Canadian Elections – Don’t Let the Current Leader Snow you – Know The Party’s History Before you Vote!

LIBs and CONs have been in the HoC since Canada began, in some form or other. They are both known for siding with big business. Though CONs take a stricter side of money first, people if they have enough money left over. CONs also have ‘family first’ values. Which, given their voting history, means they exclude working women, LGBTQ+ and are anti-abortion. Both parties have a problematic history with First Nations.

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1. Liberal Party of Canada
   Founder George Brown
   Founded 1861;

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2. Conservative Party of Canada iterations –
   Founder John A. Macdonald
   Founded July 1, 1867
   …..
   b. including melding with the
   Reform Party of Canada –
   Founder Preston Manning
   Founded October 30, 1987
   Dissolved March 25, 2000

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BQ has a concern about Quebec Nationalism – wanting to separate from Canada

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3. Bloc Québécois
   Founded 15 June 1991
   b. Split from Progressive Conservatives,
   Liberals

…….

NDP socialism now tends toward working people. Rarely makes efforts toward those who are disabled, even if they were hurt on the job. Which removes a LOT of the socialism from their history.

….

4. Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
   Founded 1932
   Dissolved 1961
   & x R big unions
   …..
   b. became the New Democratic Party
   Founded August 3, 1961

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Green Party is all about environmental concerns, but recently has become less grass roots, and more what businesses can do.

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5. Green Party of Canada
   Founded 1983

….. to consider ‘What have they done for me lately?’

Is there a ‘true’ left wing party in the HoC these days? IMO Nope. It’s very much trickle down economy in the HoC. Though they do give some credence to global deals when it suits them. They want to appear to be a ‘good citizen’.

1. There is little focus on who becomes homeless, unemployable and why. And little to no effort to support them. Veterans, families, elders, First Nations, people injured in crashes, fires and on the job. As well as people with chronic illnesses.
2. There are very few programs or concerns for start ups or maintaining quality small business programs. Though this is critical to trade and tourism.
3. There is little active feminism in their policies.
4. LGBTQ+ are given occasional nods in human rights changes like gay marriage and conversion therapy. But little else.
5. Poverty is given little more than after thoughts in the budget. Housing, food security and almost blamed for being jobless, homeless, not a citizen yet, a gig worker, a woman or LGBTQ+. Even when the economy is down. And little is done, besides ‘retraining programs’ towards changing their circumstance.
6. Meanwhile… the price of basic needs goes up and nothing is done toward that like housing price limits, affordable secure food lines over fast food, safe and affordable child care. (schools, day care) And with families being carers for an older gen too since people are aging, for respite and LTC safety and affordability.
7. You’d think that the military wouldn’t be that key to a nation that has never technically been to war? I mean we send people to support others’ battles.
8. Full medical care for all, covered by the govt should include hospital visits, doctors’ visits, dentists, eye care, pharmacological coverage. If they need more money, how about they charge something nominal to people below the poverty line like $10 a year and the rest a fee on scale with their income?
9. racism is societal when the people who are most affected are First Nations, new immigrants, essential workers, gig workers. And the govt parties knew this prior to the BLM protests and the pandemic. But what have they done to make these people/groups more secure within our borders? The time is now, because with the planet heating up, there will be mass migration coming our way. What have the parties done to prepare for that?

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If you can think of issues and concerns for the parties currently in the house, or a ‘dream party’ you’d like to see, please respectfully comment.

Covid, Viral Care – The Difference Between Junk Science and Drug Trials is…..

Mostly the answer to this question is …. is there a doctor watching your dose, your labs, your vital signs, looking for adverse effects, standing by to manage any such symptoms?
Vs you calling poison control or going to ER cuzz you feel like you’re about to die and you just might be right?

Is the doctor using the proper scientific methods to be sure that you are in fact helping the case of this becoming a legit treatment? Using things like control groups. If it’s such a stellar treatment idea, then step up and do honest trials!

And yes, ok maybe you do have to insist it’s ‘your body your choice’, but what about when your choice goes beyond you? Yes the virus is killing people, but so is antibiotic resistance. And things like MRSA can be spread by contact. (azithromycin) Either way your choice can kill others as surely as if you held a gun to their head.

What about long term issues with these things you are literally dying to try? Will your gut recover? (ivermectin) Or your heart? (hydroxychloroquine – HCQ)

And call me a curious cat, but why be so ready to jump on these untried things in your own hands, over the vaccines that have been in trial for 6 mths now and seen very few negative cases? Ok if you have issue with mRNA, what about another kind? They’re not all the same. Funnily enough though it’s not the mRNA ones that are getting clots, is it?

Yes you have the choice (for now) but there is a day very soon when that just won’t be the case. Then what? When there are passports, mandated vaxxes for certain jobs, to get into high traffic places like concerts, arenas for sports, maybe even some stores and malls, ….What will you do when you are the one who has to stay home, instead of the people you are putting at risk?

You’re the minority of people now. The majority are getting the vaxxes. We have spoken. Your time is up/past to convince us. So either get on board, or find yourself an island somewhere where you can stop affecting us.

And btw!! This isn’t the first time vaccines have been mandated. That is just nonsense. And that island thing isn’t exactly a joke when you think of the history of conditions like HIV/AIDS, TB and leprosy. Is it?

Time to get your head in the game. This is coming.

Is it Terrorism, Freedom Fighter Against Colonialism, Anti-USA sentiment or Islamophobic Reporting?

• When you hear the word ‘terrorist’ or even ‘extremist’, how often is the group discussed from anywhere but the Middle East?
• How often is one of the aims of involvement to secure/protect oil trade with the USA?
• How quick on the trigger is the USA/UN to send in armed forces?
• Could the reporters of these groups be targeting Muslem groups due to Islamophobia? * Could these groups be targeting Christian or Jewish states as a holy war?

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• Outside of the Middle East how often has the US gotten involved in another country’s political affairs?
  I’m sure you’ve heard of ISIL, the Taliban and Al Qaeda, but
• have you heard of Boko Haram or Al Shabaab?
  Maybe you should have….
  Just something to consider when your sole source is American MSM.

What is Peace? It Goes Beyond an End to War

It’s asking a LOT to say humanity should or can live in peace. Conflict comes into every relationship we have. At macro and micro levels. But it might be possible for us to use our methods of conflict in ways that are at least less violent. Use our conflict in ways that resolve things in positive ways. In an enlightened society, why can we not manage our behaviour better? If nothing else, it’s something to think about and maybe we can at least find peaceful ways as couples, families, friends and neighbours? Humanity’s aim is to belong, to love. Yet we predate on each other as if that is our sole purpose. Even the most violent of animals love their mate, their offspring and will move heaven and earth to protect them. Yet cannot find a way to live in peace, so their loved ones are in fact protected.

……. resources

The eight pillars of peace

• a well-functioning government;
• a sound business environment;
• an equitable distribution of resources;
• an acceptance of the rights of others;
• good relations with neighbors;
• free flow of information;
• a high level of human capital;
• and low levels of corruption.
  source

Galtung

• Negative peace refers to the absence of violence. …
• Positive peace is filled with positive content such as restoration of relationships, the creation of social systems that serve the needs of the whole population and the constructive resolution of conflict.
  Peace does not mean the total absence of any conflict. It means the absence of violence in all forms and the unfolding of conflict in a constructive way.
  source

Direct Violence

represents behaviors that serve to threaten life itself and/or to diminish one’s capacity to meet basic human needs. Examples include killing, maiming, bullying, sexual assault, and emotional manipulation.

Structural Violence

represents the systematic ways in which some groups are hindered from equal access to opportunities, goods, and services that enable the fulfillment of basic human needs. These can be formal as in legal structures that enforce marginalization (such as apartheid in South Africa) or they could be culturally functional but without legal mandate (such as limited access to education or health care for marginalized groups).

Cultural Violence

represents the existence of prevailing or prominent social norms that make direct and structural violence seem “natural” or “right” or at least acceptable. For example, the belief that Africans are primitive and intellectually inferior to Caucasians gave sanction to the African slave trade. Galtung’s understanding of cultural violence helps explain how prominent beliefs can become so embedded in a given culture that they function as absolute and inevitable and are reproduced uncritically across generations.
source

The Priest and his Concubines (a story)

The Priest and his Concubines

Jakob and his family enjoyed their time together. When he was husband and father, he was relaxed and quite fun to be around. Hardly ever stern, just on the edge of spoiling them all. But careful. When they went out together, he counted heads to be sure all of those in his charge were present at the beginning, the middle and the end of their journey. Only once had a child gone missing and he never wanted to feel that fear again. Neither did the child’s mother!

In line, each wife brought her children to their father to be counted. Wife one had 4 sons, wife two had 3, concubine one had 2 sons and a daughter, concubine two had 2 daughters. His little tribe was ready for their journey or to return home.

Each had their coat to protect them from the sand and a hat or parasol, to protect them from the desert sun.

You’d think they’d be riding donkeys or camels. But no, they had a horse and a long wagon for all the kids. A second bench seat for the concubines and the wives sat on the front with him. Jakob didn’t feel like dealing with the tension if he didn’t remember the order. First wife sat beside him. Same as at the table for the meals.

Off they went on their day’s adventure. Usually to get the dry goods first, then to the park where the concubines would watch the children while the wives went with him to the butcher, the fishmonger and the market. To trade the goods they grew for those they needed. Then they returned for the kids and went home. The women put the food away. The children went off to do their chores before they went out to play.

And Jakob went into the study to prepare his sermon, until the villagers came to him for counselling and mediation with their troubles. Until the supper bell was rung.

They ate and went to bed soon afterwards. Jakob and wife one had the bedroom tonight. They talked as they undressed, then canoodled quietly for awhile before they fell asleep.

Their day was done.

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weebly
newadvent
Pope Pius X
futurechurch

When you think of the Victorian Era, do you think of prostitution?

When I see pix of Queen Victoria in her widowhood state and hear of the social rules that were common in that era, it’s not the time that I first consider prostitutes , but they did indeed exist. They were quite the problem it seems.

And new rules had to be made to curb their struggle.

The issues of poor people needing to survive hasn’t changed at all though. And it’s bizarre how many issues we’re fighting over today were issues then including vaccines!

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The more things change, the more they remain the same.
French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.”

Crime – It’s All up in da hood yo!

If authority knows that certain things ’cause’ crime, they have an excuse for over-policing areas that show these traits. ie poverty, race, high turn over (apts vs houses), gangs… They can spend tax payer dollars like it’s water. They can implement draconian social measures like curfews, no gathering bylaws. And they can use such racist concepts as gentrification to change the area so those who fit into these categories are pushed out.

It also means they don’t have to accept blame for their part of the equation. People are poor because they don’t get a living wage, aren’t valued or supported when they can no longer work for ‘the man’. These people are veterans, elderly people, people with disabilities they got from fires, car or work accidents, people running from bad situations like DV, parents with addictions…. They aren’t lazy or stupid. Not as a rule.

And these are the people who also end up homeless. They gather in specific areas that then have to be over-policed. Not due to the bad behaviour of the homeless, but due to that perception.

Looking at the stats/demographics of who the homeless are would shock you. Esp if you add those who couch surf, stay with family ‘between’ jobs and homes. Or between relationships. (And how many of those are kids is a true dismay). And in forest fire season, those who are min temporarily displaced by warnings and actual fires.

How do you say that you have to police little kids who have done nothing wrong? What does their being watched teach you about crime? Unless they’re the victims.

And how does that justify ‘big brother’? Have you ever noticed just where CCTV cameras are? It’s not around mansions, j/s.

Advocacy vs Politicking –

There have been so many issues that I have cared about in my lifetime, as I’m sure you can say as well. Some stood thru as they were longer term goals than others. Like environment, health, social justice. Some smaller goals within those as well.

There were larger issues as a parent that I thought were more important, and while I still care about them, they don’t affect my child or I today. ie breastfeeding. I encourage it and support moms who make that choice, but since my child is over 30, we don’t do it. It’d be weird if we did.

And there are issues she now has control over that I have to let her make her own choices on. Like when she sees a doc and which doc she has faith in. My hand still stays in that by advocating for Canada’s medical and mental health systems.

Since I’m the mom of an adult child, I have to respect her autonomy. Bump her words and opinions rather than speak for her.

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It’s the same when you engage in issue advocacy as well. If I want a just world, then I have to know when the issue is mine to speak about, and when I can bump someone else’s voice. It’s a really hard line and I’m sure that I’ve made errors. But I am trying to remember that.

I can discuss the news, I can link to participants’ views. I can refer to sites and citations. And hope I get it right that the source is credible. Knowing that no group is homogenous, and views do change with time and circumstance though. So what was true 20 years ago may not be as true now.

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I think that’s the major difference between advocacy and politicking. And keeping in mind when it’s my row to hoe or theirs that in the end makes my decisions a bit easier on which issues and in which way I deal with them.

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Do you have a line that you consider when talking about social issues? Esp online?

Self Determination – Autonomy – My Body My Rights – Politicking

This is an issue we keep bumping up against in the history of the world, and no doubt will over and over till we get the principle learned. Till we understand that if we want it for ourselves, then it belongs to others as well, whether or not we agree with them. Or their choices. It’s their path, not to be changed by us. Or we lose our rights. Well it should be anyways, right?

We can apply it to war, colonialism, imperialism, patriarchy, paternalism, religious conversion, LGBTQ+ & conversion therapy, vaccination, masks….

At least that is the principle. And it’s a LOT easier, or at least more palatable, if it’s a social question than one that not only impacts our ‘freedom’ but also threatens our life.

Or the life of our child.

Just how far are we willing and able to extend this principle?

• Are we meant to be autonomous individuals at all costs? Or are we our ‘brother’s keeper’? Or is it more like we’re their parent than their sibling?
• And how far does this extend when it comes to govt programs and the use of our tax dollars? To party policies that we disagree with. Can they impose them on us when we didn’t vote for them?

…..

• Is it relevant in war if the invader is at our shores?
• Is it relevant in public health when there is a pandemic on?
• Is it relevant in religion when you don’t belong to the braying praying crowd that want to tell everyone else what to do, but refuse to consider outsiders’ beliefs when it comes to their practices and opinions?
• Can we say that if a hospital or college/university goes around preaching to their students that things have to be a certain way, then aren’t they supposed to reflect that in their admin policies as well?
• Can we say that priests of a religion should live by the oaths and principles they espouse?
• But then who would enforce this if we went all the way with this concept? Because with self determination, aren’t you allowed the hypocrisy as well?
• Or are you?
• And what about if you did intrude, then aren’t you responsible for cleaning up before you exit too?

As you see I have a LOT of questions and it may appear like I have answers by the other questions. But I’m not sure I do.

I just know that today seems to be a day of mental struggle as I watch the news.
#Election
#Afghanistan
#Pandemic
I think I’m getting a headache.

Canada Is Now In Election Mode! (Why I has the sads)

Justin Trudeau, the incumbent, went to the governor general and asked her to dismiss parliament today. So we have an election due Sept 20, 2021. In a pandemic.
The good thing about this speed and a pandemic is that we won’t have huge rallies and conventions. They don’t have the time to book them (Whew!)
The good thing about this taking place in Canada is that we have no problem at all with mail in voting. First thing tomorrow I’ll be registering on the elections Canada site.
My sads is because we really don’t have the party I’d vote for with no hesitation who has

• people ready
• the money
• is currently in the HoC
• and has good environment
• and social justice policies.
• And a capable leader who knows
• what jurisdiction
• and cooperation mean.

Whoever I vote for, the first thing I have to do is have a good cry. Swallow my bile and settle for something on the ballot.

Best of a bad lot.

What I do know is that the Liberals and Conservatives have been in the HoC for far too long. And it needs to be fumigated, saged and have new blood come in. Something more representative of who we are now. Rather than who we’ve always been. No corporate shills need apply.