Canada just lost 4 more troops in Afghanistan. Since the start of this “War on Terror” (more on that below), every time a Canadian soldier or citizen has been killed in the “Warzone”, the flag above the peacetower has been lowered to half-staff.
I found a wonderful picture of the flag atop the Peace Tower in Ottawa on Google. The flag is at full mast.
I’d ask for someone reading this to go to Ottawa and try to take a picture of the Peace Tower with it’s flag at half-mast, so that I could post it myself everytime a soldier was killed (which will likely be happening more now anyway) but it seems now we’ll have to wait until November 11 for that to happen. Anyone gonna be in Ottawa on Nov. 11?
What’s more, up until now, the Media has always been allowed to observe the return of the fallen soldiers as they flew into Trenton, Ontario. Not from now on. We’ll just have to try to remember them when the 11th hour finally strikes.
But ya know… just in case you didn’t hear the announcement in the House of Commons… some Conservatives MPs seem to think Canada is at War.
Oh really? When did Parliament enforce the War Measures Act? (Now known as the Emergencies Act
And is this the Act governing the internment, without trial or charge, of people now being held in a “Guantanamo North” near Kingston, Ontario? No, those people are apparently under Security Certificates which have been part of the Immigration Act since 1978**.
Yes, my fellow Canadians, welcome to the Bush-ification of your country. But hey, maybe Stephens Blair-like lapdog tendencies towards Bush are starting to pay off.
Apparently Bush called Mr. Harper over the weekend to offer a resolution to the Softwood Lumber issue.
Doesn’t it feel great to have the ear of the US President again?!
**The inclusion of Security Certifications in the Immigration Act is something I did not previously know. I, like most other people, thought they were a direct result of 9/11 and tied to Bill C36 which ammended many acts including the criminal code and others… This changes somewhat the frame of the debate around these certificates… however, the constitutionality of holding someone without charge is still very much up for debate. There have been recent Court decisions have upheld the constitutionality of the Certificates, but no doubt there will be other challenges in the future, especially as these prisoners stay in jail for longer and longer periods of time.
Thanks for telling it like it is.
Re:Softwood Lumber:
So we have a Free Trade Agreement and we’re still willing to let it go that they can steal $5 bn., and only give back 78%, they still get to limit Canadian participation in the American market, that there is still an export tax! I can see a whole new cottage industry growing up around theft where it’s all right to boost someone’s loot as long as you give back 78% of what you take. Of course, we all know that an agreement isn’t really an agreement, particularly if it’s signed by a Republican President and a Conservative Prime Minister. Do these rats worship at the Church of Jesus Christ the Hypocrite?
Remember, this is not atypical of how business and law have set up the parameters for how the market will be conducted. You’d best grow a lot of wool because you sure as hell are going to get fleeced.