result was that when I reached Grade 10, an isolated classroom needed to be found for the typing class so that I could make all the noise I wanted. And in that not-so-quiet little classroom, I first achieved 100 wpm. But wait! Whatever happened to being a nurse, I wondered one day? Well, you need funds to go to school and my parents were tapped out by that time (I was the 10th child). So when the time came to look for work, I checked the (pre-equal employment laws) “Help Wanted-Female” ads where I found plenty of jobs posted under “Clerical” and “Professional.” The clerical ones, of course, were what I was qualified to do. Also, when employers heard the magic number “100 wpm”, their eyes popped out of their heads and they bent over backwards to offer me jobs. And how can you say ‘no’ when everyone thinks you’re God’s gift to the secretarial pool? Of course, I enjoyed the work too. You always enjoy what you’re good at. Still… In the midst of going through those job ads, I remember my eyes always roaming over to the “Professional” section and dreaming big… because those were the jobs that really interested me, only I didn’t have the experience yet. So I promised myself that “One day, that’s the column I’ll be looking in for all my jobs”. Just another little twist from the universe. I would remember those words for years and before very long, had become intimately acquainted with the “Professional” section! Another item in my life plan was, of course, to have children. But not yet. My eyes were on a career first because who wants to have kids first and then try to get work when you’re an old lady? My plan was to work for 15 years, then meet and marry my soulmate and have 2.5 kids and live happily ever after. OK, well… it seemed like a flawless plan at the time …/ www.dialogue.ca
(thank you, Harlequin romances), but how much do you want to bet that never happened? Not only have I yet to meet the man who will be my soulmate(!), but I did take a chance on not one, but two marriages which, although they didn’t pan out in the end, immediately gave me (not 2.5, but) four children to raise. So OK, I refurbished my life plan again and began my career later on… when I actually had some knowledge of the world and how it works (a silver lining I wasn't expecting, by the way). The skills I learned as a mom only served to complement my professional abilities and further my career. One of the things I really yearned for as a child playing on the farm, looking up at the planes flying overhead, wondering about the people on those planes, who they were, where they were going and what their lives were like… was travelling. I assumed my knight in shining armor (you know, the one I was going to marry) was also independently wealthy and would love to show me the world. Now that I’m older and
Me and my parasailing captain in Key West
wiser, I realize I had maybe a few misconceptions – nay, delusions – in regards to that particular picture because a) not everyone’s wealthy, especially if they have children; b) once there are children, they can’t be uprooted randomly to go do all the travelling I planned on doing; and c) why should I wait for someone else to take me travelling anyway? So I settled in for the long haul and raising my kids became, hands down, the most fulfilling and happy part of my life.
In retrospect, then… I have indeed become a nurse… to my children, nieces, nephews, co-workers, everyone I know. And I have been a confidant and sympathetic shoulder for www.dialogue.ca
friends, family and even strangers. My ongoing “intuitive nursing” career continues; If I’d had a career first, I wouldn’t have had all the mom skills to bring with me to the professional table and wouldn’t have achieved quite the wondrous career that I did -- including a mid-career move to event planning and photography (with skills honed by organizing copious birthday parties). Not to mention that maybe I wouldn’t have had a husband later on, with whom to even start a family! This might also have denied me the four beautiful grandchildren I now have. So all in all, a wise, unplanned move that I consistently take full credit for. If I hadn’t been challenged to excel in typing, I wouldn’t have later enjoyed the warm fuzzies I always felt when my aunt, the school caretaker, having heard me raucously practicing one evening in the typing class while my high school was supposed to be entombed in silence, bragged for years about how she raced upstairs one night to find out what the “vacarme de tonerre” (thundering racket) was all about. That was me typing so fast she thought there was construction going on; If I had not given up on nursing and turned to administrative work, I wouldn’t have been challenged to be the best that I could be in that category. A challenge which aligned me with people from all spheres of life who became my friends and my professional network; and . . . If I hadn’t had my kids earlier… and taken an early retirement… and ended up on my own… (all twists and turns plotted premeditatedly by the universe), well, I wouldn’t have been able to spend the entire last decade travelling to – oh, so many! – beautiful places in the world and doing – Oh my God! – so many scary, adventurous things, not to mention launching …/ myself into an intimate love affair with the most interesting, intriguing and compatible travel companion ever… me! It’s called making lemonade, ladies and gents, and never have I had such a spiritual awakening as I did during these years of travelling by myself. In the end, I have to give thanks to the universe for deflecting my plans into so many erratic and illogical adventures – that I eventually understood the unwritten rule that planning ahead was a waste of time anyway; so I just stopped forecasting and let life happen to me. And that’s what’s been the whole fun of it! I never know what interesting opportunities are going to pop up out of the woodwork and am always surprised and delighted when I find them. Whatever new trail …/ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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I’ve started out on has always brought me joy and happiness. And I am so enthused when I think of all the trails into the unknown that still await me. In his poem “To a Mouse,” Robert Burns said, The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.* My plans didn’t go awry, so much as they were taken into permissible captivity (pardon the oxymoron), transformed into newer and better versions, turned 180o so I could meet the people I was supposed to meet, and creatively adapted to suit a life that a 17year old girl could never have imagined.
What I’ve learned is that it’s not the unexpectedness of the situations in your life that matters, but how you choose to meet those challenges. So today, I can honestly say that I love myself AND my “selfie” of my life! Marie Gaudet, Edmonton P.S. I'm sending along a couple of photos of a trip I made a few years ago too, just because in this article, I talk a little about traveling as a single person and the resultant spiritual awakening (see photo, p.51, and one on P.59). Hey, I was quite surprised to see my article on page 5 of the last issue – I don't think I've ever been at the beginning of the magazine before. Made me feel very special. ♣
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Continuing Tales of Granddad and Malachi Paul Bowles, Fruitvale BC Here is my very latest story. Just a couple more days with Malachi before he leaves – and I also, for some farm work with our son. Thanks to everyone who contributes to Dialogue, so many great articles to enjoy – too many to mention – to learn from and be entertained by.
CONNECTING WITH THE KIDS
We were returning from a morning at the park, both of us, granddad and Malachi, puffing up the gradient on the gravel path from the village. We crossed the stream that was peppered with petals, and while passing under an arch of crab apple blossoms I turned and said, “Hey Malachi, these flowers will soon turn into apples, how cool is that?” He didn’t reply but those words resounded for me into a reverie of a universe, fabricating existence through the seasons of Earth. Of course it doesn’t bear getting too emotional about, it happens every year; so I shelved my enthusiasm in favour of making the transition from a country path to a major road crossing and returning home for lunch and the inevitable cup of tea for this somewhat depleted, seventy-year-old retired English/Canadian. For five year old Malachi, or Kye, (for a short alternative), cold milk and the gradual recapitulation of this morning’s events, evinced through his grandmother who weighs truth from the spinning web of: trains, swings, toddlers at the playground, socialising with the post office ladies about the days of the week and fire trucks over the road. My wife and I have charge of Malachi for two weeks on loan, that we might re-combust the sedentary with the frenetic and reapply ourselves with watchfulness and diligence in the art of playing: kicking ball outside on the grass, playing Go Fish and learning numbers, 52 dialogue
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paddling pool for cooling off, bike and trike exercise, chalking colours on the flagstones outside, watering anything in the yard, dump truck work picking up rocks and wood shavings, playing with dinosaurs, having wagon rides to the library to pick out books and a solitary rationed DVD. He plays around on the tongue drum, xylophone, crashing cymbal – making up songs. He is quite fascinated with the record album collection and always asks to play the contraption with the needle running in the record grooves. He also always wants to know where the music comes from. Recently I chose Kate and Anna Mc Garrigle, it has contained his energy in the past. He spent a long time just staring into the two laughing faces on the album cover. Inevitable he asks for change, so I followed up with Abby Road and sat with him on the armchair listening to ‘Here Comes the Sun.’ While swinging lazily at the park one day he remarked on a face in the cloud above. I had to agree, it was indeed in the form of a dog. The very next day I found myself trying to capture a dragon-shape cloud with pencil on paper. When Grandmother Allison noticed …/ this on the table she then learned of Malachi’s observation which included him in the conversation. We had brought him from the city of Kelowna to our village of Fruitvale on the final round of journeying through Kamloops and Calgary, connecting with other grandsons, sons and daughters. In Pritchard, near Kamloops, grandkids Corbin and Easton live on a farm of sheep and horses, chickens, dogs and cats, while dad builds their new house on the hill. His partner drives the heavy equipment, trenching for the pipes and cables, wires the electrical – and breast feeds the infant on demand. I planted some trees while there and my wife mucked out the ram’s pen. …/ www.dialogue.ca
In Calgary, while preparing to leave the motel for our daughter’s PhD presentation, my wife and I realised that our good clothes (suit, dress, etc.) were still hanging in the porch at home, some 600 kilometers away, so we threw on the next best thing (brown leather jacket, etc.) and set off. However, we had quite forgotten the time change between B.C. and Alberta, subsequently arriving late and interrupting everyone’s rapt attention while our daughter was in full swing, expounding upon the life cycle of stickleback fish and her D.N.A. research data. We noticed during her defense that many of her professors wore crumpled shirts and running shoes, so I was glad that I didn’t turn up looking like a pristine C.E.O. However, all were knowledgeable and examined her thesis dispassionately and subsequently declared our daughter Ella, Doctor of evolutionary biology. Buoyant with her liberation from many years of study, and field trips to isolated Alaskan lakes with plentiful grizzly bears, Ella decided to celebrate with a day at Inglewood, an artistic community in the big city, to browse, take lunch and be with friends. The following day I wrote a poem to capture something of the day there…. [See insert, right] Now Dr. Ella, also an accomplished violinist, will be taking on new work in Montreal and will share accommodation with her violinist sister Shannon and twoyear-old Amelie.
Malachi will return to his family and re-engage with swimming lessons and piano lessons and a new kindergarten experience. Grandmother Allison will tend the garden in this crucial growing season and I will return to Pritchard to help our son look after kids and dishes and probably feed the animals, while mum and dad concentrate on building their house. “INGLEWOOD, Post-Doc” “Soothing yet exotic,” said the artist of the music, as I stared at the painting of the door, Both were exquisite, was my reflection, in this gallery of a master at Inglewood. In lilting waves of Zen, an operatic voice, guided us through ‘The Bardo State,’ Taking me between the worlds. Our casual stroll resumed along the street, choosing points along the way, To tantalise our senses, and replenish spices at ‘The Silk Road.’ Free of time impinging and exultant in our mood with friends, A new life makes a fresh transition, as Doctor Ella paves her way. Paul Bowles, Fruitvale, BC [ scribepoet@hotmail.com ] ♣
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“HOW I COPE WITH MY MORTALITY” David Boese, St. Catharines,ON As I’m approaching 80, I fully realize that I’m past my ‘best before’ date, and I think a lot about the end and when it will come? I’m not afraid of dying, I just don’t like the idea.
Actually, I’ve faced death on several occasions, having survived 8 heart attacks, by/pass heart surgery and two failed attempts of trying to install stints. In a few weeks I will be undergoing another procedure known as “ablation” which is burning away some scar tissue in my heart. I’m not entirely truthful when I say I’m not afraid of dying. What I am however, is filled with anxiety. At this point I have to give kudos to the firemen, as they are always the first to arrive, and they put me at ease. Once I’m in the ambulance I feel completely at ease, with no fear or anxiety. I fully understand why so many people cling to Religion. It is a coping tool and easy to believe in salvation and the www.dialogue.ca
here/in after! For me however, this doesn’t work as I’ve been a non-believer long before, I even knew the word atheism! But this way I don’t have to worry about ending up in Hell, as I don’t believe there is any. When I was a teenager – and beyond, for about 20 …/ years – my hobby was racing cars, which at the time was known as a very dangerous sport, killing several drivers every year. My parents, on this premise, tried unsuccessfully to dissuade me from racing, but my rationale for coping with possible death was that if I died, I would at least die doing what I loved best. As the years went by, my mother died at the age of 55 and my coping mechanism at the time was, “well if death was good enough for my dear mother, then it certainly was good enough for me.” There are several things about dying that, at this ripe old age, have given me the opportunity to philosophize about life, the earth and the universe and there are always more questions than answers. One of the …/ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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things I regret, is not knowing why we’re here. Here are some thoughts that come into my mind: • Everything that is, always was and always will be. • Everything that happens, happens circumstantially. • I don’t believe the universe as we know it, started with the big bang. There had to be something even before it. • Because the end game is the same for all of us, really nothing matters. The operative word is “really.” • If there isn’t any end, how then could there have been a beginning? • Time is an invention of man, necessary but of no substance, in the total scheme of things. A second of time as we know it, can be divided for eternity, so that we can be alive and dead in the same second. • If I’m going to be dead forever, how long did it take for me to get here? My guess is forever. • If we’re all going to die, would it really matter if we all died at the same time, something like the dinosaurs
• Everything we see, touch or consume comes from mother earth and will eventually be depleted, so that will be the end of our species. • When I’m dead, I won’t know I’m dead. Worse yet, I won’t even know that I ever lived.
A political friend of mine told me, some time ago, that “we can’t afford to keep you alive anymore;” when I told him that it had cost $50,000 to have a combination defibrillator/pace-maker installed. I hope he was joking! A few weeks ago, my device went off eight times and it saved my life! I have an ongoing joke with my wife, for she tells me that, if I don’t live to be 85, she will shoot me. Above and beyond everything I’ve said, I’m ever grateful to have lived this long and even more grateful that I was born and lived in Canada! David Boese, St. Catharines ♣
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A Northern Winter
“Hannah’s Hobbies”
Dorothy Hannah, Lacolle QC This past winter, instead of going to Florida, I went to the hospital. I was in and out four times, my last discharge date being April 13th – I have heart and lung problems and they have done everything. First they tried to kill me with medicine; then they put in a pacemaker, and finally they did something called a cardiac ablation procedure. I am hoping they got it right this time and I get to stay home.
My visits to the hospital were weird and wonderful. As most of you know, my part of Canada, Quebec, is very French. My French speaking is limited and they tell me my accent is atrocious. Ninety percent of the staff in the very French hospital I was in could speak some English, but I swear I always got the ten percent that couldn’t.
This one evening in particular, things were not going well. Most nights around 9 o’clock two nurses made the rounds. They got us ready for bed, checked our vital signs and gave out the last doses of medicine. They also asked a bunch of questions, like do we have pain, etc. This time, both girls spoke only French and after the third question, my French bogged down and there we were. They definitely wanted an answer to what they were asking and I hadn’t a clue. We tried, believe me we tried, but with no luck. And then unexpected help arrived. Obviously, another nurse had been listening out in the hall, because suddenly a voice yelled in the door, “They want to know if you went ‘poo’ today.” Well that did it, problem solved, whoever was out there had hit upon a universal language, because everyone burst out laughing and I was able to answer their question. ♣
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How a high-fat diet helps starve cancer Dr. Mercola, May 30, 2016 [EXTRACT/LINK] In recent years, scientists have come to realize that it's not the genetic defects that cause cancer. Rather mitochondrial damage happens first, which then triggers nuclear genetic mutations. … The foundational aspect that must be addressed is the metabolic mitochondrial defect, and this involves radically reducing the nonfiber carbohydrates in your diet and increasing highquality fats. You may need up to 85 percent of your 54 dialogue
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dietary calories from healthy fats, along with a moderate amount of high-quality protein, as excessive protein can also trigger cancer growth. That's really the solution. … Normal, healthy cells have the metabolic flexibility to adapt from using glucose to using ketone bodies. Cancer cells lack this ability, so when you reduce net carbs (total carbs minus fiber), you effectively starve the cancer […] READ IN FULL AT MERCOLA.COM LINK: http://tinyurl.com/Mer68162 ♣
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Fran’s Kitchen
- Fran Masseau Tyler, franskitchen74@gmail.com
This month I found a recipe for a turkey meatloaf, very simple and delicious, I tried it, it’s very tasty.
TURKEY MEATLOAF 1-1/2 cups milk (or milk alternative) 1 egg 1 pkg stuffing mix for chicken (or home-made) 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard 1-3/4 lb. lean ground turkey 5 green onions, chopped 1 cup cracker barrel (or other cheddar) cheese, grated 6 slices bacon
DIRECTIONS: 1.Add milk to stuffing mix, let stand until moistened. 2.Add all remaining ingredients except bacon, mix lightly. 3.Shape in 10x6 inch loaf pan. Arrange bacon slices, lengthwise, on top overlapping to completely cover. 4.Bake in preheated oven, 400oF for 55-60 minutes. 5.Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
ONE BOWL APPLE CAKE A simple recipe! 2 eggs 6 medium apples 1-3/4 cup sugar 2 cups flour 2 heaping tsp. cinnamon 2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 cup canola oil (or alternative oil) DIRECTIONS: 1.Preheat oven to 350oF. 2.In a large bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, cinnamon and oil. 3.Peel and slice the apples small, add to mixture in bowl, coating as you go as to keep apples from turning brown.
THE GOOD WEEDS
“The Vagabond Writer”
By Wayne Allen Russell, Clearwater BC
I hope the readers enjoy these stories; they will bring laughter and a few tears to you. Taken from truth, but the “Family Weed” is fictitious. Please enjoy my stories. (Continued from the last issue)
The family: Archibald (‘Pop’) & Mary Elizabeth/Loretta (‘Mom’) George (‘Donkey’), Aug. 17, 1930 Ben (‘Shooter’), Apr 2, 1932 Bob (‘Stretch’), Oct 10, 1934 Adam (‘Flyer’), Jul 30, 1936 Tom (‘Weasel’), June 4, 1941 Marian (cousin), Aug 21,’ 25 Sam (cousin), December 26, 1931 Bobby (cousin), May 3, ‘35 Ray (my buddy) Joe (Ray’s brother)
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4.Mix together the baking soda with flour. 5.Add to the ingredients in the bowl; mix well. Beat with a fork until all the flour is absorbed by the wet ingredients. 6.Pour mixture into a greased 9x13 pan or Pyrex dish, or in two 9-inch round pans. 7.Bake for approximately 55 minutes (or slightly less for two pans). A natural mosquito repellant. For lingering mosquitos (and next summer!) In a 16 oz. bottle put 15 drops of Lavender oil, 3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract and 1/4 cup of lemon juice. Fill bottle with water; shake and it’s ready. ♣
COUSIN MARIAN My aunt and uncle lived way up north. They owned 160 acres right on the River’s edge. Like Mom and Pop, they earned their living cutting logs. This was done through the summer and the logs were shipped to the mill, down the river in the fall. Aunt Lettie, in one small motorboat, and Uncle Dan in another, would herd the logs down the river. At times, both would have their boats tied to the log booms, and would be running on the floating logs with pike poles. They did this in order to untangle jams. It was very dangerous, and Aunt Lettie was as good a logger as any man on this job. During winter they would set traps to catch beaver, muskrats, weasels (ermine), and other fur bearing animals. They would skin and cure the hides, selling them in the spring. It was a hard, lonely life, but they earned a living this way. This far up north there were no schools, so Aunt Lettie asked Mom if she would take her eldest daughter, …/ VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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Marian, and keep her so she could go to school. Of course Mom agreed, and this added one more to our family. Marian was the same age as Juniper with only a few months between their birthdays, June being the elder. Even though they were like night and day, they got along fine. June was blond and very beautiful. Marian was brunette, petite, and pretty as a picture. If a man were to choose; should he prefer a blond, June would be the pick, if brunette, Marian would be the one. Where June was mean and selfish to Pat and the boys, Marian went out of her way to help and was very kind to everyone. One winter we had no coal left and the weather turned very nasty. Pop had joined the army and was still overseas at war. The boys were very young, so Mom said she was going to town bright and early the following day to borrow enough money from the finance company to buy some coal and a little food for us. That’s right! Borrow money for coal. Outside of the house the snow was piled to the bottom of the windows. The wind was howling and blowing, the snow making it very hard to see outside. It was very cold in the house as the wood stove in the kitchen could not keep the old house warm when it was this cold. It was still dark out when Mom reached for the doorknob to start her journey. She was all bundled up. Over a wool shirt, she had opened newspapers to the center page, cut a hole for her head and pulled these down over her chest and back. She had done this for her children many times when they had to walk to school in the cold. She knew this paper would cut the wind from getting through to her body. She had a towel over her shoulders, and the ends wrapped over the paper on her chest. Her coat, her only coat, was buttoned to the top button over all this gear. She had an old pair of Pop’s socks on under her rubber, gum boots, and another pair over the top of her boots. Then, Marian appeared at her side, dressed much the same as Mom. No arguing on earth could
make Marian stay home, so Mom relented and let her go too. They wrapped tea towels over their faces, donned toques, and were gone into the snow and darkness. None of the others in the house were up to notice these two small figures disappear into the snow and darkness. The others would not see them again this day until well after dark that evening. When they opened the kitchen door, dragging the sleigh loaded with a bag of hard coal, and a bag of flour right into the kitchen. After shutting the kitchen door, they both leaned their backs to the wall, sliding down until they were sitting on the floor. Both were totally exhausted and cold. June took Mom’s mitts off, and Pat did the same with Marian. They started rubbing life back into their frozen fingers. George got kindling and lit the front room coal stove. This soon got the house warm enough that we could move away from huddling around the kitchen stove. June made soup for Mom and Marian. After the pain from their stinging fingers and toes subsided, Mom and Marian joined the rest of the family in warmth and laughter. We all asked them to tell us about their trip to town and any other news they learned while there. By the time Marian was telling us for about the third time, we noticed that Mom, who was sitting in Pop’s old chair by the fire, had fallen sound asleep. These two small women had pulled that sleigh to town, borrowed money, and loaded the sleigh with 100 pounds of coal and twenty pounds of flour. They then pulled this load home through the worst snowstorm the community had seen in nine years. Marian was a worker. She stayed with Mom all through her school years. In late 1944 she joined the Navy. She asked June to go with her, but June wanted nothing to do with the war. Marian started as a clerk and ended up a registered nurse. She saw no active duty. She married a Navy man and disappeared into her own life except for the odd visits to her second Mom. -- Wayne Russell, The Vagabond Writer TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT ISSUE ♣
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Tales from My Travels ~ Don Parker The story of my travels around the world on the working cargo ship, MV Rickmers Jakarta By Don Parker, Georgetown ON In November 2005, at the young age of 77, I embarked on the trip of a lifetime, lasting in all about six months ~ as a passenger on the working freighter, MV Rickmers Jakarta, [First chapter in Vol.28 No.1-Autumn 2014, p.43]
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Due to technical difficulties, this series will continue in the
next issue ♣ www.dialogue.ca
Laughter & ‘Lightenment From John McCullough:
From Erik Andersen:
Redneck folk have the lowest stress rate because they don’t understand the seriousness of medical terminology:
These are actual writings in the medical charts: [Perhaps automated transcripts?!] 1. The patient refused autopsy. 2. The patient has no previous history of suicides. 3. Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital. 4. She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night. 5. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year. 6. On the second day the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared. 7. The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed. 8. The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993. 9. Discharge status: Alive but without permission. 10. Healthy appearing decrepit 69-year old male, mentally alert but forgetful. 11. Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch. 12. She is numb from her toes down. 13. While in ER, she was examined, X-rated and sent home. 14. The skin was moist and dry. 15. Occasional, constant infrequent headaches. 16. Patient was alert and unresponsive. 17. Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid. 18. She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce. 19. I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy. 20. Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation. 21. Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized. 22. The lab test indicated abnormal lover function. 23. Skin: somewhat pale but present. 24. The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor. 25. Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities. ♣
MEDICAL MISUNDERSTANDINGS Medical Term and Redneck Definition
Artery………………. Bacteria……………. Barium……………… Benign……………… Caesarean Section….. Cat scan……………. Cauterize……………. Colic………………... Coma………………. Dilate………………. Enema……………… Fester………………. Fibula………………. Impotent…………… Labour Pain……….. Medical Staff………. Morbid…………….. Nitrates……………. Node………………. Outpatient………….. Pelvis……………… Post Operative…….. Recovery Room…... Rectum……………. Secretion…………… Seizure…………….. Tablet……………… Terminal Illness……. Tumor……………… Urine……………….
The study of paintings Back door to cafeteria What doctors do when patients die What you be, after you be eight A neighbourhood in Rome Searching for Kitty Made eye contact with her A sheep dog A punctuation mark To live long Not a friend Quicker than someone else A small lie Distinguished, well known Getting hurt at work A Doctor's cane A higher offer Rates of Pay for Working at Night I knew it A person who has fainted Second cousin to Elvis A letter carrier Place to do upholstery Nearly killed him Hiding something Roman Emperor A small table Getting sick at the airport One plus one more Opposite of ‘you're out’ ♣
From Erik Andersen:
Unintentional saucy comments
1. Harry Carpenter at the Oxford-Cambridge boat race: “Ah, isn't that nice. The wife of the Cambridge President is kissing the Cox of the Oxford crew.” 2. US PGA Commentator: “One of the reasons Arnie (Palmer) is playing so well is that, before each tee shot, his wife takes out his balls and kisses them .... Oh my God!! What have I just said!” 3. A female news anchor, the day after it was supposed to have snowed and hadn't, turned to the weatherman and asked, 'So Bob, where's that eight inches you promised me last night?' Not only did HE have to leave the set, but half the crew did too, because they were laughing so hard! ♣ www.dialogue.ca
Hospital Chart Bloopers
You don’t stop laughing because you grow old; you grow old when you stop laughing!! VOL. 29 NO. 4, SUMMER 2016
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Contributors in Ahearn, Victoria (link)…….….06 Andersen, Erik, BC ……....19,57 Anderson, Tim (link)…………15 Arney, Jeremy, BC …………..34 Babcock, Diane, BC…………33 Boese, David, ON……………53 Bowles, Paul, BC …...…...52-53 Brosso, Gerry, ON…………...42 Canadian Action Party…........34 Clark, Ken, ON………...…16,42 COMER, BC…………….…...18 Concerned Scholars, Site C 35 Corbett, James (link)………...15 Cude, Wilfred, NS ………...9-12 Dauncey, Guy, BC (book)…..33 EdgyTruth.com (Monsanto)...33 Eisenstein, Charles, US…30-31 Engineer, Soonoo, BC………25 Ewart, Peter, BC……………..14 ForbiddenKnowledgeTV(link) 41
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Foster, David, ON …………...43 Gaudet, Marie, AB ……….50-52 Global Research, QC………..15 Hall, Anthony, SK (book)……32 Hannah, Dorothy, QC…….....54 Hanson, Bob, BC……………41 Harper, Bob, ON…………….41 Hellyer, Paul, Hon., ON……..08 Housty, Wilma, BC……....26-28 Joubarne, Grace, ON……….36 Lawson, Steve (about)……...2,7 Lonsdale, Derrick, US……….39 Masseau Tyler, Fran, QC…...55 Massey, Christine, ON………36 Masuda, Gerry, BC…….........18 Mathews, Robin, BC……..12-14 McCaslin, Susan, BC…...........28 McConnell, Kim, ON………..05 McCullough, John, ON……..57 McDowall, Steph,BC…….20,41
Mehra, Natalie, ON……...37-39 Mercola.com (link)…………..46 Moore, R. K., Ireland………..21 Neilly, Michael, ON…….……17 Nicholson, Dee, ON……...6,20 O’Connor, Franklin, BC……46 Ont. Health Coalition (OHC) 37 Ottawa Hosp.Foundation….04 Parker, Don, ON……………56 Porter, J. S., ON……….........29 Quotes………………1,29,32,54 Ritchie, M. E. (about)………4-6 Roberts, Paul Craig (link)…..46 Ross, June (from)……18,30,33 Rushkoff, Douglas, book, 43-44 Russell, Wayne, BC…...........55 Slade, Ken, Lithuania…...45-48 Slemon, Jane (Quote)………25 Stop Psychotherapy Takeover 36 StopSiteC.org (link)…………35
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Trudeau, Beth, ON………….04 Univ.of Alberta Archives……05 Vancourt, Randy, ON…….....49 Vollrath, Jurgen, ON………...06 Walker, John (Documentary) 6 White, Patricia, BC………….21 Williams, Sherry, BC….1,24,60 Wiseman, Herb, ON………..18 Zigarlick, Norm, BC……..21-23
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