Monthly Archives: January 2009

Eddie brings the perspective

democracy and good government, , , ,

The only time I’ve seen Pearl Jam in concert was in Chicago’s Grant Park two summers ago, the exact same place where President Barack Obama (yeah, Warren’s right, it feels amazing to type that — President Barack Obama!) made his victory speech on election night in November. That might have something to do with why this quote today from singer Eddie Vedder (via Alan Cross) struck me.

Two years ago, you were wondering what could there possibly be to unite our country and get us out of this mess. What can get us back on the positive? What can bring us back into some kind of standing with the international community? And it seemed like that there would not be any answer. Who knew we would get to this moment?

That’s how I sometimes feel about Canada right now.  There is a vacuum and no obvious way to fill it.

But Eddie brings an encouraging thought. Somewhere, for us too, there is a leader—or a team of leaders—waiting to articulate a vision for “rebuilding Canada,” so to speak. We just haven’t met them yet, or if we have, haven’t recognized what they have to offer. I’m optimistic that we will.

ps. Just to be clear though, Warren’s right about this too.

Harper, Rae wrong on Khadr

canadian sovereignty, conservative party, liberal party, , , , , ,

According to this Toronto immigration lawyer, both Stephen Harper and Bob Rae are making a very “simple” mistake when it comes to the question of if Omar Khadr can return to Canada.

I have never dealt in this space with the right of Canadian citizens to enter Canada. The simple reason for this is that the law on this point is crystal clear and rarely in dispute.

This right is considered a “fundamental” one and so it is entrenched in our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which was signed by Queen Elizabeth in 1982.

Our Charter describes this right as follows:

“Every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada.”

…Pretty simple, huh?

Not when it comes to Omar Khadr.

This fundamental right seems to have somehow been ignored during most of the debate, and some of the rhetoric, that surrounds this Canadian citizen’s controversial set of circumstances.

…Prime Minister Stephen Harper has publicly stated that he will not allow Khadr back here unless the charges against him are dropped for good. Of course, Harper has not explained what legal authority he has to prevent Khadr, a Canadian citizen, from exercising his right to return to Canada.

Even the Canadian opposition has it wrong. Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae suggested that Harper appoint a panel of experts to advise the Canadian government on how to deal with Khadr. Any expert, in my view, would agree that Khadr has a constitutional right to return to Canadian soil. What happens to him after that is a matter of domestic criminal law which is unrelated to his right to enter Canada.

The thousand or so senior judges who together form the Canadian Superior Court Judges Association describe our justice system as follows: “We are said to be ruled by law, not by those who enforce the law or wield government power.”

President Obama’s actions have signaled a swift and firm return to the rule of law.

I hope that we will follow not only the American lead but also our own legal tradition.

Pretty serious stuff. Bob, on what grounds do you and the prime minister presume to be able to ignore the Charter?

What I’ve been up to

news media, ,

When I’m not playing politician or blogging, I have a very demanding “real” job. (That may seem like a profoundly obvious statement, but you’d be surprised how many people assume otherwise.)

My primary career so far has been in interactive media, first at Astral Television Networks producing sites like family.ca and themovienetwork.ca, then at Corus producing ytv.com. In late 2007 I moved to Metro Canada newspapers as their interactive Content Manager with a mandate, along with the director of the department, to completely relaunch Metro’s websites and essentially help build a new interactive business for the company.

Our first site redesign launched March 31st 2007 2008. It was a dramatic improvement over the previous iteration, but still not quite where we needed to be. So since then we’ve been working on major improvements, and earlier this month made another round of significant changes.

There’s a lot I’m very proud of with the new site, and I’d love for you to check it out. Metro Canada publishes in English in six cities (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, and Halifax) and en français à Montréal. (It is, in fact, the only Canadian daily newspaper publishing in both official languages, among other claims to fame.)

CBC bans Green from Next PM Contest – Please help

democracy and good government, green party, news media, ,

I just received the below action appeal from Camille Labchuk. Please take a moment to read it and do as she asks. The fact that this rule exists at all is ridiculous, as it punishes youth for being actively involved with their democracy. The fact that the CBC would treat her in the way she describes is even worse. I’ve added emphasis to what I believe are the key points.

ACTION ALERT: CBC kicked me out of the Next PM contest. Help me expose this injustice.

Hi friends,

I just received the shocking news that CBC has disqualified me from the Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister contest. They say it is because I ran for Parliament in 2006, but when they asked me to enter the competition in November (yes, they recruited me) I raised this point with the producer and asked if it made me ineligible. The producer told me (in writing) that I was “good to go.”

Until today, I was a front runner in the contest. Thanks to your support, my entry video got more votes than any other contestant. I devoted all of my free time to this competition over the past two months. My campaign team and I spent over 200 hours researching policy, filming videos, organizing online and encouraging people to vote for me. My efforts paid off and I was slated to become the Web Winner next week when voting closes, meaning I would have automatically advanced to the semifinals.

Another contestant has run for Parliament yet has not been deleted from the CBC’s website, like I have. There are 31 additional contestants whose videos are either too short or too long to comply with the entry rules and, according to the rules, should be disqualified too. I don’t think these candidates should be kicked out and I don’t think I should be kicked out either. CBC let us enter this competition, allowed us to spend two months of our lives on it, and they should let us finish it. I have asked CBC if they will disqualify these other candidates and they refuse to answer me.

The intent of the Next Great PM contest was supposedly to encourage youth political engagement. This outrageous treatment of a contestant who has poured her heart and soul into the contest sends an opposite message: “get involved, get kicked out.” I am appalled that our publicly funded broadcaster sees fit to backtrack on its word. I am also shocked that major sponsor Magna, run by former MP Belinda Stronach, would accept this. Ms. Stronach has had to fight every step of the way to climb to the top in politics and I can’t imagine that she would support this treatment of a young Canadian who loves politics and simply wants to make a difference.

CBC and Magna chose to disqualify the wrong young Canadian. I am launching a major campaign to draw attention to this abuse. I feel utterly crushed that my efforts have been for nothing and I refuse to just quietly go away. I will be retaining counsel and intend, if necessary, to pursue legal action against the CBC for unfair disqualification. Lawyers cost money and this is going to be difficult for me to take on financially, so if you want to contribute to my legal fund, write to me. I feel it’s the only way to hold CBC accountable.

Please help me expose this injustice by contacting CBC and Magna to tell them their actions are reprehensible. Write to:

seema.patel@cbc.ca (Seema Patel, Senior Producer)
matthew.barrington@cbc.ca (Matt Barrington, Producer)
ht.lacroix@cbc.ca (Hubert Lacroix, CBC President)
mary_gittens@magna.on.ca (Mary Gittins, Magna)

Copy your emails to me (cflbchk@mta.ca) so I can track support!

Thanks for standing with me.

Camille