Sandra Finley

2011-06-07 WikiLeaks : US bid to “shore up” Harper from the day he was elected

 Corporatocracy or Democracy or Administrative State or WHAT?, Julian Assange, Wikileaks, Chelsea (Bradley) Manning, Arjen Kamphuis  No Responses »
Jun 072011
 

The report on the leaked information is followed by an on-line copy of the original cables.  I rooted through the latter website;  I believe it is legitimate.   /Sandra

 

WikiLeaks : US bid to “shore up” Harper from the day he was elected

http://creekside1.blogspot.com/2011/06/wikileaks-us-bid-to-shore-up-harper.html

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

 

An embassy cable　written by  US Ambassador David Wilkins the day the Cons were first elected in 2006  suggests Harper would be useful in advancing the US agenda for Canada and that　giving him ” a success story” like the softwood lumber deal would “shore up” his ability to stay in office without appearing to “sell out to the Americans”.

It’s pretty well a quid pro quo blueprint for every Canada-US initiative Harper has dutifully followed ever since.

Excerpted:   (THIS IS WHAT WAS WRITTEN IN THE CABLES THAT WIKILEAKS PUBLISHED)

The election of a new government, after thirteen years of Liberal rule, presents opportunities for advancing U.S. interests in such areas as law enforcement and continental security, and in developing Canada as a more useful partner in the Hemisphere and around the globe.

Significantly, the socially liberal core values of the opposition are more in line with most Canadians than the minority Conservatives, weakening their mandate even further. Given a relatively weak mandate and tenuous hold on power, Harper will move deliberately but cautiously to get a few successes under his belt before doing anything even remotely bold.

Relations with the U.S. will be tricky for Harper, who along with many members of his caucus has an ideological and cultural affinity for America. But as he has done already with many of his core social and fiscal values, he will simply have to sideline this affinity in order to not be painted as “selling out to the Americans” to a skeptical Canadian public. I know Harper will be warm and cordial in his dealings with the U.S., but he also has to demonstrate that he has the ability to advance Canada’s interests with Washington, and he may feel compelled to step back from gestures that could be construed as a close embrace.

That said, I see a real opportunity for us to advance our agenda with the new government. I recommend early on that we look for an opportunity to give Harper a bilateral success story by resolving an irritant such as the Devil’s Lake filter system or entering into good faith negotiations to reach a solution on softwood lumber. Early success on a bilateral issue will bolster Harper and allow him to take a more pro-American position publicly without as much political risk.

Another area where the new government will seek engagement will undoubtedly be border security. Finding a few high-profile SPP-type deliverables to improve cross border movement of goods and services would help our image here as well as shore up Harper’s credentials. Laying this groundwork would then open the way for progress on cross-border law enforcement initiatives of interest to us, such as enhanced information-sharing, joint maritime operations, and more robust counter-narcotics efforts.

Enhanced info sharing on Canadians, the shiprider program, the imported war on drugs.

On other issues, Harper is committed to increasing spending on the armed forces and will do so, making the Canadian Armed Forces a more capable and deployable force; we have little to contribute to this debate and should stay out of it. He has also suggested that the missile defense decision could be re-examined.
With regards to our transformational agenda, there will be numerous opportunities for engagement. However, I suggest quietly working such cooperation with the new government through official, non-public channels, and that we focus on a handful of priority areas — keeping Canada in the game in Afghanistan as the mission turns more difficult and possibly more bloody; continuing to work together to keep the pressure on Iran; increasing support to the new government in Haiti, possibly even taking on more of a leadership role there.

And right about now I’m guessing you’re remembering some of Harper’s more bizarre outbursts on Iran, his caginess about withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, and Canada’s new “leadership role in Haiti“ where DFAIT is buying up property to house an infusion of Canadian officials.
Back to Wilkins’ cable :

“We’re going to be recommending senior level visits and consultations on foreign policy issues to help bring Harper and his new, generally inexperienced team into the fold as more useful partners.

I look forward to helping connect the dots with the new government so we can effectively advance our agenda.”

Afghanistan, Iran, Haiti, enhanced information sharing, war on drugs, joint maritime operations, security perimeter … There’s also a section on Canada “engaging more actively in other hemispheric trouble spots such as Venezuela, Colombia, and Cuba.”

Has Canada done anything independent of this cable under Harper?

David Emerson, who crossed the floor to the Cons to implement the soft wood lumber deal a week after he was elected as a Liberal in Vancouver, is mentioned in a second Wilkins cable just after the deal was signed with USTR Ambassador Susan Schwab eight months later.

Here they are quoted discussing International Traffic in Arms Regulations, a US law which proscribes (INSERT:  forbids, BY LAW)  Canadian dual nationals from some countries from work on the arms deals that comprise 40% of Canadian defense procurement from the US, and the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative　　:

“It would be better, she continued, if we could look at issues as if there were a common border surrounding Canada and the U.S., rather than as an issue caused by the Canadian-U.S. border. Emerson agreed. He said that policies such as the WHTI are a “running sore” in the bilateral relationship and are inconsistent with policies to integrate the Canadian and U.S. economies to the maximum extent possible.”

So, again, Steve, we ask: How’s that US security perimeter deal with Barry coming along?
. . . . . . .

Posted by Alison at 5:18 AM

Labels: Afghanistan, Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, David Emerson, deep integration, Haiti, Harper, Obama, security perimeter, softwood lumber, SPP, WHTI, WikiLeaks, Wilkins

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Was softwood lumber deal a gift so Harper government could be more pro-American?

http://www.embassymag.ca/dailyupdate/view/us_gave_harper_softwood_lumber_deal_as_a_gift_to_allow_closer_cooperation_on_drugs_americas_cable_06-06-2011

Even before Conservatives were elected, leaked cables show US was looking to influence new government on Americas, Afghanistan, cross-border initiatives.

By Lee Berthiaume　　　　　　　　　　Published Jun 6, 2011 6:05 PM

A newly-released diplomatic cable indicates the deal to end the softwood lumber dispute in summer 2006 was a gift from the Americans to bolster the Harper government’s credibility so it could be more pro-US in future dealings.

In addition, the document shows that even before it was elected, American officials were planning on how they could use a Harper government to advance their own agenda on law enforcement, border security and co-operation in the hemisphere. The cable lays out a number of potential policies and areas of co-operation—most of which have since come to pass.

The document from the US Embassy in Ottawa is dated Jan. 23, 2006, hours before Paul Martin’s Liberals were defeated by Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, giving the latter their first minority government.

“The election of a new government, after 13 years of Liberal rule, presents opportunities for advancing US interests in such areas as law enforcement and continental security, and in developing Canada as a more useful partner in the Hemisphere and around the globe,” reads the cable from then-US ambassador David Wilkins.

It does go to pains to note the weak position the Harper government would be in, not just because of its minority status, but also because most Canadians were more socially liberal than the Conservative government.

In addition, “relations with the US will be tricky for Harper, who along with many members of his caucus has an ideological and cultural affinity for America,” Mr. Wilkins wrote. The new prime minister would “have to sideline this affinity in order to not be painted as ‘selling out to the Americans’ to a skeptical Canadian public.”

“That said, I see a real opportunity for us to advance our agenda with the new government,” Mr. Wilkins wrote. “I recommend early on that we look for an opportunity to give Harper a bilateral success story by resolving an irritant such as the Devil’s Lake filter system or entering into good faith negotiations to reach a solution on softwood lumber. Press reports here indicate a growing willingness across Canada to get back to the table. Early success on a bilateral issue will bolster Harper and allow him to take a more pro-American position publicly without as much political risk.”

Less than four months later, Canada and the US reached an agreement on softwood lumber, with the Americans returning 80 per cent of the $5.3 billion in duties it had collected on lumber imports over the years.

However, if the deal was supposed to give the Conservative government an accomplishment to show the public it could stand up for the country and defend Canada’s interests in dealing with the US, it badly backfired.

A large number of softwood lumber industry groups, the BC government and the federal Liberals and NDP strongly opposed the agreement, declaring that the Harper government had in fact sold out to the Americans. The Conservatives retaliated by describing it as the best agreement possible and made the deal a confidence motion. The Bloc Québécois ended up supporting it to avoid an election, and the BC government also eventually signed on after a number of amendments. [ . . . ]

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http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=06OTTAWA194

Cable reference id: #06OTTAWA194

“All of them, those in power, and those who want the power, would pamper us, if we agreed to overlook their crookedness by wilfully restricting our activities.” — “Refus Global“, Paul-Émile Borduas

Full-text search Browse tags Overview Publishing history Private cart WL Central The magic of WikiLeaks: telling it like it is Andrew Fowler on Assange

Subject Canada’s New Government: Opportunities And Challenges
Origin Embassy Ottawa
Cable time Mon, 23 Jan 2006 15:42 UTC
Classification CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Reference id 06OTTAWA194
Source http://wikileaks.fi/cable/2006/01/06OTTAWA194.html
Release time Wed, 18 May 2011 03:30 UTC
History First published on Thu, 19 May 2011 10:42 UTC

VZCZCXRO9050 OO RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHQU RUEHVC DE RUEHOT #0194/01 0231542 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 231542Z JAN 06 FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1194 INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE RHMFISS/HQ USNORTHCOM IMMEDIATE RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE

Hide headerC O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000194 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS FOR THE SECRETARY FROM AMBASSADOR WILKINS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2016 TAGS: PGOV [Internal Governmental Affairs] PREL [External Political Relations] CA [Canada] SUBJECT: CANADA’S NEW GOVERNMENT: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES Classified By: AMBASSADOR DAVID WILKINS, REASONS 1.4 (B) (D) ¶1. (C/NF)

Summary: Unless the polls are badly mistaken, Canada’s Conservatives will win today’s election and Stephen Harper will be asked by the Governor General to form a minority government. The election of a new government, after thirteen years of Liberal rule, presents opportunities for advancing U.S. interests in such areas as law enforcement and continental security, and in developing Canada as a more useful partner in the Hemisphere and around the globe. However, managing the bilateral relationship with an inexperienced, inherently weak minority government also poses challenges and calls for some soft treading. End Summary

¶2. (C/NF) Assuming that the polls are right and he falls short of a Parliamentary majority, Harper will know that the Conservative hold on power will be tenuous. The Tory seat total will allow them to form government, but the combined forces of the opposition (Liberal, Bloc Quebecois and NDP) could cause the Conservatives to fall at virtually any time. The Conservatives also have no natural allies among the three opposition parties, so Harper’s government will have to take things one issue, and one week, at a time. Significantly, the socially liberal core values of the opposition are more in line with most Canadians than the minority Conservatives, weakening their mandate even further. Working in the Conservative’s favor, however, and giving them a bit of operating space, is the fact that the Liberals will need to switch leaders, and the Bloc may have hit its high-water mark, so no one will want to see an election too soon. But fairly early in 2007 the Conservatives know that the political sharks will start to circle in earnest. The last Tory minority government lasted eight months, and we could easily see another election within a year.

¶3. (C/NF) Given a relatively weak mandate and tenuous hold on power, Harper will move deliberately but cautiously to get a few successes under his belt before doing anything even remotely bold. His first initiatives will likely deal with the core issues he was elected to improve — corruption and accountability — for which he can gain widespread Parliamentary and popular support. This will allow him to test the waters in Parliament and get his team organized before moving on to areas that may spark controversy.

¶4. (C/NF) Relations with the U.S. will be tricky for Harper, who along with many members of his caucus has an ideological and cultural affinity for America. But as he has done already with many of his core social and fiscal values, he will simply have to sideline this affinity in order to not be painted as “selling out to the Americans” to a skeptical Canadian public. I know Harper will be warm and cordial in his dealings with the U.S., but he also has to demonstrate that he has the ability to advance Canada’s interests with Washington, and he may feel compelled to step back from gestures that could be construed as a close embrace. I would also note that, unlike Martin, Harper has very little foreign experience; he will tend to focus, at least initially, on bilateral issues closer to home such as softwood lumber and the border.

¶5. (C/NF) That said, I see a real opportunity for us to advance our agenda with the new government. I recommend Qadvance our agenda with the new government. I recommend early on that we look for an opportunity to give Harper a bilateral success story by resolving an irritant such as the Devil’s Lake filter system or entering into good faith negotiations to reach a solution on softwood lumber. Press reports here indicate a growing willingness across Canada to get back to the table. Early success on a bilateral issue will bolster Harper and allow him to take a more pro-American position publicly without as much political risk.

¶6. (C/NF) Another area where the new government will seek engagement will undoubtedly be border security. Finding a few high-profile SPP-type deliverables to improve cross border movement of goods and services would help our image here as well as shore up Harper’s credentials. Laying this groundwork would then open the way for progress on cross-border law enforcement initiatives of interest to us, such as enhanced information-sharing, joint maritime operations, and more robust counter-narcotics efforts.

¶7. (C/NF) On other issues, Harper is committed to increasing spending on the armed forces and will do so, making the Canadian Armed Forces a more capable and deployable force; we have little to contribute to this debate and should stay out OTTAWA 00000194 002 OF 002 of it. He has also suggested that the missile defense decision could be re-examined, but I strongly recommend letting him define to us what this means and only then respond to it. With regards to our transformational agenda, there will be numerous opportunities for engagement. However, I suggest quietly working such cooperation with the new government through official, non-public channels, and that we focus on a handful of priority areas — keeping Canada in the game in Afghanistan as the mission turns more difficult and possibly more bloody; continuing to work together to keep the pressure on Iran; increasing support to the new government in Haiti, possibly even taking on more of a leadership role there; following through with good governance and economic assistance to the new Iraqi government; working closely with us and other partners on Sudan; and engaging more actively in other hemispheric trouble spots such as Venezuela, Colombia, and Cuba. We’re going to be recommending senior level visits and consultations on foreign policy issues to help bring Harper and his new, generally inexperienced team into the fold as more useful partners.

¶8. (C/NF) In short, I see both opportunities and challenges in the coming year in this bilateral relationship, and I look forward to helping connect the dots with the new government so we can effectively advance our agenda. Visit Canada’s Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa WILKINS

2011-06-05 Cogent letter to Statistics Canada: my right to privacy is of utmost importance to me (Lockheed Martin in census)

 Freedom of Speech. (Remove some wrong postings from category), Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials), Privacy of Personal Information; Charter Right; Surveillance; StatsCan Censuses & Surveys  No Responses »
Jun 052011
 

Sunday, June 5, 2011

 

Mr. Wayne Smith

Chief Statistician

Statistics Canada

Ottawa. Ontario, Canada

 

Dear Mr Smith,

I write this letter in the knowledge that you consider the information requested in your current census form as vital for purposes, which are of little interest or value to me personally whereas my right to privacy is of utmost importance to me.

I respectfully request to be excused from your request for me to provide information, which I regard as an intrusion into my personal and private life. Due to a long career as a management consultant I am very aware of the overabundance of detailed information that is available on individuals the fact of which I find highly objectionable.

However my request to be excused from the current census is based on three important and non-personal reasons:

  1. I insist on claiming my right to privacy according to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom.  By abdicating my Charter Rights to privacy I not only abandon my personal rights but I also abandon the right of every other Canadian to claim their right to privacy.  This is not something that I take lightly as I sincerely believe abdication of this right is the beginning of absolute governmental control of the lives of its citizens.  Having had a business in China I am all too aware of how intrusive government control can be.

It is my clear and unequivocal opinion that my right to privacy supersedes any need on the part of government to manage its affairs and your request for personal information, accompanied as it was with a threat of legal action, contravenes that right.

2.      I am not alone in my profound concern over the choice of supplier for the software support made by Treasury Board.  Apart from the fact the choice is part of the industrial military complex of a foreign country, I believe at some point the database that you claim to be secure will be hacked.  Are you willing to give me your personal guarantee that Statistics Canada will not be compromised in any way?  What price will come directly from you or your pocket if it is?  Are you  willing to come to my door and apologize to me or will there even be an apology?

Highly competent organizations such as the US Pentagon, Sony Corp., Google, Federal Governmental Departments etc., etc., the list is extensive, have all been the victim of Internet hackers.  So what then does it mean when the information provided by your department states that only authorized personnel will have access to the data?  In truth it is unlikely that you or anyone else can give absolute assurance that Stats Can will never experience an intrusion of this nature.  To my way of thinking the question isn’t IF you are going to be hacked it’s when.

I would ask you to consider the following statement from one of our few trusted civil servants, Jennifer Stoddard, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner.  In her “Message from the Privacy Commissioner” she writes; “Technological advances hold out the promise of greater convenience, but sometimes at a cost to human rights such as privacy and the ability to control our personal information.  Meanwhile, governments and businesses have a seemingly insatiable appetite for personal information.  Governments appear to believe – mistakenly, I would argue – that the key to national security and public safety is collecting mountains of personal data.  Privacy often receives short shrift as new anti-terrorism and law enforcement initiatives are rolled out.” Her comments are vitally important to those of us that choose to resist this constant intrusion into our personal lives, of which Stats Can is a participant.

3.     In addition, Stats Canada has received over $10,000,000. for information since 1996 from information that it has received through the collection of census data which is repackaged and sold.  Your department claims that no individual or personal information is sold but it is combined into consolidated statistical information that is sold; however I would like to point out to you that my information is a part of that consolidation for which Stats Canada is receiving money.  I therefore insist that a part of the monies received by Statistics Canada is rightfully mine.  If I am to be forced to provide data that is then sold to others it is only reasonable and just that I be compensated for that contribution.

As stated at the beginning of this letter I am a very private person and I more than strongly object to the way that information regarding the personal lives of individuals, including myself, are so disrespectfully collected and utilized for purposes that others profit by.  It is of little wonder that there is growing mistrust of all levels of government not the least of which is Statistics Canada.

Finally, I would like to point out that the self-serving admonition on the outside of the envelope that “It’s the law” is a poorly masked threat and I doubt anyone takes kindly to threats.

I realize you believe in the importance of statistical information and the value of that data and it is quite likely that you cannot conceive of anything more important than the statistics you desire but much more important than your need for data is my need for privacy.  Therefore, I will not, under any circumstances, respond to your request to provide private information regarding my personal life.  I respectfully decline to participate in the current or any other census taking from Stats Canada.

Yours sincerely;

(INSERT:  I am not publishing the author’s name at this time.  /Sandra)

2011-06-04 Beyond Border Working Group, stop them.

 Trade Deals, PPPs, Integration Canada-U.S.  No Responses »
Jun 042011
 

Dear Judy,

I sent the following to all the Conservative MP’s.  I am hoping that you will add your voice to the fight for Canada.

– – – – –  – – – – — – –

I hope you will take a minute to review the appended and arrive at your own conclusion.  Please stand up to your leadership.

Americans nor Canadians want integration of Canada and the U.S.

Failure to stop the Beyond Border Working Group will create greater and justified civil disobedience.

I sent the following to Lou Dobbs from CNN.  It explains.

Sincerely,

Sandra Finley

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – — –  – —

SENT:  Sat 6/4/2011 1:02 PM

TO:  lou  AT  loudobbs.com

Dear Lou,

IN FOLLOW-UP TO your coverage:

YouTube video, CNN Report, Lou Dobbs – reporter Bill Tucker, on the plans for North American Union 

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?289963-Do-you-remember-that-whole-North-American-Union-conspiracy-It-may-not-be  

  The North American Union agenda has accelerated with the Harper majority Government elected on May 2nd  in Canada.    See the appended  Beyond the Border Working Group  “public consultation”.   Disregard the Government’s deadline (yesterday) for input.

I am hoping that you (Americans) will join with Canadians in an onslaught of demands to stop the North American Union (NAU).

The email addresses (Government of Canada) to send protest to:

border@ic.gc.ca; rcc-ccr@tbs-sct.gc.ca

Many thanks for your consideration.

I am sorry for the unkind references to the U.S.  in my communication appended.

My grandparents came from the U.S.  I have many friends in the U.S.

It is not “Americans” but  “Corporations” that are behind the lawlessness and corruption.

Best wishes,

Sandra Finley

Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada

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EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR THE BEYOND BORDER WORKING GROUP   &  LETTER OF PROTEST

 From: Sandra Finley
Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2011 10:45 PM
To: border@ic.gc.ca; rcc-ccr@tbs-sct.gc.ca
Subject: Beyond Border Working Group

Dear Sirs and Mes dames,

  1. The U.S. is floundering in debt and corruption, hated abroad.   You are integrating Canada with a ship that is sinking.
  2. I am very pleased that you think I will believe your initiatives “would improve security while supporting economic competitiveness, job creation and prosperity”.   I’ll let the American experience speak to that.  They know best how NAFTA has sent their manufacturing sector off-shore and how de-regulation to serve corporate interests (greed) has turned a million home-owners out into the streets.   You are espousing plans that have brought the American economy into bankruptcy and the international economic system to the brink.   You want to bring Canada to the same fate as the Americans.   Anyhow, I was saying that I am pleased you think I will believe your propaganda.  It signals to me that you are delusional.
  3. Your “joint action plan for . .  economic competitiveness”  is nothing more than a plan for handing over the Governance function to Corporate interests.  Those interests tend to be American.  American corporate interests want to secure access to resources, aided by the military-industrial complex if people resist.   It makes me want to get out my knife that is used for castrating calves.  I won’t, of course, use it on you!
  4. Your “joint action plan”  is an act of treason and deception.  Unmanned drones are already deployed along the Canada-U.S. border, etc etc  – the making of a military state.  Perhaps you have an addicted personality – – addicted personalities are master manipulators and adept at lying (I say this because of the propaganda and deception).
  5. I hope you are consulting with Americans as well as Canadians.  As you will know, the Americans are even more ready than Canadians to kill anything to do with the North American Union (related to NAFTA).  And they are better than Canadians at killing.
  6. You are engaged in illegitimate process.  You are engaged in deception.  You are claiming “public consultation” but are circumventing democratic participation by giving almost no notice to the public.   The deadline for input is June 3rd.  Most of your web pages about these consultations are dated May 26th – – one week ago.   The election was on May 2nd.   How much notice did you give?  How did you publicize the consultations?

Thank-you for this opportunity to express my point-of-view.

I wish it would make a difference.  But it won’t.  These consultations are a sham.  You have already sold us out.   (It doesn’t mean it’s the end of the battle.)

But you know, I don’t really get it.

Is it that you only love money?   and not something that is at least alive?

Otherwise, why would you do these dastardly deeds?

I would just like to understand that.  Can you explain it?  Is there some other motivator besides money?

If there isn’t, I am truly sorry for you.

As always,

Sandra Finley

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Subject: HIGH PRIORITY: Canada-U.S. Perimeter Deal and Economic Integration. DEAD-LINE FOR INPUT to the GOVERNMENT IS JUNE 3rd

People in the U.S. will want to know about this, too.

  CONTENTS

  1. “BEYOND THE BORDER WORKING GROUP” (CANADA – U.S.), ONE WEEK NOTICE, ON-LINE PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS.
  2.  IF YOU THINK THIS ISN’T NORTH AMERICAN INTEGRATION, CHECK OUT THESE VARIOUS SOURCES.  IT IS NOT CONSPIRACY THEORY. 

= = = = =  = = = = = = = = = = = == = = = =  = = = = ==  

  1.  “BEYOND THE BORDER WORKING GROUP” (CANADA – U.S.),  ONE WEEK NOTICE,  ON-LINE PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS.

Beyond the Border Working Group

The Beyond the Border Working Group wants to hear from you on ways to preserve and extend the benefits the close relationship between Canada and the United States has helped bring to Canadians and Americans alike. Your input will inform the development of a joint action plan for perimeter security and economic competitiveness.

From now through to June 3, 2011, you can participate in our online consultation and provide your thoughts on initiatives that would improve security while supporting economic competitiveness, job creation and prosperity.

Your input will inform the development of a joint action plan for perimeter security and economic competitiveness.

http://www.borderactionplan-plandactionfrontalier.gc.ca/psec-scep/consultations-consultations.aspx?lang=eng= = = = = = = = = =  == =  == =  ==  = = = = = = = = = = = = = = 

2.  IF YOU THINK THIS ISN’T NORTH AMERICAN INTEGRATION, CHECK OUT THESE VARIOUS SOURCES.  IT IS NOT CONSPIRACY THEORY. 

a.  YouTube video, CNN Report, Lou Dobbs – reporter Bill Tucker, on the plans for North American Union

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?289963-Do-you-remember-that-whole-North-American-Union-conspiracy-It-may-not-be  

b.     http://sandrafinley.ca/?p=2222  2011-02-08 Canada kept U.S. border talks under wraps

“The federal government deliberately kept negotiations on a border deal with Washington secret while it planned ways to massage public opinion in favour of the pact, according to a confidential communications strategy. . . . “

c.      http://sandrafinley.ca/?p=1322  2011-02-08  CETA plus Harper signs new security perimeter deal without consultation 

d.     http://sandrafinley.ca/?p=2436    2011-05-02   WikiLeaks Exposes North American Integration Plot

 e.      http://sandrafinley.ca/?p=2220   2009-02-18 US/Canada Border Increasingly Militarized, Unmanned drone prowls over the lonely prairie. G&M  

f.        Some important Additional background.

You can find a taste of the agenda in the Maclean’s magazine interview with Ron Covais,  “President of the Americas” for Lockheed Martin Corporation.  Click on 2006-09-13  –    it makes the agenda clear, and HOW it is done.

If there is a SINGLE most important event in the serial acts of treason by Canadian officials (the quislings) it would be the “Canada First Defence Strategy”.  It’s not lengthy.  Even if you have read it before, I highly recommend reading it again.

Perhaps the SECOND most important event is the Troop Exchange Agreement.   It is addressed in 2008-02-23  and in 2008-02-27.

In THIRD place, I’d vote for the tactics used at Montebello.  Police officers were trained, disguised and deployed for the purpose of turning a peaceful protest violent.  The message to citizens:  do not get involved in protest.   Information at:

  •  2007-08  The video of the protest catches the disguised police officers. The later explanation by the Police Chief is included.
  • 2008-11-28  Follow-up report – no public inquiry.

 The addresses for making submissions to the Working Group (note that there are no names, the members are all anonymous)  are at:

http://www.borderactionplan-plandactionfrontalier.gc.ca/psec-scep/consultations-consultations.aspx?lang=eng

These people do not have a mandate to do what they are doing.

I hope that Canadians will see the link:

–        The reports on the integration repeatedly mention that the Americans want the information on Canadians.

–        In the Macleans Magazine article in item f., Lockheed Martin President details how they are going to circumvent democratic process to get what they want because they know that citizens will not allow it to happen, if they know.

–        Another vehicle for resisting the integration is to refuse to cooperate with the census.  Lockheed Martin plays a role in the Canadian census and they are a big part of the corporate effort behind the integration (among other foul play).

We are dragons.  Remember.

2011-06-03 Canada to set up military bases abroad

 Peace or Violence  No Responses »
Jun 032011
 

Scroll through a sampling of reports:  Montreal Gazette, Calgary Herald,  Press TV,  Rabble.ca .  (Originally reported by Le Devoir, but my French is poor!)

Montreal Gazette:  http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hPqxA8NsB16aA8gt3PvJKBspPCBw?docId=CNG.c0c32039955369c191763a9365df1b65.771 

Canada’s military set to increase footprint abroad

(AFP) – Jun 3, 2011

OTTAWA — Canada is looking to expand its military reach by setting up staging points in Germany, Jamaica and elsewhere to support humanitarian and combat missions abroad, officials and media said Friday.

Jay Paxton, spokesman for Defense Minister Peter MacKay, told AFP: “Military planners are pursuing logistical agreements to ensure Canada is ready to respond quickly to future humanitarian disasters and international crises.”

The warehouses of military equipment and other facilities would support “high-tempo expeditionary operations in places such as Afghanistan, the Middle East, Haiti, Africa and most recently in protecting civilian life in Libya.”

However, he added, “this government and the Canadian Forces have no intention of creating permanent large bases in overseas locations.”

According to Canadian media, Ottawa has reached agreements to open new bases in Germany and Jamaica, and is negotiating with Kuwait for another in that country.

As well, the Canadian Forces are reportedly eyeing a presence in Senegal, South Korea, Kenya and Singapore.

Canada currently uses several of its allies’ bases around the world to support its military deployments, including a US base in Germany and a British base in Cyprus as a place to decompress after serving on the front line in Afghanistan and before returning home.

In October, Canada was forced to close a top-secret military base in Dubai that was part of a key supply route to Afghanistan after refusing to grant the UAE’s two national carriers, Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways, more landing rights.

During the Cold War, Canada also maintained two bases in Germany but closed them in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Canada currently has troops supporting UN missions in Haiti, Sierra Leone, Darfur and southern Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Sinai peninsula, Cyprus and Kosovo.

Canadian fighter jets are also taking part in the NATO mission in Libya, and Ottawa plans to send 950 military trainers to Afghanistan to coach Afghans after its 2,800 combat troops withdraw from the war-torn country in July.

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http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/canada-in-afghanistan/Growing+military+niche+baffling/4935927/story.html

Growing our military niche baffling 

By Kris Kotarski, For the Calgary Herald June 13, 2011
 

When handed a political hot potato, make some freedom fries.

At least that’s what Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s office has been trying to do, after French language newspaper Le Devoir reported earlier this month that the Canadian government had completed agreements for new foreign military bases in Jamaica and Germany, and was closing another deal with Kuwait.

Why this sudden military (and budgetary) expansion for a middle power with a war-weary population that traditionally associates its foreign role with peacekeeping and diplomacy? MacKay calls this “prudent planning.”

“The focus of the planning, let’s be clear, is our capability for expeditionary participation in international missions,” he said.

“We are big players in NATO. We’re a country that has become a go-to nation in response to situations like what we’re seeing in Libya, what we saw in Haiti. . . .”

That was a good and honest answer, but in a sign of just how uncomfortable the minister was taking questions on Canada’s expanding foreign military engagement, he fell back on jargon explaining the foreign bases in a manner that no layman could understand.

“We are constantly working within that paradigm of countries, to see where we can bring that niche capability to bear. It’s part of planning and preparation, in conjunction with our equipment needs.”

What “paradigm of countries” is MacKay talking about? Le Devoir reported that Canada is also in negotiations with Senegal, Kenya, Tanzania, Singapore and South Korea. To further the confusion, while MacKay confirmed that Canada is looking at setting up bases around the world to better position the military to participate in international missions, a day later, his spokesman said that while “prudent planning is necessary to ensure that future expeditionary operations are fully supported,” Canada has “no intention of creating permanent large bases in overseas locations.”

Would non-permanent large bases in overseas locations be acceptable?

Perhaps permanent bases that are small?

When considering the possibilities, I could not help but think of veteran journalist Tom Engelhardt, who continues to delight in the linguistic charm of what the Bush administration once called “enduring camps,” which is perfectly flaccid Pentagonese for something deeply unpopular even in the United States, mainly, permanent large bases in overseas locations such as Afghanistan and Iraq.

With Canada’s most prominent and most expensive military engagement set to draw down this summer with the end of our combat mission in Afghanistan, and with the government promising tough action to balance the budget, overseas bases seem like a dubious investment, unless Canada plans to bring our “niche capability to bear” a lot more often across the world.

Perhaps this is what MacKay and Prime Minister Stephen Harper have in store, but according to a February 2011 Angus Reid poll, Canada is a war-weary nation. That poll had Canadians opposing the war in Afghanistan by a 2-to-1 margin, with support hitting an all-time low of 32 per cent with 63 per cent of Canadians against.

Meanwhile, Canada’s engagement in Libya -which has cost $26 million to date -is up for a parliamentary vote on Wednesday. When the government extends what was supposed to be a short mission, the costs will rise to an estimated $60 million by the end of September, and perhaps the Canadian public will begin to pay attention.

Or perhaps not. Perhaps Canadians are satisfied with our foreign and defence policy being conducted behind closed doors with only an occasional press report about something as significant as overseas military bases disturbing the proverbial peace. This state of affairs probably suits our secretive government just fine, and it is a good bet that our military allies south of the border are fairly enthusiastic about having a junior partner with its own “enduring camps” across the globe.

But what does this mean for Canadian troops? What does it mean for our budget? Actually, it’s pretty simple -overseas military bases make overseas military engagements easier for our governments to commit to.

After all, we are big players in NATO, a go-to nation, always ready to bring our “niche capability to bear.”

Kris Kotarski’s column appears every second Monday.

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

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http://www.presstv.ir/detail/183110.html 

Canada to set up military bases abroad
Sat Jun 4, 2011 4:38AM
Canadian Minister of Defense Peter MacKay
The Canadian military says it plans to set up military bases in seven countries to gain the “capability for expeditionary participation in international missions.”

Canada’s Minister of Defense Peter MacKay said on Friday that the main goal will be supporting the humanitarian and combat missions abroad, AFP reported.

The Canadian media said Ottawa has so far reached agreements to open new bases in Germany and Jamaica, and is negotiating with Kuwait. Other targeted countries include Senegal, South Korea, Kenya, and Singapore.

David Bercuson, a senior research fellow with the Canadian Defense and Foreign Affairs Institute, said the Canadian facilities are more likely to be “small storage facilities” comprising an airfield, a warehouse and two or three soldiers.

“They will be what you would call ‘forward supply depots,’ strategically placed near parts of the world where Canadian Forces might be deployed in future,” he further explained.

Canada was forced in October 2010 to close a top-secret military base in Dubai that was part of a key supply route to Afghanistan after refusing to grant the UAE’s two national carriers, Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways, more landing rights.

During the Cold War, Canada also maintained two bases in Germany but closed them in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

JM/AGB/AKM/HRF

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From  RABBLE.CA

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/derrick/2011/06/expanding-foreign-military-bases-serves-harper%E2%80%99s-war-agenda

Expanding foreign military bases serves Harper’s war agenda

By Derrick O’Keefe | June 8, 2011

In just a few short weeks, it’s already become obvious that the actions of the new Harper majority government will require a strong response from Canada’s anti-war movement.

The aggressive militarism of this government is central to its long-term political project for transforming this country — that’s why it’s imperative that all those fighting against Harper’s domestic agenda also oppose his government’s foreign policy.

Any day now, the Conservatives will put an extension of the war in Libya through the new Parliament. There was scarcely any debate or discussion of Canada’s role in NATO’s intervention in Libya during the recent election campaign, despite the fact that Libya is the biggest air operation by Canadian Forces since the Kosovo War over a decade ago.

Canadian fighter jets have flown more than 400 sorties over Libya thus far, and NATO’s air campaign is intensifying. The Canadian planes have been operating from a NATO base in Italy. To fight wars from the air, you need to have the use of foreign bases.

Last week, Le Devoir broke the news that the Canadian government had completed agreements for new foreign bases in Jamaica and Germany, with talks ongoing to establish bases in Kuwait, Tanzania and several other countries.

Late last week, Minister MacKay denied that Canada had any plans for “large military bases” abroad. This is an attempt to divert opposition to foreign Canadian bases through semantics: whether large or small, expanding the number of bases abroad will expand the ability of Canada under the Harper government to take part in more wars and military interventions.

In response to this news, the Canadian Peace Alliance has released the following statement. 

Expanding foreign military bases serves Harper’s war agenda

The Canadian Peace Alliance condemns the plans of the Harper government to establish new foreign military bases for Canada. This is a policy that has been in the works for some time but, like so much else about Canada’s foreign policy, it was completely excluded from the discussion during the recent federal election.

The idea of expanding foreign military bases for Canada goes against the wishes of the vast majority of Canadians. With the Harper government set to make a series of cuts to public services and spending generally, one of the few areas where they seem intent on spending even more is on war and militarism.

Last week, Peter MacKay admitted that Canada had already made agreements for bases in Germany and Jamaica, and were in talks with Kuwait and a number of other countries. MacKay stated that the focus was on increasing the Canadian military’s “capability for expeditionary participation in international missions.” MacKay noted that Canada has already “become a go-to nation in response to situations” like Libya and Haiti.

The new overseas bases are designed to increase Canada’s ability to play leading roles in future military interventions. Taken together with the Harper government’s policy of acquiring costly new F-35 fighter jets, and an ongoing policy of expanding Canadian Special Forces, this policy of expanding overseas operation bases is lock-step with its exporting of militarism rather than human rights and aid.

It was Canadian Special Forces, the secretive Joint Task Force 2 (JTF2), who participated in the 2004 coup against the elected government of Haiti, securing the airport in Port-au-Prince from which President Aristide was taken out of the country by U.S. Forces. The war in Afghanistan is also increasingly being fought with Special Forces.

The announcement about new foreign bases came at the same time as a request to keep Canadian Forces on the ground in Richelieu, Quebec to help with flood relief was being ignored. The Harper government continues to encourage costly and unnecessary deployments of the Forces abroad, while showing little interest in using its resources at home for disaster relief.

Foreign bases have nothing to do with Canadian security, and everything to do with the Harper government’s desire to be able to participate in future military aggressions like the ones ongoing in Afghanistan and Libya.

2011-05-31 Officials overreacted to ticket dispute, man says

 Corporatocracy or Democracy or Administrative State or WHAT?  No Responses »
May 312011
 

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Officials+overreacted+ticket+dispute+says/4866066/story.html

Officials overreacted to ticket dispute, man says 

Police called after man refused to leave City Hall

By David Hutton, The StarPhoenix May 31, 2011
  
James Kernaghan, a 42-year-old downtown business owner, says he was told he had to leave City Hall on Friday by police after he refused to budge from a chair in the reception area
 

James Kernaghan, a 42-year-old downtown business owner, says he was told he had to leave City Hall on Friday by police after he refused to budge from a chair in the reception area

Photograph by: Gord Waldner, The StarPhoenix

A Saskatoon man says city officials were “overzealous” in calling police and forcing him to leave City Hall after a dispute over an unpaid parking ticket.

James Kernaghan, a 48-year-old downtown business owner, says he was told he had to leave City Hall on Friday by police after he refused to budge from a chair in the reception area.

Kernaghan says he received a summons to court over an unpaid parking ticket last week. He gets around 15 to 20 parking tickets a year, he said, but didn’t receive this ticket on his windshield or get a letter indicating payment wasn’t received, he said.

He wanted the ticket reduced to $10, the minimum payment, but was told by the customer service clerk he must fight the ticket in court.

Kernaghan, who runs a sales training and recruitment firm, asked to speak to the clerk’s supervisor, he said, who reiterated the policy.

“How do I fight a ticket I never got?” Kernaghan said he told the supervisor. “They told me, ‘You have no choice you have to take it to court,’ and I said, ‘That’s ridiculous. I’d like to speak to your boss.’ ”

Kernaghan consciously didn’t raise his voice to intimidate anyone, he said. He asked for identification from the last manager he spoke to because he wanted to file a complaint. He eventually requested to speak to the city manager, claiming it was his right, but was refused, he said.

In protest, he sat in a chair at a kiosk, which was closed after he sat down, while waiting to speak to a manager.

After 10 minutes, five security staff arrived and one guard approached Kernaghan and asked him to leave.

“I looked at him and said, ‘Sir, I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m sitting quietly in a chair asking to speak to someone further up the line.’ ”

Five minutes later, two police officers arrived and requested Kernaghan leave the building, he said.

“I told them, ‘I’m not leaving. I’m not swearing, I’m not causing a scene.’ They said, ‘You’re disrupting work.’ I said, ‘Unless you’re telling me you’re going to arrest me – I’m not leaving. I’m sitting in a public space.’ ”

After another senior officer arrived, Kernaghan was asked to leave the premises or be charged with mischief, he said.

At that point, he had no choice but to leave, he said.

“I’m not going to fight a mischief charge,” Kernaghan said.

City treasurer Shelley Sutherland wouldn’t comment on the specifics of the incident. She said the city’s general manager of corporate service, Maryls Bilanski, has been asked to look into the matter.

Once a summons has been issued for an unpaid parking ticket it’s a matter for the courts, Sutherland said.

This is the first time in at least 30 years police have been called to City Hall to deal with a customer service dispute, she said.

“Things are sometimes difficult,” she said. “But, generally speaking, we’re able to deal with people’s issues or at least give them answers they can live with. Our intention is that people are satisfied – not always happy, but satisfied.”

Kernaghan says the situation could have been dealt with differently. The manager could have directed him to make an appointment with the city manager or city solicitor to have his complaints heard or waited him out.

“You’ve got to assume at some point in time I’ll get bored, but within five minutes (of silent protest) I’m dealing with security guards and police,” he said.

“Police and security were doing nothing wrong. To bring in security and the police is an overreaction. It was over the top. (The manager) attempted to accelerate the situation into an incident. He’s upset that I said no to him and said I wouldn’t leave.”

Kernaghan said he would also like an envelope placed on parking tickets to ensure they remain on the windshield.

dhutton@thestarphoenix.com

© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix

2011-05-28 Census: Elizabeth asks What is Lockheed Martin’s actual role?

 Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials)  No Responses »
May 282011
 

Elizabeth asks a series of questions.  My series of responses is interspersed.

From: Elizabeth
Subject: Lockheed-Martin

Hi Sandra,

I just finished watching your YouTube video…thanks for doing this.  People really need to know about this.

I still am not clear on what exactly is Lockheed-Martins’ role in the Canadian census.  Are they actually gathering and processing the data?

– – – – – – – – – – –  – – – — – – – –

Hi Elizabeth,

I appreciate the questions;  there’s a couple things that are important, first:

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/canada/about/

Beyond our defense partnerships, Lockheed Martin Corporation stands ready to continue and grow our support to Canada’s Census, health care management, information technology, as well as infrastructure and border security to ensure the safe, secure and efficient transit of people, goods and services between Canada and the US.  To this end, Lockheed Martin Corporation has been an active participant supporting improvements to security and prosperity through the North American Competitiveness Council.

This statement from the horse’s mouth (Lockheed Martin’s website)  makes a point that I could not make in Court, because of the way the Justice System works:

–        What Lockheed Martin is doing today in the Canadian census is not what they will be doing in the longer term:   They will “GROW their SUPPORT“.

The way business works is to make customers more and more dependent upon their services, to expand their services (make more money) and effectively create a situation where it is too costly for the customer to get rid of them.   At that point the Corporation is in control (the essence of a dependent relationship).

Note the last sentence of the above excerpt from the Lockheed Martin website regarding the North American Competitiveness Council.  The NACC  is the SPP (so-called “Security and Prosperity Partnership”) which is all about the integration of Canada and the U.S. under a Corporate Agenda that includes access to tar sands, oil and gas, and water.  It’s about making money from resources that the Americans are running out of and that the American Corporations want to control.   People don’t have to believe me when I say that Lockheed Martin’s involvement in the Canadian census is extremely dangerous.

We have corporatocracy, or we have fascism, or whatever you want to call it.   It is definitely not democracy.   It is spelt out in an interview, click on  2006-09-13 Maclean’s Magazine interview, “President of the Americas for Lockheed Martin”, Ron Covais, Meet NAFTA 2.0. 

– – – – – – – – –  – – – – – – – –

ELIZABETH:   What exactly is Lockheed Martin’s role in the Canadian census?

RESPONSE:

Here’s what StatsCan said about its part of the work: 

(From  2010-07-16 CHRONOLOGY: the involvement of the American military in the Canadian census set in the larger CONTEXT of American military intrusion into Canadian affairs.)

2005 November: Ivan P. Fellegi, Chief Statistician of Canada,

“I would like to emphasize that only 20% of the work for the 2006 Census will be contracted out while the remaining 80% is being done by Statistics Canada. The distribution, collection, follow-up and storage of questionnaires will be done strictly by Statistics Canada … ”

Lockheed Martin says this, on their website:

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/products/census-systems/

scanned optical character recognition (OCR) technology to process the handwritten forms

Lockheed Martin provided hardware and software integration for Statistics Canada’s dress rehearsal and full 2006 census, including the first successful use of the secure Internet channel.

In every census we support, Lockheed Martin’s team strives to:

• Provide the general public with multiple, easy-to-use and secure methods of response.
• Help census authorities collect and capture the data accurately and completely.
• Employ robust processes and tools to ensure complete protection of individuals’ personal information.

Lockheed Martin’s Census Business Practice represents technology expertise that make census taking highly accurate, more automated and efficient, and easier for citizens as well as for governments to use.

ELIZABETH:    Or is it that they have designed the software program which is being used by Stats Canada to process the data?   Either way, I don’t want my tax dollars going to a U.S.weapons manufacturer. However, I would like to be clear on exactly what their role is and how much access they have to the data collected.

RESPONSE:

as explained, the issue is that Lockheed Martin will evolve their participation in the census over time.

I use the example of Canadian National Railways: privatized in 1995, in spite of public outcry. The Government soothed Canadians by saying: we listened to you. In order to ensure the CNR remains Canadian we are going to enact legislation, CNR head offices have to remain in Montreal, blah, blah, blah.

What is the situation today? CNR is now “CN” (NOT “Canadian National”) and it is American-owned

There is a note about the “propaganda” aspect in the APPENDED.

 

ELIZABETH:   Does L-M decide what questions are on the form?  I ask this because you seem to be saying that, in addition to the problem of Lockheed-Martins’ involvement, there is the problem of detailed personal information being gathered on individuals.

RESPONSE:     Under the Statistics Act, the Government (Cabinet) has to give assent to the questions on the census form.  So for example, in preparing the defense for my trial I looked up in the Canada Gazette to ensure that they had okay’d the 2006 questions.  They had.  The questions come through StatsCan to Cabinet. 

BUT NOTE:   When following the U.S. census in 2010 I was struck by the similarities between the questions on the U.S. and Canadian forms. 

I should not have been surprised:  the integration (“harmonization”) between Canada and the U.S. is being carried forward by the “agencies” of Government, through strategically-placed bureaucrats who won’t buck the system.  (Ron Covais spelled that out in the Maclean’s Magazine article mentioned at the top of this page.)  They serve corporate interests and are rewarded accordingly.

Data collection on citizens is being coordinated in many western democracies through Census Bureaus.  That was explained by the then-head of the StatsCan Census operation during the trial in Provincial Court.  Anil Arora sold it as a positive. 

FOREIGNERS IN THE CANADIAN CENSUS.  Your email touches on this related aspect:  if it is not Lockheed Martin (working with IBM, one of the sub-contractors),  it could as well be one of the other large American corporations that are into the same games as Lockheed.  For that matter, Lockheed could morph itself into some other identity and continue to carry on its work for StatsCan, but under a different name.  Or, if it was a Canadian company it could be bought up later by a foreign corporation, as has happened to so many Canadian companies.

/Sandra

APPENDED

Excerpt from:

1.     2010-07-24   Email to Munir Sheikh, Chief Statistician.  IMPORTANT.  Comprehensive argument with chronology.

”  PROPAGANDA:  Contracting-out census work to Lockheed Martin and then arguing that Lockheed Martin will not have access to the data component. 

Probably the most influential proponent in the decision by the Bush Administration to drop bombs on Iraq in order to secure oil was Lockheed Martin Corp.  The war was sold with lies and propaganda.  Please do not expect me to believe that Lockheed Martin will not have access to the data – their record speaks for itself.  I am not quite so dumb or naïve.”

2.   2008-09-04   Lockheed Martin awarded contract for work on the 2011 Canadian census.   Transnational corporations manipulate contract specifications so only they can meet the requirements, with collaborators.

”  It is naïve to believe the reassurances given by the Government that Lockheed Martin will not have access to the data base.  They will have access, if not today, in time.  It is no different than what happened to CNR.  To assuage public protest when CNR was privatized,  they passed legislation to require that CNR would remain Canadian with head offices in Montreal.  Today CNR is American owned. 

You do not even need to guess at what the intentions of the American “security” forces (corporations) are.  I have circulated  newspaper reports from a security conference in Ottawa, etc.  There are open and unequivocal statements:  the Americans want the data on all Canadians and they want it by 2011.”

There is also the role of the Patriotic Act to consider.  If Lockheed Martin has access to the Statistics Canada data base on Canadians, so does the Pentagon (explained in other postings).

2011-05-27 Hackers broke into Lockheed Martin networks

 Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials)  No Responses »
May 282011
 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43199200/ns/technology_and_science-security   (Link no longer valaid)

Hackers broke into Lockheed Martin networks:  source – Technology & science – Security – msnbc.com

Other U.S. military contractors’ networks also may have been hacked

By Jim Finkle and Andrea Shalal-Esa

Reuters

updated 5/27/2011 8:18:35 PM ET 2011-05-28T00:18:35

BOSTON/WASHINGTON — Unknown hackers have broken into the security networks of Lockheed Martin Corp and several other U.S. military contractors, a source with direct knowledge of the attacks told Reuters.

They breached security systems designed to keep out intruders by creating duplicates to “SecurID” electronic keys from EMC Corp’s RSA security division, said the person who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

It was not immediately clear what kind of data, if any, was stolen by the hackers. But the networks of Lockheed and other military contractors contain sensitive data on future weapons systems as well as military technology currently used in battles in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Weapons makers are the latest companies to be breached through sophisticated attacks that have pierced the defenses of huge corporations including Sony, Google Inc and EMC Corp. Security experts say that it is virtually impossible for any company or government agency to build a security network that hackers will be unable to penetrate.

The Pentagon, which has about 85,000 military personnel and civilians working on cybersecurity issues worldwide, said it also uses a limited number of the RSA electronic security keys, but declined to say how many for security reasons.

The hackers learned how to copy the security keys with data stolen from RSA during a sophisticated attack that EMC disclosed in March, according to the source.

EMC declined to comment on the matter, as did executives at major defense contractors.

Rick Moy, president of NSS Labs, an information security company, said the original attack on RSA was likely targeted at its customers, including military, financial, governmental and other organizations with critical intellectual property.

He said the initial RSA attack was followed by malware and phishing campaigns seeking specific data that would link tokens to end-users, which meant the current attacks may have been carried out by the same hackers.

“Given the military targets, and that millions of compromised keys are in circulation, this is not over,” he said.

Lockheed, which employs 126,000 people worldwide and had $45.8 billion in revenue last year, said it does not discuss specific threats or responses as a matter of principle, but regularly took actions to counter threats and ensure security.

“We have policies and procedures in place to mitigate the cyber threats to our business, and we remain confident in the integrity of our robust, multi-layered information systems security,” said Lockheed spokesman Jeffery Adams.

Executives at General Dynamics Corp ,, Boeing Co , Northrop Grumman Corp, Raytheon Co and other defense companies declined to comment on any security breaches linked to the RSA products.

“We do not comment on whether or not Northrop Grumman is or has been a target for cyber intrusions,” said Northrop spokesman Randy Belote.

Actions prevented widespread disruption
Raytheon spokesman Jonathan Kasle said his company took immediate companywide actions in March when incident information was initially provided to RSA customers.

“As a result of these actions, we prevented a widespread disruption of our network,” he said.

Boeing spokesman Todd Kelley said his company had a “wide range” of systems in place to detect and prevent intrusions of its networks. “We have a robust computing security team that constantly monitors our network,” he said.

Defense contractors’ networks contain sensitive data on sophisticated weapons systems, but all classified information is kept on separate, closed networks managed by the U.S. government, said a former senior defense official, who was not authorized to speak on the record.

SecurIDs are widely used electronic keys to computer systems that work using a two-pronged approach to confirming the identity of the person trying to access a computer system. They are designed to thwart hackers who might use key-logging viruses to capture passwords by constantly generating new passwords to enter the system.

The SecurID generates new strings of digits on a minute-by-minute basis that the user must enter along with a secret PIN (personal identification number) before they can access the network. If the user fails to enter the string before it expires, then access is denied.

RSA and other companies have produced a total of about 250 million security tokens, although it is not clear how many are in use worldwide at present, said the former defense official.

The devices provided additional security at a lower cost than biometrics such as fingerprint readers or iris scanning machines, said the official, noting that the RSA incident could increase demand for greater use of biometric devices.

The RSA breach did raise concerns about any security tokens that had been compromised, and EMC now faced tough questions about whether “they can repair that product line or whether they need to ditch it and start over again,” he said.

EMC disclosed in March that hackers had broken into its network and stolen some information related to its SecurIDs. It said the information could potentially be used to reduce the effectiveness of those devices in securing customer networks.

EMC said it worked with the Department of Homeland Security to publish a note on the March attack, providing Web addresses to help firms identify where the attack might have come from.

It briefed individual customers on how to secure their systems. In a bid to ensure secrecy, the company required them to sign nondisclosure agreements promising not to discuss the advice that it provided in those sessions, according to two people familiar with the briefings.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters.

2011-05-16 Framework (four topics) for discussion on direction taken by the University

 Corporatocracy or Democracy or Administrative State or WHAT?, Knowledge Base  No Responses »
May 162011
 

 TOPIC:    GOVERNANCE AND ADMINISTRATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN

–        Conflicts-of-interest

–        Irregularities in hiring practices

–        Gender issues

–        Poisoned work environment

TOPIC:    COMMUNITY AND STUDENT NEEDS VERSUS THE CORPORATE AGENDA

–        independent credibility of research

–         corporate influence over research into issues of environment, toxicology, pharmaceuticals, agricultural genomes, etc. at the U of S.

–        Empowering Communities of people with diseases and disabilities (diseases and disabilities, consequence of poisoning, consequence of failure of the University).

–        University for the Owners of the University (us): Toxicology, Agriculture, Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacology,  Environment

–        Making the University experience richer and more rewarding for Students

–        stressed out, depressed, on meds

–        High drop-out rate

 TOPIC:    ARCHAIC MEASURES OF PROGRESS;   FALSE CRITERIA

–        economic/business models used to measure university success/productivity and to set rankings vis-à-vis other universities.  Illegitimate.

–        Manipulative questions on surveys

–        Decimation of culture (Arts and Humanities)

–        Propaganda

–        The role of the University in society – whose interests are being served?  What about departments and programs that have been, or will be, downgraded or discontinued recently?

TOPIC:   PURPOSE AND ROLE OF THE UNIVERSITY IN SOCIETY AS SEEN BY THE OWNERS OF THE UNIVERSITY.    WHO WOULD BE A GOOD CHOICE FOR “NEXT PRESIDENT”?

         Values  (corporate versus humanitarian)

–        Purpose  (well-balanced individuals with critical thinking skills, democractic instincts)

–        The quality of education at the University.

–        The next president

2011-05-11 Census Lockheed Martin: On YouTube! Toronto Star coverage, Ottawa Citizen, Mother’s Day Proclamation (against Lockheed Martin!) is 140 years old. WHY has it not succeeded?

 Corporatocracy or Democracy or Administrative State or WHAT?, Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials)  No Responses »
May 112011
 

1.    CENSUS LOCKHEED MARTIN YOUTUBE POSTED TO THE INTERNET!  HERE IT IS. please consider passing it along.

(This is especially for you, Birgit, your request!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXlpJp0tCC8

PEOPLE HAVE MADE IT THEIR BUSINESS TO HELP INFORM CANADIANS:

2.    Toronto Star, Catherine Porter columnist, May 10, 2011:  “Why the 2011 census calls for some civil disobedience”.

3.    Ottawa Citizen, letter-to-editor, May 9, 2011, Francois Dumaine  “Count me out on (pointless) census day”.

4.    Letters-to-editor, 2010, individual protests  (Last year StatsCan was collecting information via “surveys” under threat of prosecution, a fine and jail time):

a.     Edmonton Journal, March 31, 2010  Susan Crowther, “Edmonton Woman spurns StatsCan Survey” (news article)

b.     Saskatoon Star Phoenix, July 31, 2010,   Margaret Fehr, “Harassed by StatsCan”.

c.     Calgary Herald, August 03, 2010,  Janette Doering, “Politely Declined”

5.   INPUT TO OUR NETWORK,  WHAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE DOING:

2011-07-13 Census: Don’t know what to do about the census?  What’s happening to other people? some actual questions and answers might be helpful.    And   2011-07-13   continued .

6.     Important:  THE ORIGINAL MOTHER’S DAY PROCLAMATION, 1870,  A CALL FOR WOMEN OF ALL NATIONALITIES TO UNITE TO FORCE DISARMAMENT.   IN THE SACRED TRADITION OF MOTHER’S DAY, REFUSE TO BE AN ENABLER OF LOCKHEED MARTIN IN THE CANADIAN CENSUS.

The ORIGINAL  Mother’s Day Proclamation (1870): (excerpt from posting 2007-05-14).

“Arise then, women of this day!  Arise all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be of water or of tears!

“Say firmly”:  ‘We will not have questions decided by irrelevant agencies.  Our husbands shall not come to us reeking of carnage for caresses and applause.  Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy, and patience.  We women of one country will be too tender to those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.  From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own, it says “Disarm! Disarm!” The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.  Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.’

“As men have forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.  Let them meet first as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.

Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace.

“In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality be appointed to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.”

7.     UNDERSTAND THE PSYCHOLOGY.  THANKS TO MY OLD FRIEND, JOHN KEEN.   (scroll down)

8.     THE CENSUS “LONG FORM” IS NOW CALLED THE “NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY”  (scroll down for more details).

9.     PREVIOUS EMAIL ON THIS TOPIC:    2011-05-04 Lockheed Martin CENSUS: What a riot!

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I began this email with the idea of using the  140-year-old Mother’s Day Proclamation to strengthen the fight against Lockheed Martin’s growing role in Canada.   But then the question:   WHY have the 2,000 year-old intentions against destructive forces not succeeded? The “war to end all wars”, the anti-war and protest songs of the 1960’s that brought an end to the Viet Nam War, and so on  – –  If we haven’t been successful so far,  maybe we better ask WHY NOT?

There isn’t ONE reason, of course.  What I do know is that, as wonderful as it may be, reciting the Mother’s Day Proclamation isn’t enough.   It isn’t going to prevent us from enslaving ourselves.

Excerpt from an email:

I don’t think we see that we are actually WORKING WITH the people who elected Harper.

  • (A)   They elected the dictator who has no regard for the rule-of-law
  • (B)   People on “the left” have been insisting that the Government must have extremely detailed files on individual citizens (police state)

Put A and B together, add in

  • (C)  Armoured vehicles being rolled out in cities across Canada (military state).  No protest taking place.
  • (D)  Throw in Lockheed Martin for good measure (surveillance, biometrics, corruption, weapons par excellence)

and we are in deep doo-doo.  It is writ in large upon the wall.  All the while, “the left” blames the “the right” and vice versa.

We are actually a joint force working together to kill democracy.

Get out and fight the census.  Especially with Lockheed Martin (the American military) involved in it. You might be tired of hearing me say it. I just think that “the left” should stop being naïve and ignorant about its role in driving us into a police state. I don’t understand why you think that the lessons of history do not apply to us.  We aren’t special.

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7.    UNDERSTAND THE PSYCHOLOGY.  THANKS TO MY OLD FRIEND, JOHN KEEN.

It is absurd that I will write a two-minute explanation of the psychology.  I don’t understand it.   But I know a couple of things.

John Keen periodically reminds me:

We are vulnerable because we assume or want to believe that “they” are like us.  But they are not.

(It reminds me of the cautions in  “Women Who Run with the Wolves”  and in the children’s book, “Julie and the Wolf Pack” (Julie of the Wolves). )

We like to be “nice”.  We are raised to be “nice”.  We are conditioned to be “nice”.   Most of us are “nice”.   It’s easy.

But not everyone is nice.  The wolves who survive are the ones who are not naïve.  They pursue life, but with a pinch of wariness.

We are both good and evil.  Good and evil evolve inside us and outside us.

We know that when you mix the corporate/commercial (money) interests of society together with the guardianship function (government), corruption is the inevitable outcome (author Jane Jacobs and others).  It cannot be otherwise.

The corporatocracy that we now have is a step in the evolution of evil in our society.  Don’t be naïve.  They might be smooth but they are not nice.

As I try to sort it all out, why intelligent Canadians fight to keep the “mandatory” in handing over detailed personal information to the state, I am also drawn back to the work of John Ralston Saul.  (2010-02-25 Understanding why we flounder, help from John Ralston Saul “On Equilibrium” ):

“Common sense, Ethics, Imagination, Intuition, Memory, Reason”:    Qualities are most effective in a society when they are recognized as of equal, universal value and so are integrated into our normal life.  Ralston Saul says (among other interesting things) that we divorce “reason” from everything else.  It becomes distorted. We are out of balance.

In the case of the census,  a failure to fight hard against it because Lockheed Martin is involved, and because it is more and more the construction of detailed files on individual citizens, is a complete failure to integrate the human faculties of  Common sense, Ethics, Imagination, Intuition, Memory, and Reason.   I want to shout:

–        Common sense tells us not to trust anything that Lockheed Martin says, or the reassurances given to us by Statistics Canada.  THINK FOR YOURSELF.

–        Ethics tell us that we should not, under any circumstances, be allowing our tax dollars to be funneled to Lockheed Martin Corporation.  Look at their public record.  They are without conscience.  Corporations are without conscience, by law.

–        Imagination, let it run just a little wild.  Look at what the American military-industrial complex has done in other countries.  It’s not even hard to imagine that they will do the same thing here:  puppet governments.

–        Intuition:  I don’t know about you.  Intuitively I have no doubt about the need to use every single opportunity to fight against the place that the corporatocracy is taking us.  It is a “no holds barred” battle.   We do not have the luxery of being timid or fearful or willfully ignorant.  And I will be REALLY annoyed if “the right” delivers the dictator while “the left” delivers the largest, most comprehensive data base on individual citizens into the hands of the military-industrial complex.

–        Memory:  cripes!   Have we forgotten the lessons of Nazi Europe?   If you need a reminder, click on:

2008-12-06 MIGHT BE THE MOST IMPORTANT PAGE ON THIS BLOG:      Edwin Black,  author of  IBM and the Holocaust,  the Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America’s Most Powerful Corporation (2001).  Black’s new book  The Plan – the kicker is oil security for the U.S.. .   Oil security, Homeland Security, Security and Prosperity Partnership with Canada.. security, security, ha!

–        And lastly, Reason:   Is it that Reason, divorced from (Common sense, Ethics, Imagination, Intuition and Memory),  goes to Utilitarian values?  Is that it’s downfall? …  We MUST HAVE statistics.  We NEED statistics.  Why?  One reason is that it makes the work of the intelligentsia easier.  Could that be because they are divorced from their communities?  And they have to “publish or perish” according to the faulty criteria used by the Universities.   “Reason” leads these “left”, community-minded organizations and individuals to demand that detailed files on individual citizens should be mandatory.  It is a short-sighted position.  Common sense, Ethics, Imagination, Intuition, and Memory tell me that in the long term, the cost is way too high.

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8.   THE CENSUS “LONG FORM” IS NOW CALLED THE “NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY”.

Changing the name of things can create confusion, shifting the ground beneath our feet.

It breaks connections with images,  not always for bad.  I remember when canola seed was only known by the name “rape” seed.

The “census long form” is associated in many minds with “Lockheed Martin, American military” (rape).

So far, the National Household Survey (NHS) is “clean” (canola),  even though it is PRECISELY THE SAME THING as the census long form with Lockheed Martin involvement (canola = rape), except that there is nothing benign about the real rape (Lockheed Martin)).

Going a step further, if you don’t have a name for something it almost goes away, like the “SPP” (so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership) – –   disbanded, but not really.  It’s still there.

Remember that Ron Covais, “President of the Americas for Lockheed Martin” is a top-player in the SPP.  And the American military-industrial complex wants the information on “all Canadians”.  It is well-documented in mainstream newspaper and magazine articles collected by people in our network and posted on www.sandrafinley.ca – – see the category “Lockheed Martin … “ in the right-hand sidebar.

2011-05-10 Porter: Why the 2011 census calls for some civil disobedience

 Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials)  No Responses »
May 102011
 

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/988561–porter-why-the-2011-census-calls-for-some-civil-disobedience?bn=1

By Catherine Porter Columnist

When I yanked the beige census form from my overstuffed mailbox last week, two thoughts crossed my mind: damn you, flyer deliverers who ignore my homemade “no junk mail” sign; and poor Munir Sheikh.

When Lynn Marie Murphy opened her census form, she thought of bombs and fighter planes. She knew something I didn’t know — that the federal government has paid Lockheed Martin about $81 million for “optic recognition” software to process the mailed-in census forms.

That’s right, Lockheed Martin — the world’s largest weapons manufacturer, which is building Canada those F-35 fighter jets at a price tag still unknown.

I did some research and discovered Murphy was right.

Since the late 1990s, the weapons manufacturer has branched out into information technology systems, landing its first contract for the U.S. Census in 2000. It seems an odd fit for a company that builds “tactical battlefield missiles,” spy satellites and warships. But, according to the company’s 2010 annual report, information systems now make up 22 per cent of its $46 billion net sales.

The United Kingdom followed its American ally’s path and contracted Lockheed Martin for its census in 2001, and in 2004, Canada jumped on board, too. We paid Lockheed Martin $61 million for its software to scan — and therefore, automate — our 2006 census forms, and then more recently, another $19.7 million for updates for the 2011 census. (In the government’s defence, Lockheed Martin was the only company to bid on both contracts, according to Statistics Canada’s census manager Marc Hamel.)

That means when you fill out your census form and mail it in, you are unintentionally supporting a war machine.

This disturbs me.

Two clear protest movements have been built over this since 2006.

The first calls for guerrilla tactics — using Roman numerals or filling out the census form with your weaker hand, so Lockheed Martin’s scanning system can’t decipher your answers and Statistics Canada is forced to process your form the old-fashioned way, with human eyes.

“That way you are nullifying the cost savings Lockheed Martin creates,” explains Don Rogers, a former Kingston councillor who created the protest website Count Me Out ( www.countmeout.ca). His initial concerns that Lockheed Martin would have access to Canadian’s private information have been assuaged by Statistics Canada, which insists only its employees run the system. But the underlining moral issue still remains. “Those four Canadian soldiers killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan? They were fired from a Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter.”

The second movement is civil disobedience. While the Conservative government has made the long-form census voluntary, the short form is still mandatory. Right on the envelope it states: “Complete the census — it’s the law.”

Since 2006, at least three Canadians have been tried for refusing to comply. All three were found guilty, but only one was fined in the end, and only $300 at that.

Sandra Finley was the last. She was once the leader of the Green Party of Saskatchewan, and ran — unsuccessfully — as a candidate in Saskatoon last week. Although she was found guilty, the judge let her off the hook — ruling that she needn’t pay a fine, go to jail or have a criminal record. But she is still appealing on moral grounds.

She considers Lockheed Martin’s business not just immoral, but illegal under both Canadian and international humanitarian law. Case in point: Canada signed the international convention on cluster munitions, banning the use of the scattering bombs. Lockheed Martin profits off cluster bombs by manufacturing the steering mechanisms for the bombs.

“Lockheed Martin is the No. 1 beneficiary of dropping bombs on Iraq, an illegal war of aggression made possible through deliberate lies,” she writes on her website. “It’s not right that our tax dollars enrich them.”

The Canadian census contract is pocket change for Lockheed Martin. It’s scraps for the Canadian government, too. There are bigger targets if we want to protest our taxes padding the coffers of the American military machine — like those fighter jets, which the parliamentary budget officer estimates will cost us $29 billion.

But there is something insidious here. You expect the government to buy weapons from a weapons manufacturer. You don’t expect it to shop for office equipment there. It warns of a creeping militarization of our country.

I asked the woman who alerted me to this what she planned to do.

“I really would like to complete the census, as I think the information collected is important, but I’m not willing to participate in it on these terms,” said Murphy, a 41-year-old teacher.

She called Statistics Canada and lodged a complaint. And she’s refusing to complete her form.

“This is a company that is about violence and death and destruction and all kinds of cultural imperialism and I, in good conscience, can’t be part of that.”

I have another week to complete my census. I plan to go the guerrilla route, answering numeric questions with math equations.

What will you do about it?

Catherine Porter’s column appears on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. She can be reached at cporter  AT  thestar.ca

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