My wish list (expanded)

Ok, so here's the thing, there are nearly six billion humans inhabiting our little rock, circling our little star. Those six billion people are divided into groups (tribes),distinguishable by country of origin, language, skin colour, religion, etc. Because of the social nature of our species, these groups inter-mingle, creating tribes within tribes. This inter-mingling makes up an amazing cultural tapestry that should be celebrated by all. The American idea of the cultural melting pot, where everyone is assimilated into one indistinguishable culture is foolish. The way I see it is, if there were six billion people walking around, all of them just like me, I would have to kill myself. What could possibly be more boring than that? We should rejoice in our diversity and accept each other for who we are. Hate for any reason is wrong, hate for reasons of race, ancestry, sexual orientation, and so on is completely reprehensible. Discrimination is a learned behavior, the way to un-learn it is to look inside ourselves, recognize our prejudices for what they are, and then work them out of our systems. It can and must be done, because if we don't we're doomed as a species.

Prior to the recession of the early 90's, if you asked almost anyone "what should the Canadian governments highest priority be?", you would have been told by most people that the environment was at the top of the list. So what happened?Let's go back to the Mulrony era. When the Tories were elected they immediately began a systematic dismantelling of social programs that we, as Canadians had become accustomed to. They did this by convincing the general public that these things were too expensive and unsustainable. They started out slowly and built momentum right into the late 80's when they began negotiating the Free trade agreement, selling it to the masses on the premise that it was necessary to compete in the global marketplace and that it would benefit Canadians by lowering the cost of big ticket items and opening up the market to competing products from the U.S. What they weren't telling us was that they had sold the farm when it came to our natural resources. They also neglected to mention that the level playing field meant deregulation of our environmental standards among other things. So, if we look back over the last decade since the F.T.A., we see the effect it's had on our resources, were multi-national conglomerates have been deforesting the old growth forests of ontario and B.C., as well as the decimation of our cod stocks on the east coast and the salmon on the west coast. Prior to the defeat of the Tories in '92, N.A.F.T.A. was being negotiated which was ratified by the current Liberal government. Now if we look at what's happening, we see an even greater arrogance on the part of the U.S. and the multi-nationals where our resources are concerned. They are now trying to lay claim to our inland waters and under the rules of the agreement, there may not be a hell of alot we can do about it, short of backing out of it altogether. Fortunately, there are pockets of resistance out there, such as the Council of Canadians, the Canadian Labour Congress and others who are publicly opposing the wholesale dismantling of our countries autonomy and putting on public awareness campaigns on how to re-take control of what is rightfully ours. But don't take my word for all this, do some research, ask questions, contact your Member of Parlaiment. If you want to get involved and be a part of the solution, remember that you don't have to take on the world. Think globally, act locally. find an issue in your own community that needs to be adressed.
Which brings me to my own personal battle, the Red Hill Valley. The valley is located in the industrial east end of Hamilton, where I live. It is the only greenspace in the area and has been called the lungs of the east end. It's a beautiful piece of wilderness in an otherwise congested part of town. It is also the largest urban park in the country(yes, even bigger than Stanley Park in Vancouver). There has been an ongoing debate in this city as to whether or not to build an expressway down the valley, it's proponants say that it will bring an economic winfall to the city, by increasing traffic from the U.S., as well as divert truck traffic off inner-city streets. Opponents of the expressway, myself included, claim that the opposite will happen, that in fact, the road will serve to divert traffic around the city, eliminating any economic winfall, and create a environmental disaster the likes of which this city has never seen before. The flow of traffic through the valley would only worsten an already polluted east end and destroy the only natural habitat for miles around. At this point it looks as though the developers and other proponents of this road on city council are going to get their way, but we haven't given up yet. The battle rages on. I will try to update the site as things progress and let you know how it's going.

In june 1975, the F.B.I. staged an illegal raid on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The reserve was being occupied at the time by the American Indian Movement in an effort to re-establish control of the reserve from a Federally appointed "Goon Squad". A shoot out ensued in which a young native American and two F.B.I. agents were killed. Leonard Peltier, a member of A.I.M. became the subject of a manhunt and subsequently deported, under false premise, from Canada, and charged with the murder of the two agents. The F.B.I. fabricated evidence, introduced bogus witnesses at the trial and supressed evidence which would have aquitted Peltier. There have been numerous appeals over the last two decades, all of them unsuccessful, the most recent in may '98. Peltiers last chance at freedom is a campaign calling on President Bill Clinton to grant executive clemency. Millions of people have petitioned for his release and an excellent documentary by Robert Redford called "incident at Oglala" was produced to expose this human rights violation. Leonard Peltier is a political prisoner, jailed for being a Native American activist.
To find out more about this injustice and how you can help "Free Leonard Peltier" check out The International Office of the Leonard Peltier Defence Committee,or for information on other political prisoners try Amnesty International.
Leonards health has been deteriorating and it is imperitive that he be given his freedom.
YOU CAN'T JAIL AN IDEA