Some Crazy Guy Claimed the World is Flat Today at the World Economic Forum

Apparently, some people simply don’t believe what is obvious and clear to everyone else. Clearly, the world is not flat, and dedicating effort to live in a flat world is wasted effort. However, there was some crazy guy (some may call him a ‘radical’), who gave a keynote address to the World Economic Forum about how the world is flat earlier today.

But he didn’t going to just make this claim, and let it be at that. Oh, no. He gave a lecture on how he is coming up with solutions to living in a flat world and try to show everyone how great his own county is doing, living in this flat world. He told everyone else that they are fools for even considering that the world might not be flat, and that all we need to do live within the restrictions of a flat world and all will be fine.

For example, he is declaring that his own country is heavily involved in researching anti-gravity boots that will allow us to walk on the underside of the planet. He is also proposing putting up barriers at the edge of the world so that people don’t fall off accidently.

Even the head of the World Economic Forum, a strong believer in a flat world for his entire life, has declared that maybe, just maybe, the world isn’t flat and we should look at solutions to live in a round world.

Of course, the World Economic Forum isn’t going to be discussing if the world is flat or round – we all know that. They are going to be discussing the fact that free market capitalism doesn’t work – of course, we also all know that. Founder and president, Klaus Schwab set the tone by declaring that the move to the free market hasn’t worked as it was supposed to and declared that “A global transformation is urgently needed.”

The crazy guy isn’t just some random person; it is the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper. And although he isn’t proposing solutions to live in a flat world, he is proposing solutions to living in a world that where free market capitalism works for everyone – which is every bit as untrue as declaring the world is flat. Coming on the heels of his governments declaration that environmentalists concerned about new oil pipeline’s are ‘radicals’, I’m sensing a trend that this is a man who refuses to accept the world we are living in and would rather live in some fantasy world where pollution, poverty and inequality don’t exist.

Rather than finding solutions to live in some fantasy world, we need to find solutions to the real world – one where pollution, poverty and inequality do exists and one where we need to do something to solve them.

Conservatives and Other Radicals are Ruining my Country

As the debate over the proposed Northern Gateway  pipeline heats up, Stephen Harper and members of his Conservative government are claiming that ‘radical groups’, such as environmentalists, are trying to extend the public consultation. We must see this aggressive rhetoric for what it is - nothing more than an unashamed attempt to fire up the conservative core against ‘evil’ environmentalists.

In an open letter earlier today Canada’s natural resources minister Joe Oliver referred to environmental groups as ‘radical groups’, when referring to the public consultation phase of the Enbridge pipeline approval process. Seriously, all environmental groups are radicals? What is this guy on? Going even further, Harper himself claimed that foreign money was behind the plot to hold up construction of a new pipeline. When did he become so concerned over foreign interests in oil, considering most of the money from the tar sands flows right out of the country? Then I started thinking about it. It makes complete sense for a Harperite to refer to environmental groups as radical.

One might assume, from the rhetoric coming from the Harper camp, that these ‘radicals’ are threatening to disrupt a potential pipeline, or those who are building it. At the very least, one must assume that they are protesters disrupting the consultation process. No, not at all. The ‘radicals’ are those who have signed up to speak at the public consultation on the project. That’s it. Although there may be a few who want to push a specific agenda unrelated to this specific pipeline, the vast majority are local people with local concerns. Concerns such as the devastation that would be caused by a pipeline leak or oil tanker spill in one of the most pristine natural environments left in the world.

Is it really radical to be concerned with issues like climate change (especially after the train wreck that was the DuranClimate Change deal)? Is it really radical to be concerned about oil spills in your own backyard, oil spills that can affect the quality of life’s essentials, such as cleanwater, as the speakers at the public consultation are? That is not radical. Radical is to think that changing the climate is okay, so long as we don’t have to change the way we live. Radical is thinking that corporate profits are more important than local interests. Radical is thinking that we need oil more than we need water. Humanity survived, even thrived, for tens of thousands of years without oil, but wouldn’t last a week without fresh water. 

The environmentalist groups aren’t the radicals. Stephen Harper and his group of cronies are the ones who believe it is okay to put profits before people, put oil before water and trade short-term gain (but not for you or I) for long-term pain.

But let’s not kid ourselves. This isn’t about the environment or the tar sands or even about jobs and the economy. It’s about getting re-elected and it’s about ideology. Harper knows that most of the people speaking out against the pipeline won’t support him anyway, so he will fight them and insult them to fire up his core supporters, the minority of the Canadian population who buy into Harper’s crooked Conservative ideology and really believe that this public consultation (remember, this is over a public consultation!) is some kind of battle between capitalism and socialism. That minority is able to give him the support and money (mostly the money) to get re-elected. So all Harper is really only concerned about is making sure environmentalists are seen as some kind of threat (even better when it is a foreign threat) to ‘our way of life’.

So I put the questions to you, who are the radicals: the environmental groups and concerned local citizens or the Conservatives?

Majority Rules…. Except When it Doesn’t

There is a growing trend in both Canada and the United States for political parties to completely ignore, or even insult, large portions of the electorate because they will never vote for their party anyway. This trend is dangerous and undermines democracy.

The other day I read this article, published at People Politico, about how Republican Presidential candidates are insulting a large portion of the American public – the same public that they need to get them elected. I didn’t think too much about it at the time, but it stuck with me. When I got to thinking about it, what really struck me is that we have the same thing going on in Canada. Here, the Conservative Party (basically, our version of the Republican Party) knows that about 60-70% of the population would never vote for them, so they completely ignore us, and only govern the country for those who may vote for them. This is extremely dangerous, because now you have a government working not for the best of the entire country, but only for the best for their own supporters.

The article, entitled "Presidential Candidates: We Are ALL Americans," speaks about how Republican candidates have said continually made comments that are either offensive to a large group of American voters or made promises against the will of a majority of voters. These comments range from saying that liberals are trying to destroy the country (Herman Cain) to claiming that Obama and those he associates with are anti-American (Michelle Bachman). If it isn’t enough to insult a large group of voters, does it make sense to take a stance that most Americans are against, such as being against same-sex marriage (when 53% of Americans think same sex marriage should be legal)?

In Canada, we have been dealing with this issue for some time now in our Government. The current governing party, the Conservative Party, routinely insults or ignores the will of the majority of the country. Since the Conservatives know that 60-70% of the population would never vote for them, they simply ignore them. In the Canadian multi-party electoral system, (we have 5 parties with representation in the government) a single party only needs about 40% of popular support to win a majority government (roughly the equivalent to an American party having control of Presidency, Senate and House of Representatives).  In the most recent election, in 2011, the Conservative Party got just under 40% of the popular vote, which was enough to give them a majority in Parliament. However, since less than 62% of the population voted, only about 25% of the population voted for them.

The Conservatives know that I will never vote for them, so I am ignored. They know that those who are a part of the Occupy protests will never vote for them, so they are ignored. They know that those who are homeless, destitute or downtrodden will never vote for them, so they ignore them. Their actions speak to the fact that they are ignoring the will of most Canadians. They are pushing for harsher prison sentences for minor crimes (building new prisons along the way) even though most Canadians know that this will not prevent crime. They are spending more on the military and clearly taking Canada away from a peacekeeping country to being an aggressive supporter of American military policy, even those most Canadians oppose this. They are delaying action on climate change, even when most Canadians insist upon action. They continue to export poisonous asbestos, even while Canadians oppose it. But it doesn’t matter to them. They don’t need the votes of most Canadians. They only need the votes of 25%, and so pleases those 25% is all they care about.

It seems the same thought pattern is taking hold of the Republican Party in the States. This cannot be allowed to happen. Governments must be accountable to all the people, not only the select few who vote for them and provide them with money.  Any politician who willfully ignore or insults a portion of the electorate is pandering to a select group within the population. When a minority is controlling the agenda for the entire population, democracy does not exist.

Interesting Related Articles:

• The Common Progressive has an article about how Newt Gingrich told a gay voter that he should vote for Obama - yet another example of a Presidential candidate refusing support from one portion of the population to pander to a different portion.

A Typical Cabinet Meeting in the Harper Government

Ever wondered what a cabinet meeting in Stephan Harper’s government is like? I think it would go something like this:

As Stephan Harper walks into the cabinet meeting room, his smile turns to a scowl. He surveys each of his ministers in turn, giving them each the briefest of scowls, before turning his attention to the head of the table, where a mountain of file sits before an enormous throne. Walking down one side of the table, passing half of the ministers (seated on small stools, with not so much as a scrap of paper on the desk before them), Harper slowly makes his way to his seat of power and sits down. Every minister looks at him expectantly, to see which file he picks up from the pile first.

“Hmmm, let’s see,” Harper muses, “Let’s start with the Ministry of Defense.” Peter MacKay sits straight up and folds his hands on the empty table in front of him. Harper takes a long time reviewing the file he selected. “I think we will press ahead with the plan to buy the F-35 fighter jets, despite the fact that the Americans seem to be having doubts and despite the soaring costs. Peter 1 , what do you think?”

Peter MacKay clears his throat, and says, “Sir, Of course I’m in favour of giving the Canadian military the tools it needs, but can I see the file, before I make up my mind? It sounds like there might be some reason to give it a second thought…” He trails off as Harper glares at him.

“Peter 1, do you want to sit here and argue with me, or do you want to go for a helicopter ride?” MacKay perks up and gets a glint in his eye. “That’s right, there is a private jet waiting outside, to take to you an air force base where a helicopter will take you on a fishing trip. Doesn’t that sound like more fun than sitting through this meeting?” MacKay bobs his head, “Maybe try fishing out of the helicopter itself, that should be fun. They might not want to do it, because it isn’t safe, but I’ll have your office call them and make them do it anyway. Off you go.” MacKay lets out a squeal of delight and runs out of the meeting room.

“Okay, what’s next?” Harper considers his files, “Let’s get the environment out of the way. Peter 2? Peter 2!”

Peter Kent wakes up from a slumber with a shocked, “Who? Me?” He is surprised to be called upon.

“Of course you, do you know another Peter 2?” Harper asks with a chuckle. Half a second later, all the other ministers gave a chuckle as well. “You’re off to Durban this afternoon, right?”

“Yes, your highness, I am. My jet is waiting outside.”

“Actually, Peter 1 took it fishing. I want you to charter another plane. And, Peter 2, I want you to get the most polluting thing you can find, do you understand? I want a cloud of black smoke behind it a mile long. I want to make sure that those greenies at that conference know that we aren’t joking around - we‘re into polluting and we’re into polluting big and nothing and nobody is going to stop us.”

“Yes, your highness!” Peter Kent leaves with cabinet room.

As he is leaving, a messenger comes in with a file. “Urgent notice regarding Attawapiskat First Nation for Aboriginal Affairs.” John Duncan, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, rises to accept the file, but is cut off by Harper.

“I’ll take that, thanks.” Harper contemplates the file for a long time. “Hmmm, seems there is a crisis in Attawapiskat. John, I’m going to allocate $10 million dollars for you to solve this problem. With that money, I want you to hire the best consultants and accountants that you can to write a report on what has happened and recommendations to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“I’ll get right on it, your worshipfulness .”  Duncan replies, and gets up to leave.

“And John,” Harper stops him, “I want you to make it perfectly clear to these people that the reason for this crisis is entirely to do with internal issues at Attawapiskat First Nation and their report better reflect that. I don’t want to spend $10 million and end up with a report with surprises in it - that would be a waste of taxpayer money.” With a bow, Duncan leaves.

Harper checks the clock. “I have a meeting with my hair stylist that I can’t miss - he is the most sought out stylist in Ottawa.” Harper looks at the mountain of untouched documents, “We didn’t even get through half of the files! It takes so long when I have to explain everything to you idiots. I expect you to all stay here all night working.” Harper summons several couriers, “Remove all these files, the information is much too important for any of these people to see it.” Harper then puts on a sweater-vest, picks up a cup of Tim Horton’s coffee and strides out of the office, leaving a roomful of Ministers twiddling their thumbs at an otherwise empty table.

Proud to be Canadian? Not During Durban Climate Change Conference

When you are Canadian, everyone in this country expects you to be proud to be Canadian - talking about how great Canada is is a national pastime. However, as the Durban Climate Change Conference begins today, I must declare that I am, in no way, proud to be Canadian. The Canadian Government… sorry, the Harper Government will begin its attempt to sabotage any good faith negotiation going on at the conference over the next two weeks.

But it doesn’t have to be like this. Just imagine a world where Canada was a leader on environmental issues. Just imagine if believed in fulfilling its international obligations. Just imagine replacing the blinding anti-Kyoto rhetoric that we constantly get, with comments from the government like:

“Kyoto is the past… We need to find a way to continue its good work into the future.”

“We've already declared that however acute the international pressure, we will insist on a second commitment period target under the Kyoto Protocol."


Imagine if articles in the newspapers read like:

“There is a recognition that Kyoto isn’t fair. But there is also a recognition that something has to be done, and working under Kyoto without major emitters like the US is better than working under a strictly voluntary system or no system  at all” Canada’s Environment Minister Peter Kent told The Canadian Press before leaving for Durban. “And it's certainly not as effective as we’d like, but there has to be an understanding that we cannot criticize others for not being a part of the Treaty if we aren’t a part of it ourselves, and doing nothing is not an option.”


Imagine if, instead of criticism, environmental groups and other political parties could praise the government:

“It Kyoto succeeds these next two weeks in Durban,” says Garry Neil, the executive director of the Council of Canadians “Canada will have played a leading role, to our collective pride.”

“It’s very promising from an environmental perspective,” said Matt Horne, Climate Change Director at the Pembina Institute. “It sends a pretty strong signal that Canada is serious about the international process being successful. It certainly is going to be a big positive checkmark on our international reputation.”

"It will reverberate around the world," Elizabeth May told CTV about Canada’s efforts to strengthen the Kyoto Accord. "Canada will be a hero globally if it goes through with this."

Imagine if Harper himself actually believed in making a positive change for climate change:

Stephan Harper once wrote a letter to all members of the Reform Party, shortly after being elected leader, in which he extoled the virtues of the Kyoto Protocol and urged Reform Party supporters to put pressure on the Liberal government to ratify the treaty. Among his points was:

 “Kyoto is essentially a progressive project to suck carbon emissions out of the economies of wealth-producing nations.”

If that were what I was reading in the paper, hearing on the news, then I would scream at the top of my lungs, “I am proud to be Canadian! I am proud that we make a difference! I am proud that we stand up for what is right!” Instead, I sit in front of my computer and type; I am ashamed to be Canadian. I am ashamed that we out our needs in front of the needs of the world. I am ashamed that we stand in the way of what is right.

Exporting Poison for Profits

Imagine that you read this article in the paper one day:

Iran Selling Poison for Profits

It has been revealed that Iran is selling the dangerous chemical Marelconzen to African countries desperate for cheap water purification. As you may know, Marelconzen is chemical that purifies water that was widely used from the mid-1920s, until the early 80’s, when evidence starting pouring in about its detrimental effects to human health.

Marelconzen was considered a lifesaver, at one time. Its ability to instantly remove parasites and diseases from water was miraculous. However, it came at a cost. Marelconzen is harmless, if mixed with water in an exact way - one gram of Marelconzen per litre of water. However, if you use too much Marelconzen, it can be lead to a host of health problems, including heart failure and cancer. The World Health Organization estimates that 100,000 people a year die from Marelconzen exposure.

Evidence of Marelconzen’s dangerous properties started to appear in the 50’s and by the mid 80’s, these problems were too great to ignore; in the 90’s and early 2000’s many countries starting banning Marelconzen. In the industrialized world, it has been replaced by safer methods of water purification. However, in developing countries, it is still being used, and still causing health problems.


Iran is the world’s leading producer of Marelconzen and continues to export it to developing countries, despite having an effect ban on domestic use. Iran claims that since Marelconzen can be used safely, if mixed in exact proportions, it is up to importing countries to use the chemical safely.


However, if it can be used safely, why is it banned in Iran? Why is it banned in 60 countries worldwide, including the European Union and Australia? Last summer the Iranian government blocked an attempt to have Marelconzen listed as a hazardous chemical in a United Nations treaty. This listing had the potential to save tens of thousands of lives, but Iran chose to oppose it, for the simple goal of profiting from selling poison to those who are desperate.


Clearly, Marelconzen is too dangerous to be used. Governments across the world have realized this and switch their water purification systems to other, safer methods. Iran needs to be held to account for its criminal disregard for the health and safety of those who are buying its poisonous Marelconzen.

               

How do you feel about reading that a country like Iran is export a dangerous, unnecessary chemical to other countries, when it has banned the chemical for being too dangerous? Now, reread the article, and replace ‘Iran’ with ‘Canada’ and ‘Marelconzen’ with ‘Asbestos’. How do you feel about it now?

The Canadian government is at a crossroads on the issue of exporting Asbestos, and many members of Parliament (even members of the governing Conservative Party) support a ban on exporting Asbestos. Add your voice – sign this petition   and help end this national embarrassment.