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My Personal Journal
Page 6
National ID Cards
National ID cards are a hot topic in Canada and other countries who are thinking about introducing a nationwide uniform identification document. Especially since the ongoing 'fight against terrorism' itroduced by the boldface liers, US President George W. Bush and Britin's, PM Tony Blair. Since this national ID cards issue has risen to the top of the agenda in immigration and security departments all over the world, here is information people ought to be aware of. On September 11, 2001, anti-American terrorists hijacked four American airliners, crashing two into New York’s World Trade Center, another into the Pentagon, and ultimately killing over 4,000 people. In the wake of the September 11th tragedy, US President George W. Bush and Britin's, PM Tony Blair declared a war on terrorism. Canada was quick to announce its support for Bush’s and Blair's worldwide coalition against terrorists and the governments that supported them. Responding to the September 11th tragedy, Prime Minister Chretien stated, It is impossible to fully comprehend the evil that would have conjured up such a depraved and cowardly assault upon thousands of innocent people. These terrorist acts are an offence against the freedoms and rights of all nations. After September 11th, countries like, United States, Britin and Canada enacted anti-terrorist legislation designed to combat terrorism. Mobilization of the "Against Terrorism Act" (United States) and the "Anti-Terrorism Act" (Canada) received support from all political parties and quickly became law. However, these countries are going one step further by introducing a national identity card. Some people fear this poses a major threat to Canadian’s basic right to privacy. Some have brought up the specter of Nazi Germany and South Africa under apartheid, where identity cards which citizens had to produce upon command - were used for racial profiling or on anythig the Governments may deem fit to use it for. The following feature of Bill C-36 introduces national identity cards and their potential impact on privacy rights. Bill C-36; is the Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act which is in responce to George Bush and Tony Blair's War on Terrorism. The most serious objection to national identity cards is the threat they pose on peoples privacy. Early common law only gave protection for the right to life, the right to be free from physical harm. Over time, this evolved into the right to enjoy life, which includes the right to privacy. Canadians view privacy rights in several ways: The right to be left alone. The right to control what others know about us. The right to expect that information about us should be gathered only when it serves a specific purpose, and should be used only for that purpose. A social value that is shared by the rest of the community. In our current privacy legislation, Canadians are protected by two pieces of federal privacy legislation. The 1983 Privacy Act places limits on the collection, retention, and disclosure of personal information by the federal government. It gives citizens and permanent residents the right to access their personal information and to request a change if they feel the information is inaccurate. Since January 2001, Canadians have also been protected by the Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act. The Act protects how personal information about individuals is used in federally regulated areas of the private sector, including personal health information. By 2004 the Act will cover commercial activity by provincially regulated organizations. But recent technological advances, during the past twenty years, have threaten our right to privacy. Video cameras track our movements as we shop or walk along the streets. Employers use specialized software to monitor our email messages and Internet use on the job. As people use and move further into the Elecrtonic Age, it is far eaiser for Governments to moniter our every move. Some people feel that this technological explosion is weakening the right to privacy as a social value, while other people see giving up privacy rights as the price that must be paid in an electronic age for the sake of efficiency and the safety of the community. Up until now, data has been collected in grocery stores providing customers with "loyalty" or credit cards which these companies are recording people's purchases. Data is being collected by a number of different entities. With a multipurpose, National ID card, there exists the real possibility of creating a database where all sensitive information about an individual, from travel, to health and banking information which can easily be tracked. Many people would consider this an unacceptable violation of their privacy. Unfortunately, current privacy legislation doesn’t provide much protection against it. Under the 2001 Act, businesses and organizations have the right to collect, use or disclose personal information for purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate under the circumstances. If national identity cards are implemented, it would probably be considered appropriate for businesses and organizations to demand that customers and employees use them. However, supporters of the cards point out that they can actually increase personal privacy by helping prevent identity fraud. What do our Politicians have to say about the use of the new national ID cards? Immigration Minister Denis Coderre finds little support for a high-tech ID card, with the exception of Immigration Minister Denis Coderre, it is hard to find support among Canadians for a national identity card. Civil libertarians are clearly worried about the prospect of the card turning into a defacto internal passport, which Canadian citizens would be forced to carry with them at all times. Minorities are concerned that the card will be used for racial profiling. Finally, there is the question of whether a mandatory ID card would survive a Charter challenge. Here are viewpoints from different segments of the population, some of who made presentations to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration holding hearings on the national identity card. Denis Coderre, in his address to the committee, Coderre made it clear he favored a national identity card with biometric data. He gave several reasons for supporting the card; That it would strengthen national security. It would increase Canadians’ personal security by helping prevent identity fraud. It would improve the integrity of Canadian travel documents. Canada needs a national identification system. Right now responsibility for identification documents is divided between the federal government and the provinces. Coderre is not getting much support from his own party. Liberal MP John Bryden, a House of Commons Immigration Committee member, said he believed the idea of identification cards containing biometric data was quite controversial, and raised serious doubts about a person’s right to privacy. He also ruled out a proposal to limit the requirement to carry ID cards with biometric data to non-Canadian citizens. Bryden said forcing only permanent residents to carry cards with biometric data would violate their equality rights under the Charter.
Inky Mark: Progressive Conservative MP Inky Mark believes a national identity card is a way to screen out terrorists and criminals while still encouraging immigration. Mark believes immigrants are being unfairly picked on in the wake of the terrorist attacks. “Canada needs immigrants,” Mark said in a recent article. "It’s time to stop blaming our immigrants for the woes of our immigration system." What do our Legal Experts have to say? Constitutional lawyer Morris Manning has made several criticisms of a national identity card with biometric data. It would violate the Charter of Rights. It would increase racial profiling. It would invade people’s privacy by creating a large database of personal information on individuals. It would do little to help reduce identity fraud. It is not an effective way to fight terrorism. Manning told the committee: "If you have to produce a card to buy a car, to get on a plane, to travel across the country or even to walk the streets of Canada, then I believe we have changed from a free to an unfree society."
Governments are facing the increasing problem of fraud crimes related to the misuse of personal information, commonly called 'identity theft'. However, national ID cards are also associated with fears of social control, surveillance and loss of privacy and individual freedoms. An ID card regime will likely entail a database containing personal information of everyone bearing the card and could include biometric identifiers. This leads to questions like; What personal information is collected and how is it protected? Who can demand to see the ID card and for what reason and who can query that database? The Government already has a lot of info on every people who lives in Canada, so why do we need this new id card? The Goverments answer is that whether it is medical records, driving licence or income tax records, the Government does hold information about individuals on specific issues, as do other countries and private companies. But what the Government does not have, nor do Canadians, is a fail proof system that can prove who you really are or say who you are. The long established ways of linking people to their identity is a signature or a photograph, which are no longer enough in this day and age. ID cards will link Canadians basic personal information with something like the pattern of the iris, face shape or fingerprints or a chip inbedded under the skin. It will protect peoples identity and make it easier for people to prove their identity when they need to, like opening a bank account, moving house, applying for Government benefits or starting a job. Will this new national ID card be compulsory to have? It will eventually be compulsory to have an ID card once further legislation is approved by Parliament, but it will take some time before the scheme reaches this point. Until then the ID card will not be the only way of proving your identity or accessing public services. Will information be given out without my consent? Private sector organisations will not be able to check your identity against the National Identity Register without your consent. The police, security and intelligence agencies may make checks without the people's consent but only for the prevention and detection of serious crime. They could also find out where and when your card had been used, but again only in cases of serious crimes. An independent National Identity Scheme Commissioner will be appointed to oversee the scheme and report to Parliament. The Commissioner's role will include ensuring that personal identity information is used only for the purposes set out under the scheme and that no unauthorised extra information is held on the national database.
Public reaction to the new National Identity Cards and what the average person who is against it have to say about this whole business. Here are some of their comments or concerns. People are afraid that this plan will track every detail of a persons life. That once people give personal information to an official in the future, they will lose control over their privet information forever, you won't know who else sees it. You won't know what use it could be put to when the government has a new idea. The George Orwell "database state" is here. The Government doesn't trust us, yet the Government expects us to give it absolute trust, absolute discretion. The reason we have individual Rights and Freedom laws is because human beings cannot be trusted with absolute power. By scrapping confidentiality, ministers give all officials the right to talk about us behind our backs. It means more petty bullying, jobs-worths and the dreaded computer that will say "NO" to your requests. What about when Government database systems fails, as they often do? It would make everyone vulnerable to the problem of incorrect data in the database. If the data on the card or in the database is incorrect, then innocent people will be victimized through no fault of their own. If other government databases are any indication, a system as large as a national database could contain a significant amount of incorrect data which will not provide additional security to the person or against terrorism. We will end up compromising our civil liberties without really increasing security. They can easily railroad a person for some crime they did not commit and ruin people's lives by a few clicks on the database keyboard. There is a trade-off between civil liberties and security which would allow individuals to be easily tracked. One major argument for this new national ID system is that it will prevent crime. However, just knowing the identity of people will not prevent crime. If the identity of the person who will commit the next crime were known then prevention would be trivial. However, since crime and acts of terror cannot be predicted, just being able to track individuals will not nessary prevent crimes or increase security. As far as I can tell, there is very little public support for this new national ID system.
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Global Warming With all the hype we hear about "Global Warming", Does science support the proposition that man-made greenhouse gases are leading to a climate change? I decided to check it out and see what the facts are on this issue. The evidence for the claim that the earth has grown warmer is rather shaky. Federal government statistics show no significant rise in temperatures. British naval records have found no significant change in temperatures at sea since the mid-1800s. The reported worldwide increases in temperature of 0.5° to 1.0°F since the late nineteenth century occurred mainly before 1940. Even if we accept the figures showing that the world has become 0.5°F warmer, the computer models predict that a much greater climb in temperature should have occurred over the past hundred years than that which has been measured. Even the National Academy of Sciences is skeptical of the validity of the computer models and warns that the modeling of clouds, which is a key climate factor, is inadequate and poorly understood. Science magazine has documented that the models need to be adjusted to replicate the current and past climates. Recently some researchers claimed that, by including aerosols, the models fit the temperature records. Yet Patrick Michaels, a University of Virginia climatologist and a critic of global warming hysteria, has shown that the reported better fit resulted from using only a truncated portion of the record. Even with aerosols in the model, the computer results fail to track accurate temperatures over the last few years. Global warming is a myth and every serious person and scientist will say so. The U.N. panel, the IPCC, where this whole global warming is coming from is not a scientific institution. Rather it is a political body, a sort of non-government organization. It’s neither a forum of neutral scientists nor a balanced group of scientists. These people are politicized scientists who arrive there with a one-sided opinion and a one-sided assignment.
Here is a link by Donald E Davison that will give you the facts behind this Global Warming issue.
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Alternative Fuels I see on CTV News that Bush hails biofuels agreement with Brazil. The news text reads like this; SAO PAULO, Brazil -- At a mega fuel depot for tanker trucks, President Bush heralded a new ethanol agreement with Brazil Friday as a way to boost alternative fuels production across the Americas. Demonstrators are upset with Bush's visit. They worry that the president really has visions to create for himself an OPEC-like cartel on ethanol. You can bet your boots that is exactly what Bush has in the back of his mind. Bush and Silva said increasing alternative fuel use will lead to more jobs, a cleaner environment and greater independence from the whims of the oil market. In Brazil, nearly eight in 10 new cars already run on fuel made from sugar cane. What comes to my mind is why had not our "big brains" in Ottawa had not follow the lead of Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva when Canada created Petro-Canada? This would have taken care of the surplus of our wheat grains and give our farmers a much needed economic boost. But no, our "big brains" who run our Government in Ottawa, were found to be sleeping at the switch. This would have given added jobs to Canadians and given us a cleaner renewable fuel alternative to our present oil based fuels.______________________________
Using Wikipedia
Speaking at a conference at the University of Pennsylvania on Friday called “The Hyperlinked Society,” Mr. Wales said that he gets about 10 e-mail messages a week from students who complain that Wikipedia has gotten them into academic hot water. In an interview, Mr. Wales said that Wikipedia is ideal for many uses. If you are reading a novel that mentions the Battle of the Bulge, for instance, you could use Wikipedia to get a quick basic overview of the historical event to understand the context. But students writing a paper about the battle should hit the history books.
Note from Jean; I have used Wikipedia a couple of times to get a quick basic overview of some historical event I am writing about, but I have found out that some of the information on Wikipedia is not always 100% correct. So I always check any information I get from "Wikipedia" with many other sources to check my data. Wikipedia is pretty good, but you have to be careful with it.
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FRAUD March is Canada's Fraud Prevention Month. Federal, provincial and territorial governments are joining together in their respective roles to call for renewed efforts in the fight against frauds. Canadians need to be more vigilant in the fight against fraud, senior law enforcement and government officials are warning. I fully agree with these sentiments. There is just too much fraud going on in our country, and we need to put a stop to it. One of the greatest fraud that has continued since the conception of Canada is a fraud upon Canadians which has not been redress. It is a fraud being committed quite openly under the title of religion. There are hundreds of various religions in Canada who profess to represent GOD and receive tax shelters and huge sums of money from people who have bought into this type of fraud. Maby it is high time that Canadians need to strike back and fight against this kind of fraud. People need to recognize it, report it, and put a stop to it. In Canada, there are many such religions that profess to represent GOD. Sophisticated scams are being perpetuated all across Canada daily. Whether it's in our towns and cities, the Internet, mail fraud, deceptive telemarketing, identity theft or religions who profess to represent GOD, when they do not. Fraud is a serious problem, said Competition Commissioner Sheridan Scott. "It can steal Canadians' money, their identity and even their moral and self- respect. Law enforcement agencies cannot investigate, press charges and prosecute these scamers unless Canadians help us by reporting these crimes." Canadians aught to report scamers that are trying to dupe people into buying into their scams. Canadians should also report fraud crime that are being committed under the guise of religion. One of the greatest fraud in Canada that is being committed, is a religion called Christianity. There are billions of dollars that these scamers receive from Canadians who have naively bought into that fraud. Here is what theologians and scholars on religion has to say on the book called the New Testament which the fraudulent religion of Christianity is based upon. The Untrustworthiness of the New Testament Writings
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Lawsuit of fraud against Roman Catholic Church A lawsuit of fraud was brought against the Roman Catholic Church by Luigi Cascioli in Rome. Cascioli, who himself once trained for the priesthood, accused the church of having profited from its deception for 2,000 years, The author of "The Fable of Christ" alleged the priest violated local laws against deception. Cascioli contended that his complaint did not contest the freedom of Christians to profess their phony faith but to denounce the abuse that the Catholic Church commits by asserting "facts" that are really its own inventions. His lawsuit was not intended to establish whether Jesus existed or not, but to address the question of fraud. Cascioli, contended that Righi, a Roman Catholic priest, violated a Rome law that forbids deceiving the public. He said the priest, who had publicly criticized him for casting doubt on the truth of the gospels, had no evidence that Jesus ever existed. Unfortunately; The judges in Rome dismissed the case, the court of law would not hear it, despite that a clear case of fraud is being committed by those who represent the phony religion of Christianity. In dismissing the case, a judge recommended that Cascioli be investigated for slander against the priest. Proving a charge of slander would require the priest to prove the existence of Jesus and the trustworthiness of the New Testament writings. They don't have any such proof as it has been amply demonstrated. Cascioli said the matter is not concluded and he will take his case to the European Court of Human Rights.
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Questions surrounding Montreal SPCA's fundraising tactics Speaking about fraud, it reminds me of an artical I read some time ago on CTV News. It had to do about misleading the public. It was a stoty about the unethical fundraising practice of a well known animal shelter organization called the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Here is what CTV had written about the SPCA.
Feb. 6 2007 11:07 PM ET: CTV.ca News Staff
The fundraising practices of an animal-welfare group have come under fire after thousands of Canadians poured money into the organization, unaware it was operating solely in Montreal. The Montreal SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) uses the legal name "Canadian SPCA" in its letterheads and fundraising campaigns. While the group has a great reputation for helping animals in the city, dozens of its sister organizations outside Quebec are accusing it of unethical fundraising, saying it has duped tens of thousands of donors. The Edmonton branch of the SPCA (ESPCA) went so far as to change its name to the Edmonton Humane Society because of the Montreal group's fundraising practices. On its website, the Edmonton organization makes clear that it has no affiliation with the Canadian SPCA. "Thousands and thousands of dollars every week are being transferred to Montreal," Diane Shannon of the Edmonton Humane Society told CTV. "The people in the Edmonton area that send their cheques to the Canadian SPCA believe that it's going to help a national organization and that the money will eventually come back here to the Edmonton area -- and in fact the money only goes directly to Montreal." CTV Montreal obtained internal documents from the Montreal SPCA, showing the names of more than 30,000 donors from St. John's, NL to Whitehorse in the Yukon. The documents reveal at least $1.6 million in donations from outside Quebec went to the Montreal organization. In Nova Scotia, the SPCA put up a warning on its website, saying the "'Canadian SPCA' is at it again..." "Have you received your t-shirt or keychain yet? Did you send a donation to help abused animals? Did you know that ALL your money went to the MONTREAL SPCA, to support their work in Quebec?" reads the warning. "It's just a thorn on our side," Judith Gass of the Nova Scotia SPCA told CTV Atlantic in an interview. "It's a waste of time, having to do a press release every time the Montreal group is fundraising in this area." What's more, donors to the Montreal SPCA in provinces outside of Quebec send their money to P.O. boxes located in their home provinces. Pierre Barnoti, the Montreal SPCA's executive director, defended his group's practice, saying the Canadian SPCA is its incorporated name. "You don't change the name of a humane society who's been there for 137 years," he told CTV Montreal. "Our mandate is clear. We are asking Canadian people to help the Society here in Quebec, and we are clear about it." "We are saying we are in Quebec. In the text of the letter, we do not pretend that we are existing in British Columbia or in Alberta or in any other province." However, in Quebec, Barnoti's group does not use its legal name in its French-language fundraising, leaving the reference to Canada out. Barnoti says this is for political reasons. Animal rights groups in Quebec City, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivieres have also expressed anger at the Montreal SPCA for pulling donations out of their regions. But Barnoti asked CTV Montreal if, as long as animals are being helped, does it matter which branch the money goes to? "We are asking fellow Canadians to help the situation... that is prevalent in Quebec, with animals, which is terrible compared to the other provinces," he said. Steve Carroll, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, called Barnoti's claim "rubbish." "It absolutely matters. These communities from which Pierre is drawing money have every right to deal and every obligation to deal with animal welfare issues in their communities," Carrol told CTV. Barnoti has also registered the name "SPCA International", using this website to raise money worldwide. All donations go to the Montreal branch. "It's very unethical and it's very discouraging to all the other hundreds of organizations across the country that are working hard every day to help thousands and thousands of animals," Shannon told CTV Edmonton. Activists fear many Canadians will stop donating. Gass in Halifax called the Montreal group's misleading campaign a "blight" on the organization across the country. "Because once the public is misled, they're not going to feel like giving to anyone."
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Peter Kimber is released from Mexican prision. Good news is that Peter Kimber, who is a Canadian citizen who was charged and arrested in Mexico for having illegally worked in Mexico while holding only a tourist visa, is currently released from prision and will be returning to Mission, British Columbia soon.
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RCMP backs independent probe of pension scandal
Thu. Mar. 29 2007: CTV.ca News Staff.
Interim RCMP commissioner Beverly Busson says she supports the government's decision to have an independent investigator look into the force's pension scandal. An investigation into allegations of abuse of the RCMP pension and insurance plans, and an alleged cover-up of the internal investigation, will result in a public report within eight to 12 weeks.
It is a sad day for Canada to hear that people within the RCMP have caused such a scandal to such a prestigious institution. I hope this scandal will not tarnish the image of this prestigious institution and the men and women who serve our country so well. These fine RCMP officers who are on the front line in serving and protecting the public from those who would do harm.

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