Tolls and Privacy

The BC Government's Highways Ministry has put out a white paper (PDF format) on "P3" Public Private Partnerships, specifically in respect of better roads. Included in this paper is a reference to disallowing drivers license renewals if there are outstanding tolls, which tells me they are looking at automated systems which specifically identify vehicles as opposed to a system which maintains privacy. One of my pet peeves is the erosion of individual rights through the inappropriate implementation of technology. I explore this problem in the Tolls & Privacy page this month.

More on the Blank Media Levy

I've just finished posting more of the documents flowing back and forth between the parties in the ongoing process of establishing a new blank media levy. See the timeline section on the overview page.

There have been a number of people drop out of the formal process, but those of us still left are giving the CPCC a real run for their money (literally). They (CPCC) have asked for an extension of the time to file their answers to our interrogatories (formal questions) due to not only the number of questions, but also to the amount of information they are having to put together.

I'm Impressed

July 1 is Canada Day - the day we celebrate our Country's birth, its uniqueness, its culture, and its future.

While we here in Canada have not yet risen to celebration quite as much as our neighbours to the South do on the 4th, our attitudes and celebrations are gaining ground annually. 

We fly more flags. And we get on our high horse when some petty bureaucracy gets in the way as was the case in the neighbouring municipality of Maple Ridge where a condominium council threatens to fine a couple $80/day for flying a Canadian flag. The rhetoric and publicity this item got is far in excess of what I've seen in the past.

The number of young people independently (of their parents) wrapping themselves in our flag, wearing red and white, painted faces, smiles and happy attitudes is truly impressive. We are developing a sense of pride in our country. We have people from all over the world taking up the celebration, becoming Canadian, and recognizing that Canada has something they want and are glad to adopt. We who have been here most/all our lives are getting caught up in these new Canadians' celebration of our country. We're losing our blandness. We're gaining pride. I love it!

I'm becoming convinced that what I have seen in the past as Canada's problem of a lack of distinct cultural identity is in fact becoming Canada's strength as the world and the new Canadians recognize Canada's multi-cultural "identity" as its true identity.

I'm finally beginning to think that those who started us down the road to multi-culturalism over 30 years ago (mostly to do with allowing Quebec to be "distinct") fell into a pile of manure and have come out smelling like a rose.

I have traveled a fair amount in my life. Not nearly enough in my opinion, but enough that I can say with a fair amount of certainty that my experience last night, the opening night of MIB II (Men in Black) at the local theatre, was fairly unique. We got to the theatre about 1/2 hour early, and as I sat waiting, I counted the number of conversations going on in languages other than English. I counted 8 but there may have been more as I didn't get up and move around. 8 languages! Yet there were no obvious distinctions in clothing, no looks of disdain from surrounding patrons of other cultures, no conflict; just casual conversations in 8 languages as well as English. Nothing special - but that's what is special!

Canada is acceptance. Canada is not a melting pot. Canada doesn't expect its citizens to become something different from what they might have been in another country. Canada simply accepts, and glories in the diversity that this has brought us. About the only thing Canada expects is that those who come here leave the conflicts of their homeland behind. In this we may not yet be insistent enough, but we're working on it. Here's to another 135 years (at least)!

I'm ashamed

We're well into the second half of "the year of 0911" - the year after the World Trade Center buildings were demolished by terrorists. The Western world, of which we here in Canada are a part, has been dragged kicking and screaming into the war of the new Century; the war between "states" and "movements"; the war against terrorism.

We here in Canada suffered through the first week or so after the US froze all air traffic. We've accepted the US's proposal to create a "North American perimeter" and now have US customs and immigration inspectors looking at incoming people and freight at our ports.

We're paying $24 per round-trip for security at our airports - and not getting it.

We here in British Columbia no longer have a permanent army base. Chilliwack is now a training base for the RCMP. Now, if "the big one" (the expected and feared large earthquake here in the Pacific Northwest) happens, we will have to wait while Army is flown in from Alberta (or farther) after waiting to rent planes from the US (who might also want to fly in their own people to Seattle for the same reason).

In the same vein, if terrorists decide to bomb all the local police buildings, or do enough damage that the local police can't deal with it, we will have to send carrier pigeons over the Rockies to get reinforcements. What the hell do we send money to Ottawa for anyway? Certainly not our health (that's another rant for a later day) - and certainly not so we have either a Canadian identity internationally, or the armed forces to back it up.

The most recent information about the Canadian armed forces is that they don't have enough money or qualified instructors to handle the number of recruits their multi-million dollar advertising campaign has drawn. I sat in the movie theatre tonight (waiting to see the first day of Men In Black II) and watched one of the ads for Canadian forces recruiting. What a waste! 

Our poor (in many senses of the word) armed forces are the poster children of the phrase "We've done so much with so little for so long, we're now qualified to do anything with nothing!" They had to rent US airplanes to even get to several of the most recent Canadian disasters they were called upon to help with. Despite this, they are held in high esteem by all who serve beside them, in whatever theatre they serve; peace keeping in Bosnia or peace making in Afghanistan.

I'm ashamed!

Not of the people in our armed forces; for them I have only the utmost respect. No, I'm ashamed of my government in Ottawa for not understanding that regardless of other "priorities", if we screw up protecting our country, we're toast. 

In fact, we are now "appearing" to screw up protecting our country in the eyes of some of our world partners. One of the background problems which seems to be affecting things like our "softwood lumber" tariff woes is a perception by US congress and senate members that we are leaning too heavily on the US's armed forces and support as a deterrent to outside (of North America) influences. We are not holding up our end of the stick that keeps the world at bay.  

This is not a problem of our citizens' unwillingness to serve! We've proven that we want to serve - we've run the military out of training capabilities! It is purely a problem of our government in Ottawa and its complete failure to consider the armed forces as a priority in today's world; not necessarily in light of a specific threat to our sovereignty, but as one of the costs of our being in the company of the other 7 in the G8 for example, or in NAFTA, or in NATO, or on the security council in the UN. 

My two boys have been in Air Cadets (583 Squadron of Royal Canadian Air Cadets) and although Michael has now aged out, David is still active and a Flight Sergeant. The cadet movement in Canada, while not directly a part of the military, has been one of the sources of recruits to the regular armed forces as well as the militia. The regular forces love the cadets they get because a lot of the initial training in military procedures and such is already done for them. Ex cadets tend to rise early in rank and this helps everyone. Today, there are cadets who have aged out (of the cadet movement) being turned away from the regular forces! Today there are cadet organizations losing access to military training areas due to lack of resources on the military side. 

Regardless of any other reasons, having a healthy armed forces might actually save the country money! We Canadians just spent something on the order of $300 Million to secure the G8 summit recently held in Alberta. If the military was truly effective, the whole thing could have been done as part of the ongoing training and effectiveness exercises of those same armed forces. This type of security problem is going to be part of the world "forever", now that the concept of terrorism has caught on. The same problem will poke its head up during the Olympics if/when Vancouver hosts them in 2010. The same problem will arise during provincial Premiers' meetings, during all manner of large, well publicized gatherings.

Now, to be sure, the RCMP and other police forces should be involved. After all, they are supposed to be our guardians of internal justice. The problem today is that, with terrorism such a high possibility, the guardians of our borders (the armed forces) must now concern themselves with guarding things inside our borders too.

Maybe it is time we re-thought the concepts of division of labor (between police and armed forces). This division has grown up over centuries, but the changes in today's world have forced the police to take on aspects of army, navy and air force, and the armed forces to take on aspects of the police. Maybe the US idea of having a militaristic Coast Guard and an active National Guard make sense.