Delaying payment of taxes means more money for city

The above title was the front page story in Thursday's Lethbridge Herald.

Some of my readers may remember previous posts of mine on this subject:

Municipal council's tax grab comes up empty, but the poor must still pay more

Oh me, oh my, the shit has hit the fan

With today being the final day to pay 2012 Property Taxes in the Crowsnest Pass, I thought it only fitting to remind people of the unscrupulous, deceitful, lying, 'gangsters in suits' we got running things here now in the Pass.

You may recall how Councillor Gallant and Mayor Decoux spoke on this issue at our recent Town Hall Meeting, deceitfully defending their actions of imposing an onerous 52% tax penalty on those who are unable, for whatever reasons, to pay their property tax bill on time. Decoux told us he talked with other mayors and they were aghast at how many residents here failed to pay their taxes on time. Telling us that one mayor told him he thought maybe his MD had 1 property that hadn't paid (who was he talking to? The MD of Foothills having a total population of 80 well-healed farmers and ranchers?), as if this should be an achievable standard our municipality should set for itself. (Maybe these guys need to read the Affordable Housing Survey (2008) to get an idea of the demographics of this area and the growing cap between the have's and have not's.) Meanwhile, in Lethbridge they have approximately 8% who do not pay on time (typical percentage on average of most towns, municipalities and cities in Alberta).

Using the above figure, here in the Pass that translates to approximately 259 properties (8% x 3234) that will not be able to pay their property taxes on time this year, who now face an annual 'usury' 52% tax penalty.

According to the above story Mayor and Council in Lethbridge are less than disturbed when people don't pay on time because then they are able to collect a whopping 18% annual interest on delinquent accounts. 'Manna from Heaven' is how they look at it. Whereas our 'experts in suits' look at it as a 'liability'?? Is 52% a liability deterrent? Or a money-maker? Of course, it is the later, rather than the former.

Last year and for some years prior our rate was in line with Lethbridge and the majority of other municipalities in Alberta, although slightly higher at 21%. But our mayor and council were not happy with that. They wanted more! So they raised it to 52% and proceeded to lie and continue to lie about the reasoning. Telling us every cock and bull story they could think of, except the real one. Which is this is nothing more than another sinister tax grab (to go along with all the others (including stealth taxes) they have been imposing on us since getting into office) on the most vulnerable residents in our community... the poor, seniors and those on fixed incomes unable to cope at times with today's tough economic realities.

So today, after the majority of us have paid our property taxes take a moment to think and reflect on those 259 residences who may be friends and/or neighbours of yours here in the Pass who are unable to do so, that are now victims of Greed and Class Warfare imposed upon them by their elected representatives. The "Shylock's" we now have running things here, who I'm certain will be remembered by these same people come election time. If not, I'll be certain to remind them from time to time until they either rescind this abomination of a bylaw or get replaced, allowing others to do it for them. btw/ If I choose to run again and get elected this will be one of my first actions as Mayor. Guaranteed! This will be something people here can take to the bank.

Tomorrow is Canada Day, a day to be proud to be Canadian... too bad we can't say the same about this tiny part of it, we know and have come to love as the Crowsnest Pass. When we have elected officials doing what they are doing to our most vulnerable fellow residents it definitely is not something to be proud of... but rather ashamed that we have such tyrannical leaders lacking in compassion, empathy and understanding for those not of their own selfish, elitist class.



When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom profit that loses.

Choice of Colours

Today in the Crowsnest Pass does it really boil down to a choice of colours?

On the one hand we have a spendthrift, tax grabbing, egocentric Mayor and Council that are off on their own agenda alienating most residents with each passing day. On the other, we are seeing the recent reactivation of the Ratepayers Association being revived in part by the likes of Dean Ward, a former disgruntled councillor, who at last night's meeting prepared and distributed what Bud at the Herald would call 'propaganda' material. (btw/ Bud was there last night snapping pictures like crazy that I'm sure will never see the light of day in his paper, but I'm certain will be seen by the 'chosen few', as to who was there at this meeting.)

Are these the only two choices the people in the Pass have? I think not.

Being somewhat a follower of Buddhist philosophy I believe there is a better way. Of the two choices above where one wants to change everything, while the other wants nothing to change, I believe in the middle way. How about you?

The Middle Path 

Suppose My Hand Were Always Like That? 

Mokusen Hiki was living in a temple in the province of Tamba. One of his adherents complained of the stinginess of his wife. Mokusen visited the adherent's wife and held his clenched fist before her face. 

'What do you mean by that?' asked the surprised woman. 'Suppose my hand were always like that, what would you call it?' 'Deformed,' replied the woman. 

Then he opened his hand flat in her face and asked: suppose it were always like that -- what then? 'Another kind of deformity,' said the wife. 

'If you understand that much,' finished Mokusen, 'you are a good wife.' Then he left. After his visit this wife helped her husband to distribute as well as to save. 

"The greatest art is to attain a balance, a balance between all opposites, a balance between all polarities. Imbalance is the disease and balance is health. Imbalance is neurosis, and balance is well-being."

Osho

Knowing how to think empowers you far beyond those who know only what to think.

Ratepayers Association Meeting

Just a reminder that the Ratepayers Association will be having their next meeting tomorrow, Thursday, June 28 at 7 pm in the Blairmore Legion.

This is a general meeting and membership drive.

Everyone is Welcome! 

There is power and strength in numbers.



Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Black sheep of the Family

Some people have been asking what the shouting match was about at the end of the Town Hall Meeting the other night, when the Mayor and a Councillor ganged up on my wife for challenging the Mayor as to his absence last week-end in the Bellecrest Parade.

Here are the facts my wife wants me to present to you, my reader, on her behalf:

1. Despite spending over $7,000 on our newest municipal float just a few years back in which our former municipal building inspector John Orleni over the years drove this vehicle in municipal parades both here locally and in neighbouring communities, and having a full-year in-between Bellecrest parades the Mayor gave as an excuse that the municipal float was suddenly a "death-trap", as to why there was no municipal float in this year's Bellecrest parade? No mention was made as to why then was our backup float not used instead? Just no municipal float for the Bellecrest parade. Sorry, tough luck! ... But hey, the Mayor says there will be one for sure in the upcoming Coleman and Blairmore parades.
2. It is an annual tradition/ritual that the Mayor appears in our parade here in Bellevue/Hillcrest during Bellecrest Days. But this Mayor chose to break with tradition and not participate... and then to lie about it by saying he was in it, when he wasn't...  But hey, the Mayor says he'll be in the upcoming Coleman and Blairmore parades.
   
   Between no municipal float and no Mayor some in this community took this as a slap in the face to those of us living east of the slide, who pay taxes too. Especially, when one factors in the recent reactivation of the Ratepayer's Association starting from this end of our municipality might have played a role in our suddenly becoming the black sheep of the family, so to speak.
3. Add to the above that this Mayor and Council are threatening to close the Bellecrest Seniors Hall, as we speak, and it is surprizing to her that more people did not speak out about these matters.

For all intents and purposes and for reasons he alone is aware of the Mayor chose to turn his back on the residents living east of the Frank Slide by ensuring there was no municipal float in our parade, and by him personally boycotting the parade itself. In addition, he is threatening us with the closure of the Bellecrest Seniors Hall, only a few short years from having seen both our Maplevue Hall and Bellevue Arena closed by dubious means by the former Mayor. There is even talk that we are to be sacrificed as bedroom communities while Coleman and Blairmore are to reap the whirlwind of economic activity, once things start turning around here again.

It's becoming glaringly obvious what council's plans are for us and what they think of us. They're recent actions are spelling it out very clearly and my wife sitting directly in front of this Mayor wasn't about to take the crap he was dishing out. Mayor, or no Mayor, didn't matter to her. With unscrupulous lying politicians habitually in our pockets making life harder and more difficult with each passing day, here was one right in her face that she could do something about. And that she did. Calling a spade a spade and not backing down in the process, despite being ganged up on in a cowardly fashion. 

Now, at this point, I would like to tell you a story about an event that took place shortly after WWII, after the Japanese surrender. A motorcade taking General MacArthur to his temporary headquarters was lined with both Japanese soldiers and civilians along the route who upon his approach turn their backs facing the motorcade -- a gesture of respect.

I like the symbolism of this act and would like to see it repeated in our upcoming Coleman and Blairmore parades. Not, however, as a sign of respect but as recognition that when you insult one part of our community, you insult us all... and we don't take kindly to being bullied and treated like second-class citizens deserving of no respect. You sent us a message, now here is our message to you... our backs!

They are all masters at pissing on our leg, and then while smiling, tell us "it must be raining!"

Mayor - razzle's dazzle's them

Last night's Town Hall Meeting razzled, dazzled and finally frazzled everyone.

There was more ducking and weaving the questions put to mayor and council than you see at most boxing matches. "We'll get back to you on that" was the standard reply. If the questions got to hard or difficult to answer, or were put to him too bluntly, there was the old pre-arranged stand-by police paddy wagon to cart off those the mayor took a disliking too... which happened much too frequently, including near the end of the meeting with my own wife, of all people, almost being carted off too when she challenged him for lying that he had been in the Bellecrest parade (which has always been the customary practice of former mayors, but not this one?), which she felt was a slap in the face to the residents living east of the slide. Never-mind that he and his council are threatening to close the Bellecrest Senior's Hall while pumping money like drunken sailors into the Coleman Senior's building?

Yes, dictatorial 'Pompous Bruce' was in full-swing last night for everyone to see, taking no prisoners, laughing and joking his way through the evening to the chagrin of many in the audience. At times, people felt, I'm sure, was he laughing with us, or at us? It was had to tell.

Yes, the mayor took discontent with his rule to a new razzle dazzle them level that would make a Las Vegas show proud. Culminating the evening with more pie-in-the-sky promises of good things to come... but don't hold your breath, he says, because it could all disappear like a puff of smoke.

So were the long outstanding issues with his administration of transparency in how and why decisions are being made, accountability, fiscal responsibility, and due diligence, to name a few, addressed to the satisfaction of the people there? I don't think so. What was clear is that we have an authoritarian leader who has no respect for taxpayers, and who has trouble answering questions put to him directly, if at all, who suffers fools lightly and does not hesitate in using the power of his position to quell discontent in this regard.

Surprizingly, the subject of the newly reactivated Ratepayers Association never once came up?

In conclusion, never once last night, except maybe when Jerry Lonsbury made his speech, did I feel our community spirit was back. In fact, by the end of the night, it felt more broken and lost than ever before. In reality, the very character and fabric of who and what we are never even bothered to show up. Instead, what did show up was the very real sense that we were all now 'sleeping with the enemy'.


UPDATE:
Open Letter to Mayor Bruce Decoux... the day before the Town Hall Meeting.



Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.

Fish and Wildlife officer John Clarke is a 'deer' fellow

Now, that is what I like to see... from a man with a badge. :-)




Blairmore Fish and Wildlife officer John Clarke brought this baby whitetail deer by The Promoter office last Tuesday. Its mother was sadly killed the day before in the Cardston area and the baby was left an orphan. However, the young deer will be sent to the Medicine River Wildlife Centre in Red Deer where it will be matched up with another doe and its young fawn.



When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.

Open Letter to Mayor Bruce Decoux

The more I read your ‘Mayor’s Corner’ the more I see the similarities or modus operandi used by our former mayor. The similarities are strikingly similar.

Dividing a community by enticing one group to attack another, creating an ‘us’ vs ‘them’ scenario, is how I read your comment “Only the silent majority can change this unfortunate situation”. Is this not a call to arms by way of a newsletter that had to be rushed out to the public on its own prior to tomorrow’s Town Hall Meeting? Is this not a direct appeal to the 1% and their many brainless, long-time resident establishment lapdog followers to come to this event in numbers and lambast those nonbelievers in your council’s good governance, and in having provided residents here over the course of your administration with “unvarnished facts and truth”?

"Save us! We’re old school like you and therefore deserve to be saved from the likes of those infidels in new school ways of thinking and behaving." This is what I read in your newsletter and this is exactly the modus operandi our former mayor used so successfully over two decades in keeping opponents and the people’s noses out of municipal business, to our ever-lasting chagrin. Do you really think we want a repeat of this?

Divide and conquer is what I believe you hope to achieve in this scurrilous appeal to your moneyed-class elites and their followers. This is not my idea of how to go about building a strong community. Nor is trying to curtail or suppress freedom of speech in public discourse and/or discontent with your administration, another.

Change is what most residents wanted and expected. I suggest, what they have been getting is not the kind of change they either wanted, or expected. Too much, too soon, with little to no input by the public has only alienated people here from their leaders. It’s time mayor and council came down from their ivory tower and actually talked with real people they are suppose to be representing.

You can do this by visiting local barber shops, coffee shops, reading local newspapers letters to the editor and visiting local blogs. Not by inviting residents to a staged event, packed with your cronies and supporters, filled with pomp and spectacle to dazzle and befuddle by way of illusions those who are of weak-mind, unable to see through the BS.

Surely people voted for more than a top down authoritarian dictatorship which is what many residents in this community feel we have been getting from you 'Pompous Bruce', and your band of professional miscreants on council, and in administration.

Just like the mayor before you, you are using ‘wedge politics’ in an brazen attempt to save you and your council’s ass. I don’t believe this will work anymore just as I don’t believe any ‘good news’ announcement you may have tomorrow, at this stage, will undo the damage you and your council have done to this community and its residents, in changing the very character and fabric of a once - and still - proud people.

Bruce, I too, am busy but never too busy to talk with you. Call me if I can be of any assistance in helping you understand the wisdom behind the saying... "united we succeed, divided we fall".



The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office.

VIDEO: When a man loves a woman

Okay, my wife Diane got jealous over my last post. So here you go baby, one just for you that says it all about our 42 years together, and counting. :-)




UPDATE: Just did a slow dance with my baby. Everything is right with the world again :-)



Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.

VIDEO: Baby its you

Love it, when women talk to me this way. :-)





I wrote your name in the sky, but the wind blew it away. I wrote your name in the sand, but the waves washed it away. I wrote your name in my heart, and forever it will stay.

Town Hall Meeting

Well Boys & Girls, here's your chance to thank Mayor and Council... or not?... for getting us to where we are now:

Town Hall Meeting

June 21, 2012

Council extends an invitation to the

Public to attend a Town Hall Meeting

Thursday, June 21st at 6:30 pm

at the Elks Hall located at

2025 – 129 Street Blairmore.

Beef on a Bun will be served prior to the meeting

in the Elks Hall parking lot

commencing at 5:00 pm.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Lofty promises are made, time passes, promises go unfulfilled, excuses are made and gross failures are forgotten, denied or downplayed and no one, except the public at large, pays for them.

Mayor K.O.'s himself in his own newsletter

People in this country and in this community have always thought that we all have a god given right of dissent when it comes to how we are being governed. Apparently our Mayor does not think so?

In a draft version, emailed to me today by the municipality, of the recently released Municipal Newsletter #61 in the section titled Mayor's Corner his Worship Mayor Bruce Decoux attacks customers and patrons of barber shops and coffee shops, as well as newspapers and bloggers as purveyors of the 'untruth'. Whereas, of course, he and his council and administration are paragons of virtue and dispensers of 'noble truths'. ;-)

Well, excuse me all to hell Mayor, but I think you just stepped into a quagmire of your own making that is about to sink you like a rock into the political obliviousness of the walking dead, so to speak.

Dean’s blog has a pretty good commentary and some outstanding public opinion comments on this Mayor’s attempt to silence his critics while also inadvertently, I'm guessing, giving this community, once again, a black eye in the process. Exactly what the Mayor is accusing everybody else of doing?

What is to be done with 'Pompous Bruce' and his band of professional miscreants? The count-down to the next election is on and for many in this community, it can't come soon enough.



Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.

Bellecrest Days 2012

Starting today, don't forget to check out the fun things happening this weekend with our Bellecrest Days.


(click image to enlarge)

Also, don't forget to buy your 50-50 (my wife Diane is the ticket seller, again, this year). Show some community spirit, have fun, and 'enjoy'!



Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.

I am Ratepayer, 'hear me roar'

I am woman Ratepayer, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again... 

Well, as expected, it was a packed house last night at the newly reactivated Ratepayers Association meeting in the Hillcrest Miner's Club. In two weeks time a second meeting (AGM) will take place at which a board will be selected and then it's off to the races, to ensure we start getting some accountability and fiscal responsibility from our elected officials and administrators over at municipal hall, who have been extremely short on both, as well as on transparency. The 'free ride' mayor, council and administration have been enjoying is about to come to an end.

The overwhelming theme last night from those who stood up and spoke was we need to take back our community from the outsiders (consultants and administration) and those locals on council who have sold us out, and that mayor and council are aloof, arrogant and out of touch with the real wishes and desires of the majority of residents in this community. At least one businessman/resident wanted action to be taken to remove our elected officials from office, immediately. Others spoke with displeasure about council's arbitrary shutting down of the Thunder in the Valley fireworks and how come there were no records available by the person in charge of this event for so many years, who is now presently our municipality's Chief Financial Officer? In addition, doing away with the Peace Officers the municipality is planning on hiring was a hot topic as well. People see this last one as nothing more than another sinister 'stealth tax' by 'revenue police' on each and everyone of us by big city slickers wanting to impose their ways and social values on 'Freedom Loving' mountain people, who already pay more than their fair share. And on and on it goes...

The bottom line, from what I was able to ascertain, is that people are very unhappy with the top down decision making process of this mayor and council, with little to no public input from those directly affected by this councils actions. "We in our ivory towers know best what's good for you, so why bother you poor peasants with the details." And, "Just pay up and shut up and let your betters deal with these matters" seems to be the modus operandi of this council.

Well, a proud people who built this community (thank you very much!) don't want to be told they don't count. Especially, for the most part, by a bunch of outsiders who have no idea what makes this community tick. Unfortunately for mayor and council, this is a lesson they will soon be learning i.e. residents here want to be part of the process, like they have always been, and not treated with contempt, by way as an after-thought only, after the shit hits the fan.

As the saying goes, the times they are a changing, and the biggest change wanted and needed right now is in how we do business in the managing and running of the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass... this place we call home.

Last night, The Ratepayers Association was reborn. To once again, ensure this change takes place.



UPDATE (June 20): The next meeting of the Ratepayers Association will be held at the Blairmore Legion Thursday June 28th at 7pm.

Ratepayers revived



Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Municipality: Penny Wise, Dollar Foolish

Well here we go again! According to this week's Promoter newspaper our council is once again in our pockets. This time they are raising water/sewage by 4.5% and garbage by another 3.0%. With these new increases we will now be paying close to double what we were paying for these same services just a few short years ago. As well, they are raising by 6% the municipal electrical distribution system rates to reflect the 6% they recently raised through Fortis that looks after the other half of our municipality's electrical system. In addition, further increases are expected this fall.

How, pray tell, are people on fixed incomes, such as many of our seniors, and those on low incomes expected to keep up with a mayor, council and administration who have proven time and time again that they are nothing but out of control spendthrifts? Did any of these guys on council ever even take the time to read The Affordable Housing Survey (2008) that clearly shows the demographics and income levels for this area... households in the Crowsnest Pass consistently earn lower average incomes than similar households across the province.

Today, it seems all governments at all levels are out of control, bleeding us dry with a total disregard for the public's ability to pay, and pay, and keep paying for their good governance. Now add greedy corporations to this list and it's a wonder that more people are not up in arms, in revolt.

Especially now that we find out in the same Promoter newspaper that "documents obtained by The Promoter show the municipality spent $1.123 million on consultants and contractors over a 17-month period".

The newly reactivated Ratepayers Association are having their first meeting tonight at 7 pm at the Hillcrest Miner's Club. This latest news on how our municipal finances are being (mis)managed will just add more fuel to the fire, I'm thinking?

This municipal government has proven time and time again that they are penny wise (think Bellecrest Seniors), but dollar foolish, and soon they will find out... we ain't going to take it anymore!!



The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive.

CONTEMPT! No I do not support the budget

I have read several very detailed articles stating that the Prime Minister of Canada has more Executive Authority than any other leader in the free world, including the President of the United States. Just so you know, Harper is a product of a US Intelligence Operation at the Calgary School to install a Prime Minister that will put Canada under US Authority. - Geoffrey Laxton



When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear their government, there is tyranny.

Province responds to municipal call for review of Local Authorities Election Act

Pincher Creek Voice

All Albertans are invited to provide input on possible changes to the Local Authorities Election Act suggested by municipalities following the last local elections. Some of the major ideas include moving to four-year terms instead of three-year terms for local elected officials and having local elections in the spring instead of fall.

“Given that voting is one of the most fundamental democratic rights, all Albertans deserve a say in how their local elections are governed,” said Doug Griffiths, Minister of Municipal Affairs.

Some of the issues municipalities and municipal associations have suggested be incorporated into the review include:

• terms of office
• timing of elections
• nominations
• eligibility to vote
• residency requirements
• campaign financing
• ballot procedures

“There are many issues up for discussion and there are a lot of complexities involved. We want to hear from Albertans and from municipalities on these issues, so any changes can be made this fall in time for the 2013 local elections,” Griffiths emphasized.

The Local Authorities Election Act provides a framework for processes and procedures for municipal and school board elections. A survey is available at www.municipalaffairs.alberta.ca until July 31. Individuals may provide input through the online survey, and municipalities and municipal organizations have the option of using either the online survey or completing a written submission.



Government is too big and too important to be left to the politicians.

I Am that I Am, goddam

Some people think that I'm a revolutionary, and that frightens them. But I'm not. I'm a rebel.

My definition of a rebel is one who stands up against authority in a just cause, as he sees it. Robin Hood was a rebel, as were many other great men and women throughout history who saw injustice in their world, in their time, and decided to do something about it.

I too, in my time, and in my own way, have and am doing what I can to expose the lies and illusions we have all been sold as gospel truths by a capitalist, corporatist system that is more about greed, power and exploitation, than it is about serving the people with compassion and good governance for the benefit and greater good of the whole, rather than for its thinnest part only.

In some peoples minds, that makes me their enemy. Well, too damn bad! For I prefer fighting my battles standing on my own two feet, than living on my knees, like them, in a world of servitude, willful blindness or ignorance, and intolerance.

To each his own, but this rebel will have it no other way...

Acts of rebellion permit us to be free and independent human beings. Rebellion chips away, however imperceptibly, at the edifice of the oppressor. Rebellion sustains the capacity for human solidarity. Rebellion, in moments of profound human despair and misery, keeps alive the capacity to be human. Rebellion is not the same as revolution. Revolution works towards the establishment of a new power structure. Rebellion is about perpetual revolt and permanent alienation from power. And it is only in a state of rebellion that we can hold fast to moral imperatives that prevent a descent into tyranny. Empathy must be our primary attribute. Those who retreat into cynicism and despair, like Dostoyevsky's Underground Man, die spiritually and morally. If we are to be extinguished, let it be on our own terms.

The rebel must, for this reason, also expect to become the enemy, even of those he or she is attempting to protect.

The indifference to the plight of others and the cult of the self is what the corporate state seeks to instill in us. That state appeals to pleasure, as well as fear, to crush compassion. We will have to continue to fight the mechanisms of that dominant culture, if for no other reason than to preserve, through small, even tiny acts, our common humanity. We will have to resist the temptation to fold in on ourselves and to ignore the injustice visited on others, especially those we do not know. As distinct and moral beings, we will endure only through these small, sometimes imperceptible acts of defiance. This defiance, this capacity to say no, is what mass culture and mass propaganda seeks to eradicate. As long as we are willing to defy these forces, we have a chance, if not for ourselves, then at least for those who follow. As long as we defy these forces, we remain alive. And, for now, this is the only victory possible.

Chris Hedges - 'Death of the Liberal Class'

You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.

Ratepayers Association is back!!

A friend of mine dropped by yesterday to invite me to a general meeting of the CNP Ratepayers Association, which will be taking place next Wednesday, June 13th, at 7 pm at the Hillcrest Miner's Club.

Rumour has it that people are dissatisfied with the way our current mayor, council and administration are running things, and that there is even talk about dissolution being on the agenda i.e. Hillcrest and Bellevue breaking away from Amalgamation that was surreptitiously sprung on people, back in 1979.

Expect a good crowd will show up. Will keep my readers posted.



The past is to be respected and acknowledged, but not to be worshiped. It is our future in which we will find greatness.

We are all Quebecois (even if we don't know it yet)

The Real News
By Diane Kalen-Sukra.

Months after the student protests against tuition hikes began in Quebec, many folks in English Canada continue to scratch their heads at how resistance from a group of disparate student unions over a dozen campuses could spark the largest and most sustained citizen's revolt in Canadian history, a veritable “red square” revolution with the potential to topple the provincial government.

The English-corporate media outside of Quebec hasn't helped. They've characterized the students as spoiled, selfish and prone to violence as well as out of touch with “fiscal realities”.

But the students' core messages are getting out via social media and resonating with a political awakening taking place among people everywhere – namely, the rejection of a broken system that enslaves its population, even its youth, with debt; abandons them into a jobless economy; then uses all means, including state violence to enforce public subservience to corporate and banker interests over the public interest.

DEBT SLAVES OF THE WORLD UNITE! B.Y.O.P. (Bring Your Own Pot/Pan)

Overcoming any remnants of historical prejudices and divisions between Quebec and English Canada, Canadians are responding to the call, “building links of love and solidarity with pots and pans”.

A solidarity protest hastily organized on Facebook by Casseroles Canada for May 30 th turned out thousands of pot-banging supporters in dozens of cities across the country (video) including spirited rallies in New York and UK with more protests planned for next week.

It seems to be finally sinking in, that we've all been had. No matter where you look, no matter how rich your nation's resources or how vast its land, most people, municipalities, regions, states/provinces, and nations are in debt.

No matter how many jobs you hold, no matter how hard you work, no matter what your education level or that of your parents, so long as you are part of the 99%, you're destined to a life of debt slavery and the associated shame and subservience that comes with it.

Your parents can pay taxes for their entire lives, yet it's not enough to cover your “unproductive years” pursuing “higher education”. You can hustle from job to job and pay taxes, yet it will still not be enough to sustain basic public infrastructure and services vital for the well-being of your family and community, let alone pay off your student loan.

It's no accident that bankruptcy laws have been systematically tightened everywhere – not for the banks, we bail them out; not for the corporations, they walk away; but for ordinary folks.

But what about personal responsibility, you say? Absolutely. We have failed in our personal responsibility to counter the business-propaganda that promotes consumerism as a form of patriotism or worse, self-healing.

We have failed in our responsibility to counter the banker-propaganda that inculcates us early on that debt is an investment, or a manageable life-style, something you “learn to live with”, that there is good-debt versus bad-debt.

Our churches have failed to warn their congregations, happy to see well-dressed families nicely snuggled in highly mortgaged homes, when the Bible unequivocal states: Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender. (Proverbs 22:7)

Our trade unions and community organizations as well as left-leaning electoral parties have similarly failed to educate the people on the dangers of debt, buying into the argument that best-maintained the status-quo for too long -- that a certain amount of debt is healthy, even good for the economy, that all 'conservative' concerns with debt are nothing but a ploy to limit personal freedom or cut public services. Keep raising that debt-ceiling as long as the money keeps rolling.

And everywhere our politicians have ignored the lessons of history, such as the warning of Canada's 10th Prime Minster Mackenzie King not to privatize our banks because: “Once a nation parts with the control of its credit, it matters not who makes the laws.” Or the warning of U.S. founding father Thomas Jefferson that “banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies...[if allowed to control the currency] the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

Today's politicians honour these bankers and put them in charge of our economies. Our largest province, Ontario, this year appointed banker Don Drummond to head up a commission to reform “the way government works”, decide how many billions in public services ought to be cut and which services the people can do without.

The Canadian government and mainstream media worship at the altar of Goldman Sachs-man and Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, apparently learning nothing from our idolatrous following of the great Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan who puppeteered the world economy into collapse, only to shrug off his “boo-boo” as a simple underestimation of the nature of human greed.

When are we going to see that inviting bankers to run our economies is like welcoming the folks who plundered your town to come in and ‘restore order’ while still collecting the booty?

U.S. state governors are being granted powers to hire “emergency financial managers” to take over communities, fire democratically-elected councils, school and park boards and turn those communities over to corporations to “efficiently” operate and/or sell off for private profit – ignoring the real problem of chronic unemployment and the inhumane placement of the collection of odious debt over human suffering.

Even the birthplace of democracy, Greece, before the recent elections had an EU banker put in charge of its highest office to ram through the economy-crashing, suicide-causing austerity measures that now threaten to bankrupt the country, while their public assets, utilities, coastal and tourist areas are being sold off to colluding corporations. Whatever happened to government of, for and by the people?

What kind of a nation enslaves its young? Our nations. On top of “their share” of the national debt, Canadian students owe $20 billion in student loans and U.S. students owe over $1 trillion – debt owed at interest rates well above prime, apparently due to their “high-risk” status (since everybody knows there aren't enough jobs for these students to graduate into).

Further enforcing this slavery, the Canadian conservative federal government has introduced legislation to make it obligatory that job-seekers take “any job”, regardless of skill level, pay- level and location or risk being cut-off of the measly benefits the unemployed receive for their mostly blameless suffering. Simultaneously they’re radically speeding up the assembly line that carts temporary foreign workers into the country, adding to Canada’s half-a-million strong pool of cheap foreign labour.

And what of banker responsibility? Why are they allowed to lend money that they don’t have and charge compounded interest for it? In Canada, this interest amounts to $60 billion a year – enough to pay for free education for all as well needed water and waste water infrastructure upgrades for the next century.

Who is holding the bankers accountable? No one. Quebec students and supporters are locked up, Occupy protesters everywhere are herded and jailed and not a single bankster in North America has been held to account. The bill for the extra-policing is, of course, borne by all of us.

DRAWING A LINE IN THE SAND: EDUCATION FOR ALL

There are several things the student unions did right. Most significantly, they finally made real the old labour promise of “drawing a line in the sand”.

For the past quarter century that line has been more fluid than shifting sands. Take away our pay and the line moves back. Take away our pensions and the line moves further back. Take away our jobs and it disappears altogether as it did for the Caterpillar (EMD) workers in London, Ontario this year that despite running a profitable plant were given the ultimatum to slash their wages in half or lose their jobs. Needless to say, they lost their jobs.

These young Quebecois students and their unions have responded differently. Their example is a gold mine of lessons for the labour movement that has for years held uninspiring workshops and brainstorming sessions on how to counter member-apathy and build a social movement.

Rather than seeking to consolidate power, these many small student unions through direct democracy distribute it widely, calling for solidarity and unleashing the creativity, diversity and power of their membership.

Rather than fear mobilization and civil disobedience, they embrace it, winning public support through public protest.

Rather than waiting for the dominant social democratic electoral party (NDP) to support them, the students bang-on regardless of the party's unbelievable silence.

Rather than do ‘everything-but’ confront power, Quebec's “red square” revolutionaries went right for it – the government, the banks and the corporations – holding protests against the very system that enslaves them and all of us.

Quebec's students have set an example of the kind of mobilization it will take to defend our public services, our civil liberties and democracy. Now let's do our part.

Let's grab our pots and pan, acknowledge we are all Quebecois, and bang until we are sure that our children will not “wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

Diane Kalen-Sukra is a veteran communications professional, community and labour activist. Over the past 20 years, she has coordinated and led countless successful campaigns, most recently, the Water Watch Mission-Abbotsford campaign which defeated the largest proposed water privatization scheme in Canada's water sector.

Join Diane on Facebook. Follow her @dianekalensukra


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It isn’t the rebels that cause the troubles of the world, it’s the troubles that cause the rebels.