Marriage-Let the people decide! Pagan Earth Worship, Homeless, Trying to deep six Gomery? Taxes, Media, Politically Incorrect Research, Inuit-Dogs

List of Articles:

* MPs left out of spousal support overhaul -- New payment guidelines: Justice Department sees little point in 'broad public debate'
* Quebec Inuit seek apology, compensation for slaughter of sled dogs
* When will Martin live up to the Charter and protect majority rights?
* MARRIAGE -- Let the people decide!
* Floodgates open -- same sex marriage -- civil union
* On the same webpage, an excerpt from a letter: homeless
* Is Your Church Teaching Pagan Earth Worship In Sunday School?
* Mark Steyn: He's a worldbeater, all right
* Responses to LTC TIM RYAN's article on media coverage of Iraq
* Trying to deep six Gomery?
* Robbing the public blind and cutting services to boot -- taxes ....while the media slept
* Women in Science -- politically incorrect topics of research
* Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications -- important on media

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MPs left out of spousal support overhaul -- New payment guidelines: Justice Department sees little point in 'broad public debate'

Leaving Parliament out of divorce support guidelines and native land deals? It has become habitual.

MPs left out of spousal support overhaul Cristin Schmitz, Jan. 24, 05, CanWest

OTTAWA - The federal government is moving to revolutionize how spousal support is set for separated and divorced couples, but some MPs say they -- and all Canadians -- are being intentionally left out of the process.

The Justice Department will propose new draft guidelines for determining spousal support this month. The goal is to take most of the guesswork and expense out of the most litigious and unpredictable area of divorce.

The Divorce Act currently gives judges wide latitude to set the amount and duration of support, based on the ex-spouses' roles during their marriage, their financial "needs and means" and other factors.

The result has been wildly unpredictable court awards. That makes it almost impossible for lawyers to properly advise their clients and to settle matters out of court, thus fueling more expensive litigation.

If the draft guidelines, containing a mathematical formula for support, are embraced by lawyers and judges, as is hoped, Canadians could soon find themselves with a radically different spousal support regime without Parliament having given its assent, said Liberal Roger Gallaway. [. . . . ]

This needs much consideration. I know men who have been treated very unfairly as the situation stands; yet, there are two sides. I don't even know what I would want if I were in that situation. Parliamentary committees are where the real work gets done, aren't they? Well . . . .




Quebec Inuit seek apology, compensation for slaughter of sled dogs

Quebec Inuit seek apology, compensation for slaughter of sled dogs Jan 20, 05, Ross Marowits

MONTREAL (CP) - Quebec's Inuit want a government apology and financial compensation for a mass slaughter of sled dogs that they claim plunged their remote communities into decades of dependency. [. . . . ]

More than 500 dogsled teams occupied 15 communities in northern Quebec when the population totalled 2,500 in 1965, said Lisa Koperqualuk, a spokeswoman for Makivik, which represents Inuit in Quebec.

About 10,000 Inuit now reside north of the 55th parallel in a vast territory known as Nunavik. [. . . . ]

The Canadian government apologized in 1988 for its actions against Japanese Canadians and awarded $21,000 for each survivor of the wartime detention. [. . . . ]

When will Martin live up to the Charter and protect majority rights?

When will Martin live up to the Charter and protect majority rights? January 17, 2005

Everyone assumes that the Charter of Rights is there just to protect people from the allegedly stupid prejudices of democratic majorities.

Not so.

The Charter also exists to protect the majority from the prejudices of judges and minorities. Most people have never been told this, but it's true.

When, as with same-sex marriage for example, judges expand or change personal or minority rights, the Charter of Rights allows the government, with the approval of Parliament, to set that ruling aside.

It's our collective legal right as Canadians to correct the judges through the people we elect.

This collective right, explicitly stated in section 33 of the Charter, is just as real, just as legitimate and just as constitutional as all the rights of individuals and minority groups contained in other sections.

When our politicians wrote and approved the Charter as an addition to the Constitution in 1982, they included section 33 (commonly called the "notwithstanding" or "opting out" clause) as a democratic safeguard--as Chretien once explained, in case the judges get it wrong.

This is one of the greatest differences between the Canadian and U.S. systems of government. In our tradition, before the Charter and since, the people we elect have the ultimate say over rights. In the U.S., that role falls to the courts. [. . . . ]

With the government so bent on giving away our democratic rights, the only solution is a loud nation-wide demand for a marriage referendum.

To send a message to this effect to Martin, along with other key parliamentarians and the Supreme Court, go to www.MarriageReferendum.ca and follow the prompts.

MARRIAGE -- Let the people decide!

MARRIAGE -- Let the people decide!

There are links to each of these subsections:

Same-sex marriage--a question of fundamental values
Two important facts
How the law works
The government's Bill won't change the situation
What a referendum would achieve
A fundamental constitutional change
Parliament has abdicated its responsibility

Marriage Referendum:




Michael Coren: Defending the tradition

Michael Coren: Defending the tradition January 22, 2005, January 22, 2005

See the site: Enshrinemarriage.ca

[. . . . ] "The fact that two people say they love each other does not, in itself, justify a right to the benefits conferred by the state on married couples. The only justification for a state interest in the privacy of love flows from the connection between the political fact that the state has a fundamental concern for its own survival and well-being, the biological fact that all human beings require someone of the opposite sex to create life, and the social fact that children have a natural claim to the love and support of their own mothers and fathers. [. . . . ]

"Any attempt by unelected officials of the courts or by any other branch of government to claim ownership of marriage, to alter it without the support of a significant majority of the people, or to diminish the father-mother-child relation in favour of the state-citizen relationship, usurps the natural rights and freedoms of the people and constitutes a serious breach of the public trust."

Floodgates open -- same sex marriage -- civil union

Floodgates open January 22, 05

Indeed, while Cotler may wave these fears aside, why then has his government just launched a study into the legal and social ramifications of polygamy?

Status of Women Canada insists "critical" research is needed surrounding the Liberal government's polygamy policy and says: "It is vital that researchers explore the impacts of polygamy on women and children and gender equality, as well as the challenges that polygamy presents to society."

Ah, if only the Liberals had used the term "civil union" rather than "marriage" this controversy might well be over.

Instead, it's just starting. [. . . . ]

On the same webpage, an excerpt from a letter: homeless

Rather than taking this opportunity to recognize and respond to all of the suffering that goes on in the world, we give money to the most urgent cause at hand at the expense of many other notable causes. Last night I walked home from work past the homeless. I was struck by the fact that although Canada has gone above and beyond to contribute to victims of the Tsunami disaster, we are "walking past" our domestic suffering every day on the streets of our cities.


In effect, we are choosing the homeless of the Far East over our own. . . .

Is Your Church Teaching Pagan Earth Worship In Sunday School? -- If you are a parent, you must go to this site and read it.

Is Your Church Teaching Pagan Earth Worship In Sunday School? Tom DeWeese, January 17, 2004

Many parents have sought to protect their children from the behavior-modification programs that have taken the place of academic education in public schools. To escape the assault of Outcome-Based Education (OBE), multi-culturalism, and workforce training programs, parents in ever-increasing numbers are placing their children in private schools or are home-schooling.

[. . . . ] Each of these examples are designed for group discussions in which the entire class takes on one child's personal problem. Personal family business is disclosed, parental authority is questioned and student "self-esteem" becomes the central concern.

This is Outcome-Based Education at work in the Sunday School class–led by a volunteer teacher (facilitator) with no qualifications to do so. Worse, all of it is done under the authority of the church.

[. . . . ] Are your children safe from pre-programmed, behavior-modification processes at your church? Will they gain the solid moral Christian values that you intend for them to receive from a Sunday School lesson? Not if Group is in your Sunday School.

Mark Steyn: He's a worldbeater, all right

He's a worldbeater, all right January 23, 2005, Mark Steyn, Chicago Sun Times

I picked up the Village Voice for the first time in years this week. Couldn't resist the cover story: ''The Eve Of Destruction: George W. Bush's Four-Year Plan To Wreck The World.''

Oh, dear. It's so easy to raise expectations at the beginning of a new presidential term. But at least he's got a four-year plan. Over on the Democratic bench, worldwise they don't seem to have given things much thought. The differences were especially stark in the last seven days: In the first half of the week, Senate Dems badgered the incoming secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice -- culminating in the decision of West Virginia porkmeister Robert C. Byrd to delay the incoming thereof. Don't ask me why. Byrd, the former Klu Klux Klan Kleagle, is taking a stand over states' rights, or his rights over State, or some such. Whatever the reason, the sight of an old Klansman blocking a little colored girl from Birmingham from getting into her office contributed to the general retro vibe that hangs around the Democratic Party these days. Even "Eve Of Destruction," one notes, is a 40-year-old hippie dirge.

The Democrats' big phrase is "exit strategy." Time and again, their senators demanded that Rice tell 'em what the "exit strategy" for Iraq was. The correct answer is: There isn't one, and there shouldn't be one, and it's a dumb expression. [. . . . ]

Responses to LTC TIM RYAN's article on media coverage of Iraq

Letters Re: 'Media's coverage has distorted world's view of Iraqi reality' – BY LTC TIM RYAN



Forces' babies deprived

"This should concern every service family abroad. A child born on a Canadian Forces base, in a Forces hospital, under the Canadian flag, to Canadian citizens, should have all the rights of citizenship as if they were born anywhere in Canada."

Forces' babies deprived Peter Worthington, Jan. 23, 05, Toronto Sun

You are not going to believe this.

At first I didn't, but I do now: Are you aware that someone born in a hospital on a Canadian military base overseas to Canadian parents in the Armed Forces is not automatically a Canadian citizen?

This, despite having a Canadian birth certificate and social insurance number (SIN)? [. . . . ]

Trying to deep six Gomery?

Issues will have House in a twist Doug Fisher, Sun Ottawa Bureau, Jan. 23, 05

Three matters current in federal politics indicate messy parliamentary days ahead:

First, the same-sex marriage initiative, which Paul Martin has undertaken without creating too wicked a legacy of ill-feeling all round; second, how the coming federal budget will deal with the lengthy failure of progress in our living standards and productivity; and third, the wrestling ahead for all four parties with the effects from the Gomery inquiry.

[. . . . ]
As for the Gomery drama, it has become an historically unique, open revelation of Liberals exploiting federal spending of the highest urgency (on unity!) for the benefit of outside contractors who support the party.

The senior mandarins of the public service are very worried and are thinking of ways and means to suborn Gomery's ultimate Adscam report.

Remember, they achieved a somewhat comparable goal, convincing Sheila Fraser, the auditor general, to tone down her last report on bureaucratic inadequacies. Remember too, that so many of those who planned and managed such sinkholes as the gun registry, refugee claims, buying helicopters, or selling unity in Quebec had to have been either incompetent or cowards who blinked and turned away from ministerial wrongdoing in the highest of all federal offices! [. . . . ]

Robbing the public blind and cutting services to boot ....while the media slept -- taxes

Taxes draining us -- Bank official tells us what we already knew Jason Botchford, Jan. 23, 05, Toronto Sun

IF YOU COULD go back in time and give Ontario families the alarming report released last week-- showing the prosperity of Canadians has barely budged in 15 years -- some would have done something drastic. "I would have packed up our family in our car and headed south on the I-75," said Jacqueline Bynon, a Port Perry woman in her 50s who is running a small business and raising twin 14-year-old girls with her husband Ian.

"We would have moved to the United States, where a spade is a spade. Where if you can work hard, you either succeed or you fail.

"In Canada, where is the incentive to become successful? The government has made it disappear. For every step forward we take there are two steps back."

Don Drummond, chief economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank, wrote the scathing report that shows Canadians, hamstrung by increasing taxes, have been restricted to economic baby steps during the past 15 years.

[. . . . ] Drummond, however, uses much more detailed methodology and shows that take-home pay hasn't come close to keeping pace with GDP growth, which rose a cumulative 26% in the past 15 years.

[. . . . ]





Women in Science

Women in Science Posted by Kevin Jaeger on January 22, 2005

[. . . . ] For any interested, there is actually a body of work studying innate difference between men, women and minorities but the topic is so politically incorrect it's practically illegal. I don't know who La Griffe du Lion is but he obviously feels his research can only be safely published anonymously on the web. Perhaps his work is incorrect, but that could only be demonstrated if the topic were debatable. The Summers affair is clearly demonstrating that no such debate will be tolerated on campus. [. . . . ]

Just look at this site and form your own conclusions about the verboten research subjects.





Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications

Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications -- Issue 2 - Evidence for November 23, 2004 November 23, 2004

The Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications met this day at 9:35 a.m. to examine the current state of Canadian media industries; emerging trends and developments in these industries; the media's role, rights and responsibilities in Canadian society; and current and appropriate future policies relating thereto.

Senator Joan Fraser (Chairman): Honourable senators, welcome to the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications, which is continuing its study of the Canadian news media and the appropriate role of public policy in helping to ensure that the Canadian news media remain healthy, independent and diverse in light of the tremendous changes that have occurred in recent years, notably, globalization, technological change, convergence and increased concentration of ownership.

[. . . . ] Mr. Chin: The paradox is that, while the access to international news and local news — all of that has grown so much in the last 15 years — the viewership does not seem to be as engaged.

[. . . . ] I do a lot of school outreach. During the war in Iraq, for instance, I would ask young people in high school, ``What is your primary source of news? Is it CBC Newsworld?'' A few hands would go up. I would then ask, ``Is it CTV Newsnet,'' and a few hands would go up. I would then ask, ``Is it CNN?'' Many more hands would go up. At several schools I said, ``Is it Al-jazeera,'' and the room full of kids raised their hands because it happened to be a neighbourhood with a concentration of kids from South Asia and the Middle East.

That shows it goes beyond what is available on cable because you can get satellite transmissions of news services that you prefer to watch. A lot of the parents are probably getting news services that reflect news from home more. That could be a challenge to the greater integration of society in terms of the kids watching what their parents watch and not turning to what we have traditionally turned to as mainstream news in Canada.

[. . . . ] Senator Tkachuk: All the news media is headquartered out of Toronto. Almost all the cable channels are in Toronto. All the cultural things that TV is to promote and carry are out of Toronto. Why do you think that is?

[. . . . ] Mr. Chin: . . . I do not think it is very good for the country that the centre determines what the cultural norms are in this country or that things get siphoned off from the regions back to Toronto and somehow get reinterpreted back to the regions. It could lead to a very myopic view of what this country is.

[. . . . ] Mr. Chin: That is right. If I showed up at the CRTC with a pocket full of money, anything is possible. It has now turned into a business for large companies that need to leverage their costs across many TV stations, and possibly across different media. [. . . . ]

Lengthy -- check it for yourself. This is very important to building a cohesive country. CBC should be part of this but it has been co-opted by the governing Liberals and spouts the mantra -- but not real debate. It has become a social engineering machine for the Liberals and that is not its mandate. It has been bought by the need to retain or increase funding and keep the rather good jobs they are used to. Apparently other mainstream media make do with much less in getting stories and photos / video coverage. CBC must be revitalized. This article addresses that and some of the problems in getting people to know what is going on.