This just in - Canada does not matter · Sunday June 3, 2007 by colin newell
The Washington Post is on the eve of closing its Toronto bureau.
Which leaves no American newspapers with real staff in Canada.
I guess it is good to stay below Uncle Sam’s radar.
I mean, look what happened to Iraq?
Olympic Rant #10 - Live from Whistler · Tuesday May 29, 2007 by colin newell
That is right folks. In order to serve you better, I have come up to ground zero for the 2010 Olympics… Whistler B.C. Canada
The drive up here through all the construction was absolutely mind boggling – on a scale that is almost unimaginable.
Billions and billions spent on the 2-week party for uber-jocks, royalty and the corporate elite.
And all on your coin my Canadian friends.
Ok. Those words again…
Friend, Sea to Sky, host country and driven by nature…
Phrases I am forbidden to use…
upon pain of persecution.
Cheers – day one Whistler rant series.
Gas price blues · Wednesday May 16, 2007 by colin newell
Gas Prices in Victoria B.C. Canada
So. They are at it again.
Lemme see. What did we see on the way home from work:
$.129.5 at the Oak Bay Junction Esso station
And via one of the many gas price monitoring websites…
$1.36.5 in Ganges, Salt Spring Island
$1.07.5 in Dawson Creek
That is about 30 cents on every litre of gas purchased in Victoria that is being stolen from you by the gas station leeches.
Your provincial and federal governments are looking the other way because they are reaping a huge benefit from the taxes collected.
So in some ways, you are being robbed twice. Maybe more.
It is patently obvious that all the gas stations in Victoria B.C. Canada are in collusion to fix prices.
The gas industry in Canada reported over 100 billion in profit last year. That is money taken from you, the consumer.
And the rip-off continues. And will continue.
It is, afterall… government sanctioned.
Meantime the government of British Columbia is about to vote themselves a 29% raise…
and services for women and children get slashed.
In an economy that is truely booming with virtually no unemployment, why do I feel like we are living in a nightmare?
What do you think?
(Oh)Canada Police State · Saturday May 12, 2007 by colin newell
A Canadian no-fly list of people to be barred from boarding domestic and international airline flights is set to take effect June 18, just as the busy summer flying season gets underway.
Under the rules, as passengers check in for flights, whether at kiosks or counters, their names will be automatically screened against the government’s list, known as the Passenger Protect program.
The no-fly list will be drawn up by Transport Canada, with input from the RCMP and CSIS.
If a name is red-flagged as a possible match with a name on the no-fly list, the traveller will be directed to a flight agent, who will contact Transport Canada for a decision on whether to allow boarding. Airlines are responsible for protecting the passenger’s confidentiality.
People denied access to a flight will be able to challenge their inclusion on the list, but in the short haul, they will be grounded. And the airport or local police will be notified.
Critics say the plan will not make air travel safer, and will likely lead to the kinds of false positive identification of people that has plagued a similar list in the United States. The most celebrated example involved Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, who was barred from boarding a flight when he was wrongly identified as being on the list. Infants have also been banned.
As well, critics worry that it will prove almost impossible for those wrongly included to have their names removed from the list.
The federal government says it will provide a non-judicial and efficient mechanism for individuals to appeal their listing through a Transport Canada Office of Reconsideration.
read more
So. Let me get this straight. You have just spent 6 monthes to a year saving your money for that once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe, Africa or Asia… and you have sunk thousands of dollars into the planning and execution of this dream…
And because your name is John Smith or Jane Young and someone with your namesake is on this list, you are f*cked.
Plain and simple.
What’s the deal? We are already forced to show our passports on travel within Canada (by default, I mean who has photo ID other than their drivers license?) Is this 2007 or 1956?
And the Office of Reconsideration? Who thought that name up, Stockwell Day? Isn’t he the same jet-skier than believes in intelligent design and the fact that the Earth under Canada is only 3000 years old? Sorry folks – I don’t make this stuff up.
So anyway – please think about how this might affect you this summer.
Bon voyage my ass.
Comment [1]
Gas - Burnt at the pumps · Thursday May 10, 2007 by colin newell
Cheryl de Wolfe has comfirmed my suspicions all along.
We are getting screwed at the gas pumps.
Or maybe doused and set alight.
(Don’t try this at home…)
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has confirmed, pretty much, what every Canadian from Tofino to St. Johns, Newfoundland already knows.
They have us by the fuel injectors and ain’t letting go.
So as Cheryl de Wolfe says as she fills her tank:
Whistle a happy tune and imagine a dog actually eating a refinery. It makes the price of mobility a little easier to swallow
Grrrrr. Arf! Snipple! Snap!
