Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 25
1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
Homeless woman's body found burning in shopping cart in Vancouver
CBC News.
Homeless woman dies trying to keep warm on frigid Vancouver night
VANCOUVER - A homeless woman in her 40s has died in downtown Vancouver after the structure she was using as a shelter caught fire earlier this morning.
Police said a passenger in a taxi travelling through the intersection of Davie and Hornby shortly after 4:30 a.m. called 911 after spotting a figure engulfed in flames inside the structure.
Police and firefighters responded but were unable to save the woman.
Early indications are the woman may have been trying to keep warm, maybe with a burning candle, as temperatures dipped to about minus 10 degrees Celsius, police said.
The investigation is continuing.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
VIDEO: Tim Weekes reports: Homeless woman's body found burning in shopping cart CBC News.(Runs 3:34)
"Initially it came in as a rubbish fire..."
More emergency shelter beds opening in Vancouver
$1.5 million cost to be shared by city, province, private sector
Comments to the CBC story:
Rare praise that Campbell and his minions have seen some sense in opening up shelter beds. Now, it's time for the province and the city to get families back into the Little Mountain BC housing complex where there are currently around 200 empty homes in affordable family housing units on Main St. in Vancouver. The province's plan was to re-develop the property, with a private partner (Holburn Properties) to build 2000 condos!!! The other part of the plan was to build 224 affordable units to replace the old ones. Laudable goals perhaps, under normal market conditions, but the idea tanks now.
I'd guess the chance of getting that kind of a monster development built has about a snowball's chance in an inferno. The housing is desperately needed, for our citizens who are homeless NOW. It's time for action, today, not in 2-3 years and an economic apocalypse later: 40-1BR's, 92-2BR's, 92-3BR's.
The other part of this is that all levels of government have to understand, if you enter into public-private partnerships (P3's), it is in the public interest to know with whom agreements are being struck, for how much and what the terms are. And, the "unspecified private-sector source [who] would contribute the other $500,000 in funding" should be applauded. What are the terms? Transparency is crucial and governments should have no problems disclosing those things. If you want to use a quasi-corporate model to run your oligarchies, then you have to consider the citizens of BC as shareholders who have a RIGHT to know what is being done with their funds.
The individuals and families who are holding out and digging in their heels are having the province boarding up homes where families lived. Sammy Chan, a legally blind man, who has lived in his unit for 32 years is getting turfed by "his" government. Show some compassion, some sense and humanity and stop this from happening, use the resources we have to help the people who need it most NOW. That's MY Christmas wish to Campbell, Coleman and Robertson.
For those who might complain about this, watch your words, because the slippery slope happens faster than you can blink an eye and there isn't a person in this world who isn't vulnerable to losing everything, especially these days. There but for the grace of God go I ... is a mantra to live by. As is do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
We used to believe in that in BC and Canada. I want that back.
Housing First.
Re-open Riverview Immediately for triage housing.
Contact these people to help make it happen:
Gordon Campbell - Phone: 604 660-3202;
E-mail: gordon.campbell.mla@leg.bc.ca or premier@gov.bc.ca
Rich Coleman - Phone: 604 607-6200;
E-mail: rich.coleman.mla@leg.bc.ca
Gregor Robertson - Phone: 604.873.7621; E-mail: gregor.robertson@vancouver.ca
Sam Rainboth,
Senior Manager, Public Affairs - BC Housing
Tel: 604 439 4789
Cell: 604 619 6525
E-mail: srainboth@bchousing.org
Holborn is currently developing properties in Whistler, Squamish, Vancouver,
Victoria and Surrey.
From the Little Mountain page.
For more information:
* Memorandum of Understand (MOU) with City of Vancouver
* Media Fact Sheet on the Resident Relocation (PDF)
* Redevelopment Overview (PDF)
* Guiding Principles for Redevelopment
* Guiding Principle for Resident Relocation (PDF)
************************************
Development Partner Selected For Little Mountain
May 8, 2008
VANCOUVER – BC Housing has selected Holborn Properties as the development partner for the Little Mountain public housing site in Vancouver.
Proposal Invited for Little Mountain Redevelopment
September 14, 2007
VANCOUVER – Minister responsible for Housing Rich Coleman today launched the formal process to select a private-sector partner for the redevelopment of Vancouver’s oldest public housing development. More.
**
Little Mountain housing fight brought to BC Legislature
By Andrew MacLeod November 26, 2008. TheHook.ca
************************
Who is Holburn anyways?
Holborn Properties
Might we assume they're part of the "Holborn Group" that donated $10,000 to Vision Vancouver in the 2005 Vancouver election?
Vision Vancouver Campaign Finance Disclosure
Holborn Holdings Ltd. - $1500 for Vision
Supplementary Financing Disclosure Statement (November 14, 2007)
Looking forward to perusing the 2008 Election Campaign Financing Disclosure statements, but we may have to wait awhile, since they don't have to be filed for 120 days after the election(March 16, 2009).
See more @ Vancouver City Hall Election Services.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Event: Jack Will Be in da House
Jack Layton, leader of the federal NDP is coming to visit with
Vancouverites, particularly those living in Vancouver-Kingway who
Don Davies has invited to a town hall meet & greet, debate, and
discussion on the "Ottawa" situation.
Here's the 411 (or is that 311 in multi-culti Vancouver):
What: an evening of discussion, debate and information on the recent events in Ottawa.
When: Wednesday 17th December 2008 at 6pm.
Where: Collingwood Neighbourhood House - 5288 Joyce Street, Vancouver
With: Special guest NDP leader Jack Layton
Light refreshments will be served. No need to RSVP – just turn up.
For more information, please contact my community office @ 604-775-6263.
E-mail Don @ davied@parl.gc.ca
******************************
Do you ever get a bee in your bonnet for a new song and you just HAVE
TO know who did it. I've been like that with the song in the new
Sony PSP tv commercial.
I started researching it and I'll tell ya'this has been one the hardest things
I've gone looking for ever... until synchronicity stepped in. I had literally
just sent an e-mail to Playstation.ca and the radio station I LOVE, the Current, played it within seconds of me sending that e-mail. Just wild, eh? Now, I am a happy, happy camper and can annoy everyone for hours playing that song over and over until I find a new one i just HAVE TO listen to.
I have to say, Sony has one slick advertising campaign for this product
(PSP 3000). They've had 10 different cities (and Canada) do their own ads,
each with a totally different look, feel and music. Their webpages are just
the best damn things I've seen in a long time too. Very creative and
innovative folks. And no, I'm not on their payroll, I wish.
Passionate Pits: Sleepyhead
Vancouverites, particularly those living in Vancouver-Kingway who
Don Davies has invited to a town hall meet & greet, debate, and
discussion on the "Ottawa" situation.
Here's the 411 (or is that 311 in multi-culti Vancouver):
What: an evening of discussion, debate and information on the recent events in Ottawa.
When: Wednesday 17th December 2008 at 6pm.
Where: Collingwood Neighbourhood House - 5288 Joyce Street, Vancouver
With: Special guest NDP leader Jack Layton
Light refreshments will be served. No need to RSVP – just turn up.
For more information, please contact my community office @ 604-775-6263.
E-mail Don @ davied@parl.gc.ca
******************************
Do you ever get a bee in your bonnet for a new song and you just HAVE
TO know who did it. I've been like that with the song in the new
Sony PSP tv commercial.
I started researching it and I'll tell ya'this has been one the hardest things
I've gone looking for ever... until synchronicity stepped in. I had literally
just sent an e-mail to Playstation.ca and the radio station I LOVE, the Current, played it within seconds of me sending that e-mail. Just wild, eh? Now, I am a happy, happy camper and can annoy everyone for hours playing that song over and over until I find a new one i just HAVE TO listen to.
I have to say, Sony has one slick advertising campaign for this product
(PSP 3000). They've had 10 different cities (and Canada) do their own ads,
each with a totally different look, feel and music. Their webpages are just
the best damn things I've seen in a long time too. Very creative and
innovative folks. And no, I'm not on their payroll, I wish.
Passionate Pits: Sleepyhead
Thursday, December 11, 2008
BC is Ours and We Are Taking it Back: Taking Action for Social Justice
On the heels of yesterday's 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights two new reports have been released about life in BC for too many and some concrete, reality-based solutions.
A Poverty Reduction Plan for BC
The report calls on all political parties to commit to legislated targets and timlines to dramatically reduce poverty in the province. It is the culmination
of five years of research conducted through the Economic Security Project, a research alliance led by the CCPA and Simon Fraser University.
The Time is Now:A Poverty Reduction Plan for BC Summary
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - BC office.
- Reduce poverty by 1/3 (from 13% to 9%)within four years;
- Make an equal or greater reduction in poverty among groups that are most vulnerable to poverty — recent immigrants, children, single mother families, Aboriginal people, people with disabilities, and single senior women;
- Eliminate deep poverty (those living 50% or more below the poverty line) within two years; and
- Eliminate street homelessness within five years.
Key Areas for Action:
- Improve working conditions & pay for low wage workers.
- Raise the minimum wage, strengthen employment standards & actively enforce workplace protections
- Increase welfare rates by at least 50% & remove arbitrary barriers to accessing welfare that keep people from accessing assistance
- Immediately start building 2,000 units per year of social housing (not counting conversions, rental subsidies or shelter spaces
- Implement a universal public early learning and child care program.
********************
Precarious and Vulnerable: Lone Mothers on Income Assistance
Social Planning & Research Council of BC (SPARC-BC)
Locate the report on the front page of their webpage.
This research study found that lone mothers and their children on income assistance are experiencing severe material deprivation under the welfare policies of the BC government.
**********************
Now, the findings and the solutions are not new. Is there political will to
implement the suggestions, recommendations and strategies. We haven't
arrived here by coincidence. The social, economic and public policies of
both our provincial and federal governments have led us to this place and
point in time. I see no reason to believe that the existing governments have
the will, nor good sense, nor commitment to do anything about these conditions. Which means, they must be removed from the power to do any more harm to our citizens.
It's easy for many of us to sit back, satisfied with our lives, our material
lifestyles, maybe feel guilty and throw the odd loonie at someone on the
street, donate to the Food bank if we think about it. We're in times where
that kind of mentality is coming to an end. We All Must Care.
Beyond Caring, We Must All Do Something to Help Make Things Better. Not just at the warm & fuzzy time of the Holidays. All Year Round.
Many of us do not realize how close the edge of the Abyss we and some of
our loved ones are. Many of us have fallen into the gaping holes where the
social safety net used to be.
What's happened in BC, getting rich off the backs of the poor, is Social Violence. Some may call it Murder.
Do we even know how many people have died, homeless and indigent around BC?
Do we really know how many people have died awaiting getting into senior's facilities?
Do we know how many children & youth have died on the street around BC?
How many "graduated" from state foster care to lives of drug addiction, sexual victimization, crime, jail, death?
This is what we know:
While one in five children in BC live in poverty, 21.9% of Our children, leading Canada's child poverty rate for five years in a row, don't have food, or homes, or services Gordon Campbell was handing out gold medals that were engraved with "Presented by Premier Gordon Campbell" to Canada Line construction workers.
"The government couldn't say how many of the medals were given away or how much they cost... Yes, gold medals. Well, gold-coloured, anyway. And not just cheap little plastic knock-offs like the one my six-year-old got in a fun run a few months ago. "It's a good three inches across and weighs more than a quarter-pounder -- almost like a real Olympic medal. What a waste of money!"[Mike Farnworth - NDP house leader].
Premier's gold medals make NDP see red
Only name on construction workers' 'decoration' is Campbell's
Michael Smyth, The Province. Published: Friday, November 21, 2008.
2008 BC Child Poverty Report Card
*****************************
81 children in B.C. killed themselves in last 4 years: report
CBC News, Canada. Tuesday, December 02, 2008.
Looking for Something to Look Foward To – A Five-Year Retrospective Review of Child and Youth Suicide in B.C.
Child Death Review Unit, BC Coroners Service.(Jan. 1, 2003 to Dec. 31, 2007)
Summary of the Five-Year Restrospective Review
Child Death Review Unit
If we've had 81 children, age 10 to 19 kill themselves, commit suicide, fail to get help and support, children who removed themselves from this world during the most prosperous and economic times in BC's existence, what impacts will occur when BC takes a nose dive in the next couple of years. But more importantly, what are each and every one of us going to do to make sure that our government STANDS UP AND DOES THE RIGHT THING for our most vulnerable, at-risk citizens?
I know what I'm doing, how about you?
Get Active. Collaborate. Demonstrate Your Commitment to the Future for BC.
Join a Group. Write. Blog. Write letters, or e-mails to your MLA, your MP, to your City Council.
Write letters to the Editors, articles to publish in the papers.
Pass anti-poverty Resolutions and bring them to your local politicians.
Remember what your MLA has done to represent your community when it comes time to vote. Remind everyone you know too.
Run for Office, campaign for ethical and progressive candidates.
Lets take Back BC for our Future.We can Do this Together.
A Poverty Reduction Plan for BC
The report calls on all political parties to commit to legislated targets and timlines to dramatically reduce poverty in the province. It is the culmination
of five years of research conducted through the Economic Security Project, a research alliance led by the CCPA and Simon Fraser University.
The Time is Now:A Poverty Reduction Plan for BC Summary
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - BC office.
- Reduce poverty by 1/3 (from 13% to 9%)within four years;
- Make an equal or greater reduction in poverty among groups that are most vulnerable to poverty — recent immigrants, children, single mother families, Aboriginal people, people with disabilities, and single senior women;
- Eliminate deep poverty (those living 50% or more below the poverty line) within two years; and
- Eliminate street homelessness within five years.
Key Areas for Action:
- Improve working conditions & pay for low wage workers.
- Raise the minimum wage, strengthen employment standards & actively enforce workplace protections
- Increase welfare rates by at least 50% & remove arbitrary barriers to accessing welfare that keep people from accessing assistance
- Immediately start building 2,000 units per year of social housing (not counting conversions, rental subsidies or shelter spaces
- Implement a universal public early learning and child care program.
********************
Precarious and Vulnerable: Lone Mothers on Income Assistance
Social Planning & Research Council of BC (SPARC-BC)
Locate the report on the front page of their webpage.
This research study found that lone mothers and their children on income assistance are experiencing severe material deprivation under the welfare policies of the BC government.
**********************
Now, the findings and the solutions are not new. Is there political will to
implement the suggestions, recommendations and strategies. We haven't
arrived here by coincidence. The social, economic and public policies of
both our provincial and federal governments have led us to this place and
point in time. I see no reason to believe that the existing governments have
the will, nor good sense, nor commitment to do anything about these conditions. Which means, they must be removed from the power to do any more harm to our citizens.
It's easy for many of us to sit back, satisfied with our lives, our material
lifestyles, maybe feel guilty and throw the odd loonie at someone on the
street, donate to the Food bank if we think about it. We're in times where
that kind of mentality is coming to an end. We All Must Care.
Beyond Caring, We Must All Do Something to Help Make Things Better. Not just at the warm & fuzzy time of the Holidays. All Year Round.
Many of us do not realize how close the edge of the Abyss we and some of
our loved ones are. Many of us have fallen into the gaping holes where the
social safety net used to be.
What's happened in BC, getting rich off the backs of the poor, is Social Violence. Some may call it Murder.
Do we even know how many people have died, homeless and indigent around BC?
Do we really know how many people have died awaiting getting into senior's facilities?
Do we know how many children & youth have died on the street around BC?
How many "graduated" from state foster care to lives of drug addiction, sexual victimization, crime, jail, death?
This is what we know:
While one in five children in BC live in poverty, 21.9% of Our children, leading Canada's child poverty rate for five years in a row, don't have food, or homes, or services Gordon Campbell was handing out gold medals that were engraved with "Presented by Premier Gordon Campbell" to Canada Line construction workers.
"The government couldn't say how many of the medals were given away or how much they cost... Yes, gold medals. Well, gold-coloured, anyway. And not just cheap little plastic knock-offs like the one my six-year-old got in a fun run a few months ago. "It's a good three inches across and weighs more than a quarter-pounder -- almost like a real Olympic medal. What a waste of money!"[Mike Farnworth - NDP house leader].
Premier's gold medals make NDP see red
Only name on construction workers' 'decoration' is Campbell's
Michael Smyth, The Province. Published: Friday, November 21, 2008.
2008 BC Child Poverty Report Card
*****************************
81 children in B.C. killed themselves in last 4 years: report
CBC News, Canada. Tuesday, December 02, 2008.
Looking for Something to Look Foward To – A Five-Year Retrospective Review of Child and Youth Suicide in B.C.
Child Death Review Unit, BC Coroners Service.(Jan. 1, 2003 to Dec. 31, 2007)
Summary of the Five-Year Restrospective Review
Child Death Review Unit
If we've had 81 children, age 10 to 19 kill themselves, commit suicide, fail to get help and support, children who removed themselves from this world during the most prosperous and economic times in BC's existence, what impacts will occur when BC takes a nose dive in the next couple of years. But more importantly, what are each and every one of us going to do to make sure that our government STANDS UP AND DOES THE RIGHT THING for our most vulnerable, at-risk citizens?
I know what I'm doing, how about you?
Get Active. Collaborate. Demonstrate Your Commitment to the Future for BC.
Join a Group. Write. Blog. Write letters, or e-mails to your MLA, your MP, to your City Council.
Write letters to the Editors, articles to publish in the papers.
Pass anti-poverty Resolutions and bring them to your local politicians.
Remember what your MLA has done to represent your community when it comes time to vote. Remind everyone you know too.
Run for Office, campaign for ethical and progressive candidates.
Lets take Back BC for our Future.We can Do this Together.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women – December 6th
Today marks 19 years since fourteen female students were gunned
down on December 6 at Montreal's l'École Polytechnique in what is one
of the most horrific cases of violence against women in Canadian history.
In 1991 the Parliament of Canada established December 6th as a National
Day of Remembrance and a day to honour all women impacted by Violence.
Westcoast Indie News dedicates this day to:
- All of the single mothers struggling to raise their children in poverty – because their provincial and federal government has failed to ensure they have an adequate family income;
-For the hundreds of missing, disappeared and murdered Aboriginal women across Canada;
-To all the girls and women who are forced to tolerate physical, mental, emotional and sexual abuse, rape and psychological degradation because they are female – in their families, communities, schools, and lives;
-For the girls and women who are sexually exploited, trafficked and forced into prostitution for survival, for themselves and their children;
-To all of the girl children and women who have been beaten, kicked, humiliated and murdered at the hands of the men who should cherish and protect them;
-For all of the girls and women who have to continue to fight for equality and safety – in their work, pay equity, in their families, in politics, in schools, in their communities and in sports;
-To all of the women who are abused by their spouses who are forced to stay because they have no other options for them and their children because governments do not adequately fund shelters and transition homes so women and children can be safe;
-For all of the workers and organizations that offer safety, protection, support and compassion to abused women and children.
-To all of the men who work as allies and protectors of girls and women and work along side of women to End Violence against Girls and Women.
-To all of those Uppity Women who stand up Loud & Strong and tell the World, men and Governments that in a civil society – THERE MUST BE ZERO TOLERANCE FOR SOCIAL & PHYSICAL VIOLENCE AGAINST GIRLS AND WOMEN.
In 2008, Canada submitted its report to the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) as part of the responsibility that came with the signing the UN Convention of the same name.
A coalition of women’s organizations also presented a report to the UN Committee. This coalition report chronicled the uninvestigated or inadequately addressed cases of missing and murdered women, the majority of whom were Aboriginal, in Canada over the past 20 years. Among the sites of missing and murdered women are two infamous B.C. locations, the Pickton farm and Highway of Tears.
The United Nations Committee is calling on the Canadian government to launch an inquiry into the cases of the missing and murdered women to find out why the response by law enforcement was so poor, and how to ensure that this is going to change. The Committee also requested a report back within the year.
Please take action on December 6 and throughout the following week. Join others across the country in supporting the UN Committee’s call. Contact your area Member of Parliament (MP) – you can find them through the Government of Canada website - and send an email or fax to her or him endorsing the UN recommendation and pressing the federal government to act immediately.
**********************************************
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women ( CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly.
2008 BC CEDAW Group report: Inaction and Non-compliance: British Columbia’s Approach to Women’s Equality.
Missing/Murdered Native Women
Please sign our Petition to the Canadian Government to investigate why so many of these cases remain unsolved.
Walk4Justice – Bernie Williams & Gladys Radek walked across Canada to rally in Ottawa to demand justice for the hundreds, if not thousands of Aboriginal women who have disappeared, been murdered in Canada.
In 2000, Gladys Radek launched a historical Human Rights case proving "systemic racism" for the first time ever in Canada. This cases final decision was July 13, 2005.
Native Women’s Association of Canada. Sisters In Spirit.
Canada must probe cases of slain, missing aboriginal women: UN
A United Nations committee wants Canada to explain why law enforcement agencies have failed to deal with the disappearance and murder of Aboriginal women.
Canada must probe cases of slain, missing aboriginal women: UN
The United Nations is calling on the Canadian government to investigate why hundreds of deaths and disappearances of aboriginal women remain unsolved.
It's asking Ottawa to report back in a year on the status of more than 500 cases that "have neither been fully investigated nor attracted priority attention, with the perpetrators remaining unpunished."
A federally funded $5-million study by the Native Women's Association of Canada concludes that 510 aboriginal girls and women have gone missing or been murdered since 1980. It calls for an emergency strategy.
The UN also raised alarms about lack of shelters for battered women and about Conservative government cuts that wiped out the court challenges program — funding that helped advance minority rights in the legal system.
Common-law husband charged in Abbotsford apartment homicide
CBC News. December 5, 2008.
After Priester's death her family was outraged because police failed to respond to a 911 call made from the apartment 12 hours before her body was discovered.
Bitch Poem
When I stand up for myself and my beliefs, they call me a bitch. When I stand up for those I love, they call me a bitch. When I speak my mind, think my own thoughts, or do things my own way, they call me a bitch.
So try to stomp on me, try to douse my inner flame, try to squash every ounce of beauty I hold within me. You won't succeed. And if that makes me a bitch, so be it. I embrace the title and am proud to bear it.
B - Babe I - In T - Total C - Control of H - Herself
"Well behaved women rarely make history" - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
WeCanBC: I am a Changemaker
- BC Campaign to End All Violence Against Women
16 Days of Activism - November 25th to December 10th.
See here for Events.
December 10th, 2008 - Candlelight Vigil
Light a candle for all women who have suffered from one of the most pervasive
human rights violations - violence against women.
5 - 6 pm
Victory Square
198 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC
down on December 6 at Montreal's l'École Polytechnique in what is one
of the most horrific cases of violence against women in Canadian history.
In 1991 the Parliament of Canada established December 6th as a National
Day of Remembrance and a day to honour all women impacted by Violence.
Westcoast Indie News dedicates this day to:
- All of the single mothers struggling to raise their children in poverty – because their provincial and federal government has failed to ensure they have an adequate family income;
-For the hundreds of missing, disappeared and murdered Aboriginal women across Canada;
-To all the girls and women who are forced to tolerate physical, mental, emotional and sexual abuse, rape and psychological degradation because they are female – in their families, communities, schools, and lives;
-For the girls and women who are sexually exploited, trafficked and forced into prostitution for survival, for themselves and their children;
-To all of the girl children and women who have been beaten, kicked, humiliated and murdered at the hands of the men who should cherish and protect them;
-For all of the girls and women who have to continue to fight for equality and safety – in their work, pay equity, in their families, in politics, in schools, in their communities and in sports;
-To all of the women who are abused by their spouses who are forced to stay because they have no other options for them and their children because governments do not adequately fund shelters and transition homes so women and children can be safe;
-For all of the workers and organizations that offer safety, protection, support and compassion to abused women and children.
-To all of the men who work as allies and protectors of girls and women and work along side of women to End Violence against Girls and Women.
-To all of those Uppity Women who stand up Loud & Strong and tell the World, men and Governments that in a civil society – THERE MUST BE ZERO TOLERANCE FOR SOCIAL & PHYSICAL VIOLENCE AGAINST GIRLS AND WOMEN.
In 2008, Canada submitted its report to the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) as part of the responsibility that came with the signing the UN Convention of the same name.
A coalition of women’s organizations also presented a report to the UN Committee. This coalition report chronicled the uninvestigated or inadequately addressed cases of missing and murdered women, the majority of whom were Aboriginal, in Canada over the past 20 years. Among the sites of missing and murdered women are two infamous B.C. locations, the Pickton farm and Highway of Tears.
The United Nations Committee is calling on the Canadian government to launch an inquiry into the cases of the missing and murdered women to find out why the response by law enforcement was so poor, and how to ensure that this is going to change. The Committee also requested a report back within the year.
Please take action on December 6 and throughout the following week. Join others across the country in supporting the UN Committee’s call. Contact your area Member of Parliament (MP) – you can find them through the Government of Canada website - and send an email or fax to her or him endorsing the UN recommendation and pressing the federal government to act immediately.
**********************************************
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women ( CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly.
2008 BC CEDAW Group report: Inaction and Non-compliance: British Columbia’s Approach to Women’s Equality.
Missing/Murdered Native Women
Please sign our Petition to the Canadian Government to investigate why so many of these cases remain unsolved.
Walk4Justice – Bernie Williams & Gladys Radek walked across Canada to rally in Ottawa to demand justice for the hundreds, if not thousands of Aboriginal women who have disappeared, been murdered in Canada.
In 2000, Gladys Radek launched a historical Human Rights case proving "systemic racism" for the first time ever in Canada. This cases final decision was July 13, 2005.
Native Women’s Association of Canada. Sisters In Spirit.
Canada must probe cases of slain, missing aboriginal women: UN
A United Nations committee wants Canada to explain why law enforcement agencies have failed to deal with the disappearance and murder of Aboriginal women.
Canada must probe cases of slain, missing aboriginal women: UN
The United Nations is calling on the Canadian government to investigate why hundreds of deaths and disappearances of aboriginal women remain unsolved.
It's asking Ottawa to report back in a year on the status of more than 500 cases that "have neither been fully investigated nor attracted priority attention, with the perpetrators remaining unpunished."
A federally funded $5-million study by the Native Women's Association of Canada concludes that 510 aboriginal girls and women have gone missing or been murdered since 1980. It calls for an emergency strategy.
The UN also raised alarms about lack of shelters for battered women and about Conservative government cuts that wiped out the court challenges program — funding that helped advance minority rights in the legal system.
Common-law husband charged in Abbotsford apartment homicide
CBC News. December 5, 2008.
After Priester's death her family was outraged because police failed to respond to a 911 call made from the apartment 12 hours before her body was discovered.
Bitch Poem
When I stand up for myself and my beliefs, they call me a bitch. When I stand up for those I love, they call me a bitch. When I speak my mind, think my own thoughts, or do things my own way, they call me a bitch.
So try to stomp on me, try to douse my inner flame, try to squash every ounce of beauty I hold within me. You won't succeed. And if that makes me a bitch, so be it. I embrace the title and am proud to bear it.
B - Babe I - In T - Total C - Control of H - Herself
"Well behaved women rarely make history" - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
WeCanBC: I am a Changemaker
- BC Campaign to End All Violence Against Women
16 Days of Activism - November 25th to December 10th.
See here for Events.
December 10th, 2008 - Candlelight Vigil
Light a candle for all women who have suffered from one of the most pervasive
human rights violations - violence against women.
5 - 6 pm
Victory Square
198 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Human Rights for Workers & People with Disabilities
Groundbreaking Human Rights Award: Temporary Foreign Worker Rights
Foreign Canada Line workers win multi-million dollar human rights case
By Kelly Sinoski (December 3, 2008). The Vancouver Sun.
VANCOUVER -- A group of temporary foreign workers who helped build the Canada Line have won a multi-million dollar discrimination award from the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.
The tribunal on Wednesday ordered the group's employers SELI Canada and SNC Lavalin to pay every member of the complainant group — who were all Latin Americans — $10,000 each as compensation for injurity to dignity, feelings and self-respect.
It noted that for two years, the treatment conveyed to the workers was that they were “worth less and less worthy than other employees because they were Latin American.”
The workers were paid substantially less than their European counterparts, forced to live in a motel rather than upscale condos close to the job site and made to account for any reimbursements received rather than receiving a monthly allowance to do with that they pleased, the tribunal noted.
“While the feelings and the self-respect of the Latin Americans was impacted, this case is primarily about dignity,” the tribunal ruled. “They worked side by side with Europeans who were paid substaintially more than they were for performing subtantially the same work.”
The tribunal noted that as foreign workers who spoke no English, they were “uniquely vulnerable.” “So long as they continued to work on the Canada Line project, they were unable to escape the discriminatory treatment that pervaded every aspect of the working and leisure lives.”
SELI Canada and SNC Lavalin, which were boring parallel tunnels under downtown Vancouver, have been under the microscope since early last year after a series of complaints to the Labour Relations Board, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal and the provincial Employment Standards Branch over its treatment of foreign workers.
The Construction and Specialized Workers Union Local 1611 had alleged the employer, which was originally paying the 39 mostly Latin American workers $12,000 US per year, unilaterally altered their contract to raise their pay to $20,000 US after they joined the union in mid-2006.
That undermined the union's bargaining powers and let the employer set a wage that was below local labour standards, said the union in its filings. The workers were netting about $20,000 US per year, roughly $14 an hour, plus room and board — about three times what they would make in their own countries but $10 per hour less than the $23 to $24 an hour, plus $4-per-hour benefits, being paid to most local union workers, the union says.
SELI Canada and SNC Lavalin denied allegations that they fraudulently altered the workers' contracts and then covered it up.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
BCHRT Final Decision
Construction and Specialized Workers' Union Local 1611 obo Foreign Workers v. SELI Canada Inc., SNCP-SELI Joint Venture and SNC Lavalin Constructors (Pacific) Inc. (No. 8)
(Final Decision - Grounds: Race, Colour, Ancestry and Place of Origin - Area: Section 13 - Employment)
2008 BCHRT 436
************************************************
International Day of Persons with Disabilities – December 3rd
3 December 2008 -- The International Day of Disabled Persons was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1992. The annual observance of the Day aims to increase awareness and understanding of disability issues and trends, and to mobilise support for practical action at all levels, by, with and for persons with disabilities.
With the coming into force on 3 May 2008 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, advocates for disability rights have a powerful tool at their disposal. The 13 December 2006 adoption of the Convention by the UN General Assembly reflected an attitudinal change towards people with disabilities, to a recognition that persons with disabilities have the same inherent dignity, are capable of claiming their rights, and should be participating members of society. However, most countries have not yet ratified the Convention.
- Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons
- Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Convention on the Rights of the Child
- ILO Code of Practice on Managing Disability in the Workplace
Study guide on the rights of persons with disabilities
A quick introduction in the human rights of persons with disabilities, and ways to promote and protect them.
Guide to Disability Rights (and dealing with the system)
(The Council for Disability Rights)
This guide provides practical information on employment, free medication, social security benefits, special education, and tax benefits.
********************************************
Get Your Vote in for BC's Most Influential People here.
Foreign Canada Line workers win multi-million dollar human rights case
By Kelly Sinoski (December 3, 2008). The Vancouver Sun.
VANCOUVER -- A group of temporary foreign workers who helped build the Canada Line have won a multi-million dollar discrimination award from the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.
The tribunal on Wednesday ordered the group's employers SELI Canada and SNC Lavalin to pay every member of the complainant group — who were all Latin Americans — $10,000 each as compensation for injurity to dignity, feelings and self-respect.
It noted that for two years, the treatment conveyed to the workers was that they were “worth less and less worthy than other employees because they were Latin American.”
The workers were paid substantially less than their European counterparts, forced to live in a motel rather than upscale condos close to the job site and made to account for any reimbursements received rather than receiving a monthly allowance to do with that they pleased, the tribunal noted.
“While the feelings and the self-respect of the Latin Americans was impacted, this case is primarily about dignity,” the tribunal ruled. “They worked side by side with Europeans who were paid substaintially more than they were for performing subtantially the same work.”
The tribunal noted that as foreign workers who spoke no English, they were “uniquely vulnerable.” “So long as they continued to work on the Canada Line project, they were unable to escape the discriminatory treatment that pervaded every aspect of the working and leisure lives.”
SELI Canada and SNC Lavalin, which were boring parallel tunnels under downtown Vancouver, have been under the microscope since early last year after a series of complaints to the Labour Relations Board, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal and the provincial Employment Standards Branch over its treatment of foreign workers.
The Construction and Specialized Workers Union Local 1611 had alleged the employer, which was originally paying the 39 mostly Latin American workers $12,000 US per year, unilaterally altered their contract to raise their pay to $20,000 US after they joined the union in mid-2006.
That undermined the union's bargaining powers and let the employer set a wage that was below local labour standards, said the union in its filings. The workers were netting about $20,000 US per year, roughly $14 an hour, plus room and board — about three times what they would make in their own countries but $10 per hour less than the $23 to $24 an hour, plus $4-per-hour benefits, being paid to most local union workers, the union says.
SELI Canada and SNC Lavalin denied allegations that they fraudulently altered the workers' contracts and then covered it up.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
BCHRT Final Decision
Construction and Specialized Workers' Union Local 1611 obo Foreign Workers v. SELI Canada Inc., SNCP-SELI Joint Venture and SNC Lavalin Constructors (Pacific) Inc. (No. 8)
(Final Decision - Grounds: Race, Colour, Ancestry and Place of Origin - Area: Section 13 - Employment)
2008 BCHRT 436
************************************************
International Day of Persons with Disabilities – December 3rd
3 December 2008 -- The International Day of Disabled Persons was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1992. The annual observance of the Day aims to increase awareness and understanding of disability issues and trends, and to mobilise support for practical action at all levels, by, with and for persons with disabilities.
With the coming into force on 3 May 2008 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, advocates for disability rights have a powerful tool at their disposal. The 13 December 2006 adoption of the Convention by the UN General Assembly reflected an attitudinal change towards people with disabilities, to a recognition that persons with disabilities have the same inherent dignity, are capable of claiming their rights, and should be participating members of society. However, most countries have not yet ratified the Convention.
- Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons
- Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Convention on the Rights of the Child
- ILO Code of Practice on Managing Disability in the Workplace
Study guide on the rights of persons with disabilities
A quick introduction in the human rights of persons with disabilities, and ways to promote and protect them.
Guide to Disability Rights (and dealing with the system)
(The Council for Disability Rights)
This guide provides practical information on employment, free medication, social security benefits, special education, and tax benefits.
********************************************
Get Your Vote in for BC's Most Influential People here.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Cheers, Rally, Watch & Read
Congratulations to David Eby & the BC Civil Liberties Association
(BCCLA)who have joined forces (again), with Eby being appointed the new acting Executive Director.
Eby is of course an accomplished lawyer with Pivot Legal Society, which has been involved in excellent social justice work through strategic litigation and a variety of ways.
Make sure to check out their: Full Moon Xmas
Save this date! December 12.
Full Moon Friday Fundraiser.
9 p.m. to 4 a.m. details here
********************************************
National Labour Rally
Rally in support of a coalition government!!
Thursday, December 4
6 pm - doors at 5 pm
Trade & Convention Ctr, Vancouver
Please encourage everyone to attend.
********************************************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2, 2008
10:00 a.m.
CONTACT: The Real News Network
Taruna Godric, 416-916-5202 ext. 414
E-mail: smcommunications@therealnews.com
Website: http://www.therealnews.com
Canada: Liberals NDP Bloc sign deal to oust Tories
Opposition parties make agreement to defeat Harper government on belt tightening economic plan
The Liberals and the New Democrats have a deal to form a coaliton government and push the Stephen Harper Conservatives out of office. The agreement was also signed by the Bloc Quebecois although they will not be part of the coalition. Liberal leader Stepahne Dion and the NDP's Jack Layton signed the accord which would see the two parties work together until June 2011. Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Quebecois also signed the agreement which would see his party support the coalition till June 2010, though the BQ would not be part of the coalition.
The move comes after finance minister Jim Flaherty tabled an economic and fiscal update last week that did not include a stimulus package for the recession that has gripped the Canadian and global economies.
The Conservatives have attacked the idea of a coalition saying it was unconstitutional and went as far as recording a conference call by the NDP caucus trying to say that this was not about the economy but a power grab. The Bloc and NDP responded by reminding Harper that he had asked for a similar agreement in 2005 when he tried to topple then Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority government. The deal by the Liberals and the New Democrats would see a 24 member cabinet with the Liberals getting eighteen ministers and the NDP getting 6 as well as 6 parliamentary secretaries. This would be historic because the New Democrats have never formed or been part of the Federal government in Canada. The question remained of who would lead the coalition as Liberal Leader Stephane Dion will be stepping down after the Liberal Leadership convention.
For video coverage of this story visit our website:
********************************************
Best place on earth to be an advertiser
“How is it possible that the ‘best place on Earth’ is also the worst province in Canada for child poverty five years in a row?
“How is it possible that Premier Gordon Campbell can give out thousands of gold medals with his own name arrogantly stamped across the face to construction workers on multimillion-dollar provincial projects while one in five children live in deprivation?
“And how is it possible that a government spends millions on feel-good television ads about how wonderful this province is, while thousands of homeless walk the streets?”
- Bill Tieleman (24 Hours), Nov. 25, 2008
Why the Basi-Virk case still matters - a really good summary of how BC got to the 5th anniversary of the Basi-Virk/Sale of BC Rail/Raid of the Legislature case.
Bill Tieleman’s 24 Hours Column
Tuesday December 2, 2008
(BCCLA)who have joined forces (again), with Eby being appointed the new acting Executive Director.
Eby is of course an accomplished lawyer with Pivot Legal Society, which has been involved in excellent social justice work through strategic litigation and a variety of ways.
Make sure to check out their: Full Moon Xmas
Save this date! December 12.
Full Moon Friday Fundraiser.
9 p.m. to 4 a.m. details here
********************************************
National Labour Rally
Rally in support of a coalition government!!
Thursday, December 4
6 pm - doors at 5 pm
Trade & Convention Ctr, Vancouver
Please encourage everyone to attend.
********************************************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2, 2008
10:00 a.m.
CONTACT: The Real News Network
Taruna Godric, 416-916-5202 ext. 414
E-mail: smcommunications@therealnews.com
Website: http://www.therealnews.com
Canada: Liberals NDP Bloc sign deal to oust Tories
Opposition parties make agreement to defeat Harper government on belt tightening economic plan
The Liberals and the New Democrats have a deal to form a coaliton government and push the Stephen Harper Conservatives out of office. The agreement was also signed by the Bloc Quebecois although they will not be part of the coalition. Liberal leader Stepahne Dion and the NDP's Jack Layton signed the accord which would see the two parties work together until June 2011. Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Quebecois also signed the agreement which would see his party support the coalition till June 2010, though the BQ would not be part of the coalition.
The move comes after finance minister Jim Flaherty tabled an economic and fiscal update last week that did not include a stimulus package for the recession that has gripped the Canadian and global economies.
The Conservatives have attacked the idea of a coalition saying it was unconstitutional and went as far as recording a conference call by the NDP caucus trying to say that this was not about the economy but a power grab. The Bloc and NDP responded by reminding Harper that he had asked for a similar agreement in 2005 when he tried to topple then Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority government. The deal by the Liberals and the New Democrats would see a 24 member cabinet with the Liberals getting eighteen ministers and the NDP getting 6 as well as 6 parliamentary secretaries. This would be historic because the New Democrats have never formed or been part of the Federal government in Canada. The question remained of who would lead the coalition as Liberal Leader Stephane Dion will be stepping down after the Liberal Leadership convention.
For video coverage of this story visit our website:
********************************************
Best place on earth to be an advertiser
“How is it possible that the ‘best place on Earth’ is also the worst province in Canada for child poverty five years in a row?
“How is it possible that Premier Gordon Campbell can give out thousands of gold medals with his own name arrogantly stamped across the face to construction workers on multimillion-dollar provincial projects while one in five children live in deprivation?
“And how is it possible that a government spends millions on feel-good television ads about how wonderful this province is, while thousands of homeless walk the streets?”
- Bill Tieleman (24 Hours), Nov. 25, 2008
Why the Basi-Virk case still matters - a really good summary of how BC got to the 5th anniversary of the Basi-Virk/Sale of BC Rail/Raid of the Legislature case.
Bill Tieleman’s 24 Hours Column
Tuesday December 2, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Coalition Building: Bye Bye Conservatives
Canada needs to say goodbye to Stephen Harper and his corporate thugs
and American pimps. Our nation, like every other one on Earth, this
planet I've grown rather fond of, is in serious economic and environmental
trouble that has only just begun. We need a government that can work together
and listen to us, to prioritize what needs to be done for all Canadians.
I've read a variety of opinions on this and I believe that a Coalition
between the NDP, Liberals & the Bloc is the way to go for the survival of
Canada. I think it is time for a change in the way politics is done in
Canada, even for a time. What I know about the candidates in my party of
choice, is that they work their butts off, in Ottawa and at home, they
make themselves available and do the work of constituents. And what I
know in the last election, Stephen Harper's Conservatives went into hiding
and wouldn't even talk to voters. Remember Harpocracy.ca with it's
Muzzler Counter, tallying the reports of Conservative candidates who
dodged voters, who failed to show up for All Candidates meetings, who
just basically failed to even demonstrate basic respect for the citizens
they wanted to vote for them. Or how about sCandalpedia.
In the immortal words of Stephen Harper himself:
On Child Care and Early Learning Development
“We do not think this government or any government should be in charge of
raising our children. We see what happens over there when government is
in charge of raising children.” (Stephen Harper, Hansard, October 6, 2004)
On Child Poverty
“These proposals included cries for billions of new money for social assistance
in the name of “child poverty” and for more business subsidies in the name of “cultural identity”. In both cases I was sought out as a rare public figure to oppose such projects.” (Stephen Harper, The Bulldog, National Citizens Coalition, February 1997)
"You’ve got to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from eastern Canada: people who live in ghettoes and who are not integrated into western Canadian society."
- The Report newsmagazine, January 22, 2001
Let these people know that as a Citizen of Canada, you support the
formation of a Coalition between the parties and that the Conservative
government will cease to govern and exist in Canada.
Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean Governor General of Canada
E-mail: info@gg.ca
Office of the Secretary to the Governor General's Office
1 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1A 0A1
Telephone:(613) 993-8200 Fax:(613) 993-1967
Find Your Member of Parliament
Members of The House Of Commons
Find your Member of Parliament using your Postal Code
Stephane Dion: Dion.S@parl.gc.ca
Telephone: (613) 996-5789; Fax: (613) 996-6562
Jack Layton: Layton.J@parl.gc.ca
Telephone: (613) 995-7224; Fax: (613) 995-4565
Gilles Du Ceppe: Duceppe.G@parl.gc.ca
Telephone: (613) 992-6779; Fax: (613) 954-2121
Libby Davies:Telephone: Davies.L@parl.gc.ca
Telephone: (604) 775-5800; Fax: (604) 775-5811
2412 Main Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V5T 3E2
Don Davies: Davies.D@parl.gc.ca
2951 Kingsway Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia V5R 5J4
Here is a petition to sign by the Canadian Labour Congress:
I support a Coalition Government
****************************************
A Pleasure Pack of Political Pundits
Best Move for Liberals: Govern by Coalition
By Murray Dobbin. Published: November 19, 2008. TheTyee.ca
Coalition? Tories? A Pox on All!/
Rafe Mair. Published: December 1, 2008. TheTyee.ca
Coalition? Back off Jack!
NDP is crazy to team with Liberals and Bloc. Besides, Harper won. Bill Tieleman. Published: December 2, 2008. TheTyee.ca
B.C. bloggers react to coalition
The Hook.ca
Chinese in Vancouver
Susannah Ng.
Harper's Loss of Confidence
David Schreck, Strategic Thoughts.
From a speech to the Council for National Policy, a conservative American lobby group, June 1997, as reported by the CBC:
In terms of the unemployed... don't feel particularly bad for many of these people. They don't feel bad about it themselves, as long as they're receiving generous social assistance and unemployment insurance.
The Reform party is very much a modern manifestation of the Republican movement in Western Canada; the U.S. Republicans started in the western United States.
and American pimps. Our nation, like every other one on Earth, this
planet I've grown rather fond of, is in serious economic and environmental
trouble that has only just begun. We need a government that can work together
and listen to us, to prioritize what needs to be done for all Canadians.
I've read a variety of opinions on this and I believe that a Coalition
between the NDP, Liberals & the Bloc is the way to go for the survival of
Canada. I think it is time for a change in the way politics is done in
Canada, even for a time. What I know about the candidates in my party of
choice, is that they work their butts off, in Ottawa and at home, they
make themselves available and do the work of constituents. And what I
know in the last election, Stephen Harper's Conservatives went into hiding
and wouldn't even talk to voters. Remember Harpocracy.ca with it's
Muzzler Counter, tallying the reports of Conservative candidates who
dodged voters, who failed to show up for All Candidates meetings, who
just basically failed to even demonstrate basic respect for the citizens
they wanted to vote for them. Or how about sCandalpedia.
In the immortal words of Stephen Harper himself:
On Child Care and Early Learning Development
“We do not think this government or any government should be in charge of
raising our children. We see what happens over there when government is
in charge of raising children.” (Stephen Harper, Hansard, October 6, 2004)
On Child Poverty
“These proposals included cries for billions of new money for social assistance
in the name of “child poverty” and for more business subsidies in the name of “cultural identity”. In both cases I was sought out as a rare public figure to oppose such projects.” (Stephen Harper, The Bulldog, National Citizens Coalition, February 1997)
"You’ve got to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from eastern Canada: people who live in ghettoes and who are not integrated into western Canadian society."
- The Report newsmagazine, January 22, 2001
Let these people know that as a Citizen of Canada, you support the
formation of a Coalition between the parties and that the Conservative
government will cease to govern and exist in Canada.
Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean Governor General of Canada
E-mail: info@gg.ca
Office of the Secretary to the Governor General's Office
1 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1A 0A1
Telephone:(613) 993-8200 Fax:(613) 993-1967
Find Your Member of Parliament
Members of The House Of Commons
Find your Member of Parliament using your Postal Code
Stephane Dion: Dion.S@parl.gc.ca
Telephone: (613) 996-5789; Fax: (613) 996-6562
Jack Layton: Layton.J@parl.gc.ca
Telephone: (613) 995-7224; Fax: (613) 995-4565
Gilles Du Ceppe: Duceppe.G@parl.gc.ca
Telephone: (613) 992-6779; Fax: (613) 954-2121
Libby Davies:Telephone: Davies.L@parl.gc.ca
Telephone: (604) 775-5800; Fax: (604) 775-5811
2412 Main Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V5T 3E2
Don Davies: Davies.D@parl.gc.ca
2951 Kingsway Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia V5R 5J4
Here is a petition to sign by the Canadian Labour Congress:
I support a Coalition Government
****************************************
A Pleasure Pack of Political Pundits
Best Move for Liberals: Govern by Coalition
By Murray Dobbin. Published: November 19, 2008. TheTyee.ca
Coalition? Tories? A Pox on All!/
Rafe Mair. Published: December 1, 2008. TheTyee.ca
Coalition? Back off Jack!
NDP is crazy to team with Liberals and Bloc. Besides, Harper won. Bill Tieleman. Published: December 2, 2008. TheTyee.ca
B.C. bloggers react to coalition
The Hook.ca
Chinese in Vancouver
Susannah Ng.
Harper's Loss of Confidence
David Schreck, Strategic Thoughts.
From a speech to the Council for National Policy, a conservative American lobby group, June 1997, as reported by the CBC:
In terms of the unemployed... don't feel particularly bad for many of these people. They don't feel bad about it themselves, as long as they're receiving generous social assistance and unemployment insurance.
The Reform party is very much a modern manifestation of the Republican movement in Western Canada; the U.S. Republicans started in the western United States.
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