Natives Have Rights, But Not To Special Treatment

Native Canadians are planning to block highways and rail lines on Friday in order to protest slow movement on land claims. This irresponsible act just shows what goes on in the minds of these people. The basically think that all of Canada owns them something because us evil white men supposedly raped their land. Every time I hear that, it makes me laugh. How I can be blamed for something that happened when my family was still digging in their own waste in jolly old England.

Studying Canadian politics, I cannot help but come across a wide variety of academic papers that argue in favour of native land rights. The media often puts forth the views of these talking heads as something that is shared by the majority of Canadians. The people I've talked to who come from all walks of life and across the political spectrum don't seem to agree. My view is that Natives do not and should not have land rights that go beyond those of the average Canadian. Who owns this country anyway? I would argue those who fund it to keep it operating, which is the tax payer. Natives don't even pay tax on land, or on anything else for that matter. Yet somehow, we always seem to be at the whim of backwards thinking radicals within the aboriginal community who seem to view all other Canadians in a unjustifiably negative and racist light. Considering that we're pretty much paying to keep them afloat because they have refused to adapt to the modern world. If they want the land they claim, they should buy it in the same way everyone else has to. No more freebies.
As for the protests, I hope my fellow Canadians would ignore these children, since that's what they are. In a civilized country, we don't block roads because we have grievences with the government. Now I'm not saying that all aboriginals are like this because they are not, but the system we are keeping them under is harmful. It keeps them trapped in their lot simply because they have no incentives to work. Maybe if we started making them pay for things, they'd finally have some motivation to improve themselves. The reserve system and land handouts is worse than welfare.

As for these radicals, the military should get involved. Obviously the OPP is too incompetent to deal with them.

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Lakeview Demolition Symbol of McGuinty Failure

Today, demolitions are planned for the old Lakeview coal fired plant in Mississauga, ON. In many ways, Lakeview is a symbol of the incompetence of McGuinty's Liberals as well as the energy crisis in this province.

Back in 2003, McGuinty promised that all coal fired plants in Ontario would be shut down by 2007. Well, it's 2007 now and they're all open save one. However, just taking that one power plant off the grid has created an energy crisis. Every hot day in the summer, the electricity operators are literally praying for rain. Further feeding the crisis and displaying the incompetence of local and provincial governments is the out of control development. Each year, thousands of new houses and condos are being put up where we barely have enough electricity for the ones that already exist. Therefore, the province has to rely on fear tactics (threatening rotating blackouts) and forced conservation (smart meters) because there simply is not enough to go around. We live in a digital age in which we rely on electricity. Our economy relies on it yet governments have no interest in improving the system, just charging more and telling us to use less.

Once again, the biggest problem is the fear of investment in infrastructure. Windmills and solar panels simply cannot provide the electricity we need. They are expensive and inefficient. We need nuclear plants. We also cannot be shutting down coal fired plants either for the same of reducing smog and "global warming".

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Afghanistan Is Important for Canada

Since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Canada has lost 60 of our troops with some 270 injured. This has made the war very unpopular in Canadians' minds. However, I think we're doing pretty good. Canada's finest hour in military history, D-Day back in 1944 saw 340 Canadian troops die in a single day with 739 injured in action. That's almost six times the number of losses in a day than Canada has lost in six years. Of course I'm not trying to make 60 dead seem unimportant. One death is too many but this is war and death is something that cannot be avoided.

Our efforts in Afghanistan somewhat mirror what was done in WW2. For starters, we were not the aggressors in this war, unlike the US in Iraq, which is what Afghanistan is frequently being compared to lately. Innocent Canadians died when Taliban supported terrorists figured it would be a good idea to slam a couple planes into buildings. Though it started as a war to catch Bin Laden, it has become a war of liberation, and it has severely weakened Al-Qaida's capabilities. Despite what the majority of Canadians think, life is beginning to improve for the Afghan people. For the first time in decades, women are allowed to get an education and hold jobs. I think the major problem is people expect dramatic changes overnight and when that doesn't happen, they oppose the situation. It is madness to think that way. The combat deaths echo this as all people see is a slow moving situation and begin to think about how many more are going to die. You can't think that way. We need to consider whether or not their deaths meant something, which in my opinion they have. The Afghani people and their government want us there. To leave now would be abandoning them, which is irresponsible and inhumane. So often are societies defined by combat, and Canada is no exception. WW1 established us as a nation, WW2 established us as a force in the world, and Afghanistan establishes us as a nation trying to make a difference. By the simple fact that we are making a difference to improve their lives is a sign that we are winning this war.

Which brings me to the case of liberal hypocrisy and comparisons to Iraq. The Liberal Party has turned Harper into an almost Nixon like figure in the case of Afghanistan. Chiding the Harper government into keeping the troops there. However, it was the Liberals' decision under Cretien to send them there in the first place. So they're basically making Harper accountable for something they did, something they certainly didn't see as a mistake when they were in office. Something they defended while they were in office. This exposes a major flaw with the way our parliament operates. That is that governments are no longer responsible for their actions once they leave office, and can even have the balls to attack another government for something they did. It's pure hypocrisy what the Dion Liberals are doing. Is the Liberals had an ounce of honor, they'd at least stand by their decisions; or at the very least hold civilized discussions rather than shouting and screaming hypocrisy in the Commons.

Then there's the third side of the issue. The Socialists. Namely the NDP. The NDP has never been in support of the mission since they are an anti-war party. That is their choice obviously, yet they have been trying to force their position on others. To them, this is Vietnam. The recent actions of Toronto's city council is a sign of this. There is a non-political, multi-partisan campaign right now to support our troops. The basic action is letting them know we're thinking of them. Support is shown by attaching a yellow ribbon to one's clothing or vehicle. Toronto emergency service workers had attached these ribbons to their vehicles. To them, the troops are their brothers. It hits especially close to home when so many emergency service workers died in the opening battle of this war on 9/11. Everything was just peachy until some smart mouthed Toronto councilor demanded the ribbons be removed stating that they were a political statement in favour of the war. They obviously weren't, but it is highly likely that they would have been forced to remove them had three of our soldiers not have been killed that day. The decision to put up the stickers on emergency vehicles wasn't politically motivated, but the decision to remove them clearly was. The rhetoric was definitive, Toronto city council does not support the war and that's why they wanted them removed. Even if emergency workers were making a political statement, it shouldn't have mattered because they are Canadian citizens and should be entitled to the same freedom to express their beliefs as all other Canadians enjoy. This was a shameful and cowardly act on behalf of the NDP. If they have a problem with the way, they should hold peaceful protests or debate it in the Commons. Don't force your beliefs on others. Afghanistan is not Vietnam.

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Want My Vote? 10 Things that Need to Change

We're coming up to another Ontario election and boy, we're in quite a mess. McGuinty hasn't exactly been honest with the public and has made many questionable decisions. So, here's a list of 10 realistic things that need to be done to fix Ontario.

1. Eliminate the Health Tax: The controversial "health care premium" enacted by McGuinty after promising not to raise taxes. Ontarians on average are paying $900 more in tax to the province while the health system has seen little improvement. Scrap it.

2. Eliminate the City of Toronto Act: This act gave Toronto special privleges and taxing powers. So far, Toronto's socialist city council has been abusing it and threatens to tax the city into the ground. Does Toronto really need all that power? It's also highly unfair to other communities that end up paying the bulk of the cash used to fund the cities projects.

3. Return Municipal Terms to 3 Years: McGuinty, in order to suck up to David Miller, made municipal council terms four years instead of three. Four years is far too long a term for those positions in my opinion and makes councils even less accountable.

4. Keep Coal Plants Open: Coal fired generating stations should remain in operating indefinitely. Clean coal technology should be put into place to cut smog if that's such a big concern. McGuinty's concept of forced conservation needs to stop. Smart meters should also be eliminated. Lakeview power plant in Mississauga also needs to be reopened and we need more nuclear plants to keep up with demand caused by excess development.

5. Improve Transit Outside of Toronto: Every time McGuinty announces a new transit plan, it only benefits Toronto while ignoring other growing communities. GO service on the Milton line (which services two major cities) for example needs to be more regular. It's also time to plan for the future. Diesel GO trains should be phased out in favour of high speed electric trains. This type of train which is used extensively in the United States and Europe and can travel up to three times as fast as the current diesel models; and they build them in Canada! There's a lot of talk but we need to stop being afraid to invest in infrastructure.

6. Reduce Fees for Higher Education: It has been recently found that certain user fees colleges and universities have been charging are illegal. All incidental fees that do not directly fund education (ones that fund so called "campus life") should be either optional or eliminated all together.

7. Quit Dumbing Down Education: School is a place to learn, not a place to pad standardized exam results to make Ontario students look better than they are. We need to make schools more student friendly, unlike what has happened in recent years that's made them teacher-centric again. Teachers are there to do a job and they should be fired if they cannot do it. Let their union whine. We're only selling short our kid's futures if we let them have their way. We also need to make school boards more fiscally accountable.

8. Slow GTA Development: GTA growth is happening at an out of control pace due to corrupt municipal councils. Make the Green Belt means something and put the breaks on urban sprawl.

9. Get Tough on Crime: Ok, so Ontario doesn't make the laws in the criminal code but it doesn't mean that it can't fund police better. The OPP also needs to be made more accountable as in the past couple of years, they've become increasingly incompetent.

10. Fix the Health Mess: Americans often tout our health system and we sure like to toot our own horns about it but it's certainly not something to be proud of in its current state. People, even those in serious need, often get ignored in emergency rooms for hours on end, or have to wait months for badly needed surgery. Start opening up some private clinics to ease the burden and try and encourage more clinics into communities that lack them. Many people end up in the ER because they lack family doctors and have nowhere else to turn, which is what's causing the ER crunches. The health system needs reform, not more money.

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Yet More Global Warming Garbage

The Toronto Sun is running an informal poll on their website today asking readers whether they think the Conservative government really cares about the environment. A better question would be should they care. Of course they should not care simply because it is not an issue. Still it dominates discussion and is the big thing at the G8 meeting, detracting from more important issues on the table. In fact, it's an issue that is stalling the entire political process here in Canada as it dominates House of Commons sessions as the opposition repeatedly attacks the Conservatives for not supporting the deeply flawed Kyoto Protocol. Kyoto would cut emissions dramatically at the expense of an economic recession. Is this really worth putting people out in the cold? These sorts of things usually equal job losses. CAW union president Buzz Hargrove has already mentioned that his union is not in support of Kyoto and that they support the Conservatives on this issue. For everyone else, the science is out and the debate is long over, which it isn't. Many of the world's top scientists do not support the idea of man-made global warming. Even those who do support it feel that the information being put forth by people like Al Gore is padded to fit with their agendas. I can say the majority of scientists do "support" it simply because it gains them research grants, as was mentioned in the Great Global Warming Swindle. (That movie by the way is available on Youtube for those who want to see it. I'm not sure if it's on DVD or if/when it will be shown on Canadian TV.)
Much of that stuff above is stuff I've already said before but it's important to keep mentioning it simply because so many blindly follow it without questioning where the research came from. Science, after all, is about questioning things. You'll find the debate is rarely out on any topic like this, which is what makes man-made global warming an unusual case.

Fortunately, Canadian apathy is working in our favour for once. Though Canadians do believe it, they don't really want to do anything about it. That means we aren't at risk of going into the crap hole... for now. Some disturbing news has cropped up this week that does worry me. I'll start with the least disturbing article of the pair first.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May has suggested we institute a nation wide carbon tax. This tax would roughly amount to an extra 12 cents per liter of gasoline. That would raise the national average price for gas to $1.24 per liter if it were instituted today. That would be an 11% increase in the price of fuel. As it stands, 35% of the price of gasoline in Canada is tax. That's according to GasBuddy Inc, a consumer organization that tracks gas prices across North America. There is a 10cent per liter national excise tax on gas right now. In Ontario, the provincial gas tax is is 24.7 cents per liter. Additionally, a 6% GST is charged on top of those, essentially taxing a tax. The original idea behind gasoline taxes was to repair roads and subsidize public transit. However, most of this money collected goes into general revenue. This is essentially one big pot that is divided up at budget time so the actual amounts of the gas tax that actually go to it's intended places is random. The United States, by contrast, has taxes that only amount to 20% of the price of gas. That money collected usually does go into roads and transit. The highest gas taxes are in Quebec, Newfoundland, and the Maritimes. Many Maritime provinces charge full HST 14% on top of the additional federal and provincial taxes. Nunavut has the lowest gas tax at only 16 cents per liter, three cents cheaper than the next lowest in Alberta. It's important to note though that the people of Nunavut require fuel for survival which could account for their lower taxes in order to ease economic burdens. There was no data on what gas actually costs per liter in the territories. We can expect it to be quite high simply due to logistical reasons.
So there you have it, that's what the government takes of the top of that $1.03 Ontarians are paying right now. For May to suggest taxing more is ludicrous but she's certainly not the first one. Most Canadians, including all currently sitting parties in federal parliament, oppose this tax increase. The idea behind it for May was to get Canadians to drive less. Something her fellow environmentalists share. I don't think it will, and it will just mean more of our hard earned money going to the government when we're already being sucked dry as it is. It proves how out of touch the Greens are with Canadians. However, this carbon tax idea is not going away entirely. Quebec has instituted a provincial one but they are taxing oil companies directly. They have asked them nicely to absorb the cost and not pass it onto the consumer. Yeah right, they're living in a dream world if they think that will happen.

The next piece of news has to do with Kyoto and the Harper government. Seems the federal opposition parties are threatening to call a vote of non-confidence if Harper does not immediately enforce Kyoto. What a flagrant abuse of our parliamentary system that Canadians would be forced to go to the polls for something so trivial and unncessary. This responsible government crap often does more harm than good, which is why I advocate a US style republic for Canada. While this Kyoto fighting goes on, many of Canada's more important problems such as gunplay in our cities, health care wait times, etc, are simply being pushed to the back burner. That's not right. Shame on all the federal parties for doing that. However, the most blame should go to the opposition for making mountains out of mole hills and filibustering their way into an untimely election. Canada does not need this crap right now. We can only hope that when the next election does come around, we will have a Conservative majority and finally put this environment crap to bed.

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No New Taxes: Like We Haven't Heard That Before

I have no idea who Ontario Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty has working on his press team but I think they need to be fired. Either that or McGuinty really is as stupid as I think he is. Dalton McGuinty has announced that if he were reelected, there would be no new taxes for Ontarians.
This is the same man who declared before the October 2003 election that we would not have to pay a penny more under a Liberal government then we would under a Conservative one. He then proceeded to levy the largest tax increase in Ontario history in his first budget. McGuinty was aware of the deficit situation well before he made the no new taxes promise yet refused to retract his statement until after he was voted in. This was just one in a long list of broken promises the Liberals made.

Arguably, McGuinty was only elected because people were fed up of the Mike Harris Conservatives. Running on a platform for change, when elected, McGuinty failed to deliver. The situation in Ontario has not improved and in some cases has gotten worse. McGuinty says he's being honest this time when he says no new taxes but why should we believe that? He's given us no reason too. He's a weak leader and that's not simply because he's Liberal but his personal character has shown that time and time again.

So here's my election prediction. Polls are showing an even tie between Liberals and Conservatives with the NDP making up the bulk of the difference. Ontario is going to have a minority government come October. I don't think there is any way that will change between now and then. Based on the stubborness of Canadians to blindly follow the Liberal party, I'm predicting a short lived Liberal minority. If the Conservatives do win, their minority will also be short lived. Unlike the federal parliament, which has four parties, with the Bloc currently holding the balance of power, that's not the case in Ontario. The NDP is too ideologically different from both parties, though they would be more likely to side with the Liberals. The Liberal minority will last longer but not four years.

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Going Green By Loosing Green

We are being forced to go "green" by ever growing governments who have hopped on the environmentalism bandwagon. To the casual observer, this seems like a noble idea to help clean up pollution but it has costs, big costs. When Kermit the Frog sang "it's not easy being green", he wasn't kidding. Turns out its not exactly cheap either. It turns out it doesn't matter to environmentalists if you're a poor villager in Kenya or a middle class person living in a North American city. We're all being called upon to pay more and more for this initiative, and it's hurting.

Toronto, or as I like to call it "San Francisco North" has become quite overzealous on the green fad. Seems each week, the council cooks up a new scheme to "help the environment." Recent efforts have to do with garbage. Toronto wants to charge you extra, on top of your taxes, for how much garbage you put out. Basically, you pay to "rent" this bin and you pay more for a larger bin. On the outside, this seems to make sense. That is until you consider the fact that the quality of garbage pickup service has been declining across the GTA. Everyone is paying higher and higher taxes each year but getting less service in return. Will this bin system in Toronto improve garbage collection? Well, no, they never said it would. The sole purpose of this bin concept is to encourage people to throw out less garbage for the sake of the environmentalists. It won't improve the system. Not only will it not improve the system, it will encourage illegal dumping. People with large amounts of garbage will just dispose of it elsewhere rather than paying for the larger bin. The REAL purpose of this project is to help Toronto pay for the dumping site it purchased near London for $20 million. What makes matters worse is that large areas of Toronto still do not receive regular recycling pickup.
Of course, once Toronto adopts an idea, the rest of the GTA will likely follow suit. Here in Halton, we used to get recycle pickup once a weak. It was reduced to twice a month. Garbage collection is also inconsistent. Wednesday is garbage day but it has been known to happen, on several occasions, where garbage is not picked up until Thursday. Just another case of paying more for less.

Garbage collection is only one case, in a long list, where this environment fad is forcing us consumers/taxpayers to shell out more of our hard earned money, so the elites in our society can feel good about themselves. Gasoline is another excellent example. Arguably the government's most lucrative tax next to income. We are paying more and more at the pump, and we're being forced to contend with both government and oil company greed. What's worse, environmentalists are demanding that prices be kept high so people use less oil. So basically, we loose our mobility for them to feel good.

Electricity is another example of government greed that is hiding behind the cloak of the environment. We've been paying insane amounts thanks to the McGuinty government here in Ontario. Now he wants us to use smart meters to help conserve. Apparently to reduce emisions form coal plants. Turns out the high price of electricity is making the government a tidy profit and hides their incompetence from closing Lakeview.
Electricity is not only an issue here in Canada. According to the documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle, environmentalists are forcing developing countries to use the most expensive forms of electricity generation there are (solar and wind) rather than cheaper hydrocarbon (oil and coal) based alternatives. Sure, solar panels can run a few lights but they can't be used to run a smelter or an assembly line. Heavy industry requires a lot of electricity and solar and wind power are simply too costly and inefficient to provide it. These countries need heavy industry to develop so they are being kept in an economic hole to "save" the planet. That's why we have so many countries, literally sitting on gold mines, that are dirt poor.

Of course, this is typical. The ordinary person is always forced to pay more in order to keep the liberal elites happy.

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Censorship in 2007: The Internet

I was originally going to talk about China for part 3 of this series. However, this topic has a great deal to do with how China has been censoring its people. It's not simply a Chinese problem but a global one.

The internet, with all it's faults, is truly one of the seven wonders of the modern world. We live in the information age, of course you knew that or you wouldn't be reading this. I can discuss politics with someone in Europe, or play an online game with someone in Japan. Amazing to think that only 15 years ago, that was impossible for the majority of people. The internet was originally created as a free and open environment to share knowledge and information around the world. It does that job quite well. In recent years, this has become more true with the introduction of Web 2.0, so the buzzword goes. This blog, as all blogs are, is part of this concept. This also includes online forums, Wikis (such as Wikipedia), video sharing (such as Youtube) and social networking sites. The internet has become such an integral part of our daily lives worldwide. As such, the demon of censorship has begun to take notice. There are generally three types of censorship that occur on the internet. Government, corporate, and private. Lets take a look at them.

GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP

Government censorship of the internet in North America isn't very common, not that it doesn't happen but it's still very rare. Cases of such usually include "hate" sites. In other countries, it is far more common. China is perhaps the most notorious. There exists the Great Firewall of China, which monitors all incoming and outgoing internet traffic from the country. Chinese internet users are required to use their real names when posting to blogs and forums. Also, China has blocked certain information from being accessed. In China, if one does a search of the Tieneman Square incident, they will be told this information is prohibited. China's oligarchical government does this to insulate itself from criticism and possible rebellion if people were to find out what actually happened during these events. Though China is no longer a communist country in the traditional sense, the government still operates on the Soviet/Maoist model and is very secretive. China will punish citizens who post information that the government disagrees with. The Chinese government has also put online gaming under their radar and will forcefully "treat" people who seem to be spending too much time in these games. Shock treatment (aka electro-therapy) is sometimes used.

China isn't the only country that does this. Cuba is yet another example that we have plenty of information about. Cuba is a more traditional communist country. Cuba has a state owned "intranet". Cuba's censorship of the internet is harsher than China's in many ways since it doesn't allow most people to access the outside world. When it does, it monitors them heavily. Cuba's reasoning for doing this also somewhat differs from China's. Their idea is to keep Western influence out of the country.

Turkey is another country that has been in the news recently for banning Youtube due to a video that insulted the country's founder. The ban was repealed. Morocco is also suspected of banning Youtube though there is no solid evidence as of yet.

Other countries with substantial and pervasive censorship of the internet include Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Tunisia, Syria, Myanmar, Maldives, North Korea, South Korea, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

At this point though, as I know there are some people who think this is censorship, I'd like to draw the line at child pornography on the internet. This is not free speech. It is a criminal activity and I find it acceptable for governments to block those sites.

CORPORATE CENSORSHIP

Corporate censorship of the internet is not as pervasive as government censorship but it does exist. Perhaps the best example is this blog's host, Google. The problem with Google is the fact that has given into certain demands from highly censored countries such as China. Google China prohibits searches for certain topics. Yahoo has done similar things for France and Germany concerning neo-nazi material.
There is also the case of corporate groups such as RIAA and the MPAA trying to censor file shares.

Corporations have also been known to censor employee email though filters to make sure they cannot receive personal emails at work. They have also been known to censor websites. The idea is to keep employees focused on work, but it is still censorship none the less.

PRIVATE CENSORSHIP

Private censorship of the internet is the most common type of censorship that most western internet users will encounter. Particularly with the way in which private, non-corporate websites deal with their members. Comments on this blog as well as it's (unused) companion forum are unmoderated. Private forums tend to be particularly bad. Most forums will censor certain words to avoid being flagged by search engines and attracting undesirable attention. For example, words such as "porn" will be censored to prevent it from being accidentally flagged as a porn site. Swearing may also be edited out of posts if the site has many young visitors. These are both understandable. Most of these communities are heavily moderated, and that is where the problem lies. Moderators on these forums are there to maintain the site and handle member disputes. However, some become overzealous and abuse their power to delete posts and remove people that they have disagreements with, no matter the severity. These sites are not compelled to comply with free speech laws. Censorship here is much more implicit but is a reoccurring problem.

Another topic of private censorship of the internet concerns the recent treatment of sites such as Myspace and Facebook. The latter in particular has become hugely popular here in Canada, especially in Greater Toronto with as many as 600,000 members in that region.
This stems from anti-bullying laws and the new concept of cyber-bullying. There are several recent examples of students being suspended from school for expressing their dislike for teachers and fellow students at school. This type of censorship is done under the guise of anti-bullying but has become more of a way of solving personal vendettas. Since this action happens outside of the classroom, this calls into question school authority concerning the issue. In my opinion, once the bell rings and the student is off school property, then school staff no longer has authority over them. This is what has made the recent Facebook suspensions concerning.


Internet censorship is indeed becoming a concerning trend in society, especially since it was never meant to be censored. Aside from government and corporate censorship, it has now opened the door for private individuals and organizations to censor other web users in order to fulfill their own agendas. It's high time to put the breaks on this trend and return the internet to what it was originally intended to be. The obvious solution is to lobby governments to extend freedom of expression laws in the constitution to apply to non-government organizations and private individuals as well.

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