Sound
ominous? Ditchburn also wrote, “Even if
Canadian uranium never makes it near a weapons facility, our exports will still
free up India's domestic supply, said Cesar Jaramillo, a nuclear disarmament
expert with Project Ploughshares. “India requires uranium for both its civilian
and military nuclear programs and, since it is generally in short supply
domestically, the uranium imported for civilian needs may allow the country to
allocate more of its domestic holdings for the military," Jaramillo said
in an email.
Before
that it was the secret trade deal with China that caused concern for some. From
Chloé Fedio in the Ottawa Citizen, October 31, 2012: The Foreign Investment Protection
and Promotion Agreement (FIPA), discussed mostly behind closed doors, comes as
the Conservative cabinet reviews a Chinese state-owned oil company’s $15.1-billion
bid to take over Calgary oil company Nexen. Members of three opposition parties
met with the members of two advocacy groups, Leadnow.ca and SumOfUs.org, that
launched the petition two weeks ago over concerns that the deal would allow
China to sue the Canadian government in secret tribunals, leading to a loss of
control over natural resources.
In May of 2012 we saw
an omnibus budget bill in Parliament. Alan Wherry of MacLean’s Magazine wrote: Shortly after its tabling, the New Democrats proposed that C-38 be split
into several separate bills, but a day of negotiation between the government
and the official Opposition failed to produce a deal. In lieu of compromise,
there is now conflict. The opposition parties cannot prevent the bill from
passing Parliament, but they can make its passage somewhat complicated. A
mini-filibuster managed to manipulate the parliamentary schedule enough to add
a few hours to the budget debate. The Liberals have suggested that the bill,
containing more than 700 clauses, could be fought clause by clause when it
returns to the House for third reading. Green MP Elizabeth May says she may
have “potentially hundreds of amendments” to propose.
More recently, Mr.
Harper has been in the Philippines, arranging to sell armaments (old stuff
refurbished in Canada) to that government. This, at a time of year when many people
are thinking of the horrors of war and hoping for a more peaceful world.
I think that trade with
the Pacific Rim and Asia is necessary and important for Canada, but why can’t
we trade solar and other technology? Why trade the most expensive and dangerous
technology that depends on a large grid, when there are alternatives available?
Alternatives that mean better local control and cheaper, safer energy in the
long run.
At this point there’s
not anything we can do to get rid of a majority government. However, Canada is
still a democratic country, and our best means of showing our opinion is to
vote. Certainly people get discouraged if the candidate or the party they voted
for doesn’t get in, but the solution is not to abdicate your rights and to
avoid voting. The solution it seems to me is to uncover problems with
government and convince enough other people to vote to make a difference in the
next election. Do your own research, find out what the Conservative Government
is really doing.
Oh, what does it matter
you say? None of these issues will really affect me? My life is OK?
There once was a man who said, “First they came
for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Socialist. Then
they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-- Because I
was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not
speak out-- Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me--and
there was no one left to speak for me.” The man was German Pastor Martin
Niemöller, who spent seven years in a Nazi concentration camp.
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