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Post by bizzi on Apr 11, 2007 4:41:50 GMT -5
lol okay all is not lost...lol Thanks for clearing that up. And I do know what you mean. That is what the upper-class does... they always have, They always will.
"put politics ahead of Ontario children and families"
They all do... it's funny what B.S this is...
They screw people constantly with one hand and then distract you with the other.... while their .. "Oposition" empties your pockets.
NDP, LIBERAL, CONSERVATIVE, What ever... their all cut from the same cloth. And they have run this country into the ground and have forced poor people to suffer. ...but again, that is what those people do best, screw each other, and Canadian families...
Again... This corrupt heartless Government needs to go. It's the year 2007 and we need to leave this kind of stupidity where it belongs... In a soap opera.
Politics is fake. Just like wresteling.
They screw you, but leave you thinking someone is on your side... Then the other one screwes you. Then they take turns doing it.
And people really think these people care about them...
Man, it's the saddest shit I have ever seen.
Keep voting sheep, like it has ever helped in the past.
I mean how many times can Canadians be fooled?
ummm... when did politics start?
You know...... The future will prosper once we see things they way they really are and not how we wish them to be.
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Post by bizzi on Apr 11, 2007 4:55:51 GMT -5
That is why I lauph when people put their confedence in these politicions that they think want to help.
Democracy?
hummmm..... maybe in our dreams.
In a democrazy everyone has a say.... In the real world the only ones that have a say are these "Parties" And all their saying is "Lie lie lie lie, Screw the people, lie lie lie, We are your friends, lie lie lie... we want whats best for Canadians, lie lie, Get cought in a fraud scandel, let children die, We care about children, lie lie, cut this cut that, give ourselves rasies, children die, lie lie, we care...
When they talk that is all I hear. I guess I must be immune to the stupidity I see all around me...
It's so sad to be alone.....
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Post by bizzi on Apr 11, 2007 5:00:41 GMT -5
How can you people live in a lie like this? Or is it just easier then seeing with your own two eyes and hearts?
Such cowardice...
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Post by bizzi on Apr 11, 2007 5:04:25 GMT -5
Hey Revenue Canada, Get those systems back online yet?
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Post by REALITY on Apr 11, 2007 8:05:02 GMT -5
A kinder, gentler Safe Schools Act?
Special-needs students suspended more often By ROB FAULKNER The Hamilton Spectator (Apr 11, 2007)
The zero-tolerance Safe Schools Act will be overhauled this spring, amid claims it's biased against black
students and those with special needs.
It's expected to downplay automatic suspensions and expulsions in favour of alternatives like counselling, mediation and restorative justice.
It comes as Hamilton's public school board struggles with data that show it suspends special-needs students more than other students -- a trend that has led cash-strapped families to seek pro bono legal support.
Ontario Education Minister Kathleen Wynne yesterday said delinquent students will get more support from ministry-funded programs that help them reintegrate into the classroom.
That brought praise from a lawyer involved in past local pro bono work.
"Rather than meeting their needs from an educational standpoint, they were being sent home or disciplined using legislation that wasn't designed for that purpose," said Hugh Tye, of Hamilton Mountain Legal and
Community Services.
"Treat them individually. We certainly welcome a review and changes."
The details of the amendments aren't public, but the ministry will use advice from a recent review of the act which heard from parents, teachers, students and community members.
Guelph-Wellington MPP Liz Sandals chaired the Safe Schools Action Team that urged more prevention, progressive discipline, community involvement and programs such as healing circles for students kicked out of school.
The review urged individual safety plans for students who are disruptive. Sandals said that, while the act allowed principals to consider mitigating factors before discipline, the act must be clarified with better guidelines.
"It's a badly written act," she said of the 2000 act brought in by the previous Conservative government.
Although it was sold as "zero-tolerance," she said, implementation varied wildly.
Suspension rates from board to board ranged from 0.5 per cent to 36 per cent in some years. In the Hamilton public school board, it has yo-yoed from about 5 per cent to 7 per cent since 2000.
That board's 2005-06 Safe Schools data for the first time noted if disciplined students had autism, learning disabilities or other challenges.
Last year, 6.6 per cent of all elementary students were suspended; but the rate was 18.5 per cent for special education. High school rates were 10 per cent versus 15.6 per cent for special-ed kids.
Hamilton public board chair Judith Bishop welcomes the coming amendments, yet notes her board has added prevention programs. The Roots of Empathy program brings moms and babies into class to build social skills.
Although the Safe Schools Act promised mandatory types of discipline for certain acts, or "zero tolerance," this phrase was deliberately purged years ago from Hamilton public board materials as it sought other solutions.
Wynne said boards will get more cash to run programs and offer supports for delinquent youth. Conservative MPP Bob Runciman said the act helps students and the Liberals shouldn't "throw the baby out with the bath water."
More flexible school discipline
The Safe Schools Action Team report recommended:
* Individual safety plans for students with special needs who exhibit behaviours that could endanger themselves or others.
* Add preventive strategies and empowerment programs that focus on empathy, conflict resolution, etc.
* Support students and families affected by bullying or violence (with restorative practice, healing circles).
* Ensure steps in discipline where suspension may be necessary and expulsion should be last resort.
* Opportunities to learn from mistakes and focus on improving behaviour, and engage parents in the process.
* Consult special education advisory committees (SEAC) on board-wide safety for students with special needs.
* Communities should ensure recreation opportunities for youth.
* Expand the list of mitigating factors to be considered before suspension or expulsion (e.g. age, grade, language).
* Consider one-day suspensions to be served in school.
* Have one kind of expulsion, done by the board for at least 21 days, with alternative programs that must be completed before return to school.
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Post by Lucifer on Apr 11, 2007 22:01:58 GMT -5
And people really think these people care about them... Man, it's the saddest shit I have ever seen. Keep voting sheep, like it has ever helped in the past. That's the problem. I went to the store today to buy a package of cigarettes (Yeah, I know smoking is bad, but it's one of the very few vices I have -- I don't drink, do drugs, etcetera, etcetera. Anyway, I was asked to produce ID, and I thought this was very odd, considereing I had bought cigarettes from this retailer many times in the past. When I asked about it, he pointed me to a little sign on the side of the cash register. He said that I could call the (800) number and complain if I wanted to. I just said, "Nah, I don't care." To which he responded, "That's the problem." And that really is the problem, isn't it? People just don't give a shit. Not that being required to produce ID to buy cigarettes is a bad thing, but people just don't care about the constant intrusions into their lives and spaces by others. We all seem content to allow others rule our lives and decide what is best for us. And that's the problem. We just don't care. So I wonder why people don't care. Is it because they feel powerless to effect change? Is it because they believe that others truly know what is best for them? Is it because these little intrusions don't seem important? Why is it that people don't care? Why is it that I don't care? I suppose for a lot of people it's just genuine disinterest and the acceptance of the intrusions as being minor and inconsequential. I didn't care about having to produce ID to buy cigarettes because I just happened to have my ID on me. It was no great inconvenience. If I had not had my ID on me however, it would have been a different story. Then the ID requirement would have been a genuine nuisance. So I'm curious about what you think, bizzi. You seem to be cognizant of the fact that politicians, the upper class, and the general populace are unsympathetic to your plight, why do you suppose they don't care? Is it because your personal plight doesn't directly affect them? Is it because people would rather be doing other things -- things that don't remind them of society's abysmal state? Or is it just that people really don't give a fsck? Do you wonder why it is that people don't care? Do you wonder why it is that people are sheep?
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Post by REALITY on Apr 16, 2007 18:19:28 GMT -5
The Charter of Rights a blessing and curse for the courts
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Angela Mulholland, CTV.ca News Mon. Apr. 16 2007 9:52 AM ET
Twenty-five years ago, on April 17, 1982, then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau and the Queen repatriated the Constitution and introduced to Canada the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
It was a document that would revolutionize the criminal justice system, providing new rights' guarantees to the accused, but at the same time complicating the justice system to the point -- some have argued -- of crisis.
Of course, the accused always had rights in Canada. Before the Charter, Canada had the Canadian Bill of Rights, enacted in 1960 by John Diefenbaker.
But the bill was always lamentably limited in scope. Because it wasn't enshrined in a constitution, it was easily amendable by Parliament and had no application to provincial laws.
The Charter was something new, granting fresh powers to the courts to allow them to strike down unconstitutional federal and provincial statutes.
It also provided the courts for the first time with effective mechanisms to enforce our rights, says Michael Code, who has worked both as a Crown attorney and a defence counsel and teaches law at the University of Toronto.
"The problem in the pre-Charter era was there was an awful lot that went on under the radar that was never stopped because there were no effective remedies," he told CTV.ca, referring to violations such as illegal searches or interrogations.
"So the most important thing the Charter has done is brought police practices into the open by creating enforcement mechanisms that ensure that police act within the four corners of the rule of law."
Justice system delays
While most in Canadian criminal law would agree that the Charter has helped protect the rights of the accused -- and the innocent -- it's also been blamed for complicating and slowing the justice system.
Once criminal lawyers realized they could have evidence or confessions tossed out based on perceived Charter violations, they began to bring about more and more creative motions -- some of them trivial or altogether baseless.
In the summer of 2005 and again in the fall of 2006, Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Michael Moldaver raised concerns about the glut of Charter motions and the way they were dragging out the length of trials.
He noted that pretrial motions "have become this country's greatest growth industry," and accused many defence counsel of raising a "medley of Charter issues" simply in the hopes that one or two might stick.
These "fishing expeditions," as Moldaver called them, are not promoting justice, but delaying and obstructing it, taxing an already overburdened justice system and pilfering legal aid funds from needy litigants with legitimate causes.
Code notes the problem of a clogged justice system is not new. Within a few years of the Charter's inception, delays began, he says. It came to a head in 1990. That's when the Supreme Court, in a case called R. v. Askov, established criteria about what was a reasonable time for an accused to wait for trial.
With the ruling, tens of thousands of cases that had taken too long to get to trial were simply tossed out. While that was a high price to pay, the Askov case forced efficiencies on the justice system that continued through the 1990s.
"But these things are cyclical, and it has started building up again over the last five years," Code believes.
Of course, pretrial Charter motions are certainly not the only factor slowing trials in Canada. The rules of what can be called into evidence are always changing, and new advances in forensics, wiretapping and DNA have complicated trials further.
As well, the state has been forced to wade into more complicated cases such as the Air India trial and the case of Robert Pickton, while also holding "super-trials" for biker gangs and organized crime groups
"There is no doubt that the criminal process has become much slower as a result of the various developments in our law -- one of which is the Charter," says Code. "But it is simplistic to say the Charter bears sole responsibility."
In his address to the 2006 Justice Summit, Justice Moldaver lamented the "pox of complexity" on today's judicial system.
"When I think of how cumbersome our criminal trial process has become, and how it often takes weeks and months and sometimes years for criminal trials to complete," he said, "I cannot help but wonder whether in our zeal to create a perfect justice system, we haven't instead ended up with one that is on the brink of collapse."
In defence of the Charter
Marie Henein, who practises criminal law with Henein & Associates and teaches law at Osgoode Hall in Toronto, disagrees. She says the system is hardly on the brink of collapse.
"There are a lot of long cases; I agree with that. But they aren't the majority," she told CTV.ca. Nor, she says, are pretrial Charter motions causing the crisis that many believe exists.
"There are a plenty of cases where Charter issues are decided very quickly -- in one day or even one hour. Daily that happens, in thousands and thousands of cases," she says.
"Every day, the Charter is applied quickly and effectively, and rulings are made and people move on and it doesn't halt the system."
Henein reminds that the Charter does more than just guarantee the rights of an accused; it guarantees the rights of complainants, the rights of the wrongfully accused and all of society.
"There are all sorts of benefits that flow from it," she says. "The fact that police have to have a warrant to search someone's house isn't just a benefit to a person charged with a crime; it's a benefit to you and me and to everyone."
"The impact of the Charter is wide-reaching in terms of what we as a society have come to expect about what obligations the state has to the community."
Henein sees the Charter as a clear articulation of our society's values. And at only 25 years old, it's a much more modern articulation than say, the Bill of Rights in the U.S.
"Remember, our Charter was written for 1982 and their Bill of Rights came from their constitution of 1789. So obviously our expression is a modern expression of our rights."
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Post by bizzi on Apr 16, 2007 20:34:01 GMT -5
Their just words. Empty.... with out the $$$$ behind you.
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Post by REALITY on Apr 17, 2007 8:22:13 GMT -5
Former Tory candidate pleads guilty to smuggling
Mon. Apr. 16 2007 8:39 PM ET
Canadian Press
SURREY, B.C. -- Former federal Conservative candidate Derek Zeisman has admitted to trying to smuggle 112 bottles of alcohol into Canada.
Zeisman pleaded guilty to one count of smuggling in a Surrey court Monday, while five other charges against him were dropped.
The court fined Zeisman $5,000 dollars, gave him one year probation and ordered him to perform 35 hours of community service.
Zeisman also lost the vehicle he used to smuggle the liquor.
In July, 2004 Zeisman was travelling through the Pacific Highway crossing in Surrey when his vehicle was checked by border services officers who found the unreported alcohol.
Zeisman's lawyer James Sutherland said Zeisman had instructed him not to talk to the media.
Sutherland wouldn't explain why Zeisman attempted to smuggle 112 bottles of alcohol.
"That's in the record of proceedings,'' he said.
Sutherland did say the vehicle seized by Canadian border guards was a 1989 Mercedes, purchased second-hand.
After Canadian border guards discovered the alcohol during a second check of his vehicle Zeisman insisted the bottles were purchased in Canada, however officers later found receipts for most of the alcohol in Zeisman's pockets confirming it was bought in the United States.
"I don't know what Mr. Zeisman's motivation was,'' said Paula Shore, a communication spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency.
Officers seized 34 bottles of wine and the remaining 78 bottles were a variety of hard liquors, she said.
"The total amount of duties and taxes evaded was $3,840.98,'' she said.
Shore said the agency is trying to get the word out about these smuggling cases.
"We may convince someone else, who may be considering smuggling not to do it,'' said Shore. "You'll have a criminal record for the rest of your life.''
There's no rule that says a person can't import alcohol into Canada but the importer has to be prepared to pay duties and taxes.
Zeisman still faces a charge of dangerous driving causing bodily harm after a head-on accident he had while driving to Castlegar, B.C., for an federal election campaign meeting.
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Post by REALITY on Apr 17, 2007 22:09:40 GMT -5
McGuinty Government Doing More To Make Schools Safer
Proposed Changes Include Adding Bullying As An Infraction and New Programs
TORONTO, April 17 /CNW/ - The McGuinty government is proposing to make bullying an infraction that can lead to suspension under the Education Act. The proposal is one of a number of legislative amendments to the safe schools provisions of the act that would more effectively combine discipline with opportunities for students to continue their education. "Our first priority is safer schools and discipline that works," said Education Minister Kathleen Wynne. "Our proposed changes would strike a balance between the consequences for inappropriate behaviour and its causes, as well as provide programs so students can earn their way back into the classroom and complete their education."
<< The province is proposing: - To add bullying to the list of infractions for which suspension must be considered - That a progressive discipline approach be used to choose the appropriate course of action in the case of inappropriate behaviour - To replace mandatory suspensions and expulsions for students (except in limited circumstances) with the requirement that principals and school boards consider and respond to all infractions that occurred in the most appropriate way - To require that mitigating factors be considered before students are suspended or expelled - To clarify decision-making authority around suspensions and expulsions for principals and school boards. >>
To support these proposed changes, the government has allocated $31 million annually, beginning in 2007-2008 to make Ontario's schools safer. This includes $23 million to provide programs for expelled students and those on long-term suspension. The province will provide training to principals and vice-principals on ways to apply discipline in a non-discriminatory manner. These proposed improvements to the act are the result of recommendations made by the Safe Schools Action Team, which was led by Liz Sandals, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education. The action team conducted broad public consultations and based its report on what it heard from hundreds of people from across the province. "Through our consultations we heard that there were serious discrepancies in consistency, fairness and methods of discipline when it came to the application of the act, as well as a lack of focus on prevention," said Sandals. "The proposed changes offer a better, fairer, more equitable approach to ensuring safety in our schools, while also ensuring that all our students can achieve their potential." "The changes proposed are consistent with the spirit of compassion and concern that underpins the traditional approach to discipline in our schools," said Bernard Murray, President, Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association. "We're pleased to see the focus on alternative programs which will help get kids off the street and back into learning programs", said Dave Clark, Chair of the Guelph Police Services Board and Chair of the Community Task Force on Youth Violence. "The increased emphasis on prevention, intervention and partnerships with police and community agencies is a more effective approach to dealing with behaviour issues." The proposed amendments and associated funding would build on the government's current $28.7 million investment to make schools safer, which includes: << - $3 million for a three-year partnership with Kids Help Phone to provide more resources for bullying and cyber-bullying prevention support - $6 million for model projects to promote positive behaviour - $7.8 million for bullying-prevention programs/resources for schools and boards - $4.5 million for bullying-prevention training for up to 25,000 teachers - $1.2 million for bullying-prevention training for approximately 7,500 principals and vice-principals - $3.2 million for security access devices for schools as part of a Safe Welcome Program to help staff better monitor school visitors and limit points of access into schools - $3 million through the OESC Special Circumstances Bullying and Violence Prevention Fund for schools facing additional challenges
"Safe schools are key to student success, in learning and in life," said Wynne. "These changes are the right thing to do - for the kids involved and for society as a whole."
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Post by REALITY on Apr 18, 2007 12:44:14 GMT -5
Ontario turns out the lights on inefficient bulbs Wednesday, April 18, 2007 | 1:21 PM ET CBC News
Ontario will ban the sale of inefficient incandescent light bulbs by 2012, a move that follows in the footsteps of Australia, the province said Wednesday.
The government estimates that replacing the 87 million incandescent bulbs in use across Ontario with more efficient bulbs would save six million megawatt hours every year — enough to power 600,000 homes.
Changing to more efficient bulbs is also the equivalent — in terms of greenhouse-gas emissions — of taking 250,000 cars off the road, said Ontario Environment Minister Laurel Broten, who announced the move along with Energy Minister Dwight Duncan on Wednesday morning.
"It's lights out for old, inefficient bulbs in Ontario," Duncan said in a statement.
The provincial government is developing new performance standards for lamps and drafting regulations for the sale of bulbs it considers inefficient, the ministers said.
The ban is part of a wider energy conservation program.
More efficient lighting would include compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs), which use about 75 per cent less electricity than older incandescent bulbs.
Many jurisdictions around the world have recently moved toward banning standard incandescent bulb, which lose most of their energy as heat.
Australia blazed the way, announcing in February that it was going to prohibit the use of incandescent bulbs by 2010 in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
It is estimated Australia's ban will result in a 800,000-tonne reduction in emissions within five years.
Among Canadian jurisdictions, the Nunavut government plans to announce legislation in May that would ban the sale and purchase of incandescent bulbs.
Meanwhile, Nova Scotia's government warned in February that it plans to ban the bulbs within four to five years.
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Post by bizzi on Apr 21, 2007 8:31:04 GMT -5
So I'm curious about what you think, bizzi. You seem to be cognizant of the fact that politicians, the upper class, and the general populace are unsympathetic to your plight, why do you suppose they don't care? Is it because your personal plight doesn't directly affect them? Is it because people would rather be doing other things -- things that don't remind them of society's abysmal state? Or is it just that people really don't give a fsck? Simple, It's not their problem. Just like you said You had your Id so it was no issue. They have no reason to get involved. Well until it affects them personally. It's not their fault. They don't have time to worry, They have kids, bills to pay, a husband/wife to make sure isn't cheating, and making sure they look perfect to everyone around them. When would some one have time to listen to me? I am just some pissed off Guy who can't spell and is so negative. I haven't killed anyone yet. And besides. I am just some screw up Ex-crownward who is disturbed. And lived outside like an animal. what would I know? Aren't they better then me? I am pretty sure that is why they ignore me. I just hope one of them will have pitty for a petty low-life like myself. I mean I was convicted of being a piece of shit in the court of the upper-class for being a poor ex-crown ward. That is why I was punished with the loss of my son and exiled and disabled. Why should people listen to me? Because at this moment by ignoring me your saying that it's okay to get children tortured, molested even killed. Or wrongfully convict their parents of murder.... If some one would have listened to me when I started this almost 4 years ago. We could have saved alot of children's lives and the parents who were driven to their deaths by Governments mistakes.. Instead people ignored me and laughed at me while more children were killed and the relentless heartlessness that has driven their parents to their graves.... People say they want to help each other.. they sure have a twisted sense of getting the job done. Their so called helped children are growing up and calling them murders Well at least those of us who survived are . And not just a few... all over north America it's happening... Their are natives who can point the finger and won in court.. the convection of the government for doing it to them. Nothing has changed. Just their skills and determination of hiding it. those Res schools were not schools They were And they have papper work that says this RE-EDUCATION CENTER . The only employee names I could find except a few perverted night watchmen were people with social worker degrees. Not teachers... They went home to their kids while these native children had terrible crimes committed against them. And they knew it was happening. And said nuthing. They got busted... and poof they are now taking care of our countries children and now they are an un-touchable corporation that is more powerful then the government. You know your right they should not listen to me. Let it happen to them. Maybe that is their Karma. Or maybe their Karma will be that they find out there children were crack-heads because they hooked up with a ex-care kid with no morals and no conciseness and just cares about his own survival is responsible for where your child got hooked or end up dead. Or get stuff side by side with ex-care working girls who think nuthing of your children ... I am sure I don't have to keep going.. When I say I could be rich. Under-stand I am not joking. I choose my side because of what I seen. I don't like having people call me a nut ball. It's embarrassing to stand their and tell people what I do. I hate how It makes me feel about myself. But I do not have a choice I have been left with out one. Like I said rights? Freedom? What is that? I have been fighting for my right to exist since I can remember Everyone claims to be so different. Why is I am to treated the same by people for about as long as I can remember?.... So if people are treating kids like that and they are dying.. . it seems like if I don't say something who will. And they are dying and I am saying something.... I have seen shit you people would not believe. And it's just getting worse. These kids really need your help. Believe me I am 90% sure my son is safe and is not affected by C.A.S any more. I have fully accepted the fact I will not see him. I won't accept the fact they are doing to others.. So if I have to look stupid and get made fun of punished for saying it till I am a dying old man then so be it. That makes me feel better about who I am. I am making up for what I have done in the past by making those who were my trigger men and pointed me at those people and have them brought to justice. I was going to do it long before they took my son. And they knew it. If I would have gotten my son, think of how much clout I would have had. A successful computer tech, gifted, saying what I am now. With the scars on my body and my sons to prove it. They made sure that did not happen. So I guess they win hu? But that does not mean I get to stop... It's too bad. I am just glad my other half cares as much if not more then I do some days.. Must be the fact that her dad was 1 of the top 10 electrical engineers in this country. Guess us smart people just have to take upon ourselves to keep trying. I guess the question you have to ask yourselves is would you stick your children is foster-care willingly? No you would not. But then what does that mean? it means you know somthing is wrong.... but it's not your problem. That is why they ignore me. I call it cowardice. I am sorta used to it. When you sit on the ground as a 13 year old kid and ask for their help and they insult you, I have even had quite a few over the years beat the tar out of me. That stopped when I turned 18, I assure you.. or tell you to get a job... eh... I know people are not very nice. I am just hoping their are at least a few that are. It's a long shot, 24 years of being invisible my chances don't look to good.
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Post by bizzi on Apr 21, 2007 12:46:21 GMT -5
Get Andre boy in their. Make it your business. These kids... all of them are your future. You ever seen a dog chasing his own tail? People should really take a big and step back away from people, yourself and watch and take a good look... a long hard look. It's pretty funny until you see the side effects of your greatness. But it's not getting anyone anywhere... meanwhile...kids die... Keep arguing amongst yourselves. I am sure these kids understand that your idiots..... That might be the main reason they don't trust you to help them in the first place and your all your streets north America wide are full of runaways. I think that is a more probable likely hood of the reality, not they all have issues and need to be drugged... Call it a hunch.
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Post by REALITY on Apr 22, 2007 21:49:51 GMT -5
Government fails in anti-poverty efforts: interfaith group
Lynn Rees Lambert
Friday, April 20, 2007 - 08:00
Local News - The provincial government has made progress on the push to wipe out poverty over the last three years, but it is a long way from solving this issue.
The findings from a new book about poverty reveal nearly half a million Ontario children are growing up poor, food banks have never been busier and the working poor remain trapped.
The book, Lives Still in the Balance: Ontario’s Social Audit, is an update on the first book published in 2004 by the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition (ISARC), a group of major faith communities.
At its heart, the book alleges the poorest citizens remain worse off now than when the McGuinty government was elected in 2003.
The title tells it all, says Alice Gazeley, chair of Kingston’s Justice and Peace Commission, who participated in the 2003 Kingston audit that formed the basis of the original book.
The former Catholic high school principal is grateful for “small steps” the provincial government has taken but calls for more.
“We need a comprehensive anti-poverty strategy,” she says. “People of faith need to ensure poverty is an issue in the October provincial election.”
Jamie Swift is a co-editor of the book and he gives the province a C grade for its efforts over the last three years.
“With the line that says could do better.”
The updated book, that includes first-hand accounts from low-income people, is intended to “raise the profile of the social stain that is poverty,” says Swift, who is also co-director of the Justice and Peace Office of the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul.
“We want to hold politicians’ feet to the fire” on poverty issues, he states.
The book outlines the hardships faced by low-wage workers, those on social assistance, those who live in poor conditions and disabled people living in poverty.
Leigh Smith, a retired professor of environmental geology and a member of ISARC, says the government’s record on affordable housing is disappointing, “nowhere near to achieving its 2003 promise of 20,000 affordable housing units.”
In Ontario there are 122,000 households on a waiting list. In Kingston, about 1,000 people are on the waiting list, including this woman who describes what she had to do when she realized she could not afford her rent.
“I knew we were being evicted, so I obtained welfare for my oldest son and placed my youngest son temporarily with the Children’s Aid Society. I knew I could survive on the streets or in street shelters.”
Smith says the government needs “a plan and then the money” to make a dent.
“We need good economic policies to look after the poor, to bring this workforce to its full potential.”
Swift says much of the problem is that the current government has not rectified the fallout from the Harris/Eves Conservative government cutbacks.
“After a long campaign by anti-poverty groups, we’re seeing an increase in the minimum wage, but it will take three years.”
A new Ontario Child Benefit is also a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t go far enough, Swift states.
“It’s not as much as they would have received had the government fulfilled its promise to simply stop its clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement.”
The cost of ignoring the plight of the poor is huge, the advocates believe.
“We are losing a whole generation of young people who are growing up poor,” says Gazeley, noting that those living on the edge have no money for dental care.
“So they have their teeth pulled. Can you imagine trying to get a job without any teeth?”
With poor or non-existent dental care, there’s health problems that lead to heart disease, and that puts a strain on the health care system.
Is it not incredible, asks Swift, that one in six citizens lives in poverty in a wealthy province.
“Where are our values? The true test of a government is how well it responds to people in desperate need, not to those blessed with abundance.”
The group may be disheartened but they are not defeated.
Gazeley says it is encouraging to see the social agenda getting a higher profile in the new municipal council.
The mayor’s task force on poverty is “the first time we’ve seen an inclusive approach.”
One reason the book has been released at this time, Swift explains, is to “try as hard as we can to put poverty and social inequalities on the province’s agenda” in a runup to the October 10 election.
Ditto for the feds, he says, so that the issue is on the radar for that election, too.
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Post by REALITY on May 1, 2007 10:04:04 GMT -5
Actions of elected federal officials is very discouraging, reader says
Monday, April 30, 2007 - 12:00
Editorial - Letter to the editor and open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and all federal party leaders:
Enough is enough!
The continued questioning, incessant bickering and overly dramatic behaviour demonstrated by you and the honourable members of your parties during question period in the House over the past few days is a perfect example of why this citizen of Canada, and I suspect many others, becomes frustrated with our system of government.
We elected your members and those of the current government to provide our nation with peace, order and good government. Your behaviour (as a group) is, at present, not fulfilling that mandate. Do you really believe that your constituents are this concerned about the human rights and prison conditions of a small group of enemy combatants in Afghanistan? Terrorists, I might add, who have been directly responsible for the deaths of so many of our own soldiers.
This taxpayer doesn't think so, and I expect a majority of others agree.
Do you really think you should be devoting the amount of time, effort and energy you have to this issue? Indeed, perhaps if this much debate and concern had been shown over committing, equipping and supporting our troops in Afghanistan (and other theatres) certainly fewer of them would be dead or injured.
Of course we should be concerned about the human rights of others and follow up on allegations of mistreatment, but put please keep things in perspective.
May I strongly suggest (demand) that you devote the same passion to seeking redress for, the thousands of flood victims in Saskatchewan (and other disaster victims) settling native land claims, dealing with child poverty, helping our veterans and seniors, addressing environmental concerns and a host of other domestic issues? Just imagine what good might be accomplished.
What you have been doing of late in the House, is nothing but blatant political posturing and grandstanding. It is self-serving, and a waste of time and money. Please stop it.
By all means, hold the government to account. But please focus on the issues that really matter to your constituents and the future of our country.
John Forrest
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