January 2010 – Page 2 – David Akin’s On The Hill

Rebuilding Haiti; building NHL rinks; and Snowskatchewan: Tuesday's Top newspaper headlines and parliamentary daybook

Rebuiding Haiti; trying to build a new rink for the Oilers; and Snow-Skatchewan : Listen to my four-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Tuesday's Parliamentary daybook by clicking on the link below.

You can also get these audio summaries automatically every day via podcast from iTunes or via an RSS feed by subscribing to my AudioBoo stream. Both the iTunes link and the RSS link are at my profile at AudioBoo.fm. Look under my picture on the left hand side of the page.

Tags: national post, globe and mail, toronto star, haiti

globe and mail, haiti, national post, toronto star

"Your vote is an inheritance and a trust"

I am very glad to have happened upon The History of London, a book written in 1894 by Sir Walter Besant (1836-1901 ) which I discovered through a Librivox audiobook read very capably by volunteer Ruth Golding. Deep in the book, Besant tells why he thinks his history is important and as a historian who (hopes) he is only sidetracked into journalism, I found myself rather inspired by this passage:

Consider how your liberties have grown silently and steadily out of the original free institutions of your Saxon ancestors. They have grown as the trunk, the tree, the leaves, the flower, the fruit, grow from the single seed. The Folk Mote, the 'Law worthiness' of every man, the absence of any Over Lord but the King, have kept London always free and ready for every expansion of her liberties. Respect, therefore, the ancient things which have made the City–and the country–what it is. Trust that the further natural growth of the old tree–still vigorous–will be safer for us than to cut it down and plant a sapling, which may prove a poison tree. And with the old institutions respect the old places….You will be better citizens of the present for knowing about the citizens of the past.

2. The next lesson is your duty to your country. .. You have the same rights that your ancestor had. He was jealous over them: he fought to the death to preserve them and to strengthen them. Be as jealous, for they are far more important to you than ever they were to him. You have a hundred times as much to defend: you have dangers which he did not know or fear. Show your jealousy by exercising your right as the most sacred duty you have to fulfil. Your vote is an inheritance and a trust. You have inherited it direct from the Angles and the Jutes: as you exercise that vote so it will be ill or well with you and your children. Be very jealous of the man you put in power: learn to distinguish the man who wants place from the man who wants justice: vote only for the right man: and do your best to find out the right man. It is difficult at all times. You may make it less difficult by sending to the various Parliaments of the country a man you know, who has lived among you, whose life, whose private character, whose previous record you know instead of the stranger who comes to court your vote. Above all things vote always and let the first duty in your mind always be to protect your rights and your liberties.

Tags: walter besant, london, history, democracy, voters

CAPP Rallies: Test passed!

I'm in Victoria, B.C. where I had a morning speaking engagement. I was free of that by about 1:30 pm and managed to make it to the Canadians Against a Prorogued Parliament (CAPP) rally here about an hour into it. When I got there, at Centennial Square under bright sunshine on a warm day, there was still, by my count, about 400 there listening to speakers (Organizers I spoke to said there were 1,000 at the start but I cannot verify that number). I wasn't officially covering these rallies but Canwest reporters were covering this rally and dozens of similar rallies across the country, all of them initially organized via Facebook.

Earlier this week, I had wondered here if a hastily-organized CAPP-like rally in Toronto at an event Prime Minister Stephen Harper was attending was a not-so-successful test of translating online activism into rubber-hits-the-road activism.

Based on initial reports, some from independent sources, some from partisan sources, it would be difficult to call this day of rallies a failed test. In fact, thousands at events across the country have shown up.

Headline roundup:

Canwest: Thousands turn out at rallies to protest proroguing of Parliament :Frustration with the Harper government’s decision to prorogue Parliament spilled from the Internet onto the streets Saturday, as thousands of demonstrators gathered at rallies across Canada . . .

Toronto Star: Across Canada, protests urge reopening Parliament: About 3,000 people turned up at the doorstep of Parliament Hill today to protest against its shutdown by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Canadian Press: Thousands across the country protest proroguing of Parliament: Thousands of people of varying political stripes clogged city streets across the country on Saturday as they called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reopen Parliament and get back to work.

Some links, pix, and pointers:

Here in Victoria, one speaker got a big cheers for: “Voter apathy makes Harper's misbehaviour possible.”
Counting crowds is always a tough call but an important thing to do. I actually count when it's going to be an issue. Here's one reason why: CP, an independent source, says there were 3,000 at rally in Toronto; Jessica Denyer, on Twitter, said there was 10,000; William Molls, also on Twitter, says 7,000.
Ian Capstick makes the case that, after you add 'em up, 25,000 people attended a CAPP rally. (Ian is the former press secretary for the federal NDP)
Toronto Star columnist Antonia Zerbisias notes that only Global National led their dinner-hour newscast with the rallies. CBC, CITY and CTV led with other items. (Haiti presumably? though I haven't seen the newscasts)
If there ever was an event built for the use of social media tools to let participants share their experiences, this was it. On Twitter, you can check out the #CAPP feed. (that's a Web link; you don't need to be on Twitter to play)
Pic from rally in Maple Ridge, BC outside Conservative MP Randy Kamp's office.
Outside Harper's constituency office in Calgary. Alexander Muir reports on Twitter that 250 attended this rally.
Flickr set from the Parliament Hill rally taken by “Andrew978”
Tony Tracy put pix on Facebook from Halifax Rally

prorogue, CAPP

Canada's task in Haiti "nothing less than the rescue of a shattered society", says Harper

Here is what Prime Minister Stephen Harper, speaking to his caucus on Parliament Hill Friday morning, had to say about Haiti:

“Canadians have been profoundly moved by the suffering of their fellow human beings in Haiti and Canadians have asked us to do everything in our power to help.

To that end, we have quickly mobilized an unprecedented relief effort led by the men and women of the Canadian Forces, coordinated by our diplomats and involving a small army of emergency aid workers. . . .

Their challenge in the coming days and weeks, as part of the multinational relief effort, amounts to nothing less than the rescue of a shattered society and the even larger task in the months and years that will follow is to rebuild Haiti, to transform its unimaginable grief into a sustained hope for the future. I want to commend all Canadians … for your overwhelming response to this disaster. We will continue to do our utmost to aid our Haitian neighbours and to help them find their way to hope. “

—

haiti

Bashing Wall Street; an oil sands boom; and the torch is back in B.C.: Friday's headlines and Parliamentary daybook

Obama bashes Wall Street; billions for oil sands development; and B.C. gets the Olympic torch back : Listen to my four-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Friday's Parliamentary daybook by clicking on the link below.

Tags: national post, globe and mail, toronto star, obama, milk, oil sands

Razing Port-au-Prince? Day readies cuts; and many in B.C. don't like the Olympics: Headline summary and Thursday's Parliamentary daybook

Razing Port-au-Prince?; Day gets ready to cut; and some British Columbians are down on the Olympics : Listen to my three-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Tuesday's Parliamentary daybook by clicking on the link below.

*Note: There appears to be a few audio glitches with this file — something that looks to be at AudioBoo's end and, as a result, is beyond my ability to fix.

A failed test for those angry at prorogation?

More people have signed up on a Facebook group to protest Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to prorogue Parliament than there are subscribers to, say, the National Post, i.e. 200,000 plus. Many have wondered if this and other online organizations of anger about prorogation amounts to much. Anti-prorogation rallies — some organized via that Facebook site — are planned for this weekend. No doubt journalists attending will be counting heads as a gauge of the intensity (is that the right word?) of these protests.

Now today, the very villain of the anti-prorogation forces visited Toronto. Prime Minister Stephen Harper held two events there today, the location and timing of which was not a secret. Toronto, of course, is not just any city. It is the country's largest with more than 5.5 million living in its metropolitan ambit. It is also the last major stronghold for the Liberal Party of Canada. Oh and here's something else: It's relatively nice day, with a high of -2C and some sun and clouds. Ok, it's a Wednesday and not a Saturday and these are not the “official” protests but still you've got some pretty sweet conditions for a vigorous demonstration of prorogation anger.

Well, the Canadian Press reporter at the Harper event counted “about 35” protestors “dogging” Harper:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is being greeted by chanting anti-prorogation demonstrators in Toronto.

About 35 protesters are picketing Mr. Harper's visit to the C.D. Howe Institute in Toronto.

The group says it's trying to draw attention to a number of rallies across Canada that are scheduled for Saturday.

Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament say hundreds of thousands of people have joined the movement to make MPs go back to work.

I stand to be corrected on this but if each Liberal and NDP MP whose riding touches on a Toronto subway line sent just two staffers or volunteers, you'd probably have “about 40” people there.

parliament, parliament, prorogue

Helping Haiti; hospital stress and a cabinet shuffle: Tuesday's top headlines and parliamentary daybook

Struggling to help Haiti; stressed out at hospitals; and a cabinet shuffle: Listen to my two-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Tuesday's Parliamentary daybook by clicking on the link below.

More troops to Haiti; testing in B.C. and drugs in Nfld: Top newspaper headlines and Monday's Parliamentary daybook

Canada will send 1,000 more troops to Haiti; issues about standardized testing in B.C.; and the need for pharmacists in St. John's: Listen to my two-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Monday's Parliamentary daybook by clicking on the link below.

Tags: national post, globe and mail, toronto star, haiti

Need legal help on a parking ticket. No, really, I do …

I know there's many more important things in the world but I wonder if any of you might have some insight into this particular problem:

In November, I travelled to the Heritage Canada building in Gatineau, Quebec and parked my car at a meter on the street outside the building. After parking, I discovered that electronic meter was flashing. It was out of order, a sign most motorists believe means — parking is free today.

I headed in for my appointment but upon returning, I had received a ticket for parking at an expired meter. Who knows when the meter returned to service but it was working upon my return and was apparently working when the meter maid came by.

On the ticket, I checked off the"Not Guilty" box and asked for a trial.

Recently, I got the trial notice in the mai and, to my surprise, the ticket that I could have paid "early" had I pled guilty in September for about $20 now comes with substantial risk. If I want to change my plea now, I will have to pay $57 to get off the hook. If continue, go to trial, and lose, I'll be hit with a $117 charge. Sure would have been nice to know how the fine was going to escalate when I first pled guilty but now it seems, in for a penny, in for a pound …

So here's the question for legal beagles or anyone out there with any experience on this:

Is it a sufficient defence to tell the judge that I was present and prepared to deposit a fee in the meter for time in the parking spot but the meter was defective and would not accept my payment?

Tags: parking tickets, quebec