The Re-birth of the Stupid Newfie

[A version of the following was published by The Telegram on 8 May 2013]


The Re-birth of the Stupid Newfie

by

Jeff Rose-Martland

The Dunderdale government likes to yammer on about investing in our future: hydropower and industry and jobs galore.  A future of resources and trade and high employment.  A debt-free future, according to their budget.  But do they care what kind of Newfoundlanders will live that future?

Harken back to the early- to mid-20^th century.  Newfoundlanders were the butt of jokes throughout Canada, if not the world - The Newfie Joke.  The jokes revolved around a central theme: the Stupid Newfie.  Sometimes, the protagonist was someone so dense that simple situations were beyond their grasp.  Most often, the Stupid Newfie had a great deal of common sense, but was ignorant, unworldly, and uneducated.  The character would attempt to apply this simple reasoning to complex situations.  Oh, the hilarity.

Those jokes had some basis in fact.  After all, Newfoundlanders during that time were, by and large, uneducated academically.  They fled poverty to distant locations for jobs.  Newfoundlanders brought our hard working nature, but also our tendency to dive in, even when over our heads, especially if there’s money involved.  Anyone faced with a brand-new situation is likely to say or do the wrong thing, and Newfoundlanders are an especially humorous people, so it is easy to see how comic situations might result.  But the Newfie joke quickly morphed into a vehicle of bias and intolerance, with the people of this province branded ‘stupid’.

We have had a long, hard fight against that reputation.  We object to the term ‘Newfie’ as offensive.  We are quick to point out the cutting-edge medicine, science and engineering being done here.  We boast of Memorial University’s rank as a top-notch school.  We push the message that the Stupid Newfie is no more.  We are winning, but have not yet won.

The Dunderdale government is going to resurrect the Stupid Newfie.  Amongst all the talk of resource projects and deficit reduction, the PCs are acting to turn us ignorant again.  And, with only limited objections, we are happily boarding the train with them back to Stupid Newfoundland.

Adult Basic Education – a program designed to help anyone who dropped out of high-school.  Not so many years ago, ABE had been handled by private institutions.  They dropped the program because they couldn’t make enough money.  It was government that moved ABE into CONA, to ensure the program would be available throughout the province to those who need it.  By dumping ABE back to the private sector, Kathy Dunderdale has effectively killed the program - it won’t be too long before private schools announce - again - that Adult Basic Education is not profitable.

Lack of ABE programs will mean more people stuck with whatever education they got when they quit grade school; low education is a primary qualification for the Stupid Newfie.

Then there’s the libraries.  We have 96 of them.  We need more because libraries are wonderful places.  First, everything is free – something one appreciates in this crazy world of unreliable income.  Second, libraries don’t just have books; they have videos and music and Internet.  The are one-stop-shops for entertainment.  Libraries also host courses, sessions, groups, lectures, readings – all sorts of ways to have fun and learn more. 

Also, the Librarian.  (That’s capitalized because it should be a title, not a job description.)  Librarians are rare people.  They not only know things, they know how to learn more about things.  They hold the keys to finding out anything you ever wanted to know.  They might appear to spend their time tidying the books and calling the overdue borrowers.  They may seem to be quiet people armed with date-stampers.  But Librarians are some of the most important people in our society.  Librarians are the guardians of all our accumulated knowledge. 

Disagree?  Go ask one a question.  Any question.  You’ll get the answer, in detail, with annotations and cross-references.  And an Librarian doesn’t care if you are 6 and in Grade 1, 46 and a doctor, or 86 and a war vet.  They will help anyone, free of charge.  Because a Librarian is your guide through the Kingdom of Knowledge. 

But Kathy Dunderdale doesn’t think that’s important.   She must feel that librarians are not important for our future, since she laid off 40% of them.  Plus support staff - assistant librarians and IT people.  And she cut the modest wages of those who remain, making this an even less-attractive field.  Libraries, we have been assured, will still have funding for books and will remain open.  How that is going to work?  There won’t be a Librarian to buy the books, nor assistants to man the counter and keep the doors open.. 

The system has already been scuttled; the Conservatives have rendered libraries unsustainable.  In five years, maybe less, government will be able to closing the doors, claiming lack of use.  Which there will be, as out-of-date materials, lack of programming, erratic hours, and, above all, no Librarians to guide people all combine to drive patrons away.

That doesn’t matter to the PCs.  After all, libraries don’t generate revenue.  Neither does sitting in a classroom - one need only look at the number of education cuts to see government’s view on that.  Dunderdale is promising jobs while slashing away at the tools we need to obtain that employment.  Are we to become janitors at Muskrat Falls?  General labourers for rich, Come-from-Away bosses?  Is she planning on making a personal fortune selling Newfie Joke Books?

If we really are concerned about our future, if we really want to excel and exceed, then we need to have smart, educated people.  The way to get them is to invest in education and libraries.  Learning needs to be available to all, not just those with funds.  Otherwise, the rich get educations and the poor get ignorant.

The Dunderdale Government says it cares about our future, but its actions are ensuring we will only have one role in it: The Stupid Newfie.

--------------------

Jeff Rose-Martland is an award-winning author, member of the Newfoundland Writers’ Guild, and recipient of the Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal for his work advocating for veterans.

How to Destroy the Senate

“For the Senate must change.  And we intend to make change happen.”

         – Stephen Harper, address to Senate, 7 September 2006

The Senate has long posed a problem for Government and for Canadians.  Here we have an unelected body, with long terms, and pensions after, that appears to serve no real purpose other than to rubber stamp legislation.  What use is it?

In many situations – particularly when there is minority government – the Senate doesn’t readily appear to do anything.  (During minority governments, bills have generally been debated and amended extensively before reaching the Senate and are usually well-thought-out or at least consensus-building.)  The point of the Senate is to be “the chamber of sober second thought” – its purpose is to review legislation while taking the long-view, looking past the next election, seeing the impact of these changes on Canada over the next 10, 20, 50 years.  It needs to be appointed so that Senators will not be distracted by running for election, or indeed, party politics, but can stay focused on their role as protectors of the future.  That role becomes even more crucial when there is majority government. 

Majority government can legally do whatever it wants.  Opposition cannot block legislation or enforce changes.  Nor can they bring about the fall of government except, perhaps, in the most extreme circumstances and/or if they somehow manage to get government MPs on their side.  Otherwise, the Government can pass any law it wishes. 

Who protects the people in such circumstances?  Should a majority government pass a law which the whole of the public hates, who stands up for the people?

The Senate.

The Senate has the ability to refuse to ratify any legislation, to keep sending it back to the Commons for debate, effectively stalling the bill until it dies.  The Senate can do the same with the budget – keep sending it back for debate.  If that is done repeatedly, if the Government cannot get its budget passed, that triggers a confidence crisis and an election.  In other words, the Senate serves as the safeguard of democracy and the protector of the public.

Which is why Stephen Harper hates it.

For years, Harper lobbied for Senate Reform, for limitations on its power, for changes to how Senators get their seats, even for abolition of the Senate.  He was vocal, pointed, and attacked the Senate at every opportunity.  Especially when he led a minority Government and had problems getting legislation through the Senate; or, worse, when the Opposition got its own bills passed.  He famously attacked the Senate for being an unelected body interfering with the elected government.  He painted them as undemocratic.

Then he got a majority government.  Many people thought that would be the end of the Senate.  Except Harper faces one problem: the Commons cannot abolish the Senate.  In fact, the Commons cannot do much other than bad-mouth them to the media.  Because the Senate represents half of our system of government and we cannot have one part abolishing the other.  It’s illegal.  Which is why Senate reform suddenly disappeared from Harper’s agenda.

What confuses many is why Harper, who hates the Senate so much, should be appointing so many Senators.  Why is he defending the ones who are misusing public funds?  Why should he care at all?

Simple:  Harper wants the Senate gone.  He can’t get rid of it himself.  So he has to make the public demand its dissolution.

How would you do that?  If you wanted to eliminate the final opposition to total control of Canada, and you needed the public to do it, how would you bring it about?

First, you might appoint devoted followers and yes-people to the Senate so that, no matter what, your bills would be rubber stamped.  This would be a good way of showing how ineffective the Senate is: effectively removing the Senates ability to be independent.

And you might not care about the quality of your appointees.  In fact, it might be more useful if you appointed unqualified people, people with issues, people who would abuse the system, who might cause public scandal, or simply say asinine things.  After all, nothing turns the citizens quicker than an endless string of headlines about Senators misbehaving or being stupid.

Then you might want to leak some information to the press about how expensive the Senate is, about how some Senators are claiming expenses for things they don’t need, about how the rules permit this.  Trust the media to do all the digging and pull up the facts you know are there – after all, you appointed people to behave that way.

You might leak info on Senators who are fighting Alzheimer’s disease, or cancer, or addiction – enough for the scandal-press to start questioning the competence of these individuals.  Enough to show that Senators cannot be removed by the public, even if they are incapable of doing their jobs. 

Then you might publicly defend the Senate, or particular Senators.  You give sound bites about how they are following the rules, how it is the rules that might be the issue, how it is the un-elected process of appointment that keeps the Senate unaccountable.  After all, you don’t want to appear like you are against Canada’s system of government.  You want the public to reach its own conclusion, despite your leading them by the nose.

So you keep up that charade: appearing to support the system while, at the same time, working in the background to shred it.  You appoint more and more Senators, until the upper chamber is bloated beyond belief.  You slip more dirty information to the media.  Perhaps you even have some of your Senators fall on their swords, abuse residency status or expenses, knowing that they will be rewarded later with board appointments to multi-million-dollar corporations or, at least, with a nice Senate retirement package.  You keep up the front while tearing out the back and increasing public outrage.

Until, eventually, the public cannot remember what the Senate was for, and can only recall headline after headline about Senators behaving badly.  When the public is ready and demanding action, only then will you have YOUR senators, the ones YOU control, stand up in their seats and move that the Senate be abolished.  Your Senators will vote the entire body out of existence, at the demand of the people.  While you, apparently, had nothing to do with it. 

That will remove the one thing that stands in your way.  The one body which had the ability to bring you to heel.  With a majority government and no Senate, you can now rule Canada with an iron fist and the citizens cannot object, interfere, or stop you.  You will be the democratically elected tyrant.

Stephen Harper may be many things.  But he’s not stupid.

“But the only way you end up with more comprehensive reform is if you destabilize the status quo to the point where Canadians say, ‘This is a mess, and we’ve got to sort this out.’ ” - Roger Gibbins, professor emeritus at the University of Calgary, MacLeans, 7 October 2011

More academic discussion of Senate reform can be found here.

Whaddyamean, You Can't Boil Water???

During this week's storm, I was - and still am - appalled to hear the number of calls to local radio from people bemoaning the blackout and their consequent lack of hot beverages.  My opinion on being prepared I will share further down, but I will say that it is a horrific state of affairs when a Newfoundlander can't figure out a boil-up!

So, in order to preserve the dignity of our culture, here are some links to help you poor things:

Stoves - These can be easily made with stuff you have on hand already and will at least boil a cup of water and/or heat some soup

Pocket Stove

Large Can Camp Stove

Pet-food Can Stove

Stay-Warm Stove

Super-Easy Can BBQ

Boil your kettle with tea lights!

Lamps - Say you don't have any candles or spare batteries for the flashlight and your cel phone is about to die because you've been using it as a light source.  Don't sit in the dark!  Here are some easy emergency lamps.

Popcan Lamp

Shortening Lamp - Basically, you stick a wick in a tub of lard.  You can also do this with butter, bacon fat, or any other solid fat.  You can use practically any woven string or cord for a wick, provided it is natural fiber - nylon, for example, just melts.  Your wick needs to burn and drawn the melted oil into it.  If you are desperate, POWs in WWII used to use twisted strips of cotton shirt.

Improvised Oil Lamp - This is the simplest of the simple: something to use as a wick, a bit of wire to hold the wick, a mug, and something flammable (oil, vodka, etc).

Think you don't have ANYTHING to make a lamp out of?  How about a orange?  (Yes, I've tried it and it works.)
Citrus Candle

And, of course, if you can get enough heat from your lamp, you can probably boil water over it.  Be patient, though.  Low-heat lamps/candles take time to cook things.


BE PREPARED!!!

No matter where you live or how modern your city, sooner or later, the electricity will go out - that is a fact of life.  Look around you.  See all those things running on batteries and plugged in to the wall?  Consider every one of them useless in a blackout.  What are you going to do now?

First thing: don't panic.  Good advice at any time.

Second thing: remember that humanity has survived for hundreds of thousands of years without electricity, so you should be able to last a few hours or even days.

Third thing: Be prepared.  You know this is going to happen, eventually.  So take a few minutes and a bit of money and get ready for it now.

Fourth Thing: Make a list of what you will need, then get it.  Don't forget to include 'luxury' items.  It's fine to have canned food (don't forget the manual can opener), but what about your morning coffee?  Some way to make toast?  Something to DO during the blackout?  These are all important.  Otherwise, you will find yourself just sitting around staring at the oil burning in your orange.

Fifth Thing: Keep your emergency kit stocked and accessible.  Over time, if it has not been used, there is a tendency to dip into the kit for bits and bobs and/or to bury it in storage under the xmess decorations and old toys.  Don't do either of these.  Once you have build your kit, keep it stocked.  Rotate the batteries for fresh every year.  Leave the canned goods alone - they are good for 50 years.  Keep your kit in 1 place, don't keep moving it.  Keep it someplace you can find in the dark.  

Emergency Kit Items

How you fill your kit is up to you, but here's some ways to get started.

Questions:
What will I need to be able to see?
What will I need for heat?
How/what will i cook?
How will I make my morning coffee/tea?
What will i do to occupy the kids?
How will I keep myself busy?
(You get the idea, i'm sure you can think of more.)

Low-cost Options:
If money is an issue, here's the basics:

- A large package of tea-light candles

- A tea-light fondue set (or one of the DIY stoves above)

- a can of Sterno (jellied alcohol fuel, provides heat and an alternate way to cook)

- 2 decent LED flashlights+batteries (stored separately)

- A battery powered AM radio+batteries stored separately (if you check you local stations, you'll find at least 1 AM station that delivers mostly news and that stays live during storms.  FM, not so much, although markets vary.  In any event, get a radio that gets AM or both AM and FM.  FM stations frequently just run computer programs which don't much care if your lights are out.)


- a pack of cards / travel chess / book you-always-mean-to-read-but-never-start

- if you have small kids: several packs of plastic animals/dinosaurs/soldiers, teddy bears, toy cars, doll, etc.  The important bit is that these be new to the kids (buys you several hours peace) and will occupy their imaginations (which you may need to pull-start as the video games are not working).  New teddys/dolls etc can give your kids a new friend to share the blackout with; a friend you can declare is not afraid of the dark and that's why they live in the emergency box.

- canned & dried food: beans, weiners, soup, instant oatmeal, etc.  Get stuff you like, enough for 2 days.  Packets should be stored in a ziplock bag to keep it dry (and to block interloping bugs).  Anything which can be cooked as-is or just-add-water.  Sure, you will have food in your house already, but you may not be able to cook that frozen roast.  And there's no need to be eating cracker sandwiches just because you generally avoid pre-made meals.  Don't forget the canned milk.

- Manual can opener - Get a crank-handle one.  Also get a 'church key' punch/bottle opener.  Leave them in the kit!

- Matches+lighter - get some of each.  You can turn normal matches into waterproof matches by showing them in a ziplock bag.  Lighters work better for some things and they last longer; matches work better for others.

- Most important: tea bags and instant coffee and hot chocolate.  It may not taste as good as usual, but if you need your morning caffeine, you'll drink it and be grateful.  Hot chocolate makes a good treat for anyone, especially kids.

- 1 plastic bin with lid to keep everything in

Most of these items can be purchased at your local dollar store, so start there.  Sterno is available from most camping/outdoor/kitchen supply stores (its used to warm food trays and in fondues).  If you are frugal, this entire kit should come in between $20-$30CDN.

Higher Cost Options:
One you have your basic kit, you can add options to it over time so as not to break the bank.  Pick up 1 or 2 things a moth, or a quarter, and you will soon be set.  Look for post-season sales: oil lamps are popular xmess decorations so get those Boxing week; camping gear goes on sale in August; etc.

Light:
- Oil (hurricane) lamps or lanterns + oil.  Price varies, but you can readily find lanterns for $5-$10 and small lamps at dollar stores, large ones run $10+.  Get enough to cover the common areas of your house, bathrooms can use candles or flashlights.

- Propane-, butane-, and other fuel-lamps are available.  The advantage of your basic wick-and-oil lamps is that it will burn a variety of fuels, from lamp oil to alcohol, whereas the others can only handle 1.  However, propane lanterns give off a great deal of light and heat. But they also produce CO, so you need to be careful.  There as also napatha lanterns, but read under stoves for the reasons to avoid.

-Flashlights - thanks to advances in LED technology, flashlights now run for a very long time on small batteries.  You can also get big versions, which will serve as lanterns and lamps.  Make absolutely sure that you have at least 3 sets of batteries for each and that you change the batteries in the kit every year.  Downside: you don't get heat from a flashlight.  Other options will keep your home warm and perhaps even provide a means for cooking.  Still, since you don't want to send a 5-year-old to bed with a candle, keep a few flashlights in the kit.

- Propane camp stove - these vary greatly.  The single-burner, no frills variety runs $15-$25CDN.  It will boil a pot of water, a kettle, or heat a frying-pan.  The common 2-burner type behaves like a typical gas-range and runs $40-$100 depending on brand and options.  Stoves go up from there with more burners and frills, but unless you are expecting a gourmet chef to be hosting your blackout, a 1- or 2- burner will do find.

- Other stoves include butane-powered burners, which operate much the same.  You can also use a fondue set (not just for New Years Eve anymore!) as a single-burner stove.  you can even substitutes a frying pan for the normal pot.  "White gas" - napatha fuel - camping gear CAN be used, but should be avoided.  It produces more carbon monoxide than propane and the pressuring pumps can create a fire hazard.  (Not such a big deal in the great out doors; definitely a big deal in your great kitchen).  You can also find units which run on pressurized alcohol, which produces no CO (same as fondue fuels) if the media has you terrified about carbon monoxide.  (Really, these things are safe if you are sensible.  Don't run the stove all day.  When in doubt, open a window.)  And there's always your backyard grill!

- Tea/Coffee pot.  Depending on your preference, you may need to provide for this.  You can get all sorts of metal teapots which can sit on a burner or on your regular stove.  They will boil your water for bagged tea, instant oatmeal, dehydrated food, etc.  If you prefer something fancier, there are a variety of tea-diffuser options.  Just make sure you have a way to boil the water.  Coffee is a bit trickier.  If you like instant, you are off the hook (and out of your mind).  If your tastes are more refined, here's your options: French Press (Bodum), old-fashioned percolator, drip, or simple espresso.  I prefer the espresso: a pot can cost as little as $8 and works all the time, just add heat. (Note: I once saw a camping item for coffee - it was a thermos that you filled with boiling water, coffee in filter, and hung from a tree.  It used gravity to drip your coffee.  unfortunately, i can't find it online.)

- battery powered radio with mp3 player or bluetooth options - you can flip between the news and your own music.

- Battery powered DVD player, laptop computers, etc, can all be useful, but you will want to invest in some sort recharging method.  Simplest one is a power-inverter for your car - plugs into the cigarette lights and you can plug normal things into it.  (It also gives you an excuse to sit in the car and avoid the whining inside.)  Just remember to run your car engine, or you'll soon be needing a charger for that as well.

-As your budget expands and your children grow, you can dump the toys in favour of Monopoly, Scrabble, or other family-games, and add books for them as well.

Cool Gadgets

Tea-Light Grill - I've seen a variety of versions of this.  The best one folds up into a package about 6"x3"x1/2" thick - perfect for sticking in a pocket or glove compartment or backpack and forgetting about... until you need it.  The one shown is being used to melt cheese, but they will also cook eggs, bacon, fish, chicken, beef, burgers....basically, if it is less than an inch thick and will fit on the pan, you can cook it.  You should also be able to boil water by resting an appropriately-sized can or small pot in pace of the grill.  Price is around $10.

Zen Fireplace - There are a wide variety of these, designed for indoor use.  They run on gellied ethanol/fondue fuel.  Look great and provide heat. Prices start at $15.

There are a whole lot of cool/interesting gadgets for providing heat and light, for cooking, and for re-charging your cel phones/media players/notebooks.  Check your local military surplus stores, camping suppliers, and any place that sells products for going 'off the grid'.

Final Word

While we may live in a modern, electronic world, it does not take much to send us back a few hundred years...or a few thousand.  A downed power line, a car stuck in the snow, any number of situations can put us back to the old days.  How far you are willing to be pushed back is up to you.  With preparation, you will only have to slide a few decades, perhaps not even that far.  But unprepared and unthinking can drive you all the way back to prehistory: sitting in the dark, eating cold scrounged food, and trying to keep warm.  And you are even less-prepared than an early human, since you don't have their skills.

So take a few hours and get ready.  You won't need the kit often, but you will need it.  And when you do, you will be extremely happy to have made the investment.

And for the Newfoundlanders:  Lardtunderin b'ys!  Gitoffyerbutts n git yer gear!  Doan be callin' da media complainin'.  Yer a h'embarassment!  Our h'ancesters came here wit frig all n made it tru; yer moanin' cause ya can't do a boilup???  Whadahells wrong wit ya????

Why Failing to Provide for Veterans Should Scare Us

Since Col Pat Storgan’s infamous news conference in 2010, veterans have been very-publicly calling out for us to fix the problems with their benefits.  Veterans have been protesting, suing, going on hunger-strikes, staging sit-ins, holding rallies, talking to the press, explaining to anyone who will listen what the problems are with Veterans Affairs.  Some of us have even been paying attention.  But the issues persist, not much action has been taken, and government has continued to fight our veterans in court.

There are many reason why we must fix veterans benefits, now.

There’s the hero-worshipping we-owe-our-freedom-to-them sentiment.  There’s the obvious fact that we citizens owe them for serving our national interests - they sacrificed for us, it is fair and just that we should provide and comfort them.  There is enlightened self-interest - if we do not care for those who served, we will soon find no one willing to take up that role.

There is also a big and obvious reason: fear.  While most hesitate to discuss this, we cannot deny it.  We have almost 1 million current and former members of the Canadian Forces and RCMP.  All have been heavily trained in the use of weapons, in pacifying and occupying regions, and in acting in unity against opposing forces.  We should be asking ourselves: is it a smart idea to make enemies of these people?

The history of human civilization has provided us with powerful object lessons: any group which is continually mistreated and ignored by general society will eventually erupt in violence.  We are witnessing this now in Europe, in Syria, in Egypt and Palestine.  We watched it with the Arab Spring, in Northern Ireland, in South Africa.  The Russian Revolution.  The French Revolution.  The American Revolution.  Mobs take to the street, and then take the streets, and then take control.

Every violent uprising grows from the same seed: frustration.  Frustration with the status quo; frustration with being ignored; frustration with being unable to obtain fair treatment through other means.  The PLO, IRA, ANC, FLN, FARC, ETA, PSP - the list stretches back through history - the Socialist-Revolutionary Party and the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, the American Patriots, the French National Constituent Assembly... All of these groups tried to talk and negotiate better circumstances for their people.  All became frustrated when the ruling power ignored or dismissed them.  All turned to violence.  From modern Greece to Ancient Rome  – from the present day to the far past, mistreated people have taken up arms when their appeals were ignored long enough. 

As uncomfortable as that may make you, it is still true.  Oppressed people rise up.

Those who enlist with the RCMP or Canadian Forces engage in a social contact with us citizens.  They agree to sacrifice limb, life, and sanity to protect us all.  In exchange, we agree to care for the wounded and dead and their survivors. 

Veterans take that contract very seriously.

Much more seriously than us.  We have been neglecting, ignoring, failing, or simply breaking our side of that contract.  We also continue to ignore the complaints of injustice from veterans.  This is an extremely dangerous way for us to behave.

In the year 100 BCE, Roman Consul Marius got the Senate to pass a law giving Legion veterans land upon retirement; a pension plan.  When the Senate later repealed that land grant, the outraged Legions took control of Rome and gave it to General Julius Caesar.  Throughout the rest of the Roman Empire’s history, cuts or delays to soldiers pay or mucking with their pensions would result in the Legions moving on Rome.  Many coups, rebellions, and civil wars would result from failure to provide for the Legions.

What has Canada been doing?

Retired Mounties and Forces know how we are failing them.  They know about the homeless veterans; the wounded veterans on welfare because of their lack of benefits; the widows and orphans not able to make ends meet while they are fighting for death benefits, decorated soldiers losing their utilities or homes due to lack of funds; veterans not able to keep medical appointments because they cannot afford the gas money; the lack of funds to give a veteran a decent burial.  Veterans are horrified that Calgary has a veterans-only food bank; they are appalled that there should be such a need.  Veterans have been lobbying and suing and protesting.  But things are not getting better and frustration is mounting.

Veterans gave for us, and we took.  We owe, but do not pay.  Veterans shout, we do not listen.  How long can it be before veterans take matters into their own hands?

Before you scoff at the idea of armed insurrection in Canada, remember OKA and the FLQ Crisis.  One doesn’t have to go to the distant past to see that it is possible for groups to take up arms in our country.  It has happened before, with small groups.  Now consider who we are pushing around. 

There are almost a million current and former members of the Forces and Mounted.  They are trained in urban warfare, in crowd control, in area occupation.  Serving members hold the keys to the armouries and fighting vehicles.  Even grievously wounded veterans are better able to fight than most civilians.  Veterans have the knowledge and training to take over a country; some have done it before.  They have access to the weapons and tools needed to take over a country; some know how to operate without them.  They have common cause with each other and are trained to act with unity.

What do we have?  We have the ability to ignore their problems, to not hear their pleas, to refuse fair treatment.  We ignore our duty and obligations.  We deny their claims, bury them in paperwork, fight them in court, refuse to discuss issues.  Veterans win in court but we credit our beneficence.  We play petty games with veterans lives and livelihoods.  We target outspoken veterans and their families for cuts and shaming.

Don’t wonder if it is possible for Canada’s veterans to rise against us all.  Instead, marvel that they have not already done so.

Veterans are not asking for the world.  They want nothing more than for us to make good on our promise: to care for the sick and wounded and to look after the survivors of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.  They want to be treated with the respect they earned by surrendering themselves to our collective will.  They simply want what they have earned through blood and sacrifice.

It is in all our best interest to see that they get what we owe.

Harold Leduc calls on AG to Investigate Privacy Violations

 NOTE: After sending out today's release calling for a public inquiry into VAC, I received a phone call from Harold Leduc, the veteran and former-member of the Veterans' Review and Appeal Board.  He wanted to thank me for my release and discuss the privacy violations.  I won't delve on what was done to this soldier - you can find that elsewhere - but consider the travesty.  He served Canada twice, once as a soldier, then again on VRAB.  He was injured both times.  The first wounds were part of being a soldier.  The second ones came when those he was working with used his service injuries to bully, harass, intimidate, and humiliate him in order to stop him from exercising his duties.

It is awful that someone's private medical records are passed around like notes in grade school.  It is horrific that anyone's medical conditions should be wielded as weapons against them.  It is obscene that adults would behave that way, like bullying teenagers.  It is offensive that any veteran should be made to suffer twice from the same injuries.

There is no word for what happened to this man.  Injuries sustained in defence of Canada were used to harm him by fellow Canadian civil servants.

Canadians are owed an explanation.

It is my honour to host this release from WO (ret'd) Harold O. Leduc MMM CD - JRM
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

13 November 2012

Victoria, BC - Growing up in the Canadian way is an aspect of life that I take very, very seriously. This very same way of living demonstrates kindness, caring, and compassion towards all, especially those who have been injured or killed while defending our beautiful Country. I served my country with dignity and respect. Taking care of my injured brothers and sisters by assisting them in their struggle to get some small amount of compensation was and will always remain an honor. It is therefore with sadness that I must say:

I’m disgusted that the Minister of Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) shows no shame in covering up nefarious activities that target and seriously harm disabled veterans with illegally gained information from privacy breaches.

Therefore today I am asking the Attorney General of Canada to fully investigate all circumstances associated with these despicable attacks against our Country’s defenseless disabled veterans to determine if charges are warranted.

The Minister admitted stopping an ongoing investigation that would have implicated him and others. He knows that the Privacy Commissioner’s investigation would clear him because of their restricted mandate and because VAC had already cleaned up their act in May 2009 when my privacy breaches were investigated and apologized for. He’s shown that he can’t be trusted.

It’s no wonder my numerous pleas to the Prime Minister, Minister, the Privy Council Office and Veterans Ombudsman to stop the vile behaviour of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board (VRAB) officials that severely injured my military related PTSD fell on deaf ears. The Minister knew his official’s put my life was at risk and acted in contempt of the 2010 Canadian Human Rights Commission mediation but he let them increase their retaliation against me anyway.

The public record shows that these nefarious activities are wide spread and target more than a few disabled veterans who’s only crime is that they were disabled in our country’s service and are trying to improve their fellow veterans and families quality of life to the level this Government has promised.

It’s time to stop the Government’s abuse against defenseless disabled veterans and it’s time for the Attorney General to investigate the Minister’s covered up. Don’t let us down, Attorney General, we’ve suffered enough and veterans deserve nothing less that justice, truth, reconciliation and a Government that is honest and transparent.

It’s generally accepted that to abuse a disabled person is low; but to deliberately hurt defenseless disabled veterans who were injured standing up for democracy and their rights is the lowest of the low. I am certain the voting public will agree!

For more information or to schedule an interview please contact Harold Leduc via me and I'll connect you.

Veterans Affairs Needs Public Inquiry

*****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE****

CITIZENS’ GROUP CALLS FOR PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO VETERANS AFFAIRS

St. John’s - Privacy breeches at Veterans Affairs have not been properly investigated, according to citizens’ group Our Duty, and it is calling for a full public inquiry.

This comes days after it was revealed that Minister Steven Blaney ordered a halt to an investigation by the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman shortly after Blaney took office.

“The federal government has been playing a shell-game with the truth,” said Our Duty President Jeff Rose-Martland, “It is time for an independent public inquiry.”

The issue first came to light 2 years ago with the Sean Bruyea affair. A veteran and advocate, Bruyea had his medical files pried into by the Minister’s office after he spoke out against the New Veterans Charter. But Bruyea was not the only person targeted. It also emerged that Sgt Tom Hoppe, a decorated veteran, and former Ombudsman Pat Stogran were also victimized by the Ministry. Deputy Minister Tinning was briefed on the medical records of Retired Forces Nurse Louise Bird prior to a meeting. Private medical information was used to bully Harold LeDuc of the Veterans’ Review and Appeal Board. The veteran behind the SISIP class-action suit against Veterans Affairs, Dennis Manuge, had his medical and financial records used in a Ministerial briefing. Sylvain Chartrand, advocate for reservists, had his records passed from VAC to National Defence.

“Enough is enough,” said Rose-Martland, “The Privacy Commissioner investigated, but could only report on non-compliance. The Ombudsman’s investigation was ordered by Minister Blackburn to look into why these breeches took place. Then came the election, Blackburn was replaced by Blaney, and suddenly the Privacy Commissioner is the one supposed to handle it. This is nothing more than a cover-up.”

Our Duty has been made aware of dozens of cases. “It appears to be standard procedure for VAC officials. As soon as a veteran speaks out, senior bureaucrats in the Ministry go digging into Service Delivery files,” said the citizen advocate, “That’s absolutely forbidden by the Privacy Act and by VAC policy. The Ministry and Service Delivery are supposed to be separate entities. If a veteran has a problem with Service Delivery, they have to appeal to the Deputy Minister to request a Ministerial review - the Minster is not permitted to act on his own. So why, exactly, can the Ministry pull those same files when a veteran criticizes them?”

“It gets worse,” Rose-Martland continued, “We have learned that family members of advocates have also been targeted. Why? Why would the Minister need to know what someone’s brother’s file says? He wouldn’t, not legitimately. The public needs to know what sort of games the Ministry is playing with peoples lives.”

Our Duty notes that Minister Blackburn had promised departmental officials would face severe sanctions for these acts, yet those officials received bonuses last year.

“We have inquiries stifled and cut off. We have threats and intimidation by Veterans Affairs. We have people who broke the law being rewarded. All on the taxpayer dime.”

“We want a full public inquiry into these matters,” said the Our Duty President, “The public needs to know exactly what has been happening in that Ministry: who is doing these things, who ordered it, and most importantly, why? What has this information been used for? And is this still going on?”

“This inquiry needs to have teeth. It needs to be able to investigate and to lay criminal charges. Most importantly, it needs to report back to the taxpayers, because we are the ones who will be paying damages.”

###

MEDIA CONTACT:
Jeff Rose-Martland
exec@ourduty.org

On Publishing and Writers.

I was invited by the Newfoundland Writers' Guild - a group of veteran authors and former publishing professionals - to give a presentation on ebooks, print-on-demand, and DIY publishing.  The lecture was given on 22 July 2012 at the Rotary Sunshine Camp in St. Phillips, NL.


In preparing this lecture, I met with WG President Raoul Andersen to discuss specifically what the Guild wanted to learn about.  The answer was a combination of vague - "everything, what's going on and how it affects us" - to specific - "how hard is it to put out an ebook and what's involved."  The WG's membership is largely older writers (some of whom have done very well) and they were a) frustrated with the problems they have started running in to when seeking publishers and b) had heard a lot about epublishing but knew little.  I was brought in as an expert in the field.


I'm not sure I agree with that title, but I have been battling against and monitoring the industry for about a decade now and, most importantly for the Guild, I know more than they do.


I have decided to make that lecture and related materials available to anyone who is interested.  Below are videos of the lectures, the audio-only files, the handout given to the audience, and my own (unedited) notes.  There is no prepared speech.  You may download and use the material (or parts thereof) with attribution.


Lecture Handout (Word Doc)




Lecture Pt 1 - The State of the Publishing industry





Audio Only




Lecture Pt 2 - DIY Publishing






Audio Only






Resources


Lecture Notes (Word Doc)

The Espresso Book Machine, in Action!!! (Thanks to CBC Manitoba.)






Citation:
You may cite the documents, audio, and video as:


Jeff Rose-Martland, Address to the Newfoundland Writers' Guild, 22 July 2012
© 2012 Jeff Rose-Martland