Sandra Finley

2008-12-08 Canada signs international treaty to ban cluster bombs. The treaty conditions and moral authority require us to dis-invest from Lockheed Martin, manufacturer of cluster munitions.

Culture and Ethics, Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials) No Responses »

Dec 082008

2008-12-06 MIGHT BE THE MOST IMPORTANT PAGE ON THIS BLOG: The role of mechanized census data in Nazi Europe, Edwin Black, IBM and the Holocaust. Why we have a Charter Right to privacy of personal information in Canada.

Freedom of Speech. (Remove some wrong postings from category), Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials) No Responses »

Dec 062008

CONTENTS

(1) COMMENTARY
(2) THE SECRET HISTORIES, AN ANTHOLOGY, EDITED BY JOHN S. FRIEDMAN
(3) IBM AND THE HOLOCAUST, BY EDWIN BLACK
(4) AN IMMIGRANT, DAREK CZERNEWCAN, ORIGINALLY FROM A COMMUNIST COUNTRY WRITES
(5) EDWIN BLACK, IDEAL EXPERT WITNESS FOR THE TRIAL, OR NOT
(6) THE PLAN, NEW BOOK (2008) BY BLACK, IN THE CANADIAN CONTEXT. THE KICKER: OIL (water?) SECURITY FOR THE USA.

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(1) COMMENTARY

“Mankind barely noticed when the concept of massively organized information quietly emerged to become a means of social control, a weapon of war, and a roadmap for group destruction. … (from IBM and the Holocaust)

Ha! I love this lawyer, Howard. Instructing me on defence for the trial, Howard writes:

– Do not use this book I am quoting from

– Do not use history

– Do not use the Iraq War

– (all the things I WANT to do!)

And do you know, he’s mostly right. He says:

– You will lose the court

– You will lose the media

– We do not learn from history

– What IBM did (working with the Nazis to supply population data) is not what Lockheed Martin did

Okay, okay. What I can say is, “I did not fill out the census form because I believed that the information would not be secure based on …, (or) I read about cluster bombs and believe …”. That kind of thing. Forget about telling the Court the REAL reasons I would not cooperate with what Statistics Canada (the Canadian name for the Census Bureau) is doing.

But I still think it’s important to understand history, even if we are doomed to repeat it (as in Kosovo, as in Rwanda, and the list goes on.)

Maybe I can’t use the following directly in the court case. But it is one hell of a big motivator to me. Maybe to you, too?

THE ROLE OF MECHANIZED CENSUS DATA IN NAZI EUROPE

(THE HOLOCAUST), COMPLIMENTS OF IBM.

Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau was the driving force behind getting a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

He understood history.

The Charter came well before Edwin Black’s book, IBM and the Holocaust, the strategic alliance between Nazi Germany and America’s most powerful corporation (2001) . The book is a meticulous documentation of the role of census data in Nazi Europe.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the application (interpretation) of it by the Supreme Court of Canada, are tools we can use to prevent a re-occurrence of Nazi Europe or anything like it.

Even prior to the publication of IBM and the Holocaust enlightened Canadian leadership understood the dangers of state collection of data on its citizens, the need for a tool to prevent the state from encroaching upon the privacy of the individual. We were given a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is useless if we don’t stand up and use it in times such as this.

IBM and the Holocaust dictates we do so.

Cheers!

Sandra

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(2) THE SECRET HISTORIES, AN ANTHOLOGY , EDITED BY JOHN S. FRIEDMAN

Synchronicity:

– Thursday, in relation to the trial, (I was representing myself at this point) it was highly recommended to me that I read Edwin Black’s book IBM and the Holocaust, The Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America’s Most Powerful Corporation (2001).

– Friday (last nite), I started reading a book I’d picked up, The Secret Histories, An Anthology (2005) (things that have happened in history, but which have been kept secret). What do I find? – – “IBM and the Holocaust” again.

From The Secret Histories (p. xv):

A reader might take this book as yet another reason to think skeptically about agencies of government and corporate economy, understanding them as prone to the abuse of power through secrecy. Even my once beloved FBI proved capable of egregious assaults on the rights of a population it was sworn to protect. If the FBI is capable of such corruption, why not the Army, or IBM? But a reader might also take this book as the occasion to ask a more difficult question about the nature of democratic polity. Suppression of information, in a free society, can be exclusively a matter of government connivance, but often – and some of the stories collected here make the point – the culture of secrecy requires a complicitous media and a passive citizenry. We do not know what we do not want to know.

The Soviets lie, while we tell the truth? Why were Americans like me so blasé, say, when Washington was caught in its blatant lie about that U-2 “weather plane”? …

The point is not to judge such denial from a moral high horse. Anymore than it is for me to look contemptuously back on my younger self, enthralled as I was with illusions about the FBI. The human condition is difficult. No one is innocent. There are secrets, therefore, that no one wants to face. The Bible says that the truth will set you free. Maybe. But experience says that first, the truth will knock you for a loop. Then it will set you free. … But the truth laid bare here is less about our flawed institutions than about our human selves.

The second article in Secret Histories is IBM and the Holocaust.

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

(3) IBM AND THE HOLOCAUST, BY EDWIN BLACK

http://www.ibmandtheholocaust.com/

IBM and the Holocaust is the stunning story of IBM’s strategic alliance with Nazi Germany — beginning in 1933 in the first weeks that Hitler came to power and continuing well into World War II. As the Third Reich embarked upon its plan of conquest and genocide, IBM and its subsidiaries helped create enabling technologies, step-by-step, from the identification and cataloging programs of the 1930s to the selections of the 1940s.

Only after Jews were identified — a massive and complex task that Hitler wanted done immediately — could they be targeted for efficient asset confiscation, ghettoization, deportation, enslaved labor, and, ultimately, annihilation. It was a cross-tabulation and organizational challenge so monumental, it called for a computer. Of course, in the 1930s no computer existed.

But IBM’s Hollerith punch card technology did exist. Aided by the company’s custom-designed and constantly updated Hollerith systems, Hitler was able to automate his persecution of the Jews. Historians have always been amazed at the speed and accuracy with which the Nazis were able to identify and locate European Jewry. Until now, the pieces of this puzzle have never been fully assembled. The fact is, IBM technology was used to organize nearly everything in Germany and then Nazi Europe, from the identification of the Jews in censuses, registrations, and ancestral tracing programs to the running of railroads and organizing of concentration camp slave labor.

IBM and its German subsidiary custom-designed complex solutions, one by one, anticipating the Reich’s needs. They did not merely sell the machines and walk away. Instead, IBM leased these machines for high fees and became the sole source of the billions of punch cards Hitler needed.

IBM and the Holocaust takes you through the carefully crafted corporate collusion with the Third Reich, as well as the structured deniability of oral agreements, undated letters, and the Geneva intermediaries — all undertaken as the newspapers blazed with accounts of persecution and destruction.

Just as compelling is the human drama of one of our century’s greatest minds, IBM founder Thomas Watson, who cooperated with the Nazis for the sake of profit.

Only with IBM’s technologic assistance was Hitler able to achieve the staggering numbers of the Holocaust. Edwin Black has now uncovered one of the last great mysteries of Germany’s war against the Jews — how did Hitler get the names?

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Edwin Black’s opening words, IBM and the Holocaust (p.7):

This book will be profoundly uncomfortable to read. It was profoundly uncomfortable to write. It tells the story of IBM’s conscious involvement – directly and through its subsidiaries – in the Holocaust, as well as its involvement in the Nazi war machine that murdered millions of others throughout Europe.

Mankind barely noticed when the concept of massively organized information quietly emerged to become a means of social control, a weapon of war, and a roadmap for group destruction. …

Hitler and his hatred of the Jews was the ironic driving force behind this intellectual turning point. But his quest was greatly enhanced and energized by the ingenuity and craving for profit of a single American company and its legendary, autocratic chairman. That company was International Business Machines, and its chairman was Thomas J. Watson.

In the upside-down world of the Holocaust, dignified professionals were Hitler’s advance troops. Police officials disregarded their duty in favor of protecting villains and persecuting victims. (INSERT: please ask if you want email “Follow-up, Police provoke Violence at SPP protest”, sent 28/11/2008.) Lawyers perverted concepts of justice to create anti-Jewish laws. Doctors defiled the art of medicine to perpetrate ghastly experiments and even choose who was healthy enough to be worked to death – and who could be cost-effectively sent to the gas chamber. Scientists and engineers debased their higher calling to devise the instruments and rationales of destruction. …

Solipsistic and dazzled by its own swirling universe of technical possibilities, IBM was self-gripped by a special amoral corporate mantra: if it can de done, it should be done. To the blind technocrat, the means were more important than the ends. The destruction of the Jewish people became even less important because the invigorating nature of IBM’s technical achievement was only heightened by the fantastical profits to be made at a time when bread lines stretched across the world. …

So how did it work? …

(P. 10)

I was haunted by a question whose answer has long eluded historians. The Germans always had the lists of Jewish names. Suddenly, a squadron of grim-faced SS would burst into a city square and post a notice demanding those listed assemble the next day at the train station for deportation to the East. But how did the Nazis get the lists? For decades, no one has known. Few have asked.

The answer: IBM Germany’s census operations and similar advanced people counting and registration technologies. IBM was founded in 1896 by German inventor Herman Hollerith as a census tabulating company. Census was its business. But when IBM Germany formed its philosophical and technology alliance with Nazi Germany, census and registration took on a new mission. IBM Germany invented the racial census – listing not just religious affiliation, but bloodline going back generations. This was the Nazi data lust. Not just to count the Jews – but to identify them.

(INSERT: My Mother commented, We always thought the Jews were identified by people who snitched on them.)

People and asset registration was only one of the many uses Nazi Germany found for high-speed data sorters. …

(P. 16)

Many of us have become enraptured in the Age of Computerization and the Age of Information. I know I have. But now I am consumed with a new awareness that, for me, as the son of Holocaust survivors, brings me to a whole new consciousness. I call it the Age of Realization, as we look back and examine technology’s wake. Unless we understand how the Nazis acquired the names, more lists will be compiled against more people.

Only through exposing and examining what really occurred can the world of technology finally adopt the well-worn motto: Never Again.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

http://www.amazon.com/IBM-Holocaust-Edwin-Black/dp/0751531995

Was IBM, “The Solutions Company,” partly responsible for the Final Solution? That’s the question raised by Edwin Black’s IBM and the Holocaust, the most controversial book on the subject since Daniel Jonah Goldhagen’s Hitler’s Willing Executioners. Black, a son of Holocaust survivors, is less tendentiously simplistic than Goldhagen, but his thesis is no less provocative: he argues that IBM founder Thomas Watson deserved the Merit Cross (Germany’s second-highest honor) awarded him by Hitler, his second-biggest customer on earth. “IBM, primarily through its German subsidiary, made Hitler’s program of Jewish destruction a technologic mission the company pursued with chilling success,” writes Black. “IBM had almost single-handedly brought modern warfare into the information age [and] virtually put the ‘blitz’ in the krieg.”

The crucial technology was a precursor to the computer, the IBM Hollerith punch card machine, which Black glimpsed on exhibit at the U.S. Holocaust Museum, inspiring his five-year, top-secret book project. The Hollerith was used to tabulate and alphabetize census data. Black says the Hollerith and its punch card data (“hole 3 signified homosexual … hole 8 designated a Jew”) was indispensable in rounding up prisoners, keeping the trains fully packed and on time, tallying the deaths, and organizing the entire war effort. Hitler’s regime was fantastically, suicidally chaotic; could IBM have been the cause of its sole competence: mass-murdering civilians? Better scholars than I must sift through and appraise Black’s mountainous evidence, but clearly the assessment is overdue.

The moral argument turns on one question: How much did IBM New York know about IBM Germany’s work, and when? Black documents a scary game of brinksmanship orchestrated by IBM chief Watson, who walked a fine line between enraging U.S. officials and infuriating Hitler. He shamefully delayed returning the Nazi medal until forced to–and when he did return it, the Nazis almost kicked IBM and its crucial machines out of Germany. (Hitler was prone to self-defeating decisions, as demonstrated in How Hitler Could Have Won World War II.)

Black has created a must-read work of history. But it’s also a fascinating business book examining the colliding influences of personality, morality, and cold strategic calculation. –Tim Appelo –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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

This review is from: IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance between Nazi Germany and America’s Most Powerful Corporation (Hardcover)

This book is the most important new work on the Nazi era in the last two decades. The book is even more significant for the questions it raises about what the purpose of a corporation is and should be, what role companies and governments should play in directing cutting edge technology, and the danger that misuses of advanced information technology bring to individuals.

The core of the story is how a key IBM technology, the Hollerith-based card tabulating machines, became available for the Nazi war and Holocaust efforts. Although the details are murky (and may remain so), it is fairly clear that the use of this technology was sustained during the war years in part by shipments of customized (for each end user) tabulating cards from IBM in neutral countries for everything from blitzkriegs to slave camp scheduling to transportation to the death camps. There was not enough paper capacity to make the cards in Europe (that the Nazi and IBM records show were used), and there is no evidence that Nazis created substitutes for these essential supplies.

As Mr. Black warns, “This book will be profoundly uncomfortable to read.” I agree. My sleep will not be the same for some time after experiencing this powerful story.

Mr. Black makes an even stronger statement. “So if you intend to skim, or rely on selected sections, do not read the book at all.” I took him at his word, and did not even read the book quickly. I also arranged to read it in several sittings, so I could think about what I had read in between. I recommend that you do the same.

The reason for my recommendation is that your thinking will change very fundamentally through reading the book. Having read dozens of books by fine historians about the Nazi period, and knowing a great deal about the history of data processing, I assumed that there would be little new to the story here. But the title intrigued me. By the fourth time I saw the book, I could no longer resist it.

What I found inside the book surprised, shocked, and amazed me.

First, many authors claim that it was not clear in the United States that Jews were losing their lives in Europe during the Nazi years until just before the end of the war. This book documents many articles that appeared in the New York Times that certainly seemed to be saying that this systematic killing was going on from very near the time when it began. Anyone who ignored these reports just didn’t want to know.

Second, the book makes many connections between Thomas Watson, Sr. and Nazi Germany. Many things surprised me about this. One, he was there once or twice a year until just before World War II began. The horrible human abuses were probably observed first hand by him then. Two, he had friends who were victimized by the Nazis. Three, he accepted a very prestigious medal from Hitler in 1937 (which he returned in June 1940). Four, he spoke in favor of making U.S. policy pro-German until just before the United States entered World War II. Five, it appeared that he had a lot more concern about IBM’s profits and machines in Europe than about any people there.

Third, although I was very familiar with the improvements in industrial and transportation effectiveness in Germany during the Nazi years, I did not realize that IBM’s design of Hollerith machines for card tabulation was a breakthrough technology that enabled this progress.

Fourth, I had always been amazed that the Nazis had such detailed records of the geneologies of European Jews. What I did not realize was that much of this information was provided by Jewish citizens in government censuses, and was quickly processed into records used by oppressors on Hollerith machines leased from IBM or its subsidiaries.

In France, where the use of these machines was subverted by the Resistance, the percentage rate of Jewish deaths was one-third of what occurred in Holland where this technology was well applied. It is hard to avoid the feeling that millions of people died because these machines were available and kept supplied with parts and punch cards for the Nazis.

One cannot help but draw the comparison between this historical example and the companies and countries (including, apparently, the United States) that have more recently allowed critical nuclear, rocket, and satellite technology to become available to repressive regimes. It seems that by not asking questions about IBM and the Holocaust, we may be continuing to make many of the same mistakes today.

I salute the incredible imagination and back-breaking effort that went into assembling this astonishing set of documents and perspectives. I hope that many people will read the book, that scholars will look for more information to expand our understanding, and that the fundamental questions raised by this book will be debated wherever free people live.

Remember: Your freedom is only as good as that of the least free person, who is most vulnerable.

“Ask not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.”

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(4) AN IMMIGRANT, DAREK CZERNEWCAN, FROM A COMMUNIST COUNTRY WRITES

Darek Czernewcan was charged for failure to fill out his census form.

He writes:
“I purposely declined the census because I felt that the long form, which I received, asked questions which violated my right to privacy. Being an immigrant (originally, I’ve been a citizen now for 16 years), and having come to Canada from a (formerly) communist country, where even Big Brother did not resort to the kind of tactics I am facing in FREE Canada… Well, I was just offended. I did not spend a significant part of my life in the squalor of refugee camps, running away from political oppression, only to be met with the same kind of oppression in the FREE WORLD. I don’t want to rant too much, but I’ll just sum it up this way – I am being threatened with fines and jail time because in a FREE COUNTRY, I refused to tell the government how many hours in a week I spend doing dishes!”

In this Information Age most of us take “information” for granted.

Canadian census forms required information related to ethnicity, etc.

Lockheed Martin is in the business of “surveillance”.

I won’t go into the war work that it does for the American military in Iraq and elsewhere.

We are all familiar with the abuses.

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(5) EDWIN BLACK, IDEAL EXPERT WITNESS FOR THE TRIAL, OR NOT.

The IBM story has some resemblance with what is happening today with the Canadian census and Lockheed Martin. It made me a little nervous. But also determined.

(See the posting “Nov 01, U.S. wants more information on Canadians”)

RE Edwin Black, we haven’t time nor the resources, and as Howard (lawyer) points out, Lockheed Martin is not IBM, LM did not do what IBM did, I can’t tell the judge to read the book. (I took the book into Court and brought it to the attention of the Judge and Prosecutor.)

The game is public education. Sometimes, as Howard says, you go to court for a principle. I am in full agreement.

After the court case I would like to re-ignite the call for a public inquiry into the police tactics at Montebello. Those in positions of authority MUST be held accountable. “The culture of secrecy requires a complicitous media and a passive citizenry”.

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(6) THE PLAN, NEW BOOK (2008) BY BLACK, IN THE CANADIAN CONTEXT. THE KICKER: OIL (water?) SECURITY FOR THE USA.

I recommend this video to you.

Black uses American daily oil consumption figures to establish the extent and consequences of American dependency on oil imports. He makes the point that the Americans do not have a plan for a disruption in supply (European countries do). The role of the Straits of Hormuz in the supply line become abundantly clear.

He does not mention the Tar Sands, nor the fact that Canada is now the number one oil supplier to the U.S. I am left with the feeling that the Americans, contrary to Black’s statements, DO have a strategy for oil security. It lies in Canada. Uneasiness about that comes with the Troop Exchange Agreement (Feb 14, 2008) and the new “Canada First Defence Strategy” (June 2008) in which Canada has “interoperability” and “compatible doctrine” with the U.S..

I guess I can CHOOSE TO KNOW or choose not to know: we are part of the strategy for oil and water security for the U.S. And, regardless of the court case, Lockheed Martin’s involvement in the Canadian census is problematic, similar to IBM’s involvement in the data capture and storage functions in Nazi Germany.

Edwin Black at Western Automotive Journalists’ Symposium video, click on this web link (Be patient or bypass the introductory comments.):

(SOrry – the link is no longer valid. http://video.google.ca/videosearch?hl=en&q=edwin+black&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#)

2008-12-05 Predator UAV (Drones) Set for U.S.- Canada Patrol

Drones (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles / UAVs) No Responses »

Dec 052008

Dec 5, 2008

Graham Warwick and John M. Doyle

Heavy turbulence has thwarted the second attempt to deliver the first General Atomics Predator B unmanned air vehicle (UAV) to Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., today for duty patrolling the U.S.-Canadian border.The 64-foot wingspan UAV turned back before mid-day because of the rough air about 300 miles north of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) Air & Marine’s UAV base in Sierra Vista, Ariz. Better weather conditions were forecast for a third attempt on Dec. 6, according to Juan Munoz Torres, a CBP A&M spokesman.

The Predator B will be based at a special UAV operations center at the N.D. airbase, about 13 miles from Grand Forks International Airport, where CBP A&M maintains an air branch with manned rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. The latest UAV, CBP’s fourth Predator, originally was scheduled to arrive Dec. 4 but was delayed by a communications problem at Sierra Vista, where three Predators are based to patrol the southern border with Mexico.

While the UAVs patrol the U.S. southern border border at night, CBP A&M says some of the flights along the northern border could be conducted in daylight. The agency plans to begin operations in late January 2009, but has still to reach agreement with the FAA on the flight restrictions to be imposed when the UAV is flying.

The northern Predator will be controlled locally from Grand Forks but data from its synthetic-aperture radar and electro-optical/infrared sensors will be piped to CBP operations centers in Washington, D.C., and Riverside, Calif. Eventually, the UAV will be controlled via satellite communications from the CBP A&M Operations Center in Riverside.

CBP will receive its fifth Predator before year-end. Only one vehicle will be based in Grand Forks initially, but the agency expects at least four will be needed to maintain patrol of the northern border.

Meantime, eight U.S. Air Force Predator As are scheduled to arrive at Grand Forks beginning in early 2009 and will be flown by the North Dakota Air National Guard. The Guard’s 178th Reconnaissance Squadron – recently converted from flying F-16s – is helping the ANG’s three UAV squadrons double its combat air patrols in Iraq and Afghanistan (Aerospace DAILY, Aug. 22). Since 2005, ANG Predator units have been formed in California, Arizona and North Dakota and maintain several overseas combat air patrols on an around-the-clock basis.

2008-12-01 Darek Czernewcan found us! He is charged for failure to comply with 2006 census. Found guilty and given a suspended sentence.

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

Dec 012008

CONTENTS

(1) DAREK CZERNEWCAN FOUND US

(2) DAREK GIVEN SUSPENDED SENTENCE

Note: “According to an August news release, Lockheed Martin employs 140,000 people worldwide and reported 2007 sales of US $41.9 billion.”

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(1) DAREK CZERNEWCAN FOUND US!

The court proceedings against Darek for non-compliance with the 2006 census began in August in London ON. If you had Darek’s family and life experience you would know in your bones about threats to justice and freedom:

Darek writes:

“I purposely declined the census because I felt that the long form, which I received, asked questions which violated my right to privacy. Being an immigrant (originally, I’ve been a citizen now for 16 years), and having come to Canada from a (formerly) communist country, where even Big Brother did not resort to the kind of tactics I am facing in FREE Canada… Well, I was just offended. I did not spend a significant part of my life in the squalor of refugee camps, running away from political oppression, only to be met with the same kind of oppression in the FREE WORLD. I don’t want to rant too much, but I’ll just sum it up this way – I am being threatened with fines and jail time because in a FREE COUNTRY, I refused to tell the government how many hours in a week I spend doing dishes!”

From Darek’s wife, Kelly:

“Hi!

I’m Darek’s wife, Kelly. Thank you for all your help and support.

I’m so glad there are at least two more families standing up for our rights.

It gives me hope for my son’s future. Darek’s maternal grandfather lost his entire family during the Second World War, and only due to a fluke, survived the “ethnic cleansing” himself, as he was posted on the other side of the country at the time. Darek’s dad’s struggle against the Communist repression during Poland’s civil war seems smaller by comparison, and Darek’s fight just a sand-box shoving match, but we are talking about one family over the span of three short generations. I do not want my son’s life tattooed and barcoded by Lockheed Martin in this or the upcoming Census. As Stalin once said, “the people who vote count nothing, the people who count the votes count everything.”

Darek and Kelly have a fourteen-month-old son.

Darek found Todd Stelmach (another person in the same boat) and me through Don Roger’s web-site, “Count Me Out” (of the Census).

Darek, as quoted in the Gerogia Strait on-line news:

” Czernewcan explained that during the Cold War, his father was a political prisoner of Poland’s Soviet government. Later, his parents immigrated to Canada to spare Czernewcan from compulsory military service.

“I have this intrinsic aversion to anything military,” he said.

Serendipitously, Darek’s work brought him to Saskatoon. We had time for coffee. It was just great to get to know a little of this person whose mind obviously works like mine in some ways!

The Statistics Act sets a limitation period. Proceedings against individuals must be instituted “not later than two years after the time when the subject-matter of the proceedings arose”. The proceedings against Darek started in August. It needs to be determined that this falls within the 2-year period.

(Sandra speaking:) The bona fide Census work is valued. I am in the camp that believes “Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, debate, and dissent.” Sometimes the government has to be called on its actions. The American military (through Lockheed Martin Corporation) should have nothing to do with the Canadian census, for various reasons. I doubt that the Statistics Act, when it was written, EVER contemplated that future governments would be doing this.

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(2) DAREK GIVEN SUSPENDED SENTENCE

“I suppose I owe you guys a bit of an update. My case is now over. And I guess I both won and lost. I’m sorry to let you down, but I had to throw in the towel. (INSERT: he DIDN’T let us down! He did the right thing.) The Crown Attorney assigned to my case had a real hard-on for this. He said that if we go to trial, he would ask for the maximum penalty, maximum fine as well as maximum jail time, as well as an order to make me fill out the form.

I did not succeed in finding pro-bono legal representation. I have to be honest with you – personally, I can do 3 months in a provincial bucket standing on my head. But I am the sole provider for my family and we would end up homeless and broke if I was in jail for 3 months. So I asked the Crown what he would want if I pleaded guilty. He was ready to agree to a $300 fine and no jail time. So we took it to plea court. And this is where I got lucky. The judge was exceptionally reasonable. He said that he was not the least bit inclined to agree with the crown that this was a serious matter.

The judge said that he doesn’t see the purpose in prosecuting people like me. He asked me if I had anyone relying on me for support, and I said that yes, I had a wife who stayed at home and raised our 14-month old son. The judge was pleased to hear that. He said that since I have no criminal record he would like to give me an absolute discharge, but since there was some provision in the law that prevented him from doing so in this particular case, he gave me a suspended sentence. I should mention that this judge admonished the Crown Attorney for wasting the Court’s time with trivial matters and stopped just shy of asking them to bring him some real criminals! “

(“A suspended sentence is a legal construct. Unless a minimum punishment is prescribed by law, the court has the power to suspend the passing of sentence (generally for a period of three years) and place the offender on probation. It is the passing of the sentence, not the sentence itself, that is being suspended. This means that if the person is convicted of another offense during the period when the passing of sentence had been suspended, then the person may be sentenced for the original offence.”)

2008-11-28 Follow-up on Montebello, Police provoke Violence at SPP protest (2007)

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

Nov 282008

For Montebello (high-end resort outside Ottawa) Canadian police were trained, disguised and deployed

for the assigned purpose of turning a peaceful protest violent.

The SPP is the so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership.

The focus of public attention on the SPP caused it to later change its name.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

(1) WATCH THE SHORT MONTEBELLO VIDEO

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DCRsj06wT64

Astute, peaceful protestors had been able to reach in and pull down the face masks of the provocateurs after someone noticed that they were wearing police boots and shouted it out. The video includes footage from a subsequent press conference held by Police. They had been caught on camera and were forced to defend their actions. The Police got away, unchallenged, with “the three officers were performing their duties”.

Calls for a Public Enquiry into Montebello are certainly warranted, even years later. When you see the video footage it’s a little hard to swallow the explanations given by the Police. The officials responsible “will not comment”.

In Blake’s world it is the protestors who wear masks and are the villains, hence the need for legislation to criminalize the wearing of masks.

He is naïve. In fact the “provocateurs” are plants, in this case the Police, in other cases they are professionals hired by the corporatists.

The 2012 email to Blake includes a verbal description of what happened at Montebello, along with other points.

2. . . . Democracy overtaken by Corporatocracy = coup d’état. Citizens fight to regain democracy = Revolution (insurgency) . . .

(2) THINK

In August 2007 numerous people and organizations called upon Stockwell Day, Minister Responsible, to launch a Public Enquiry into police actions at Montebello. I have appended just one of the thoughtful submissions to Day as example (scroll down, it’s after the picture of the police provocateurs or “instigators”).

There has been no public enquiry to date. The Government repeatedly demonstrates that it operates outside the law and democratic principles.

– The SPP (Montebello) is essentially transnational corporate interests working with the Government, the same as at the WTO meetings in Seattle (Battle in Seattle, the movie).

– For Montebello, police were trained, disguised and deployed for the assigned purpose of turning a peaceful protest violent.

– Media traditionally report on the violence, and not on the message of the protestors. The deployment of Provocateurs is therefore an effective strategy to silence the dissent over “who is running the Government?“. In whose interests are we “governed”?

I googled for some updated explanation that would say the police WERE NOT trained, disguised and deployed to turn the protest violent, because it is so hard to believe – – I would like to find some reason not to believe it. Sorry – it’s not there.

I phoned the office of NDP Member-of-Parliament Libby Davies, one of the ones who led the call for an Enquiry. Her office confirmed that there has never been a response from the Harper Government to the 15-month-old call for an Enquiry.

I spoke with Paul Manly who pieced together the Montebello video which includes the completely inadequate explanation from the Quebec police, “the three police men were doing their job“.

You can google and find the CBC, CTV and other media reports if you are in doubt about the police incidents. This link mentions the police shoes that gave the disguised policemen away.

Quebec police admit they went undercover at Montebello protest (CBC)

(In case the link becomes invalid, there is a copy of the article at http://sandrafinley.ca/?p=749)

I am left with the conclusion that the evidence is very solid to say that police officers were trained, disguised and deployed to turn peaceful protest violent. Which is against the law.

The need for a Public Enquiry is so damned obvious. It’s more than a year later and nothing.

Montebello is a critical event. We are into a police state if this is allowed to go un-addressed.

THINK:

– if you were the people who got away with the police acts at Montebello, and you know there will be more protests, what would be your strategy for next time?

There are two possibilities:

a. Make sure that the disguised police officers are not wearing police shoes! (it was their shoes that gave them away).

b. (the more likely, and consistent with what is happening in the U.S.) “Out-source” the police/military and prison functions of the society. It is much more difficult for anyone to be held accountable, or to be discovered.

Remember from Battle in Seattle (documented not only in the movie): once the violence started, the police were placed in a strait-jacket with instructions not to interfere with the trashing of property – for a period of time. THEN they were called in with tear gas and rubber bullets, etc.

And I am sorry that I have this good recall for some things that I keep repeating. One of them is the “Canada First Defence Strategy” from June 2008. Canada will have “compatible doctrine” and “interoperability” with the U.S. security forces. The SPP is a joint undertaking with the U.S. and Mexico that includes the “security” forces.

Option b must not happen. It’s why I’m an activist.

I don’t know just when, but we need to mount a renewed campaign to force the Public Enquiry into Montebello.

youtube-montebello-070823

A YouTube video shows Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, ordering three masked men back from a line of riot police. ((CBC))

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

APPENDED: one person’s (Scott Alexander Ross’s) letter to Stockwell Day.

Monday, August 27, 2007

To Stockwell Day the Honourable Member of Parliament for Okanagan – Coquihalla

On Monday August 20 there was an incident during the protest at the North American Leaders Summit in Montebello Quebec; this event was documented partially by video and by eye witnesses. Without either of those sources no one can attempt to say what happened at the protest.

The video on YouTube shows one masked protester pushing other protesters with one hand while having a large rock in the other; this masked man is followed by two others who eventually make their way to the police line where they force their way through and are pushed to the ground.

The video also showcases that at this event it was audible many peaceful protesters thought these masked protesters were provocateurs, police agents who sought to incite the crowds. Indeed as the video circulated on the internet the next day, this type of speculation grew. Comparisons were made based on similarities between the protesters in question and the police who were arresting them, such as the fact they were wearing the same boots.

Through every comparison made the Quebec Police responded that those three masked protesters were not police agents.

On Thursday August 23 the Quebec Police announced those three masked protesters were in fact police; they added however that those members were not trying to provoke the crowds. The Quebec Police as well as yourself suggest that the undercover officers’ cover was blown when they refused to throw stones they were carrying rather than by trying to incite conflict.

This recent acknowledgement that those masked men were police stands to show the Quebec Police did not tell the truth. As of today no one has explained why the Quebec Police literally lied.

Now with numerous protesters present at Montebello saying the police agents were actually acting as provocateurs there is a disagreement over what happened at the event. With two conflicting sides it is hard to determine what in fact happened at the protest. Mr. Day by your refusing an inquiry you have necessarily taken one of the following positions, either: there is no conflict over what happened, the Quebec Police are right, or that it is not that important of a conflict.

I hope the first possible position is ruled out right away, as it is evident in the video as well as by the protesters, newspapers, and fellow Canadians that there is a conflict.

To reply to your second possible position, that you believe the Quebec Police are correct, I must ask for evidence. Unless there is other evidence besides the Quebec Police testimony, which itself is in doubt as their credibility has been tainted by their being on the record as lying; I would argue besides the numerous independent eye witness accounts, that the video evidence contradicts the Quebec Police perspective. The department states the police were only holding the rocks to look like protesters, yet the video displays that when asked to put down the rocks to look like protesters the masked police decline; therefore a contradiction arises between the Quebec Police’s version and the video evidence. The Quebec Police may be right, but when faced with strong evidence to suggest otherwise, unless you know of any other evidence other then eye witness testimony, one cannot rationally deny the possible alternatives.

Lastly if you take the position this is not important enough for an inquiry I would respond that no one other then God can know what happened, as humans we have certain limits but through investigation we can apprach a close level of certainty. We can only come close through investigation and through the weighing of evidence.

In your refusing an inquiry you have decided it should not be investigated. I have made clear there is a disagreement over what happened and that there is strong evidence to support either side; if that is not enough to consider holding an inquiry, I would finally argue the subject matter is:

Canadian citizens, supported by eye witness accounts and video evidence, accuse Canadian Police officers of trying to provoke them to break the law.

This accusation claims that Canadian government employees were attempting to motivate Canadian citizens expressing their freedom of association and freedom of speech to become arrested; which in effect is claiming the Canadian government not only does not respect certain freedoms but oppresses them.

Democratic governments are built upon a trust between it’s citizens and it’s officials. When citizens doubt their democratic government and even go so far as suspect their government officers of wrong doing, and that government does nothing to quench such doubt, there cannot be trust. Without trust, people don’t vote and the government ceases to be representative. Without representation the government ceases being democratic.

For mine and the other numerous Canadian citizens who are currently in doubt over how the Quebec Police handled the Protesters in Montebello, and in effect doubting officers acting with powers given to them by the Canadian government, I ask you to change your decision and hold an inquiry into this matter in order to restore trust in certain officers of our Government.

Thank you,

Scott Alexander Ross

2008-11-23 Battle in Seattle, the movie. Highly recommended. Resistance WTO, SPP.

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

Nov 232008

(The Battle in Seattle is closely related to the Montebello protest, as discussed in other postings.)

Find a solution to transnational corporate takeover. It is destroying what we value, not to mention our means of survival. Millions around the world have come to the same understanding.

Today is a momentous time in history. We need to take advantage of it. Here’s a fun way to do it: get your friends together and go see this great movie!

The next few postings are related. They are invaluable tools for taking back and protecting the Earth.

#1 BATTLE IN SEATTLE, THE MOVIE

I highly recommend it to you. Round up every police and military friend you have; take them along with you for a great show. You are guaranteed to have an interesting discussion after the movie!

An exceptional script (by a young fellow, Stuart Townsend), with great actors – – names you’ll recognize. The true events of the WTO battle in Seattle (1999) are told, in a balanced way, full of drama, with fictional characters.

There are terrific, insightful interviews with the actors at (Link no longer valid: http://battleinseattle.movieset.com/home/)

“I had no idea that this actually happened.”

“Even me, I didn’t know anything about this whole thing at all.”

“A lot of people don’t know it.”

“It’s a meaty good rich tapestry, this story” (Woody Harelson)

” … it is about the first time since the 60’s where you see real coordinated response from the people .. authority that they don’t agree with .. description of these forces INDEPENDENT of each other .. realy successful protest by the people .. really hard in our democracy … ”

“At the end of the day it’s not something to fight but a solution to find.”

“A lot of people know what really happened there.”

“Now I know more and still want to know more.”

“Action is the only thing that ultimately is going to make any difference.

“I hope this movie shows what IS possible when people get together.”

“It’s about people coming together.”

“I hope they (people) look at the real reasons why this movie is being made and why this story is being told.”

” Stuart Townsend … the first-time director has made a feature film of the riots and even snagged a high profile cast for the independant film.

Stuart Townsend:

“…I really loved the story, and I wanted to tell it. This was a war against corporate power. Corporations were ruining our world. You have to have corporations, but the whole point is to try and make them sustainable and responsible…”

“… wanted to use actors that young people really liked. If I made a documentary, no one would have seen it. By this approach, we thought that if we could make it more about the characters and the emotional connections, not just political connections, we could hit somewhat of a mainstream audience…”

PREVIEW at http://video.google.ca/videosearch?hl=en&q=movie+battle+in+seattle&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#

From the official website, www.battleinseattlemovie.com you can get the movie shown in your community.

There’s a good INTERVIEW at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5n79ovj31s

http://www.globalissues.org/article/46/wto-protests-in-seattle-1999 :

“Once more, the mainstream media coverage in the US about such a major event was very much lacking. It was pretty much corporate led and therefore concentrating on the sensationalism of the violent aspects of the protests, without really looking at the real issues (such as the corporate domination with lack of accountability). However, a large group of independent media organizations worked together to provide alternative coverage.

Enormous Public Turnout Despite Police Crackdown

Estimates ranged from 50,000 to 100,000 protestors. Protesters came from all over the world, not just the developed countries. They ranged from human rights groups, students, environmental groups, religious leaders, labor rights activists etc wanting fairer trade with less exploitation. Even right-wing protectionist groups were there also arguing against the current corporate-led free trade, (although the protectionists were there for very different reasons).

The fact that 50,000 to 100,000 people turned up in the pouring rain, through all the police crackdowns etc indicates the sheer number of people who are concerned at the current issues, as obviously not everyone could be in Seattle. How many more would have turned up had it not been raining so bad!

While the majority were non-violent protestors, a small group started some violence and looting that led to the Seattle police and National Guard declaring a state of emergency (it was even termed as Martial Law by the Mayor of Seattle at one point). This led to the issuing of curfews, arresting, tear-gassing, pepper spraying and even shooting rubber bullets at innocent, non-violent protestors. This became the mainstream media’s major coverage focus often portraying all the protestors as “loony leftists” or violent groups with no clue as to what they are talking about. (the mainstream media is corporate-owned as well and certain media conglomerates make up some of the largest multinational corporations that directly benefit from the current form of free trade)

The media’s portrayal of protestors interfering in global trading missed the point that as history has shown, progress has also been made thanks to a variety of public protests: women’s rights, civil rights, civil wars and revolutions in Europe, in Latin America and other former colonial countries such as, India, East Timor, and so on.”

2008-11-09 Encana Dawson Creek: Reply from RCMP Anti-Terrorist Squad. Rule of law? Jane Jacobs.

Corporatocracy or Democracy or Administrative State or WHAT?, Why we flounder or do not flounder No Responses »

Nov 092008

BACKGROUND:

– An anti-terrorist RCMP squad was sent to Dawson Creek because of incidents on the Encana pipeline.

– I emailed the RCMP (2008-11-06 Letter to RCMP anti-terrorism squad): the underlying CAUSES of the incidents at the pipeline need to be addressed. The actions (the “incidents”) draw attention to a problem. They are not the actions of terrorists.

If the underlying causes are not addressed it is predictable that there will be more incidents. They will occur in the Tar Sands, too. The industry is slowly killing local people through the poisons they are dumping into the environment.

The Government turns a blind eye. The GOVERNMENT is the creator of the incidents, through its failure to regulate effectively and through its failure to enforce regulations. The Government is the only institution in our society that has this function. If they don’t perform their role, it doesn’t get done.

The RCMP Superintendent, Lloyde, replied to my email (below). And I am grateful to him. I responded.

(INSERT: I continued to send occasional emails to the Superintendent until his retirement. It’s important in a democracy to have the conversations.)

My letter to the RCMP is at 2008-11-06 Letter to RCMP anti-terrorism squad

RCMP REPLY, below
MY REPLY TO RCMP, below. Rule of Law?
YOU TELL ME, IS IT “COMPARTMENTALIZATION”, OR MORE THAN THAT?

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

(1) REPLY FROM RCMP

—–Original Message—–

From: Lloyde PLANTE

Sent: November 7, 2008 12:42 PM

To: sabest1 AT sasktel.net

Subject: RCMP Website Comment

Ms. Finley…by way of introduction, I am the National Security Criminal Operations Officer for the Province of British Columbia. As such, I am responsible for the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team which currently has conduct of the criminal investigation involving the attacks upon the gas pipelines within the Dawson Creek area. I will keep my comments short and to the point.

While I understand your points of view, I cannot support your position that the criminal acts taking place within the Dawson Creek area somehow ‘justify the means’. In my view, the potential for loss of life/serious injury and environmental damage which results from criminal acts of this nature cannot be justified. There are democratic, lawful processes available to all of us to address issues with which we may disagree. We need to take advantage of these processes. Violent criminal activity is not an option.

I have sent a copy of your comments to the investigative team in Dawson Creek.

Thank you.

Lloyde

Lloyde Plante, Superintendent

E Division Assistant CROPS – National Security

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

(2) RESPONSE TO RCMP, Rule of Law?

Thanks Lloyde.

The newspaper reports are appended. I thought the actions were carefully removed, to a location where the injury was to Encana.

Theoretically, yes, there are lawful processes.

However, the law is applied to citizens and too often, NOT to large corporations. Appended are reports regarding the Tar Sands. There is almost no enforcement of the Fisheries Act, for example.

The poisoning and slow death through cancers, etc. of the people in Fort Chipewyan is a crime resulting from the failure to enforce effective regulations. Suncor and other petro-chemical companies have done the same thing in Sarnia. It is well documented.

I have fairly detailed knowledge about Monsanto, for example. They poisoned the people in a town in Alabama where their plant was. Denied it, told lies. Finally they were taken to court and found guilty. The fine was $770 million dollars. There is a whole list of court convictions for Monsanto.

(INSERT: written in 2008, eleven years before the widely-publicized convictions against Monsanto in U.S. courts and the financial awards for destruction of health.)

And they continue to walk the streets.

You say that there is lawful recourse. Did you ever have to hire a lawyer? Do you have any idea of how long a court case takes? Do you really think that you or I could afford to take Suncor or Monsanto to court? Yet, their crimes are worse than any that you or I might commit.

I appreciate your response to my concerns.

Best wishes,

Sandra Finley

APPENDED Chronologically,

(1) ENCANA PIPELINE ATTACKS ARE NOT ECOTERRORISM

(2) WHY SOME MIGHT NOT CALL THE ENCANA PIPELINE ATTACKS ACTS OF TERRORISM

(3) CBC: PIPELINE EXPLOSION INVESTIGATION FOCUSES ON RURAL COMMUNITY, OCTOBER 17

(4) THIRD PIPELINE BLAST, CANADIAN PRESS NOVEMBER 3

(5) B.C. PIPELINE BOMBINGS MAY NOT BE ECO-TERRORISM, CANWEST NEWS NOVEMBER 3

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

TAR SANDS RESERVOIRS (“tar ponds”). ILLEGALITY BUT NO LAW ENFORCEMENT.

“… Natural Resources Canada offers a more complete list of contaminants, stating that salt, phenols, benzene, cyanide, heavy metals (such as arsenic), and dozens of other cancer makers can be found in the ponds.”

“By now, the toxic reservoirs hold more than four decades’ worth of contaminated water, sand and bitumen. Amazingly, regulators have allowed industry to build nearly a dozen of them on either side of the Athabasca River.” We are talking about toxic reservoirs placed on the shores of the largest watershed in Canada, the third largest in the world.

“… They now cover twenty-three square miles of forest and muskeg. … Within a decade, the toxic reservoirs will cover an area of eighty-five square miles.

“… toxins seep into the Athabasca River from the bottom of the dyke at the rate of one million gallons per day.” (This is just from ONE dyke – the Tar Island one. It is just the seepage from the BOTTOM of one dyke. It is just the seepage into the RIVER. It doesn’t include what goes into GROUND WATER and from ALL the twenty-three square miles of toxic reservoirs. It is just the poisoning that is happening TODAY.)

(Quotations are excerpts from pages 83-85 of “Tar Sands, Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent“, by Andrew Nikiforuk, recently released.)

It is prohibited by law to put poisons into waterways.

Is the law applied to these perpetrators??

They are slowly killing the people of Fort Chipewyan and others.

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

(3) YOU TELL ME, IS IT “COMPARTMENTALIZATION”, OR MORE THAN THAT?

What are the psychological processes through which a person (the Superintendent) can say, “There are democratic, lawful processes available to all of us to address issues with which we may disagree.”? … Our society teaches us that this is the case. When you work on some of the problems we face, you come to see that the statement is a myth. Reality is different.

I “disagree” with the poisoning of the land. It kills. It is also illegal. How can I address the poisoning? … There are democratic, lawful processes. The statement about accessible lawful process is so obviously a myth. The examples of the people who have been trying to get just treatment / remedy for years, in (discussed earlier) :

– Aamjiwnaang

– Fort Chipewyan (discussed earlier)

– Sharbot Lake

– Saskatchewan over pesticide use

– .. I could go on with example after example …the killing by police of Dudley George at Ipperwash, a crime of huge proportion after 50 years of attempts by the First Nations to have their land returned to them. Issues we have worked on in this network (8 years of effort from many people!)

Next, try the courts. Look at the cost of hiring a lawyer. Corporations like Monsanto use the threat of the justice system with impunity to intimidate people because they know a court case will break a person financially.

On top of all that,

– recent changes make it legal for mining companies to use lakes as tailings ponds (we had excellent legislation that prohibited the poisoning of water supplies). This network joined in the fight a couple of years ago to prevent the Government from getting around the legislation through the establishment of a special “appendix”. So they changed the legislation outright.

Communities can now be poisoned legally. Tailings ponds are very toxic; they leak into both surface and ground water. Common sense – in spite of “assurances” that say “no problem”. The history is clear: the transnational corporations will maximize profits, be damned the people. They have big bucks. They buy influence. They are psychopathic in their destruction – – look around the world.

I don’t doubt but that the RCMP Superintendent believes what he wrote.

In my reply to him I didn’t address this other point: “We know that the solution to terrorism isn’t more repression and police state measures, but really solving the social problems that make terrorism seem like a recourse.” Today in Canada, it’s not so much a social problem that needs to be solved. We have to solve the problem that the big corporations are “partners” with Government. We have lost the regulatory function.

——————

(For NEWCOMERS to our network:)

Jane Jacobs, in her book “Systems of Survival: A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politics” provides historical information to make the case that (in addition to the set of basic human values) there are two separately evolved ethical systems, one for commerce and the other for the “guardianship” or governance function in a society.

The “moral foundations” are different in response to the DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS of the two systems. Jacobs argues that businesspeople and government officials must recognize when they are in one sphere or the other and change hats accordingly. If you are in the guardian role, you must act within the morality of the guardian. When in the business sphere it is right to act within the different “morality” of that sphere.

Don’t ever mix up the two – as began happening in about 1982 under Mulroney with Finance Minister Michael Wilson’s promotion of the (not-wonderful) idea of “public-private-partnerships” (i.e. big government – big corporation partnerships).

Jacobs is very clear that when a society loses the distinction between the two sets of ethics, when it starts to use business morality in governance and guardianship morality in business, the consequence is very serious corruption, such as you see in Africa. Resources get channeled to the rich. Concentration of power. Eventually the disparities between rich and impoverished lead to the need to rule by force. (This last statement may not have been made by Jacobs.)

Jacobs’ insights are confirmed by my experiences of the last years. In school I was taught about the “separation of powers” in a democracy. Democracies are structured so that the justice, legislative and executive arenas function independently of one other. You keep things honest by guarding against a concentration of power. I think it is legitimate to amend this basic tenet of democracy in accordance with the lessons in Jane Jacobs’ “Systems of Survival”: the separation of powers in a democracy is of the justice, legislative, executive AND COMMERCIAL functions, to avoid the evils that come with a concentration of power. RELIGION was removed from the system of governance because again, the marriage of power is dangerous to democracy.

—————

But back to the main point:

What are the psychological processes through which a person can say, “There are democratic, lawful processes available to all of us to address issues with which we may disagree.”?

Compartmentalization of information is necessary in order to believe that statement. Beyond that – – it’s part of a set of myths that help hold the structure of our society in place? Other?

2008-11-07 PotashCorp President & CEO Bill Doyle rolling in dough, made $47,092 a day in 2007 while unionized hourly workers at striking mines averaged $213, by Joe Kuchta

Uncategorized No Responses »

Nov 072008

Joe Kuchta died in 2011.

http://owlsandroosters.blogspot.ca/2008/11/potashcorp-president-ceo-bill-doyle.html

PotashCorp President & CEO Bill Doyle rolling in dough, made $47,092 a day in 2007

while unionized hourly workers at striking mines averaged $213

(The disabled links in the following are no longer valid.)

On Oct. 23, 2008, the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan reported that it earned more in its third quarter of 2008 ($1.24 billion) than it did in the entire record setting year of 2007 ($1.1 billion).
Company president and CEO Bill Doyle said while PotashCorp is not isolated from economic turbulence, the essential nature of its product protects it from market instability.
“The very nature of what we do provides a unique shelter. Consumers might choose to park their car or spend less on discretionary goods, but food will remain a priority. As I’ve said before, it is not a luxury item,” he said in a conference call with investors, analysts and media.
Significantly higher prices for all PotashCorp products, including potash, nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers, fuelled the massive increase. [PotashCorp sees profit soar (StarPhoenix, Oct. 24, 2008)]
It’s hard to imagine Doyle parking his car anytime soon, spending less on discretionary goods or struggling to put food on the table due to tough economic times.
According to PotashCorp records Doyle’s total compensation in 2007 was $17,188,621 (up from $8,943,757 in 2006), including a $2.19-million bonus based on the company’s performance. This works out to $47,092.11 a day.
Based on figures posted on the PotashCorp website unionized hourly workers at the company’s Allan, Cory and Patience Lake mines earned on average $78,070.67 in 2007, including overtime, or $213.89 a day.
On July 16, 2008, the company tabled its final offer to the union locals and later sent it directly to workers’ homes. [Potash union serves strike notice (StarPhoenix, July 24, 2008)]
In Saskatoon on July 21, 2008, nearly 500 members of United Steelworkers (USW) Locals 7458, 189 and 7689 who work at Allan, Cory and Patience Lake mines voted more than 96 per cent in favour of strike action.
The USW said the vote is “a rejection of a company offer that does not address key issues, including control over contracting out, pensions, wages, vacation and bonus.”
The union went on to say that while PotashCorp receives far more profit per worker than most mining companies, it pays wages that are lower than many other major Canadian mining operations. [PotashCorp workers back strike (StarPhoenix, July 23, 2008)]
On July 23, 2008, the USW issued its 48-hour strike notice. In response, PotashCorp issued a 48-hour lockout notice.
Workers went on strike Aug. 7, 2008, after mediation sessions between the company and the United Steelworkers (USW) District Three broke down. [PotashCorp workers hit picket lines (Leader-Post, Aug. 8, 2008)]
One of the main sticking points appears to be over bonuses.
The Globe and Mail’s David Ebner reported that the union is calling for a “commodity-based bonus.”
Ebner said the demand is modelled after the Nickel Price Bonus Plan at Vale Inco Ltd.’s Greater Sudbury operations and several other Vale Inco sites. Originally won by Inco workers in 1988, such a bonus plan for miners remains a rarity, and is now under threat because Vale wants to get rid of it.
Like Vale, PotashCorp is resolutely against the idea and insists it refuses to budge, saying it doesn’t want to saddle itself with undue costs. But Lee Edwards, lead union negotiator for the workers, represented by the United Steelworkers, said the commodity-based bonus – which could deliver an average of as much as $15,000 a year to potash workers – is an elegant and egalitarian proposal.
“When times are good the employer would be rewarding its employees. And if times are bad – which we don’t foresee for a while – then they wouldn’t have to pay,” Ms. Edwards said.
“This industry is going to be highballing for a considerable amount of time and we see that [management] wants to keep all the money to themselves,” she added.
For PotashCorp itself, the new collective agreements will be a precedent-setter because separate collective agreements at its two largest mines in Saskatchewan expire next year.
“The one thing that we won’t do is destroy our cost structure,” Mr. Doyle said. “We will not become a high-cost producer of potash. We don’t want to end up like one of the airlines or a Detroit auto maker.” [Labour seeks its piece of the potash boom (The Globe and Mail, Aug. 15, 2008)]
PotashCorp says it already offers its employees a performance-based bonus – a Short Term Incentive Plan (or annual bonus of up to 10%). The company’s final offer includes a new $5,000 per year bonus.
It appears that PotashCorp has drawn a line in the sand over the issue.
In the conference call with investors, analysts and media on Oct. 23, 2008, PotashCorp president and CEO Bill Doyle said the union’s request is not grounded in the “real world” and has “paralyzed” negotiations. [Strike having ‘absolutely no impact on us’: Doyle (StarPhoenix, Oct. 24, 2008)]
In an Oct. 8, 2008, letter sent directly to striking workers’ homes PCS Potash president Garth Moore said “we would be willing to return to the bargaining table if your union removed its demand for a new bonus plan.” [Moore writes letter to striking PotashCorp workers (Leader-Post, Oct. 11, 2008)]
The USW believes restrictions should not be placed upon bargaining discussions. [Union denounces PotashCorp tactics (StarPhoenix, Oct. 11, 2008)]
Comments and actions by PotashCorp senior executives haven’t helped the situation.
In his Oct. 23 conference call Doyle said “the strike has absolutely no impact on us” and seemed to suggest that any new young potash workers hired are merely a “common labourer.” According to Doyle union leadership live in the “realm of the impossible” and “don’t seem to have much expertise in concluding a labour agreement.” [Strike having ‘absolutely no impact on us’: Doyle (StarPhoenix, Oct. 24, 2008)]
Moore’s Oct. 8 letter to striking workers’ seemed to be little more than a scare tactic designed to intimidate and undermine the union.
“During the past several weeks, the world has experienced significant financial turmoil, with companies in all sectors, from financial to manufacturing to commodities, being significantly impacted by a wide-spread credit crisis.
“North American, European and other key capital markets around the world have seen hundreds of billions of dollars of wealth vanish, and governments are scrambling to devise “bailout plans” to protect against further business failures and loss of jobs.
“On July 16, we made a final offer to the union negotiating team and shared that offer with you in a letter sent to your home. In this uncertain current global environment, we cannot provide assurance as to how long we can continue to justify our outstanding contract offer,” Moore said.
“Strikes by their nature are not pleasant affairs. We have a tremendous amount of respect for you and all our workers and we hope that this has been reflected in the way the company has conducted itself during this strike.
“Our offer remains on the table for now, and we would like to see you vote on it.” [Moore writes letter to striking PotashCorp workers (Leader-Post, Oct. 11, 2008)]
After reading Doyle’s and Moore’s comments it seems clear there are two worlds’ out there. The one the rich and super-rich live in and the other in which the “common labourer” resides.
In his Aug. 15 story The Globe’s David Ebner reported that “The soaring price of potash has made the top three executives who run Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. fantastically wealthy, with stock options worth a total of $846-million.”
Ebner noted that “Mr. Doyle’s stock options alone were worth $553-million at yesterday’s close [Aug. 14], and company profit in the first half of this year tripled to $1.5-billion (U.S.).”
To put this in some kind of perspective consider that the incredible amount of wealth concentrated in just these three individuals alone would cover the 2008 operating budgets for the cities of Saskatoon ($254.8M), Regina ($235.7M), Prince Albert ($19.6M), Moose Jaw ($22.8M), Swift Current ($33.4M), North Battleford ($29.6M) and Yorkton ($15.4M) and still leave $234 million to spare.
On at least two occasions PotashCorp shareholders have been asked to vote on resolutions to rein in excessive executive compensation, but both times was defeated.
At the 2008 Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders on May 8, 2008, in Saskatoon, shareholders considered a proposal submitted by the Carpenters’ Local 27 Pension Trust Fund in Burnstown, Ontario:

“Be it Resolved: The shareholders of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (“Company”) herby request that the Board of Directors establish a policy regarding the Company’s supplemental executive retirement plan that provides the following: (1) an exclusion of all incentive pay from inclusion in the plan’s definition of covered compensation used to establish benefits, and (2) a prohibition on the granting of past service credits or accelerated service benefits to participating executives. This action should be implemented in a manner so as not to interfere with existing contractual rights of any supplemental plan participant.”

The PotashCorp board strongly recommended that shareholders vote against the proposal stating in part that “if implemented, would significantly impair our ability to provide a market competitive compensation package necessary to attract and retain the most qualified executive officers and key employees, which is not in our and our shareholders best interests.”
At the 2004 Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders held on May 6, 2004, in Saskatoon, shareholders were asked to consider a proposal that would replace the company’s current system of compensation for senior executives with a “Commonsense Executive Compensation” program including the following features:

(1) Salary – The chief executive officer’s (“CEO”’) salary should be targeted at the mean of salaries paid at peer group companies, not to exceed $1,000,000 annually. No senior executive should be paid more than the CEO.

(2) Annual Bonus – The annual bonus paid to senior executives should be based on well-defined quantitative (financial) and qualitative (non-financial) performance measures. The maximum level of annual bonus should be a percentage of the executive’s salary level, capped at 100% of salary.

(3) Long-Term Equity Compensation – Long-term equity compensation to senior executives should be in the form of restricted shares, not stock options. The restricted share program should utilize justifiable performance criteria and challenging performance benchmarks. It should contain a vesting requirement of at least three years. Executives should be required to hold all shares awarded under the program for the duration of their employment. The value of the restricted share grant should not exceed $1,000,000 on the date of grant.

(4) Severance – The maximum severance payment to a senior executive should be no more than one year’s salary and bonus.

(5) Disclosure – Key components of the executive compensation plan should be outlined in the Compensation Committee’s report to shareholders, with variances from the Commonsense program explained in detail.

“We believe that compensation paid to senior executives at most companies, including ours, is excessive, unjustified, and contrary to the interests of the Company, its shareholders, and other important corporate constituents. CEO pay has been described as a “wasteland that has not been reformed.”’ (Institutional Shareholder Services senior vice-president, Wall Street Journal, “Executive Pay Keeps Rising, Despite Outcry,” October 3, 2003). We believe that the growing disparity between the compensation paid to senior executives and average workers is a disturbing trend and contrary to the long-term interests of companies, their shareholders, workers and communities,” the Carpenters’ Local 27 Pension Trust Fund said in its supporting statement.
The board of course considered this heresy and strongly recommended that shareholders vote against the proposal.
“The Board and the Compensation Committee believe that restricting potential incentive program features and capping compensation levels for executives at arbitrary levels would unduly restrict the Compensation Committee’s choice among performance based compensation arrangements and would place the Corporation at a significant competitive disadvantage in recruiting and retaining executives. Salary and compensation levels for executives and the CEO are generally established at levels that approximate the median of what our peers are paying. In addition, as proof of our executive group’s recognition of their responsibility to shareholders, all senior executive employees (including the CEO) have taken a voluntary 10% salary cut, effective July 1, 2003,” the board said in its reasons for opposing the proposal.
The pay cuts were apparently “part of cost-saving measures undertaken by the Corporation.” It seems, however, that this goodwill gesture was simply a mirage.
PotashCorp financial records show that while CEO Bill Doyle’s base salary decreased from $812,500 in 2002 to $783,750 in 2003, his bonus increased from $476,000 to $535,000 wiping out any savings that the company might’ve realized. Since then his salary has just kept climbing to where it sits in 2008 at $1,092,000.
The story for PCS Potash president Garth Moore is much the same. His salary dropped from $324,500 in 2002 to $317,216 in 2003, but his bonus increased from $107,000 to $123,000. Although his salary remained unchanged in 2004, Moore received a bonus of $267,000. In 2007 Moore’s salary was $382,900.
So twisted is the company’s executive compensation plan that Doyle’s 1994 salary ($295,000) and bonus ($250,000) alone, when he was still the company’s executive vice president of potash and sales, is still nearly seven times as much as what the average unionized hourly PotashCorp worker at the three striking mines earn today, including overtime.
In 1998, Moore’s salary ($172,285) and bonus ($121,775) was considerably lower than Doyle’s but still more than three and a half times greater than the average unionized hourly PotashCorp worker today.
Even in years when the company took a loss there seemed to be money available for executive bonuses and salary increases.
In 1999 the company reported a $412 million net loss. According to The StarPhoenix Doyle said it was a poor year largely because of lower North American demand and excess product supply.
In a conference call with analysts and investors, Doyle said he did not foresee an immediate turnaround in the industry’s fortunes.
“We see 2000 as being another difficult year for the industry,” said Doyle.
“We do think we’re at the bottom of the cycle. The question is how long does it take us to start climbing back up the ladder, and we think it’s going to be into 2001 before we really make some significant progress in that area.”
The company’s gross margin, or sales revenue minus costs, fell 33 per cent from 1998 levels. Cash flow remained fairly strong at $335.7 million, although down from $549 million the previous year. [Markets pound PCS stock: Huge writedown ends string of eight consecutive profitable years (StarPhoenix, Feb. 11, 2000)]
That year Doyle received a salary of $622,500 (up from $475,000) and a bonus of $230,000 (down from $450,000). He was granted 70,000 stock options, up from 50,000 in 1998. In 2000 his salary rose to $725,000 and he was given a bonus of $1,000,000 plus another 70,000 in options.
Meanwhile, Moore’s salary climbed from $172,285 in 1998 to $300,000 in 2000. He received bonuses of $121,775 in 1998, $80,000 in 1999 and $213,000 in 2000. In those three years he was granted a total of 85,000 stock options.
A few years earlier an interesting story appeared in the Vancouver Sun saying Doyle had taken advantage of the company’s skyrocketing share price and in two days of trading hauled in $2,865,562.
According to an insider trading report filed with the provincial government, Doyle purchased 12,900 shares at the option price of $17.50 on Nov. 27, 1995, and sold them the same day for $102.50 for a profit of $1,096,500.
On Feb. 23, 1996, Doyle purchased 22,500 shares at his option price of $25.50 and sold them the same day for $104.125 for a profit of $1,769,062. [BRIEFLY: Boss gets $3 million in options (Vancouver Sun, June 8, 1996)]
One month prior, on May 8, 1996, The StarPhoenix’s James Parker reported that production workers at PotashCorp made between $16 and $25 per hour. [Potash mine unions propose united front (StarPhoenix, May 8, 1996)]
According to figures posted on the PotashCorp website the average base hourly wage as of April 2008 was $29.17 at the Allan mine, $28.91 at Cory and $29.91 at Patience Lake.
It would seem that little has changed in the last dozen years. Senior executives continue to get the goldmine while workers get the shaft.
————————————————————————–
Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan

	Net Income (Loss) ($ millions)
2007	1,103.6
2006	631.8
2005	542.9
2004	298.6
2003	(126.3)
2002	53.6
2001	121.2
2000	198.0
1999	(412.0)
1998	261.0
1997	297.1
1996	209.0
1995	159.5
1994	91.2

Bill Doyle, President and CEO

	Salary	Bonus	Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation
2008	$1,092,000
2007	$1,040,000	—	$2,190,000
2006	$1,000,000	—	$750,000
2005	$950,000	$1,056,000
2004	$808,750	$1,375,000
2003	$783,750	$535,000
2002	$812,500	$476,000
2001	$787,500	$425,000
2000	$725,000	$1,000,000
1999	$622,500	$230,000
1998	$475,000	$450,000
1997	$374,083	$280,000
1996	$356,500	$500,000
1995	$330,000	$276,000
1994	$295,000	$250,000

Garth W. Moore, President, PCS Potash

	Salary	Bonus	Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation
2007	$382,900	—	$400,000
2006	$366,400	—	$171,000
2005	$348,938	$195,000
2004	$317,216	$267,000
2003	$317,216	$123,000
2002	$324,500	$107,000
2001	$315,000	$90,900
2000	$300,000	$213,000
1999	$229,023	$80,000
1998	$172,285	$121,775

posted by Joe Kuchta @ 7:26 AM

2008-11-06 Dawson Creek & Encana: Letter to RCMP anti-terrorism squad

Corporatocracy or Democracy or Administrative State or WHAT?, Energy, Peace or Violence No Responses »

Nov 062008

Submitted letter to the RCMP from their website (link no longer valid).

Sent copy to Dear Minister for Public Safety, Peter Van Loan.

Response received from the RCMP is at 2008-11-09 Encana Dawson Creek: Reply from RCMP. Rule of law? Jane Jacobs.

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

THE LETTER SENT

Please pass this along to the anti-terrorism squad:

Regarding the Encana Pipeline incidents near Dawson Creek, in the area where Wiebo Ludwig, on the other side of the border attracted earlier attention.

The variables for violence have been put in place by the Government. An RCMP anti-terrorist squad will achieve very little because it addresses a SYMPTOM (sabotage of a pipeline), not the cause.

The cause is the failure of the Government to regulate industry, to serve the public interest, to protect the Commons (water, air, land) upon which we are all dependent for survival.

This third incident at the Encana pipeline is as predictable as the current economic crisis in the United States was.

Sour gas is a very toxic substance. It poisons, and in the longer term, kills people.

It is right for people to protect their children against sour gas and other poisons, and every bit as honourable as the work of Canadian soldiers who fight overseas under various calls-to-arm. More so, depending upon your point-of-view.

As I understand the situation,

– whether in the Dawson Creek area or

– in Fort Chipewyan (down river from the Tar Sands with tragic consequences for this town of 1200 people), or

– in other areas of Canada where poisoning of local environments and populations by large corporations proceeds without restraint,

it is inevitable that there will be resistance.

It seems to me to be a no-brainer: if the means of seeking remedy to the problems have been fruitless, if the problems continue to escalate, then the
means of addressing the problem will change.

Lobbying, meeting, writing letters, the formation of citizen groups, letters-to-the-editor … little achieved in the effort to obtain justice. Soo … what next? People are resourceful, especially when their families are at high risk and visibly so.

An anti-terrorist squad is money and people assigned to the wrong place. A parallel example would be the Atlantic cod fishery. More money, more money and in the end the fishery collapsed. That was 15 or 20 years ago. There are no signs today that it will ever recover. The Government applied the WRONG remedy to dwindling resources. They addressed a SYMPTOM (declining catches) and not the CAUSE (over-fishing).

We are now repeating exactly the same mistake with Encana. Incidents along the pipeline tell you something is wrong (declining catches told the Government that something was wrong).

The response is to assign an anti-terrorist squad to a symptom. As I say, you can predict with certainty that things will only continue to deteriorate because the cause of the incidents is not being addressed.

The Government has one job: to protect the public interest, the Commons, that upon which we are all dependent for survival. In order to do that it has to regulate industry. Citizens pay the Government to do that.

When the Government serves the corporate interest by turning a blind eye, by failing to enforce regulations, when people’s children are being poisoned – predictably, and beyond doubt there will be further deterioration. There will be incidents in the Tar Sands. That’s a no-brainer. The cod fishery no longer exists. Democracy no longer exists.

I ask the RCMP to join Canadians in demanding that the Government assume it’s assigned role in a democracy.

You are looking in the wrong place for terrorists.

Thank-you for your consideration.

Best wishes,

Sandra Finley

= = = = = = = = = = =

Response received from the RCMP is at 2008-11-09 Encana Dawson Creek: Reply from RCMP. Rule of law? Jane Jacobs.

2008-11-03 Quebec National Assembly calls for a prohibition against nuclear waste imports

Radioactive waste No Responses »

Nov 032008

Adopted without debate in the National Assembly, Province of Quebec.

(Quebec has been smarter than the rest of Canadian Governments on various important issues.)

CONTENTS

(1) CANADA GENERATES FAR MORE NUCLEAR WASTE THAN ANY OTHER OECD NATION ON A PER CAPITA BASIS (1998 data).

(2) THE NUCLEAR WASTE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION SEARCHING FOR A DISPOSAL SITE (GULLIBLE PEOPLE).

(3) OCTOBER 30 2008, QUEBEC NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SAYS “YOU WON’T BE DUMPING YOUR NUCLEAR WASTE IN QUEBEC”.

(4) NUCLEAR REACTORS IN THE TAR SANDS DEVELOPMENTS

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

(1) CANADA GENERATES FAR MORE NUCLEAR WASTE THAN ANY OTHER OECD NATION ON A PER CAPITA BASIS (1998 data).

Cripes! Sometimes I wish I didn’t look these things up. I had no idea that we are #1. http://www.environmentalindicators.com/htdocs/indicators/13nucl.htm

Canada vs the OECD: An Environmental Comparison WASTE:

Nuclear Waste

Canada uses nuclear reactors to produce approximately 12% of this country’s energy. An inevitable byproduct of the process is spent fuel, the most common form of nuclear waste. Radioactive waste is also generated by uranium mining and milling, fuel enrichment, decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear facilities and other activities using isotopes, such as scientific research.18

Nuclear waste is a major threat to human health and the environment, and poses a difficult disposal problem. As of 1992, Canada had accumulated over 200 million tonnes of low-level radioactive tailings from uranium mining, over one million cubic metres of contaminated soil and 900,000 bundles of nuclear fuel wastes.19

The dilemma about how to properly dispose of nuclear waste continues to plague Canada’s nuclear industry. According to Environment Canada, “true walkaway disposal methods are unlikely to be possible, given the long time periods (a minimum of 250,000 years) for which the longer-lived radionuclides would have to be isolated from the soil, air, and water.”20

Canada’s OECD Ranking Canada generates far more nuclear waste than any other OECD nation on a per capita basis, placing us 28th out of 28. Canada generates 49.3 kg of nuclear waste per 1000 inhabitants.

The total amount of nuclear waste generated in Canada in 1998 was 1,510 tonnes, almost seven times the OECD average, and second only to the United States.

Twelve OECD nations reported zero nuclear waste: Australia, Austria, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Turkey.

Trend

Annual production of nuclear waste in Canada grew 76% between 1982 and 1998. Although the United States currently generates a greater total of nuclear waste, Canada is expected to surpass the U.S. in terms of total nuclear waste by the year 2010.21

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

(2) THE NUCLEAR WASTE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION SEARCHING FOR A DISPOSAL SITE (GULLIBLE PEOPLE).

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) was established in 2002 by Ontario Power Generation Inc., Hydro-Québec and New Brunswick Power Corporation in accordance with the Nuclear Fuel Waste Act (NFWA) to assume responsibility for the long-term management of Canada’s used nuclear fuel.

The NWMO is holding meetings in various Canadian locations. They are in VERY bad need of a place to get rid of the accumulating piles of radioactive waste. They were in Saskatchewan about a month ago. Left to themselves, the people who generate the radioactive waste are great salespeople for its “harmless” disposal in your jurisdiction. All that empty space in Saskatchewan is attractive as a disposal site. There are industry and Government officials here who fully support that we should become the repository for radioactive waste. We’re “open for business”! (What’s the title of Michael Moore’s book – – (——) White Men!)

Many thanks for the relentless work of the well-informed Saskatchewanians who show up year-after-ear to defend against the propaganda.

Google “Yucca Mountain” to obtain an idea of the difficulty in the U.S. for disposal of its nuclear waste. There has been a tendency to site health-destroying nuclear activity on the lands of indigenous populations. In past emails we have looked at court challenges by native Americans and environmental groups in the U.S..

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

(3) OCTOBER 30 2008, QUEBEC NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SAYS “YOU WON’T BE DUMPING YOUR NUCLEAR WASTE IN QUEBEC”.

Many thanks to Wanda (Alberta) who writes:

This may be a simple first step that we could get the provincial government to agree to: that Alberta not accept burial of nuclear wastes from outside of the province within the province.

It is so far from our current reality – of not even having any waste, and easy to agree to – because why would we want to accept out of province waste?

—– Original Message —–

From: Gordon Edwards

Sent: Thursday, October 30

Subject: Quebec National Assembly calls for a prohibition against nuclear waste imports

See the unofficial English translation below:

Les travaux parlementaires

D?bats de Assembl?e nationale?

Le jeudi 30 octobre 2008, 15 h 25

Le Vice-Pr?sident (M. Picard):?M. le d?put? de Vachon.

M. Bouchard:?M. le Pr?sident, je demande le consentement de?cette Chambre pour pr?senter, conjointement avec la ministre des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune et le d?put? de Marguerite-D’Youville, la motion suivante:

?Que l’Assembl?e nationale demande au gouvernement d’interdire l’enfouissement sur le territoire du Qu?bec de d?chets et de combustibles irradi?s en provenance de l’ext?rieur du Qu?bec.?

Le Vice-Pr?sident (M. Picard):?Merci, M. le d?put?. Est-ce qu’il y a consentement pour d?battre de cette motion?

M. Pelletier (Chapleau):?Il y a consentement pour qu’elle soit adopt?e sans d?bat.

Le Vice-Pr?sident (M. Picard):?Cette motion est-elle adopt?e sans d?bat?

Des voix:?Adopt?.

——————

Unofficial English Translation: Parliamentary Proceedings

38th Legislature, First Session (commenced May 8 2007)

Debates of the National Assembly

Thursday, October 30, 2008, 3:25 p.m. (unedited)

Vice-President (M. Picard): I recognize the member from Vachon.

M. Bouchard: Mister Speaker, I ask for the consent of this Chamber to present the following motion, jointly with the Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife and the member from Marguerite-D’Youville:

That the National Assembly ask the government to forbid the burial on Quebec territory of nuclear wastes and/or irradiated nuclear fuel coming from outside Quebec.

Vice-President (M. Picard): Thank you. Is there consent to debate this motion?

M. Pelletier (Chapleau): There is consent that the motion be adopted without debate.

Vice-President (M. Picard): Is the motion then adopted without debate?

Voices: Adopted.

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

(4) NUCLEAR REACTORS IN THE TAR SANDS DEVELOPMENTS

Thanks to Andrew Nikiforuk’s new book, “Tar Sands, Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent”:

– “The rapid depletion of natural gas in the tar sands is driving Canada’s so-called nuclear renaissance. Canada may well become the first nation to use nuclear energy not to retire fossil fuels but to accelerate their exploitation. ”

The destruction of the third largest watershed in the world (the Athabasca), the destruction of boreal forest projected to be the size of the state of Florida in Alberta, the rapid depletion of energy supplies for Canadians, etc. … adds to the profits of a few large corporations. Most of the energy (and virtual water embedded in the energy) is headed straight south.

“The reality is that at least one supertanker must arrive at a U.S. port every four hours,” notes Swedish energy expert Kjell Aleklett. “Any interruption in this pattern is a threat to the American economy.” This crippling addiction has increasingly become an unsustainable wealth drainer.

In 2000, the United States imported $200 billion worth of oil, thereby enriching many of the powers that seek to undermine the country. By 2008, it was paying out a record $440 billion annually for its oil.” (p. 30).

More on the Tar Sands later. It is important to understand the dynamics, the players, and the beneficiaries in the energy drama. Be clear on “For whom” the nuclear reactors would be.

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