Canada, Immigration, and Autism

Last week we told the story of 17-year-old Lewis Crowe. Because he has autism the Canadian Government has banned Lewis from living in Canada and in order to visit the country he needs special permission from the immigration department.

The Canadian Government regularly uses the excuse that allowing entry to families of children with special needs will cause financial burden on the health system. The question that needs to be asked is is it fair? Where do we draw the line?
If someone has severe allergies will they be denied access? What about someone who had cancer? or just a history minor infections?

In case you thought this may be the exception to the rule we bring you another story of a family who has been denied entry into Canada because their child has special needs.

http://blog.friendshipcircle.org/2011/05/09/canada-immigration-and-autism-part-two/

U.S. Vs Marc Emery

CBC Newsworld's weekly documentary show The Lens launched its 2007 fall season with "Prince of Pot: The US vs. Marc Emery", director Nick Wilson's provocative, entertaining and hard-hitting documentary about Marc Emery's current extradition battle. "Prince of Pot" re-aired on January 22 and again on Tuesday, June 10th.
The DEA wants to have Marc Emery extradited to the United States to face life in prison. Is it about marijuana seeds, political dissidence, or national sovereignty? Should Marc Emery be extradited to America, or should he serve time in Canada -- and can Canadians do anything about it?

Bandwidth limits are damaging to the economy

http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/geekingout/archive/2011/02/03/bandwidth-limits-are-damaging-to-the-economy.aspx

Putting caps on the internet might make sense if it had reached critical mass and people couldn't get things done, or if the companies providing it couldn't make a profit in doing so, but when was the last time you heard that Rogers, Bell, Shaw or Telus made a quarterly loss? Even in the hardest of economic times, they're making a very strong profit.

VIDEO: Big bandwidth users soon to pay more

Heavy internet users will soon be paying a higher monthly bill. Shaw is the latest internet provider to put a cap on internet usage and, as the CBC's Theresa Lalonde reports, if big downloaders go over, they will have to pay more.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/01/18/bc-video-shaw-bandwidth-charges.html

Internet usage costs to rise

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/01/07/internet-expensive-surfing-canadians.html

Surfing and downloading from the internet is about to get more expensive for many Canadians as internet companies Shaw and Primus have announced plans to impose new fees and caps on internet usage.

Over the past year, the CRTC, Canada's communication regulator, let Bell and Rogers start charging extra for customers who download a lot of data. The growing demand for live-streaming and online movies gobbles up huge chunks of bandwidth on the World Wide Web.

Primus and Shaw have said they will begin passing on higher fees to their customers beginning Feb. 1. Primus, for example, rents bandwidth on Bell's networks and said Bell is inflating the costs for everyone, including them.

"It's an economic disincentive for internet use," said Matt Stein, vice-president of network services for Primus. "It's not meant to recover costs. In fact these charges that Bell has levied are many, many, many times what it costs to actually deliver it."

Hugh Thompson, who runs the website Digital Home, said he's been hearing growing consumer complaints.

He said more people say they are receiving bills of $5 to $10 a month in penalties — with some complaining their penalties are running as high as $100 — all for their use of iTunes, YouTube and Netflix.

"Their bandwidth has skyrocketed from maybe a gigabyte or two a month to some cases of 200 to 300 gigabytes per month," said Thompson.

"So now that people are using so much bandwidth, the companies are crying foul. They're saying: 'We can't make money off this. We need to charge more.'"

Currently, only a small percentage of users download enough data to hit these new caps. But many fear these fees will soon apply to everyone as the internet becomes more video based.

Extra billing for internet use

Extra billing for internet use a 'ripoff': NDP

http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2011/01/20/consumer-internet-ndp.html

The CRTC's decision to allow internet service providers to charge their customers for downloading excessive amounts of data threatens "free and open access to the internet in Canada," the NDP said Thursday.

Charlie Angus, the NDP's digital affairs critic, said the telecommunications regulator's decision to allow usage-based internet billing won't just affect the so-called bandwidth hogs but could hit many Canadians financially.

"We've seen this all before with cellphones," said Angus. "Allowing the internet service providers to ding you every time you download is a ripoff. Canada is already falling behind other countries in terms of choice, accessibility and pricing for the internet."

As the larger internet service providers are also broadcasters and content providers, usage-based billing could be used to limit competition from online video services like Netflix. He said it could also be used to eliminate competition from smaller third-party ISPs.

"The large ISP-broadcast entities now have a tool for squashing their main competitors — both in internet and video services," said Angus. "We need clear rules that put consumers first."

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has slowly allowed large service providers like Bell and Rogers to charge internet users who download more than the limit of data for their particular service plan.

For example, in Ontario, Rogers charges customers of its $59.99 a month Hi-Speed Extreme plan who go over their 80 GB a month limit $1.50 per GB for a maximum of $50.

Primus and Shaw have said they will begin passing on higher fees to their customers beginning Feb. 1. Primus, for example, rents bandwidth on Bell's networks and said Bell is inflating the costs for everyone, including companies like it.

New questions raised about rookie NDP MP

Already panned for her Vegas get-away, newly elected Ruth Ellen Brosseau is facing a new controversy. The issue

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/questions-raised-rookie-ndp-mps-papers-182846665.html

More on the new MP: Ruth-Ellen-Brosseau

http://ca.search.yahoo.com/search?cs=bz&fr=fp-today&vm=r&p=ruth-ellen-brosseau

Brosseau gets spoofed:
Las Vegas-vacationing anglophone Quebec MP gets spoofed on Facebook page

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/las-vegas-vacationing-anglophone-quebec-mp-gets-spoofed-150019419.html

NDP team full of rookies:
The NDP starts new session of Parliament with caucus of students,

rookies and unknowns

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/ndp-starts-session-parliament-caucus-students-rookies-unknowns-185205404.html

What world media thought of our election

Bin Laden may have been the top story, but there was still room for poking fun at Canada. 'Plate of congealed poutine'
What did media outside of Canada think about our election?

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/did-media-outside-canada-think-election-151750970.html

Less attention in the U.S.

Amid bin Laden news, Canada's election gets even less U.S. attention than usual

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/amid-bin-laden-news-canadas-election-gets-even-163522699.html

What Harper will change
Five votes Stephen Harper will win with a majority government in Parliament

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/five-votes-stephen-harper-win-majority-government-parliament-173358439.html

Youngest MP ever elected
19-year-old sets record as youngest MP; NDPer planned summer job at golf course

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/pierre-luc-dusseault-becomes-canadas-youngest-ever-mp-171538874.html

Queen's University team designs bendable computer

A research team at Queen's University has entered the race to slim down tablets and smart phones with a plastic, flexible prototype that's just about paper thin.

The Kingston, Ont.-based school's Human Media Lab has unveiled a type of e-paper technology nicknamed the PaperPhone, which is described as a bendable iPhone.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/queens-university-team-designs-bendable-computer/article2011497/?from=sec501

The high costs of hardship

Figures paint an unsettling picture of Canada's unemployment levels, income gaps and costs associated with homelessness

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-high-costs-of-hardship/article2012066/?from=sec501

Stephen Harper. Fiscal Conservative?

Dialogue with a would-be Conservative Voter in advance of the 2011 Federal Election in Canada on May 2 about Stephen Harper's reputation as a Fiscal Conservative

Stephen Harper and The Conservatives on the Economy

Dialogue with a would-be Conservative Voter in advance of the 2011 Federal Election in Canada on May 2 about Stephen Harper's economic credentials.

Harper Government 3

A political satire of the 2011 Canadian Election with nods to the HTC Evo vs IPhone4 video.

Tommy Douglas

Tommy Douglas and a vision for Saskatchewan


With Michael Therriault as Tommy Douglas, from the mini-series Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story. Scene: 50th anniversary CCF speech (last half).

Canada votes 2011 : Reality Check

What is truth in an election campaign?

Three guys meet in a hotel room in Montreal to hatch a plan. Several years later, these same three guys are discussing that meeting on national television.

Two of them say, "This is what we agreed on." The third one says, "No, it's not."

No one else is able to confirm what really happened, and two against one is not considered a legal definition of proof.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/realitycheck/2011/04/what-is-truth-in-an-election-campaign.html

Four Questions. And they had better be good questions!

Episode #30:

Nibu and Grandpa Ebu discuss reasons why Prime Minister Stephen Harper is limiting the national press to just four questions per campaign stop. Originally reported by Terry Milewski on "The National", March 31 2011.

Conservative Party of Canada Follies:Welcome to Harperland!

Episode #18

Nibu and Mrs. Tibu discuss the Conservative Party of Canada's attempt to rebrand the Government of Canada as "the Harper Government". The wise leader steers the ship of state safely through the treacherous waters! Long live our wise leader!

Lawrence Martin: Harperland: The Politics of Control

http://www.amazon.ca/Harperland-Politics-Control-Lawrence-Martin/dp/067006517X

His new book paints a startling portrait of a prime minister who is often obsessed with controlling the message in ways that his predecessors never imagined.

According to Martin, Harper imposed a vetting-and-censorship program wherein virtually every message transmitted by the federal government—whether it comes from a civil servant, a Conservative MP, an agency head, or the diplomatic corps—must be approved by either the prime minister’s office or the Privy Council Office, which provides advice and support to Harper and his cabinet.
http://www.straight.com/article-351602/vancouver/prime-minister-control

Lawrence Martin’s book should be an immediate read for every Canadian.

http://www.lakesuperiornews.com/Arts/HarperlandThePoliticsofControl.aspx

"Harperland: The Politics of Control," audio excerpt

Historic Shift In Canadian Elections

Canada Elections: Conservatives Win Coveted Majority

TORONTO -- Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper won his coveted majority government in elections Monday that also marked a shattering defeat for the opposition Liberals, preliminary results showed.

Stephen Harper has gradually lowered sales and corporate taxes, avoided climate change legislation, promoted Arctic sovereignty, upped military spending and extended Canada's military mission in Afghanistan.

Elections Canada reported preliminary results on its website, giving the Conservatives 164 seats, which will give Harper four years of uninterrupted government.

Gerry Nicholls, who worked under Harper at a conservative think tank, has said that having the New Democrats' as the main opposition party would be ideal for Harper because it would define Canadian politics in clearer terms of left vs. right.

The Conservatives have built support in rural areas and with the "Tim Horton's crowd" – a reference to a chain of doughnut shops popular with working class Canadians. They also have blitzed the country with TV attack ads, running them even during telecasts of the Academy Awards and the Super Bowl.

Lawrence Martin, a political columnist for The Globe and Mail newspaper and author of "Harperland: The Politics of Control," calls Harper "the most autocratic and partisan prime minister Canada has ever had."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/03/canada-elections-conservatives-win-coveted-majority_n_856747.html

The Right and Left Claim Success in Canada: The Conservatives Win Majority in Canadian Election as Left-Leaning NDP Makes Historic Gains

The Conservative party, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, was elected to a majority in the Canadian parliament, ending five years of minority government. Harper has vowed to continue pro-corporate policies that have led critics to label his government the most right-wing in recent Canadian history. But the election also saw major gains for the left-leaning New Democratic Party, which won enough seats to become the official opposition party for the first time. We speak to Stephen Lewis, former Canadian diplomat and former leader of the NDP, and the Canadian activist and writer Judy Rebick.

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/5/3/the_right_and_left_claim_success

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Citizen's Assembly

Perhaps this is a good time to remind ourselves of alternatives to the "First past the post" system

http://www.citizensassembly.bc.ca/flash/bc-stv-full

Elections Canada battles prank calls to voters

Voters in ridings across Canada are being warned not to trust calls telling them to go to different polling stations, according to Elections Canada.

Elections Canada has had reports from several ridings from voters in Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia who claim to have been given false information that directed them to the wrong place to vote.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/05/02/cv-election-polling-pranks-411.html

Canada goes to the polls

Some voters in Ontario, Manitoba, B.C., report being sent to wrong stations

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/05/02/cv-electionday-polls.html

Strategic voting bad strategy: experts

Lack of accurate polling for individual ridings complicates task,

political scientist says

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Strategic+voting+strategy+experts/4702713/story.html