It's Not About the Life Jackets Dammit

Chris Selley writes a column for the National Post this week about mandatory life jackets, coming soon to a lake near you.

He brings up a story in the Toronto Star two years ago, suggesting that mandatory life jackets might not be a bad thing, given the increase in drowning victims that particular summer.

But Selley's article focuses on a new (and temporary) mandatory life jacket law, just passed in King County, Washington. The reason for the implementation of such a law was the unusually heavy amount of mountain snow, that was increasing water levels, making swimming dangerous.

But says Selley: 'I suspect the Founding Fathers might take serious issue with mandatory life jacket laws for swimmers. But if it can happen in liberal America, there’s no reason to believe it won’t happen in liberal Canada.'

Those darn liberals and their seat belt laws and helmet laws. If we want to be stupid, we should be allowed the freedom to be stupid.

Personally, I haven't given a lot of thought to mandatory life jackets for swimmers. If we take our grandson near water, or even when swimming in a pool, we always make sure he's wearing one. But that's mainly because of his disability. I probably wouldn't support a broad law banning swimming without a life jacket, but I doubt that would ever see the light of the day.

This is just a bit more right-wing fear mongering, that will probably have the neocons spitting in their cornflakes.

The problem with this "founding fathers", "don't take away my freedoms" logic of the Tea Party/Republican/Neoconservative movement is that it's balderdash.

Bill Maher discussed an incident where a young woman was removed from a movie theatre because she refused to put away her cell phone, annoying the other patrons. She wrote a scathing tea party like letter to the theatre saying that she lived in America, the land of the free, and all that. Forgetting that people would like the "freedom" to go to the movies to actually watch a movie. A rather novel idea, I know.

Chris Matthews, one of the panelists also expressed a desire to eat tuna, with the comfort of knowing that it had been expected with his tax dollars, and not have to play Russian Roulette with his food.

Stephen Harper envisions a Canada with no corporate taxes and no rules for big business. He signed onto a scheme called 'Risk Management', which allows companies to do their own inspections, but if Canadians die as a result, they have to clean up their own mess.

Jim Flaherty also announced recently a 'red tape commission', like the one adopted by Mike Harris in Ontario, that resulted in at least seven deaths at Walkerton.

However, let's say we listen to the neocon knuckleheads, and eliminate all government "infringement" on our lives.

In their book The Trouble With Billionaires, Linda McQuaig and Neil Brooks, tell the story of British movie star Michael Caine and composer Andrew Lloyd Weber. Both men threatened to leave England if the British government raised their taxes.

In true libertarian fashion, they declared that the reason they are rich is because of their talent. However, what they fail to recognize, is that their talent alone did not make them rich. Copyright laws protecting their talent did. Otherwise they would be busking on street corners or reciting Hamlet in the park to thundering applause, but little more.

Harper claims to be Canada's Mr. Hockey, but could the NHL afford to pay the salaries they do without trademark licensing? How about corporate logos? Why don't I have the freedom to open a burger shop with golden arches, or make running shoes with a simple check mark?

All of that is government intervention.

Even at the Olympics, the Australian team was forbidden from hanging out their team flag, because it encroached on trademark protection. Not of the trademark associated with the flag, but on other competing firms who poured money into the sporting event.

You were also denied the freedom to bring in your own food, because it violated the franchising of food. The same rule applied to bottled water and other drinks.

And what about government created trade laws? Without them Stephen Harper would have never been able to gift AbitibiBowater $130 million of our money, if he couldn't draw on Chapter 11 of NAFTA. He denied us the freedom of using that money for our own benefit.

And while we're mulling over mandatory licensing and restrictive safety rules, we might want to think about this.

The late Milton Friedman, the iconic symbol of the Harper government, wanted to put an end to the licensing of doctors. He claimed that those licenses gave monopoly power to the American Medical Association.

Is this why Harper's health minister, Leona Aglukkaq, is refusing to attend Canadian Medical Association conferences? Is she concerned with their monopoly?

But then we should forgive the poor girl. She had an opportunity to have her picture taken with Harper, and who knows, it might just make it to his wall of honour.

Sorry Leona. He shares that wall with no one.

Chris Selley is not concerned with the infringement on our freedoms, but only with stirring up Harper's base, with more "the government's out to get you" nonsense.

Besides. Now that Harper is allowing mining companies to dump their toxic waste in our lakes and rivers, we'll be having to mandate bio-hazard suits if we want to risk swimming in them.

Canadian Mining Companies Continue to Make Headlines

In 2009, Liberal MP John McKay introduced a private members bill, Bill C-300, in an attempt to hold Canadian mining companies, operating abroad, to account for human rights abuses.

Almost immediately he began receiving threats, and several other MPs spoke of similar threats to their careers by the mining lobby. The bill was defeated 135 to 140, with 13 Liberal, 5 Bloc and 4 NDP absent from the vote.

Brent Popplewell wrote a piece for the Toronto Star on the abuses, saying that:

The word "Canada" is so reviled in some places that travelling Canadians mask their citizenship by wearing American flags on their caps and backpacks.

Recently a Mining Justice Conference was held in Vancouver.

Indigenous representatives from Latin America were in Vancouver the week of May 16 speaking out on Canadian mining companies and the negative impacts operations are having on local communities.

Human rights violations, environmental degradation, bribery, intimidation and disregard for local villages and indigenous populations are alleged to have occurred at the hands of publicly shared operations with home bases in Vancouver.

From protests in Guatemala over the abuse in Canada of temporary foreign workers to Tibetans fighting against the exploitation of their mineral rights, we can't really say that Canada has lost its international notoriety.

Around the world we are becoming reviled. I think I'd rather they didn't know who we were.

Good News Folks. Forget About Human Rights. Barrick Gold Just Announced a Record Profit!

Yahoo!!!

After writing a piece about the human rights abuses of Canadian mining companies, that are further sullying our international reputation, you can imagine my surprse when my news roll had the headline: Barrick Gold says third-quarter profits hit record, production ahead of target.

And they are increasing production by 20%

Just think of all the great toxic sludge that the kiddies will have to play in now.

Such a wonderful world.

Ah, we can dream.

Rape is Rape. Murder is Murder. Threats are Threats. Stop Playing Politics.

In Ecuador an armed security force is alleged to have attacked unarmed locals with pepper spray, then fired guns to stop a protest near a proposed mining site.

In El Salvador, there were also reports of violent attacks against anti-mining activists.

In Mexico, there were allegations of human rights and environmental abuse leading to closure of a mine. (1)

There have been numerous accounts of rape by mine employees, hired as guards.

"The guards, usually in a group of five or more, find a woman while they are patrolling on or near mine property. They take turns threatening, beating and raping her. "In a number of cases, women reported to me being forced to chew and swallow condoms used by guards during the rape." (2)

In Chiapas, Mexico, an environmental activist was gunned down in front of his home, alleged to have been killed by mine employees. (3)

Horrible accounts of human rights violations in developing nations.

But would it surprise you to know that all of these allegations were made against Canadian mining companies?

Star foreign correspondent, Brent Popplewell, says that:

The word "Canada" is so reviled in some places that travelling Canadians mask their citizenship by wearing American flags on their caps and backpacks. (1)

Students for a free Tibet, have also targeted Canadian mining companies, for exploiting their natural resources, that they feel belong to them. (4)

And if all of that isn't bad enough, we've learned recently that Canadian mining companies are the worst in the world for human rights and environmental abuses.

Canadian mining companies are…the worst offenders in environmental, human rights and other abuses around the world, according to a global study commissioned by an industry association [PDAC] but never made public. …[According to the report:] “Canadian companies are more likely to be engaged in community conflict, environmental and unethical behaviour, and are less likely to be involved in incidents related to occupational concerns.”...gold, copper and coal mining were most often involved. The...countries with the most incidents were India, Indonesia, the Philippines and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Regionally...Latin America had the most incidents...once PDAC received the study, it was decided not to make it public because more research was needed. On Tuesday, supporters of…legislation to tighten regulation of Canadian mining firms operating abroad will be on Parliament Hill to lobby for passage of the bill... (5)

Instead of taking care of communities where they operate, they hire paramilitary forces to keep the people in line. Images of children playing in toxic sludge are the norm, and citizens whose natural resources are being raped, live in fear.

Fear of Canadians.

But when KAIROS complained they lost their funding (6) according to internal memos, and when Liberal MP John MacKay introduced a private members bill, to address the concerns, he was threatened to keep quiet, by the most powerful lobbying group on the Hill.

Stockwell Day had appointed an insider to handle the matter, but she's only allowed to investigate allegations of abuse if the mining companies allow her to.

The Conservatives have colluded with the offenders, putting up a wall of resistance. And to make matters worse, the right-leaning Globe and Mail is making this political, rather than addressing legitimate concerns. (7)

There are 200 lobbyists for this industry, who are very powerful, and obviously have our government in their hip pocket. If they threatened John Mackay they no doubt threatened others. So they will be allowed to do what they want and there's nothing we can do.

MacKay just wanted to stop the flow of Canadian tax dollars to the industry until these serious matters were addressed, but the actions of the mining lobby appear to validate the claims. As Mackay says:

"I have to be extremely careful because the mining companies have made it very plain to me that, `We will sue your ass off if, in fact, you make any allegation of our companies and cause reputational damage.' "But I will say, if they think they can treat a Canadian MP this way, you can imagine what they say about Third World countries where they can walk in and say, `How much to buy you?'" (1)

Even if this bill does not get passed, as it probably won't, it has drawn attention to an issue that few Canadians were aware of.

If we are so reviled that "travelling Canadians mask their citizenship by wearing American flags on their caps and backpacks", and our elected officials can be threatened, then maybe we need to demand that no more of our money goes into supporting this industry.

That is our name they are destroying and we shouldn't be rewarding them for it.

Sources:

1. Canadian mining firms face abuse allegations: A private member's bill aims to impose controls on powerful Canadian mining companies that operate overseas, By Brett Popplewell, Toronto Star, November 22, 2009

2. MPs told of gang rapes at mine: Toronto-based company hotly denies crime at South Pacific site, By Les Whittington, Toronto Star, November 24, 2009

3. Stop Canadian mining companies' rights abuses, A victim's son speaks out, By Jose Luis Abarca, Embassy Magazine, September 29, 2010

4. TIBET ACTIVISTS TARGET CANADIAN MINING COMPANIES PROTESTS MAR CONTINENTAL MINERALS’ ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, Students for a Free Tibet, June 19, 2009

5. Canadian mining firms worst for environment, rights: Report [Canada], By Les Whittington, Toronto Star, October 19, 2010

6. Did KAIROS defunding come down to mining interests and one hand-written note? Internal documents raise possibility CIDA minister initially approved proposal, By Lee Berthiaume, Embassy Magazine, October 27, 2010

7. Will Michael Ignatieff bury his own MP’s mining bill?, By Jane Taber, Globe and Mail, October 27, 2010