Letter to the Editor

We are hearing distressing news about this government’s wanting to play a role in the Middle East crisis by sending a ship to ‘help’ safeguard Canadian lives . The Defence Minister Peter MacKay has reportedly said that the “Charlottetown will be available to assist in any potential humanitarian mission as part of a U.S.-led task force in the Mediterranean. He added that “ it could also enforce any embargoes approved by the United Nations or NATO” http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2011/03/02/ns-hmcs-charlottetown-libya.html)

This is building up to a potential military intervention which is the last thing Canadians want. This is déjà vu (think Iraq’s invasion based on the same ‘mad man’ rhetoric and lies of weapons of mass destruction, etc.)! That Canada wishes to take front place shows how militarised we have become, totally against our perception of a peace loving nation. How far have we deviated from the original wishes of the people? Do Canadians really want to become a war ally in yet another illegal military intervention of by a dwindling US superpower? There is no justifiable reason for this kind of action when the people of Libya have said that they do not want foreign military intervention.

This government’s unilateral decision to interfere in a sovereign country’s internal attempt to overthrow their leader is unacceptable and does not reflect the views of the majority of Canadians. Furthermore, we see this as an attack on our own democracy, having no consultation, no research on the consequences that such an act of war would cause on our economy. It further makes fragile our poor performance as an international player and causes damage to our already questionable integrity and reputation. It will certainly become an election platform as we see how unpopular the wars we have been tricked into paying our tax payers money to support is becoming.

Finally, we notice that there is much disinformation, propaganda and opinion manipulation going on in our Canadian press. This is deplorable. Please verify that our impression is accurate and act boldly in condemning what we see as attacks on our own democratic rights to receive quality information.

Sincerely

Esther Matharu
Women's Alliance Party
Parti alliance femmes

What Does Mr. Harper Mean?

“It’s not a question of illegal funds; it’s a question of the definition of spending”, quips our Mr. Harper. Does the leader of this country say that it is OK to spend ill-gotten money so long as you spend it legally? The issue of where the funds come from is so trivial that Mr. Harper reduces it to a question of definitions.

Frankly, I don't understand this logic. Does this mean that it does not matter whether the funds received are from an illegal source, so long as they are spent legally? I always thought that the name for that sort of thing was money laundering. Have the laws changed so much that money laundering is no longer a crime? Maybe the laws of the land have also become a question of definition.

It appears to me that this is exactly the reverse of what is happening to our taxes: they are legally had but are spent illegally, away from the social services, health and education and into the coffers of corporations that want to privatize everything, from our hospitals to our universities, from our day care centers to our pensions. In the meantime, they are illegally spent on buying military planes and sending ships to Libya. But that is OK because we can define spending. The second question is: guess who gets to define the spending?

submitted by Esther Matharu

TVO's AGENDA Taps Ottawa for Content

The traveling road-show of TVO was in Ottawa today gathering information from a sizable crowd of Ottawa and area citizens who gathered at City Hall to attend a day-long session. Steve Paikin was present as well as most of the TVO brass and almost as many staff as others.

Topics were all geared to the provincial election and what questions would people want answered by incumbents and those who will run against them in the upcoming election.



The Women's Alliance Party leader, Esther Matharu, was present and particularly active in two of the round table discussions, one focusing on electoral reform and the other, on the role of government.

Other topics included social services, education, cities, bilingualism, health care and energy.

Interestingly, there was no specific topic on the environment.

The program will be shown tomorrow on Monday, February 28/11, 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

Many Declarations Signed Today

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) had their annual fund-raising reception this evening. It was well-attended and the food was fabulous!

ACORN members are keen to make a difference in their own lives and that of others. Many campaign for the living wage program and rally to prevent supplemental diet money from being clawed back from ODSP cheques although they may not be affected by either. They know that if they encounter a situation where they need support, it will be forthcoming.

This is why when presented with and asked to sign the Declaration form necessary to register WAP/PAF, each person listened intently to the explanation of how the Women's Alliance Party has come about and each took the time to read the Declaration and to ask questions if there was something they did not understand.

More forms were signed this evening at one time than at any other time since we began the party. And men and women, alike, signed the forms.

Thank-you, ACORN members.

What People in the Community are Doing

Last week at Carleton University, the Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) set up a table to pass pamphlets to passersby which included students and staff.

Several individuals from various activist groups and unions, including Nowar/Paix, the Raging Grannies, CUPE, and several people from church-based groups assembled en costume mimicking how they may have looked in the hippie times of the sixties.

The student group, SAIA, in support of the international Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) want to see the university divest itself from dealing with companies who have commerce with Israel in order to promote the idea of fair play with Palestine. These companies include Tesco, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and Motorola

Several years ago, students lead the vanguard insisting that the university stop dealing with South Africa as long as there was the apartheid system.

Met With Paul Dewar

We met with Paul Dewar, not at his Parliament Hill office but at his Constituency Office on Wellington Street West.

Our meeting was warm and friendly as Paul and his constituency staff were introduced to Esther Matharu, leader of the Women's Alliance Party.

Esther stressed that our aim is not to take votes away from other parties but rather to encourage the millions of Canadian who don't vote to become engaged and to vote for the party of their choice.

She was particularly adamant that WAP/PAF's first order of the day is to inform Canadians about the flaws in our current electoral model. She and Paul discussed various forms of electoral policy including the mixed model and the single transferable vote. Both agreed that the "first past the post" method of electing officials is not in the interests of democracy.

Off to the Hill in the Morning

We've an appointment with Paul Dewar, the NDP Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre.

Since our WAP/PAF ideology is closest to the NDP's than the other parties, we look forward to speaking with Mr. Dewar and encouraging him to join the conversation on electoral reform.

George Galloway speaks on Parliament Hill in 

November 2010.