Patrice Vincent and Nathan Cirillo

Cowardly assailant with a car
Emulating villains from afar
Succeeded in killing with violent intent
Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent.

What a day, what a week!
News so shocking, one cannot speak,
From carefree coffee to dramatic strife.
Gunman took a soldier's life.

Nathan Carillo stood in place
With welcoming and pleasant face
Now fallen, his cortege gently goes
Along our Highway of Heroes.

AWARENESS TO THE WORLD

A NEW LEARNING
While living in France for the past two months we watched far less television than we customarily do. If an apartment had a television it was located in the bedroom. Why would it be in the family room or living area? That is where social and meal times happen. That is where reading and conversation take place. Television would predictably interfere with that.

In North America a high def screen is the first furniture article one sees upon entering the living space.

When we did watch TV it was often to listen to learn language on the predominantly French list of networks but there were German, Swedish and other language stations as well. We watched the French Open with French language commentators and laughed when a player made a great get or served an ace because the commentator’s expression was “ohh la la!” We were fortunate to find three English language networks broadcasting throughout the UK, Europe and the Asian community, BBC World News, CNN World News, and World News. (You can tap these highlights to go to the online network sites)

What we noticed over the course of time was that we became more informed about the current affairs of world countries than we do at home. We were in tune with international news. When is the last time you heard Cricket scores? American and Canadian networks focus news stories on national features and reports. We concluded that North Americans are largely unaware and indifferent to international events except as it impacts the home front. We are domestically preoccupied that even the word ‘international’ is used euphemistically in North America to refer to an entity within our two countries, the United States and Canada. An example is the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers), which has its international office in Washington, DC with local offices throughout the Unites States and Canada. We found ourselves grateful for a wider exposure to the issues and triumphs in the wider world. Pakistan, Israel, Afghanistan, Kenya, South Africa all seemed closer, geographically of course, but principally in terms of our consciousness.

Christine and I were grateful to be in touch with the global community.We want to find ways to maintain that sensitivity. i.e. channel 36 BBC WorldNews (seldom watched it before the trip)

HOW DOES CANADA RANK?

A NEW LEARNING
HOW DOES CANADA RANK?

Of course, with 9,984,670 km2, Canada is the second largest country in the world, covering 6.7% of Earth’s surface (Russia is the largest country at 17,098,242 km2). Nova Scotia’s Bay of Fundy tides sometimes 12 metres high are the highest in the world.

Of greater interest and importance may be some of these rankings.

Canada’s banking system has withstood the financial crisis while other countries banking systems like the U.S. are in such dire straits? In 2008, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada’s banking system the healthiest in the world. The U.S. was ranked 40th. Canada’s system has much stronger federal regulations and lower mandatory leverage ratios. Canada’s firms never engaged in subprime mortgage lending. For over a decade, Canada has posted budget surpluses; only in the last quarter did they enter into a recession. That’s very impressive.

According to The International Monetary Fund Canada had the ninth largest economy in the world at $1.432 trillion in 2007. Canada is immediately behind Spain and just ahead of Brazil.

Canadians can expect to live 80.34 years; the life expectancy for men is 76.98 years and for women it’s 83.86 years. This according to the 2008 CIA World Factbook which places us tenth.

In 2007, Canada had an average of 1.85 murders per 100,000 people. Canada is ranked 71st in this category with 43 countries having lower murder rates than us, among them are Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Greece, and Norway.

Lonely Planet recently named Canada one of the Top 10 Countries to visit in 2009.
Ranked by Country Brand Index, Canada has jumped from the world’s 12th most respected country brand to No. 2. Australia is first.

Canada is the friendliest country in the world; this is the finding of a survey conducted by the HSBC Bank. With 48 countries surveyed, Canadians were the most friendly towards newcomers, followed by Germans and Australians.

The 2009 Climate Change Performance Index places Canada next to last out of 57 industrialized nations and emerging economies in its efforts to reduce emissions in keeping with its Protocol targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In a survey of 130 countries by The Global Gender Gap Report 2008 Canadian women rank 31st in terms of equality.

At 214 doctors per 100,000 people Canada ranks 54th in the world in physician availability says the The Truth About Canada.

According to The Economist Intelligence Unit, Canada is the fourth best country in the world to do business in for the next five years.

The Global Peace Index (2008) is an attempt to rank countries by their peacefulness and Canada ranked eighth in the world in 2007.

February is Black History Month

A NEW LEARNING
Western Canadians are generally surprised to know that the month of February is Black History Month in Canada. When do we hear or even speak about African Canadians? Our deficit of familiarity is reasonable since the Black history being celebrated occurred chiefly in Ontario and Eastern Canada. While Toronto's Black History Society successfully petitioned the city of Toronto for the event in 1978 it has now become a commemoration officially observed across Canada.

Travelling secretively by night approximately 50,000 slaves found freedom between 1810 to 1850 through an informal network of secret routes and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. The route from the southern States north to Canada was developed by white abolitionist sympathizers, free-born blacks and former slaves. Churches such as Reformed Presbyterians, Quakers (Religious Society of Friends), Wesleyans, Baptists, Congregationalists and Methodists also played a supportive role. (The photo is of the Underground Railroad monument in Windsor ON)

Citizenship and Immigration Canada posts in its site the following statement. “This is a time to celebrate the many achievements and contributions of black Canadians who, throughout history, have done so much to make Canada the culturally diverse, compassionate and prosperous nation we know today. It is also an opportunity for the majority of Canadians to learn about the experiences of black Canadians in our society, and the vital role this community has played throughout our shared history.”

Today the African-Canadian population is made up of individuals from a range of places across the globe including the United States, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, and Canada. Canadians may pride ourselves for tolerance and inclusiveness but the erosion of racial bigotry has been slow. We now can say there have been black male and female members of parliament, Senators, Judges, a Moderator of the United Church, Ontario's first Ombudsman, and Ontario's Lt. Governor etc. and of course Haitian born Michaëlle Jean our current Governor General. Canada's First Black Mayor is Haitian immigrant Dr. Fermin Monestime of Mattawa.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada has a helpful site entitled ‘On the Road North – the Journey to Freedom which contains good data and a slide show.

Read the book ‘A Safe Haven: The Story of Black Settlers of Oxford County’ by Joyce A. Pettigrew is an excellent example of recent black history. That is available together with a variety of others including one for children up to age 12, at the Black History Society site.

RU Disappointed?

A NEW LEARNING
I am RU and yes I am - disappointed. I am bugged. To understand this, you must know that I liked Harper’s values. I liked the man himself. Candidly, given the alternatives before Christmas between NDP and Liberal, and the possibility that Larry, Curly and Moe would form a coalition, is there any question why I would side with Harper? But now I am irritated. My feelings are exacerbated by my comparison of Harper with the American President which I expressed yesterday.

It’s the fact that Obama and Harper are doing this economic recovery thing so differently from one another. No, it’s more than that. Their governing styles are so different and I appreciate Obama’s approach much more. Here is what is lacking in Harper’s practice in my view. I am not discounting Harper’s work ethic. He is an active politician but at this time in the life of this nation shouldn’t he be speaking to its people about the economy and what we can expect him and his administration to do to fix it. Well he isn’t speaking to us. In fact he isn’t even speaking to the news media. His last press conference on Parliament Hill was held on November 8. Oh, he did talk pithily to news journalists at the conclusion of his January meetings with the premiers. But he is not exactly exuding hope and confidence and the ‘Yes we can’ realism we hear to the south. In the House of Commons as the formal budget debate occurs Harper has not participated except in predictable question period responses. When he ventures outside the House and home, he is doing photo ops, vaguely related to the budget’s provisions for infrastructure spending. He has attended the Quebec Carnival opening and Toronto Chinese New year dinner and New Brunswick hockey tournament. He is shaking hands but not calming shaken spirits of the jobless.

Now if you think I have assessed him unfairly consider this. Obama fired up Air Force One and keeps it on the launch pad for an unprecedented series of public relations campaign in various cities in which he carries on heart to heart and personal conversations with Americans. He does ‘sit down’ interviews with all the TV networks. His recent press conferences were nationally broadcast. He knows how to use the media and be available to the media. His rhetoric is hard-hitting and direct and you can’t miss that he is in this American crisis together with everyone and specially those most affected. His White House website is informative and encouraging. Now his stimulus package has been passed and he is not stepping back an inch from the public forum and therefore no wonder he has a 76% approval rating. You get the feeling with him that this is not merely freshman fervor but a deep commitment he will carry until he has expired his two terms.

Of course the differences between the two national leaders relates to personality and style. One appears approachable and the other appears distant. What I have come to believe is that with Obama it is about power to affect the sweeping changes in the way government works for its people. With Harper now, it may unconsciously be about power to affect his survival in the event of another vote of confidence. What we don’t know is hurting us. Okay I am dismounting this hobby horse and will stay off for a while.

Canadian Federal Administration Dismays Me

A NEW LEARNING
I have too much unfocused time and use a great deal of it to reflect on details of life that I ignored before I retired. I have harangued about this before but it irks me still. Obama’s White House government website is impressively classy, regal, and so very user friendly and informative and Obama is front and centre. Our Canadian Parliament site is tightly packed, minimalist and visually challenging and Harper is just a name, no visuals. I wrote a polite note to the Parliament website managers with some suggestions and detected in the following days that someone in the Parliament building had looked at my blog and art sites trying to know who I was. I received no acknowledgment of my note even though suggestions are welcomed. Maybe that was one of the jobs cut in this downturn.

I know that our Prime Minister is subject to parliamentary confidence while the US President is independent of the legislature. Stephen Harper is viewed as one of the many elected officers. Obama is viewed as the Chief as in "Hail to the Chief." Harper fits within Canada’s constitutional monarchical form of government while Obama operates within the American federal constitutional republic. In some ways that seems more pluralistic and democratic. I wish that we could accord to our prime ministerial leader a greater dignity and distinction than we do.

Stephen Harper gets a good deal of negative press. He has brought some of it upon himself. He and his inner circle goofed before Christmas. It is also directed at him because that is how we treat politicians in Canada – badly. He has shown some executive weaknesses as well as many strengths. By the skin of his prorogued teeth Harper is still on the same side of the House. We are moving forward with the Conservative plan for economic recovery but Harper’s hold on power is tenuous.He will stay there as long as the opposition parties (Liberals are key) allow him. I voted for him. I am trusting that his plan will work. But I am concerned.

Harper is almost invisible to the average Canadian. When did you last see Harper before the camera, talking to the press, taking time to talk to a city of people about the economic recovery strategy and listening to their stories. News networks profile every other piece of news, even the token animal story before I see Harper. How can I help but to contrast Canadian leadership with American leadership. I watch Obama almost daily with some clip of him in some American city or at this week’s second weekly Presidential Press Conference. I watch him because I can. He is news. He makes news. He speaks and it becomes news. Harper is unavailable. He is almost silent. He is closeted somewhere. Oh, I forgot. He was in our House of Commons where daily he must compete to talk more commandingly than the opposition amid catcalls and hissing. And you can watch this circus in action if you choose to do so. It’s no wonder Canadians turn to Jeopardy and American Idol.

See Obama's Feb 14 and 2nd press conference at the White House site (4:45 min)

Harper has not addressed the Press since November 8. Oh yes, and back to websites. The Conservative Party site which is colourful and is easily navigable merely leads you to outdated documents. Press the large photo on the first page of the site and you get a November 2008 statement about the economic action plan. I can’t tell you how this dismays me. This is our governing federal party. I can keep things more current than this. The True North Strong and Free is the Party’s 2008 plan presented before the last election. OK! Enuf already, I agree.

Comparative Economic Stimulus Outlooks

A NEW LEARNING
I want to write something comic but here I am in the realm of the somber again. World leaders announced plans in recent months to spend their way out of the global economic slowdown. Governments are scrambling to push their sluggish economies forward — almost always through more spending. At a meeting in Washington earlier in November, members of the Group of 20 nations agreed that they would individually draw up economic stimulus plans that would equal about two per cent of Gross Domestic Product in each of their countries.

Canada’s present status looks like this. Canada has not offered a spending package yet, hence the disgraceful bickering in Ottawa, but will in the next Conservative budget in January 2009 or in a Coalition Government’s budget should this partnership be sustained and be given the ooportunity to govern in the future. The Conservative Government’s position to date was that Canada had already introduced stimulus of 1.4% of Gross Domestic Product in 2008 and 2% next year and had taken measures to reduce GST. Finance Minister Flaherty contends that other countries have been trying to catch up to Canada contending that Canada acted in advance.

Here is a glimpse at how other countries are addressing this global downturn.
European Union has an Economic Recovery Plan containing the promise of stimulus representing 1.5 % of the EU Gross Domestic Product to the tune of 200 billion euros ($317 billion Cdn) over two years.
Brazil’s government is expected soon to announce its stimulus plans in view of its decreasing economic activity.
Mexico presented a $4.4 billion US ($5.4 billion Cdn) economic stimulus package in October designed to create jobs in light of its vulnerability to the U.S. slowdown.
Taiwan plans measures worth $482.9 billion ($18 billion Cdn), spread over four years, which includes $82.9 billion ($3 billion Cdn) in shopping vouchers to be used before Oct 1 2009.
Japan’s government pledged five trillion yen ($65 billion Cdn) in stimulus offerings to households and small businesses.
Australia will boost its economy 1 % of GDP with a $10.4 billion ($8.4 billion Cdn) strategy designed to support low and middle class families, help first time home buyers and training for jobs.
Italy plans a five billion euros (about $8 billion Cdn) package, or less than 0.5 per cent of the GDP to help banks, companies and families.
France will support its automobile and building industries with a 19 billion euro ($30 billion Cdn) package.
Germany over the next two years will effect a stimulus package worth 23 billion euros ($36 billion Cdn) and the package includes tax breaks on new cars and credit assistance to companies.
China will spend about four trillion yuan ($722 billion Cdn) over the next two years on infrastructure and social welfare, low cost hosing, transportation, health, education and technology and rebuilding disaster struck areas.
Britain announced an economic stimulus package worth 20 billion pounds ($37 billion Cdn). The amount is about 1 % of Britain's gross domestic product. The VAT or value-added tax is being reduced from 17.5%to 15%.
United States of America has already signed into law a $107-billion US economic stimulus package including help to low and middle income families, a $700-billion bailout of the financial services industry, and plans to finance another $800 million US (almost $1 billion Cdn), to make lower mortgage rates and other consumer loan rates possible.

Harper has his reprieve until January 26 2009. Our news until then will be full of nasty name calling and juvenile sniping from four quarters. It would be comic if this were not our national governing system! I'm doing my part. I am spending. I bought another Horton's coffee.

Remembrance Day in Canada

A NEW LEARNING
It’s Remembrance Day in Canada. I will go to the local Cloverdale Cenotaph this morning. I feel a need this year to stand with others in tribute to my fallen countrymen in past wars. A TV journalist asked people yesterday how it felt to wear the red poppy and the predictable one word answers resulted – “proud.” Whenever I have travelled internationally I have been glad for the Canadian flag on my luggage and backpack. Other countries welcome us. I am compelled this morning to visit the Cenotaph because my father was in the Canadian Air Force during World War II. Coming from the town of Hepburn, Saskatchewan, a largely Mennonite community, and himself the youngest son of Mennonite immigrants from Ukraine, he stepped out of cultural pacifism to enlist. I am proud of him for that. I am. He never saw action overseas. He was assigned to aircraft maintenance and stationed in Vancouver, Gananoque and the Yukon. Christine’s father was an officer in the British Royal Navy and saw action at sea. Both of these men are gone now. During my adult years while Canada has been involved in conflicts overseas, conscription never required my personal investment. I and my children and now their children have grown up within the shelter of a freedom that was very costly. I acknowledge that with deep gratitude today. I am proud of my heritage and proud to be a Canadian.

I still think that the dated Molson sponsored "I Am Canadian" rant is an inspiring piece of Canadian culture and I treasure the words of our Canadian National Anthem.

Proud to be a Free Canadian. Election Day.

A NEW LEARNING
I am Canadian (the rant). This is Canada’s federal election day. The values and priorities of voters will be reflected by X marks. I view today as an awesome privilege.

Democracy first appeared in ancient Greek political thought. Plato contrasted the rule by the governed (democracy) with alternative systems of rule by an individual (monarchy), or rule by the élite (oligarchy), or rule by the rich and famous (timocracy).

Throughout 2008 Nova Scotia has been commemorating its unique place in Canadian history with the theme, 'Celebrating 250 Years of Democracy.' It was in Nova Scotia that Canada’s First Parliamentary Democracy was established.

Let’s not become prematurely bloated about our democracy. It evolved through struggles. Early elections were based on the practice of 18th-century Britain. The ability to vote was not universally available. It was restricted first to loyal British subjects, specifically men of property. The franchise was constantly scrutinized to insure that the wrong type of people did not acquire it. For example, in Prince Edward Island, the governor of 1773 allowed a representative assembly to be formed only when enough Protestant Scots had arrived to counterbalance the earlier Acadian (French) settlers. Throughout the pre-Confederation period (1867), in every Canadian colony there was a series of exclusions against non-British. Catholics were soon enough accommodated; however, in the 1810s, recent American immigrants were seen as a threat in Upper Canada (Ontario); in the 1860s in British Colombia, it was Chinese immigrants and aboriginals, and later, "Hindus" and Japanese; before and during World War I, prairie settlers of Polish, Ukrainian and Russian origin were the menace. In all those cases and others, efforts were made to keep these groups from voting. The restrictions were long-lasting. Racial and religious exclusions waited until after World War II to be lifted completely. With regard to the women's vote, Quebec lagged behind the rest of the country in allowing women to vote and not until 1940 were they allowed to vote in provincial elections, though they could vote in federal elections earlier. In 1867 voting was oral and public in all provinces but New Brunswick. The necessity of a voter standing on a platform and declaring his preference to the world allowed plenty of scope for intimidation, at, before, or after the poll. The secret ballot was resisted as contrary to the "manly spirit of the British people" and as contrary to the realities of electioneering. Changes came slowly. Canada committed to an open political process with the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 in which the rights of Canadian citizens to vote and stand for office in federal and provincial elections was guaranteed.

My schedule of activities as a retiree has changed but clearly marked on this day is my trip down the street to the polling station. I am entitled. My freedom is the underlying principle of democracy. Currently, there are 123 countries that are democratic and the trend is increasing (up from 40 in 1972). The map shows blue countries as democratic.

Just for kicks watch this consummate poetry of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Democracy is coming to the USA’ on this Youtube video.