(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 prices in Victoria · Friday May 11, 2007 by colin newell
Ok. So the word is out. The lock-step gas prices in Victoria B.C. Canada are a conspiracy of lies and deceit.
Yesterday I listened to both sides.
The center for policy alternatives calmly stated that the gas stations out West, particularly Victoria and Vancouver, are robbing patrons to the tune of 25 to 30 cents on every litre.
A representative from the gas monopoly was a piece of work.
With contempt and utter disdain dripping from his voice he offered: “Have you people ever heard of Katrina? Have you ever seen a refinery fire?”
As if I haven’t heard of Katrina? Ya. I have. That was the storm that devastated New Orleans. You know, the one that the U.S. government couldn’t much help with ‘cause they were busy tracking Osama in the streets of Baghdad.
Anyway – the pure contempt in this oil dudes voice was sickening.
He failed to acknowledge the 100 billion in profit that We put in the companies coffers last year. Like every other Canadian executive, all he could offer was a syrupy spew of utter contempt for the people that created this profit margin.
So what can we, as consumers, do? Nothing you say?
Think again. Ever heard of peaceful protest?
Try this.
Next time you need gas, pick out your least favorite gas station. That shouldn’t be difficult.
Pull up to the pump. Get out of your car. Pump 5$ worth of gas into the tank. Pay in pennies or small change. Buy a slushie.
And sit in your car for 15 minutes at the pump while you drink it. Conversely, buy your 5$ of gas. And spend 15 minutes wiping your windshield and wiper blades.
This is a peaceful blockade folks.
And remember one important thing:
The staff at ALL gas stations are your friends and brothers in this struggle. Do not harass the support staff at gas stations.
Yesterday I drove by a station near the Oak Bay junction where they had just “adjusted” the price to almost $1.26/litre. The staff were standing outside wondering where everyone was. Normally there is at least one person pumping gas. In this time interval, there was no one.
Anyway – want to do something about this issue?
Become an active member in the peaceful consumer army.
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!
Poison land · Thursday May 10, 2007 by colin newell
In an effort to harmonize Canadian pesticide rules with those of the United States, Ottawa will soon allow higher residue levels on fruits and veggies.
Harmonize? Harmonize?
You mean fold to the whim of America? Bend.
Mutilate.
My god. What is wrong with this country anyway?
Differences in residue limits, which apply both to domestic and imported food, pose a potential trade irritant, said Richard Aucoin, chief registrar of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, which sets Canada’s pesticide rules.
A trade irritant huh? Oh boo-hoo.
Pesticide and growth hormone abuse is so rampant in Central America that girls are reaching puberty at 11.
What else are we going to have to do to placate American industrialists.
Irritant my ass.
Read the full story on Canada.Com
