Women in Provincial Politics Get the Nod

Former University of Ottawa student and winner of the CBC Canada's Next Great Prime Minister, Amy Robichaud has put out a call for people to donate to the coffers of women who are running for Member of Provincial Parliament positions in the October 6/11 election.
The site is www.fundher.ca

To read about Ms. Robichaud's selection for Canada's Next Great Prime Minister, please go here:

http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/news-details_1645.html

You can listen to Ms. Robichaud's speech inviting people to vote for her as our prime minister here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=22zkeR9rO8c

Great Minds are Thinking Alike

Betty Krawczyk in BC thinks that the women of Canada should form their own party.

My goodness gracious me! What an absolutely superb idea!

From today's Rabble

Meeting to build a women's party for Canada

By Betty Krawczyk

| August 15, 2011

Numerous women, in asking about our fledgling Women's Party, have wanted answers to specific questions such as: What are the goals for your party? What are the issues you intend to focus on? What populations are you aiming to reach?

When I answer that I don't know, they are nonplussed. I try to explain that these answers will emerge from the meetings themselves as women get to know and trust each other, that we are searching not only for answers to concrete questions but searching for a vision.

And who knows what we may find? All great movements start somewhere. And our world is sick. The waters and woods and top soils of this earth are sick. Over half the world's forests are gone and many fish are left trying to live and reproduce in oceans of accumulated plastics and industrial effluents in many parts of the world. Wild land animals are dying off and many of the ones raised for food are sickened in their growth by chemicals and hormones. Human populations on the other side of the world are torn apart by war, hunger, and early death, while depression, obesity, cancer and Alzheimer's darken our side of the world.

The pharmaceuticals are riding high. Many of us are attached to the pharmaceutical industry, begging for relief from pain, both psychic and physical suffering, while industry processing, whether of food, plastics or herbicides, use compounds that mimic sex hormones, specifically estrogen.

Sometimes, as in the newly manufactured salmon being groomed for the fish farms and stocked in B.C. lakes (this from Dr. Edward M. Donaldson, DFO), estrogen is applied directly to the fish to make them fat and infertile. A totally transgenic salmon (genetically modified) is being groomed for market (AquaBounty). And as soon as this salmon is accepted (dubbed FrankenFish by the media) there is a genetically modified pig awaiting introduction to the market (Revivicor.)

The fact that we don't even know how much genetically modified plant foods we women are feeding our families is an exceedingly shameful thing. Many of our little girls are having their first menses at frightening young ages and male sperm count has dropped 50 per cent in the last 50 years. Is there no end to this despoiling of the earth and the deliberate interruption of natural reproduction processes of her creatures?

Apparently not. Enter the idea for a women's party. What have women to lose from coming together to try to build a strong, common voice that can serve as an alternative to the run-amok alpha males who have brought the earth and all her creatures to the brink? There is nothing anywhere, except in religious scriptures written by men that say men must be the sole decision makers of war, peace, boundaries, banks, buildings and food supplies. Women have different brains, and usually different visions. In my opinion, it's past time for women to come together and ponder what kind of a society we really want, what kind of a vision we must have in order to create a new world.

But that's dreaming, you say? I don't think so. I believe women are tired of trying to make sense of the world men have created. Furthermore, it's lethal. Women are getting educated in higher numbers than men are now. The only thing that prevents women from demanding an equal say in running the earth ship is fear, fear of ridicule, fear of losing men's love, of losing other women's friendships, of losing jobs, apartments, cars, even kids... the fear factor latches onto everything. Fear was bred into us along with mother's milk, how to be quiet, smile, and even though it's okay now to be thought brainy, just don't flaunt it, remember men still run all the important agencies, they still have the police, the military, the prisons, the government, in fact... men still rule the world. But must they?

Things can't continue the way they are. Even if women did nothing, things can't continue the way they are. The male-dominated economic and social policies of the Western world are imploding as we speak of their own accord. Those of us interested in forming a women's party will be meeting again on Sept. 14 in Vancouver. To talk things over. To explore our inner visions of what a truly equal, compassionate and healthy society for all might look like. We have nothing to lose by doing this and more to gain than we might ever have imagined in our wildest dreams.

Why the need for a women's party?

Even after women gained the vote in the Western world, the old perception of women's brain power lingered for a long time. This perceived male concept of women's brains comparing negatively to men's, was one that acknowledged that while women's brains were somewhat like men's brains; they were definitely smaller and prone to unreasonable emotion. And because of the smaller, unreasonably emotional caveat put forth, it was still okay for men to speak for women. And this has been a hard perception to shake, even after the second wave of feminism in the 60s.

However, today more women are in science and have kindly pointed out to their male colleagues that women as a rule, women are smaller than men and human brains are weight sensitive. A person's brain, male or female won't grow disproportionally to the person's body. Just as women doctors have pointed out that women shouldn't be strapped down in childbirth with their bottoms pointed to the ceiling so the male doctor wouldn't have to bend over to catch the baby as was the practice for my generation. But there are two areas in which the male and female brain diverge widely and in my opinion, why women must start applying for world leadership. These two areas? War and male one upmanship.

Male one upmanship is a terrible thing. It almost wiped out the entire human race in 1962 when U.S. President Kennedy and the Russians squared off over the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Any woman interested in coming together and contemplating such a group for discussion and action can email me: betty.krawczyk@gmail.com

Betty Krawczyk, born American 82 years ago, but reborn as a Canadian in 1966, fell in love with the old-growth forests of British Columbia at first sight. Now a great-grandmother, she lives, breaths, writes and speaks of the necessity of saving our public resources for the people of British Columbia and Canada. She has spent over three years in B.C. jails and prisons for blockading corporate logging trucks in public forests. Krawczyk is the author of three books: Clayoquot: The sound of my heart, Lock Me Up Or Let Me Go and Open Living Confidential. She has a new book coming out on June 19, 2011, entitled This Dangerous Place: My journey between the passions of the living and the dead. Krawczyk lives and works in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island, and can be contacted at www.bettykrawczyk.ca.

http://rabble.ca/news/2011/08/meeting-build-womens-party-canada

Addressing the Politics of Women's Rights

From unequal salaries to a
poor national childcare policy,
there isn’t alot being done for
women in Canada, and many
organizations that served
women have been demolished.
perhaps it’s time for a
new political reform.




Esther Matharu and Shannon Lee Mannion in Ottawa


Addressing the Politics of Women's Rights

by Pauleanna Reid
photo by Krishen Matharu

In January 2011, Shannon Lee Mannion
and Esther Matharu formed
the Women’s Alliance Party of Canada
(WAP). Although the WAP was
founded by women, for women, Mannion,
spokesperson and founder, clarifies
that the party’s political involvement
is not exclusive to women. She
explains that men are welcome to
participate however; the WAP’s main
focus remains the lack of concern
for women’s issues. “Someone needs
to stand up and say you know what,
there’s a problem here,” says Mannion,
whose proactive voice sheds
light onto key issues that have been
over looked.

Read the rest of the article here:

http://doc.mediaplanet.com/all_projects/7392.pdf

A Precipitous Turn to the Right?

Leo Panitch certainly things so as he says in an interview with Real News' Paul Jay.

http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?r=1664&c=905375&l=36646&ctl=168EFB9:DAE159C4C9D0D30DD6052EDC9F87083FEDC3615173C7E546&

Leo Panitch is the Canada Research Chair in Comparative Political Economy and a Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science at York University in Toronto. Panitch is also the author of "Global Capitalism and American Empire" and his most recent release "American Empire and the Political Economy of International Finance". In addition to his university affiliation he is also a co-editor of the Socialist Register the latest volume of which is The Crisis This Time

Our Party Has a Forum - PARTICIPATE!

Good morning,

Must admit, I've not been participating in the party forum either but today, I registered and now join Mireille and Esther as contributors.

What a great opportunity for everyone to have a say, to express our political interests and to generate discussion.

Registration is very easy. Simply go to our website www.womensallianceparty.com
click on Join the Conversation (one up from the last entry under Issues) and follow the easy instructions. Don't forget to confirm your registration by returning to your email and following the direction to "click here".

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Dennis Kucinich Just Says No

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/282-98/6025-saying-no-to-permanent-global-war

Saying No to Permanent Global War
By Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Reader Supported News
23 May 11

The House is expected to vote soon on a bill that hands over to the president Congress' constitutional authority to declare and authorize war, substantially altering the delicate balance of powers that the Founding Fathers envisioned. The annual reauthorization of the Department of Defense contains unprecedented and dangerous language that gives the president virtually unchecked power to take the country to war and keep us there. This bill significantly undermines the Constitution, the institution of Congress and sets the United States on a path of permanent war.

The Fiscal Year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) declares that the United States is in an armed conflict with not only al Qaeda and the Taliban, but "associated forces" and individuals, organizations and nations that support such forces. The president could then have the full legal authority to send American troops to engage in acts of war anywhere - Yemen, Somalia, Iran, even the United States - without constitutionally required Congressional authorization and, consequently, without any restrictions or oversight from the American people or Congress. This bill would also make permanent the degradation of law and human rights which has become Guantanamo. It imposes bans on the transfer of any detainee held at Guantanamo, including those who have been cleared of any charges. This means that the United States would be forced to keep imprisoning men who are known to be innocent or are not a threat. This bill not only allows the imprisonment of innocent people, but could mandate it. The bill also prevents the use of Article III federal courts for the trial of most terrorism suspects. This circumvents our system of justice and our protections under the Constitution, showing a lack of faith in US law enforcement and courts which are the constitutional venues for stopping terrorism. Our federal courts have a long history of trying terrorist suspects, while military courts are untested, lacking in legitimacy and of questionable effectiveness. Since 9/11, federal courts have prosecuted over 400 terrorism-related cases, while military courts have convicted only six.

It's as if the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan never happened. These wars cost thousands of lives of our men and women in uniform, and perhaps a million civilian lives, with long-term costs approaching $5 trillion. Yet, in light of the attempt to try to make permanent an authorization for war, it is as if the consequences of the wars we are in have not occurred. It's as if our "humanitarian" military intervention in Libya, which has helped create full blown civil war and which has ensnared us in yet another military stalemate in the region, never happened. It is as if centuries of evidence of the ramifications of the military overreach of empires never happened. It's as if the Constitution, which requires Congress to have a say in when and where we go to war and which guarantees U.S. citizens the right to a fair and speedy trial, was never written.

Congress must protect the American people from the over-reach of any Chief Executive who is enamored with unilateralism, pre-emption, first strike and the power to prosecute war without Constitutional or statutory proscriptions. Permanent, global war is not the answer. It will not increase our national security. Far from ridding the world of terrorism, it will become a terrorist recruitment program.

Now They Tell Us

Almost half of Canadians would prefer some form of proportional representation to our first-past-the-post system, which has allowed the Conservatives and Liberals to form majorities with less than 40 per cent of the popular vote.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/decision-canada/Poll+National+election+jolted+Canadians+passion+politics/4787635/story.html

WAP Welcomes Ms. May to Ottawa

Good morning Elizabeth!

Congratulations on being the first Green MP to hit Ottawa!

Also for being one of the first woman party leader!

We, as women, are thrilled to have you come to Ottawa. One voice that speaks truthfully, with focus and integrity, is all we need to start reversing the awful trend we are now in.

WAP/PAF offers you our support in Ottawa. Just let us know!

Esther Matharu
www.womensallianceparty.ca




Dear Esther,

Thank you so much for your kind, supportive words. On May 2nd, we made history and proved that Canadians wanted change. I am honoured to thank you as Canada’s first elected Green Party Member of Parliament.

There is no way to thank all of the people who made this historic win possible. Across the country, Green Party candidates worked hard in their ridings, canvassing, attending debates, and articulating the Green vision for Canada. In my own riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands, we had a team of 2000 volunteers working on the ground to deliver our message. It has been incredibly inspiring to see people join me, whether at 6AM in the pouring rain to wave at morning commuters, or to go door-to-door canvassing with me, or joining me at the all-candidates debates. Without our team of dedicated volunteers, this win would not have been possible.

With my election, the people of Saanich-Gulf Islands have committed to rejecting the politics of cynicism and fear, and have embraced the politics of hope and cooperation. We need to bring respect back to the House of Commons.

Our work has just begun, and now I am going to need your help to prove that one Green MP with a different approach can remain free from hyper-partisanship and cynicism brought to the House by Canada’s old-line parties.

One MP, free from negative politics can make a difference, and I promise you that I will never shirk from speaking truth to power, nor will I embrace the politics of spin.

Thank you again for your support,

Elizabeth May, O.C.

MP Elect for Saanich-Gulf Islands

Leader

Green Party of Canada

greenparty.ca

1-866-868-3447

Oh Canada, What Have We Done?

Prime minister Stephen Harper – Canada's own George Bush – during a 2008 speech in Ottawa. Photograph: Chris Wattie/REUTERS

Canada's Cold New Dawn

by Heather Mallick

published in The Guardian London

Canada woke up to an election shock this morning. It was a self-inflicted jolt, and all the more painful for that. After three minority governments in seven years – all following inconclusive, forgettable elections that never gave the Conservatives the solid majority they were sweating for – a man of the hard right named Stephen Harper finally has his win.

He triumphed over Michael Ignatieff – known to the British as a fine writer, historian and BBC talking head – who had returned to Canada to lead the Liberals, often described as the country's traditional party of government. Instead, Ignatieff got whacked, and the left-leaning New Democratic party did very well indeed, astonishing even themselves. To put this in British terms, the Liberals (New Labour) were humiliated, the New Democrats (the Liberal Democrats) came in a powerful second and a Canadian version of George W Bush, minus the warmth and intellect, is now prime minister.

What happens now is the full-scale Americanisation of Canada, hinted at over the past seven years by Harper – he fired people who talked too loudly about this – but not acted upon because Canadians have always valued their distinctiveness from the angry country in decline south of the border.

Please read rest of the article here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/03/canada-stephen-harper-american-politics

Esther Matharu on Election Blues

I don’t know about you but after the elections, a great tiredness came over me. The idea that we had to continue to fight for such elementary things as votes that count (electoral reform), child-care support (why should something be run as a business when the majority of Canadians see child care as a national human rights issue like the right to health care), and the sheer offensiveness of the guns, jails and wars that the current PM will exact from our purses at the expense of our poor, is staggering. Enough to send anyone to bed with an acute headache!

After a few days of numbness, time to lick our wounds, as eloquently wrote David Julianan Wightman in the X-Ray Magazine (http://xraymagazine.ca/22/) editorial, we pick up the pieces and start thinking of what now?

Post mortems are sometimes fun, but it all adds to the fatigue. I personally am very selective with my post mortems. I’d rather not think about the elections. I’d rather think about nice things, spring, for example.

But it won’t go away. Is there any other angle to this? Happily, we can thank women for most of the good news.

There are more women in the House than ever before – a jump from 20% to 25%. That means every fourth person is a woman, instead of every fifth. Thanks to NDP.

Elizabeth May will be in Parliament, and she has already indicated that the moment they start ‘bickering’ to use a now infamous word use by a contemptuous person, she simply walk out. What a powerful message! I hope that every woman in the House will follow her out. I hope they will all go and have a cup of tea and discuss how best to run our country. I hope they will talk about issues and not parties, about families and not money, about peace and not war.

How about we envision what we would like to see happening in the next years?

Certainly the ridicule that Canada has heaped on its head - an unpopular leader backed by less than 40% of the electorate is now sitting in a place of practically unbridled power because of the weakness of our constitution - is something we would like very much to see reversed. To quote the late Eugene Forsey’s excellent ‘How Canadians Govern Themselves’ (7^th edition): The constitution still contains not one syllable on prime ministerial qualifications, the method of election or removal, or the prime minister’s powers (except for the calling of constitutional conferences).

So who writes up and/or protects the Constitution? The Supreme Court. It is this body that interprets the written Constitution and defines the limits of federal and provincial powers. Who appoints the nine judges who sit on the Supreme Court? The Governor General on the advice of the national cabinet. Ah yes. But who appoints the Governor General, or for that matter the national cabinet members? Her Majesty the Queen, accepts the advice of the Prime Minister on who should be the Governor General and he/she chooses the cabinet . There you have it, full circle. The PM appoints the cabinet members, the Governor General and the Supreme Court judges, who are the only ones who can interpret the constitution and define the powers (of the PM!).

Maybe I am wrong, and please correct me, but I think something is very wrong with our constitution which gives so much power to one person. One only hopes that in our current leader we will have a benevolent dictator who will rule us with benevolence.

But back to the future. The Women’s Alliance Party says stop spilling soup over who split the votes and how, and get down to having a major constitutional reform. Call out the lawyers, the pundits and the wise women and men. Now is time to put democracy back on the agenda and see what needs to be done to protect it. Obviously it needs safeguarding

Women's Alliance Welcomes People's Political Power Party

Esther writes to the newly-formed People's Political Power Party of Canada.

April 28, 2011

It is good that Canada has a new political party that stands for peace and harmony. All parties who believe in the same values need to get together and refuse to be divided by partisianship politics. Divide and rule? Old trick! Focus on one Leader? Destroys team work and unity. Together we can say, NO!

Esther

Women’s Alliance Party

Dear Esther,

Thank you for writing to us.

When absolute peace and harmony exist within a nation, boundaries, limitations, separation and division can no longer exist. This can only become a reality when its people work together as a family, side by side as brother and sister with the same vision at heart and in mind: in working together for the betterment of the nation as a whole - not for the select few. The foundation of such is absolute honesty, respect and true love for all.

We have seen proof that Canada can become such a nation of peace and harmony. In a time of disaster, such as the floods we are seeing in Canada now, we see people coming together of all races, classes, faiths; rich or poor, working side by side to help one another, from impending disaster. They truly work together as one for a greater cause other than themselves. We see this happen also in a time of war, but why not in a time of peace? It is not a dream.

A true Leader is one who serves. Like a good mother or father they truly learn to serve the ones they are entrusted to, by love. Too many so-called 'leaders' of today think they are so intelligent and know everything, with plans and agendas to overtake a nation and its people, not learning to listen to wisdom and be honest. They believe they are more important than others, seeking only to benefit a select few by domination, pride and so-called 'intelligence'. But they aren't 'wise men' - they are too blind to recognize the real treasure or gold of a nation are its people.

By working together, a nation (like Canada) can move forward and plan the future, for the betterment of all, through the gifts of each and every person. These Leaders must learn to humble themselves, to be honest, to respect and more importantly to serve by love in recognizing wisdom. Only through wisdom can one truly learn serve, to recognize how important it is not to just 'do your duty' but to truly love others from the heart. With this, trust and loyalty of a nation is earned, because people will recognize you truly care.

The PPP Team

What People are Saying about the Election

Anna Di Carlo: “A Harper Government has absolutely no intention of sharing power with anyone. The age of reasonable accommodations is over. Today, the concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer hands is accompanied by the concentration of political power in fewer and fewer hands. This is why Parliament doesn't "work." It is paralyzed because the party in power refuses to "reasonably accommodate" any interests save the dominant monopoly interests.”

National Leader MLPC, Etobicoke North

Elizabeth May: “This is definitely going to be a much more aggressive and unrestrained government.”

Green Party leader and newly elected first Green party MP in Canada

Bronwen Bruch: “The Conservative party increased their vote percentage by less than two points, but this allowed them to win 24 more seats than in 2008, when they were already over-represented. Stephen Harper calls this a ‘decisive endorsement’, but we call it a rip-off.”

President of Fair Vote Canada (FVC)

Esther Matharu: “It is time for us to stop fighting ‘against’ the current government and concentrate on defining a new, united and progressive Canada, a Canada that works ‘for’ the people. A new paradigm is needed. Citizens can act as a force outside the government to change it. The people can and must speak.”

Current leader of the Women’s Alliance Party

Osama bin Laden 1959 - 2011

Esther writes:

To whom does it profit and Why we should mourn the killing of Osama son of Laden

We were told a while back that Osama was dead when, in 2001, we were informed of his demise. Now, the old card is brought out of a loaded pack from the hands of known cheaters and liars and we are told he is dead, all over again.

As the West cheers, the skeptics ask for a body, but there is none to show.

Question: What does that mean to us, citizens of the world, those of us who love peace and have been appalled by the rising militarism in our ‘civilized’ countries? Why are we disgusted by the spectacle of this ten year+ ‘most wanted man’ by the US, living in hiding in Pakistan, where he was supposedly identified and subsequently downed, shot in the face (no one will recognize him), identified by his wife and DNA (so they say), his body shrouded, prayed over and dumped in the seas in a manner that no one can ever find it again, eaten by fish and sharks, ostensibly to stop people from praying over his grave?

Answer: We should be disturbed by the news of his death, not just because of the manner in which it was carried out; not just because of the time these people chose to ‘destroy’ Osama; not just because of the barbaric depictions with which his assassination is being celebrated; not just because the same day we mourn the assassination of Khadafy’s son, a 29-year-old father of three innocent children, all killed supposedly by a cowardly drone attack. All these too, but also add to that the injection of fear that we must now live with. Fear that this is the beginning of the end, which looks so much like a provocation by the US-led NATO to take the war from an entire region to the world. Fear, also, that that rogue nation among rogue nations, Israel, will launch its pre-meditated attack on Iran, and that this act in itself will be effectively ‘blamed’ on the hoped for violent ‘reaction’ of the Muslim world towards the provocative manner and timing of bin Laden’s murder.

Are we to forget that the so-called weapons of mass destruction allegedly to be found in Iraq were the excuse for an illegal invasion of a sovereign country, not much worse than any other dictatorship in the region, for example the US ally, Saudi Arabia? Are we to forget how it took only two years for the people in the US and Canada to be misinformed and psychologically prepared for such an event? Are we to forget the excuse of the illegal invasion of Afghanistan as the ‘hiding’ of Osama bin Laden by the ‘evil’ Taliban? Are we to forget the current NATO led attack on Libya? And what will it be for the other dictatorship countries in the region?

Naturally we are to forget all that. Make the world ‘feel’ a little more unsafe, ‘look’ like might is right, 'sound' like we, the peace-loving West are in the ‘right’, and we have a world of orchestrated chaos which is become the play ground of the weapons industry, the political elites of the industrial nations, the cold-war mentality that has never really gone away, and the rising outrage of the neo-slaves and hungry masses that need to be controlled (by what? by whom?)

There you have it, a closed vicious circle of a potential world war. We mourn because we see the stage set for a perpetual conflict. We mourn because we can say with some truth that Homo sapiens, this predatorial king of the jungle, will never learn from the lessons of the past, but will happily condemn all future generations to pay for their mistakes.

Women would never have done that, never have led us into so many wars, never have chosen the gun over the word, never have allowed us to spend so much on weapons and so little on care. That’s why we need more women in politics. That's why we need Comm-Unity.

And this is why the Women’s Alliance Party.

For a similar perspective, please see this article by John Bart Gerald.

http://nightslantern.ca/2011bulletin.htm#may2

Women's Alliance on the Hill with Steelworkers Local 1005

See more photos here:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=189818634397244&set=a.189816714397436.45324.100001073254865&type=1&theater

Vote for Change

Harper's Harpies rage against the Cheats and Creeps, the Liars and Thieves who are twisting our country totally out of shape. They scream that they ain't gonna take it no more and call on voters to go vote and get these despicable monsters out of government. This is just the beginning!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG976MStsZY

To Be or YouTu-Be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qbt9qDyQffY

There are so many messages to be covered during an election campaign, and this is but one of them presented today by three ordinary citizens.

Candidates Join Esther at Voter Social

Concerned parents and Code Blue for Child Care is working hard to make early learning and child care an election issue and as such, held a "Voter Social" at Centretown Parent's Day Care located at 94 James Street today.

Parents, staff and friends living in the federal riding of Ottawa-Centre were invited to the three story house that has housed the daycare for more than 20 years.

Today's agenda was about learning what the different federal parties have planned for early learning and child care. Esther was joined by Stuart Ryan, candidate for the Communist Party and Paul Dewar, NDP incumbent.

Stuart Ryan, Esther Matharu and Paul Dewar.

Helen Forsey on Canadian Democracy

Canadian Democracy at the Crossroads – Election 2011

Canadians are privileged to live in a democracy. Our parliamentary system has evolved over centuries, and our political parties reflect the diversity and freedom of thought we enjoy as citizens.

One result of this freedom and diversity is that in some elections, no one party wins a majority of seats in the House of Commons. This means that whichever party forms the government has to co-operate with others in order to get laws passed and stay in power. This is called “minority government”, and it can work very well. All it takes is honesty, respect, and a willingness to co-operate across differences.

However, the present government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper has thumbed its nose at our elected Parliament and made “minority” a dirty word. Harper’s Conservatives have misled the House of Commons, kept vital information secret, fired public safety watchdogs, systematically sabotaged parliamentary committees, and twice shut down Parliament itself rather than face criticism.

This election really is about our democracy. Canadians have a right to expect fairness, honesty and respect from our system of government. Instead, the Harper regime has given us five years of injustice, corruption and contempt.

Harper uses a stack of fairy tales about our parliamentary system to trick people into thinking they have to vote Conservative in order to avoid disaster. In reality, his threats about the opposition “seizing power” or forcing a fresh election are shameless scare tactics based on lies.

Lie #1: Coalitions are evil and illegitimate.

Not true. Coalitions are totally constitutional, and can be the most sensible way to govern co-operatively and respect the will of a majority of voters.

Lie #2: Canadians elect the prime minister.

Not true. We elect some 300 Members of Parliament to the House of Commons.

Lie #3: The party that wins the most seats necessarily forms the government.

Not true. The governing party must win – and keep – the confidence of our elected MPs through confidence votes in the House.

Lie #4: Defeating a government on a confidence motion forces a fresh election.

Not necessarily. If a recently elected House votes to defeat a government, the Governor General calls on the leader of the opposition to form a government and seek the confidence of the House.

Lie #5: It is an illegitimate “seizure of power” if the opposition accepts the Governor General’s invitation to replace a government that has lost the confidence of the House.

Not true. In fact, the opposition has what amounts to a constitutional duty to try to form a viable government with the recently elected Parliament, with no need for a repeat election.

As Prime Minister, Stephen Harper has treated our elected Parliament like an annoying irrelevancy. His government has behaved so outrageously that it has finally been formally found “in contempt of Parliament”. Now he wants to win a Conservative majority so he can do even more damage.

People all over the world are risking their lives to achieve democracy. Let’s not allow the Harper Conservatives to destroy ours from the inside.

Fact Sheet prepared by writer and activist Helen Forsey

For more information, see How Canadians Govern Themselves at www.parl.gc.ca/publications.

Let's Hear it for Proportional Representation

Esther writes:

It is not surprising that one of WAP/PAF's key concerns, and also that of an increasing number of citizens, is a call for a radical change in the way we vote. Women especially, noting that the current system is simply not working for them, are joining Fair Vote's efforts (see link on our website) to get rid of our first-past-the-post FPTP system of voting and adopt a form of proportional representation or PR.

The article below is clear that we are on the right track. Unless Canadians realize that this is our biggest hope to initiate change and stop dragging their feet on the issue, connect the erosion of our democratic space to the unfairness, even undemocratic way we vote, and push for electoral reform, we will continue to be at the mercy of the partisan politics that is destroying our voices at a very fast pace.

The article by By Ian MacLeod, The Ottawa Citizen April 23, 2011, is a good reminder.

Proportional representation seen as a way to make more votes count by critics of first-past-the-post

By Ian MacLeod, The Ottawa Citizen April 23, 2011


The Conservatives could win 69 fewer seats if an election were held today and Canada used proportional representation (PR) rather than the existing first-past-the-post (FPP) electoral system, according to an analysis of the latest poll results.

That's reason enough not to expect any federal government to switch to what many believe is a fairer system that rewards almost all votes, not just those that go to winning candidates.

Under the current winner-takeall system, "there are legitimate points of view which are not being heard in the legislature when public policy and legislation are being discussed," says Phil Elder, co-chair of the Alberta-based Democratic Renewal Project. "That's absolutely unacceptable because it closes the door to the democratic participation of a group which has acquired a voting base."

Please read the rest of the article:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Call+reform+gets+louder/4663550/story.html

Some form of PR is used by most of the world’s major democracies, including:

• Germany
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Belgium
• Denmark
• Holland
• Greece
• Spain
• Austria
• Australia
• Mexico
• Portugal
• Japan
• Russia
• Italy
• Ireland
• Israel
• Poland
• Hungary
• New Zealand
• Iceland
• Brazil
• Nicaragua
• Norway
• Finland
• Venezuela
  and more

BC Bound?

Esther and I were at a Dialogue for Democracy meeting earlier in the week and the man sitting beside me came up with a startling idea. We were talking about the election, of course, what else, and he said that he wished with all his heart, that Elizabeth May wins the seat in Saanich. He said if Esther and I really want to make a difference, that we should go to the west coast and help Elizabeth win.

What a sterling idea!

What more would encourage a voter to vote Green than two women from another federal party based in Ottawa and who live in Ottawa, traveling to the coast to essentially bring Elizabeth back with them.

Knock, knock in Sidney, BC, it's Esther and Shannon from Ottawa and we need Elizabeth May there so please consider voting Green on May 2.

We'll see if we can swing the plane fare.

Some Harperesque Tidbits of Enjoyment

Canadian Women's Favourite Pick-up Line

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmthTKSWFWw

Did you enjoy the video? We did. Lots.

At the same time, we acknowledge that it is not just women who have suffered directly from Mr. Harper's unilateral decisions to cut funding, but everything and everyone linked to women: men, children, First Nations who need clean drinking water, the poor who receive help, the sick who receive medication, the elders who are parked in homes with inadequate care, the homeless, the mentally ill people who roam our streets, the young who come out of jail and have no support, the immigrants, their families, their job opportunities, their children who need to learn English.

Are we exaggerating? Not so. Click here to view a really interesting comic strip that SAYS IT ALL!

http://compellingcomics.justsomeguy.com/CanadaVotes2011/Canada.html

Senator Tommy Banks Speaks Out

Senator Tommy Banks Speaks Out

by Mark Eisenman on Friday, April 15, 2011 at 12:03pm

A letter from Tom Banks

It's worth noting that Tom was a Conservative when he was appointed to the Senate. If you agree with this food for thought please feel free to send it to your friends of whatever political stripe. The bigger message here is how we want our government to behave, no matter who forms that government. Here's Tom's missive:

"There is only one thing about the outcome of the May 2nd election on which Mr. Ignatieff and Mr. Harper agree. It is that one of them will be the Prime Minister of Canada. Mr. Layton, Mr. Duceppe and Ms. May are not in the running to form a government. They can't. It will be either Mr. Ignatieff or Mr. Harper.

That is the choice, and it is a very clear – in fact, stark choice. We will choose between openness or secrecy. Between listening or refusing to listen. Between someone who respects Parliament or someone who disdains it. Between things we can and will do now or things that, (provided of course that everything goes well), we might do in five or six years. Between someone who answers all questions from Canadians, or someone who won't accept any.

Between Mr. Harper who said “It’s past time the feds scrapped the Canada Health Act”, or Mr. Ignatieff who said “ . . . we don't want user fees. We want universal, accessible, free-at-the-point-of-service health care, paid out of general revenue. That’s just bottom line. Otherwise we get two-tiered”.

Between buying jets or helping vets. Between real early childhood learning and care or Saturday-night babysitting. Between respect for our great institutions or contempt for them. Between helping families or helping big corporations. Between the Canada that we think we have, or the way in which Mr. Harper has already changed it.

Over the past few years Mr. Harper’s government has quietly engineered so many changes that there are some ways in which our country is barely recognizable. Many of us don't yet realize the extent of those changes, because many of them have been brought about very carefully and gradually – almost imperceptibly in some cases.

This is diabolically clever. If these things had all been done at once, there would have been loud protests and reactions. But moving just one little brick at a time doesn't cause much fuss – until you realize that the whole house has been renovated. And we've hardly noticed.

These are changes that are at the very heart of who and what Canadians are. They are changes to the protections that used to exist against the tyranny of the majority – or against a single-minded my-way-or-the-highway autocrat. These changes are losses to our very Canadian-ness. Let me remind you of some of them:

The Law Commission of Canada was created by an Act of Parliament in 1997. It worked very well. It kept an eye in a sort-of avuncular way, on necessary reforms of the law, including election law. The Commission couldn't actually change law; but it was very good at letting governments and everybody else know when changes needed to be made and why. It was our legal Jiminy Cricket, and it performed a valuable service for Canada. The Commission was created by an Act of Parliament, and any government wanting to shut it down should have been up-front about it. It should have come to Parliament with a Bill to rescind The Law Commission of Canada Act. That’s what any of our 21 previous Prime Ministers would have done.

But to Mr. Harper, Parliament is an inconvenience. Somebody might ask “Why are you doing this?” But he didn't want to go through all that Parliamentary trouble; so, rather than proposing the abolition of the Commission (a proposal about which there would have been pretty fierce debate on all sides), they just eliminated all funding for it in the federal budget. Governments can do that. Poof – no Law Commission.

Nice and quiet. Just one little brick. Hardly noticed.

Then there was the Court Challenges Programme, set up in 1994, which was the means by which a bit of legal help could be provided to a private individual or small organization who didn't have a lot of money, and who was taking on, or being taken on by, the Government of Canada. It leveled the legal playing field a bit. It was a perfect example of fundamental Canadian fairness.

By convincing a tough panel of judges of the reasonableness of your cause, you could get a little help in paying for some lawyers to go up against the phalanx of legal beagles that could always, and forever, and at public expense, be brought to bear against you by the State. In other words, if you weren't rich, and if you were taking on or being taken on by the Feds, you might have had a chance. But Mr. Harper doesn't like being questioned, let alone challenged. It’s so inconvenient! Solution? Quietly announce that the Court Challenges Programme is being, er, discontinued. Poof – no Court Challenges Programme – no court challenges.

Hardly noticed.

The Coordination of Access to Information Request System (CAIRS) was created (by a Progressive-Conservative government) in 1989 so that departments of government could harmonize their responses to access-to-information requests that might need multi-departmental responses. It was efficient; it made sure that in most cases the left hand knew what the right hand was doing, or at least what they were saying; and it helped keep government open and accountable. Well, if you’re running a closed-door government, that’s not a good idea, is it? So, as a Treasury Board official explained to the Canadian Press, CAIRS was killed by the Harper government because “extensive” consultations showed it wasn't valued by government departments. I guess that means that the extensive consultations were all with government departments.

Wait! Wasn't there anybody else with whom to extensively consult? Wasn't there some other purpose and use for CAIRS? Didn't it have something to do with openness and accountability? I guess not. Robert Makichuk, speaking for Mr. Harper’s government, explained that “valuable resources currently being used to maintain CAIRS would be better used in the collection and analysis of improved statistical reporting”.

Right. In other words, CAIRS was an inconvenience to the government. So poof – it’s disappeared. And, except for investigative reporters and other people who might (horrors!) ask questions, its loss is hardly noticed.

And the bridge too far for me: Cutting the already-utterly-inadequate funding for the exposure of Canadian art and artists in other countries. That funding was, by any comparison, already laughably minuscule. Mr. Harper says that “ordinary” Canadians don't support the arts. He’s wrong. And his is now the only government of any significant country in the world that clearly just doesn't get it.

All these changes were done quietly, cleverly, and under the radar. No fuss. No outcry. Just one little brick at a time. But in these and other ways, our Canadian house is no longer the kind of place it once was. Nobody minds good renovations. Nobody even minds tearing something down, as long as we put up something better in its place. That’s not what has happened.

Mr. Harper fired the head of the Canadian Wheat Board because he was doing his job properly. He removed the head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission because she wanted to make sure that the Chalk River nuclear reactor was safe.

Hardly noticed.

There are many more things that were hardly noticed: Cuts to funding for the Status of Women, Adult Learning and Literacy, Environmental Programs, museums funding, and more. All quietly, just one brick at a time.

Hardly noticed.

As to campaign promises, everybody in sight on every side is guilty of breaking those. Except the Federal NDP of course, who haven't yet had the opportunity. (It’s very easy to make promises that you know you will not likely have to keep).

But the government promised to end wait times in health care. They didn't. They promised to end, once and for all, the whining of some provinces about the non-existent “fiscal imbalance”. They didn't. They said they had brought final resolution to the softwood lumber problem with the U.S. They haven't. They promised to create thousands of new child-care spaces in Canada. They haven't. They promised not to tax income trusts (“We will NEVER do that!” they said). They taxed them. They promised to lower your income tax.

They raised it.

They said they had a good “made-in-Canada” plan to meet our obligations on climate change. They don't. Mr. Harper has said plainly that whatever the Americans do is what we'll do too.

They campaign on a platform of transparency and accountability; but they’re now trying to discredit the Parliamentary Budget Officer that they created, because he’s trying to do the job that they gave him. Mr. Harper said that our form of government, evolved over centuries from the 900-year-old British Westminster tradition, was all wrong. We had to have fixed election dates, because otherwise, democratic principles would be trampled. ”Fixed election dates”, he said, “stop leaders from trying to manipulate the calendar. They level the playing field for all parties”.

So Parliament (remember them?) at Mr. Harper’s insistence, passed a law requiring fixed election dates, which Mr. Harper promptly broke.

Somebody once said that we get the kind of government we deserve. What did we do to deserve Mr. Harper? He once said that we should all “Stand Up for Canada”. Well, let’s do that. We just have to decide whether the present version of Canada is the one that we'll stand up for. Or stand for.

Thank you
Tommy Banks (an Alberta Senator.)"

http ://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0000193

A Eulogy for Loraine

Esther wrote this eulogy for Loraine.

Loraine dreamed many dreams, for herself and for others. She breathed life into our lives and into our new party. She was among the Women's Alliance Party's first supporters. She believed in the ideals and saw clearly how to transform a dream into reality. Loraine dared to dream and her dreams were not just Loraine's dreams but all of ours. She made sure that we all had a place and a role to play. No matter what she did, her participation was full of joy and wisdom.

She had big ideas and was an inveterate collector of information, including photos, news items, brochures, letters, it all went into her many binders. She had a binder dedicated to WAP/PAF information and was our chosen archivist.

Loraine required careful listening to in order to catch the true depth of her thoughts and experiences. But more than all the sympathy and heart, the care and tenderness she brought to those who knew her, it was her ability to translate everything into action that was remarkable. Yes, Loraine was one of those rare women who walked the talk. She embodied our here and now, and always challenged our ideals to be grounded in reality, in the present.

We miss her sorely and will not be the same without her inspiration. We are grieved that she has left us. We can only hope that her legacy will inspire women, young and old, to focus on the needs of our society and the individuals among us who suffer.

She would want that.
--------------

Here is a poem that we will be reading tomorrow at Loraine's funeral.

Epitaph by Don Blanding 1894 -1957

Do not carve on stone or wood,
"She was honest" or " She was good."
Write in smoke on a passing breeze
Seven words… and the words are these,
Telling all that a volume could,
"She lived, she laughed and… she understood."

A Sad Day for the Women's Alliance Party

The Women's Alliance Party lost a true-blue friend and mentor this past week when Loraine Whillans-Redford succumbed to a rogue aneurysm which snatched her from life on Tuesday afternoon.

Loraine was an early adopter of all things social justice and when WAP/PAF was announced in January, she immediately signed herself and her daughter, Tracey, as members. If you've seen a copy of our brochure, it is Loraine's hand in that of another women, joined in solidarity, that is shown.

Tirelessly at work in her various communities, here on Ottawa and in Gracefield with her partner, Paul, she brought light and joy wherever she traveled.

Whenever asked how she was doing, Fabulous! was her inevitable answer. Loraine was not one to shrink from adversity, her own of that of others; she seized bad luck like a rug that needed shaking and she prevailed until she beat it or made the best of it.

She truly had a way of making things better as she stood up for other people's rights and comforts. Working in a restaurant on one of Ottawa's main streets, she had her finger on the pulse of what was right in the community and what wasn't quite working out. To this end, she started an organization called Loraine's Dream because it was her vision of how the world should be fair and just to everyone and about how if people were given a little hand up, most would steady themselves and be good on their own. Sometimes, it just took her finger gently wagging for them to right themselves; at other times, a fingertip slightly prodding.

In recent years, since retiring from working at the restaurant, she was spending more time in Gracefield with Paul where they continued to build on their acreage. It was another dream of Loraine's to open a tea house and she had been collecting tea pots and paraphernalia for years. She wanted to offer hospitality to wayfarers, along with family and friends.

Loraine was WAP's Archivist as she loved keeping binders of photos and information. It was natural for her to assume this role.

Esther and I are very sorry that Loraine is no longer here to guide us with her attention to detail and her indefatigable good cheer and energy.