The Battle for Canada

 

The Separatists have already won. They won the second that Rene Levesque became leader of  Canada’s ultimate special interest group, the Parti Quebecois. Thus began the battle for Canada. Had Canada been a country of strong national identity, common vision and strength of character, a true nation, this battle would have been fought on the field of common destiny and good governance. But this would not be. The Separatists won because Canada chose not to do battle. Instead, Canada adopted the Chamberlain strategy of political appeasement, economic bribery and identity transformation.

 

As a result, Canadians have replaced their goals, values, traditions and heritage with something amorphous and undefined. Pride of place has narrowed from national to provincial. Regions are now pitted one against the other, orchestrated by our own Federal Government. Our once broad presence on the world stage has shrunk to be defined by the United Nations dominated by the likes of Libya, Iran and others even less worthy. Our military is no more. We have obligated the United States military to be our territorial protector.  We are a country divided. The West resents Eastern control, Easterners malign Westerners for their wealth, outlook, values and common sense. Our sovereignty, traditions, pride, vision - all have been lost. Canada, as a nation of common purpose and common values, has ceased to exist. Appeasing Quebec lost the battle for Canada. Submitting to Quebec did no more than strengthen the Separatists.

 

Status quo is fleeting. In politics, as in nature, change is the only constant. Many now realize the end of Old Canada is near. Do we await our fate in false hope that Eastern politicians will make Canada work? Or, do we finally reject the corrupt, intolerant  Eastern vision of surrender and look to ourselves to build a new home based on our values of hard, smart work, enterprise and common purpose?

 

July 2007—Letters to the Editor

Alberta may well be the first to take advantage of the Clarity Act. If so, it will be the 120^th new country since 1946. Free trade allows small countries, holding common vision,  to flourish. As a country, Alberta’s population would be the average of the 120, but its per capita GDP would be 5^th in the world, right behind the US, Switzerland, Norway and Luxembourg.

 

With independence come opportunities. Trade, political, military and economic alignments will be possible without the filter of Eastern need and want. New opportunities will be quickly grasped. Old, static, dual institutions will be easily discarded. Experimentation, testing and trying will be again possible. A dynamic political and economic structure will be forged, small enough to be all inclusive yet wealthy enough to provide the necessities. With hard, smart work Alberta will lead the world in enterprise, opportunity and society.

 

Independence will bring opportunities to expand. British Columbia will not endure as a Canadian province separated geographically from the Rest of Canada. Victoria will make common cause with the new country or risk losing BC’s interior to Alberta. Soon, the expansion, perhaps called Cascadia, will comprise seven million with a combined per capita GDP higher than Old Canada. Cascadia will control access to western ports and northern oil. The ROC and the US will tread lightly.

 

The Rest of Canada will survive. Their political and economic wants and needs will become tightly focused. Accommodation will be made for the loss of revenue that is now sustaining debilitating Eastern policies. Easterners will have cause to rid themselves of  the mantra “What can my country do for me?” of the last 50 years. Those in Old Canada will be forced to consider their own future in a more positive, productive light.

 

Endings are not to be dismissed. Endings are natural, stimulating - a chance for renewal, improvement, betterment. The ending of Old Canada is an opportunity to create a unique, sustainable, powerful national entity, holding great opportunity for advancing the human condition. —B. Pawley

 

Whether you believe the environmental myth of a manmade doomsday rapidly approaching;

or subscribe to the belief that global warming is a naturally occurring phenomenon, there is no doubt that the world around us is rapidly changing.

Despite the exaggerated claims of the Sierra Club, the Suzuki foundation and Al Gore environmental concerns are real. Global warming is occurring. Some reports would indicate that the earth will warm over the next fifty years before it starts to gradually cool as we enter a mini ice age. They also claim that we should be preparing now, for the mini-ice age that follows.

Despite it all, our air is dirty. Personally I’m in the middle of the road. Regardless of who is right or wrong in the matter, if it is economically possible to clean our air we should do it. Our health would be the benefactor.

Many companies are in the forefront in developing technology to clean our environment.

One of these is a new breakthrough technology in producing hydrogen for vehicles.

How do you store it? Where do you refuel? One option is to compress it to more than 10,000 psi. The downside is that high-pressure canisters cause explosions. The other option is chilling it to absolute zero. It can be difficult to maintain -250C.

Hydrogen Link Inc. in Lachine, Queec, is working on technology to convert hydrogen to a powder at room temperature and container storage in a non-flammable state. Funding for this research is being contributed by Shell Hydrogen.

One of the problems with the Hydrogen Highway dream of Arnold Swartzenegger is that hydrogen producers use huge amounts of natural gas or electricity to electrolyse the water which defeats the green purpose of less energy.

Hydrogen Technology & Energy Corporation of Vancouver has developed technology that filters the smokestacks of industries such as pulp mills using sodium chlorate. While filtering smokestack emissions, the filters produce hydrogen in the process.

Test filters in North Vancouver show that the filters made 20 kilograms of hydrogen per hour. Just two factories in North Vancouver can produce enough hydrogen to power 20,000 vehicles that are driven an average of 20,000 kilometres a year. HTEC says its filters will work on the smokestacks of 1,000 different industries.

Big changes are coming in lighting also, with the new developments in LED lighting. TIR Systems of Richmond, BC has successfully sold their new Lexel light to Philips for $75 million. The Lexel uses 34 watts to produce 1,000 lumens of lights. Bright enough for your kitchen. Electricity costs could reduce dramatically if TIR reaches its goal of making lights that are nine times more efficient than incandescent bulbs.

Railroads too are going gree with the development by Railpower Technologies Corporation, in Brossard, Quebec Their standard body Green Goat locomotives work are refitted with stacks of batteries and smaller engines. Made for yard and switching work, they can cut fuel consumption by 40-to-60 percent.

Toronto is in the forefront with their new system of air conditioning sucking up water 83 meters below Lake Ontario, piping it into buildings. Enwave Energy Corporation of Toronto developed this idea, which uses 90 percent less electricity and promises to remove 79,900 tonnes of carbon dioxide; the equivalent of 15,800 cars off the road.#

Michaelle Jean —Two Solitudes

In her moment of fame, Michaelle Jean, Canada’s latest Governor General, in her inauguration speech, gave as her mandate the ending of two solitudes: The solitude between Quebec and the rest of Canada--the solitude between races.

Being from Quebec of course, she cannot be expected to understand that the two solitudes in Canada are really between the east and west.

Quebec has done very well with is complaining. They gets billions in transfer payments regardless in spite of the fact that they should be a have province instead of a have not. As the most heavily socialistic subsidized province in Canada Quebecers can afford benefits the rest of Canadians only dream about.

The challenge for Michaelle Jean is not Quebec but the West. The challenge will be to for her to raise her navel-gazing Quebecer nose and actually see the breadth and diversity of this country.

Where do we go from here? Would the West really be better off separated from the corruption the west abhors and the east apparently adores or they would not continue to re-elect those that fleece them.

Peter MacLeod, a 27-year-old PhD student has a dream. In his dream he sees flatbed trucks, the highway and a House of Commons that can be erected and broken down as quickly as any touring entertainment company.

Just suppose we set up in Saskatoon for a week, say in the local arena. Let the locals come and see for themselves just what their MP’s do to earn their pay. Then next, we could move on to Winnipeg, or Whitehorse or Red Deer or Swift Current. Alternatively, how about a week in Prince George or Powell River?

Just suppose during a political sore point such as oil, that they had to sit in Alberta. Or just suppose when it floods they had to sit in Manitoba. Alternatively, how about the recent trucker strike at the Vancouver port? Let them sit in Vancouver for a week.

Canada is a country of solitudes created partially by our huge distances, but mostly by politicians seeking power and buying the vote at the expense of vote-poor provinces. Don’t look for anyone to make decisions based on the good of the country as a whole.

Many solitudes and much alienation could be eliminated in Canada with the use of mobility by government. Why should the Museum of Civilization be in Hull, Quebec? Why should the Canoe Museum be in Chrétien’s riding in Shawinigan, Quebec? Why should the Veteran’s War Memorial or War Museum be in Ottawa? Why should Canada’s art gallery be in Ottawa? Maybe you would like to see these famous paintings too? Why should we in the west have to travel thousands of miles to see what easterners take for granted? Taxpayer paid for art should be on view for all to see. Internet viewing is not good enough! Why should some western MP’s be penalized unfairly by having to travel gruelling hours each month between Ottawa and their home riding while others hop on a plane and are in their riding in an hour or two.

A travelling circus, excuse me, I mean parliament would eliminate the culture of secrecy and graft proliferates the Ottawa air.