2009 was an excellent year for me, and one that I will always remember. It was eventful, exciting and I learned a lot. Half way through the year, I was thinking “This is going to be a hard year to beat!” Now that the end of the year is here, I realize that I don’t need to “beat” it. I just need to take care of myself. I learned to not wait for someone else to make me happy. I certainly did spoil myself, but I also did not forget about those closest to me.
2009 Highlights:
Renewing my hope for the world with the inauguration of Barack Obama.
Going on a cruise ship, reuniting with awesome friends and making tons of new ones. Great music too!
Seeing the last performance by Barenaked Ladies with Steven Page.
Singing, horribly, with BNL.
Partying with 2/5th’s of Kids in The Hall.
Being locked outside my New York hotel room in my underwear.
Seeing Wicked in New York, second row!
Giving the middle finger to George W. Bush.
Visited my Sister, my brother-in-law and my new niece and nephew in London.
Moving to the East Coast – being a temporary CFA.
Being in Nova Scotia for the Historic NDP Victory.
NDP Federal Convention in Halifax.
Being in the second row at a Paul McCartney concert!
Going back to school.
Reuniting with a bunch of family back in BC, including an Uncle I haven’t seen in at least 10 years.
2010 will probably not be as eventful of 2009. But I’m the happiest I’ve ever been and hope to keep moving forward. My only resolution for 2010 is to stay on this track. And they say you are not suppose to make vague resolutions.
To all my friends and family, happy New Year! Let it be a good one.
Charlie Angus, NDP MP from Timmins James Bay, made the request after Liberal MP Michelle Simson insulted Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro. The joke, that referenced Del Mastro’s weight, was childish and unprofessional.
Charlie Angus is no “luddite.” He is always at the forefront of digital issues. Whether it’s net neutrality or copyright reform. He encourages open discussions involving all stakeholders on issues regarding digital rights.
CALGARY – As Alberta’s health minister faced calls for his resignation Sunday, the province’s top doctor took responsibility for the H1N1 immunization plan that has left Calgarians angry, frustrated and confused over long lineups to get the vaccine, and now the closure of the clinics that were administering it.
Dr. Andre Corriveau said it was his decision to initially open clinics to all Albertans last Monday, close them Saturday and not reopen them until at least Tuesday. When they do reopen, the vaccine will initially be restricted to those in high-risk groups, including pregnant women, kids under six and those under 65 with chronic health conditions.
His comments come as Health Minister Ron Liepert faces further criticism over the pandemic planning, and a call by the official Opposition for his head.
But Liepert rejected Liberal Leader David Swann’s demand for his resignation, saying he was and is still following the advice of the province’s medical experts, who decided to stop offering the vaccine to the general public when it became clear the demand for the vaccine would outstrip a supply that is now expected to fall short.
Inoculation clinics will remain closed until at least Tuesday as health officials figure out how to deliver vaccines specifically to those in the target groups.
“We have followed right from Day 1 the plan that was laid out by the chief medical officer of health and public health officials throughout the province,” Liepert told reporters during a conference call on Sunday.
“I want to make it clear, I’m not trying to shift responsibility for this decision. What I’m saying is, they are the chief medical experts so it would be inappropriate for us politically to change that,” added Liepert.
Alberta Health Services opened a fifth H1N1 vaccination clinic after it was confirmed yesterday that three more Albertans had died because of swine flu.
The clinic is on the second floor of the Olympic Oval at the University of Calgary. I decided to check out the line up to see how long it was on one of my breaks. The line up went all the way down the stairs and down the hallway of the Kinesiology building and then looped back around. In the line up were the elderly, families with young children, and pregnant women. I saw some very elderly people sitting on the floor. It certainly didn’t seem like I was in a prosperous province like Alberta.
I went to the stairs and asked the people there how long they had been waiting. I was told 2-3 hours. Just then, an employee from Alberta Health Services started to inform the people who thought they were at the front of the line that the wait was still expected to be several more hours.
Is this the kind of organization and competency that Albertans expect out of their elected officials? I don’t think so. The provincial government had almost a year to prepare for this kind of mass vacation. What do we get? Only four clinics planned to service a city with a population of one-million, and no prioritization for front-line health care workers and the vulnerable population.
I have a friend who is a pharmacist, who says that pharmacists are able and willing to administer the vaccine. Is this happening? Nope.
After speaking with the Alberta Health Services employee, I was informed that people wanting a vaccine had to “wait all day, or go home.”
Ed Stelmach’s party leadership review is coming up. I know I expect more.
This story was posted on September 25th, and I searched Rachel’s name in Google News today and this is the only story! Please repost this, it is way too important to let it slip under the radar.
Rachel Chandler was born in Beijing on June 5 and she may well be the first child rendered stateless by ill-conceived amendments to Canada’s Citizenship Act in mid-April.
Rachel is stateless even though dad is a Canadian; even though both her paternal grandparents are Canadian and live in Ontario; even though her maternal grandmother was born and raised in Nova Scotia and one of her great-great-grandfathers fought for Canada in the Second World War.
The problem is that Patrick Chandler was born in Libya, where his parents met while teaching at an English school. His father was a naturalized Canadian, having immigrated from Ireland. His mother was an American, whose mother’s roots in Canada extended back two generations.
When Patrick was two, the family settled in Mississauga, Ont., which is where Patrick stayed until two years ago when he went to Beijing to work.
Rachel’s mother, Fiona, is a Chinese citizen. But Rachel isn’t automatically eligible for Chinese citizenship either. Her parents aren’t married. Their marriage is caught up in bureaucratic processing.
If they tried to get Rachel Chinese citizenship, they would have to pay what Chandler says is a “monster fine” for having a child out of wedlock. The size of the fine is determined at the discretion of a government official only after she or he has examined the parents’ finances.
What’s Canada’s response to Rachel’s dilemma? Try Ireland. Yes. Really.
A stateless child means the child has no rights at all. As a defenseless being this is even more dangerous than a stateless adult. If the child is abducted, abused, hurt… no state has to claim responsibility and the child certainly can’t defend itself.
Citizenship in Canada use to be the right of blood and the right of soil. The Conservative Government has arbitrialy changed what it means to be Canadian. No longer are you Canadian because of blood.
Especially on this Labour Day when hundreds of thousands of Canadians are out of work and many without Employment Insurance thanks to inaction by both the Liberals and Conservatives.
Only four years ago then official opposition leader, Stephen Harper, attacked then Prime Minister, Paul Martin, for cronyism and patronage in senate appointments.
“There was a time when Paul Martin talked about a “deep desire to reform the Senate,” Harper said. “His talk turned out to be empty. Instead, he stuck to the same old Liberal patronage routine. And worse, he’s using the Senate, at taxpayers’ expense, to play political games.”
“Martin’s been hiding behind a smokescreen of rhetoric on Senate reform for more than a decade,” he said. “It’s clear today that he’s never really had any intention of dealing with the issue. He should have been honest with Canadians from the start, and told us that he intended to follow the same old Liberal senate playbook.”
With the appointment of nine senators today by Stephen Harper, including Harper’s campaign chair, Conservative Party President and Harper’s former director of strategic communications, I’m going to use his own words to criticize his actions.
There was a time when Stephen Harper talked about a deep desire to reform the Senate. His talk turned out to be empty. Instead, he stuck to the same old Conservative-Liberal patronage routine. And worse, he’s using the Senate, at taxpayers’ expense, to play political games.
Harper’s been hiding behind a smokescreen of rhetoric on Senate reform for his entire political life. It’s clear today that he’s never really had any intention of dealing with the issue. He should have been honest with Canadians from the start, and told us that he intended to follow the same old Conservative-Liberal senate playbook.
Environmentalists in Saskatchewan are calling for federal intervention to halt what they say is an increasing threat to northern lakes and forests from acid rain linked to oilsands development in Alberta.
The Saskatchewan Environmental Society issued a news release Monday to say that data, obtained by the society from the Saskatchewan environment ministry, reveals that rain falling in the La Loche area of the province’s far north has a pH level that falls under the definition for acid rain.
The generally accepted threshold for normal rain is a pH of 5.6. Environment Canada has determined any value less than five may be termed acid rain.
Looks like Harper is undoing a Conservative legacy, because of his lack of strategy on tarsand development in Northern Alberta.
I wrote an article for AlbertaTalks that was published today.
In the article I explore why GDP and stock markets are inadequate at determining the success of an economy, and offer an alternative: The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI.)
As the Bank of Canada announces positive GDP results for the quarter and individuals see their retirement portfolios slowly begin to regain value, the real economy-that is the economy that contains real wealth not speculative wealth and a fair distribution of that wealth that creates jobs-is still stalled or even shrinking. When no one is getting their job back, the economy is not recovering, despite the growth in the financial economy. This is so because the wealth that is created is not distributed as fairly as it was before the recession started.
The real economy is where jobs and real investments in capital are. The financial economy is where speculation exists, and where savvy investors can make a profit. Jobs and investments are tools of production, speculation is not. The stock market isn’t going to create jobs, only new investment in actual capital will.
GDP and stock markets are simply inadequate at determining whether the distribution of wealth in society is fair or not. A high GDP or a soaring stock market does not equal full employment or even a low unemployment rate. Despite the inadequacies of GDP and stock markets, the GDP seems to be the primary focus of our government and central banks when it comes to the economy, while the media’s primary focus is on the daily ups and downs of the stock market.
