The recent robocall scandal suggests the political climate in Canada is souring. Reversing the Conservative government’s tendency to weaken the bureaucracy may make it palatable to Canadians again by making elections more clean and fair.
During the last election, it is alleged that thousands of calls were made by an automated dialing system and warm-blooded call centre workers to as many as 77 ridings across Canada. The caller advised the voter that their voting station had changed, when it had not.
Elections Canada staff said in their report on the last election that they had 1,003 complaints that required individual response. Among those were several allegations of calls “designed to discourage voting, discourage voting for a particular party, or incorrectly advise electors of changed polling stations.”
It is not clear who is going to shoulder the blame in the end. Regardless, it is an issue both for the Canadian government and public.
Former Reform Party Leader Preston Manning commented rightly on this scandal, noting that it is a problem for all the political parties. If there is a heavy distrust of government, it makes it harder for the government to do any governing. He prescribes changing the culture of campaigns by doing ethics education for campaign workers.
That likely would not help “Pierre Poutine,” or the possible others hiding along with him. Poutine is the mystery alias that made automated robocalls. He has evaded investigators so far by using a prepaid cell phone and a Paypal account filled by a Visa gift card paid for by cash. Poutine knew the illegality of his actions and that being associated with a specific party would be detrimental to its public support.
The quicker Elections Canada, the RCMP or a public inquiry can get to the bottom of this scandal, the better for everyone involved.
The NDP is providing a more concrete solution to the issue with a private member’s bill from Nycole Turmel. It will empower the chief elections officer to request all party financial documents related to the elections act, force telemarketing companies that provide voter contact services to register with Elections Canada, and require telemarketing clients to be registered and verified; this bill proposes to make these requirements retroactive to cover the last election.
The motion was initially opposed by the Conservative government but in an about-face, they have given it some initial support.
Giving Elections Canada the power to investigate this and future matters fully appears to be the best possible way to bring Poutine to justice and to strengthen Canada’s democratic institutions.

It seems as soon as people catch onto a craze, it’s found to cause cancer.

Smoking. A social activity that has been around for hundreds of years. Don’t light up anymore, it causes cancer.

Lying on the beach is the favourite pastime of summer vacationers, but slap on that sunscreen and grab that hat and umbrella because too much sun exposure causes cancer.

As sun exposure is a factor for skin cancer, people switched to indoor tanning to achieve their glow. Nope, that causes cancer too.

And now WiFi has been added to the long, growing list of cancer-causing activities.

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association, or OECTA, is urging schools to stop putting WiFi in their buildings, saying that more research needs to be done on the effects of WiFi on children before installation.

Last May, the World Health Organization called for more research to be conducted on the potential dangers of WiFi, as radiation from any wireless device could be cancer-causing.

Because children’s brains are smaller than adults, the radiation affects them more. A child’s brain also contains more water, which allows electromagnetic radiation to be conducted faster and stronger.

Some parents of children attending schools with WiFi in Ontario claim their children are suffering from symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, vertigo, racing heart, memory loss and skin rash.

According to OECTA, no long-term studies have been conducted on the health impacts of WiFi on children and “no form of radiation can be deemed ‘safe’ as it depends on the constitution of the individual exposed.”

Cellphones were added to the list of potential cancer-causing devices a couple years ago, which have up to 2.4 ghz frequency. WiFi can have up to 6 ghz frequency. Now many cells are made to be Wi-Fi capable as well.

The WiFi craze is sweeping the nation with no end in site. People are able to get a wireless signal on buses, trains, restaurants, stores and even while in parks.

Can WiFi now be added to the growing list of cancer-causing activities that people know about but seem to ignore? What has to happen for people to seek a healthy life and avoid known carcinogens?

Or will we all continue to suffer from the ‘superman’ syndrome, and believe we are invincible until proven otherwise?

Canadians are feeling the love from south of the border.

A Gallup survey released Feb 16 shows that the average American has a more favorable view of Canada since this time last year.

We are now sitting at a 96 per cent approval rating, the highest ranking any country has ever been rated in the 20 years that Gallup’s been conducting these surveys.

Exciting, isn’t it?

The Toronto Star, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and Hamilton Spectator have all run the same Canadian Press story, written by Lee-Anne Goodman, which is full of pride and bluster at being America’s favourite.

Why do we act like being liked by the U.S. is some lofty goal? That earning the approval and a metaphysical pat on the head by the U.S. is something that should be trumpeted by the Canadian media?

I just spent the weekend in New York. They’re sure nice and had nothing negative to say about us, but neither did they have anything particularly smart or deep to say.
I guess I should have expected all this crowing, but it’s still depressing how eagerly we are as a nation at earning our neighbour’s approval.

“You can punch me in the face, as long as you kiss me afterwards.”

Any chance you’re still able to hear Chris Brown’s name without cringing?

Were you one of the many who was watching the 54^th annual Grammy awards last week? Maybe you weren’t watching, but you definitely were up-to-date with updates every two minutes thanks to Twitter and Facebook.

I know the feeling.  My Twitter feed was an explosion of tweets about who wore what best, the recent and tragic death of Whitney Houston, who should-have-won-what Grammy, and then came the Chris Brown tweets, which trended for a week.

Talk about an explosion of controversy right after he accepted his Grammy. Female fans were expressing their love for Chris by tweeting things such as:

“Everyone shut up about Chris Brown being a woman beater…Shiiiittt he can beat me up all night if he wants.”  @_anniegregg, or “Dude, Chris brown can punch me in the face as much as he wants to, just as long as he kisses it (:” @KaylaMarieWatts.

I’m sure victims of assault everywhere approve of this kind of talk. Nothing says you respect yourself as a woman more than by completely degrading years of the struggle for women’s rights in a single tweet.

These female Chris Brown fans really stirred the pot and have had their tweets posted on websites everywhere from “25 extremely upsetting reactions to Chris Brown at the Grammys” to news and magazine articles, and you name it.

But the ultimate question is whether fans and observers can separate the artist from the music. Should they?

Many people have at least some common sense and respect Brown as an artist, but realize he has made mistakes and that he needs to grow up and get help.  It’s just the brainwashed girls that the rest of the population is worried about.

It makes you wonder how corrupted girls and women from 13-30 are and how they view themselves. Part of me wants to believe they just don’t realize the power of the statements they are making.

My biggest issue right now is the effect those tweets will have on women and even men, on how they view assault and abuse. It makes you wonder what these girls really think of themselves and how they view assault.

At the end of the day, we need to really take into account that celebrities are people as well. Just because they are famous does not mean they are some kind of superhuman.

They still can be capable of good and evil actions and these girls and women need to really find a way to grow up and to stop obsessing over these celebrity icons.

Now aren’t we all just excited for the 55^th Annual Grammy Award shows and what they will bring? Get ready, your Twitter and Facebook feeds are going to be hurtin’.

College students are no strangers to all-nighters.

Sometimes it’s because we’re making time to see our friends. Sometimes it’s because a project just isn’t coming together and there’s no time left.

Whether it’s at home or at school, staying up all night to meet a deadline isn’t an uncommon practice during ‘crunch time,’ when every single assignment you have seems to be due the next day.

A recent BBC article revealed that 17 hours of wakefulness – 7 a.m. to midnight – could lead to a brain functioning as if you’d consumed two glasses of wine or a blood alcohol level of 0.05 percent.  The legal limit to operate a vehicle in Ontario is 0.08 percent.

Getting up at 7 a.m. and going to bed at midnight seems pretty reasonable, even conservative, when you factor in a full day in class, then a night of homework, with a part-time job thrown in, and some time for yourself or for friends, so you don’t lose it and burn out.

But is pushing it really worth it? Should we be burning the candle at both ends in an effort to learn it all now and get out into the workforce? How much good is this way of life really doing us?

Intensive programs are just that – intensive. New deadlines are coming up every day and assignments are going to take longer than an hour or two, more than one night in front of a computer. For group assignments, co-ordinating between everyone can be a nightmare. Either way, there’s always something else you should be doing and someone else who needs your attention.

Maybe it’s a matter of extending the programs, tacking on another year to spread things out.

Maybe it’s simply re-evaluating the sheer number of assignments and how much practice we really need before we get the concept. Maybe it’s simply a matter of keeping our noses to the grindstone and using our smartphones to stay on top of it all.

Graduating with our sanity is a challenge, but hey, we’re preparing to conquer the world, right?

Enough is enough.

It’s time to end confusing labels for people in the deaf community.

You probably have no idea how to refer to deaf people, but there are some labels that are insults to the deaf community.

“Deaf-mute,” “dummy,” “hearing impaired,” “deaf and dumb,” “hearing handicapped,” are hurtful names people in the community are called. Deaf people are like you. They are annoyed when they are labelled by you. Deaf people struggle when they face ignorance every day of their lives.

Stop and think before you label them. Deaf people do not view themselves as people with “disabilities.” They have their own language, culture, values, behavioural norms, arts, education institutions and organizations.

They use sign language (American Sign Language, British Sign Language, French Sign Language, Langue des Signes Quebecoise in Canada, Spanish Sign Language, Russian Sign Languages, Australian Sign Language, etc.) as their first language. There are deaf schools and one deaf university e.g. Gallaudet University.

There is deaf theatre, poetry, jokes, writings, and paintings. There are magazines, journals, books, video/films and television programming by deaf people about their interests or concerns.

There are organized deaf groups in every community as well as national organizations in roughly 125 countries.

There are “peripherals” such as TTYs, caption decoders, flashing alarms and so on.

The list proves that deaf people are part of a cultural and linguistic minority group.  They share a common history, experiences and language.

“Deaf” is the correct word to reflect their identity and culture.

The deaf community disagrees with hearing society’s view on deafness. The public thinks being a deaf person is a medical deficiency that needs to be “fixed” to restore hearing, so that people can be put in the “right place” with hearing society. Negative terms like “hearing impaired” or “hearing handicapped” define the deaf community as having a problem or difficulty.

People in the deaf community do not feel damage in themselves because they already have their language, culture or identity.  They have many reasons to be proud of being deaf.

So no more labelling for the deaf community. Show respect.

Just say “deaf.”

Discloser: Tristan Kong is deaf.

Big Brother has moved in.

Over the past 10 years, air travel security has slowly tightened the noose, sometimes without us even noticing.

In August of 2011, the Canadian Aeronautics Act made modifications to its protocol, which somehow eluded Parliament for overview.  You might not get on your flight if you’re not girly or manly enough.

Under this new act, it is stated “5.2 (1) An air carrier shall not transport a passenger if … (c) the passenger does not appear to be of the gender indicated on the identification he or she presents.”

The major concern with the new regulations is the obvious difficulties it imposes on the transgender community and its reliance of personal judgment on behalf of the screener.

I would like to think these regulations were put in place because of our increased paranoia and not an attempt to segregate the transgender and transsexual community. You would think that in this day and age, in a country that we would all like to consider “open-minded,” it would find a better way to deal with its fear.

In its current state, this regulation greatly impacts transgender and transsexual people who wish to fly. The sex on the passport can be changed permanently only if gender reassignment surgery has occurred or will be in the coming year. A two-year temporary passport is also an option if proof of reassignment surgery is presented.

It’s really time for our country to stop hammering down and trying to bury minorities. There must be a better way to keep us safe and yet still have people retain their right of freedom of expression. The rules are simply too constraining to allow proper and comfortable travel for the people who are affected by such regulations.

I understand that some level of scrutiny is needed; however this type of screening is not effective. The simple fact that the screening process is dependent on the screener determining whether you look masculine or feminine enough allows too many people to be caught in the crossfire. What if you’re a woman and just have masculine features? What if you like wearing big, comfy, baggy clothes? What about the woman who wears her niqab or hijab; will she be turned away too? Could it go as far as simply not liking your face?

A step in the right direction might be to add a third, non-specific-gender option for transgender and transsexuals. A note from a doctor or psychologist confirming the lifestyle choice of the individual would work just as well too.

We have to get over this hyper-paranoia and stop persecuting the people caught in the crossfire in the name of security.

Say the words “tax increase” and right away the grumbles start.

It’s time for the grumbling to begin in Quinte West after an announcement of a two per cent tax increase. This year, complaints may be a little more vocal as most of the increases to the budget are due to salary increases for city staff, professional firefighters and police staff. Are these grumbles warranted? Maybe not as much as we would like to think.

If you’re like most of us, you may not remember the last time you got a raise. It’s easy to get upset when we see people whom we perceive as already having a good job get a little more, especially when the economy hasn’t exactly been terrific.

It gets hard to swallow a tax increase when we see increases to city staff salary, however it should be noted that council actually decreased internal spending. Between 2008 and 2011, spending dropped by $74,000.

A lot of us find ourselves with more money going out than coming in and officials of the City of Quinte West are saying that they are having the same problem. Last year, council voted not to give funding to Loyalist College, stating that the city was already spending too much.

The city has indeed had a few increases that they may not have been ready for.

Professional firefighters were awarded through an arbitrator a salary increase that is be retroactive until 2008.  The increase was reportedly more than the city had initially offered. Firefighters do a very important job and deserve fair compensation, but a higher salary does mean a higher city budget.

The city was also hit with a provincial mandate to increase contributions to its provincial pension plan.

Over the past few years, many cities have been the victims of municipal downloading. Basically, things the province used to pay for have shifted onto the backs of municipalities. While mayors and councillors grumble it is the municipal taxpayer who really pays. The buck always stops at the little guy who often doesn’t know whom to blame. As voters and taxpayers we have to look at every level of government to see where expenditures are coming from.

The exact amount of increase is different across the wards. Trenton ward saw a decrease last year, while Murray Ward has seen the highest increases over the last couple of years. Based on an average residential assessment of $177,000, the highest increase, which is 3.13 per cent in Murray Ward, means an extra $55.73 a year, or $4.64 a month.

Is an extra $5 a month worth two new police sergeants and happier firefighters? That is the question, it seems.

The answer, two per cent, is fairly minor and if you really don’t like it, let your councillors know. Or you can just wait until the next election rolls around.

The fossil-burning fuel business has divided society into two polarizing spectrums but people must consider the individual choices they make.

Canadian use of oil for transportation dominates all other modes of transportation, therefore we have acted on our decision that we do need and depend on oil. A surge of individual consumer choices will decide that oil is no longer needed, and a free market will react to our purchasing habits, rendering that business obsolete.

That’s the way economic freedom works.

Don’t like the oil business? Then don’t buy oil.

A recent trip to China by Prime Minister Stephen Harper put U.S./Canadian relations, oil and environmental concerns in the spotlight.

During Harper’s visit to China, he met with the general secretary of the communist party of China, Hu Jintao, to discuss business relations between the two countries, focusing heavily on energy security.

“Canada has abundant supplies of virtually every form of energy, and you know, we want to sell our energy to people who want to buy our energy; it’s that simple.” Harper said in the city of Guangzhou.

If only it were that simple.

In January an application to expand the Keystone pipeline into the United States was rejected by U.S. President Barack Obama, essentially manipulating the natural supply and demand of the energy markets.

The Keystone XL extension would provide Alberta oil to the state of Texas through the Gulf Coast Expansion, as well as Nebraska through the Steele City Expansion.

Construction of the pipeline has also met criticism in the form of environmental concerns, the possibility of spillage, property disputes and greenhouse carbon emissions in particular.

TransCanada CEO Russ Girling said the extension would implement 57 improvements above standard US Regulatory requirements. Girling said the XL extension would be “the safest pipeline ever built.”

TransCanada also agreed to change the route of the pipeline to avoid areas of environmental concern such as the Sandhills in Nebraska and the Ogallala Aquifer, a major source of fresh water.

Joe Oliver, Canada’s minister of natural resources, responded to climate activists, saying Alberta’s oil sands account for 0.1 per cent of global greenhouse-gas emissions. Coal plants in the U.S. pump out 40 times more.

Oliver says “celebrity protestors” ignore these facts.

Celebrities such as climate-alarmist Al Gore, whose documentary An Inconvenient Truth met an inconvenient verdict when a UK High Court in 2007 ruled it was riddled with scientific errors.

“The errors were made in “the context of alarmism and exaggeration.” High Court Judge Michael Burton said.  Burton ruled that the screening of An Inconvenient Truth in British secondary schools violated laws barring the promotion of partisan political views in the classroom.

According to the US department of energy, Canada is the world’s 15^th largest importer of oil. Canada’s exporters include Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Iraq, which are notorious for human rights abuses and conflicts.

While we are still dependent on resource –based energy, let us cleanse the blood oil from our existence, and at the same time whet our purchasing appetite with our own resources, companies, and jobs.

If you stand in front of a magazine rack in any grocery store, bookstore, airport kiosk or newspaper stand and count the number of sports magazines, you’ll come up with a number running into the hundreds. That’s not counting the magazines that aren’t being carried. However, if you were to look over the covers of any of those magazines and count the number of female athletes taking centre stage, you’d come up with, well, most likely zero.

Not that that’s out of the ordinary. From the beginning of the Ancient Olympics in Greece, women were banned from even viewing the events. It wasn’t until 1900 that women were allowed to take part, and in considerably less sports as the men did.

Even with the Olympics, the glory of sportsdom, and allowing women to compete, it wasn’t until the 1990s that women’s professional sports teams achieved any sort of popularity.

It’s been 20 years since then, and still women aren’t on even footing in the sports world. The Canadian Women’s Hockey League  was founded in the 1990s with the current incarnation beginning in 2007.  Up until the 2010-11 season, each of the players had to pay $1,000 to play. Everyone involved in the league, from the players to the staff, works pro bono, their love of the sport their payment, while working other jobs to make up for what they don’t make.

Taking the issue out of the professional leagues, the U-18 women’s teams also has a long way to go. Every year, there’s the World Junior Hockey Championships, held for both U-18 men and women.

The attention, however, is put almost entirely on the men’s tournament. Fans everywhere expressed rage, sadness, or shame when Canada lost to Russia to play the United States for the bronze medal on Jan. 3. Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr were filled with posts, tweets and tags expressing thoughts on the men losing.

Yet, four days later, barely anything was said about the fact that the Canadian women’s U-18  team won gold at their tournament in the Czech Republic 3-0 against the U.S.

This year sees the induction of a new sport in the Olympics for women: boxing.   However, the Amateur International Boxing Association doesn’t seem quite as ready for women to step into the 21st century. They’ve put forward what they call ‘a suggestion’ for women to wear skirts instead of the traditional shorts.

Their reasoning is that it would help make the boxers look more ‘elegant’ and help to ‘distinguish’ female boxers from their male counterparts.  Not only can females look elegant in articles of clothing that aren’t short skirts, but the simple fact that men are, for the most part, shirtless, during their fights should help with distinguishing. If that’s not enough, there’s quite a difference between a male and a female’s physique, even if that woman is a boxer.

Not only would it undermine all the hard work these women have put into their sport, it could also have some negative influences. Fighting in a uniform that they’re not comfortable in could directly affect their performance, as well as their safety.

The examples don’t stop there. There’s women’s soccer and the struggle with the Women’s Professional Soccer association because they don’t have enough support for more than six teams and lack of funding. Women’s basketball and the lack of viewers and supporters they have, despite being in operation for more than a decade, 12 teams, and three TV stations that broadcast it.

Maybe fans don’t realize there are teams and associations dedicated to female athletics. Maybe if they did, there’d be more of a demand for equal funding and equal treatment. But fans will never realize there are teams out there if there’s not the funding to keep up the teams and promote them.