Caring is Creepy

I'll Take What I Can Get

2011-12-16T01:02:00.000-04:00

I have not been able to stop listening to this song by Lana Del Rey:

I haven't looked, but I imagine that my play count of Video Games and Blue Jeans (below) is embarrassingly high.

It took me a while, but I finally put my finger on who she reminds me of. Well, not Del Rey (born Elizabeth Grant) herself, but rather her voice; it is a more polished version of Kristen Hersh's sound. Listen to Hersh's "Your Ghost" featuring Michael Stipe and tell me if I'm just hearing things:

Of course, those who listened to a lot of college radio in the late 80s and early 90s will admonish me for drawing a link between the alt rock driven former front woman of Throwing Muses and sultry, manufactured Del Rey. To be fair, the two women are polar opposites of one another. Del Ray has been open about how industry executives shaped everything from her look (reminiscent of 1950s pin up stars) to her name (a portmanteau of Lana Turner and the Ford Del Rey vehicle). Meanwhile, Hersh and the Throwing Muses made their way more "honestly", one might say, from a high school garage band in Rhode Island to the rock charts of the UK. Hersh, both in her days with the band and later during her solo career, was lauded for her surreal and sometimes quirky lyrics. With lines like "love you more/than those bitches before", I don't know that Del Rey will be in the lyric hall of fame anytime soon.

Still, though, as someone who misses the sound of those like Kristen Hersh and longs for new music in that vein, I'll take what I can get...

This Post Could Be Your Life

2011-12-14T02:29:00.000-04:00

Years ago, a friend gave me a copy of the book "Our Band Could Be Your Life" by Michael Azzerad and I loved it. Relying on extensive research and interviews with musicians from the 1980s, Azzerad attempts to convey the impact that bands like Black Flag, Sonic Youth and The Replacements had on the rise of indie rock in the United States. That's all that I'll write about that, because Ryan McNutt is the music journalist, not me.

10 years later, some stellar acts got together to pay tribute to the same bands that Azzerad explored with "Our Concert Could be Your Life", performed at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. You can hear the entire concert here on NPR. It includes (my future husband) Ted Leo covering performing Minor Threat, tUnE-yArDs performing Sonic Youth and Titus Andronicus performing The Replacements. Seriously worth a listen.

The Mess They Made

2011-12-13T17:23:00.000-04:00

I am genuinely sorry to hear about NSCAD's financial difficulties that are threatening the future of the school. Having an art and design university in Halifax is one of the reasons that Nova Scotia punches above its weight in fostering creativity.

For those of us who have been following this story, however, it is hard not to say that we saw this coming. For me, it was the development of the Waterfront campus. A school with roughly 1,000 was going to be responsible for three properties? All on prime pieces of Halifax real-estate? With what funds?! The new campus made sense from a quality of education standpoint, there simply was not enough space in the existing buildings, but made absolutely no sense from an economic standpoint. I remember people coming back from tours of the new campus before it opened saying, "It's gorgeous, but how are they going to pay for it?"

No one wants to utter the "A" word, amalgamation, and quite frankly neither do I. It is not, however, a zero sum game with the absolute choices being autonomy or amalgamation. There are many other solutions including sharing administrative resources with another school, as the Agricultural College does with Dalhousie, downsizing program offerings, or entering into joint program delivery with other institutions in order to get more students enrolled in their programs.

The fact of the matter is that a province of just over a million people does not have the money to sustain over 13 universities and a system of college campuses if those institutions are not pulling their financial weight. It just is not feasible. No one is going to save NSCAD if it won't help save itself.

How About That Weather?!

2011-12-13T17:03:00.000-04:00

I live in a place where, upon seeing snowfall outside, one exclaims "Wow! It must be warm outside." You know, because it is generally too cold to snow.

That is a special kind of messed up right there.

I am, however, enjoying the recent spate of warm weather that Yellowknife has been experiencing, and not just because it means that my nose hairs remain unfrozen. You see, once the mercury dips below minus 25 or so, it becomes pretty difficult to "skate ski" on cross country skiis. And by difficult I mean pretty near impossible. There is no glide, which means one trudges along at an unbearably slow pace, losing ones balance and falling at every turn (okay, so maybe that's me more than most). For the past few weeks the weather has dictated that I "classic" ski along the trails. Still fun, but I was missing the pace of a good skate ski.

As luck would have it, the temperature was minus 8 on Sunday, which meant perfect conditions for a little glide. Along with my friend Mat, I met up with a group of people on Yellowknife Bay who were going skijoring with their dogs. Skijoring is when one, on skis, hooks up a dog to a harness (much like a climbing harnass) that is placed around one's waist. The person is then pulled along by the dog. I must say, it is pretty neat to see a group of dogs all take off at the same time with people on skis in tow. As much as we tried, Mat and I weren't able to keep up with the huskies, who were very excited for a romp in the snow. I did, however, get way more speed up on the skate skiis than I have almost all season, thanks to the mild weather. The fact that we were on the very flat Yellowknife Bay as opposed to the fairly hilly Yellowknife Ski Club trails probably also had something to do with it.

Skiing off into the distance on a frozen Great Slave Lake with 5 huskies and 6 other skiiers? Just another Sunday afternoon in Yellowknife. I could get used to this.

I'm Bad at This

2011-12-08T23:52:00.001-04:00

I was chastised in a FB message for not posting on here more often. It's not like I haven't thought about it, I have. I suppose in part it's now crippling to try and encapsulate all I have experienced and learned in my first four months in the NWT into just a few blog posts. These things are, as one can imagine, much easier if done piece by piece. I'll also admit that now that I am a federal civil servant and working in a relatively small community, I find the need to self censor a lot more. Much of my experiences have come from my work and I sometimes find it difficult to parse the two worlds. These are all, however, excuses. I can make due, and there's no reason why I shouldn't be posting more. Plus, I love blogging, so there's that.

Let me make it up to you with some photographs?

This is how I get to work. A Twin Otter that takes us from

community to community.

Communities like Fort Liard. It was 27 degrees and HUMID when this photo

was taken. The Florida of the North!

Taro bubble tea a block from my apartment. I may never leave this place.

Downtown Yellowknife in the summer time.

This could have been taken at 10am or 10pm, I have no idea.

The view from the Bush Pilot's Memorial in Old Town, Yellowknife.

A restored Bombardier B-12.

I have seen a number of these since moving here and

they STILL look like something out of Mad Max to me.

First serious snowfall, and boy did it come down!

This also happens to be the view from my office window.

It's hard to capture exactly how Narnia-like the city looked on this day.

Everything was covered in frost.

If you look very carefully you will see that this is a photo of

buffalo. About 30 feet away from the court house door (read: community centre) in Ft. Liard.

This photo was taken at about 10:00am on Sept 21...yes, it's still dark.

My car is officially a Northerner!

Aurora Borealis...in your kitchen?

2011-08-15T01:52:00.000-03:00

Okay, so the aurora borealis isn't actually in my kitchen (10 points for those who get the title reference)...nor have I actually *seen* the aurora borealis since I got here. I have, however, discovered how to find out the best times for watching the Northern Lights via Astronomy North. I'm still learning how to read the maps, but for now I'll rely on the girl who told me yesterday that Monday night at midnight will be the next good time, which is really just as good. If I can stay up long enough and keep my camera steady, I'll post the photos here.

One of the nice things about watching the Northern Lights in the summer is that one has to wear significantly fewer layers and not stand in the snow to see them. In fact, save for the past couple of days where there have been ominous clouds about, the weather here has been gorgeous. Mid-twenties and sunny every day. I have been told not to get too used to it, you know, to lessen the blow of minus 50 in January; but for now I will store memories of basking in the sunlight on the patio to warm me on those cold winter nights.

I must admit, though, I am kind of looking forward to winter. Maybe it's the competitive side of me that wants to see how well I can take it, or maybe I'm just a masochist, I'm not sure. But I am curious as to what *real* cold feels like, because after a February in Ottawa where a half hour walk to work meant icicles forming on my nose, I'm not sure I can actually imagine what it feels like to be colder than that. Winter, however, also means outdoor sports! Rumour has it there's a great cross country ski club in Yellowknife (we're short on hills here) and the ice road to Dettah makes a great running route (okay, that may be according to only one person, and she may be far more hardcore than I). Silver lining to 20 hours of darkness I suppose...

Day One

2011-08-15T00:59:00.001-03:00

So...I wrote this on my second day in Yellowknife but then neglected to post it. Blogger doesn't do back dating so you'll all have to pretend that you're reading this on July 25th, 2011.

Technically, it is supposed to be Day Two, but a late flight out of Toronto meant that I missed my connection in Edmonton and ended up spending the night. To Air Canada's credit, an attendant had my taxi and hotel vouchers ready for me when I got off the plane and had already re-booked me on the first flight to Yellowknife in the morning, so it definitely could have been worse. After schlepping my two *just* at weight bags to the hotel, I promptly crashed for a too short sleep before heading out to the airport again for what I hoped would be a successful second attempt at starting a new chapter in NWT.

When I first moved to PEI in 2002, the first thing I heard on the kitchen radio of my crotchety landlady was the funeral reports. A man with a very monotone voice reads out who has died, where, and when the wake will be. Every. Day. I soon learned that people listened intently to this report and then discussed it as water cooler talk. I was fascinated.

I had a similar experience this morning in the cab from the airport. At first, I thought we were listening to a standard call in radio show, but then I realized that it was no regular call in show - it was a live classified ad. A chirpy host fielded callers who would explain what they had to sell, how much it was, and their phone number. Their phone number! People talk to one another. Astounding.

Royal Madness

2011-07-04T13:11:00.000-03:00

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge embarked on their first official international visit last week and chose Canada as their destination. You can view the entire itinerary here, at the official Royal Tour 2011 website, but suffice it to say that I was only really focused on their visit to Ottawa. Yes, I got caught up in the "Will and Kate" excitement, and let me tell you, it was worth standing in the heat and humidity for a few hours just to be a part of what was truly a celebration. The enthusiasm was contagious, everyone was in a good mood and it gave me a chance to wear a fabulous hat to Rideau Hall. It can't really get any better than that!

Of course, one of the most hotly anticipated reports each day of the tour among royal watchers and fashionistas alike is Kate's wardrobe. After scouring the CBC photo feed each day for a fashion fix, a method that drew mixed results, I finally found the website What Kate Wore, which was a FAR more efficient use of my time (or not, depending on one's perspective). It's websites like this which are really why the Internet is amazing. Of course, there are always official statements about Kate's major pieces (the Canadian designed Smythe blazer she wore on the flight from Heathrow is a good example), but many of her other accessories are simply billed as "from her personal closet." This is simply not good enough for the more detailed focused among us. What Kate Wore relies on hundreds of followers who scour the Internet, and sometimes even directly e-mail designers, to identify every piece that the Duchess steps out in. Crowd sourcing! The way of the future!

Margie Gillis is a National Treasure

2011-06-30T13:20:00.000-03:00

After watching her Sun News interview with Krista Edwards (whoops...Erickson, but it's not like Sun News is all about accuracy either, right?) I have decided that Margie Gillis is a national treaure. Her poise in the face of such appalling interview techniques is quite astounding.

The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has received numerous complaints about the interview. Some put the estimate at over 4,000. As 'The Voice' said on CBC's The Current this morning, however, Sun TV is probably just happy to hear that they have over 4,000 viewers...

Fringing and other Fests

2011-06-24T15:08:00.004-03:00

One can tell that it's summer in Ottawa by the number of festivals on the go, apparently. The TD Ottawa Jazz Festival is keeping Confederation Park rocking through July 3 (Elvis Costello! k.d. lang! Bela Flek! Oh my!), Fever Fest is showcasing some homegrown indie rock talent, and Ribfest has all of us who work downtown drooling for the majority of the day (from careful sampling since Wednesday, I can recommend the pulled pork from the Florida Gator cart as well as from Cart 31).

In addition to these eclectic goings on is the Ottawa Fringe Festival , which runs through Sunday. Admittedly, picking a Fringe show is a little bit like theatre roulette: there will be some great shows, some not so great shows, and some shows that will make you want to stab your eyes out and writhe on the floor in pain (admittedly, this has only happened to me once in all of my history of attending Fringe shows...but man was it ugly). The important thing, however, is to get out to support playwrights, actors and directors who are experimenting with their craft in fun and innovative ways.

Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing "Five Lies" by Edith Bramwell (in the basement of a Royal Oak pub, no less! Fringe: exciting shows, quirky spaces!). It's a really charming story about the effect of lying...and not lying...in our everyday lives. I also have it on good authority from another fringer that "Peter 'n Chris Save the World" is "excellent." Other shows that look promising are "Question Period: The Musical", "The Suckerpunch" and "Momma's Boy." Tickets are $10 and can be bought online or at the door.

So whether music is your fancy, you're a voracious carnivore, or you want to get out and support the homegrown theatre scene, there's a whole lot going on in Ottawa this weekend! Summer! Huzzah!

Revival number...I've lost count

2011-06-22T13:20:00.002-03:00

I'm a bad blog writer, I get it. Caring is Creepy has been on hiatus more times than I can count, which isn't very good for readership, I know. In light, however, of my impending move to Canada's North (Yellowknife, to be exact), I have decided to start the 'ol engines up again and see how far I can go.

I did contemplate shutting down the blog, I mean, who has a personal blog anymore, right? But, I must admit, I kind of miss it, and while I don't want to be one of those cliche people who "write about moving to a new land", I probably will be. I'll be staying in Canada, but moving to a part I have never been and know very little about past what I have been reading since I got my job. I'm hoping that I can share my experiences with my friends "down South" about a part of our country that few often visit. Don't worry, this isn't going to turn into some schmaltzy, livejournal sort of operation...that's not how we roll here at Caring is Creepy. It's right in the name for heaven's sake!

And of course, the blog will continue with it's bedrock, bread and butter foundation of political wonkery and hackery. The legislature of the Northwest Territories is run on a consensus basis, and I am really, really excited to see how that method of governance works on the ground. And I'm sure I'll also have some musings about the shenanigans in Ottawa (over under one month before heckling comes back full force in the HoC?), and my beloved home province of Nova Scotia as well (I will be taking bets on the date of the complete implosion of the HRM city council...stay tuned).

So, dear readers, I hope you'll stay tuned to this channel...and feel free to place your own wagers on how long I'll last.

Get Your War On is back!

2010-11-30T23:48:00.002-04:00

After the US started its campaign in Afghanistan, Davod Rees started a comic strip called Get Your War On. Its first words (if that is indeed the correct terminology for a comic strip) were: "Oh, yeah! Operation Enduring Freedom is in the house!"

It was, predictably, awesome.

The week Obama took office, however, Rees ceased writing GYWO.

But now it's back, printed for your viewing pleasure on the New York Times online.

Enjoy.

When the Shoe is on the Other Foot..

2010-06-09T13:04:00.003-03:00

I'm going to file this under "least shocking headline of 2010." What? Now that the NDP is in government and has to be fiscally accountable for its actions, it isn't as cozy with the unions? Shocking!

Of course, the benefit of this is that it makes the NSGEU hard pressed to scream blue-bloody-unfair-murder when the government says that it can't have the raise that it wants. A demand for a 3% wage increase (down from the original ask of 3.5%) is a little unrealistic given the touted dire state of the provinces finances...but maybe this time when they're told that there really isn't any money they'll listen, because it's coming from an old friend.

Solidarity!

2010-03-29T22:20:00.002-03:00

The CBC reports on 12 student groups fighting to get out of the Canadian Federation of Students. It highlights the unecessary legal wrangling that student associations across this country must endure simply to hold referenda and have those results recognized by the CFS.

Stay strong! Solidarity to those fighting the good fight and trying to do the best for their students and their campuses.

Let the Sun Shine!

2010-03-09T14:58:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, the dreaded Halifax Regional Municipality's winter parking ban was lifted early. Today, beloved NDP MP Peter Stoffer ruminated about running for mayor of the municipality in 2012.

A potential foreshadowing of the demise of a ridiculous cash grab by the city that has frustrated downtown residents for years, AND a hint at the end of the reign of Kelly the terrible in a mere 48 hours? It's almost as if the municipal government gods have decided to shine down upon us.

But seriously, Peter Stoffer taking a run at the mayoral position?! It's like Christmas in July (or March) for those of us who would like to see Kelly go through the front door of City Hall and don't care if it hits him on the way out. The problem with past (legitimate) contenders for the position has been the fact that they have all hailed from "the peninsula." This has posed a considerable problem. Voters who live in the other municipalities that formed to make up the HRM were not fans of amalgamation, and they generally feel that a mayor from the peninsula will forgo their interests for the interests of those living in the old city of Halifax. This is a fair concern, but it has been a brush with which every peninsular candidate has been painted, deservedly or not, and forms a large part of the reason they have lost the election. Peter Stoffer represents constituents from Sackville-Eastern Shore, and therefore will not carry the same stigma. He has also made quite a name for himself there, and I have little doubt as to his ability to win his way into the hearts of the other voters in the municipality.

Is it too early to start door knocking?

This Can't Be Real

2010-01-31T21:20:00.002-04:00

The National Post went ahead and published this piece of mysogynistic, anti-woman drivel as an editorial last week. It reads like a parody of right wing propaganda, espousing how women's studies programs have degraded the very fabric of our society.

The radical feminism behind these courses has done untold damage to families, our court systems, labour laws, constitutional freedoms and even the ordinary relations between men and women.

Women's Studies courses have taught that all women--or nearlyall-- are victims and nearly all men are victimizers. Their professors have argued, with some success, that rights should be granted not to individuals alone, but to whole classes of people, too. This has led to employment equity -- hiring quotas based on one's gender or race rather than on an objective assessment of individual talents.

One online commenter suggested that the editorial may in fact be a parody, illustrating the kinds of attitudes that women's studies have fought to quash. Sadly, I do not give the National Post that much credit...

There Is Not A Single Woman on the Apple Marketing Team

2010-01-28T10:06:00.001-04:00

Not One

American Idol Solidifies Itself as a Zeitgeist

2010-01-25T22:28:00.002-04:00

So, this happened today...

Quick! Hide the booze, the kids are coming!

2010-01-19T10:55:00.003-04:00

What? A blog post? I know, I know, but I got riled up. This motion is coming before HRM Council tonight:

Councillor McCluskey:(i) “To request a review of HRM sponsored events with a
plan to eliminate sponsorship by alcohol advertising for HRM events.”

You know, because what we really want to be doing is limiting the sources of revenue available for city events. I heard Councillor McCluskey on the radio this morning, and from what I could gather, her concern isn't that underage people are being served alcohol at city events, but that by being subjected to alcohol advertising, children will start drinking younger. "They're starting as young as 13 now!" she exclaimed. What people seem to forget is that one would be hard pressed to find a generation, any generation, where there weren't children who were drinking at 13. I highly doubt that there are hoardes of tweens being drawn into a life of alcohol abuse because they saw the Keith's stag being prominently displayed during the Canada Day festival.

By Councillor McCluskey's reasoning, we should probably also ban children from walking down Argyle St. in the summer time, and from going to Mooseheads games. In fact, we should probably just lock up the kids until they reach the age of 19 because they are clearly far too impressionable to be out in the big, bad world.

Many will recognize Councillor McCluskey's reasoning from another well publicized fight that happened about six or seven years ago. That was around about the time that tobacco companies were banned from sponsoring arts and sporting events. The DuMaurier Jazz Festival scrambled for a new headline sponsor and Player's Light was no longer able to host car racing events. While it's true that the jazz festival found other sources of revenue (its banner sponsor is now TD), I would argue that alcohol advertising is far more ubiquitous and also is far more likely to be the sponsor (if not the banner sponsor) of smaller, community events through beer tents and the like. I'm not quite sure where these events are supposed to find alternate sources of funding.

Councillor McCluskey's motion is in its nascent stages, and there is no definition of "HRM Events", so really, even if it passes, this may prove to effect very few activities in the HRM. I just, as always, worry about where this council is putting its efforts...

Vote or Die

2008-10-13T22:34:00.002-03:00

It's federal election time in less than 10 hours!!! If you're not registered to vote yet, NEVER FEAR! YOU CAN STILL CAST YOUR BALLOT!!! The best part? It's super easy. Just follow these neat steps:

1) Locate your polling station by entering your postal code here.

2) Go to said polling station and present them with either:

a) A piece of government ID with your photo and CURRENT address; OR

b) A piece of ID to confirm your IDENTITY (e.g: an out of province drivers license; credit/debit card with your name; passport; SIN card) AND a piece of official type mail (like a credit card statement or a utility bill) with your ADDRESS. Go here for the full list of accepted ID.

3) Collect your ballot from the nice poll worker (remember to smile!) and VOTE! TA DAAAA!!!!

If you're still on the fence about voting, remember all of those people in this world who would quite literally die to have the right that we so easily take for granted. Exercise your franchise!

I Don't Even Know Anymore...

2008-10-10T15:23:00.005-03:00

While I think it's ridiculous that this is even being discussed in the news, I have to vent my absolute rage at the idiots at CTV. Did someone lobotomize Mike Duffy in his sleep or is he really that clueless? In what backwards world where night is day and dogs and cats get along did he think it was appropriate to convene a panel of experts to discuss "campaign fatigue" after airing Dion's "gaffe" all over prime time national television?

I know some of you don't get the pleasure of watching CTV Atlantic on a regular basis, but let me tell you, Dion is not the first to have fallen victim to Steve Murphy's abhorrent interviewing skills. The question was poorly worded, Dion has been going flat out for almost a month, and when he realized he had misunderstood the question he asked if he could start over. This is not a huge crime and most certainly not worth the amount of coverage it has been getting.

I don't agree with Andrew Coyne about much, but I think he gets it right here.

Liveblogging the English Debate

2008-10-08T17:01:00.005-03:00

I know this is late, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to put it up. Considering I have been driving my friends batty with a brazillion Facebook messages/e-mails/texts a day regarding the three elections that are going on (Halifax gets a municipal election, dontcha know) I figured I should start up the old bloggy blog again.

This is my first attempt at liveblogging...please be kind. Also, any confusion between my commentary and the words of actual party leaders is purely my fault.

10:04: Harper just used 30 seconds of his 45 second intro to directly attack Dion’s economic plan from last night. Wowsers.

10:11: May: “You really should read the OECD report on Canada’s economy”. Zing!

10:26: Did Harper just say “lazy faire”? I have to believe it was a slip of the tongue.

10:30: I love this table setting idea. I really do. Why didn’t we do this years ago?

10:33: Environment, here we go. Dion looks instantly more energized.

10:37: Wow. Dion is getting really hard core on the “Harper is a liar” line.

10:39: Oh Gilles Duceppe…each province having its own environment plan? Are you serious? Green house gases don’t stop at borders. Although, points for attempting to stay relevant.

10:41: I think this is the second time Layton has compared Harper to Bush. 2004 called, Jack, and it wants its insult back.

10:43: Ah, the magic word, Kyoto. You can talk targets all you like, Steve, but you can’t run from the fact that they are lower than internationally agreed targets.

10:43: Bush count: 3...this time from May. Oh, 4. I’m glad she called Duceppe out on his ridiculousness.

10:45: I don’t disagree with what Dion is saying, but he slips into professorial mode when he talks about the environment, and I can’t be entirely confident people aren’t just tuning him out.

10:46: Third question: Candace Jacobs lives in Quebec and can’t find a pediatrician. What are the leaders going to do about the doctor shortage in Canada?

Layton: Increase doctors and nurses. Forgive docs student debts if they stay in family medicine for 10 years.

Duceppe: Health is a provincial jurisdiction. Re: health, it’s a matter of Ottawa knows best. Ottawa should focus on aboriginal health and food inspection and stay out of the provinces.

May: Our doc shortage is directly b/c o the 1993 cuts. We have to reinvest in health care now. No student debts, more beds.

Dion: 5 million Canadians don’t have a GP. Our docs and nurses are aging (50 year average) at the same time our pop is aging and needs more care. Ottawa needs to be part of the solution in partnership w/ the provinces

Harper: Agrees with May. Nasty Liberals cut everything in the 90s and now the Conservatives have to clean up the mess. They HAVE been working with the provinces, providing w/ record amounts of money. Also assitional measures to help with doctor recruitment

Layton: Harper, do you think Canadians forget? You lead a citizens group whose main objective was to privatize health care. The NDP hearts Tommy Douglas. It’ll stop the tax cuts to Exxon and give the money to health care and pharmacare.

10:52: Harper has never used a private clinic. Neither has May. Layton doesn’t know why Harper wants to dismantle a system he himself uses. Layton went to Shouldice clinic once (a private clinic? I'm not in on the Upper Canada reference), apparently he used his OHIP card though. He says Harper should check with Tommy Douglas’s daughter…I’m confused.

10:53: Dion: Decreasing waiting lists is a Conservative broken promise.

10:54: May: There are evil international pressures that want to ruin our healthcare system. NAFTA chapter 11 will be the end of us all. Universal healthcare is a sacred trust the US wants to exploit. May also doesn’t believe in private clinics covered by provincial health systems. The Greens think the spectre of erosion is too great.

10:56: Duceppe: Provincial jurisdiction…we don’t need your stinking money Ottawa. Don’t just keep calling us up at 3:00am when you have cash, and then leaving us waiting by the phone when you don’t. The need is always there baby…fix the fiscal imbalance.

10:57: Layton: Calls Harper out on skating over aboriginal health issues. Good for you.

10:58: Question Four: DaleAnne Potter is an artist and has artist friends. What does the arts mean to each leader and what funding will you give to it?

Duceppe: He bleeds arts. He knows it well. Harper made cuts to the cultural sector. Bad! How could he recognize the nation of Quebec and then cut the cultural soul right out of it?!

May: Arts and culture=democracy. Censorship is bad. RICHARD FLORIDA CREATIVE CLASS!!! YAY!!!!! It’s importance to the economic sector to have arts and culture. We need to protect our Canadian identity from the encroaching US.

Dion: The arts brings beauty. It stimulates us all. It's a big industry with a big economic return, not just a luxury.

Harper: He enjoys the arts and plays the piano. His wife’s family is very artistic, he’s very humble about the musical ability on his side. $500 tax credit for every child to be enrolled in artistic programmes.

Layton: Olivia is a sculptor. Harper is ironic. Most people in the arts can’t send their kids to piano lessons, ha! Our artists are the poorest people in the country. Make their first $20,000 on copyright materials and residuals tax free.

11:03: Question from TVO Steve, the Moderator: Are the Conservatives barbarians?

Dion: The cuts to the arts were done underhandedly. You also didn’t say it was because the arts were inefficient, it’s because you don’t like them!

Duceppe: I am lost on what he is saying...

Harper: The budget for arts and culture has gone up. They’ve just moved the money around to more efficient programmes is all. They only cut ineffective programmes…trust him, even the director of La Cavallier said so.

May: Doesn’t think that Harper hates the arts, or particularly supports them. Somehow this train of thought has morphed into the fact that Harper has some super computer that knows about every voter...

Layton: Harper is trying to censor people who he doesn’t like and is suppressing freedom of expression.

Harper: is bringing up the director of La Cavallier (sp?) again…I think it’s the only artist he knows.

11:10: Question Five: Sameer Thaver is from Markham. He watches the news and there’s lots of crime. What are you going to do about the rate of violent crime?

May: Violent crime isn’t going up, just the media focus on it. Ban handguns, give judges stricter instructions re: violent crimes. Shout out to rifle owners (just so they know she knows that they aren’t the bad guys).

Dion: Poverty, addiction, mental illness. Give police the tools they need.

Harper: There are increases in gang and drug violence. Tougher sentences for young offenders who do this. Oh, they’ll also prevent crime too…they’ll help youth who are getting into gangs…unless they commit property crime, they want tougher sentences for that too.

Layton: 3 people were killed by stray bullets this year in his riding. Ban handguns, except for in the hands of the police.

Duceppe: Quebec has the best record of any province, especially with regard to young offenders. Instead of punishing YOs, we should educate them better. We need to hit the “real criminals” hard. What about the victims…something about employment insurance for them.

May: John Kennedy found that young offenders were often not literate. This shows that we need to invest in our kids when they’re young. Harper cut $17 million in literacy.

Harper: No, the program didn’t teach people to read, that’s why we cut it. We differ with everyone else in that we think we should give harsher sentences to YOs with violent crime.

Layton: $400/child/year so that low income families can get a real start in life. We’re not sure how though…he didn’t tell us.

Dion: Harper hates judicial independence, Dion does not. Even Nunn J. from NS thinks you’re crazy and he wrote the report on youth crime!

Harper: No, YOU’RE wrong. We’re letting judges have more ability re: sentencing. We also think house arrest sucks, it’s because of house arrest that property crime is going up. (Ed note: huh?)

Duceppe: We have a different legal system in Quebec, your plan does not work for us.

May: Minimum sentences don’t deter crime. Your crime package will only cost more money and not do anything. Youth can’t vote, drink or drive; why would you put them in jail with adults?

Layton: The number of aboriginal Canadians in jail is a national disgrace and so are the conditions in aboriginal communties. We need to do something about it.

Harper: [apparently not hearing Layton because this point has nothing to do with aboriginal incarceration rates] People aren’t in jail for long enough!

Dion: Increasing the incarceration rate isn’t going to do anything. Layton, why did you kill the Kelowna Accord if you care about aboriginal Canadians so much?

Layton: We did not! You were the ones that kept Harper in gov’t for so long…what are you doing running for PM if you can’t even be leader of the opposition?

11:23: Question Six: Barmak Salam is an Afghan-Canadian. Harper, how do you justify pulling out of Afghanistan in 2011 when the Taliban is reorganizing?

Harper: By 2011, Canada will have been in Afghanistan for 10 years. He disagrees that we can stay indefinitely. We need to train Afgan army and police so they can take over security of the country. We can't do this without a deadline.

[Break for closing statements in the US Vice Presidential debate...I know, I know, but double debate duty is hard!]

11:33: Bush count: 5. Granted, I could have missed some in my flip to PBS.

11:34: Jack Layton, what the hell are you talking about? Taking troops out of Afghanistan and investing the money in Make Poverty History will help Afghanis? Maybe I shouldn't have flipped channels, now I have no idea what is going on.

Harper: Shot at Dion re: flip flopping on an end date. Yawn.

Bush count: 6

11:35: Question Seven: Dennis Peter is a retiree building a shed in his Toronto backyard. What is the first thing you’re going to do when you get into office…and no bullfeathers or bafflebrained answers, you hear?!

Layton: Job creation in key sectors of the economy. More money.

Duceppe: Is under no illusions that he will be prime minister. This helps him evade the question. He will ask whoever the PM is to help the people in the manufacturing sector, our seniors, and to apply Kyoto (what?! Kyoto? Weren't you just talking about provincial environmental strategies) and recognize the Quebec nation.

May: Wants to help Dennis build the shed. She can multi task so as PM she’ll do a lot of things. Top at the list is fixing our electoral system to a system of proportional representation. We also need to deal with carbon emissions.

Dion: Prepare an economic and fiscal update to help protect the money of Canadian. He will also have a kick ass cabinet.

Harper: Manage Canada in the economic crisis; he might even be able to cut taxes while he does it!

11:43: I’m convinced they chose this question so that the leaders can talk about ANYTHING THEY WANT. We just went from federal/provincial relations to the environment to tax cuts. Oh, and now income splitting amongst married couples….May wants to know why Harper hates married couples. Carbon taxes will give us the $5 billion we need to allow for income splitting.

11:46: Harper: “Let me explain income trusts to you…” We are now officially in gong show mode.

11:47: Question Eight: Aimee Cameron hasn’t voted in the last couple of federal elections because she doesn’t like broken promises. How can a frustrated young voter like Aimee know who to trust?

May: She has been a lawyer, and then a politican, she’s pretty much the paparazzi in terms of the dregs of society ladder. People will only have confidence in politicians if they ignore political parties. Canadians need to demand better of their politicians all the time.

Dion: All the parties aren’t the same Aimee. Chretien didn’t go to Iraq, Harper would have.

Harper: We’re a peaceful democracy, yay! Look at our platform ( May helpfully points out that no one knows where it is). Look at what we did before, we’re super great!

Layton: Brings up Harper’s sweater again…Jack, you are not funny. We have had the same parties in power for a long time, best to go with the devil you don’t know. The issues of the kitchen table will be at the cabinet table with an NDP government.

11:52: TVO Moderator Steve elaborates on the question. If circumstances change, shouldn’t politicians be able to change their minds on issues?

Layton: Conflates the Liberals and the Conservatives…better go with the NDP. He also really wants us to know that Harper will give Exxon a tax break if he becomes PM again.

May: Jack didn’t answer the question…she will. “If you’re going to change your mind, you have to be honest about it.” I love Elizabeth May.

Duceppe: (Ed Note: GIVE IT A REST!!!!!!!!!! Quebec’s seat at UNESCO, really?!)

ANNNNDDDDD we’re done. Phew.

Off Highway Madness

2008-06-26T22:52:00.002-03:00

Last week the Minister of Health Promotions, Barry Barnett, announced that the province would be shelling out $230,000 to fund a programme that would help young children learn to ride ATVs safely. This initiative was to be administered by the ATV Association of Nova Scotia, a not for profit organization. At the time I thought that there were far better ways to spend near to a quarter million dollars, but the rural vote is important to the Tories, and there are a hell of a lot of people in rural Nova Scotia who own Off Highway Vehicles.

Then today, on one of my many obsessive checks of the updated headlines, I see this. Our illustrious Premier, in his infinite wisdom has ASKED FOR THE MONEY BACK. His reasoning? Well, he just plum didn't even know that the money was being spent until he read it in the paper over his morning coffee the next day...you know, at home, in the Land of Obliviousness. It's right next to Nail-in-the-Coffin-of-my-Political-Careerville. I won't regale you with the string of expletives that came out of my mouth when I read this, but let's just say the workers at the dockyard next to my house would have been proud.

Here's why this is so astounding: A) You can't tell me that a $230,000 expenditure through Health Promotions didn't get put to Cabinet. Junior ministers can't look sideways without
asking for Cabinet approval. This has got to be one of the worst excuses this administration has come up with. Where's the press person you got to cook up that "ice cream run" that Judy Streatch's son was on that no one seemed to question? Get that kid in, at least he/she knows how to spin a tale. B) If, for just a second, one believes that the Premier really DID find out this information though the press, what the HELL are you doing letting that kind of expenditure go through without going to Cabinet?! Especially on an issue that has been as divisive as ATVs. No matter how it's presented, you lose on every bloody count Rodney.

"But Jen," I hear you call out "didn't you just say that the programme was a bad way to burn $230,000." Yes, yes I did...but this isn't recalling ministerial vehicles back into the government fleet we're talking about here, this is shutting down an entire programme that the government itself isn't even running. ATVANS spent a lot of time and energy setting up this programme. There are 66 ATVs and 8 trailers ready to hit a closed course near you as early as next week. You can't just pull the funding from a not for profit like that and leave them high and dry.

I'm so done with Rodney and his merry band of incapable ministers. I hope this spells the end of incompetent Tory rule in Nova Scotia for a long time.

This is what happens when your press secretary is asleep at the wheel

2008-04-21T15:41:00.003-03:00

You know, when a Chinese director publicly announces that your governments proposed film funding bill is worse than the censorship in his home country (you know...the communist dictatorship)...there's not much spin you can put on that to make it sound good.

This week, Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee denounced Bill C-10 (the C stands for "censorship"!), the proposed Conservative bill that would deny tax credits to Canadian made films that are deemed "offensive to the public". How that is defined is, in the true Conservative fashion of the moment, delightfully vague. If I were a betting woman, however, I would think that films about teenage lesbian relationships (Lost and Delerious), car crash fetishism (Crash) and child abuse and incest (The Sweet Hereafter) probably wouldn't pass the test. Incidentally, all of these films have won critical acclaim for Canadian filmmakers, even garnering Oscar nods. But who wants that, right? I mean it's not like Canada is generally known for its innovative and edgy film...wait, what's that? Oh...nevermind.

The absolute gem of the whole thing, though, is Canadian Heritage Minister Josee Verner's response. Upon hearing about Lee's comments, the illustrious Minister issued a release, stating that she was "surprised" at his remarks. She also noted that, as a non-Canadian, he wouldn't be eligible for the tax credits anyway...

*cricket*

SERIOUSLY?! This bill has raised the ire of everyone in the Canadian film industry for months, and when someone calls it censorship you say you're "surprised" and that in any event he wouldn't be eligible anyway? What kind of comment is that? You are officially garnering international attention for your boneheaded legislation and this is all you can come up with?

I'm usually a little bit more eloquent when I rail against this government's actions, but in this case, being blunt is the best way to go. Bill C-10 is crap, pure and simple.

If someone is going to be called a pirate in this situation...

2008-04-14T11:37:00.002-03:00

Does anyone else find it terribly ironic that the Sea Shepherd Society is invoking the law of the sea as if it were gospel and verse while they themselves proudly boast the scuttling of Norweigian and Japanese whaling ships? While I hyperlinked to their website, you could also take a stroll down to Sydney Harbour for the proof...they have the names and countries of the ships they have sank on the side of the Farley Mowat. Something about those in glass houses...or in ships painted black and flying the Jolly Roger...

While I can believe that the Farley Mowat may not have been within Canada's 12 nautical mile territorial waters, as the Coast Guard suggests, it most certainly wasn't in the high seas. How can I be certain? Well, because the high seas is the area outside the two HUNDRED nautical mile limit. Now, that seems like a bit of a discrepancy, doesn't it? Yes, yes it does.

xoxo

2008-03-14T09:58:00.002-03:00

Mike Smit is getting roughly 1,000 hits a day on his blog during the elections. This stuff is getting CRAZAY!

I think the advent of online discussion about DSU elections has lead to the increased cattiness and mudslinging during this election. I know Mike was blogging last year, but this people have really caught on; anonymity is a beautiful thing, apparently. It is, as I mentioned in a comment on Mike's latest post, now entirely like an episode of Gossip Girl.

Sighted: TG and CL not speaking to each other.

VAJ seems to be taking everything personally while DB keeps his cool.

Will KA's efforts to one up KO backfire?

Poor MC, he doesn't know what he's getting himself into.

xoxo
gossipgirl

Sadly, I haven't been able to make it to any of the election forums, and won't be able to make it to the Presidential one tonight due to some unfortunate time conflicts with the debating national championships that are being held at Dal. I have, however, been reading the website updates. Many thanks to Mike Smit for the comprehensive list.

John Hillman

Hillman himself admits that his original intention was to be the joke candidate. Then, Debogorski took that rug right out from under him. Instead of slinking off, defeated in his attempt to have a lark, Hillman has realized that he has unwittingly become the "official opposition", as he puts it, to the sitting VPs that are running for President. As a result, he has fashioned a platform that is, for someone with no experience on the DSU, actually quite astute. Hillman obviously cares about students, and while some of his platform promises show his obvious inexperience (his idea to use his first month of pay to fund some sort of event that will attract students to engage in the Union, comes to mind), others show quite a bit of intuition towards student needs.

John Hillman isn't just trying to be a viable candidate, he IS one.

Courtney Larkin

Larkin has been keeping us up to date via her Facebook page. Her "Campaign-Trail Play-by-Play doesn't tell me much more about her platform, but she takes the time on her discussion board to elaborate on questions asked during the candidate forums. This is a pretty smart move on her part, as she can take all the time in the world to refine her answers.

Dan Boyle

Dan Boyle has been doing some great updates on his website. They range from clarification of platform pieces, to reactions from forums and the Gazette. His writing is generally, with a few exceptions, quite pithy and always articulate. For someone who is running for the top Communications Officer job of the Union, I count this as a good thing.

Kris Osmond

Kris has posted a few "clarifications" of things he said during forums on his blog. Dude, that's fine, just don't call them clarifications. It makes you sound unsure of yourself. Osmond obviously knows something about the event planning and marketing side of the DSU, but he can't back peddle every time someone questions him or disagrees with what he says.

Krista Ali

All the pink and pastels on this blog hurt my eyes. Krista is another one that has taken the opportunity to flesh out her answers to forum questions. There's a lot there about society nights at the Grawood and T Room, what should be done about it etc. If you're interested in that kind of stuff, give it a read.

Eric Snow

Eric has been updating his website pretty regularly with debriefs from candidate forums as well as his own thoughts on how councilors can better serve the union. I think it's important that Senators talk about that sort of thing as they are very much in a position to take a lead role in that regard.

Yannick Tremblay

Yannick is running unopposed and is still updating his blog. If that's not dedication, I don't know what is. Also, I think, more than in past Yannick has really tried to push grad student issues beyond "Helllooooo, we're over here...usually marking your assignments..." Evidence of this can be found on his post about how grad students can improve their presentation skills.

Thus endeth the candidates who have been updating their websites/Facebook groups on a regular basis.

Tonight is the Presidential candidate forum at the Grawood. 5-7, be there!

DSU March Madness

2008-03-12T15:51:00.001-03:00

Aaaannnnddd, I've broken. I ALMOST had decided not to blog about the Dalhousie Student Union elections, and then, well, I couldn't help myself. Also, I'm not at SXSW (damn you Austin and your early festivals!), so I have to blog about something.

I'm going to try to call it as I see it. I have never subscribed to the maxim "the personal is political", so no hard feelings, okay kids?

Onto the Candidates:

President

Greg Debogorski: Debogorski has come back from his Board of Governors loss last year to grace us once more with his unique perspective on what is wrong with the Union. In short, his answer is "everything". Debogorski is big on complaining but low on ideas. This is from a “lounge lizard” though, so take it for what it’s worth.

Tara Gault: Gault is the sitting VP Education. Her key platform pieces are Approachability, Sustainability and Empowerment. The approachability stand is a bit tired, I’ve heard it before, but I do like the expansion of the idea of a sustainable union. In addition, the empowerment angle is a good one for student issues, and she focuses on very topical subjects, like the municipal elections and safety on campus.

John Hillman: I have dubbed Hillman "the viable external candidate". He is, however, an enigma to me. I don't know what his motivation is. I am also slightly irked by his somewhat defeatist attitude. I'm interested to hear his ideas, but his joke posters and "John Hillman's Cheap Ass Website" don't instill much confidence. I hope he steps it up.

Courtney Larkin: Larkin is the sitting VP Student Life. Her platform is (predictably, given her background) mostly about enhancing the “student experience” at Dal. She also touches on the campus safety issue and on sustainability, albeit not quite as broadly as Gault. Also, I find that a lot of Larkin’s platform focuses on convincing the reader that she knows what the job entails (a good thing, don’t get me wrong), but is less substantial on perceived flaws that need to be addressed or initiatives that need to be pursued.

Vice President (Internal)

Daniel Boyle: Dan Boyle has been extensively involved in the DSU in the past few years. His full platform is very detailed and well thought out (he even has footnotes, a man after my own heart!). My only worry is that voters won’t bother to go through the whole thing because of its length. I’d like to see a condensed version with his top few priorities and ideas. Overall, very impressive.

Victoria Jones: Victoria already knows what I thought of “Team VAJ” last year. Adding “Your Internal Choice” did not make things much better. It’s a shame, because Jones has a lot of experience, she doesn’t need cheap gags to get elected. I like the idea of the society toolkit, but would either like to hear more about the classification of societies in general, or for her to just leave that whole can of worms out of the platform.

Vice President (Education)

Mark Coffin: A Yes/No vote for my former position. So sad. Coffin comes to us from the DSU sustainability office. He has spent the time leading up to the election trying to get his head around the issues, especially the external ones. His open door policy is a bit of a throw away (see: part of your job), but I do appreciate the focus on municipal issues considering the upcoming election. Also, he has an equal amount of focus on internal academic issues, big ups for that.

Vice President (Student Life)

Krista Ali

Kris Osmond

I’m not going to lie. I have no idea. The art of event planning, getting people out to events etc. has always eluded me. The fact that there are two seemingly competent candidates with great (and sometimes conflicting) ideas is pretty impressive for this portfolio. A bit of a cop out, I know, but I’ll try to think about it some more…

Undergraduate Senate Representative

Andrew Christofi: I know Andrew from debating, he has been very dedicated to the club. In addition, he sat on the Society Policy Review Committee this year. No doubt it was a taxing process, but by all accounts he performed very well and represented student interests with aplomb.

Kaylyn Fraser: Another Sustainability Office candidate. I’m confused as to why they all gunned for the academic positions, but that’s neither here nor there. Most of her platform re-enforces the fact that being a Senate rep. is a really, really big responsibility and that she's the leader for the job. I don't have any reason *not* to beleive you but...

Jonathan Hughes: I was an off campus frosh leader a few years ago and Jonathan was one of my frosh…that, or someone who looked a lot like him. His online bio tells me a lot about him, but not a lot about why he should represent me at Senate.

Blair Mason: I have nothing. He has no online bio and I can’t seem to locate a website or Facebook group. I think he’s in Engineering.

Eric Snow: Last year I was pretty hard on Snow. He lost the race for Senate last year, but has remained totally involved in the DSU since then. I think Snow has more than shown his commitment to the Union and student affairs. He isn’t afraid to ask hard questions, but they’re always informed; this is a rarity in the Union. Truth be told, I think he should be running for VP Education this year.

Graduate Senate Representative

Yannick Tremblay: Yannick kind of came out like a whirling dervish and became uber involved in external DSU issues. He is currently an ANSSA rep. and has also spoken about graduate issues to CASA. He has shown an obvious commitment to grad students and their concerns; this makes him overqualified for the job.

Also, big note to candidates: Don’t make me search around for your website. Have it on your poster or on your candidate bio. I care about ten times as more as the average student about what you have to say, and even I was getting irked.

Something for Everyone!

2008-01-30T00:21:00.001-04:00

As my (three) loyal readers may or may not have noticed, I have refrained from writing about the upcoming American election, despite its sheer magnitude of importance. The reason for this is the very simple fact that I don't know enough about US politics to give any sort of thoughtful analysis. Ryan McNutt over at McNutt Against the Music, however, is all over this. I highly recommend his primer to the US primaries...I have never seen the system explained so clearly.

Want to know the difference between a caucus vote and a primary vote? Ever wondered why Iowa and New Hampshire get all the glory? Have you found yourself asking why we have been hearing about this election ever since the balloons came down on the last one? McNutt's Primary Politics for Canadians is for you!

The Hype Machine is a website whose mission statement is "to make music discovery fun and get artists paid." It essentially tracks blogs that post streamed mp3s (not available for download) and allows for quick searching of one's favourite artists and the people that write about them. It has just posted its Best of 2007 band, single and album lists that were compiled based on bloggers' picks. Arcade Fire, Feist, The New Pornographers and Tegan and Sarah are but a few Canadian acts that made the list.

On a related note, the In the Dead of Winter festival is going on this week in Halifax. Artists like Rose Cousins and Jen Grant will be participating in songwriters circles and will be joined by acts like i see rowboats and The Great Lake Swimmers. The schedule of events is here if you want to check it out.

Back from Hiatus

2008-01-21T21:58:00.000-04:00

A few things:

I attended the Canadian Constitutional Affairs Conference in Quebec City this weekend. While very well run by the organizers, the fact still remains that 1995 called and it wants its constitutional debate back. The whole weekend was almost entirely devoted to a discourse about Quebec and "The Rest of Canada". As one of my fellow delegates mentioned to me: don't people outside of Ontario and Quebec know what a pejorative term "rest of Canada" is? As if everyone outside of Quebec has the exact same needs, wants and demands as they pertain to the national discourse. Astounding!

During the session on asymmetrical federalism, one student asked a very good question about cities, and their role in federalism. He commented that many new immigrants tend to identify more with their cities than the provinces in which they reside, and then asked how that could fit in with the federal discourse. Essentially, the panel lamented on how new immigrants didn't understand the strong federal history that we have in Canada, and really this was a "problem" for the provinces to sort out. Again, flabbergasting! Problem?! We have cities that are bigger than multiple combined provinces that are being asked to run on property taxes and a dream. Instead of trying to "educate" people about how federalism "really works" (i.e: responsibilities that were divvied out over a century ago), why don't we try to see how federalism can evolve in the face of a changing Canada. It doesn't mean overhauling the Constitution, but it does mean that we must come to the realization that it is useless to attempt to fit a square peg into a round 1867 hole.

Overall, though, it was indeed an interesting time, at least I was reminded as to the general viewpoints of those that reside within the Toronto-Quebec City corridor. Also, I did get to see a bit of a smackdown between former Quebec Premier Bernard Landry and Former Chretien Chief of Staff Edward Goldenberg...always exciting for a politico geek. Sadly, old school bickering had to take place during a panel that head of LEAF Marilou MacPhedran was also participating in, which took away from her wonderful presentation on "lived rights".

Coachella announced its lineup today. Looks pretty good.

I didn't get to blog about this when it happened...but I loved Rodney MacDonald's Youtube video about the Top 10 Reasons to visit Nova Scotia for David Letterman. Some dismissed it, but I thought it showed a great sense of humour (something we rarely see from our illustrious leader) and was a great bit of fun.

Take a bow, John Baird

2007-12-14T12:19:00.000-04:00

Canada has been stunning the world while in Bali...and for all the wrong reasons.

Today, the last official day of the conference, Canada took the top place prize for Fossil of the Day. This award distributed by the Climate Action Network to the country that has done the most to block the progress of negotiations. The website for this year was a little hard to find, but here it is. The true North strong and free joins such illustrious award winners as the United States and Saudi Arabia for its inaction on climate change.

In fact, we did so well this year that we tied for first place with our neighbors to the South for Fossil of the YEAR! Quite the accomplishment for a country of 33 million, I must say.

Needless to say, this has a lot to do with our chief negotiator on the job, Minister John Baird. Interestingly enough, Baird's pitbull like tactics don't translate well from the House of Commons to diplomatic negotiations amongst states and environmental stakeholders. Jason Cherniak reports that Baird either left early or just failed to show up entirely at the high level minsterial "Friends of the President meetings". It's embarrassing! The Canadian government isn't even attempting to pretend they are playing ball at this point.

The Return of He Who Shall Not Be Named...

2007-12-11T00:25:00.001-04:00

You have to be kidding me...

The World Descends on Bali

2007-12-09T11:07:00.000-04:00

This past week has seen the leaders of the world congregate in Bali for the UN Climate Change Conference. Go here to see the perspective from the Canadian Youth Delegation.

Also, Zoe Caron is trying to get to the Antarctic to help teach high school students about climate change. Help her out if you can.

Celebrate the Irony

2007-12-06T17:49:00.001-04:00

Apparently I blog way more during exams...who knew?!

This song is making me very happy lately. I challenge you to listen to it and not want to dance...even just a little.

The Wombats:"Let's Dance to Joy Division". Learn it. Love it.

Remembering 14 Women

2007-12-06T11:48:00.000-04:00

On this day in 1989, Marc Lepine walked into Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, opened fire and systematically killed 14 women BECAUSE they were women.

Geneviève Bergeron
Hélène Colgan
Nathalie Croteau
Barbara Daigneault
Anne-Marie Edward
Maud Haviernick
Barbara Maria Klucznik
Maryse Leclair
Annie St.-Arneault
Michèle Richard
Maryse Laganière
Anne-Marie Lemay
Sonia Pelletier
Annie Turcotte

Today, try to attend a memorial service or simply wear a purple ribbon both in remembrance, but also to signify support for the National Day for Action on Violence Against Women.

Time to Shake it Up Downtown...

2007-12-05T11:11:00.000-04:00

Halifax mayor Peter Kelley says that the city can't be "held hostage to the ideas of a few business people with an agenda." No, no, Mr. Mayor...the people of Halifax would prefer to be held hostage to the ideas of a few wing nut councilors who are stuck in a rut so deep, that the best they could come up with was a bylaw to license domestic cats. That sounds much more appealing...

Kelly is referring to the newly formed group, Citizens for Halifax. Citizens for Halifax, admittedly right now made up of mostly figures from the business community, is trying to gather enough people to run on a slate for all of the Halifax city council positions, including mayor. These candidates would all prescribe to pre-set priorities, like sustainable development in the city, and breaking the council into two parallel rural and urban sectors. While it's still early days, it's exciting to see people actually standing up for change at the municipal level. These are individuals who see Halifax's potential, and want to help realize it.

Kelly is scared, and rightfully so. He and his council have become stagnant and irrelevant. Between flubbing up the Commonwealth Games bid, to petty bickering, to failing to secure even one major act for the Commons since it was touted as the next hottest outdoor venue this side of Montreal, it is time for a major shakeup downtown. Citizens for Halifax may be it.

2007-11-29T11:47:00.000-04:00

I don't have enough time this week to talk about this as thoroughly and coherently as I'd like to, so I'll just pose this question:

What the hell is a "citizen-journalist"?

I ask because the Globe and Mail's "Nation Builder" award, the nominations for which are currently underway. One of the nominees forwarded is Paul Pritchard. Pritchard, for those of you who may remember, was the fellow who took the video recording of the RCMP tasering a Polish man in the Vancouver International Airport last month. I can't remember whether or not it was with a cell phone, but I have a feeling it may have been.

The G&M refers to Pritchard as a "citizen-journalist". I think of him more as a "guy who was in the right place at the right time". Sure, he didn't *have* to take the film, but does his act then elevate him to the status of "journalist", or can he simply be referred to as someone who video recorded something he thought was of importance at the time, and then allowed the country to see it? Shouldn't the term "journalist" come with it some sort of responsibilities, as well as the pure act of "telling people what happened". Hell, I saw a car accident on my walk to school today, if I tell someone about it am I all of a sudden Christie Blatchford?

At long last...

2007-11-24T11:52:00.001-04:00

In June 2005, a few student leaders (of which I was one) were sitting around a policy and strategy conference for the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, thinking about what our policy objectives should be for the upcoming year. I won't get into the nitty gritty details, but at the end of the day one of the things that was decided upon was that we were going to push the government for a full scale, holistic review of all federal student aide.

You see, currently, the money earmarked for student aide is a Frankenstein mish mash of tax credits, student loans and grants that have been put in and taken out over the years by a succession of governments. Sometimes they fit together, but for the most part the strategy has large gaping holes you can drive a Mack Truck through. A review would ensure that the money being spent on student aide is done in a efficient and effective way that helps those who need it the most.

That review is currently happening.

Then a little while later, the Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations decided that Nova Scotia too needed a full scale review. After all, the province's student aide programme is a victim of the same illness as its federal brother (maybe it's genetic?). It pushed for a year and a half, and this summer during its inaugural constituency tour, ANSSA told anyone who would listen about the need for this review.

Well, the time has come!! Here's the blurb from ANSSA. I hope that you can make it to one of the consultations in your community. Remember, this review won't work without you!

*Do your parents make too much for you to get a loan?
*Are you worried you won’t be able to live where you want after graduation because of debt?
*Is the student loan system confusing?
*Do you worry about those who can't access higher education?

SPEAK OUT!

For the past year and a half, the Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations (ANSSA) has fought to make sure the government kept their promise to review student financial aid.

We won.

Over the next three weeks at public meetings across the province you will have a chance to speak out on issues around the student financial aid system and the provincial government will be listening.

If you can’t make the forum, visit www.SA-Review.ednet.ns.ca to submit your thoughts, concerns and suggestions online. The deadline for written submissions is December 21st.

CONSULTATION SCHEDULE:

*** Monday, Nov. 26, Cobequid Education Centre, Truro (Center 2 , 34 Lorne St, Cobequid Educational Centre)

*** Tuesday, Nov. 27, Dalhousie University, Halifax Room 307, Student Union Building, 6136 University Ave, Dalhousie University)

***Wednesday, Nov. 28, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax (Rosaria Boardroom, Rosaria Student Centre Mount Saint Vincent University) (tentative)

*** Monday, Dec. 3, Nova Scotia Community College, Yarmouth ( Lecture Room, Campus Centre 372 Pleasant St, Nova Scotia Community College - Burridge Campus)

***Tuesday, Dec. 4, Acadia University, Wolfville (Room 207, Beveridge Arts Centre, Acadia University)

***Wednesday, Dec. 5, Nova Scotia Community College, Dartmouth Waterfront Campus ([Room to be confirmed], Nova Scotia Community College - Waterfront Campus)

Visit www.SA-Review.ednet.ns.ca for maps and other information about these consultations.

Just Blowing Smoke...

2007-11-21T17:23:00.000-04:00

A few days ago, the council for the town of Wolfville, Nova Scotia, passed a by-law that bans smoking in cars if anyone younger than 18 is inside. Everyone clapped like seals and was terribly thrilled with themselves for being such leaders in the mission to cut down on second hand smoke.

Give me a break.

I have three problems with this by-law, and they’re only tangentially related, so bear with me.

1)Legislating what one can and cannot do in one’s car is ridiculous. This is an egregious intrusion into the personal space of the residents of Wolfville. What’s more, is that the justification as to why it’s okay for the municipality to pass this by-law can equally be applied to legislating what one can and cannot do in one’s home. Truth.

2)This by-law is essentially unenforceable, a fact that is even recognized by the people who passed it. It’s all about the symbolism, they say. But wait, Wolfville, you can’t have it both ways. Either this is a great step forward in the fight against children being exposed to second hand smoke, in which case you’re going to have to put some enforcement clout behind it (and consequently have a lot of by-law enforcement officers chasing down cars) or it’s an unenforceable gesture that just makes everyone feel warm and fuzzy but in practice, does nothing. Methinks the budget of the Municipality of Wolfville can only sustain the latter.

3)I have the sneaking suspicion that this by-law is going to be a back door method for fining underage smokers. A 16 year old smoking in the car with her other 16 year old friends could conceivably be fined under this by-law. I’m not really okay with that, and a municipality doing something in a roundabout way that they can’t do in a straightforward way.

If the Municipality of Wolfville really wants to lead the charge in cutting down the amount of second hand smoke children are exposed to, it would be much more effective to launch a full scale education programme as opposed to passing a by-law that will lay silent on the books and essentially, not make one lick of difference. But hey, it’s all about feeling good, right?

Not Half a Bad Idea...

2007-11-19T22:03:00.001-04:00

Crown prosecutors in Alberta are pursuing dangerous offender status for a chronic drunk driver who last year killed four people in a crash.

A bloody good idea if you ask me.

Raymond Yellowknee's defense insists that before he killed four people due to his negligence, he had really only hurt himself as a result of his penchant to get behind the wheel after drinking. This argument is nothing but a straw man. Just because by the grace of the creator this man didn't end up killing people during his previous inebriated forays doesn't mean that he didn't have a blatant disregard for the lives that he could have taken.

But he's remorseful this time, they say. Yes, I would be remorseful too if I was facing an indefinite jail term at the mercy of a parole board. Yellowknee's record indicates that time and time again he has shown no regard for the law or for the lives of the people around him. That makes him dangerous and it seems to me, that it makes him at the very least a pretty good candidate for a dangerous offender designation.

What IS this place?!

2007-10-17T11:53:00.000-03:00

If you had ever contemplated what Hell might look like...

This might give you a pretty good idea

The North Star

2007-10-17T11:32:00.000-03:00

I was all excited to blog about the Throne Speech...and then it turned out to be completely non-controversial. Colour me disappointed! Despite the lack of rah-rah battle cry excitement, however, there are still a few things of note:

1) The Arctic: It's about time decision makers started talking about our sovereignty in the Arctic. Canada's continental shelf claim is due in by 2013, but really they should be asserting what they think might be theirs much before that. Also at issue is the status of the North West Passage. The question Canada must ask itself is whether or not it is going to assert the NWP as internal waters or cede to the US stance that it is a historic strait used for navigation. Both have different connotations in international law, as well as different ramifications for *how* Canada is going to assert itself in that area.

2) The Federal spending power: I think I just have to quote the whole paragraph for full effect:

Our Government believes that the constitutional jurisdiction of each order of government should be respected. To this end, guided by our federalism of openness, our Government will introduce legislation to place formal limits on the use of the federal spending power for new shared-cost programs in areas of exclusive provincial jurisdiction. This legislation will allow provinces and territories to opt out with reasonable compensation if they offer compatible programs.

Isn't there a strong precedent for this opt-out business already? This is just status quo. The part I am curious about, however, is how the government plans on legislating restrictions against Constitutional spending powers. Maybe they haven't read the Constitution...that would make sense.

The one big worry about this provision, depending on how it plays out, is the potential that the Conservatives may use it to do things like not re-instate the Millennium Scholarship Foundation, a federal PSE grants programme. MSFs mandate is up in 2009, and without something similar put in its place, there will be a $325 million gap left in student aide spending. See this website for more information: grantsreloaded.ca

3) Voting: "The integrity of our federal voting system will be further strengthened through measures to confirm the visual identification of voters." This means ensuring that women will have to remove their veils to vote. In the Throne Speech no less...classy.

When is it too much?

2007-10-10T10:25:00.000-03:00

I just stumbled upon this piece in Halifax's Chronicle Herald:

Drug Dealer Complains of Being Beat Up in Prison

Essentially, Jimmy Melvin Jr., a current inmate who is most certainly a "repeat offender" has asked for a transfer from the Burnside Correctional Facility because he claims the guards there beat him on an almost daily basis.

When asked about the procedures in place to deal with these sorts of complaints, the director of correctional services indicated that:

inmates can try to solve conflicts informally by dealing directly with the staff member involved. If that doesn’t work, inmates can file a complaint in writing, which will be investigated within 10 days. Failing that, inmates can make a complaint through the ombudsman’s office.

Now, I'm certainly not an expert on correctional services, and its important to remember that these claims are as of yet unsubstantiated. It seems to me, however, that if this inmate *is* indeed getting beaten on an almost daily basis, as he claims, that trying to "talk it out" with the guards involved will not render the desired results for Mr. Melvin.

As for the complaints process, there is no mention of confidentiality of said complaint. 10 days seems like a pretty sufficient amount of time for an inmate to be "convinced" that there really isn't a problem. I'd be very interested on how many complaints of consistent physical assault make it to the ombudsperson level.

I realize that most people are going to tell me that these people are in prison for a reason, that they're the scum of our society and if they get knocked around that they probably deserve it. I'm not so much in that camp as I'm in the camp of holding public officers to account for their actions. Yes, their job is very difficult, probably more difficult than I can ever imagine. I don't think, however, that that fact alone can excuse systematic daily beatings of an inmate. If correctional services can consistently hide behind the veil that they are dealing with criminals, and we couldn't possibly what it's like inside a prison, then I fear any potential problems of this ilk will never be solved.

Touche, Polaris...

2007-09-26T00:32:00.000-03:00

I can almost assure you that the following phrase was uttered by many an indie kid last night and throughout the day:

"Who the hell is Patrick Watson?!"

Yup, Polaris did it again and chose an artist that absolutely no one was expecting them to choose. From the conversations that I had in the days leading up to the announcement there were two distinct camps:

1) Either Arcade Fire or Feist will take home the prize. "Neon Bible" received awesome amounts of critical acclaim and people have been salivating over "The Reminder" ever since its release.

2) Neither Arcade Fire or Feist need the $20,000. It will go to the Besnard Lakes, Junior Boys and Joel Plaskett Emergency are bands that have been slowly making their name, are on the brink, but could use the money and the recognition for that extra push.

(Oh, and the second and a half category were all the die-hard Miracle Fortress fans.)

McNutt Against the Music says almost everything else that I would have said in the following paragraphs, and no doubt much better, so I will leave the rest up to him.

Tonight, Tonight...

2007-09-24T08:17:00.001-03:00

Tonight is the night! At 8pm EST (9pm for those of us on the best coast), Grant Lawrence from CBC Radio 3 will announce this year's recipient of the Polaris Prize. The Polaris Prize is very careful to advertise that it is awarded for a full length Canadian album and is based solely on artistic merit, with no regard for genre or record sales. There is also no mandate to be geographically "fair" in the choosing of nominees. Thus, if the committee wants to nominate acts solely from the Windsor-Montreal corridor, they can. Politics aside, however, it's a pretty exciting award.

So, who is going to win? I honestly don't know. Last year, Final Fantasy pulled out from the dark horse spot to claim the title for "He Poos Clouds". This year, there are a few big names, including Halifax's own Joel Plaskett Emergency and current ipod ad darling Feist, not to mention Arcade Fire. My respect for these artists aside, I hope they don't win. All three are already pretty established in this country, and I see Polaris's $20,000 prize as a way for lesser known, but extremely talented artists, to get a leg up in the industry.

Here are the nominees, I'll let you decide for yourself:

Arcade Fire-Neon Bible
The Besnard Lakes-The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse
The Dears-Gang of Losers
Julie Doiron-Woke Myself Up
Feist-The Reminder
Junior Boys-So This is Goodbye
Miracle Fortress-Five Roses
Joel Plaskett Emergency-Ashtray Rock
Chad Vangaalen-Skelliconnection
Patrick Watson-Close to Paradise

Veiled Windmills

2007-09-16T12:47:00.000-03:00

My updating is going to be sporadic from now on…it’s just how it’s going to have to be I think. I am clearly not destined to have a column of any sort. Anyway, on with the show:

So, I’m not quite sure what happened last week to Mr. Harper. Maybe he had some bad fish, maybe he slipped and hit his head on the corner of his desk while running out the door…I can only speculate. Something *must* have happened, however, for him to get the notion in his head that he was going to bring down the almighty hellfire on the head of Elections Canada for upholding a ruling that says veiled women will not have to lift their face covering in order to vote.

Why was this a bad idea on the part of our illustrious Prime Minister? Because it is completely unfounded! I know he’s a busy man, but perhaps one of his handlers could have highlighted s. 143(3) of the Elections Act and slipped it to him. That section, for those just tuning in, is the one that says a voter doesn’t even need identification to vote. Instead, one just needs a registered voter for that riding to come in and swear that the person who would like to vote is who he/she says he/she is.

My good friend over at Atlas Hugged puts it very well when he says:

For the record, despite the idiocy of the BQ on this issue, the CEO is not flouting the will of Parliament. There is no provision that requires someone to show their face- in fact, the man/woman with no face at all could vote in the election as long as he/she has I.D. that says they are on the list or they are willing to swear and oath to that effect.

Oh, and don’t even get me started on the thousands of Canadians who MAIL IN their votes every election…

So, why is Harper taking this issue to the wall? A friend asked me the other day if it was racially motivated, and I don’t think it is. What I *do* think, however, is that Harper is scared of making it seem as if he is allowing “special privileges” to any one group (veiled women, Atlantic Canadians, etc.). He wants to cater to his base that believes every one should be treated “equally”. Sadly, being treated “equally” doesn’t allow for “equality”.

Autumnal Requiems

2007-08-22T16:11:00.000-03:00

I arrived back from visiting the familia in the UK to the lovely, driving Nova Scotia rain. The next day, after I had wrung myself out, there was an unmistakeable shift that was occuring outside. I don't know what it can be attributed to, but it was that feeling in the air when you know that summer is drawing to a close and fall is walking in the front door. When you stop thinking about patios and light beer and start thinking about classrooms and light sweaters.

Never fear, however, because inevitably with the autumnal season in Halifax comes some pretty wicked musical talent. Here's just a taste of what is coming up...

September 6th-The Attic- The Golden Dogs
September 8th-Metro Centre-Billy Talent, Ill Scarlet, The Saint Alvia Cartel
September 13th-Metro Centre-The Tragically Hip, the Sadies
September 18th-St. Matthew's Church-Great Lake Swimmers, Jen Grant
Sept 28th-Gus' Pub-BA Johnson DVD Release Party w/ Die Bruke, Bloodshot Bill, Windom Earle
Sept 29th-The Attic-You Say Party, We Say Die
October 10th-The Attic-Strung Out
October 11th-The Marquee-Matt Good w/Dala
October 16th & 17th-St. Matthew's Church-Tegan and Sara
November 16th & 17th-St. Matthew's Church-Final Fantasy

Do Your Neighbor a Favour...

2007-07-30T14:03:00.000-03:00

Tokyo Police Club's first EP "A Lesson in Crime" was stuck in my car's c.d player for 5 days last week. Clearly it loved the Newmarket quartet's catchy tunes as much as I did and thus refused to relinquish the disc. Here is the video for the album's single "Cheer it On"...my favourite part is the man riding the lion. (You're totally going to watch it now, aren't you?!)

The Kinsella Blues

2007-07-25T13:41:00.000-03:00

Warren Kinsella is a smart man *ducks the various objects being thrown at her*, but this is just plain stupid.

Kinsella posted a picture on his blog featuring Ontario MPP Lisa MacLeod with a thought bubble that said "I very much wish I was somewhere else, at this very moment. Baking cookies, perhaps. Oh my." Now, maybe there was something in the inflection as it sounded in Kinsella's head that made this funny...or maybe it really was, as the Globe suggests, an homage to Hillary Rodham Clinton's wry 1992 comment: "I suppose I could be at home making cookies" and we all just failed to appreciate the incredibly obscure reference. Or maybe Kinsella had a moronic moment. I am going to put my money on option 3.

Kinsella has taken down the photo from his blog, but thanks to the wonderful world of cached websites, I was able to obtain it. I post it here so that you can make your own desicions about it and its overall appropriateness:

A New Breed of Superhero Squad

2007-07-19T15:27:00.000-03:00

It's not quite Justice League America, The Avengers, or even Aqua Teen Hunger Force. No, it is something a little different from that. In 2001, UK billionaire Richard Branson and musician Peter Gabriel bore the idea of a group of global leaders who would discuss and advise on world issues. Dubbed "the Elders", this group, which includes the likes of Nelson Mandella and Jimmy Carter, and is chaired by Rev. Desmond Tutu, has the mandate of acting as a moral guide on issues that have failed to be resolved on the political stage. According to Branson, the concept is that of the world being a "global village" in need of elders to give guidance.

While some may dismiss this idea as idealistic, I appreciate its symbolism. Recognizing that most of the group's work will probably be done behind the scenes, with strategically timed and placed phone calls and letters, the thought that there exists a group of sage minded individuals to which we as a collective can look to for guidance is reassuring. We may not see grand, sweeping change come from this group, but perhaps, over time, it will help those who have yet to understand, that political borders really don't mean anything when the world is so small.

Now...what are we going to do about costumes?

Updates

2007-07-18T11:05:00.000-03:00

Well, all of my possible predictions for the location of the White Stripes Halifax secret show turned out to be horribly incorrect. At 4:16 the message went out on the official message board that the show would be at Locas Pool Hall on Salter St. at 4:30. By the time I got there, the line was half way up the block. I figure a lot of people were trolling the downtown with portable radios and got there quicker than I. Unfortunately, Locas is a pretty small location, so all my sidewalk companions and I could do was strain to hear bars from "Hotel Yorba" and the likes from our side of the brick wall.

In other musically dissapointing news, one of my favourite males from Canadian Idol, Liam Styles Chan, failed to make it to the top 10. Sacriledge! I am still comforted by the fact that Jaydee Bixby made it to the final round and continues to make me smile. Also, no sooner did I decide that Montana Martin Iles was my other favourite female (after her awesome preformance of Alanis Morisette's "Ironic") than she also failed to make the Top 10. Again, sadness.

Secret Striping

2007-07-12T17:18:00.000-03:00

I'll write something pseudo intellectutal soon...maybe...

Best guesses for the White Stripes Secret Show in Halifax?

My thoughts? Waterfront...maybe, only because everything is set up there. Alderny Landing...would be nice to have something in Dartmouth. Citadel Hill...super awesome...

Indoor venues are also a maybe, only because of the awful weather. The Khyber and Gus's Pub are both viable options...I disagree with the majority of Halifax Locals in thinking it will be the One World Cafe. In their dreams, perhaps.

See Ryan McNutt's McNutt Against the Music for more delicious White Stripes action!

Tut-tut ginger nut...

2007-07-11T11:45:00.000-03:00

The other day, I had a dream that I lived in a distopia where red-heads were being persecuted and exterminated. My friend Murray (who is also a red head) and I led a band of ginger headed maurauders through the sewers to escape a fate based on the colour of our hair. I told Murray about this dream, and we had a good laugh.

Turns out, I may have to find some maps to the sewer...

http://www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=43836&sc=89

Anti-redhead hate crimes on rise in Britain

TONY ATHERTON
CanWest News Service

A racially-hued slight against redheads by a recently sacked British backbencher, and news stories about a Newcastle family that had to move after verbal abuse about their red hair became intolerable, has British commentators talking seriously about a new, uniquely British prejudice: "gingerism."

"Ginger" is a common nickname for a redhead in Britain. Classic British schoolyard taunts - "Tut-tut ginger nut, where d'ya get you hair cut?" - have evolved into on-line petitions calling for "gingers" to be segregated, shipped to concentration camps or killed en masse.

In 2003, a 20-year-old Briton was stabbed because he was "ginger." A BBC report called it the first "serious anti-red hair hate crime."

The Chapman family of Newcastle, six redheads, has had to move five times, according to recent reports, because of abuse sparked by their hair. Kevin Chapman told reporters his 11-year-old son even attempted suicide as a result of taunts.

A Conservative MP, Patrick Mercer, defended the use of racial name-calling in the British Armed Forces by comparing it to the name-calling directed at ginger soldiers.

"Equally, a chap with red hair, for example, would also get a hard time - a far harder time than a black man, in fact," he told a Times reporter in March. He was subsequently dropped by his party.

While redheads, a small and very visible minority, get singled out in a variety of cultures, it seems to be only in the U.K. that the stereotyping has become so intense and ingrained.

The evolution of gingerism in Britain may have something to do with demographics.

While less than one per cent of the human population has red hair, the largest concentrations of red-haired people are found in the Celtic countries: Scotland, Ireland and Wales. About 13 per cent of Scots have red hair, and 10 per cent of Irish and Welsh.

Red-hair might well have become a marker for these groups, whose history with Britain's predominant English population has been checkered, says Daniel Ames, a professor of social psychology at New York's Columbia University.

British gingerism may also be an extreme regional form of an age-old prejudice against redheads. In The Roots of Desire: The Myth, Meaning, and Sexual Power of Red Hair, author Marion Roach recounts legends that identify both Judas Iscariot and Mary Magdalene as redheads, and notes the prevalence of redheads in vampire lore.

Idol-izing?

2007-07-09T21:03:00.000-03:00

This blog doesn't have a "theme" per se. It seems to have developed into predominantly NS politics interspersed with Federal politics and/or what I happen to be listening to. At first, I thought that this post might be a deviation from all of that; then I realised that it wasn't.

I mean, this post is about voting, about Canadiana AND about music. That's right, I am, of course, talking about Canadian Idol.

Yes, I'll admit it...right out here on the interweb...my guilty summer pastime (okay, ONE of my guilty summer pastimes) is following Canadian Idol.

For those of you who have yet to roll your eyes and move on to the next blog that you frequent, let me tell you...these people are tal-en-ted. Without a doubt, this year's Canadian crooners are by far the strongest vocally that Idol has ever seen.

In terms of my favourites so far...Jaydee Bixby puts a huge smile on my face [this is where I would put a picture if I knew how to do that]. 16 year old Bixby specializes in rock-a-billy, country and being an adorable Western boy. I hope he goes far.

My other favourite male of the competition is Liam Styles Chang. I don't know what it is about him, but this 17 year old just oozes a style and charisma that is far beyond his years. He is kind of my favourite to win so far.

Also, a huge shout out to the NS competitors, Dwight D'Eon and Tyler Mullendore.

Out of the females, I love Carly Rae Jepsen's voice. Her tone is beautiful and I really like the raw energy she brings to the stage. She has a very bubbly personality but there's something about her that's a bit...strange. Under the "Couldn't Live Without" section of her bio on ctv.ca she lists "bamboo coffee substitute"...there's just something very high maintenance about that. She IS from BC, though, so I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt.

I still haven't decided who my second favourite female is yet...more updates to come.

National Day of Action

2007-06-29T11:36:00.000-03:00

Today is the Aboriginal Peoples' National Day of Action. The press release put out by the Assembly of First Nations is here.

Canada is consistently rated one of the best places to live in the world. Despite this, however, the living conditions of many First Nations people are deplorable. Unsafe drinking water, low sanitation standards, poverty on par with developing nations and a staggeringly high suicide rate are all issues that people in these communities face on a daily basis. As the AFN says, "the Government of Canada fuels frustration by taking a unilateral, piecemeal and scattered approach which lacks vision and ignores fundamental issues. The Government is not engaging meaningfully with First Nations, is not listening to its own recommendations and solutions as agreed to by First Nations and the Government in documents like the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996), the agreement reached at the First Ministers Meeting on Aboriginal Issues and the AFN-Crown Political Accord for the Recognition and Implementation of First Nation Governments(2005)."

It is all well and good to meet with First Nations leaders and discuss strategy, but unless that strategy is acted upon and is felt by the men, women and children on the ground, who are in need of real help, these discussions mean nothing. Canada must show the world that it is invested in and committed to righting past wrongs and moving forward with the First Nations of this country.

Conservative Whipping Boy

2007-06-08T20:07:00.000-03:00

Nova Scotia has a new hero this week. Tory MP Bill Casey decided to "vote his conscience", as the news outlets are saying, and vote against the government's budget plan. The plan does not include the Atlantic Accord, which would see the offshore oil and gas revenues of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia left out of the equalization formula. This, of course, is despite the fact that the Accord was signed by the previous Liberal government and was, for all intents and purposes, a done deal.

Casey was, predictably, kicked out of the Conservative caucus. This has seemed to surprise a few people, but it shouldn't. The three line whip has a long and prestigious history in parliamentary government. Certainly, if one wants to keep one's government intact, one must whip the vote for certain confidence motions...if not, we'd be going to the polls a lot more than we already do in this country. Peter MacKay must have missed that day of cabinet training when he said that no member would be kicked out of caucus for voting their conscience...um, actually Peter, on a confidence bill, that is exactly what will happen. No use trying to save face with the people of Nova Scotia now, we lost all faith in you that time with the dog in the field...remember that? Yeah...

What is surprising is how poorly this was handled. I can assure you this is not the first time a member of the governing party hasn't wanted to vote with the rest of the clan on a confidence bill, but very rarely does it cause this much of a stir. Usually because there are deals brokered behind closed doors, vote trading and the like. If I am to believe the CBC, these things were tried by the Conservatives, but it would seem more under the auspices of "strong arming" Casey, as opposed to actually showing that they care about keeping the commitments of a previous government. Perhaps the reason that the usual course of events didn't happen is because Casey wouldn't take anything BUT the Atlantic Accord, the very thing Harper wasn't prepared to give him. Still, given the reputation of our PM keeping such a tight lid on the affairs of his party, you would have thought this would have been dealt with before such a public scene took place.

In the end, Casey comes out on top, Danny Williams has another reason to talk about the failures of the Federal government in regards to Atlantic Canada and the PMO will continue to try and show that they don't take no shit from nobody...or something like that.

A Short Open Letter...

2007-06-04T16:50:00.000-03:00

Dear Rebecca Eckler,

It's not all about you.

Seriously...

That's not a political ad, THIS is a political ad

2007-05-30T12:43:00.000-03:00

Regardless of your political ilk, you have to admit that this is pretty clever.

I suggest that "Canada's New Government" take a page out of the Young Liberal book...or just stop using senate reform as a major talking point...either one really.

Playing Fair Without a Rulebook

2007-05-25T10:26:00.000-03:00

I know, no one cares when I blog about student politics...just one quick note on the ongoing craziness that is the CFS on the West Coast...

Erin Millar's latest blog post over at Macleans.ca is noblely titled "Let the Best Ideas Win!" (my favourite is the exclamation point, it's very cheery). Anyway, the story revolves around the latest Canadian Federation of Students drama, this time concerning the student union at SFU. Millar had been criticized on a student blog for being too balanced in her depiction of SFU's current struggle to wrench free of the suffocating grasp of the CFS. The article is meant to be her defense against such claims. Again, noble. The problem with Millar's article, however, is that she yet again depicts the CFS as a group of rational thinkers who, for lack of a better term, "play fair".

The part I most take umbrage with is the statement that the SFU referendum was rushed and undermined democracy. There should have been a no campaign, she says. In normal circumstances I would agree with her completely. Unfortunately, I have seen what happens when the CFS gets its “due notice” about a referendum aimed at leaving the organization. The Bat-team is mobilized and tens of thousands of dollars are poured into the No side, union referendum rules are steamrolled and students are shipped in from friendly campuses to encourage students to vote No. Meanwhile, the poor yes side is made up of a bunch of volunteers, who aren't getting paid to do this (unlike their No counterparts), nor do they have access to the same types of resources. The campaign isn't about "ideas", it's about the CFS pulling the wool over the eyes of the average student with skewed numbers and, in some cases, outright lies, while the other side tries desperately to get an alternative view across.

The sad truth is that the tactics that SFU took in its attempts to leave the CFS, while perhaps suspect in a normal situation, were perfectly called for under the circumstances. Yes, yes, one might say that the union stooped to the level of the CFS, but as many others will attest to, playing nice with these people is going to get you nowhere. Playing with the CFS isn't a matter of "letting the best ideas win" but "allowing the little guy to get out alive, with an autonomous union that doesn't have a lawsuit attached to it", and believe me, many have failed at that task.

Millar should be commended for her attempts at painting a fair and balanced depiction of what's happening at SFU. Sometimes, however, “fair and balanced” has to be put in the context of “deceitful and slimy.”

Back In the Saddle

2007-05-09T10:38:00.001-03:00

I, much like the prodigal son (but with possibly less lasting story telling power) have returned to the world of blogging. Apologies to my droves of readers who were without me this past month...or...you know...since I started school again. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. Since there are just too many things that have been happening lately, it's going to be bullet style...yeah, you'll like it too.

Valley MLA Stephen McNeil came out victorious in the race for leader of the NS Liberal Party a fortnight ago. This was despite two other candidates throwing their support behind his major contender, Clayton Park MLA Diana Whalen after the first ballot. It just goes to show that you can't take them with you...all your supporters that is. Now that the balloons are down we shall all have to see how McNeil captains the slowly leaking ship that is the NS Liberals. May I suggest a strong education policy that includes something more than tax credits? Education builds a nation, Stephen...but you can start with the province first.
I hope everyone else is as enraged by this whole Shane Doan thing as I am. For those just tuning in, Hockey Canada made Shane Doan captain of Team Canada, the same Shane Doan who was alleged to have made slurs against a francophone referee in 2005. After an investigation he was absolved of any wrongdoing nd that was that...until the Bloc decided to haul Hockey Canada in front of a parliamentary committee to explain its actions. Seriously? A parliamentary committee over who the captain of Team Canada is going to be?! I have officially lost faith.
Andre Boisclair announced yesterday that he is stepping down as leader of the Parti Quebecois. I am currently taking bets on when Gilles Duceppe will announce that he's leaving the Bloc to take over provincially. I say a month give or take a couple of weeks. Ryan McNutt over at McNutt Against the Music thinks that Duceppe will do it right before the house closes so that he can get a standing ovation. I buy that.
I was recently in Austin, Texas and, other than all the greenery and general beauty of the city, what struck me most was the cost of transit. Austin is a city roughly the physical size of Calgary by my estimation, with a population just shy of 700,000. To take a city bus ANYWHERE costs 50 cents a ride. If one is planning on taking multiple buses or going on multiple trips, they may purchase a 24-hour bus pass for the whopping price of $1. Yes, one dollar will allow one to ride anywhere in Austin for 24 full hours. In contrast, a single ride on a Halifax Metro Transit bus costs $2, more if one wants to ride on the LINK bus. I don't claim to know much about urban transit, but maybe someone could tell me what Austin is doing that we aren't? Does a larger populous equal cheaper transit?
Asia is now the next Pussy Cat Doll after a nail biter of a season finale. I was a Melissa R. girl myself. Wait...no...wrong blog.

A Little Bit of a Break

2007-04-09T00:22:00.000-03:00

As you may or may not have guessed by now, Caring Is Creepy will be on hiatus until the 18th of April due to the hellishness that is exams.

I leave you with my new favourite study music, East Van darlings Po Girl

See you in 10 days!

When it's over...

2007-03-21T10:24:00.000-03:00

Student unionism has created a sickness in me unlike any other. The Federal budget came down yesterday and on Monday Elizabeth May decided that she was going to run against Peter McKay in the next federal election...yet I am going to blog about the DSU. Expect updates on those *other* two things later.

I didn't get around to commenting on all the YouTube videos, but here's a couple of things that just needed to be said:

Dear Greg Debogorski, is your video encouraging people to vote for you for BoG or to let you out on a day pass? I’m unclear. Please go back to attempting to finish first year management and stop this now annoying act of ill planned shit disturbing.

Shannon Zimmerman hit all the key points in her video. Despite looking a little uncomfortable, she was still able to seem articulate and knowledgeable about the issues. BoG is extraordinarily hard to campaign for, Zimmerman gets it right.

Amanda Myers has a disturbing speaking style that is a little unnerving to be honest. What she is *saying* isn’t wrong, she glosses the key aspects of the portfolio, but I find it difficult to focus because I am too distracted by her odd demeanor. VP Education is a position that, ideally, requires a strong speaking style, and Myers just does not have that. I will say, however, that am very excited to see a VP Ed candidate talk in some sort of substantive manner about academics within the university.

Tara Gault runs at about 35 secs. She basically introduces herself, states her key platform pieces and then encourages the viewer to visit her Facebook group. There’s something to be said for short and sweet. It wouldn’t be my tactic, but it’s a tactic…and there’s only so much you can put in a minute, really. Let's hope that people went to her Facebook group and take a gander at her online bio in order to be fully informed.

Okay, now that that is out of my system...

I won't go into a lengthy overview of what happened at the presidential debate on Monday, but I will say a few things:

Do you remember when I said that during the debates, Pelley was going to have to prove that he knew enough about the internal operations of the union? Well, he didn't. In fact, Pelley failed to impress on any front during the debate. Rather, he opted to string words together in a way that, if you weren't paying attention, might have *seemed* like they formed coherant thoughts and ideas, but actually didn't at all.

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Jason Pelley, and I think he would have done very well in a VP role, probably Internal if I had my druthers, but as a presidential candidate he falls flat. Tipping easily came out on top during both debates, showing a thorough knowledge of both the internal facets of the union as well as the external advocacy goals. He played off his past record and gave concrete and well thought out ideas for the future. Out of the two, Tipping clearly portrayed himself as one who would help bring the union forward, while Pelley seemed the one that would doom it to fumble around in the dark.

Mind you, it's not over until its over (the worst cliche ever, might I add) and we shall have to wait until tomorrow night to see what the voters have decided to be the fate of the union.

For fun fun DSU election pool betting excitment, go to Mike Smit's blog to see what others have prophesized

It's Getting Hot in Here

2007-03-16T21:37:00.000-03:00

My dear! Things are *certainly* heating up on Caring is Creepy these days. You would think that the CS society would have its own web board on which to do its bickering? Anyway, I digress…on with the updates.

YouTube, ITube, we all campaign poorly…

This year marks the first time that voters will get to see the candidates in a “moving picture” sort of way. I’m speaking, of course, about the one minute video clips that are currently viewable (is that even a word? I don’t care…)on YouTube. In addition, these videos will be hyperlinked on the ballot along with the written bios and photos.

I'm going to try to get through all of the candidates, but it may not happen...let's start with...

Presidential Candidates

The choice of background for Jason Pelley’s video is most certainly a strange one…blank white wall on what I’m guessing is the 3^rd floor of the SUB. I don’t know if this was his choice, or the choice of the Elections Committee. Either way, it’s not very appealing. Pelley uses his 53 seconds very efficiently to highlight his past successes both at Dal and in the community. All of them are commendable goals and wonderful initiatives but, as he says, they have run parallel to the DSU. In the presidential debate next Monday, Pelley is going to have to show that he understands the internal workings of the union well enough to become president and not spend his first 6 months figuring out what all of the full time staff do.

Mike Tipping’s video quickly outlines one priority each for both external advocacy and university life and then speaks of building on past sucesses. Overall it's pretty thematic, but he does a good job of focusing on moving forward. His speaking style is pretty conversational , which is good because one of the big critiques of Tipping , especially last May, was his lack of animation while speaking.

VP Internal Candidates

Jenny Cooper wins the award for looking the least awkward in her video. I actually love the way this is done, she looks comfortable, confident and approachable. There are a few word slip ups, but she isn’t reading from cue cards, so it all balances out in the end. Unfortunately Cooper only gets to address two of her major platform pieces, and she doesn’t connect them back to the responsibilities of VP Internal, which may leave people wondering whether or not they fall within the portfolio’s purview.

Rosalie Hanlon went for the short and sweet approach. Unfortunately, she doesn’t really hit on her platform pieces, but rather says that she wants to build on what the DSU is doing now and help to foster societies. Noble, but I would have liked to hear a sentence or two about how, she had the time.

Potent Potables:

Shannon Zimmerman is the only BoG candidate to have read the Budget Advisory Committee Report. To all the other candidates I say, “C’mon guys…seriously…you didn’t think that was going to be on the final exam?”
Eric Snow has responded in the comments section to the allegation that he has ties to the Canadian Federation of Students by coming out in support of CASA.
Amanda Myers has tried valiently to make her case in the comments section. She has been met with some rather rude and off topic responses from her collegues...let's keep it all above board, shall we people?
Long time DSU volunteer and SAN award winner Jamie Nickerson has come out in support of Courtney Larkin on Larkin's Facebook group. Believe me, this is a woman who knows her event planning.
Rosalie Hanlon has borrowed an election strategy used by current VP Internal Chris Ide during his campaign and is reported to be singing the "Barrett's Privateers Shinerama song" to classes.
The Gazette elections insert came out yesterday. Some interesting tidbits...and also a little too much information about the underwear choice, or lack thereof, of the candidates.

Dollar for your cause?

2007-03-15T00:44:00.000-03:00

In the scurry of debates, classroom talks and election songs from 2 years ago (if you're going to sing a song about Shinerama, at least attribute it to the original composer...tip of the hat to Matt Godwin) people tend to forget that there will also be another question of the ballot. Namley,

Do you support the implementation of a levy of $1.00 per full time student per year with $0.50 going to DalOUT! and $0.50 going to World University Services Canada (WUSC)?

DalOut! is the LGTBQQTT group on campus and WUSC is a group that helps to bring refugees to Canada in order to study.

A lot of kerfuffle has been kicked up, both on Facebook and on Mike Smit's blog about the fact that these two seemingly incongruous organizations are being lumped together on the same ballot. There's a simple explanation, really. My apoligies to anyone who has read a lot of this on the comments section of Mike's blog, but one last time for the cheap seats in the back...

Any and all levies must be in incriments of whole dollars. The University will not collect them otherwise. Societies that want a levy have two options really. They can, 1) Go for a levy on their own of a full dollar amount (so the lowest they can go is $1) OR 2) Pair up with another society and split the levy. These two groups went with option 2. If your group only need 50 cents, or don't think a levy for a full dollar will pass, then this is probably the best way to go. You can't blame WUSC or DalOut! for taking the road that will most likely mean that they can actually collect a levy.

Are DalOut! and WUSC an unusual pairing? Sure. But until there's another organization that helps refugees go to school in Canada or another queer advocacy group on campus that wants a levy, I'm not sure what they can really do.

Mike Smit brings up some interesting reasons for why people may not want to vote for the levy, over and above the fact that they may be homophobic or xenophobic (which are obviously awful and illegitimate reasons to vote No). I have included my responses below them:

1) I prefer they get their money from [blank].
I'd like to know where the [blank] is. I assume that if there were other sources of revenue for these groups, they would have persued them, as opposed to running a referendum. This is the 3rd try for DalOut, I'm pretty sure they're not doing it for their health.

2) "I would prefer to donate to another group with similar goals, _____"
Okay, but I don’t *really* buy this argument. It is, after all, a dollar. In addition, I don’t see those other groups that helps to bring refugees to Canada to go to school or those other student groups that provide safe spaces, support and educational resources for the Queer community as well as the University as a whole?

3) "I place higher priority on another cause, ____"
This only works if you’re actively trying to have that other cause receive a levy.

4) "I object in principal to them continually retrying the referendum until it passes"
Personally, I tend to admire the perseverance, especially in the face of limited sources of alternate revenue streams (see answer 1).

5) "I still remember their financial mismanagement issues from ___ years ago"
Past financial mismanagement does not equate to current faults. In addition, I don’t think that takes away from the good of the cause.

Really, unless you're completely opposed to levies for student groups across the board, period, there are very few *good* reasons not to vote Yes for the DalOut!/WUSC levy.

And they're off!!

2007-03-13T10:25:00.000-03:00

This is the first year that I get to blog about the DSU elections as an “outsider”…I use that term VERY loosely. Today is just an brief overview of the candidates based on any information I’ve gleaned from the debates, Facebook groups and YouTube videos as well as my personal interactions. More thorough updates to come.

For more election fun, visit former Dal student and long time DSU hack Mike Smit.

President:

Jason Pelley

Pelley has never been a DSU executive or a DSU councilor and he quit his position as the VP Internal commissioner in ’05-’06. Despite this, he has been integrally involved with a lot of societies on campus, most notably The Dalhousie Integrated Sustainability Initiative and the Dal Womens’ Centre. Pelley is going to have to prove that he has the breadth of knowledge of both the internal and external workings of the union to make an effective president. Otherwise, if he wins he’s going to spend 6 months catching up.

Mike Tipping

Tipping is the 2006-2007 VP Education. He was also the chair of the Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations (ANSSA) this year. In his current portfolio he has put a lot of emphasis on external lobbying, but in the early days of the campaign he’s most certainly trying to show that he understands the rull responsibilities of being president of the union.

VP Internal:

Jenny Cooper

Cooper is a long time DSU volunteer and Info Desk worker, as well as former VP of the Dalhousie Arts and Social Science Society. In both the debates and on her candidate video, she seems very at ease, friendly and conversational. Considering the fact that the VP Internal is the chief communications officer of the union, those attributes are probably a good thing. I’d like to see Cooper talk a little bit more about society development and management over the week.

Rosalie Hanlon

Hanlon was the driving force behind the Food Bank on campus, and is the current co-president of the Engineers without Borders Dalhousie Chapter. Her organizational abilities aren’t under question, but so far in the campaign Hanlon has seemed stiff and her demeanor has almost been downright insincere. Her sickly sweet “I love serving people” stood in stark contrast to her thinly veiled cattiness towards Cooper during the VP Internal debate yesterday.

VP Education:

Tara Gault

A newcomer to the DSU, Gault is an Ontarian with a strong background with the Liberal Party of Canada. During the VP Internal debate, she focused a lot on external issues, but very little on the academic side of the portfolio.

Amanda Myers

Since Myers failed to show up for the debate yesterday, I have very little information on this candidate. She is a CS student and on the CS Society as an exec member; there is some indication, however, that her performance on that body has been less than acceptable.

VP Student Life:

Andrew Cook

Cook ran for VP Student Life last year, and the difference in his demeanor and the way her carries himself from then until now is like night and day. Cook has sat on the DSU council and comes from a residence background, so event planning isn’t new to him. I look forward to seeing Cook’s platform unfold this week.

McCollins Jones

Jones is the “out of left field” candidate, and wasn’t at the VP Student Life debate so I have even less information about him than I do about Amanda Myers. A profile that Dalhousie did on him last year indicates that he’s a national track star and does charity work to aid child soldiers in his home of Sierra Leone. Impressive to be sure, but he’s just resting on his laurels if he doesn’t come out with an actual platform.

Courtney Larkin

Larkin is another long time DSU volunteer and executive member of the Dalhousie Science Society. An amazing event planner (she was heavily involved in this year’s wildly successful Charity Ball) articulate and with a sharp wit, she most certainly has the skills to do very well in this portfolio. Larkin’s campaign to date, however, has rung a little of the old school clique-ish DSU that the union has been trying to move away from in the past few years. I’d like to see her discuss what the VP Student Life portfolio can do for student life on campus over and above Frosh Week and the standard events.

Robert Panahi

Panahi has been involved with Frosh Week over a number of years. He is also the president of the newly formed “Dalhousie Dating Society”, which has had a few successful events this year. Unfortunately, Panahi’s whole platform seems to revolve solely around bringing more dating opportunities to lonely Dalhousie students. That, and as he proclaimed during the debate yesterday, bringing John Mayer to Dal on a $2000 budget. There’s something to be said for experience in this position.

Senate Representative (Undergraduate):

Victoria Jones
Jones’s election t-shirts read: Team VAJ. She also proclaims with pride in her YouTube election video that she is the only current female senator (she was appointed to a vacant spot by council last year). You can draw your own conclusions from those two statements.

Jordan Roberts

Long time Womens’ Centre volunteer (she may hold a title over there, I’m unsure). Roberts accepted the letter of distinction for the V-Day Dalhousie campaign at Student Appreciation Night last weekend. Her speech was on the fly and it was totally composed, articulate and poignant. Let’s hope she can translate those skills into defending the academic interests of students.

Justin LoRusso
LoRusso is another one running for Senate re-election. As Mike Smit states, “he ran last year for Senate, unopposed, and at least 25% of the students still voted no. I wonder how things will go now that there are real alternatives.”

Eric Snow

A Fed Head, which is scary for any position on council. Snow also adamantly stood against the DSU taking a stance on the student space referendum, and then came out in The Gazette the next day firmly for the “No” side.

Christian Tschirhart
Tschirhart ran for Board of Governors last year, but predictably as a second year student running against med student Natalie MacLean, he got trounced. It was too bad because even then, his tenacity was palpable and I think he would have done quite well in one of the empty Senate spots even last year. I look forward to seeing how he has built on this for his Senate race this time around.

Senate (Graduate):

Tracy Voegeli

The only Yes/No of the campaign. I’m not going to lie, I haven’t done any research on Voegeli. I’ll be more on the ball soon.

Board of Governors:

Daniel Boyle
I work with Boyle on the Exec Review Committee. He also chairs the councilor handbook committee. He’s definitely a hard worker and very committed to the union. He’ll have to show me why he should have one of two seats representing me on the University’s highest body, though.

Gregory Debogorski

What. A. Wreck. Debogorski presents himself as the “what does the DSU do for you?” candidate. He doesn’t have an answer and less of an answer as to what he’d do to fix it. You may remember this guy if you were at Imagine ’07, he was the one giving a ‘thumbs down’ high up in the air throughout Tom Traves’s presentation.

Tyler Dennis

A second year young Tory and the VP of Shirreff Hall. He’s well spoken and charismatic. His conservativism may play well at the Board table, but let’s see how well it plays with students.

David Russell
A first year med student. That’s all I’ve got for right now.

[Edited for accuracy, thanks Chris Ide]

Shannon Zimmerman
Zimmerman was the DSU Member at Large in her first year, and is the current president of Shirreff Hall. Also very articulate, but it seems a waste to shove such a bubbly demeanor into a stodgy BoG position.

A true statesman

2007-03-02T14:54:00.000-04:00

Now this is classy.

Jean Charest has lashed out against those who have been discussing PQ leader Andre Boisclair's sexuality as part of Quebec's provincial elections. The Liberal leader says that he wants to make this election solely about policy issues, and that personal concerns have no room in the race.

I think our federal leaders could take a page out of Mr. Charest's book and focus on the issues, as opposed to petty personal attacks. The fact that Boisclair is gay has no bearing on his ability to become the premier of Quebec and I'm glad that, of all people, Charest has come out and said so.

I Choo-Choo Choose You

2007-02-12T23:35:00.000-04:00

As much as I dislike Hallmark holidays, the fact that Valentine’s Day is upon us has given me a good excuse to list my Top 10 favourite “love” songs. I know, I know…unprecedented sap coming from this corner, but sometimes I just can’t help myself.

Here they are, in no particular order. I have also added what I think is the best line from each one. Admittedly, some are better than others in the lyrics department. Feel free to add your own:

“I Am a Robo-Cop”-BA Johnston

So this song is more about trying to forget a lost love, but sometimes those are the best kind. Plus, it has probably one of my most favourite lines of all time:

“And now I am a Robo-Cop/I am protected by Hamilton steel/and the Commodore 64 brain won’t let me remember/what it was like to sleep beside you.”

“Just Like Heaven”-The Cure

Classic love song from a great British band.

“Show me how you do it/and I promise you/I promise that/I’ll run away with you”

“Samson”-Regina Spektor

Beautiful piano in this song. Also, who doesn’t like biblical stories mixed with love songs? I know I do.

“You are my sweetest downfall/I loved you first.”

“First Day of My Life”- Bright Eyes

File this one under S for sap. It’s indie sap, though, so that by definition makes it okay…right? Right.

“This is the first day of my life/Glad I didn't die before I met you/But now I don't care I could go anywhere with you/And I'd probably be happy.”

“Fade Into You”-Mazzy Star

I’m not going to lie; the lyrics in this song are not so special. My adolescence, however, fell smack dab in the most angsty part of the 90s--I have the Doc Martens and plaid shirts to prove it. This song, therefore, must be included in the list.

“I want to hold the hand inside you/I want to take a breath that’s true”

“Space is the Place”- Spacehog

More a song about love in the face of…adversity. Give it a listen and you’ll see what I mean.

“And just because you're fucking him/it doesn't mean you don't love me/Do what you want, be what you want to be”

“Just What I Needed”- The Cars

This song was ruined for me slightly when The Source at Circuit City bought the rights to it and now plays it on EVERY advert. I still think it’s a great 80s ode.

“I don’t mind you comin’ here/And wastin’ all my time time/cause when you’re standin’ oh so near/I kinda lose my mind.”

“Such Great Heights”- The Postal Service

Yes, I’m ever so predictable. Fin.

“I am thinking it's a sign that the freckles/In our eyes are mirror images and when/We kiss they're perfectly aligned”

“The Pamphleteer”- The Weakerthans

Perhaps I’m on a pseudo lost love/far away love theme with this whole list. I still think this is a beautiful song.

“And I don’t know/what I should do/with my hands when I talk to you/and you don’t know/where you should look/so you look at my hands”

“Do You Realize?”-The Flaming Lips

This song is probably on the mix tape of every good hipster boy that ever wanted to woo an American Apparel clad young lass. That, ladies and gentlemen, I would contend is part of its charm.

“Do you realize/that you have the most beautiful face/do you realize/that we’re floating in space”

CFS: Continually Fucking Students

2007-02-03T14:37:00.000-04:00

Sadly, I cannot take credit for the witty title, and the more appropriate description of the Canadian Federation of Students. It was coined by a friend of mine, I think it's quite good. Few topics make my blood boil, though, as much as this corrupt and self-serving organization.

Feb. 7^th marks the CFS’s ‘Day of Action’, where students from member schools will take to the streets in order to reduce tuition fees…or eliminate them, I’m not too sure, the message is inconsistent. Actually, let me correct that. It isn’t just member organizations that will be participating. The CFS has “kindly” taken over non-member campuses, many that are part of other student organizations that participate in their own lobbying endeavors, and organized rallies or whatnot on them: all without the permission of the student organizations on these campuses, which, by the way, were elected by the students to represent them on issues such as this. Democracy? What’s that?

There are a few things wrong with Feb 7^th, and the CFS strategies in general:

1. The slogan: There are many, but let’s go with “Reduce Tuition Fees”, since that’s the one that gets thrown around so much. Notice it doesn’t say by how much, or in what manner. You know, the logistics. So really, there is very little behind this conjecture, at least as far as the average student is concerned. No information is given to them about what they’re protesting for, or what the end result should be, just mindless compliance. This doesn’t empower the average student, it makes them an uninformed pawn.

Of course, the other thing that no one talks about is the fact that a tuition cut straight across the board is terribly elitist. In the current government climate, where there is no appetite to do a wholesale revamp of post-secondary education funding, the money that does go to tuition relief must be used prudently. That is why targeted funding in the form of bursaries and non-repayable loans should be implemented for low income students, those with dependants, and those with disabilities—the ones that need it the most. This would be a much more efficient use of limited funds. But…’viva la revolution’ I suppose…

2. The lobbying methods of the CFS: The reason why the CFS uses vague slogans like “Reduce Tuition Fees” is so that if the government ever did in fact put money towards post-secondary education, the CFS could stand up and shout “But that’s not what we asked for. You should have done it this way”, nevermind the fact that they never proposed a solid plan in the first place. A really great way to give the government an excuse to never negotiate with you again, by the way, is to throw everything the it tries to do for PSE back in their faces. They love that, it lets them disregard us much easier than if we were pragmatic and level-headed.

The group does have their current “10% reduction” campaign currently going on, though. Of course, the plan that the Alliance of Nova Scotia Students Associations has helped to negotiate will reduce tuition by 20%…yet CFS-Nova Scotia refuses to join ANSSA in this endeavour.

3. The death-grip: If the Canadian Federation of Students took all the money they spend on suing various student organizations and created a bursary fund, it would do a whole lot more for students. I wonder how it justifies a decade long lawsuit against the Acadia Students’ Union to its members? One that clearly uses fees on both ends that could be spent on students. Quite a waste if you ask me. Or how about the money used trying to keep the Dalhousie Association of Graduate Students’ as prospective members, despite countless attempts by DAGS to rescind its status?

In the end, the Canadian Federation of Students is a joke. It does not have the best interests of Canadian students in mind, it’s all smoke and mirrors. The next time you hear one of the many CFS minions spewing out the ‘party line’, inform them of the realities of post-secondary education in Canada. Who knows, they may even listen.

*****UPDATE*****:
The invariable Chris McCain has posted his own thoughts on the issue over at The Rabid Bulldog. Take a look.

Thank You Henry!

2007-01-30T00:25:00.000-04:00

This week, Law Students for Choice celebrates both the American Roe v. Wade decision and the Supreme Court of Canada's Morgentaler decisions. These rulings helped to further the fight for a woman's right to choose.

Unfortunately, many think that because of these decisions, the battle is over. This could not be further from the truth. Currently, women cannot receive abortions in Prince Edward Island, period. In New Brunswick, there are no hospitals that will provide the procedure and the province refuses to pay for abortions preformed in clinics despite what the Supreme Court of Canada has said. Women who live in rural areas very often do not have the financial or physical means to travel to urban centeres where abortion services are available. Bear in mind that if this was any other type of time sensitive medical procedure, accommodations would be made.

The issue now is one of access. It is of no use to the women in this country to have theoretical rights over their own bodies. The Supreme Court of Canada rulings in effect should have made abortions akin to any other procedure, but this is not the reality. One of the biggest obstacles is qualified providers. Medical students spend on average 20 minutes learning about abortions during their whole time at medical school. In effect, this means that only those who are proactive will be able to be providers once they are in practice. Can you imagine if there was a shortage of doctors who were able to perform appendectomies? No, you can't, because it would never happen.

Related to this is the complete lack of comprehensive sexual education for our youth. The right to choose involves just that—choice. Choice is impossible, however, when one is not aware of one’s options, and that includes one’s options in terms of having sex in the first place. From abstinence to condoms to the pill, we as a society are somehow very wary of having frank and open discussions with young people about sex. While it’s a tough subject and one that makes many feel uncomfortable, it has to be done. The alternative, of course, is ignorance and misinformation, which is far more dangerous than a 16 year old who knows how to protect themselves.

So today I raise my glass in thanks to Henry Morgentaler, but remind everyone that the fight is not yet over. Women still have a long way to go in terms of their right to choose and Canadian society has a huge responsibility to its youth that, sooner or later, it is going to have to live up to.

Storming the Windmills

2007-01-30T00:12:00.000-04:00

I'm no expert in political communications. In fact, they usually keep me in the policy room for the most part. It is my general understanding, though, that when a party is in power and it's not an election, launching attack ads against your official opposition looks like a move of desperation, and not good governance. Or maybe that's just me...

I realise that in the past, the Liberal party has also indulged in such activities. It wasn't aceptable then and it's not acceptable now. Whatever happened to actually "governing"? If the Conservatives spent as much time actually developing relevant and meaningful policy for the country and making their minority situation work for the electorate as they do slagging on the Liberals, perhaps it wouldn't take multiple years to answer simple questions that plauge Canadians everyday.

Paper Anniversary

2007-01-23T23:26:00.000-04:00

So, Harper and the bye’s have been in power for 1 year. *Sigh*, it seems like only yesterday I sat with a group of poli sci grad students after the final results came in, silently smiling at their naïve hope that Adrienne Clarkson would reject Paul Martin’s resignation as PM, thereby staying the inevitable apocalypse…or at least that is how they saw it.

The apocalypse hasn’t come yet, it is more like the horsemen are circling slowly, threatening to come closer. Little by little, Harper’s government has eaten away at minority rights and personal freedoms, or at the very least hinted that it was going to. The virtual decapitation of the Status of Women council, the proposed re-visitation of dual-citizenship, the end of the Charter Challenges programme and the re-opening of the same-sex marriage debate are just a few of the many subtle hints that point to the true underlying belief structure that runs through the psyche of the party in power. It is up to Canadians to decide whether this is the belief structure that they want to elect into majority power…my guess would be that it is not.

By the way…hospital wait times? Fifth priority…anyone…Bueller? Did the environment come in and shove it out of the way? I mean, I love the environment, and am glad that the Conservatives decided to take the old Liberal plan and put a shiny new blue cover on it, but isn’t there room for both?

In totally unrelated news, a huge congratulations to Little Miss Sunshine for being nominated for the Oscar Best Picture. Independent film finally getting a little representation…loves it.

The Race Is On

2007-01-19T13:36:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, MLA for Clayton Park, Diana Whalen, threw her hat in the ring to join mayor of Colchester County Mike Smith as a contender for the leadership of the Nova Scotia Liberals. Whalen is a former city councilor and two term MLA. I have always admired this woman for her drive and commitment to public service. She has also been a strong champion for post-secondary education in this province and is one of the few members of the legislature, I think, that actually understands the economic importance of a strong investment in the sector. I think she would make a fine leader for the provincial Liberals.

Joining Whalen and Smith is Cape Breton lawyer Kenzie MacKinnon. I don’t know much about MacKinnon except for his various unsuccessful provincial and federal bids for elected seats. The Chronicle-Herald tells me that he is a long time party activist, which could be good and bad. A lot of what is wrong, not only with Nova Scotia Liberal politics but politics in general in the province, is the deeply entrenched old boys values and ideologies. It is time to open all the windows and have a good air out of the party, methinks. Again, a general statement that may or may not pertain to Mr. MacKinnon, we’ll just have to wait and see.

2007: The Year of the Bond

2007-01-12T01:06:00.000-04:00

I have made several New Year’s Resolutions for this, the Year of the Bond. I know it’s kind of passé to do such a thing nowadays, but maybe this way they’ll get accomplished:

Get finances in order

· This really can be boiled down to “pay bills on time”, which I have successfully done for all of 2007…I am clearly on my way to being a fiscally responsible “adult”. *shudder*

Become a better correspondent

· I have to put Post-It notes on my desktop to remind myself to call my mother or else it won’t get done…and she gave me life. This does not bode well for anyone else getting their birthday card on time (or, let’s face it…at all).

Write blog posts more frequently

· This is only the one that pertains to you people, in the end. I am *really* trying and by all accounts shouldn’t be so difficult…sadly, it is.

My hope is, now that I have bared my resolution filled soul on the Interweb, I’ll have some added encouragement. That’s the plan anyway…

Now, on with the good stuff:

I like a good old fashioned ministerial-screw-up-cover-up-gone-wrong as much as the next gal, but I’m pretty sure I’m done hearing about Ernie Fage. Plus, at the rate ‘ol Rodney is going, he will have gone from slightly defending the two-time shamed cabinet minister to claiming he was the second gunman on the grassy knoll in less than a week! I feel *someone* should tell him to keep his mouth shut to save him from any more embarrassment…and we all know we can’t rely on his communications manager to tell him anything in a timely fashion. Let’s not forget why the house is back in session right now, that little matter of campaign spending legislation…I’d like to hear more about that please and thank you.

The Ontario Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues, Sandra Pupatello, has finally called Bev Oda out on her complete lack of initiative. Pupatello has organized a meeting of provincial women’s issue ministers in order to form an action plan that combats the veritable federal dismantling of any and all things to do with the status of women.

Regular readers may be surprised that I’m not even going to mention “he who must not be named", since he has been in the news lately because of Jean LaPierre's announcement. I will, however, direct you to a brilliantly written post over at Atlas Hugged that says everything I would have.

The NS Liberal leadership race is about to gear up (I know, I know...again with the speeches and the signs and the voting...geesh!) Watch this space!

Now You See It, Soon you Won't...

2006-12-31T21:37:00.000-04:00

Earlier this year, the Conservative government in its infinite wisdom cut the Court Challenges Programme. The CCP was a not-for-profit organization that provided grants to enable people to bring test-cases, usually to do with equality and language rights under the Charter, to the Supreme Court of Canada. Now, the Globe and Mail is reporting that 2006 saw the SCC render the lowest number of decisions in over a decade. Coming in at 59, one cannot help but wonder about the future of Charter rights in Canada.

I am not insinuating that the cuts to the CCP had any effect on the number of SCC rulings this year, but it most certainly will in the future. Bringing a test case to the country’s highest court is expensive and time consuming. Without the Court Challenges Programme, if the average citizen cannot convince his or her Attorney General to bring a case forward, then there really is no other recourse. The result is that the rights enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that Canadians have taken to so quickly fail to be upheld.

Just as the gap between rich and poor in this country seems to be increasing, so too does the price of basic freedoms. The cuts to the Status of Women Commission as well as the recent attempt to re-open the same-sex marriage debate and reports about systemic racial and ethnic profiling serve as a reminder that equality issues are anything but put to bed. In 2007, Canadians need to wake up and realize that we cannot rest on our laurels as “the best place in the world to live” and ensure that we continue to respect and preserve the individual and group freedoms that are held so dear and that Ottawa does the same.

Short and Sweet

2006-12-20T15:29:00.000-04:00

-Our illustrious PM says we should get ready for an election. I say each member of the House of Commons should google the words "voter fatigue."

-Calgary Grit is reporting the rumoured three way cabinet shuffle in January. Its main goal being to remove Rona Ambrose from further humiliation. I'm no good at predicting these sorts of things, so I will simply post a YouTube video of Zoe Caron, co-author of "Climate Change for Dummies" and young environmentalist extraordinaire, showing our Environment Minister a "climate change cheer" at the recent international conference in Nairobi, Kenya.

-There's a job opening for Leader of the NS Green Party.

-The Halifax Regional School Board gets a permanent time out. About time too. Now that Minister Casey has helped mend some cracks in P-12, maybe she'll turn her attention to the chasms in PSE?

On the BL

2006-12-14T00:22:00.000-04:00

Bernard Lord is dunzo as leader of the New Brunswick PCs and as the MLA for Moncton-East.

Anyone want to bet on Lord's next steps? "No political ambitions" can turn into "the honourable member for Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe" pretty quickly.

Remember...

2006-12-06T18:33:00.000-04:00

On this day, in 1989, 14 women at L'Ecole Polytechnique were killed. Their "crime" was their sex. Let us never forget them:

Geneviève Bergeron
Hélène Colgan
Nathalie Croteau
Barbara Daigneault
Anne-Marie Edward
Maud Haviernick
Maryse Laganière
Maryse Leclair
Anne-Marie Lemay
Sonia Pelletier
Michèle Richard
Annie St-Arneault
Annie Turcotte
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz

Help stop violence against women. Or any violence at all, for that matter...

Rockin' out, exam style

2006-12-05T22:44:00.000-04:00

I've been very politic-y lately, time for a break...

My new favourite things to listen to while I'm preparing to get brutally beaten by...I mean, write my exams:

Imogen Heap: She used to sing for Frou Frou, which was enjoyable, but her solo albums are super hot. My favourite of the moment is Speak for Yourself. Its best track is "Hide and Seek", which uses a playback machine to create some phenomenal harmonies.

Scribbler: A Halifax band who just released their first "for reals" album. I had the pleasure of reviewing Prussia for The Gazette (even though one of the sentences was misconstrued by the copy editor and now reads as if the album includes "folky soundscapes"...as opposed to folky tracks punctuated by soundscapes...I *can* write about music, I swear).

If you ever wondered what it would sound like if you took some of the most incongruous music genres, put them on opposite ends of a room and made them catapult towards one another at light speed, wonder no longer.

K’naan: I generally don’t like hip-hop. Apparently, though, listening to CBC Radio 3 for 8 hours a day, every day, all summer, has made me develop a taste for hip-hop of the Canadian ilk. This Ontario-based artist graces our soil by way of Somalia, and his album Dustyfoot Philosopher draws from his experiences growing up as a refugee in a new country.

The Cliks: Have I talked about this band yet? If I have, it couldn't have been enough. I reviewed this fabulous three (and sometimes four-)some at the Halifax Pop Explosion in October, and they absolutely rocked Hell's Kitchen. The word "infectious" gets tossed around a lot when talking about the sound of a particular band, but it is the only word that can describe The Cliks second album Snakehouse. I literally cannot listen to "Oh Yeah" without either dancing violently or having to strongly resisting the urge to (you know, if I'm in public...or the library...that would be awkward).

But ordinary's just not good enough today

2006-12-05T14:12:00.000-04:00

Perhaps I was the only one waiting with baited breath to see what issue Dion would debut with as OLO (like OLP, but without Raine Maida...) in the house yesterday, since no one else seems to be talking about it all that much.

Same-sex marriage seems like an...odd...choice. Don't get me wrong, it's an issue to be sure, but not the one I thought he was going to open with. It's doubtful that he's going to get Harper to change his mind on holding the vote, and standing up just to say that the Supreme Court has already spoken on the issue seems a bit lackluster for his first day on the job.

The new seating arrangement is certainly snazzy, if not completely predictable. I think we would have seen *a lot* of editorials had he not moved Bryson, Volpe, Dryden and Ignatieff up to front benches. Next up: Critic portfolio alloment...the reckoning.

Tous Ensemble

2006-12-03T23:03:00.000-04:00

Well, the balloons are down, so to speak. If you had told me two weeks ago that Stephan Dion was going to emerge out of this thing victorious, I would have told you to that you were insane. If you had told me the same thing after the second ballot came in, I would have nodded in silent agreement, while still clutching my Ignatieff sign.

The majority of (non-Ignatieff) people I have spoken to are excited about the prospect of having Dion as a leader. This, I think, is a good thing. The party has to be united and energized. If Stephan Dion can do this, then he was a good choice.

Instead of a huge long post about the whole weekend, here's a quick recap, Li Dong style.

Hot:
-Dion's victory speech: Probably the best speech I've ever heard him give. Hopefully he'll take this momentum and run with it.
-Ignatieff's concession speech: Classy. No question.
-Brigette Legault: The new VP Francophone on the Liberal national executive, as well as a Young Liberal. Mark my words, this woman will be a Canadian household name in 20 years, if that.
-Jean Chretien: Just in case we forgot how effing awesome he is, he pulls out "Can I call you Steve, like George W. Bush?" Brilliant.
-Ken Dryden's candidate speech: Best of the night.
-The DJ in the convention centre: The only thing that kept us going for 10 hours of voting on Saturday was the crazy dance music that was being pumped out.
-Dion's green signs on Saturday: An inspired move. It looked sharp and stood out 100 times more than anything any other camp was wearing or carrying.

Not:

-Bob Rae's candidate speech: Some say having no notes was bold. I say it was a stupid move, and possibly a little cocksure. It sounded more like a stump speech in a church basement than a pitch to be the next prime minister.
-Mark Tweksbury's french: I claim aural assault.
-Justin Trudeau: I almost had to walk out when he was presenting Gerard Kenendy...
-Scott Brison: A former Tory backing a former Dipper. It's the 5th horseman of the apocalypse, not to mention a completely irrational move.
-Me chickening out and not speaking to Paul Wells: I was standing right next to him at the W party! Stupid!

Liberals a go-go

2006-12-01T16:07:00.000-04:00

Gah! My laptop is far too big to be lugging around the Palais de Congres, so you get the shortest blog post ever about the Liberal convention. Also, I have had very little sleep. For a less harried pace, see Devin's blog.

"One Member, One Vote" for leader selection got kyboshed last night at the constitutional plenary. 299-318 or something like that. I was against it, mostly because there was no need to steamroll it through when we could just pass it in two years anyway, after some reflection. Interestingly enough, there was much outrage about the Young Liberal amendment to ensure 25% youth involvement...yipes!
The Paul Martin tribute was quite the star studded event,. Colin James and Natalie McMaster on the same stage. I felt as if "Rita and Friends" had been re-aired.
Everyone is in a tizzy right now about the vote and who is going to whom. It's worse than the rumour mill after the 12th grade trip to Tremblant. The cats with the Brison/Dryden/Volpe/Hall-Findlay know where it's at. They're being courted left right and centre.
Dryden' volunteers baked over 5,000 cookies to distribute to convention goers. Chocolate chip...yum!

Okay, more later. Justin Trudeau is speaking far too close to me, I need to move away.

Sadly, this is only the beginning

2006-11-25T19:19:00.000-04:00

I know that even if I wish on every star I can find, Trudeaumania: Redux will not go away any time soon. Still, the Globe article nauseatingly named "The Man Who Would Be King" continues to irk me.

Interestingly enough, the full page article never actually addresses the question of *why* Justin Trudeau should run for office. As best I can tell, he isn't shy like his father (a good thing, we're told), and he can somehow channel what his father *would* think about the issues of the day, if he were alive. Or maybe not, there's some debate.

In the end, Liberals and in fact Canadians, who blindly extol the virtues of the curly haired environmentalist with the cocky attitude, are looking for a messiah. We can't bring Pierre back, so they'll go with the next best thing, without actually knowing why or even if it's a very good idea. All across this country, people crowd fundraisers and lecture halls where Justin Trudeau is speaking, just to chase a ghost.

Trudeau isn't entirely innocent in this, though. He acts as if this is his cross to bear, to tell the nation who loved his father so what they should think, what causes to support and even who to vote for. All the while he carries an air that indicates he'd rather be somewhere else, that he's really doing this for our benefit, and we should be accordingly greatful. All bullocks, really, unless there was a burning bush involved that I don't know about.

Instead of looking for the be-all and end all saviour, Canadians should be looking to themselves and their communities to try and come up with solutions that work on their level. We do ourselves a disservice when we act as if we can't get through it without a great leader. I'm not saying that there can't be people who inspire, but they aren't the pre-requisite for effective change. The sooner we learn that, the sooner this country will *really* be able to move forward.

Friends Don't Let Friends Join the CFS

2006-11-22T19:21:00.000-04:00

Devin's comment asking me if I'd seen this, prompted me to get out of my exam studying fog and actually post on the 'ol blog.

McGill student Matt Campbell (a self-proclaimed "maverick in the making", wouldn't you know) muses as to whether the McGill Students' Society should take out prospective membership in the Canadian Federation of Students. Campbell seems to think that joining the CFS as prospective members would enable the SMSS to instill "change in the organization without breaking the bank or committing to something that might not work out."

This idea couldn't be further from the truth. Even taking out prospective membership in the CFS ensnares student groups in a mired web of bureaucracy and misguided propaganda that is not easy to disentangle from. Just ask the Dalhousie Association of Graduate Students, an organization that is still listed as a prospective member of the CFS despite its council voting to remove itself from that status two years ago.

What is even more shocking is that, as a former UPEI student, Campbell should know all of this! A couple of years ago, UPEI had its referendum to leave the CFS overturned, and is now waiting to launch another one. Miraculously, it is one of the few student associations in recent memory that has avoided being sued- a fate that befalls so many unions that try to leave the organization. Last time I checked, "students suing students" wasn't a mantra to hang one's hat on, but its the one the CFS apparently lives by.

In addition, it's not as if the Canadian Federation of Students has been getting the best press lately in terms of transparency and money management lately. The saga of the Douglas Students' Union in British Columbia is one that has been plastered across the evening news in that province for months. To re-tell the whole sordid affair here would take far more time than I am willing to give to the CFS, but Titus Gregor at studentunion.ca has fabulous re-caps of the whole ordeal that I suggest you read if you're interested.

Campbell's reaction to the Douglas Students' Union/CFS debacle is, "it would seem that there are still transparency issues today that need to be worked out."

*blink* *blink*

You think, Matt?! It's exactly "issues" like this that should convince the McGill Student's Society to run for the hills when it comes to joining the CFS. It just isn't worth it.

Underwhelmed...if that's a word

2006-11-14T18:31:00.000-04:00

The only "disturbing" news at this press conference was the fact that he thought we would be surprised about the actions of the Conservative party...

Oh Garth, good on ya for trying.

Did I Miss Something?

2006-11-10T13:10:00.000-04:00

This is a serious question…no really. It’s also one that I, as a student of political science, am slightly embarrassed to ask since everyone else I know has been kicking up a storm…but I have to.

What is wrong with calling Quebec a nation?

Now, I know enough to know that the idea of “nationhood” is tenuous at best. It seems to me, however, that Canada is a country of nations. We have the aboriginal nation (which, in and of itself is made up of several nations), the Acadian nation and, apparently arguably, the nation of Quebec.

Chantal Hebert wrote a great piece in the Globe last week explaining why talking about the Quebec nation issue, like Michael Ignatieff has been, isn’t such a horrible sin. I have to agree with her. We have been through Meech Lake, been through Charlottetown, the question hasn’t been settled and it is still a massive issue in Canada. Yet, we’re not supposed to talk about it…remind me why again?

I’m seriously asking…

One Day I Woke Up and Was In Quebec

2006-10-30T14:01:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, I don’t even know…

Last Friday, the Minister of Education, Karen Casey announced that the government would be putting $10.3 million into reducing tuition fees for Nova Scotia students. This would not, as one would assume, come in the form of a grant, but rather just a cut of $440 per year in the tuition of Nova Scotia students for the next two years. The reason for this, says the Ministry, is the fact that the funding formula from the federal government, which distributes monies on a per capita basis instead of a per student basis, puts Nova Scotia students at a disadvantage and therefore they should be compensated. Approximately half of the university students in Nova Scotia are from out of province, therefore the government must fund 100% of the students with only 50% of the funding.

This statement, while I’m sure noble and well intentioned, misses the point entirely. The fact of the matter is that the federal funding formula puts all students at a disadvantage, as it makes universities in small provinces or in provinces with lots of institutions do more with less, have higher tuition fees and thus impede fair and equal access for all Canadians. If the Ministry of Education really wanted to help fix the problem, it would put pressure on the Minister and the Premier to make changing the funding formula from a per capita model to a per student model. That way education mobility for all students would be increased.

Another interesting aspect of this initiative is that the money comes from the $1.5 billion Infrastructure Trust, federal money that originally was born from the Liberal/NDP C-48 bill from May, 2005. As the name suggests, this money was meant for infrastructure costs, as it is a one time shot and not sustained funding. While many would argue that pretty buildings don’t matter, deferred maintenance costs are a growing issue at Canadian universities. Dalhousie alone has $200 million worth, and students at Saint Mary’s University pay $60 per course to help offset the costs of paying for things that capital campaigns can’t, like heating ducts and other non-sexy but essential items. Infrastructure costs do affect students as they are usually downloaded to them in the form of auxiliary fees, which are generally not regulated by the government. I would have liked to see the money that went to this initiative go instead to helping the universities with their urgent deferred maintenance problems.

One thing the ministry did get right was a $1 million injection into apprenticeship programmes. The colleges have long been saying that the major issue is getting students apprenticeship spots; it is one of the major problems that contributes to the skills crisis we are facing in this country. See: Recognize defined need, find appropriate funds, address need. I know you can do it, Nova Scotia, I see a lot of potential. Could you just apply it to universities now?

It's Not Hard, I Tell You So...

2006-10-30T13:58:00.000-04:00

Late last week, Minister of Social Services Judy Stretch announced a new programme that would aid those on social assistance attend four year university programmes. “Career Start” will allow for 50 people on welfare to also collect student loans in order to complete a university undergraduate degree.

From a distance, this seems like quite the noble endeavor for our Progressively Conservative government. But, quite like a Monet painting, when you get up close it’s a mess. The reason that Career Seek must exist is because of a rule that states that one cannot collect welfare and a NS Student Loan for more than two years. This effectively shuts off the opportunity for the pursuit of a four year undergraduate degree; a pursuit that one may believe would be a good one for someone who was attempting to rid themselves of a reliance on social assistance.

About two years ago, a group called “Operation Groundswell” was formed with a mandate to try and get the government to at least exempt single parents from the rule, as they are the least likely to be able to subsist on either welfare or a student loan alone because of their dependants. Then Minister of Education, Jamie Muir, claimed during question period that it was not a rule, it was a “loophole” and then mumbled something about polygamous mothers during question period and sat down. It was a real breakthrough moment, let me tell you...

Operation Groundswell’s requests were pretty much publicly ignored until the announcement of Career Seek, which doesn’t actually get rid of the rule, but rather sets up a programme that would let 50 people get both social assistance and a student loan (note that this is not a grant, the government is being so kind as to allow people to take on debt, how benevolent of them). Of course, these 50 people must be in a programme of study that is part of an approved employment plan, whatever that means. Methinks that there will be very few students approved to study philosophy, if you catch my drift.

The question that nags in my mind is: “Why don’t we just get rid of the rule?” Earlier this fall, Deputy Minister Dennis Cochrane stated that each year about 47 people who are on social assistance apply for a student loan. That’s about the number of people who will be admitted into Career Seek, doesn’t it make more sense to cut the bureaucracy and just allow these people to go into their preferred area of study as opposed to the area of study that some bureaucrat deems is appropriate for them in ‘their situation’? Is the problem one of worrying about default on loans? There is a high default rate at Cape Breton University, but you don’t see Nova Scotia Student Loans regulating what those students are allowed to study, and nor should it! The current rule that disallows welfare recipients from collecting student loans perpetuates the class divide and should be totally abolished, not covered up with yet another government programme.

Name that insult!

2006-10-20T14:39:00.000-03:00

Here's a pop quiz:

1) When is it okay to refer to a woman as a dog? Is it:

a) Never

b) When opposition members in the House of Commons are taunting you about your *actual* dog.

c) When you're still bitter about your girlfriend breaking up with you a year after the fact.

If you answered (a) you are a more mature person than our country's chief diplomat. Congratulations!

Of course now 'ol P Mac is denying that he ever said the comment, which is stupid because generally members don't just magically conspire one day to "hear" something like that. There is little doubt in my mind that he called an opposition member, and his former girlfriend, a dog in the House of Commons. He's classy like that, and has a track record of saying stupidly petty things.

And people wonder why more women don't run for office...

Obligatory Props

2006-10-17T19:25:00.000-03:00

This is my obligatory shout out and thanks to the wonderous and masterful Li Dong for what has been dubbed “The Ballerest Night of 2006”. Don’t ask me what “baller” means, I’m not so cool as to give a coherent explanation. Mr. Dong came across a little bit of money and forwarded the very generous gesture of taking his friends out for a night on the town. I won’t go through a laundry list of activities, but bottles (yes, plural) of Dom Perignon were involved. Some people say that it tastes like any other sparkling wine…I say those people are heathens with ill-developed palates. I’m kidding, mostly, but the DP was quite good, and well worth having to wear a dress!

************************************************************************************

Also, props to Informed Confusion’s Chris LaRoche for accompanying me to my first ever Liberal fundraiser. Our true political science student sides came out as we made some amusing comments about various Liberal leadership candidates who had items on the auction list. Unfortunately, others did not see the humour and we got a few nasty looks, even from some of the Young Liberals, which surprised me a little. It is my opinion that if the Liberals are going to build a strong party once again, they have to turn a critical eye on themselves, and that includes poking fun. If party members can’t take a little harmless ribbing, how are they going to defend themselves as Liberals and the party in general in the face of serious criticism from the Canadian public? Being so uptight isn’t going to get anyone anywhere. Seriously, people.

Regardless of that, Amy Boudreau and the rest of the Halifax-Citadel riding association executive did a fantastic job at organizing a great meal (catered by Vinnie’s Pasta Bar, which I highly recommend) and a fun filled auction hosted by the power trio of Mike Savage, Devin Maxwell and Danny Graham. We were able to have some great conversation with people that I usually only get to see in passing and a few laughs along the way. Overall, a great evening.

I Am Curious...Blue?

2006-10-17T14:41:00.000-03:00

Apparently, it’s Eastern provinces week in Ottawa…do these things get shedualed this way? Is it so Harper only has to have one briefing binder opened on his desk on a given week (you know each province doesn’t have its own…kind of like SCC appointments)? Yesterday, Harper met with NL Premier Danny Williams who, in the true “screw the feds” fashion that has made the “Free Nfld” movement en vogue once again, told the PM where he could go when he disagreed with the province’s position on equalization. Danny-boy has threatened to actively discourage Newfoundlanders from voting for Harper’s Conservatives during the next federal election if the equalization agreement doesn’t work out in the province’s favour. The PMO has said its not too worried about Williams’s comments as they believe that he would pretty much go against any PM. It’s part of his shtick, they say. I tend to think that this is a bit of a foolish line to take as presumably, Williams would *not* be saying these sorts of things if Harper, say, had a favourable stance on the equalization issue…but I digress.

Next up to the plate is Nova Scotia’s own Rodney MacDonald. MacDonald’s approach is considerably less fiery than Williams’. This is kind of true for all aspects of Rodney’s governance “style”, if you call having your marionette strings pulled by the higher up ‘Progressive Conservative Board of Shadowy Figures’ a “style”. Regardless, the premier has made many esoteric statements about what he will do if the PM doesn’t give NS a fair shake, my favourite being “If we are not going to be treated fairly, yes, I will be screaming blue thunder.” I’m not really sure what blue thunder is, but it sounds like the colour name of Rodney’s tie in his election posters last time around.

In the end, the talk amounts to nothing as we have seen very little public movement from the Premier on the federal stage when the opportunity has presented itself. The last major Council of the Federation meeting in February was on post-secondary education and would have been a great venue for MacDonald to really take the lead on this issue, especially in regards to the per student versus per capita funding formula to the provinces that NS greatly suffers from. Instead, he just didn’t show up; an embarrassment for Nova Scotia at an event that garnered the most press for post-secondary education in a while.

But even after all of that, let’s see what happens. Maybe the marionette strings won’t stretch all the way to Ottawa and Rodney will become a “real boy”, with a real backbone.

If I was The Hulk, this would make my shirt rip...

2006-10-11T23:34:00.000-03:00

The social conservatives are at it again...

The Canada Family Action Coalition is trying to gather together other lobby groups of its ilk as well as religious leaders to pressure MPs into voting to re-open the same-sex marriage debate. On Oct 24 they will all converge on Parliament Hill for a series of public and private meetings in an attempt to convince members that the same-sex marriage issue needs to be reopened and to vote accordingly when the issue comes up in the House.

There are very few things that get me totally and unwittingly angry, but this is one of them. All I want to do is stomp up and down and say "Shut up, SHUT UP!!! Same-sex marriage is now allowed in this country and you need to accept that. There is a deliniation between church and state that must be upheld and you're spitting all over it with your blasted false morals."

IF YOU DON'T LIKE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, DON'T HAVE ONE!!!!

Phew, see...I get all worked up. I blame the Harper government for ever saying they'd bring it back up if a "free-vote" in the House told them to. Bullocks!! You don't re-open a debate that was just closed. Bloody Conservatives can't leave well enough alone.

Bah!

Why "womyn"?

2006-10-11T14:32:00.000-03:00

Heather Mallick has a great editorial on the cbc.ca website this weekend. In it, she laments about the feminists in Canada who get caught up in the minutia of feminism. That is to say, those feminists who chastise other women for not only “genderist” language (it’s ‘womyn’, don’t you know), but also any other language that may be construed as offensive to…well, anyone.

Mallick takes great umbrage in being told that it improper to use the phrase “turn a blind eye”, because it frames blindness as a bad thing. She has also been slapped on the wrist for using the word “blacklist”; bad and depressing things should not be associated with the colour black, she was scolded.

Mallick also eloquently touches on the very same issues I have with some of the more extreme feminism in Canada. Recently, a local women’s group took issue with men being involved in the annual “Take Back the Night” march, as they had been every year before. They kicked and screamed, stating that men shouldn’t be able to march. Period. I don’t believe that I’ve ever heard anything more ridiculous in my life:

a) Who says unsafe streets are just a female problem? Ask any guy who has gotten jumped north of Gottingen St. and he’ll tell you that men have a stake in the issue.

b) Even if you contend that this *particular* march is about women being safe at night, why can’t men be concerned about it too? It is, after all, their mothers, sisters, daughters, wives etc. who are the ones being victimized.

In the end, there was some ridiculous clause on the posters that said “allies are welcome under the leadership of women”, which essentially means “if you’ve got a penis, you had better be showing up with someone who doesn’t.”

Feminism based on biological factors alone is bunk and is in part one of the big reasons why ‘feminism’ gets the short end of the stick and is seen as being uncredible to a large part of the population. One of the other reasons is exactly what Mallick describes, this obsession with minutiae—so much so that it blinds us (oops, there I go) from the actual big issues. Issues such as the proportion of single mothers living below the poverty line, and the lack of abortion services in Canada, and those are just the domestic issues facing women. How about the growing number of grandmothers in African nations who have to take care of their grandchildren due to the AIDS epidemic? These are the problems we should be dealing with, not semantics!

Instead of feminist factions fighting with each other, they should be banding together and addressing some of the things that actually matter.

IncoherRANT Ramblings for the Most Part...

2006-09-25T23:04:00.000-03:00

Clearly, posting on my blog is more important to me than reading about intellectual property rights in the contractual context. Sigh. It *has* been over a week, though, and leaving you all hanging for that long just ain’t right. I think we’ll go from local to national today…I’m just in that sort of mood. Rawk.

There’s a new society on the Dalhousie campus…well, there are lots of new societies, but one very interesting one in particular. Students for NSPIRG Truth is a group dedicated to “[encouraging] a fair and balanced discussion of the goals, tactics, and results of NSPIRG.” I, for one, salute this cause.

I could probably go into a long tirade about exactly what is wrong with how NSPIRG is run (note that I said how it’s run, and not its mandate or any such thing. Theoretically, they could do very good work) and I probably will, but just not today. Suffice it to say that it really irks me when groups such as NSPIRG get all up in arms when people try to hold them accountable. The reaction is very “Uh, don’t you know we’re working for a good cause? You clearly must hate the environment/the poor/single mothers/etc.” I have a little news flash for the uppity up ups, most interest groups believe that they’re working for a good cause…that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be held accountable, especially when they bring in $50,000 a year in student money! Oh, and another thing, being non-partisan implies that an organization somehow welcomes viewpoints from across the political spectrum, a quick glance at your publication list leads me to believe that NSPIRG somehow likes to let it hang to the left, if you know what I mean.

Wow. That turned into a bit of a rant. Excuse me…needless to say that self-righteous groups of any ilk really get my goat. Moving on.

So there was a little concert on the Halifax Commons this weekend. Some band called The Rolling Stones? It of course rained, so the outdoor venue is pretty much a wasteland of churned up sod. Approximately 50,000 people braved the elements to rock out to Mick and the boys. Some of the saner parts of the population frequented the Sarah Harmer concert at the Cohen, the NHL exhibition game at the Metro Centre or the closing gala of the Atlantic Film Festival. Wha? When did Halifax become such a hot-bed of cultural activity? Not bad for a little port town.

So Joe Volpe’s campaign has been at it again. The Liberal leadership contender’s campaign workers have be accused of signing up the deceased for Liberal memberships...awesome. Volpe alleges that it is all part of the grand anti-Italian conspiracy to smear his good name. Um, no Joe, you’ve done that all by yourself, remember the “donations” from those kids? Remember? I say take a page out of Hedy Fry’s book, cut your losses and get out of the race. I’m beginning to think that adopting primaries like the Americans may not be such a bad idea. Who really wants to deal with the chaff for this long? Not me.

Belinda Stronach has been named in hockey superstar Tie Domi’s divorce papers. Apparently Domi’s wife alleges that Tie and Belinda were getting a little *too* close after he started working on her campaign team in January. Yipes! I’m pretty sure one can’t have a scandal that’s any more Canadian…

In completely unrelated news, there are two new additions to the blog-roll. My friend Jonothan has started a blog dedicated to his daughter, and the ever-lasting struggle to be a twenty-something professional. Gavin has started a blog mostly about his insights into the Liberal leadership race, an insightful read.

Hamming It Up

2006-09-17T10:32:00.000-03:00

President of King’s College, William Barker, thinks that having John Hamm on the university’s Board of Governors would be a positive thing. The King’s Student Union, meanwhile, has launched a petition to keep the former Premier off the Board, citing his track record in regards to post-secondary education over the past 7 years.

I could not support the KSU any more on this initiative. Sure, John Hamm has the name and the money required to be a beneficial member of a Board of Governors, but I also think that one of the often overlooked requirements, should be a genuine concern for the state of post-secondary education. After Mr. Hamm stepped down from being leader and was still the MLA for Pictou, he stated that all students educated in Nova Scotia who then leave upon graduation should be fined. FINED!! That’s his grand solution for the out-migration of educated people from the province is a FINE?! They wouldn’t leave in the first place if there were actual economic incentives for them to stay in the form of…um…work so that they could pay down their astronomical student debt. I can honestly say I’ve never hard of anything so ludicrous.

William Barker says that you can’t hold one person responsible for what has happened to post-secondary in Nova Scotia, and he’s right, there are a lot of people to blame for such an astronomical mishandling of a public good. You *can* however, hold someone accountable for their personal comments, especially if they are as irresponsible as Hamm’s. He has clearly indicated that he has absolutely no understanding of the importance of higher education in this province nor does he at all appreciate the situation that students find themselves in due to the high cost of education in Nova Scotia.

The KSU is right, Hamm is no friend of education and is a poor choice for the Board of Governors.

What do you mean I'm back at school?

2006-09-14T15:54:00.000-03:00

The ‘ol blog has taken a hit…I’m not going to lie. I will not bore my limited readership with tales of being a first year law student lest I scare you away completely…because that would be sad. I don’t really have a lot to report, though, since my knowledge of the outside world has been limited at best the past couple of weeks. Here are the limits of my ability at present:

I’m absolutely shocked that the New York Times would spend their time speculating on the personal relationship between Condi Rice and Peter MacKay. It’s absolutely ludicrous. Plus, I don’t think any self respecting Canadian male would become involved with a woman who orders a half caf-half decaf with Splenda from a Tim Horton’s in Pictou County. What? Do they even *have* Splenda at Tim Horton’s?! On a more serious note, did anyone else notice how little news actually came out of that meeting? I mean, I only have a very vague idea of what the two spoke about. I’m assuming they were meeting about *something* and this wasn’t just an opportunity to thank Nova Scotians for their actions during 9/11. For once, I’d like our news outlets to get to the meat of the story, instead of just talking about the meat in Peter’s pants…(I contemplated whether to keep that comment in re: crassness, I think I made the right desicion...).

So, Sean Penn has a smoke while inside at a press conference for the Toronto International Film Festival and the whole province gets up in arms. Perhaps we should give Mr. Penn the benefit of the doubt. He’s not from Toronto, in fact he’s not from Canada. Our rules are different than the ones he’s used to. No one approached the man to ask him to put the cigarette out during the event and so really, he very well could have found out he was breaking the law when he opened up the Entertainment Section of the Globe today. It’s not like someone politely asked him to put it out, only to be faced with the man jumping up on the table and screaming “NEVAH!!!” while taking a big ‘ol haul off the thing. Charging him would be ridiculous. Seriously, I wish these people would come up with something constructive to do with their time…

Speaking of film festivals…the Atlantic Film Festival is upon us! For those who are at all interested, here are my picks, divided into two categories:

Stuff I really want to see:
Young Triffie's Been Made Away With
Brothers of the Head
Volver
Atlantic Shorts I
Unnatural and Accidental
Parting Words
The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang

Stuff that looks good but I can wait until theatrical release or Video Difference gets it in:
Snow Cake
The Fountain
Half Nelson
Monkey Warfare
Canadian Shorts I
A Soap
Requiem
The Boys' and Girls' Guide to Getting Down
Strangers with Candy

Unfortunately, some of the shows are already sold out, so if you want to get your tickets, I suggest getting them soon.

As the days of summer wane and the seasons turn colder, some seek solace in laughter. If you are one of those people, I suggest heading down to Ginger’s Tavern at 8 on Sundays to catch some hilarious sketch comedy and improv. The comedic stylings of the “Entertainment System” and “Picnicface” troupes are quite a riot and it’s only $2! You can’t get better than that!

Sometimes you just can't catch a break

2006-09-07T11:33:00.000-03:00

So, after feeling guilty for not updating for a while due to moving (ugh!) and starting school again (double ugh!), I decided to “borrow” a wireless connection from downtown and try to update the blog yesterday. Just as I was finishing, my computer decided that it wanted to crash…awesome. Thus, you do not get the extraordinarily insightful post that I originally wrote, but the decidedly more harried “update” post. HIT IT!:

It’s that time of year again! Yes, the StatsCan report on Canadian tuition levels was released this week. Nova Scotia again leads the pack by a substantial margin with tuition at $2000 above the national average. Students in PEI, New Brunswick and Ontario will see the largest increases, and as expected the Quebecois studying in la belle province will have to fork out the least.

In other “news that doesn’t shock us in the least”, tuition levels in Canada have increased 197% since the 1990-1991 academic year. Unfortunately, public loan limits and complementary aid programs have not been able to keep up. Thus, it is harder than ever for students in the growing middle class to gain access to higher education without being saddled with private debt and multiple minimum wage jobs. Once again, the development of the knowledge economy in Canada gets a swift kick to the kidneys and a brush to the curb.

Speaking bad things happening to unsuspecting people…Eastern Canadians in search of low cost air travel got an unwelcome shock yesterday when Canjet announced that it was pulling out of the scheduled flight racket in order to “focus on charter services.” (Does anyone else smell something fishy with this?) This leaves those living east of Toronto with very little choice in domestic carriers as Westjet does not yet have extensive or even particularly cost-effective services in this neck of the woods. Looks like those of us who have to travel outside of the region are going to be racking up some serious Aeroplan points.

The programme to the Atlantic Film Festival is out! There seem to be quite a few premieres and some awesome entries. I personally like to get the hard copy so I can highlight and tab the pages…but for those of the “less geeky” persuasion, the online copy is here.

Did I mention that the voting is still open for the Coast’s ‘Best of Halifax Survey’? Don’t forget to vote for ANSSA for Best Activist Group!

Best of Halifax

2006-08-28T11:44:00.000-03:00

It’s that time of year again boys and girls…

No, not back to school (although I suppose it *is* that time of year as well). It’s time for The Coast’s BEST OF HALIFAX survey!

Now, just in case you were looking for some suggestions on how to vote in certain categories, let me be of service:

Best Activist Organization: The Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations (That’s right, support the student movement in Nova Scotia! Go ANSSA!)

Best Salesperson: Mike Drake-Strange Adventures. (Mike won last year and deserves to win again!)

Best Neighborhood Bar: Tom’s Little Havana (also, the best place to drink alone…on account of the big wingback chairs and dark smokey-ness…mmmmm)

Best Comics Store: Strange Adventures (It really is, if you haven’t been, go now…)

Best Corner Store: AAA Convenience, Jubilee Rd. (This place makes home made ice cream cookie sandwiches, which are to DIE for. They also sell ‘Ting’, my all time favourite carbonated beverage that is impossible to get anywhere. How could this place NOT be the best?!)

Now go! Vote!

In other exciting Halifax news, the initial line up for the Halifax Pop Explosion has been announced. The one I’m most excited for? The Weakerthans! Evidently, I'm all about the Winnepeg scene these days.

Great Aunt Ida

2006-08-24T10:14:00.000-03:00

Quickly today as I actually have stuff to do...*gasp*

Thank you CBC's Freestyle for introducing me to this great little band from Vancouver.

As if I didn't love CBC Radio One enough...

Also, the music listings for September have been updated. Keep them coming :)

Things that Make Me Go AHHHHH!

2006-08-23T11:25:00.000-03:00

Sweet Mother of Mary...this is getting beyond ridiculous. Could the Tories have effed this Sunday shopping business up any more? This is not a taxing issue, people. Meanwhile, the government has turned the issue into a veritable moral panic! It's us against them, city versus rural. "If you go shopping on a Sunday you're going to burn in hell and on top of that the very thing that makes us Nova Scotian will perish like the dodo bird." "FAMILIES WILL PERISH." This, is what we've been assailed with for months.

Then, all of a sudden, the Premier goes on talk radio to admit that yes, perhaps once in a while he may indulge in the odd sprint down to the local green grocer's for a pint of milk after church on a Sunday...but he didn't inhale...I mean, the store was smaller than 4,000 sq ft.

Drug wars in Spryfield and THIS is what the leaders of our province and the media that is supposed to hold them accountable spend their time on? Awesome.

In other news, the CMA has never gotten so much press. The Canadian Medical Association has elected Dr. Brian Day as its new President. Day was the British Columbia supported candidate who went up against challenger Dr. Jack Burak for the top job. Generally, this election is an acclamation, as the presidency rotates by province and it is up to the provincial chapter to pick a suitable candidate for the AGM. This year, however, Burak, dubbed as the "defender of the public system" decided to challenge Day's nomination. Day runs a private orthopedic clinic and has espoused the benefits of private healthcare delivery.

In the end, this was VERY hyped up. Day's private feelings cannot in any way affect the manner in which he conducts himself as CMA president as he is bound by the membership and by-laws of that body. Furthermore, the man isn't trying to spit on Tommy Douglas' grave here. He simply proffers a solution to what he sees as the major problem of patient suffering through extraordinarily long wait times. He holds the very sane and moderate belief that there is room for both private and public partnerships to improve both access and quality of delivery. Dr. Day gets a "brava" from me for sticking to his convictions and having the guts to tell Canadians that sometimes the sacred cow needs some company, lest it keel over and die.

Time for a music post methinks...

2006-08-21T16:20:00.000-03:00

I have a sickness. I have a sickness and it goes by the name of "Fall Out Boy". Apparently, this band is very hip with the young'uns...and me. Sigh.

Okay, I'll just admit it, I have a weakness for pop-punk! But I can't be the only one! I know that there are others like me who secretly get excited when Dashboard Confessional comes on the radio, or linger just a little bit too long when a Taking Back Sunday video appears on MuchMusic (or MTV, for you Yanks). I mean, how can you not? Those catchy riffs? Those power cords being strummed endlessly? The deliciously angsty lyrics sung by growly voiced teens? It's like double chocloate chunk ice-cream for your ears! Yes ladies and gentlemen, I LOVE POP-PUNK AND I AM NOT ASHAMED. Say it with me, don't linger in the shadows any longer. Break free from the chains and embrace the music everyone loves to hate!!!

Right. Now on to things of a more sane nature...

If you're in Halifax in September I hope that you have:
a) cleared all of your evenings of plans
b) lots of expendable income.

Reason being there is a ridiculous amount of music coming to our little sea port city during the first month of the academic year. Namely:

Sept 7th: Cuff the Duke: Dal SUB
Sept 15th: Metric: Halifax Forum
Sept 16th: Dropkick Murphys (with Comeback Kid and Clit 45): Dal SUB
Sept 20th: Billy Bragg: Rebecca Cohn Arts Centre
Sept 22nd: HFX Pop Explosion Launch Party: The Marquee
Sept 23rd: Sarah Harmer: Rebecca Cohn Arts Centre
Sept 23: The Rolling Stones (with Alice Cooper, Kanye West and Sloan): Halifax Commons
Oct 4th: Meligrove Band and Dinosaur Jr.
Oct 5th: BA Johnson: Gus' Pub
Oct 17th-21st: Halifax Pop Explosion: Various Venues

I'll add more as dates are confirmed (and others in the know are welcome to add shows they know about too!). I hope everyone can get out and see their fav acts before it gets too cold to venture out for anything but the essentials.

They Have Seen the Light!

2006-08-17T17:38:00.000-03:00

I think I'm going to file this under "It's about bloody time":

The CAW has cut its formal ties with the NDP

Even one of the largest unions in the country has realised that the NDP's ideology blinds it so completely from anything that could ever resemble pragmatic policy that there really is no use in supporting it any longer. Okay...so part of that *may* be me projecting some of my own feelings about the federal NDP, but regardless of the true reasoning behind the members of the Canadian Autoworkers Union, I tip my hat to them.