An important news item for everyone in British Columbia !!!  Please read and forward to everyone you know!!

Federal Tories put Liberals on hot seat over HST

The Conservative government will introduce legislation requiring Parliament to vote on plans by the Ontario and British Columbia governments to adopt the harmonized sales tax, CTV News has learned

// If the legislation fails to pass, the provincial governments will be unable to pass the HST.

The Conservatives support the HST and want the legislation passed by the holiday break. However, the legislation will not be a confidence motion, meaning the government cannot be defeated on the bill.

“(The Conservatives) are saying if it is defeated it will not be revisited, meaning the end of the harmonized sales tax in Ontario and British Columbia,” CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife said on Thursday night.

Politically, the move puts the federal Liberals in a difficult position.

If they support the bill, they will face criticism on the left from the NDP.

Help defeat the bill, and the provincial Liberal governments in B.C. and Ontario, may not help their federal counterparts in the next election.

Time to put the pressure on your local MP ! Call, email, whatever -just do it.  Here is a link to find your MP contact information by postal code: http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC

This is an explosive issue and not one that should be taken lightly. Considering that Canada’s reputation is on line– both politically with the government and senior bureaucrats but also the Canadian Forces.

Today David Mulroney, the current ambassador to China, who was the top official overseeing the Afghan mission during its early days testified before a Commons committee currently reviewing this issue. “The view that I muzzled him [Richard Colvin], or any other person, is wrong,” Mulroney told the committee.

Richard Colvin was a senior official who was stationed in Kandahar during the early days and apparently drafted over 19 internal memos over concerns of Afghan detainees handed over by Canadian Forces personnel were being tortured by the Afghans. He implied that his concerns were being ignored by officials above him in Ottawa. Minister of National Defense Peter Mackay came out strong discrediting Mr. Colvin and denied being privy to any of the memos from Mr. Colvin.

Since then Opposition members have attempted to paint Mr. Colvin as a whistleblower and thus entitled to certain protections– and the pity that comes along as well. Top Liberal and NDP members have called for an official inquiry into the matter. The leader of the NDP Jack Layton last night on Power and Politics with Evan Soloman said that they did not have access to enough documents on the matter for a proper review at the committee level.

The interesting part about the Opposition claiming that they have been broadsided by this is the fact that about eight months ago this was a heavy issue in the House of Commons. This is most certainly not the first time that the issue of Afghan prisoners being tortured by officials after being handed over by Canadians have arisen. In fact Peter Mackay was brought into the Defense portfolio after a very rocky start by the first Minister of National Defense over this very issue. And yet today they are claiming that they do not have enough information.

During Mr. Mulroney’s testimony before the committee he eluded to a disagreement between himself and Mr. Colvin over the memos. This completely discredits any attempted to paint Mr. Colvin as a whistleblower. His findings were addressed by the officials above him in Ottawa and just like the government today they had serious concerns over the legitimacy of his findings. No doubt understanding the seriousness of such allegations they did not feel comfortable moving forward with the information that Mr. Colvin was providing. And not once during the course of his composition of the memos did he dig any deeper than into hearsay evidence and suppositions.

This is a complicated issue. And I think that for the Opposition to throw up their hands and simply call for a public inquiry is lazy and undemocratic. They have had time to build on their case against the government and they have not. Perhaps that is because there really and truely is no evidence of Afghan prisoners being tortured after being handed over.

Published October 26, 2009 in The Quill.

The perceived lack of attention to Killarney Lake’s notorious algal blooms received some respite in the last sitting of the Manitoba Legislature. Provincial Liberal leader Jon Gerrard introduced a matter of urgent public importance on the increasing problem of toxic algae blooms in Killarney. Gerrard said that the “NDP government have had a variety of opportunities to help but have not acted. And so it is urgent that the government get the message that people in Manitoba are very concerned about this and that action must be taken.”

Photo: Tim Banman

Controversy began this year due to a large scale fish die off, as well as a reportedly worse year for noxious odour from Killarney Lake. Through peak August temperatures the lake remained virtually unused do to concerns about toxic algal blooms.

Conservative MLA for Turtle Mountain Cliff Cullen added that “I can certainly tell you, by the number of calls that I received over the course of the summer, it is a very important issue for the people of Killarney and certainly the people of western Manitoba.”

“A Special Case”

To find out about the matter of urgent public importance I met with the Liberal leader who has taken a keen interest in fixing Killarney Lake. Gerrard hosted a luncheon in August which was attended by about thirty people from the Killarney. Gerrard visited Killarney four times this summer to press his case for finding a solution to Killarney’s deadly algae-blooms. Gerrard commented that “out of this came a much stronger sense of the problems and need to act.” He insisted that “one of the things that we should be doing is investing the funds and the effort to make sure that we’re improving the situation in Killarney Lake.”

Gerrard expressed disappointment with the Province’s response to this summer’s fish kill in Killarney Lake. The MLA for River Heights argued that Killarney should be a “special case,” and that “the investment in Killarney Lake can make a big difference not only for Killarney, but in terms of helping us develop measures and approaches which can be used on Lake Winnipeg.” “Smaller lakes can be extraordinarily helpful in addressing the final endpoint, which is decreasing the algal problems.” Gerrard contended that if a solution is found for Killarney Lake it could be easily applied to solve the algae problems in Lake Winnipeg.

Photo: Tim Banman

Killarney Lake is a eutrophic lake and produces an excessive amount of algae naturally. Agricultural runoff from fields and cattle into the streams and rivers that feed eutrophic lakes contribute to an excess of phosphorous which enables the growth of algal blooms.

Killarney town council plans to install an aerator to add more oxygen to the water, as many suspect algae to have deprived the fish of oxygen. However BU professor Bill Paton contended that a major addition of nutrients from either leaking septic tanks or a spill of organic materials was likely responsible for the fish kill because the main victims of the kill were bullheads, a fish known for their survivability in waters with low oxygen. Paton suspected the kill to be the result of toxicity, either as a result of toxins released by blue-green algae or organic compounds, not a lack of oxygen in the water.

The microbiologist was optimistic for the viability of cost-effective solutions on Killarney Lake. Paton expected that the Province would grant permission to begin employing barley to reduce algae. BU graduate Jeremy Ross conducted research in Killarney in 2001 which confirmed that barley is an effective agent in reducing algae.

Photo: Tim Banman

Gerrard commented on the divergent approaches: “in lakes like Killarney Lake we’re learning. Nobody’s got a magical answer. In a sense, part of what we’ve got to do is try a number of things…to determine what’s going to work.”

“There’s a healthy discussion about what contribution the phosphorous coming in and what contribution the phosphorus that is already there is making, and to what extent you have to try to reduce phosphorus coming in, and to what extent you have get rid of phosphorus which is already there,” said Gerrard. “My hunch is that you’ve got to do some of both.”

Gerrard suggested the algae harvesting proposed by Rick Korman, a teacher at Killarney Collegiate, could be effective. Proper management of cattails, which absorb both nutrients and toxins from the water, is also necessary.

Cattle in the Water

Christine Melnick, Minister of Water Stewardship, contended in the Legislature that the Manitoba has increased its ability to protect watersheds. “We brought in The Water Protection Act in 2004 and have protected sensitive areas,” she said.

“In fact, we’re the only jurisdiction in North America that has a buffer zone along every waterway in the province of at least three metres. It’s a bigger buffer if that source is used as a drinking water source.”

Commenting on evidence that cattle are eluding the provincial ban, Gerrard remarked to The Quill that “it’s an important question, how much are they [cattle] contributing to this problem? I think that there have been moves provincially to do a better job of keeping cattle out of the streams.”

“In some areas, what’s happened is that you have dugouts that are not far away but where you can have the cattle getting water instead of in the streams.”

By removing cattle from the river, a large source of phosphorus can be prevented from ending up in the water supply. However, the infrastructure necessary to keep cattle from wandering into streams such as fencing and solar water pumps would be prohibitively expensive for many farmers. Paton suggested to that the Province should invest in infrastructure to help farmers transition to sustainable water management practices.

Agricultural Runoff

Gerrard affirmed that cattle are not solely to blame for phosphorus that ends up in water supplies. He said, “It also turns out that you have quite a bit of phosphorus coming off some of the fields. I think that we need, and part of the reason for looking at the Long River is, that its small enough watershed, you can do some detailed studies to understand the relative contributions of field versus cattle and so on.” The Long River is the source of Killarney Lake’s water supply.

Gerrard mentioned the study at South Tobacco Creek which “found that there was a lot more phosphorous coming off the zero till field than a tilled field…On a zero tilled filled, you get water running off the surface and you get quite a bit of organic matter.”

“In our winters that the you get freeze thaw cycles, I suspect that it probably contributes to the fact that, whether its residue from whatever crop it is, that you get some breakdown and then organic matter may have phosphorus attached to it, phosphorus in it, which gets into the stream.”

Gerrard admitted that the relation of runoff and algae must be understood better. “If we can track both the phosphorus and the algae then we can understand how they are related better. So there are agricultural land use practices which are going to be very important.” “When you’ve got a lake like Killarney Lake, which is a jewel, and it’s got this sort of problem, we should be making sure that we’re on top of holding tanks and the other issues.”

Gerrard expressed concern that Water Stewardship has not been able to find the major contributors to phosphorus in Killarney Lake due to a lack of inspectors.

“Ideally you would have some real leadership from Manitoba Water stewardship.” He added that the comments from the Minister of Water Stewardship during the matter of urgent public importance were vague and did not commit to a plan of action.

“The overarching thing here is to treat it as a special case and put the resources in to make sure we’re addressing the various issues, measuring the phosphorus, monitoring the algae so we’re actually improving the situation for people in Killarney and at the same time we learn for Lake Winnipeg so we don’t have to be chasing around so many variables. Hopefully we can focus on those things that are going to make the biggest difference.”

Gerrard’s skepticism about government inaction while legislature was in session was reinforced by Cullin, who commented that “much more work has to be done and we have to be more focussed at getting results than just leaving the perception that the government is doing something about the issue.”

Gerrard remarked told the legislature that “it was a sad day when the Minister of Conservation looked around at the thousands and thousands of employees of the provincial government and he couldn’t find one inspector to inspect the holding tanks. He couldn’t find one person to go down to Killarney Lake and check out these holding tanks. You know, it’s not as if there were thousands and thousands of holding tanks. It’s a section along Oak Point Drive. There’s a limited number of holding tanks, but they’re significant, and it was a sad day when the Minister of Conservation just could do nothing.”

Gerrard noted that the choosing of Greg Selinger as premier of Manitoba and new leader for the NDP maintained the “status quo,” and presented “big opportunities” for the growth of the Manitoba Liberal party.

It could be the Olympics, the HST, cuts to tourism, sport, and the arts, or even the way the province has handled the ambulance strike, but an Angus-Reid poll shows that the NDP has the support of almost half of BC voters:

NDP Keeps Large Lead in British Columbia

The opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) is holding on to a double-digit advantage in British Columbia, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 47 per cent of respondents would support the NDP in the next provincial ballot, while 33 per cent would support the governing BC Liberals.

The BC Greens are third with 10 per cent, followed by the BC Conservatives with seven per cent.

In the 2001 election, the BC Liberals—led by Gordon Campbell—took control of 77 seats in the British Columbia Legislature, with the remaining two going to the NDP. The New Democrats had administered the westernmost province of Canada under four different premiers since November 1991. British Columbia voters renewed their provincial legislature in May 2005. Campbell earned a new four-year term in office, with 46 seats. The opposition NDP—led by Carole James—elected 33 lawmakers.

In the May 2009 election, the BC Liberals secured a third consecutive majority mandate, with 46 per cent of the vote and 49 of the 85 seats at stake. The NDP received 42 per cent of the vote and won 35 seats.

Last month, James criticized the BC government’s economic management, saying, “I don’t blame the Liberal government for the economic downturn. I recognize the economic downturn is global. But what government does control is how they help people get through these difficult times. I think there’s things this government could have done to help businesses cope.”

Polling Data

If a provincial election were held tomorrow in British Columbia, which one of the following parties would you be most likely to support in your constituency?

	Nov. 2009	Sept. 2009
BC New Democratic Party (NDP)	47%	45%
BC Liberals	33%	31%
BC Greens	10%	11%
BC Conservatives	7%	7%

Source: Angus Reid Public Opinion
Methodology: Online interviews with 800 British Columbia adults, conducted from Nov. 10 and Nov. 11, 2009. Margin of error is 3.5 per cent.

Comment about this post

[The First Part of this series was <<A: Open Source. The second installment of the Stop Usage Based Billing alphabet series was <<B: Packets and the Internet. The third installment was <a href="<<C: Deep Packet Inspection, and the final installment will be E: Open Source Deep Packet Inspection]

What is BitTorrent Anyway??

“BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol used for distributing large amounts of data. BitTorrent is one of the most common protocols for transferring large files, and it has been estimated that it accounts for approximately 27-55% of all Internet traffic (depending on geographical location) as of February 2009.”

– Wikipedia on BitTorrent

BitTorrent is an extremely fast and efficient means of uploading and downloading. BitTorrent is an excellent way to distribute large materials to many people via the internet.

Radical Ideas

Like so many of the radical new ways to do things that technology and the internet have made possible, BitTorrent can only work through co-operation. BitTorrent requires a network of “peers”, or other people’s computers who are willing to share the file. This is referred to as “peer to peer” or “p2p.

If I have a large file I want to transfer, the first step is to “seed” the file, transferring portions of the file to multiple members of the p2p network.

Diagram 1: Seeding

It only takes a small fraction of the file to be passed along before the process speeds up enormously.

Diagram 2: Seeding and Sharing

Once I have a small portion, i pass it along at the same time as I’m receiving new bits of the same file, either from the original seed source of another peer.

Diagram 3: Upload + Download = Speed

With many participants (peers) uploading and downloading at the same time, large files can be distributed very quickly indeed.

Diagram 4: Finish Fast

Bell Canada “Throttles” BitTorrent

Bell Canada

When Bell Canada was first caught “throttling” internet traffic to the Independent ISP customers, Bell Canada’s justification to the CRTC was that the internet was too crowded, and that it was necessary to “manage” the traffic. Bell claimed that they needed to employ Deep Packet Inspection to identify BitTorrent Traffic so that they can “throttle” it.

Mandate:
“The CRTC’s mandate is to ensure that both the broadcasting and telecommunications systems serve the Canadian public. ”

—CRTC Role, CRTC Website

Amazingly, the CRTC had nothing to say about Bell Canada’s plans to discriminate against particular Canadian internet users.

The CRTC has accepted Bell’s unsubstantiated contention that this discrimination was necessary, and in approving it they have allowed Bell Canada to think that this discrimination is acceptable. In no way does this serve the Canadian public.

You might almost think that the CRTC mandate was to suppress Canadian creativity and the creation of Canadian movies and music. The availability of the technologies that exist to make it easy to create our own movies and music should be welcomed as an opportunity to add to and help grow our Canadian Culture.

Why single out BitTorrent traffic for throttling if it is an efficient use of the available bandwidth?

One of Bell Canada’s arguments for implementation of Usage Based Billing is that Canadian internet bandwidth is in short supply, making it necessary for them to “manage” bandwidth by penalizing heavy users.

So how could anything as efficient as BitTorrent possibly be seen as a bad thing if the Internet is so crowded?

It doesn’t make sense to discriminate against BitTorrent use. There is nothing inherently bad about BitTorrent use or BitTorrent internet traffic. But Bell Canada’s contention is that BitTorrent is bad because people use it to download movies and music.

Which begs the question: how does that make BitTorrent bad?

The Copyright Red Herring

The “Copyright Lobby”, which consists of large media producers and distributors (like Disney), and corporations and organizations (like MPAA), who distribute commercial movies and music, want us to believe that this is a bad thing.

This corporate special interest group has spent a great deal of time, energy and cash trying to promote the “pravda” that any digital copying of copyright works is bad. Making no distinction between commercial bootleggers who distribute illegal copies for profit and legal purchasers who seek to make a back-up copy or digital format shift for personal use, the Copyright Lobby has been pressuring governments the world over to criminalize personal use copying.

The problem for ordinary citizens is that these corporate interests have vast quantities of money to spend and a great deal of media power. This makes it incredibly difficult for governments to stand up to their onslaught. In some parts of the world this persistent advocacy has paid off for the Copyright Lobby, as lawmakers knuckle under and legislate to the detriment of their own citizens by making it illegal even to copy or download movies or music for personal use.

Here in Canada the Copyright Lobby is seeking to influence our lawmakers to criminalize personal use copying. They are trying to make Canadians think that people who make copies for personal use are performing criminal acts, and should be penalized the same as a a bootlegger who films the latest theatrical release off a theatre screen and proceeds to sell hundreds of thousands of bootleg DVDs.

Once again, Channel Four’s hilarious I.T. Crowd puts this question in perspective with this send-up of a video piracy commercial I found on YouTube.

Strong and free?

Canadian Law says

RIGHT NOW, in Canada, personal use copying is simply not illegal.

RIGHT NOW, in Canada, use of the BitTorrent file transfer protocol is also perfectly legal.

RIGHT NOW, in Canada, peer to peer (p2p) file sharing is legal; Canadians break no laws simply by joining in a p2p network.

The Copyright Lobby’s smear tactics have gone a long way toward making the world believe that BitTorrent is inherently bad.

Bell Canada has convinced the CRTC that it is acceptable to “throttle” BitTorrent, because of BitTorrent’s reputed connection with possible copyright infringement. So although BitTorrent is perfectly legal, Canadian internet users are paying the price for the success of this Copyright Lobby propaganda.

Myth: All BitTorrent/p2p internet traffic consists of copyright movies and music

The Corporate world doesn’t understand radical ideas like Open Source software and p2p file sharing because these concepts are so different from anything appearing in the old business models. Even more incomprehensible to the outdated business models is the fact that it may or may not generate a direct monetary profit.

The classic example of corporate myopia is:

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. ”

—attributed to Thomas J. Watson, president of International Business Machines, circa 1943

For many years IBM has taken the rap for this quote whether or not Mr. Watson really did say it. (Most likely not.) Maybe proving it wrong is part of why IBM is such a going concern in the 21st Century. Having weathered the storms of fortune today’s IBM is a world leader by continuing to innovate and adapt alongside evolving attitudes and technologies. IBM has been steadily increasing their participation and involvement with Open Source software in this new century.

The reality is that IBM not only understands the importance of open source, the corporation has actively supported and promoted adoption of Linux and Open Office in the corporate world. And naturally BitTorrent is a part of the equation because it is such an efficient means to distribute large files (like for instance, Canonical’s Ubuntu.)

“Think.”

—Thomas J. Watson, president of International Business Machines

Seems IBM actually does heed their most enduring slogan (which definitely was coined by Mr. Watson). Sadly, this type of foresight is uncommon. Because BitTorrent is such a radical idea, most entrenched corporations simply aren’t capable of understanding it.

There are other uses for BitTorrent that are not only legal, but even perfectly acceptable in polite society.

Probably my favorite use of BitTorrent is the amazing Project Gutenberg. This organization has been digitizing books in the public domain and distributing them freely… via BitTorrent, since this is such an efficient method of digital distribution. After all, BitTorrent is used for transferring very large files like music and movies because it is very efficient.

BitTorrent file sharing is not all movies and music. Like IBM, many people actually use p2p to help distribute open source software like OpenOffice via p2p. There is a growing body of open source software available, for instance my favorite web browser is Mozilla’s Firefox.

In fact, there the awesome SourceForge website which provides a place to find all manner of open source software, or where you can release your own.

When a new distribution of Ubuntu is released, people around the world gather together and have Ubuntu Release Parties making more good use of BitTorrent

And of course the Pirate Party of Canada has established Captain: the Canadian Pirate Tracker, their own BitTorrent site where Recording Artists and Filmmakers (and I imagine novelists, and software creators as well would be welcome to utilize this) to freely distribute their work.

Every bit of music and every movie transferred is not a copyright infringement. If I get to the point where my home made movies may prove marketable, I would certainly be looking at BitTorrent Distribution. In fact it would probably be easier to distribute home movies to family via BitTorrent than it would be to try to burn DVDs. (DRM makes the two commercial movie making software packages I’ve purchased almost unusable. Of course it doesn’t slow down the bootleggers.) If YouTube is an indicator, I’m not the only person who wants to transfer music and movies freely … not as copyright infringements. I have paid levies to the music industry for home movies I have made and burrned to CD for distribution to friends and family. If I choose to transfer them via BitTorrent now I can avoid the levy but instead suffer the added expense of Bell Canada’s deliberate throttling inflation?

Another really good legal use of BitTorrents are the actual commercial websites where people can go to to purchase downloads of music. So far no one seems to have found anything wrong with this practice.

But that’s not all. Canada’s own CBC Television Network tried their own experiment by releasing an episode of their program Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister via BitTorrent. Unfortunately the BitTorrent didn’t work so well because of Bell Canada’s CRTC approved BitTorrent “throttling”.

Geist tweets about the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation

Which is not to say it wasn’t a good idea. Not too long ago Michael Geist tweeted about the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation’s foray into BitTorrent use. All accounts indicate that their experiment was very successful indeed, which is having a big impact in the way they do business.

Ink Poster

The sad tale of a pirated Independent film can be found in this TorrentFreak article Indie Movie Explodes on BitTorrent, Makers Bless Piracy.

I guess it isn’t such a sad story after all.  

Thanks to piracy this Indie film called INK was has been achieving a distribution level that the filmmakers had never dreamed of.  They are of course extraordinarily pleased.

I think what is being called piracy here is BitTorrent p2p personal use sharing. Friends sharing with friends is one of the most effective ways to achieve recognition. They used to call it a “grass roots” movement. This is one of the major issues for the large movie studios. This is the place where they complain of being ripped off. What they don’t seem to realize is that this is a good thing. Exposure garners fans, makes a “name”. Fans buy stuff.

BitTorrent Traffic is not the only thing Bell Canada is Throttling

Rumour has it that there are people who actually work from home.

Time was the government encouraged the idea of people working from home. There are all sorts of advantages to society, like reduced congestion on actual highways, less wear and tear on our roads, a decrease in commuting based pollutants in our environment, a reduction of human depletion of fossil fuels.

But if you work from home, you are probably going to have to transfer files back and forth between your home and workplace. Chances are good that you are going to encrypt this type of traffic for security reasons. Although Bell Canada says they are only “throttling” BitTorrent traffic, in fact there have been instances of Bell throttling encrypted internet traffic on the assumption that if it’s encrypted, it must be BitTorrent traffic.

Bell places the onus on the customer to prove their “innocence” before they will consider stopping throttling.

Since the CRTC gave Bell Canada permission to use Deep Packet Inspection to inspect our packets, the only way to ensure that our private information remains private is through encryption. And in Canada any encrypted internet traffic will most likely to be throttled.

Canadian Copyright Consultation

The Canadian Government is looking at updating Canadian copyright law. They held a copyright consultation process this year, traveling around Canada soliciting opinions of stakeholders. Even better, they set up a website where they accepted submissions from any Canadian who wished to contribute. This website was flooded with thousands of submissions. Some are simply a few lines, some are extensive essays covering all sorts of topics, but all I’ve read are heartfelt. Because of the overwhelming response it took a long time to get all the submissions posted. (My own submission finally made online.)

This process led a lot of Canadians, including me, to believe that the copycon process might actually mean that our elected representatives were listening to us.

Unfortunately there is currently a lot of pressure on our government to make copying movies, software and music for personal use illegal. The secret ACTA meetings have caused a feeling of dread to settle over most Canadians. There has been deprecating talk about weak Canadian copyright law.

Except it isn’t true.

If anything, Canadian copyright law is probably more robust than is good for us.

The essential problem that the copyright lobby is attempting to overcome the problem of suing their own customers for what they imagine are infringements. They have noticed that fighting personal use copying garners bad publicity. This problem can be neatly solved by passing the responsibility for finding and prosecuting copyright infringement to governments. And of course the only was to get government to take ob the responsibility is to convince them that the copyright infringement is a criminal offense.

Regardless, currently copyright law is imprecise as regards personal use copying. So we’ll just have to wait for an actual law to be passed before it becomes illegal. (This pressure is actually largely from foreign owned interests– like Disney. It will be interesting to see if our government caves to this outside pressure.)

mixed messages

The government mandated levy we pay every time we purchase a blank CD is a tacit governmental admission that it is legal to burn CDs of our own music.

In the pre-Tivo era, Canadian cable networks actively encouraged Canadians to videotape the movies that they showed so we could watch them when it was convenient. They called it “time shifting” in their massive advertising campaigns. But no media giants took our cable companies to court back then. For the same reason artists will lend or give away their work for free when they’re starting out (because they need to build and audience– exactly like the INK producers mentioned above), back then even Disney didn’t have a channel in Canada. So Disney didn’t kick up a fuss even though they had to have known this was happening. They let it go because it was in their best interests to allow time shifting (i.e personal use copying). Disney knew this was in their best interests because it would help the Canadian cable companies build their market.

Of course now Disney doesn’t want us to record their movies for personal use. Disney would be happy if our government decided personal use copying was illegal. They would be happier still if our government spent time and energy searching out and charging people who download Disney movies.

Disney would be happy they no longer had to expend time and energy chasing down copyright infringements. They would be ecstatic if our Mounties were to do it for them. Gratis.

But this precedent indicates copying movies for personal use is also legal in Canada

So even though p2p networks or copying movies and music are not actually illegal in Canada, our friends the CRTC gave Bell Canada permission to “throttle” anyone using BitTorrent transfers. Because the assumption is that even if you’re not technically performing criminal acts, per se, anyone who uses BitTorrent can’t be very nice.

The CRTC, the government body that is supposed to safeguard Canadian telecommunication consumers, gave Bell Canada legal permission to mess with BitTorrent traffic. Its discriminatory for one thing. If there are copyright infringements happening, there are laws to handle them. It isn’t any of Bell Canada’s business. Or the CRTC’s.

[More on copyright in my other blog-- in the wind: Personal Use Copying vs. Bootlegging]

Dudley Do-Right?

Eirik Solheim's metaphorical image of the internet is the best I've seen: The internet is a series of tubes

Even if it were true that Canadian consumers were downloading music or movies, and even if it had been made illegal under Canadian Law, it should not make a whit of difference.

Because Internet Service Providers or Internet Carriers are NOT branches of Canadian law enforcement. They have not been deputized to enforce the law by the RCMP. If Bell Canada was in fact a Law Enforcement entity they would not be allowed to peek in any citizen’s packets without first acquiring a search warrant. Corporations don’t exist to uphold laws, they exist to make money.

The internet has been called dumb pipes, or a series of tubes, or a highway. It doesn’t really matter what you call it, what is most important is access for all.  
The people who control the pipes should not be allowed to discriminate against particular users for ANY reason. Net Neutrality is so important: the internet should be accessible to all.

revolutionary ideas

In the United Kingdom The Times Online Do music artists fare better in a world with illegal file-sharing? article looked at the benefits of personal use copying applied as peer to peer file sharing with some dramatic results.

Canada’s own ThisMagazine presented this thought provoking article Pay indie artists and break the music monopoly — Legalize Music Piracy which advocates making the law serve the artists and consumers rather than just the corporations.

Further rumblings about changing the way we look at this issue were reported recently by the The Globe and Mail blogs article NDP, Billy Bragg make case for free music

STOP Usage Based Billing

Vancouver  Sun

By Jonathan Fowlie

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s New Democratic Party is maintaining a double-digit lead over the governing B.C. Liberals, a new poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion shows.

Conducted on Nov. 10 and Nov. 11, the poll found 47 per cent of respondents support the NDP, compared to 33 per cent who said they prefer the Liberals. Of the remaining people, 10 per cent backed the Greens, and seven per cent gave their support to the BC Conservatives.

The 14-point lead by the NDP is the same margin Angus Reid found in early September, showing that public dismay with government over controversial issues like the Harmonized Sales Tax has yet to subside.

“The damage caused by the twin blows of the HST and budget deficit that rained down on the BC Liberal government has been long term,” Angus Reid said in an analysis released with the poll.

“Despite a slow economic recovery, the government’s support numbers have not moved significantly.”

In May, 46 per cent of voters elected a BC Liberal government, with 42 per cent supporting the NDP.

After the election, Premier Gordon Campbell announced a deficit more than five times larger than what he projected before British Columbians went to the polls.

Campbell also backtracked on the HST, announcing not long after the election that B.C. would move towards the new tax.

The Angus Reid poll also found NDP leader Carole James to be gaining momentum, with 33 per cent of voters saying they approve of the job she’s doing, and 39 per cent saying they disapprove.

In September, only 29 percent of voters approved of James, while 45 per cent disapproved.

The movement over two months is not dramatic, but will be helpful to James as she heads into her party convention at the end of next week.

Campbell faced high disapproval numbers in the poll, with 67 per cent not approving of his performance. In September, 70 per cent of people said they did not approve of the job Campbell was doing.

The Angus Reid Public Opinion poll was conducted online among 800 British Columbians. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percent.

The poll comes a day after a similar poll released by Mustel Group, which gave the NDP 43 per cent support and the Liberals 35 per cent.

That poll had a 4.4 per cent margin of error, with a 95 per cent level of confidence.

jfowlie@vancouversun.com

Length: 3:48

NDP website

Related: Political Party; Ideology; Liberal Party of Canada Leadership Race (2006)

The daily challenge is to get out and keep busy , whether it’s just walking through a mall during inclement weather for some sembelance of exercise or going to a cyber cafe and enjoy the freedom of no one looking over your shoulder.

Once my disability comes in I’m eligable for b.c. Housing; the trick is patience and going things day by day.

Meantime friendships and bonds are strengthening and there’s ALWAYS some creep that is universally dreaded. This creates the bond of mutual enemy , so to speak, and breaks down barriers between people who might not normally talk with each other.

Gordie Campbell and his team of thugs now refer to downtown east side residents (homeless) as “colourful”. Ya well ok gordie, you can mask things how you want but there’s more and more on the streets and in shelters every day…people who never ever imagined they’d be in such a situation. Needless to say they are having political eye openers and realizing B.C.liberals are wolves in designer sheep clothing.
The question is , how much will it take for the public at large to start THINKING and switch their vote to the NDP????

Too many still have a glen Clark hangover and don’t realize the party reform that Carole James has brought In. How to stress this , or do
We have to wait for the aftermath of the 2010 olympics for the public to lift off their blinders to wake up and smell the empty coffers?

Blake Richards (CPC): “I wanted to put on the record an op-ed piece from the Castlegar News, from Mr. Atamanenko’s riding, and just share that with the committee and share that with farmers across this country.”

Alex Atamanenko (NDP): “You’re full of crap…I’ve had it with you and I’ve had it with that crap and the gun registry here has nothing to do with agriculture. I have three rifles. They’re registered. Nothing happens to me. Any farmer can go out and have a gun…”

Randy Hoback (CPC): “You come and talk to my farmers that way, Alex”

Alex Atamanenko (NDP): “Yeah, I’ll go and talk to them. I’ll go and talk to them.”

Randy Hoback (CPC): “They’ll kick you out of the hall.  You start representing your true farmers the way they should..”

Alex Atamanenko (NDP): “You go to hell.”

House of Commons Agriculture Committee, Nov. 19, 2009

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE AUDIO (MP3, 314kb)

I don’t know whether I am just a wee bit dim, or whether I am being ‘deceived’, as George Keeming says (see comment on Oct. 22 blog), but the more I talk to people the more I am less enlightened. I watched a wee video meant to explain to real estate professionals how this will all work. The gentleman was describing how this will affect our clients in terms of added costs, and the lady took the other side and explained that Canadians are used to paying taxes and that this will just be another adjustment to adapt to. I disagree! I don’t think we are used to it as much as we grudgingly tolerate it.

Don’t get me wrong, I am very, very, very grateful to live in Canada, and after a recent trip to an education conference in Atlantic City, NJ, I am even more grateful. I talked with so many people about the education and health care systems and couldn’t wait to come running back home. I wanted to know how bad the health care really was down there – just didn’t want to take Michael Moore’s ‘Sicko’ at face value – but it really is that bad! So yes, please, tax me for our wonderful health care! I know there are issues with wait times, especially in more remote areas, and there are other problems of course, but we are really so very lucky!

And I also don’t want to be biased in my blogs and not give fair explaination for the ‘pro’ side of this tax, but I personally need more explanation. In a course last week on commercial real estate and litigation, presented by 6 lawyers from a local firm, I learned some of the positive ideas for this tax:

• some of this tax will be used as relief for small businesses, promoting economic growth and prosperity (agreed! – but I still think it is the ‘little guy’ who will be hit hardest in this – not the rich, not the poor, but the majority of those in between who are just trying to make ends meet and are tired of being stretched)
• many countries have a VAT (value added tax) structure to help businesses already; Quebec has its own as well (true! – but again with the ‘little guy’ – I know several people in Europe who are far from impressed with the VAT)
• bottom line is new tax treatment of new capital investment by corporations would promote increased investment and productivity in Ontario (my main thought here is also the fact that so much of any government’s budget is wasted on the ridiculous. I am not going to even get into this because I could write volumes, but I challenge anyone to disagree with me that government spending is inefficient. I think we could reorganize instead of sucking more out of the citizens)

NDP leader Andrea Horwath had the following to say (disclaimer – I am neither NDP, nor Liberal):

So in conclusion, I humbly ask for your input and explanation!

Tiffany McGregor: Educator/REALTOR®

Email me! – tiffismyrealtor@gmail.com

Follow me on Twitter! – twitter.com/tiffismyrealtor

Become a fan of my facebook page! – see blogroll to the right

Check out my website! – tiffismyrealtor.com (website currently under construction)

Surveillance images released in synagogue vandalism CBC.ca

Is 51:23 ..your tormentors {and} oppressors, those who said to you, Bow down, that we may ride {or} tread over you; and you have made your back like the ground and like the street for them to pass over.

MAD, QUITE MAD is what you will be if you give yourself over to the views, advice domination of others. Better learn how to hear God’s voice, and accept his guidance, and be free from the depressors.

(Lev 25:10 KJV) And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.(Psa 119:45 KJV) And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.

30 percent of the people I meet daily in real life are the bad guys that jails exist for still too.. and they should be put in there often too. Now in Canada even I am very used to people the much too many Bullies who try to falsely dominate you, and these bullies go overboard in their reactions when you expose the truth about them and others especially when their pet idols, or careers are threatened. Me I am still rightfully actively resistant to all of the abusers, bullies, liars, even to the Church, GOVERNMENTAL, CORPORATE, POLICE oppressions still too.

I clearly do believe in the right of everyone to speak, to speak out as well, and to be equally heard by all, so we can all judge what has been said if it is appropriate and we can next corresponding act upon it, even in the church, in the government, on the internet now too. Clearly some people falsely DO DISALLOW THIS RIGHT… the bad persons especially as even I know this for sure. They respond with a personal attack, inquisition, censorship, lies, slanders, diversions, distortions, instead of facing, dealing with the facts, truths being presented. Confirming to many what they still are really like, immoral, abusive bullies.

When I see this kind of unacceptable personal behavior I too do not accept it but do loudly object to it to all and do ask these hate mongrels be immediately fired, put in jail as well. No matter who they are now too.

(Isa 61:1 KJV) The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; (Jer 34:8 KJV) This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;(Jer 34:15 KJV) And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:

(Jer 34:16 KJV) But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.

(Jer 34:17 KJV) Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

If we are honest with ourselves, we might admit that such authoritarianism abuses even may exist in our own backyards.

Sometimes this false domination attempt is subtle and other time it is blatant. A yoke in the OT could mean bondage, enslavement or servitude to another leader other than God. God breaks the yoke of bondage from the enemy so we can be yoked to him.

I still cannot help but notice that a certain segment of every society, bad self-righteous persons who to compensate for their poor self image, poor self worth, or even an over inflated ego, self worth they in a sinful pride too they do try to put others under their sinful bondage, even to still wrongfully deny their human rights and their equal rights of free speech, to equally express themselves, to be equally heard too.

The Exodus account describes the condition of Israel, which God saw and knew, and out of which Israel cried to God, because of their bondage – enslavement – slavery AND YET ONE CANNOT BUT NOTICE HOW THEY WERE ALSO NEXT SO READY TO ENSLAVE THEIR FELLOW BROTHERS AND GOD WAS REALLY UPSET AT THIS.

Leviticus, 25:39 If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service. 25:40 He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner; he must serve with you until the year of jubilee, 25:41 but then he may go free, he and his children with him, and may return to his family and to the property of his ancestors. 25:42 Since they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they must not be sold in a slave sale. 25:43 You must not rule over him harshly, but you must fear your God.

I have always wondered besides Satan himself as to the original source of this perverse, degenerated human domination attitude, unacceptable abuse, approach. This enslavement attempt occurs too often now too now even not just in the despotic churches, despotic governments, despotic police, in the civil and public services, but it is carried out even by so so called professionals in corporations, schools, universities too where these control freaks, bullies, slave drivers do want to dominate falsely their wills and desires upon others.

But I know clearly that the solution to this approach is public exposure of the abusers in a very loud voice so everyone can hear about it too. For God himself still does not accept these abuses for sure. I have also learned a long time ago that public exposure and prosecution of the abusers serves everyone’s best interests,

http://thenonconformer.blogspot.com/2008/12/coping-with-bad.html

http://postedat.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/control-freaks/

Isn’t it about time this ridiculous abuse of MPs franking privileges be scrapped? There’s never, ever anything substantive or in the least bit informative in these mailings anyway. It’s just party propaganda funded by taxpayers.

MPs would of course still be able to distribute their legitimate quarterly newsletters (if they bother with them) to constituents, but there is absolutely no need whatsoever for taxpayers’ to be footing the bill for what’s tantamount to political junk mail.

Funciona, é claro. Eu mesmo, jogando Need For Speed Undercover tive mais certeza ainda que nasci para ter um Mustang.

Daniel Pinheiro

————————————–

É bem mais que diversão

Cada vez mais empresas investem nos jogos online para se aproximar de seus consumidores — e, com isso, fortalecer a própria marca

Por Lucas Amorim | 12.11.2009 | 00h01

Fonte: EXAME

No dia 23 de agosto, no exato momento em que a seleção brasileira feminina de vôlei conquistava, no Japão, seu décimo título mundial no tradicional torneio Grand Prix, as jogadoras do time eram transformadas em personagens de jogo de videogame. Na sede da Olympikus, localizada na cidade gaúcha de Parobé, as atletas habitualmente simpáticas e bem-humoradas, ganharam traços rústicos e cara de poucos amigos. Batizado de Super Vôlei Brasil, o jogo está desde então disponível de graça na internet — e já atraiu mais de 2 milhões de visitantes. Cada partida, que pode reunir até 12 jogadores ao mesmo tempo, dura em média 20 minutos — ou 40 vezes o tempo de um comercial na TV. “Os jogos são mais do que simples diversão. Eles proporcionam uma exposição muito maior da marca aos amantes do esporte”, diz Marcio Callage, gerente de marketing da Olympikus, fabricante de artigos esportivos do grupo Azaleia e principal patrocinadora da seleção brasileira de voleibol feminino. “Já estamos trabalhando numa nova versão para o ano que vem.”

Assim como a Olympikus, empresas como Unilever, Grendene e Procter& Gamble têm trabalhado no desenvolvimento de jogos online para reforçar o apelo de suas marcas junto aos consumidores. A estratégia pode ser explicada pela necessidade de ganhar relevância entre um público jovem, cada vez menos exposto à mídia de massa. Nesse sentido, os games despontam como uma oportunidade nova — e lúdica — de contar histórias, apresentar produtos e forjar um relacionamento único entre as empresas e seus consumidores. Recentemente, a fabricante gaúcha de calçados infantis Bibi adotou os jogos como forma de comunicação. Em outubro, relançou o “skatenis”, tênis com rodinhas no solado que havia feito um enorme sucesso entre a garotada em 2006. Para utilizá-lo, é necessário que as crianças vistam equipamentos de segurança e evitem descer ladeiras ou escadas. O problema é que explicar tudo isso no curto intervalo de um comercial de TV é quase impraticável. Em outubro, os executivos da Bibi lançaram um jogo com o produto no site YouTube. Pelo plano original, o joguinho deveria aumentar as vendas de Natal, mas o retorno veio antes. “Vendemos 30 000 pares em um mês, sem nenhum outro tipo de publicidade”, diz Camila Kohlrausch, diretora de marketing.

Uma das pioneiras no uso de games foi a Burger King. Em 2006, a rede de lanchonetes lançou nos Estados Unidos três joguinhos para o videogame Xbox, vendidos a 3,99 dólares cada um numa promoção com os sanduíches. Em apenas três meses o Burger King vendeu 3,5 milhões de lanches e seu faturamento aumentou 41%. Desde então, outras companhias em todo o mundo vêm usando estratégias semelhantes — ainda que com resultados menos expressivos. A fabricante de energéticos austríaca Red Bull, por exemplo, lançou em agosto um jogo de motocross para o iPhone. O aplicativo já foi baixado 630 000 vezes, o que o torna um dos games mais populares entre os usuários do celular. Em sua incursão mais recente pelo mundo virtual, a Red Bull trouxe para o computador competições como corridas de avião, patinação no gelo e campeonatos de carros fabricados no fundo do quintal. “A Red Bull quer que sua marca seja referência em esportes radicais, mesmo que o internauta nem precise sair de casa para perceber isso”, diz Israel Mendes, diretor de criação da Aquiris, uma das maiores empresas de games do Brasil.

Embora pareça relativamente simples (o número de empresas especializadas nesse tipo de programa cresce a cada dia), desenvolver um jogo que transmita alguns dos principais atributos de uma marca exige um cuidado quase obsessivo com os detalhes. Entender o público-alvo é crucial. “Não pega bem, por exemplo, desenvolver um jogo da memória para um grupo de executivos de alto nível”, diz Tiago Ritter, sócio da W3Hauss, empresa por trás do projeto da Bibi. Além disso, é preciso encontrar o ponto de equilíbrio entre a qualidade do jogo e a apresentação da marca. Não adianta criar um game simplesmente divertido se ele não contribuir para melhorar a imagem da empresa. “A brincadeira tem de ser envolvente, mas deve ter conexão com o negócio. Do contrário, as chances de sucesso serão mínimas”, diz Fernanda Jesus, sócia da Gringo, uma das pioneiras no desenvolvimento desses jogos no Brasil. Os responsáveis pela marca de desodorantes Axe, da Unilever, entenderam como poucos esse raciocínio. De 2008 para cá, criaram três jogos. O mais recente, batizado de Get Them Back (“Tragam-nas de volta”, em português), foi lançado em setembro. O objetivo lúdico do jogo é recuperar mulheres supostamente perdidas para um astro da música. O objetivo comercial é fazer parte de uma campanha publicitária que inclui anúncios de TV. Para tornar a história mais verídica, o vilão ganhou um perfil no site de relacionamento MySpace. “Em dois meses, o jogo deve atrair 250 000 pessoas”, diz Guilherme Mortensen, gerente da marca Axe.

Apesar de todo o frenesi criado em torno dos joguinhos, ainda é muito difícil — para não dizer impossível — medir o retorno que eles trazem para a empresa, tanto em termos financeiros quanto em benefício para a marca. Embora o custo de desenvolvimento desses games seja relativamente baixo — cerca de 600 000 reais — , esses aplicativos normalmente servem de apoio a uma campanha mais ampla, ancorada em veículos tradicionais. “Não dá para desvincular as duas coisas”, diz o americano TJ Keitt, analista da consultoria Forrester Research, especializada em internet. “Como se trata de algo muito novo, os efeitos só vão aparecer no longo prazo.” Se medir o sucesso de uma iniciativa dessas é algo complicado, o fracasso, por sua vez, costuma ser cristalino — e imediato. Em outubro de 2007, a Toyota lançou um jogo de corrida para o Xbox 360 para promover seu novo carro, o Yaris. A recepção em blogs e outras comunidades virtuais foi tão ruim (os usuários reclamavam que os comandos não funcionavam direito) que a montadora retirou o jogo do mercado apenas um ano mais tarde — o carro, por outro lado, foi sucesso de vendas. Para especialistas, apesar dos riscos, o potencial de crescimento dos games é enorme. Segundo a consultoria americana NDP, 11% das grandes companhias já incluem esse tipo de passatempo na estratégia de marketing — ávidas por conquistar os 72% de consumidores que costumam brincar com jogos online. A fase da brincadeira, definitivamente, ficou para trás.

Some recent Conservative Senators:

All right, I suppose in reality rational politics have been dead for quite some time. So long, in fact, that the term has frankly become an oxymoron, becoming a punch line in much the same fashion as “efficient bureaucracy ” or “non-self-serving-politician”. And at one point, I certainly would have enjoyed laugh at the whole thing, but no more. The path we’re headed down is frightening. When I say “we” I very much mean all of us: Canadians. Certainly politics south of the 49th is ten fold more terrifying, but then again, their politics have been structured that way almost from the get go. Certainly, it has become significantly worse, but when you’re dealing with terrifying moving slowly to fuc- … I digress.

One thing I’ve always enjoyed about Canadian politics is how utterly boring it is. Day-to-day politics shouldn’t be interesting. It should be dull, dull, dull. The idea of going about the business of administering social programs, funding and the general running of the country should make normal people fall asleep. Of course we should be interested and keenly aware, but it should not be exciting.

The comparison I’ve often heard is that American elections are just so interesting and Canadian elections are mind-numbingly dull. But that’s a good thing. This is undeniably compounded by the fact that Americans love – crave even – an election every two years, and even the Presidential election starts two years ahead of time. Granted, I suppose we’re doing no better these days.

Here in Canada, an election is about issues, whereas an American election is about who took their flag-pin off or who can see Russia from their deck, or who is more patriotic, or who is a “socialist” or “secret Muslim”. That’s all fine and good, but what about discussing who is going to get the country out of unnecessary wars, or even, what wars are necessary. Or how about plans to reduce an out of control national debt.

Did you hear? Apparently Obama had dinner with a guy who in his youth blew up a statue. Gasp! He even attended a church who’s pastor once said “God damn America!”.

I don’t even know what church, if any, Harper attends. And I don’t care.

But none of this is the point. The death of rational politics isn’t caused by sensationalized media, but instead within the systems themselves. Sort of.

Politics began its slow death with the invention of the political party. Again, this happened much quicker south of the border than here, but for entirely different reasons.

In Canada we modelled and tweaked the British Parliamentary system to meet our own needs. The very basics of which provide that we as a people do not directly elect a Prime Minister, nor do we elect a party into government. Instead, we vote for our very own, regional representatives to provide our community a voice on the national stage.

Here’s where things start to go downhill.

Our system assumes if a majority of regions elects more representatives from one party, the overall public would like to see that party in power, and naturally if that party put its faith in their own leader, so too should we.

Now, I’m not suggesting this is a bad system, nor do I necessarily want to directly elect a Prime Minister.

What I am suggesting is that the general public has no idea this is the case. It’s widely assumed that a vote for, say, the Conservative party (regardless the individual’s name on the ballot) is a vote for Mr Harper.

This is so much a fallacy, that, even constitutionally, the party in government doesn’t even need more seats than any other single party. Hell, the government doesn’t even need to be formed by a single party. They need only have the confidence of the House. No more, no less. So back about a year ago, when Canadian politics briefly captivated the public and there was the threat of a coalition government, the Conservatives were miles out of line when they tried to convince the public this was an unconstitutional attempt at a power grab.

It may very well have been a “power grab”, but that’s utterly beside the point. It was an entirely constitutional play, and if we go back to that assumption wherein the government should be formed by the party with more seats, a coalition would have more seats and thus “must” form the government.

Here’s my issue with political parties: When it comes down to it, the whole thing is about power. And how do you come to power if you’re agreeing with the party in power. A party must oppose the others. But that’s not how government works. A government is supposed to be advancing the political will of the people. Surely this leads to some overlap, some compromise, some commonality somewhere.

This division serves only to fragment and destroy national unity. We see it everywhere. So called Conservatives yelling at and calling so called Liberals names, “leftists” yelling at “right-wingers”. The whole thing is absurd, and definitely not productive.

I’m not saying we all need to get along – far from it – in a country as massive and different from region to region as this, there is bound to be disagreement, sometimes big ones. Nor do we need to all align on a centrist platform. We can have a country of conservatives, of liberals (note the use of small ‘c’ and ‘l’), we can vote for different parties, but the idea that we must buy into only one ideology and platform is foolish.

I know it’s a pipe dream, but I would like to see political parties done away with. In all likelihood we would all suddenly take interest in our local representatives, after all, they’re not carrying a party banner. We’d have to, and hold on here, listen to their ideas. Gasp. Our local issues would get pushed on a national stage, as opposed to taking a back seat to the leaders ideologies (I’m looking at you Jason Kenney). Natural and dynamic coalitions would take place in the house, shifting as political issues shift.

But what about the Prime Minister? I would like to see the PM elected much the same way we elect a Speaker of the House. That is, elected MPs could submit themselves as candidates for the position and members of the house would vote.

Perhaps then the PM would have some accountability to the commons and not stuff the Senate with ridiculous former CTV anchors.