Ottawa: Rally Against Unborn Victims of Crime Bill

Over a hundred people met today in front of the Women's Monument in order to denounce the Unborn Victims of Crime Bill. Bill C-484 is a private members bill introduced by a Conservative Party MP. It passed the house of commons overwhelmingly in its first reading. The bill is created to pass extra sentencing on violent offenders who attacked pregnant women and cause problems or even death to the fetus.

At first glance of the bill most people would be favourable towards the bill. However, a better understanding of Canadian Law and looking more closely of the content of the bill may change that. Canadian Law already has provisions in the Criminal Code for pregnancy or spousal abuse to be aggravating factors leading to harsher sentences. The bill would however, give fetuses legal rights.

Many pro-choice advocates worry that to give the fetus legal rights would lead to the erosion of the legality of abortion. Abortion has only been legal in Canada for 20 years, it was made legal thanks to the work of Henry Morgentaler. Despite it being legal it is not very accessible with on 15% of Hospitals and a minority of clinics that do. All of these Hospitals and clinics are in urban centers and, one province P.E.I. has no where that abortion is available.

The speakers at the rally brought up that no one is happy about having abortions and, that it is unfortunate that women have to go through them. However, they said being pro-choice means that women actually have choices. These choices stemmed from a need for proper sex education, proper health care, proper child care and, a need for real pay equity. They condemned the current government as having not done any of these things nor, protected the rights of women to be free of violence.

The crowd included the Pro-Choice Coalition of Ottawa, Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, University of Ottawa Women's Center, Public Service Alliance of Canada, Ottawa-Center NDP MP Paul Dewar, Ottawa West-Nepean NDP candidate Marlene Rivier, multiple violence against women campaigns, The Raging Grannies and, more. The event was closed off by a rendition of Bread and Roses and a moment of silence while everyone stood in a circle around the Womens Monument. It was supposed to take the street afterwards, but the rally was denied a police permit "due to the nature of the protest."

Note images are my property. First was drawn on the path in Minto Park. Second is of one of the many speakers at the back of the crowd is Paul Dewar and Marlene Rivier of the NDP. Third was part of the circle of the closing, rocks shown are the side of the women's monument

Canada: 3 BC NDP candidates withdraw

It seems the NDP is having trouble with its candidates in British Columbia. In the past week three NDP candidates in the ridings of West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast, Vancouver-Quadra and, Saanich-Gulf Islands. The first candidate Dana Larsen dropped out of the race last week due to being in Pot TV video where he was on LSD and was doing marijuana. Mr. Larsen though now a member of the NDP was the cofounder of the BC Marijuana party. The second candidate Kirk Tousaw dropped out of the race two days later also for being seen in a video smoking marijuana. Marc Emery leader of the Marijuana Party has come out and stated that the NDP and the Marijuana Party made an agreement, which Jack Layton denies.

The third candidate who dropped out of the race this week has a very different story. Julian West candidate for Saanich-Gulf Islands has now dropped out of the race over allegations that he had stood naked in front of a group of 14 to 17 year old girls while aroused at an environmental retreat in 1996. He was formerly a Green Party candidate and had been removed from the party. Now running for the NDP the allegations have come up again resulting in him dropping out of the race. Though, West dropped out too late, so his name will still be on the ballot and may still garner quite a number of votes.

Canada: Polling and the elections

I used to work on doing polling so, I'm always interested in looking at polls especially when it comes to our election season. Those of us who work in politics put a lot of stock in polling. However, those who have also worked in polling and follow them closely see how inaccurate they are. Below is an example of three different polling firms from the same day from Nodice.ca:


Within the same day the range of the Bloq is 7-8%, Conservatives 36-39%, Green 6-12%, Liberal 24-30% and, NDP 16-18%. Though we get rough estimates in cases such as the Greens and Liberals there are large margins of discrepancy.

The methods of polling are also generally inaccurate. Depending on the poll the question of "Will you vote on October 14th?" isn't asked. The questions asked are usually along the lines of "If the election were today which party would you vote for?" Instead of "Who will you be voting for October 14th?" and allow for undecided voters.

Another major factor is, that most polling uses only home phones. This usually biases questions towards older homeowners as many youth use cell phones instead of a home phone. How they decide on who answer the questions can also skew the survey. Homes of one adult will always be chosen and, where there are multiple people in the home they may not be in political agreement.

Polling is quite unreliable and should be understood as such. I'm not saying do away with them completely, but be aware of the inaccuracies within them.

Canada: Let the Greens in Already..

There has been an argument over letting the Green Party into the federal debate. In Canada with our plurality of parties, allowing the Green Party to participate makes a lot of sense. Last election the Greens were not even added to the CBC website as one of the federal parties. I can understand not allowing every party in existence into the federal debates with 16 political parties currently registered ranging from the Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada, to the Marijuana Party, to the Western Block Party, to the Neo Rhinos who actually state they don't have a platform they have a happyform it would be slightly absurd to include all parties. The Greens however, have become a viable party.

The Greens unlike the many interesting other parties do compete and organize on a national stage like the Conservatives, Liberals and, NDP. The Greens put viable candidates in pretty much all ridings across the country and in certain ridings are even more organized then some of the other parties. Last election they brought in 6.6% of the popular vote and are currently polling closer to 9% on a national scale. However, due to our first-past-the post system it is difficult to have enough regional concentration to win proportional seats.

The Greens now have their first MP Blair Wilson-West Vancouver. Wilson was formerly a Liberal but left the party and became an independent just recently joining the Green Party. Some see this issue with contention however, the switching of parties has become more frequent within Canadian Politics.

With candidates across the country, their first MP, an established and recognized leader and, a viable National party platform the Greens should be participating in the debates. They are being barred from participating most likely due to the work of the Conservatives and NDP. The Conservatives cite that they shouldn't be allowed because, of a promise of by the Greens and Liberals to not run candidates in their leaders' ridings, something that has actually happened before in Canadian Politics. The NDP essentially have cited the same incident but it is more likely due to a worry of lost votes of left-leaning voters who would "go Green" so to speak. It is even reported that the Stephen Harper and Jack Layton told stations they would refuse to participate in debates if Elizabeth May was included. To me any party that viable should be included. The Bloc despite not running outside Quebec is included and the Progressive Conservatives when they lost all but two seats were included. What are you really scared of about including the Greens.

Elizabeth May talking about the Election Debates:

Opinion: The Canadian Left Wing, a Culture of Silence

Many people would call me a socialist. When I was growing up I vividly remember my father who is a conservative saying to me when I was ten years old that I was one. I however, am more and more disheartend by the Canadian left wing. The New Democratic Party fails at being distinct as it moves more and more each year towards mediocrity, the peace movement has not been outspoken about the major abuses in China, Palestine and, Sudan, and the issue of Haiti which our government has a direct role in is often ignored.

In the past I have been very partisan towards those I talk to. Especially around election time I was able to convince many people to vote for the NDP. I now believe that this was a mistake. Partisan politics do anything, but aid in the democratic process. The recent "take-note" debate in the house of commons about Afghanistan just showed how similar the parties are. Not a single member of parliament came outright against the action due to fealty to party heads and that even questioning the mission gets one berated by other MPs as well as the media as unpatriotic. Yet, in reality the crushing of dissent in a state that is supposed to be democratic is unpatriotic.

The peace movement certainly is not perfect either. Instead of actually looking at what is going on in the world such as the genocide in Darfur or the human rights abuses in China or the occupation of Palestine. The peace movement has just allowed it to continue without a word. Of course small groups have popped up on these specific issues, but instead of movement building this is the separation, just as partisan politics is separation. In conversations about these issues what I get in response is that it is due to our government not being directly involved. However, in the case of Darfur it is a full case of genocide which causes much more brutality then what is going on in Afghanistan. In the case of China we trade heavily with them and give them legitimacy. Lastly on Palestine I've barely heard anything about the ongoing occupation despite the fact that we are now voting against the Palestinians in the United Nations and have removed all aid for them.

Both the NDP and Peace movements have neglected Haiti. The NDP instead of going public on the issue has neglected to mention it other then some tiny parts after the coup d'etat. Alexa McDonough is the only MP to have publicly addressed the issue as to the abuses after the coup. She wrote a letter to her credit, but has neglected to tell the fact that we planned it. The peace movement has mentioned Haiti, but here and there, there is reluctance to include Haiti on the agenda. During the March 18th protests though the group I'm part of the Students Coalition Against War took on the issue in our previous demonstration, the main march left out Haiti. Whenever I see images from or hear of Toronto protests I have yet to see Haiti be on the agenda there either. The Canadian Haiti Action Network has struggled away for Haiti to be included and have produced many great things.

My proposal is this, we discard partisan politics and discard the title of left or right. Instead we acquire the title of caring human being who has a affinity for peace, liberty and, freedom. If your candidate actually stands up for what is correct vote for them whether they be Conservative, Liberal, NDP, Bloc, Green, Independent, Marxist, First Nations, Libertarian, excetera.