WAP/PAF sent a small survey to a variety of organizations and Esther has followed up with a brief treatise on child care. Here's an email she sent earlier today:
Thank you again for providing us with your information.
I have posted the article that mentions your organisations. Please do have a look and let me know if you are OK with it. You will find it on the WAP site:
www.womensallianceparty.com
under WAP/PAF NEWS - Child Care at Risk.
We need more ideas and information, so please feel free to contact us.
Acting together, in solidarity and sisterhood
Esther Matharu
Bringing a new Canadian vision to the people.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
An Appeal for Co-operation
Dear Mr. Duceppe, Mr. Layton and Mr. Ignatieff,
The time that many of us hoped for has finally come. There is a good chance that we will see a new government in place, never soon enough.
But it is also never sure enough. I was surprised to hear friends from rural Ontario say that they thought every one liked Mr. Harper. Clearly we do not move in the same circles. Still, it is worrisome.
As a Canadian who has worked overseas and experienced many types of governments, the idea that Canadians are afraid of coalitions is strange, to say the least. Many great democracies currently work as coalitions and they do very well, to name four of them: India, Latvia, UK, Israel.
With clear rules of engagement, clear communication and protocols based on civility and transparency, who knows where Canada could go! Dialectic expertise, focus, and strong ethics can shape a new government into putting the needs of the citizenry ahead of partisanship - the bane of Canadian politics.
So, if three parties (four if you include Greens, which I hope you do) come together, it is certain that, as wrote Amartya Sen ( Nobel Prize in Economics 1998) "Going beyond these basic structural priorities (e.g. party priorities), the argumentative tradition, if used with deliberation and commitment, can also be extremely important in resisting social inequalities and in removing poverty and deprivation. Voice is a crucial component of the pursuit of social justice".
And that is the Canada we want. One where social justice is number one on the list of priorities, not just for Canada but for the world.
Such a vision can and must allow you to combine your strengths and compliment your weaknesses in order to serve Canada not better, but the best.
As a humble citizen, I appeal to you to work together to ensure the defeat of Mr. Harper and his Conservatives. If you fail, we all fail.
Acting Together
Esther Matharu
Women's Alliance Party
The time that many of us hoped for has finally come. There is a good chance that we will see a new government in place, never soon enough.
But it is also never sure enough. I was surprised to hear friends from rural Ontario say that they thought every one liked Mr. Harper. Clearly we do not move in the same circles. Still, it is worrisome.
As a Canadian who has worked overseas and experienced many types of governments, the idea that Canadians are afraid of coalitions is strange, to say the least. Many great democracies currently work as coalitions and they do very well, to name four of them: India, Latvia, UK, Israel.
With clear rules of engagement, clear communication and protocols based on civility and transparency, who knows where Canada could go! Dialectic expertise, focus, and strong ethics can shape a new government into putting the needs of the citizenry ahead of partisanship - the bane of Canadian politics.
So, if three parties (four if you include Greens, which I hope you do) come together, it is certain that, as wrote Amartya Sen ( Nobel Prize in Economics 1998) "Going beyond these basic structural priorities (e.g. party priorities), the argumentative tradition, if used with deliberation and commitment, can also be extremely important in resisting social inequalities and in removing poverty and deprivation. Voice is a crucial component of the pursuit of social justice".
And that is the Canada we want. One where social justice is number one on the list of priorities, not just for Canada but for the world.
Such a vision can and must allow you to combine your strengths and compliment your weaknesses in order to serve Canada not better, but the best.
As a humble citizen, I appeal to you to work together to ensure the defeat of Mr. Harper and his Conservatives. If you fail, we all fail.
Acting Together
Esther Matharu
Women's Alliance Party
Thursday, March 24, 2011
WAP's Response to Peter Julian
Dear Mr. Julian,
Thank you for taking the matter of human rights violations in Colombia up.
We support the NDP on the issue of social justice and are well aware of the harm that is being done in our name, the citizens of Canada. We are made complicit with these decisions that wreck havoc on countless lives in many countries, including Colombia. This is one of the many reasons why we want to oust this disastrous Harper regime.
NAFTA is scandalous and has destroyed many farmers and buisnesses in Mexico, for example. We hope that the next government will pass every single treaty and trade agreement through the lens of justice, human and environmental rights, and long term consequences on the lives of the poor. We hope that you will have the courage to bring a transformation in the way we percieve our role as Canadians in the world.
Don't let us pass this chance.
Esther Matharu
Women's Alliance Party
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2011
Human Rights Violations in Colombia Lead to the Tabling of Two Parliamentary Motions
OTTAWA, CANADA - The implementation of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Deal, approved by Parliament last June, has led to the tabling of two Motions in the House of Commons and at the Canadian Parliament’s Standing Committee on International Trade (CIIT) by NDP Critic on International Trade, Peter Julian MP (Burnaby-New Westminster).
The Private Member’s Motions reflect growing concerns over increasing levels of human rights violations which have been taking place in Colombia since the trade agreement was signed by this government in June. The killings of trade unionists and teachers, forced displacements, human rights violations against Afro-Colombians and Colombian First Nations have been ongoing in Colombia, with impunity.
“Many believe Canada made a huge mistake in implementing a free trade agreement with Colombia,” said Peter Julian. “The signing of this trade agreement is considered by the Colombian regime and current President Santos as a blank cheque to further human rights abuses” continued Julian. “This government’s reckless actions, has led us to a situation where, in a sense, Canada is now complicit in these ongoing violations with its rubber stamp approval of the Santos administration – and Canadians don’t approve.”
The Motions tabled will be considered next week if Parliament continues to stand. If the Conservative government falls due to a non-confidence motion, these motions will be re-tabled when Parliament resumes after the election.
For more information, please contact:
Office of Peter Julian, 613.222.4074
- 30 -
That, in the opinion of the House, the growing human rights abuses in Colombia are troubling, namely (i) the killing of 52 trade unionists in 2010, (ii) the murder of three teachers in 2011, (iii) the magnitude of forced displacements at the hands of paramilitaries, military and secret police, which have risen to worldwide record levels, (iv) the increase in violence and forced displacement against Afro-Colombian and indigenous populations in rural areas, (v) the forced detention of political prisoner Liliany Obando and others, and therefore, the House condemns the Colombian government for not keeping its commitment to guarantee the safety of community leaders, teachers and trade union activist.
Thank you for taking the matter of human rights violations in Colombia up.
We support the NDP on the issue of social justice and are well aware of the harm that is being done in our name, the citizens of Canada. We are made complicit with these decisions that wreck havoc on countless lives in many countries, including Colombia. This is one of the many reasons why we want to oust this disastrous Harper regime.
NAFTA is scandalous and has destroyed many farmers and buisnesses in Mexico, for example. We hope that the next government will pass every single treaty and trade agreement through the lens of justice, human and environmental rights, and long term consequences on the lives of the poor. We hope that you will have the courage to bring a transformation in the way we percieve our role as Canadians in the world.
Don't let us pass this chance.
Esther Matharu
Women's Alliance Party
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2011
Human Rights Violations in Colombia Lead to the Tabling of Two Parliamentary Motions
OTTAWA, CANADA - The implementation of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Deal, approved by Parliament last June, has led to the tabling of two Motions in the House of Commons and at the Canadian Parliament’s Standing Committee on International Trade (CIIT) by NDP Critic on International Trade, Peter Julian MP (Burnaby-New Westminster).
The Private Member’s Motions reflect growing concerns over increasing levels of human rights violations which have been taking place in Colombia since the trade agreement was signed by this government in June. The killings of trade unionists and teachers, forced displacements, human rights violations against Afro-Colombians and Colombian First Nations have been ongoing in Colombia, with impunity.
“Many believe Canada made a huge mistake in implementing a free trade agreement with Colombia,” said Peter Julian. “The signing of this trade agreement is considered by the Colombian regime and current President Santos as a blank cheque to further human rights abuses” continued Julian. “This government’s reckless actions, has led us to a situation where, in a sense, Canada is now complicit in these ongoing violations with its rubber stamp approval of the Santos administration – and Canadians don’t approve.”
The Motions tabled will be considered next week if Parliament continues to stand. If the Conservative government falls due to a non-confidence motion, these motions will be re-tabled when Parliament resumes after the election.
For more information, please contact:
Office of Peter Julian, 613.222.4074
- 30 -
That, in the opinion of the House, the growing human rights abuses in Colombia are troubling, namely (i) the killing of 52 trade unionists in 2010, (ii) the murder of three teachers in 2011, (iii) the magnitude of forced displacements at the hands of paramilitaries, military and secret police, which have risen to worldwide record levels, (iv) the increase in violence and forced displacement against Afro-Colombian and indigenous populations in rural areas, (v) the forced detention of political prisoner Liliany Obando and others, and therefore, the House condemns the Colombian government for not keeping its commitment to guarantee the safety of community leaders, teachers and trade union activist.
Beware! Flulection is Coming!
Flulection is coming and we are all going to run a high fever from it. Be warned, it's highly contagious.
You can catch it through contact with newspapers and TV. Only way to not catch it is to go for a camping trip to the Kalahari desert in Botswana and come back when everything is done and over. But for those of us who cannot disappear in the wilderness, we are sure to catch the disease. Once you have it, everyone in the home gets it. Fever hits as tempers rise with debates over the merits of one or the other party. Slander and gossip help combat the fever but it leaves everyone depressed and sad.
A more positive outlook helps reduce fever and bring down the temperature. Discussions about the positive aspects of each party (lies excluded - and one party has been quite vigorous on the issue of deception) will tone down the symptoms and bring reason to the debates. But that becomes so boring. Besides you have to be very well informed to avoid partisanship, which, sad to say, most of us don't bother to find out and separate fact from fiction. So we just get on with the sauna-like heated arguments and hope to sweat out the fever and get back to our normal lives.
The elderly and young mothers are hit the hardest by Flulection. That is because they have so much to loose. Especially now. Who will bring in the absolutely urgent electoral reform so that fair representation can finally come to Canada, as it has in most of the other 'developed' countries that are doing so much better for women and child care, education and health, economic recovery and peace, e.g the Scandinavian countries? Who will make sure that our social safety nets are brought back to stop the catastrophic drop of so many Canadians below the poverty line into the hole of despair, crime and no-return?
Who will make sure we return to being an active peace-bringer to a world that is on the brink of a world war - so many burning fires all that are fueled by the weapons industry? Finally who has the integrity and focus to serve the majority of Canadians, including the minority groups, with transparency, civility, and an authentic concern for the people's greater interest?
So, even though there is no cure for Flulection, we can help each other by asking the right questions and keeping positive. We can refuse to enter the turf wars that some parties will obviously try to drag us into and keep the fever down.
We need to remain focused on the Canada we want, rather than on the Canada we don't want! It is up to us, the people, to set the agenda and combat Flulection with the medicine of democracy and common sense.
You can catch it through contact with newspapers and TV. Only way to not catch it is to go for a camping trip to the Kalahari desert in Botswana and come back when everything is done and over. But for those of us who cannot disappear in the wilderness, we are sure to catch the disease. Once you have it, everyone in the home gets it. Fever hits as tempers rise with debates over the merits of one or the other party. Slander and gossip help combat the fever but it leaves everyone depressed and sad.
A more positive outlook helps reduce fever and bring down the temperature. Discussions about the positive aspects of each party (lies excluded - and one party has been quite vigorous on the issue of deception) will tone down the symptoms and bring reason to the debates. But that becomes so boring. Besides you have to be very well informed to avoid partisanship, which, sad to say, most of us don't bother to find out and separate fact from fiction. So we just get on with the sauna-like heated arguments and hope to sweat out the fever and get back to our normal lives.
The elderly and young mothers are hit the hardest by Flulection. That is because they have so much to loose. Especially now. Who will bring in the absolutely urgent electoral reform so that fair representation can finally come to Canada, as it has in most of the other 'developed' countries that are doing so much better for women and child care, education and health, economic recovery and peace, e.g the Scandinavian countries? Who will make sure that our social safety nets are brought back to stop the catastrophic drop of so many Canadians below the poverty line into the hole of despair, crime and no-return?
Who will make sure we return to being an active peace-bringer to a world that is on the brink of a world war - so many burning fires all that are fueled by the weapons industry? Finally who has the integrity and focus to serve the majority of Canadians, including the minority groups, with transparency, civility, and an authentic concern for the people's greater interest?
So, even though there is no cure for Flulection, we can help each other by asking the right questions and keeping positive. We can refuse to enter the turf wars that some parties will obviously try to drag us into and keep the fever down.
We need to remain focused on the Canada we want, rather than on the Canada we don't want! It is up to us, the people, to set the agenda and combat Flulection with the medicine of democracy and common sense.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Esther Matharu's Message to Jack Layton
Thank you, Mr. Layton, for voting against this despicable budget.
We wish you success in a future campaign that we hope will show NDP to be authentic, open, close to the people and their needs, and truthful. We expect the NDP to have the integrity to refuse to play into your opponents political games, refuse to enter the partisanship mold, and be unswervingly focused on the values of civility and good governance we stand for.
For maximum success, we wish that you would join forces with others who seek electoral reform, like the Greens, and form alliances that will serve Canadians first and foremost.
Acting together,
Esther Matharu
Women's Alliance Party
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
NO to GMOs
Today the Agriculture Committee met to debate on a motion concerning Biotechnology and specifically the use of GM alfalfa. Both ‘sides’, five MPs on the Conservative side and six on the opposition side - three Liberals, two Bloc Q. – one being the only woman sitting on the committee - and one NDP, listened with more or less attention as both sides accused the other of ‘playing games’ It was, to say the least, quite pathetic. After three years of trying to bring this important matter before Parliament, it appeared as if the five Conservatives were there to waste the entire morning in useless arguments. By 1:00 pm nothing had been concluded.
The Women’s Alliance Party takes the question of GMO and labelling our foods very seriously. This is because women are concerned with health, theirs, their families and our communities.
Leave aside that perhaps many of us simply oppose GMO because GMO foods or GMO animal foods have drastically contributed to the loss of texture, taste and ‘goodness’ of wholesome food that we grew up with, why on earth would anyone oppose labelling? What, in other words, is the big deal, if it is harmless, as Mr. Ignatieff says? Are we not entitled as consumers to know what we serve on our tables and what we put in our bodies and feed our children?
Many of us have gone organic, in as far as our food allowances allow. Many in our community have become vegetarians. Not because they are offended by the inhumane way we feed, fatten, and destroy living creatures to put their parts on our table, but because the meat actually tastes awful. In other words you might as well be eating cardboard. When you realize that, besides the antibiotics (due to unnatural crowded and cramped conditions of the animals) and female hormones (to make them grow much faster and fatter and so be more profitable), now agri-industries have introduced injecting beef meat with ammonia and other chemicals2, for example, with ‘beef tasting’ aromas. 
Canadian labelling laws still need to be improved to protect the consumer from deceitful practices that ultimately have negative impacts on our health, such as increasing allergies and other forms of harmful reactions. Strict labelling laws would never allow such harmful foods to go unchecked.
The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network informs us that we can write to Mr. Ignatieff asking for consumer choice: You can send your letter to Hon. Michael Ignatieff, 
Leader of the Official Opposition Ignatieff.M@parl.gc.caand cc to Hon. Wayne Easter, Liberal Agriculture Critic Easter.W@parl.gc.ca
2 http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2010/01/02/injecting-beef-with-ammonia-safety-of-beef-processing-method-is-questioned/
4 http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1970471,00.html
For a list of 17 seed companies that provide GMO seeds, click on this URL:
http://www.biosciregister.com/Genetically_Modified_Seeds/Suppliers/pid7496.htmMonday, March 21, 2011
US Spy Op? Say it Ain't So!
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Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media
Military's 'sock puppet' software creates fake online identities to spread pro-American propaganda
Gen David Petraeus has previously said US online psychological operations are aimed at 'countering extremist ideology and propaganda'.
The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda.
A Californian corporation has been awarded a contract with United States Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US armed operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, to develop what is described as an "online persona management service" that will allow one US serviceman or woman to control up to 10 separate identities based all over the world.
The project has been likened by web experts to China's attempts to control and restrict free speech on the internet. Critics are likely to complain that it will allow the US military to create a false consensus in online conversations, crowd out unwelcome opinions and smother commentaries or reports that do not correspond with its own objectives.
The discovery that the US military is developing false online personalities – known to users of social media as "sock puppets" – could also encourage other governments, private companies and non-government organisations to do the same.
The Centcom contract stipulates that each fake online persona must have a convincing background, history and supporting details, and that up to 50 US-based controllers should be able to operate false identities from their workstations "without fear of being discovered by sophisticated adversaries".
Get more info here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks?intcmp=239
Sunday, March 20, 2011
A Good Day on the Hill Yesterday
The Eternal Flame in front of the Parliament BuildingsYesterday, four WAP/PAF members responded to the call of Catch-22 to join a Democracy Rally on Parliament Hill.
There was a pro-Libyan invasion group present on the steps leading to the Parliament building, but we saw no Rally. Never mind, we thought, as we had also come to support Fair Vote and get people to sign the Declaration of Voters' Rights and distribute their Why don't politicians listen? leaflets.
With a number of Saturday tourists milling around, we managed to meet up with one gentleman who had come all the way from Pembroke to attend the Rally. He was disappointed to find no democracy meeting. He signed the Fair Vote Declaration. "However," he said, "I believe in a two party system."
We spoke about that and how the two party system excludes a great number of people from expressing themselves politically. This is undemocratic.
Fair Vote Canada wrote in 2003, "Under our current voting system, our votes only count - or have impact on the allocation of seats - when we happen to share the most popular partisan viewpoint in our riding." Furthermore, we argued, the current electoral system almost always provides distorted election results and a huge proportion of wasted votes. Finally, we concluded, the current system shuts whole regions out of cabinet. How representative is that, we asked?
Additionally, we met a woman form Nova Scotia, who also left disappointed. But we were happy to meet her as she signed our declaration form and was keen to know more about WAP/PAF. "I am happy to hear about the Women's Alliance Party," she said, "but I hope you are not affiliated to the previous Reform Alliance?" "Of course not!" we said, and explained why we have the word 'Alliance' in our name. "This is to bring people together as allies with the common goal of serving all Canadians, as opposed to the self serving partisanship model under which we currently suffer."
Let us be clear. Without electoral reform there can be no fair representation.
Letter to Jack Layton, NDP
Dear Mr. Layton,
With all due respect for you and the NDP, we question the wisdom to hope for the leopard to change its spots.
Mr. Harper has shown nothing less then contempt for women, by reducing their budget, closing their programs, forcing us to work harder just to keep our services to our clients (children, old people, single mothers, etc.) on a shoe string, and Mr. Layton, you who have been our champion all these years, are seen to be negotiating with Mr. Harper on the budget.
If he were to meet your budgetary demands, it would be like throwing a bone in your direction, a symbolic gesture in order to have you accept the budget, but behind the scenes, he will continue to dismantle the structures through which we work. This is his intent, and using anyone to achieve this is his plan.
Even if in the face of it, if looks like politically expedient to negotiate with Mr. Harper, the fact is that it would sink the NDP as people will see it as a failure to stand up against the very person who is crushing democracy in Canada. Better be seen to side with Mr. Ignatieff than to be seen siding with Mr. Harper. I say this because most people we meet say they will vote Liberal (even NDP members) just because they stand a better chance of getting rid of Mr. Harper. That is the ultimate and urgent goal for many Canadians.
Please, Mr. Layton, do agree to meet up with the leaders of the Greens, the Bloc Q and the Liberals and other smaller parties like CAP,and try somehow to work out an agreement to push for a vote of no confidence and get Mr. Harper to answer for his gross mismanagement of our tax payers money, and other 'crimes' against the people of Canada. Particularly toxic is the manner in which Mr. Harper is letting Corporate America, through Alberta, take over our country.
Hoping beyond hope for leaders like you to put Canadians before party politics,
Sincerely
Esther Matharu
Women's Alliance Party/Parti alliance femmes
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