The Loss of a Great Leader: Jack Layton ♥

At 4:45 am on Monday August 22nd, 2011, New Democrat Party Leader and amazing politician Jack Layton, passed away from his battle with cancer. He was 61 years old.

Mr. Layton was a well-respected man who was admired by many for his dedication to his party, his ideals and the improvement of Canadian society. Always seen with a smile on his face and a positive spirit, he was a leader for many and an example to all. His easy going, energetic nature was well known as was his commitment to making Canada the very best it could be.

Before he was a member of federal politics, he was a city councilor in Toronto where he became well known for his social advocacy and forward thinking ideas. He tackled topics like homelessness, food banks, smoking, cycling, and AIDS in a time when many subjects were still taboo. Alongside his wife, NDP member Olivia Chow, he worked hard to make sure community and social justice issues were always addressed. He carried this same passion with him as he rose in politics to become the leader of the official opposition party, the highest the NDP has ever been.

Weeks ago it was announced that Mr. Layton's cancer had returned, afters years of being cancer free. An interim leader for the party was announced and a statement was released saying Layton would not be returning when caucus resumed in the fall. But to be honest, I thought he would beat the cancer. The idea that he would not make it through never crossed my mind once so his death came as quite a shock.

I've been watching the news and the public response is very touching. Many reporters have met him over the years and a similar theme has come across as they tell their stories: his honesty and friendliness. People have been gathering at Parliament Hill placing flowers and notes of gratitude and sadness on the centennial flame. People all over the country, no matter their political background, are in mourning for the loss of a great man.

Before he passed, he wrote a letter to the public. It can be found here. This is an exert of the last few paragraphs:

And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world’s environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change. In the months and years to come, New Democrats will put a compelling new alternative to you. My colleagues in our party are an impressive, committed team. Give them a careful hearing; consider the alternatives; and consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

All my very best,

Jack Layton

My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, children, family and friends and may Jack Layton rest in peace. ♥

Riots

You may have heard by now, but there were riots in Vancouver. Wednesday was the Stanley Cup Finals (the finals for hockey), and its was game 7 in Vancouver. The Canucks were facing the Boston Bruins for the trophy. I'm not going to get into technical hockey terms about what exactly happened, but Vancouver lost. Badly. 4-0. I didn't watch the game, because quite frankly I had no interest. I cared to know if Vancouver won or not, because I had to support a Canadian team, but that's it.

The flag of British Colombia in front of a burning cop car

Thursday morning, I walk into my mom's room and she's watching the news. I see burning police cars, angry crowds, looters, breaking glass. My first thought was "Where is this?", never suspecting for a moment that this was in Canada. But alas, I was wrong. After the game, people (dumbass people) started rioting and causing destruction. There were police on sight, prepared for this, because in 1994 when Vancouver was in the same situation in relation to the Stanley Cup, there were riots when they lost then. The police presence was larger this time, although no one really thought a riot would happen. Unfortunately, they were surprised by how quickly everything escalated. Some reports said that the police were overzealous and in some ways resembled the G20 in Toronto.

Quite frankly, I felt disgusted by what I saw. I thought of the majority of the crowd, who had nothing to do with the destruction, and were just disappointed hockey fans, got caught up in their surroundings, trying to get away and go home. A headline by the Chicago Sun-Times said it all: Hockey fans didn't  fuel Vancouver riots, idiots did. It is sad that because a bunch idiots, probably drunk, saw the opportunity to riot, they took it. They weren't doing it for some sort of cause; certainly not for hockey. But  just because they could.

This "Kissing Couple" became very popular

Now, Vancouver, a beautiful and wonderful city, has this dark shadow and a PR nightmare. After the success of the 2010 Olympics and just a general good reputation, they been sullied by stupid people. But even amidst everything that happened, there was still good (in a way). A video was released of a man who was bravely fighting off looters, trying to get them to stop from stealing and breaking windows. Unfortunately, some of those looters turned on him and started beating him. He was saved by bystanders who stepped in to help him. Screen captures of this incident were posted on the front page of the Toronto Star, making the (then) unidentified man out to be a hero, when I think he was really just some who didn't want to see he city destroyed. (here's the article). Although one wonders what he was doing beforehand. Especially since the issue of what those taking the pictures and recording the videos were doing and the role they played.

Here are some other links should you care to read more about what happened or watch a video.

The Toronto Star:
     Vancouver Riots could have happened anywhere
     Vancouver crowd turns ugly after Canuck's heartbreaking loss in Stanley Cup final
The Vancouver Sun
     Vancouver police grossly understaffed for Game 7 riot: union
     Youtube videos of Vancouver Riot destruction
     We will overcome the riot and its stain on our city

- Turtles

Wow. What an Election.

MY GOSH!!! What a day!! 

It was federal election day yesterday in Canada and the results surprised more or less everyone! Honestly, it was intense. There are some major changes in the government and within each party. I know that this is not a political blog but this is such a big deal. I'm watching the CBC News Network and their only two major stories this morning are the aftermath of the election and proving Bin Laden is dead. So here are the results (305 seats in total):

Harper wins majority. So much smiling.

Conservatives: They won. With a MAJORITY!! Never suspected that (I didn't vote for them). For the last seven years, they have had minority governments with frequent elections but they finally managed to pull it off and win 167 seats. So for the next 4 years, Harper is Prime Minister. According to youth sources (i.e. facebook) students are not happy about this at all. Most of the youth I know voted NDP, whereas the Conservatives are more popular with the older crowd. And although they might have won, 5 of their cabinet ministers lost their seats, so there is going to be a major shift in cabinet. The city of Toronto has 34 seats, and about 30 of them are now Tory. There hasn't been a Tory seat in the city since the 80s and with our new mayor being a Tory supporter, I hope good things are to come.

Jack Layton and wife Olivia Chow

New Democrat Party: They are now, for the first time EVER, the official opposition party. Since Canada became a country in 1867, there have been two major parties, Liberal and Conservatives. If one wasn't leading, then they were the opposition. So this NDP shift is huge. They finished with 104 seats, almost triple what they had last time around. Their biggest hurdle now is to make good on their promises. For many of the MPs elected, this is their first time in parliament, so it's a whole new ball game.

Ignatieff's speech

Liberals: This is one of the biggest shockers of the night. For the first time in history, they are the third place party, and a distant third at that. They finished with 34 seats. To top it all off, their very disliked leader, Ignatieff, was not voted in in his own riding. He lost to a conservative. During his speech last night, he said he would stay on until a new leader could be found, but I awoke this morning to a text saying he resigned. Earlier today, he left his position as head of the Liberal party, leaving them to sort things out.

Duceppe announces resignation

Bloc Quebecois: This, is the biggest surprise. Since the federal debates a few weeks ago, the NDP have gained a strong foothold in Quebec, where the Bloc has been ruling for over a decade. Until now. They currently hold 4 seats. My gosh, just 4!!! They held 47 before the election. Like Ignatieff, their leader, Gilles Duceppe, lost his riding and resigned. He had been leading the party since 1997. It has been said that many Bloc supporters have not been pleased that their sovernist goals and conservative values have not been more prominent with Duceppe, saying that he has leaned heavily to the left. But at least they have another four years to completely rebuild and remodel their party. Although because they only have 4 seats, they lost their official party status, and thus much of their funding. 12 seats are needed for that status.

May wins first seat

Green: It has been a great night for them. This environmental party decided that they needed to have their leader in parliament so most of their effort was focused on electing Elizabeth May in her riding of Sanich-Gulf Islands in western B.C. It paid off. The Green party won their very first seat, beating out a long time Tory cabinet minister. Congrats to them :)

I am hearing rumours about a possible Liberal-NDP merger, but I don't know if that's such a good idea. I think the NDP need their chance in parliament as official opposition, to learn the ropes and figure out what they really believe in and how to go about achieving their goals. Also, it is necessary for the Liberals to rebuild and find a new leader for their party.

I really want statistics to be released soon, specifically about demographics. I want to know if there was a higher voter turnout, how much youth voted and who they voted for.

This really is intense. We're going through a political change, we now have some stability and I can't wait to see where we go from here :)

♥ Turtles

Federal Debates/Student Voting

(Kind of long post ahead) I am finally typing up this post on the debates with an election update. I had my Spanish exam last night (7 till 10 pm. Stupid exam times). It was hard because all those drugs from the surgery on Friday were impeding my ability to concentrate and so for about a good 30 mins I was planning what to do in case the 100+ students in the gym taking the exam with me we suddenly stuck inside due to horrendous weather and how we would survive. Anywho, time for politics:

Elizabeth May

On Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, Canada held their political debates between the federal party leaders. (my post about the election here). Before the debates even began, there was controversy. 4/5 main federal parties were allowed to participate. The Green party, the smallest of them all, was excluded. Why? Because that party doesn't have a seat in parliament. Despite receiving around 1 million votes in the last federal election, their lack of parliamentary representation did not allow them to participate. 

Some questioned why the Bloc Quebecois, a separatist party from Quebec, should be permitted to debate, seeing as they only have seats in Quebec and that's where their interests lie. Others defended the Green party's position that they have a significant number of votes and a female voice (the head of the Green party is a woman) may be needed. The leader, Elizabeth May, participated in the previous debate a few years ago and handled herself quite nicely.

The debaters

The Tuesday debate was in English. Although I have yet to watch it, it seems to have been entertaining, or so the media, my brother and my friends have said. Apparently Twitter was a buzz, with #db8 (or something like that) being the trending topic. (I don't know if my terminology is correct since I don't use Twitter.) I've heard barely anything on the actually politics, so much as one liners, insults, the PM's behaviour and the set.

The NDP Leader Jack Layton seemed to have delivered the best performance, attacking the Conservatives and making his parties policies clear. The randomest line I heard of was one my brother told me about, by Liberal leader Iggy, on the controversial long gun registry. He said "Women get killed with long guns, short guns, they don't care. All they know is they're dead." Random I know. I don't even see how it's relevant.

Kind of creepy right?

The prime minister's behaviour was talked about everywhere. Instead of addressing his fellow debaters when answering a question, he looked into the cameras, as if he was talking to the Canadian people. I watched some of the French debate on Wednesday and he did it there too. It was weird and kind of creepy. I understand that you want it to seem like you are having a direct conversation with the audience, but you're not. It just looked wrong and out of place. 

Lastly there was the issue of the set. It looked like something out of a bad 70's game show. The colours ranged from dark grey to light grey and from orange to burnt sienna. Exciting. It was so drab and dreary and completely unnecessary. It is not very hard to find a suitable place to put four podiums, two moderators and an audience of 120 people. Go to any university, news studio, auditorium or theatre. Hopefully someone took note for next time.

I just read an article today about how some Americans have been taking note of what has been happening here; not so much on how it will affect the States, but rather our "antics", if you will. The French debate was originally scheduled to be held on the Thursday, but was moved because of a Montreal Canadiens game. It was a smart choice because it was the first in the playoffs (I think) and since the French debate really is aimed at Quebec, and Montreal is in Quebec, they would have watched the game. Although apparently Americans should be taking note, because other parties besides the Conservatives, are taking aim at American energy imports and ways to decrease them. 

Also, there is a movement started by Canada's favourite political comedian and ranter, Rick Mercer, to get students and youth to vote. And it seems to have been met with some success. I can say that I have seen many political debates and ideas, as well as groups and pages on Facebook to encourage people my age to sign up vote and become involved. We are not taken seriously as a political group and our needs are not met. I hope that will change and people will vote!

Election days is May 2nd and I still have not registered o_o. I completely forgot and now that it is Easter Weekend, I am not sure if I can, but I will be looking into that... Sorry this post is so long, but, have a good weekend :)  

Happy Easter/Passover/Earth Day/General over all day!!!

♥ Turtles

Rick's last rant about voting

and a website that went viral about our PM: http://shitharperdid.ca.nyud.net/

A Minor Political Rant

Mr. Stephen Harper

I don't know how many of you know, but in just over a month's time, Canada is having a federal election. AGAIN. This is the 4th one in 7 years. Ridiculous, I know. But what gets me is that I am relatively sure the whole country knows who is going to win. Just like in the last election. It will be Stephen Harper, our current prime minister. He and his Conservative party (like a more liberal version (a lot more) of the American's republicans and a bit more to the right than Obama's democrats), have been ruling this country with a minority government since 2006. And after the election on May 2nd, it will be the same. Some seats might have shifted here and there and it might be a larger minority, but still not a majority.

Why, you may ask, are we having another election? Because recently, a House of Commons committee has found the Harper Government (he actually changed the name on official documents from "Government of Canada" to "Harper Government") in contempt of parliament, because they had withheld documents on various subjects such budget spending and taxes.  This is the first time that any one in the British Commonwealth (which we are apart of) has been found guilty of such a thing. And that triggered an election.

Liberal Leader Iggy

My frustration stems from the fact that I feel like we just went through the same old stuff. The Conservatives has been airing attack ads on television for months, before there was even any official talk of an election. Their target has been the Liberal party (see below) leader, Michael Ignatieff. Their amo? He spent the last 10 or so years in the States, being an academic and teaching at Harvard, apparently only coming back to be prime minister. It actually makes for execellent ads, with the tagline, "He didn't come back for you!" While Iggy was popular upon his return to Canada, he soon fell out of favour. Which really leaves Harper as the only one to run the country because he's done it before and he's the only one we can picture on a world scale.

This election is going to be the last for many. Iggy will probably get replaced, and Harper might not run next time. The leader of the NDP (more info below), is really sick and the Quebec leader has been head of his party since 1997 and will probably stay there for awhile. So while this election may bring issues such as healthcare and education to much needed debate and attention, we all know what the outcome will be because there really aren't that many options. Hopefully next time there will be some fresh new faces and ideas that will really get the country excited. 

I know some of you may not be well versed in Canadian politics, so here's just a bit of basic info:

Ridings in Greater Toronto Area, for example

• We are a constitutional monarchy, with the Queen (the British one), being our head of state.
• The Prime Minister is our head of government and the Governor General is the Queen's representative
• We are divided into 10 provinces and 3 territories 
• Our electoral system is nothing like in the States (I still don't understand it and I've read both constitutions). The country is divided into ridings, like little sectors, and within each riding there are parties with candidates running for office. The ridings are the same both provincially and federally.
• The size of the riding is based upon population
• The party with most seats is the "ruling" party, if you will, and their leader becomes the Prime Minister. The party with the second highest number becomes the opposition. A majority means they have the majority of seats. A minority means they have more seats than the other parties, but the combined seats of the opposition and other parties is greater than the ruling party.

On the federal level, we have five major parties (in order of current popularity nationally): 

The Conservative Party, 

 The Liberal Party (like the Democrats, but more liberal),

 The Bloc Quebecois (a Quebec nationalist/separatist party), 

 The New  Democratic Party ( far left), 

 The Green Party (environmental party).

Now I know Canadian politics may not be your thing, but I hope you learned a little something something about it :)

♥ Turtles

P.S. Rick Mercer = the best political ranter in Canada. check it out! (his skits and show are awesome as well)