Canadian Election 2006: Where have all the Women gone?
I have the utmost respect for
Michael Ignatieff, but Sheila Copps' column today hits the point straight up.
The abrupt resignation of Jean Augustine, Canada's first black woman cabinet minister, paved the way for the entry of Harvard intellectual and putative Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff in the riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore.
The loss of Augustine, a three-time chair of the woman's caucus and one-time minister of multiculturalism and status of women, continues the erosion of strong women and minorities in Parliament. That she should step aside for another white male speaks to the absence of true equality that plagues the political process in general and the Liberal Party in particular.
I disagree with Copps' view that Ignatieff's move from academia to federal politics was ill-conceived, but at the same time, Copps has always been one of, if not the, strongest voices for women in the Canadian Parliament.
Article:
Liberal democracy? Ha!Sheila Copps, 30 Nov 2005
Toronto Sun
Canadian Hostages in Iraq Identified
Identities of Canadian hostages releasedThe identities of the two kidnapped Canadians in Iraq were released late Tuesday by the aid organization both were working for at the time of their abduction.
James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, both members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, were among four aid workers abducted Saturday at gunpoint in Baghdad, the organization confirmed in a statement late Tuesday.
If you can't beat them, bomb them?
BOMBING AL-JAZEERA....President Bush planned to bomb Arab TV station al-Jazeera in friendly Qatar, a "Top Secret" No 10 memo reveals.
But he was talked out of it at a White House summit by Tony Blair, who said it would provoke a worldwide backlash.
....A Government official suggested that the Bush threat had been "humorous, not serious". But another source declared: "Bush was deadly serious, as was Blair. That much is absolutely clear from the language used by both men."
....Bush disclosed his plan to target al-Jazeera, a civilian station with a huge Mid-East following, at a White House face-to-face with Mr Blair on April 16 last year. At the time, the US was launching an all-out assault on insurgents in the Iraqi town of Fallujah.
At first this sounded like just another bizarre British tabloid fantasy, but apparently it's quite real. That is, the conversation was real; the transcript is real; it was leaked to a guy who is now being prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act; and the Daily Mirror, which published the story on Tuesday,
has been ordered not to publish any further details about the memo. - W
ashington monthlyIn addition to a few printed articles on this, I just finished watching a blurb about it on the BBC news regarding the pending trial. Most of us already find Mr. Bush's logic and policies questionable, but this threat constitutes what would effectively be premeditated murder. It is no secret that the U.S. administration isn't fond of Al-Jazeera tv because of their "supposed" negative portrayal of the U.S., which they see as spreading anti-American sentiment. However, the thought of killing innocent people over their differences in opinions seems quite hypocritical especially when one considers that the U.S. claims that the aim of their foreign policy and pre-emptive strike policies is to spread democracy. I believe freedom of speech and of the press would be considered a large part of democracy, however obviously the U.S. wants people to be free to speak their minds only when it doesn't include any commentary on U.S. policy.
When autumn leaves start to fall.....
Canada's federal Liberal government has fallen in a non-confidence vote in the House.
Liberal government fallsI'm going to sit this one out, something I'm rather keen to do. Instead, I have a pet project: tracking foreign policy related issues in this election. It's likely not to make a significant appearance, if at all. It's always been a strong Liberal hold, especially in the months, and now years, since Jean Chretien took a stand in 2003 and declared Canada would not join the U.S., ahem,
coalition, in the war in Iraq. So far, it has been mentioned by the press that appointed Toronto's Etobicoke-Lakeshore candidate
Michael Ignatieff (a star candidate in his own right) supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq, in his words, as "a reluctant supporter" of the war. (NY Times
here, but available
here for free.)
Sidenote: If Canadian Conservatives had any sense beyond Stephen Harper's emabrrasing "we should do this because the U.S. says so" the case may have been closer. How possible is that when you have a leader who would be unable to gain more seats without any scandal to give him airtime, and your Foreign Affairs critic is
Stockwell Day? But I digress.
Regardless, with the ICC in full swing and new characters at the UN, amongst many others, there is plenty of meat for foreign policy related matters in this election. I do hope candidates won't solely be "Gomery" but take a decent amount of time to
In other news,
Aid group of Canadian hostages in Iraq identifiedand this
ICC: Success Depends on Engaging Local Populaceand this
ZIMBABWE: NGO coalition calls on the ICC to interveneand this
Darfur rebels say attack town, demand seat at talksand this
Canada urges wider global warming fightand this
UN envoy calls on Darfur rebel factions to cooperate in peace talksand this
Annan 'deeply disappointed' at extension of Myanmar activist's detention
A Leader Shows The Way...
With Thursday being
World AIDS Day it’s not surprising to see a lot of information coming out in the media about all sorts of programs in all sorts of countries. It was with great interest I read in this mornings
Australian about the Kingdom of Lesotho in Southern Africa.
The ministers and health officials of the Kingdom intend to announce this week ‘
A $US12 million program… to test the 1.9 million people living in the mountainous enclave within South Africa for the human immunodeficiency virus.’
This is encouraging news; perhaps even more admirable is that His Royal Highness ‘
King Letsie III is likely to become the first monarch to take the test publicly, at a clinic in the capital Maseru, on Thursday.’ The action of the Monarch is no doubt aimed towards reducing the stigma attached to testing. Lesatho rates of infection are similar to Botswana, Swaziland and Namibia often exceeding 30%.
Since 2000 a citizen of Lesatho’s life expectancy has dropped from 52 to merely 34.
The World Health Organisation hopes that by the end of 2007 every member of the population over the age of 12 will know their HIV status.
The theme for 2005’s World AIDS Day is Let’s Talk About It, so let’s make sure we do.
Counter-Anti-Terror Bill 2005 Part B
The following is in relation to the Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005 currently before the Australian Parliament...
On the 28th of November the Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee will be releasing their report on the Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005. Apparently the Senators thought it best to send the bill the commitee's way given the unanticipated public debates on the matter. Until the report is released, and given the fact that I’m still reading the UNAIDS Epidemic Update, I thought I’d just highlight certain parts of the proposed bill.
Today’s Highlight:
Schedule 4 Part 1 Section 105.38
In relation to disclosure:
1) A person (the offender) commits an offence if:
(a) a person being detained under a preventative detention order (the detainee) contacts the offender under section @105.34 and;
(b) the offender discloses to another person:
(i) the fact that a preventative detention order has been made in relation to the detainee;or
(ii)the fact that the detainee is being detained under the order; or
(iii)any information that the detainee gives the offender in the course of the contact;
(apologies for the above formating, it's raining)
Obviously there’s more to the section, but this little snippet is suffice. The above would make it an offence for YOU to tell YOUR SPOUSE that YOUR CHILD has been detained. YOUR PENALTY for sticking true to your wedding vows…..Imprisonment for 5 years…
But don’t fear... your civil rights are (somewhat) protected by Sub-Section 3 which states that you are ok if you are merely letting another person contacted know that the detainee is safe but is not able to be contacted for the time being… Kind of like your answering machine message…
Imagine the conversation, “No honey little Johnny is safe, we just can’t contact our 16 year old son at this point in time…’
and I think to myself.... What a ? World...
My blood pressure always goes up a bit when I receive email from old friends.
This morning I received an email from Sidjanie in Geneva, attached was the UNAIDS update for December of 2005. So far my overly slow printer is only half way through it, so a more detailed response will be made at a future date.
2005 was a depressingly record breaking year…
The number of people living with HIV has increased from 37.5 million in 2003 to 40.3 million people.
More than 3 million people died of AIDS in 2005, more than 500000 were children.
It gets worse; the above figures are merely the numbers that are reported by governments, lets not be fools, a vast number of factors influence government lines. The truth is that we have no way of knowing how many people this disease has infected, or how many have died from it.
Will we ever know?
And when we do…. What will we do about it?
More to come soon….
Senator Vanstone - Minister for Immigration...Advisor to Pissed off Rotarians...
It seems ironic that after commenting on the Governments proposed anti-terror laws that I sit down for a read of The Australian, only to find out that Senator Amanda Vanstone is telling Adelaide Rotarians how to counter-anti-terror measures…
During her Adelaide speech Senator Vanstone implies the use of plastic cutlery on planes to thwart terrorism was foolhardy. “Has it ever occurred to you that you just smash your wine glass and jump at someone, grab the top of their head and put it in their carotid artery and ask anything?”
Now, I'm not sure which airline the Senator is flying (thank God) but my wines always served in plastic, I hope she's not getting special treatment because she's anti-boat travel!
But wait it gets better apparently she retold a story of a previous encounter with PM Howard…
“I asked him (John Howard) if I was able to get on a plane with a HB pencil, which you are able to, and I further ask him if I went down and came and grabbed him by the front of the head and stabbed the HB pencil into your eyeball and wiggled it around down to your brain area, do you think you’d be focusing? He’s thinking, she’s gone mad again.”
So the question is will Vanstone be arrested for threatening the stability of the government? Will the journalist of the article Matt Price be arrested for printing the comments? Or even more importantly, will the Australian Protective Services division of the Federal Police be reassessing Ms Vanstone’s access to little Johnny?
My guess is that nothing will come of this.... Kind of disappointing isn't it?
EDIT: It has been bought to my attention that I may have misinterpreted Senator Vanstone's comments as they could be interpreted to be of a somewhat sexual nature, as anyone who has seen Ms Vanstone and Mr Howard this should be a further offence punishable by lifetime imprisonment… (For those who doubt me re-read the paragraph above in relation to her HB pencil antics)
101st ICC Ratification on its way.....
Bahrain to ratify Rome Statute on International Criminal Court"The kingdom’s ratification might formally take place during the first quarter of next year, according to the First Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Abdulla Marhoon. He noted that with this the kingdom would be part of the agreement to contribute to the international community’s efforts to have a tighter grip on violators of human rights and international laws. The agreement would also provide Bahrainis with protection under various international laws and help the country surge forward in its initiative to create a better society, he said speaking to a local daily, Bahrain Tribune."
Is there nothing sacred anymore?
"There is a massive manhunt underway after a man was shot dead during a funeral service for a murder victim in Toronto's west end.
Just after the noon hour on Friday, 18-year-old Amon Beckles was on his way to smoke a cigarette outside a Seventh Day Adventist Church in Etobicoke.
He was confronted by at least three men in the church lobby. One of them, allegedly brandishing a semi-automatic weapon, opened fire on Beckles. He was taken from the church to a nearby hospital, but did not survive his injuries.
In a sad connection, Beckles was cut down during a funeral for his friend -- 17-year-old Jamal Michael Hemmings, who was shot Nov. 9 in an Eglinton Avenue West parking lot. Beckles was a witness to Hemmings' murder.
Inside the sanctuary, 300 people were sent running and ducking for cover as the shots rang out."
This goes right up there with the targeting and bombing of hospitals and triage tents in the Sudan. I'm convinced that nowhere is safe anymore...except perhaps Switzerland.
Counter-Anti-Terror Bill 2005 part A
source: cartoons at news.com.auIt’s interesting the things one is able to receive through random telephone conversations with members of the Faculty of Law at the University of New South Wales.
I received a Briefing on the Sedition Offences in the Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005 the other day…
‘The final two new offences involve urging a person to assist organisations or countries fighting militarily against Australia – even if Australia has invaded another country illegally. If opposing Australian aggression is interpreted to constitute tacit support for its enemies, Australians may be prosecuted for condemning illegal violence by their government or, for seeking to uphold the United Nations Charter.’
The Howard Regime have outdone themselves on this one. No longer are we as members of an alleged democracy legally able to oppose its governments’ policies.
Schedule 7 of the proposed bill amends the crimes act of 1914 to make it an offence to engage in a seditious enterprise or to write, print, utter or publish any seditious words, with the intention of causing violence or creating a public disorder or disturbance. The amendment defines seditious intention as follows:
Seditious intention means an intention to effect any of the following purposes:
a) to bring the Sovereign into hatred or contempt;
b) to urge disaffection against the following:
i. the Constitution;
ii. the Government of the Commonwealth;
iii. either House of the Parliament;
c) to urge another person to attempt, otherwise than by lawful means, to procure a change to any matter established by law in the Commonwealth;
d) to promote feelings of ill-will or hostility between different groups so as to threaten the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of countering terror, there is nothing that can justify the senseless killing of innocent civilians. However, last time I checked, making your government immune to criticism can do little to prevent a suicide bomber on a bus.
Gommery what...?
Are Canadians comfortable with the United States exporting interrogation of Canadian citizens to countries that use torture? The
more important Canadian inquiry -
Arar Commission, Factual Inquiry"[Mr. Arar] had been held in the Metropolitan Detention Centre in manhattan for eleven days (September 27th to October 7th), being interrogated. He was initially denied access to a lawyer, and had little food or sleep. His request to pray during the interrogation sessions had also been denied. His interrorgators had insulted him and used "bad words", which he found deeply upsetting. At 3:00 am one morning, he was awakened and told that the Director of the US Immigation and Naturalization Service had ordered that Mr. Arar be sent, not to Canada, as he says that he constantly requested, but to Syria. He told me that at this moment he began to cry and immediately said that he would be tortured. He felt "destroyed".
....
George brought with him into the room a black cable, which might have been a shredded electrical cable. It was about two feet long. It was probably made of rubber, but was not hollow... George told Mr. Arar to open his right hand. George then raised the cable high and brought it down hard...
Sometimes he was blindfolded and left to stand in the hallway for an hour or more. The screaming continued. It is notable that the only time Mr. Arar completely broke down while I was interviewing him was when he described the screams of women being beaten and the cries of the abbies that some of the women had with them in the detention centre.
...
Day three, October 11, 2002, was the most "intensive for mr. Arar. He was questioned for sixteen to eighteen hours, with great physical and psychological abuse. The questions focussed in part on Mr. Almalki. Mr. Arar was beaten with the black cable on numerous occasions throughout the day, and threatened with electric shocks, "the chair" and "the tire". The pattern was for Mr. Arar to receive three or four lashes with the cable, then to be questioned, and then for the beating to begin again. After a while, he became so weak that he was disoriented.
...
Mr. Arar describes a similar reaction to that of Mr. Almalki. Over time, as the beatings became less intense, it was the daily horror of living in the tiny, dark and damp cell all alone and with no reading material (except later, the Koran) that came to be the most disturbing aspect of the detention. Whereas at first the cell was a refuge from the infliction of physical pain, later it became a "torture" in its own right. Mr. Arar describes nights alone in his cell where he could not sleep on the cold concrete floor. He had to turn every fifteen minutes or so. He was constantly thinking of his family, and worried about their safety. He was "bombarded by memories". He remained in this cell for ten months, ten days, and saw almost no sunlight except for when he was transferred for consular visits. His first visit to the courtyard of the prison did not take place until April 2003. Mr. Arar describes the cell as "a grave" and as a "slow death".
Just who is that masked man/spokesperson? I'd like to shake his/her hand
HARARE, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's about-turn on U.N. housing aid for those left homeless by its slum demolitions signals a recognition of the government's lack of resources as well as an attempt to thaw frosty relations, an analyst said.
A spokesperson for a local housing rights group applauded the government's move, saying the state's own rebuilding exercise had only benefited a small fraction of those left homeless.
"We welcome the government's acceptance of U.N. aid.
We would hope that the assistance would be directed at people that need it the most because at the moment we still have people living in the open," said the spokesperson for Housing People of Zimbabwe.
Diplomacy 101 - This my friends provides a classic example of treading carefully (with reason of course) and a fine way to be critical without being critical. Got it....good!
Exaggerated torture?
"BAGHDAD, Iraq - Interior Minister Bayan Jabr was defiant Thursday when answering questions about allegations his officers have tortured suspected insurgents, saying the reports have been exaggerated and insisting
only five people appeared to have been maltreated." (source MSNBC)
Does anyone love the word only as much as I do right now? As if the insertion of only makes torture more acceptable, insurgents or not.
Dear Congress: How are you?
A Day of Remembrance.... A Moment of Reflection
It’s the 11th of the 11th, and on the 11th hour we pause to remember the fallen.
It has been 30 years since the Governor General of Australia dismissed the Prime Minister, and 120 years since Australia executed (potential) suicide bushranger Ned Kelly.
It has been 5 years since the United Nations declared HIV to be a threat to international security and 17 days since UNAIDS and UNICEF
announced that
‘A child under the age of 15 dies of an AIDS-related illness every minute of every day, and a young person aged 15-24 contracts HIV every 15 seconds.’ I’m getting concerned.
I’m beginning to think that the streets of heaven may be getting too crowded.
Sedition
Welcome. A word of advice, check your misconceptions at the door. Along with your tiara. Replace your duty-free Chanel lipgloss with a 15 year-old malt and a flack jacket. The comments made here will alter your concept of suffering and maybe, just maybe, allow you to live outside your safe, secure environment, but only until you can't handle it anymore.
This blog confronts AIDS and human rights. Ignorance and complacency. We make no apologies about that. It's time to stop letting the ghosts appear and fade away. The evil that is in the world always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence, if they lack understanding. On the whole, men are more good than bad; that, however, isn't the real point, but they are more or less ignorant, and it is this that we call vice or virtue; the most incorrigible vice being that of an ignorance that fancies it knows everything and therefore claims for itself the right to kill. For the soul of the murderer is blind; and there can be no true goodness nor true love without the utmost clear-sightedness. -Albert Camus, 'The Plague'
