Last night at 7 p.m., on CBC's Fifth Estate, the topic was police behaviour at the G20 Summit in Toronto (June 26-27, 2010). It was staggering to see how peaceful protesters were dragged, beaten, cuffed, pepper sprayed, fired on with rubber bullets, arrested, herded into cages. One older man had his prosthetic leg confiscated, his spectacles removed, and others were caged. One young university student described being stripsearched and said she had her bra confiscated because it had metal in it! Protestors, asking what the charge was, were ignored or given conflicting reasons for their detainment. Persistence was quickly dealt with by arresting the questioners. This was the biggest mass arrest in Canada's history. Unbelievable. Of the 1100 arrested, over 700 were never charged.
After recently watching so much visual input in the purportedly undemocratic nations of the Middle East, it was hard to discern any difference between the treatment meted out to those protesters and the ones at the G20 summit.
At 7:10 p.m., precisely, the Fifth Estate was interrupted, without explanation, to a LIVE broadcast of Prime Minister Stephen Harper telling viewers, in both official languages, that 230 Canadians had been rescued from Libya! When he was finished, at 7:20, he turned quickly and departed swiftly to avoid questions. Interestingly, this was his second address to the nation in three days. This from a man best known for his avoidance of the electorate and the press corps is worthy of note.
One has to wonder whether Mr. Harper had viewed the CBC programme earlier and, understandably, found any pointless way he could to interrupt it soon after it started - hoping perhaps, that viewers, seeing him, might switch to some other channel and forget to return to the Fifth Estate after he had finished. Politically, for him, the film was a nightmare. Giving the police powers of martial law, unfettered - as seen in Toronto - is a very dangerous and slippery slope.
If he had any real opposition, Stephen Harper would have been out long ago. Should you wish to take the time, go to You Should Have Stayed at Home (cbc.ca/fifth) and see for yourself. Wasting our taxpayers' money to build new prisons as crime diminishes is also an enigma. If we all "stay home" and refrain from peaceful dissent in the future, the Conservatives won't need them.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
All in a Day's...Make That Daze!
There are bad times just around the corner.
We can all look forward to despair.
It's as clear as crystal
From Birmingham to Bristol
That we can't save democracy
And we don't much care.
Noel Coward
Is democracy really coming of age across the Middle East? Do they really want it?
In Canada's Parliament, Bev Oda just lied, changed official documents - and got her leader's endorsement!
It's not only Lady who has gone Gaga. The Royal couple is soon visiting Canada and we are all gaga! The beautiful people will visit us soon and Stephen Harper is invited to the wedding! Whoopee! What is even better, we get to pay the bill. The PMO explained that cash is put aside every year for visiting foreign dignitaries. This man will be our king, soon. A couple of pretties like the Windsors probably don't come as cheap as Mr. and Mrs. Putin. Moreover, why do the ugly people never get on the front pages?
In this wonderful democracy, which so many throughout the world envy and protest to acquire, how do we justify lying politicians (OK, that's a stupid question) and that multiculturalism, which Pierre Trudeau introduced long ago, is no longer welcome. It's Interculturalism from now on. Put that in your agenda book!
As if that wasn't enough, Justin Bieber just said something to Rolling Stone magazine about abortion and it's on every front page in the country! I assume he has at least a PhD or, well, an MD. The ruction the kid has been subjected to is frightening however he may have a future in Stephen Harper's cabinet. Say the Conservative Minority Government 2020?
Before I go, the hope for acknowledgement of Mordecai Richler having a symbol for his great writing installed in Montreal is really not welcome...bienvenue..in Quebec.
It's cocktail hour.
We can all look forward to despair.
It's as clear as crystal
From Birmingham to Bristol
That we can't save democracy
And we don't much care.
Noel Coward
Is democracy really coming of age across the Middle East? Do they really want it?
In Canada's Parliament, Bev Oda just lied, changed official documents - and got her leader's endorsement!
It's not only Lady who has gone Gaga. The Royal couple is soon visiting Canada and we are all gaga! The beautiful people will visit us soon and Stephen Harper is invited to the wedding! Whoopee! What is even better, we get to pay the bill. The PMO explained that cash is put aside every year for visiting foreign dignitaries. This man will be our king, soon. A couple of pretties like the Windsors probably don't come as cheap as Mr. and Mrs. Putin. Moreover, why do the ugly people never get on the front pages?
In this wonderful democracy, which so many throughout the world envy and protest to acquire, how do we justify lying politicians (OK, that's a stupid question) and that multiculturalism, which Pierre Trudeau introduced long ago, is no longer welcome. It's Interculturalism from now on. Put that in your agenda book!
As if that wasn't enough, Justin Bieber just said something to Rolling Stone magazine about abortion and it's on every front page in the country! I assume he has at least a PhD or, well, an MD. The ruction the kid has been subjected to is frightening however he may have a future in Stephen Harper's cabinet. Say the Conservative Minority Government 2020?
Before I go, the hope for acknowledgement of Mordecai Richler having a symbol for his great writing installed in Montreal is really not welcome...bienvenue..in Quebec.
It's cocktail hour.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
