CANADIAN POLITICS:

FOOD BANK USE SURGES IN CANADA:

The following article from the online news service Straight Goods reports a shocking increase in food bank usage across the country in 2010. You can read the full report from Food Banks Canada here. All numbers in the following article are taken from this report. This has particular resonance for the province of Manitoba because, as another article from the CBC points out this province "led" (if you can call it that) all the other provinces in the increase of traffic at food banks. The Canadian average is 9.2%. Manitoba weighs in at 21.0%, followed by Saskatchewan at 20.0%. Only the territories at an incredible 59,0% are higher.

What can you say about these sort of numbers ? One is that they give the lie to the Conservative propaganda that "Canada has escaped the worst of the economic downturn". Yes, maybe in terms of both the rich and those with secure employment. There are, however, huge numbers of people who very plainly haven't escaped at all. The smoke and mirrors of the federal Conservative "stimulus program" which ended up not spending the majority of its promised funds is now giving way to plans for "austerity"...read further attacks on the lowest income groups in the country while maintaining as many corporate give-aways as possible.

Not that this sort of duplicity is unique to the Conservatives. A Liberal federal government would have acted essentially the same, Perhaps without the utter contempt for truth and the public of a bald faced lie about funds that would never be spent, but with essentially the same set of fiscal priorities. Both major parties are entirely wholeheartedly committed to maintaining an economic system that embodies massive inequality. The NDP and the Bloc Quebecois are committed to tinkering around the edges of the system, often merely to gather votes and reduce social tensions. Their "solutions" leave the mountain intact and chip off a few sharp stones that irk people too much.

Anarchism, on the other hand is committed to a full revamping of the way we do economics, a program that radically reduces inequality. Maybe not eliminating it entirely but definitely abolishing logical absurdities such as the idea that some who make literally 100,000s more income than others do 100,000s more work (a physical impossibility by several orders of magnitude). Or the idea that their work (which far too often consists of purely useless financial manipulation or even literally doing nothing is 100,000 times "more valuable". Put frankly common sense says that there is not a single coal miner, farmer, hydro technician, nurse, snow cleaner and many others whose work is immensely more valuable than the "work" done by corporate executives who continue to profit economic downturn or not.

Now, as I have expressed before on this blog I don't see the transition to a freer and more equal society as coming about through some apocalyptic "revolution", though there will certainly be high tension at certain periods of time. The transition will be years, decades even, whereby workers gradually encroach on management power in the workplaces, where local communities struggle to take back power now monopolized by federal or provincial governments , where trade deals that bind citizens to agreements that are against their interests are abrogated, where laws and social work interventions that restrict personal freedom are eliminated one by one, where cooperatives, both producer and consumer, experience a resurgence that gradually brings larger sections of the economy under democratic control, where financial institutions cooperative and mutualistic in nature, gradually gain the economic clout to finance startups of such initiatives, where local small business is protected both by elimination of the government programs that favour the corporations and by a change in attitude of the population that sees the value of the local community. Where laws that are simply ill-mannered attempts of others to control the victimless actions of others are repealed. Where it finally dawns on social action groups that accepting government grants is the kiss of death. By so many things that don't come immediately to mind.

Anarchism provides at least a general guide to what is laudable and what is not in this long term struggle. No doubt many anarchists go astray in various directions, either towards statism or to useless revolutionary romanticism, but the broad centre of the anarchist movement today is moving towards such goals. That is why anarchism provides a broad outline for the solution of inequality and the poverty that accomplishes it, though local initiate from poor people themselves. Other solutions have been tried and have consistently failed.

But enough of the intro. Here's the SG article...

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Food bank use up sharply

Demand up 9 percent since 2009, 28 percent since 2008.

Dateline: Monday, November 22, 2010

from HungerCount

OTTAWA, November 16, 2010 — The results of the HungerCount 2010 survey released today show food banks across Canada helped 867,948 separate individuals in March 2010, an increase of 9.2 percent, or more than 73,000 people, compared to March 2009. This is 28 percent higher than in 2008, and is the highest level of food bank use since 1997.

Of the 867,948 people helped in March this year, 80,150 — 9.2 percent of the total — stepped through the front door of a food bank for the first time. The survey also shows that food bank use grew in every province in 2010.

Thirty-eight percent of those assisted by food banks are children and youth under 18 years old.



"This is a reality check. Food banks are seeing first hand that the recession is not over for a large number of Canadians," said Katharine Schmidt, Executive Director of Food Banks Canada, which coordinated the annual national study.

"We are hearing that it is really tough out there," Ms. Schmidt said. "Many people who lost their jobs during the recession have now exhausted their unemployment benefits, and are looking to self-employment or to temporary and part-time jobs for income.

"Others have been forced to fall back on social assistance. These options aren't paying the bills, and people are accessing food banks to fill the gap."

As in past years, the profile of those assisted by food banks is highly varied:

38 percent of those assisted by food banks are children and youth under 18 years old.

Half of assisted households are families with children.

17 percent of households that turn to food banks for help each month are living on income from current or recent employment.

7 percent of assisted households report a pension as their primary source of income.
"Coming to a food bank is not an easy decision for people," said Bill Hall, Executive Director of the Battlefords and District Food and Resource Centre, in North Battleford, Saskatchewan.

"Unfortunately, there continues to be a need for help in our community, and we have expanded our efforts to meet that need — when the overall goal should be to address the causes of hunger more broadly, and to be able to reduce our services and even close our doors for good."

"Though the recession has made things worse, the causes of hunger and low income run much deeper than the recent economic crisis," said Ms. Schmidt. "The need for food banks is a result of our failure as a country to adequately address a number of social issues, including a changing job market, a lack of affordable housing and child care, and a social safety net that is ineffective."

The HungerCount provides recommendations on how the federal government can work to increase people's ability to be self sufficient. Food Banks Canada's recommendations include the following:

1. Implement a national poverty prevention and reduction strategy, with measurable targets and timelines.

2. Create a federal housing strategy to increase and monitor investment in affordable housing programs in Canada's cities, towns and rural areas.

3. Maintain current levels of federal cash and tax transfers to provincial, territorial, and First Nations governments.

4. Address the unacceptable rates of low income among our most vulnerable seniors — those who live alone, without other means of support.

About the HungerCount Survey HungerCount was initiated in 1989 and is the only comprehensive national study of food banks and affiliated food programs in Canada. Since 1997, data for the study have been collected every March. The information provided by the survey is invaluable, forming the basis of many Food Banks Canada activities throughout the year. For a full copy of the HungerCount 2010 report and associated graphics, and for more information, please visit www.foodbankscanada.ca.

About Food Banks Canada Food Banks Canada is the national charitable organization representing the food bank community across Canada. Our Members, Affiliate Member food banks, and their respective agencies serve approximately 85 percent of people accessing emergency food programs nationwide. Our mission is to meet the short-term need for food and find long-term solutions to reduce hunger.

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Moncton - The new government of David Alward should immediately increase revenues for people who are living on social assistance - Linda McCaustlin, co-chair of the Common Front for Social Justice

"The last two Hunger Count Reports have revealed that during the last two years, there was an 18 percent increase in food bank usage in NB Just this year, the number of people using food banks has also increased. Thirty-four percent of food bank clients are children; thirteen percent are wage earners but the majority of them (61 percent) are social assistance recipients. This is completely unacceptable in a country as rich as Canada" says Linda McCaustlin.

"We are asking Hon. Susan Stultz, the new Minister of Social Development, to immediately provide all adults on social assistance with a $100 per-month healthy food allowance supplement. We are also asking her to provide an additional $35 per month per child to households receiving social assistance.

"Moreover, since the income of seniors receiving the guaranteed annual supplement is below the Low Income Cut-off (before tax), a $100 food supplement should be added to the current $400 supplement forwarded to these seniors. These food supplements should be indexed with the cost of living.

"Given that 13 percent of NB food bank users are people in the workforce, the minimum wage should continue to rise so as to meet one of the workers most basic needs, namely a nutritious diet.''

"Food is essential for life and is therefore recognized as a basic human right in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. The fact that thousands of NB citizens and their families go to bed hungry is a shameful result of our political leaders' inability to govern in the interest of the common good. Those members of our business community who are paying very low wages should realize the detrimental effects of this practice on the nutritional status of their employees" continues Ms. McCaustlin.

Ms. McCaustlin states: "Part of the problem of food banks being unable to cope with current demands is due to the inadequate income of too many New Brunswickers." Indeed, NB has one of the lowest social assistance basic rates in all of Canada, and it ranks as the fourth lowest in terms of minimum wage.

"The Common Front for Social Justice has heard that some segments of the business community are lobbying for a two-tier minimum wage — one applicable mainly to workers receiving tips. We hope that this will never be implemented because it would keep a large segment of workers, mainly women, in low paying jobs", continues Ms. McCaustlin.

Nutritious food is more expensive than ever as was shown by the 2010 CFSJ provincial survey on food prices. Between 2006 and 2010, basic items like eggs went up by 21.9 percent, cheese by 36.7 percent, round steak by 23.8 percent, rice by 42.6 percent, flour by 84.9 percent and whole wheat bread 102.1 percent.

"Food price increase is a harsh reality facing all NB households. However, the situation is more dramatic for those who work at minimum wage, for those who depend on social assistance and for those seniors living on a low fixed income".

CANADIAN LABOUR - TORONTO:

LIEING THROUGH GREEN TEETH:

Here's an item after my own heart touching as it does on one of my pet peeves ie the ability of both people and business to use rhetoric hypocritically in the service of quite different purposes. Right at the bottom of this cesspool, along with those who imagine that they are "saving the Earth" by anti-litter campaigns (so stuff can rot in the dump instead of on the street), are the various hotel chains that use "green cons" to reduce their services to guests. And not so incidentally reduce the number and income of their employees. Here's an item from Toronto, originally from the Unite Here Local 75 and brought to Molly's attention via the online progressive news service Straight Goods.

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Hotel workers blow whistle

Sheraton, Delta hotels told to stop "fake green" programs foisted on guests.
from UNITE HERE

Guests at Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, the Delta Chelsea and Delta East hotels are unwittingly participating in purported "green" programs that deliver negligible environmental benefits and are instead aimed at significantly reducing the number of room attendants employed at the hotels each day.

Hotel workers, along with unions who do business with the hotels, have called for an end to the Sheraton's "Make a Green Choice" program and the Delta's "Green Star" programs.

"After five days of no housekeeping, it takes us three times as long to clean the room."



"This is one of the most deceptive programs ever foisted on hotel guests who want to make a difference," said Ontario Federation of Labour President Sid Ryan.

While turning down daily towel and linen service has long been offered as a way to save energy, the Sheraton and Delta programs offer guests the option of declining housekeeping services to "conserve natural resources" in return for a $5 daily voucher.

Between 70 to 100 guests have hung the notices out each night at the Sheraton, for example, allowing the Sheraton to economize on housekeeping staff. If more room attendants are required, they are called early the next morning to come in for a shift.

"After five days of no housekeeping, it takes us three times as long to clean the room. We use almost as much cleaning fluids as we'd use on a daily basis because the rooms are so dirty," said Brigida Ruiz, who works as a room attendant at the Sheraton Hotel.

"Most guests have told me they didn't really read the card and thought they were doing something good. Then they've asked for housekeeping services, not realizing that they've declined them."

UNITE HERE, the union representing hotel workers, estimates that between 30 to 40 eight-hour shifts are being lost by room attendants every week at the Sheraton because of the program. When the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) refused the program at its recent convention at the Sheraton, the hotel had to call in about 20 more room attendants.

The Ontario Public Services Employees Union (OPSEU) and United Steelworkers have also asked the hotel to remove the 'green choice' cards from members' rooms at their conferences. UNITE HERE estimates that union conventions and conferences make up about 40 percent of the Sheraton Centre's business.

"Each day, room attendants with lower seniority wait to see if they are called. They can't plan their life or take another job because they never know if they are going to be called into work," added Ruiz.

Winnie Ng, co-chair of the Good Green Jobs for All Coalition, added that green programs are meant to create good green jobs on an equitable basis for all workers, not lead to precarious work. "Not only is this program deceiving guests, it is eroding good jobs for hotel workers, many of whom are immigrants, women and workers of colour who are trying to support their families."

Local 75 represents over 7000 hotel, hospitality and gaming workers in the Greater Toronto Area. For more information, please visit our website at the link below.


References
The website of Local 75

CANADIAN POLITICS- BRITISH COLUMBIA:

ANTI-HST CAMPAIGN IN BC:

Who would ever have thought that the Moll and the Zalm could agree on anything ? It's true. Ex-Premier Bill Vander Zalm of BC has launched a campaign to repeal that province's Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), and I have to say that I'm in full agreement, though undoubtedly for different reasons than Bill may have. Here's the story from the Straight Goods website. See the end of this article for my own opinions as to why I support such a campaign.

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"Fight HST" campaign launches

Group has 90 days to collect signatures for repeal.

by Bill Tieleman

Former BC Premier Bill Vander Zalm will launch the Fight HST citizens Initiative petition campaign to stop the Harmonized Sales Tax in BC Premier Gordon Campbell's own riding of Vancouver-Point Grey on Tuesday April 6.

The public rally April 6 marks the beginning of the 90 days that "Fight HST" has to collect the signatures of 10 percent of registered BC voters in each of the province's 85 constituencies for the Initiative petition to be accepted by Elections BC, says Fight HST Lead Organizer Chris Delaney.

"The HST takes money out of people's pockets but doesn't put a dime into healthcare, education or important services," said Vander Zalm



Vander Zalm says it was important to launch the campaign right in Premier Gordon Campbell's own riding, to send a clear message to the BC Liberal government.

"British Columbians don't want Premier Campbell's HST — not even in his own riding," said Vander Zalm. "If Premier Campbell and the BC Liberal MLAs don't listen to the people and drop the HST, he and his party are finished."

Vander Zalm says he is confident British Columbians will make the Initiative a smashing success after drawing huge crowds as he toured across the province over the past two weeks.

"British Columbians are fed up with the HST and fed up with the undemocratic way Premier Campbell and Finance Minister Colin Hansen are imposing a tax after promising they wouldn't do it," said Vander Zalm. "This citizens Initiative petition is the people's chance to tell Premier Gordon Campbell they want him to drop the HST — and demand that he drop it."

"The HST is the most hated tax ever because it is a cruel tax that takes money out of people's pockets but doesn't put a dime into healthcare, education or important services," said Vander Zalm.

In addition to Vander Zalm, speakers at the rally will include Delaney and "Fight HST" Strategist Bill Tieleman, founder of the NO BC HST Facebook protest group, which has more than 131,000 members.


Bill Tieleman, president of West Star Communications, is one of BC's best known political commentators and communicators. Read political commentary from Bill every Tuesday in 24 hours, Vancouver's free weekday newspaper (also online). Listen to Bill on Mondays at 10am on CKNW AM 980's Bill Good Show, in Vancouver, BC. Bill's email address is below.

Email: weststar@telus.net . Website: http://billtieleman.blogspot.com/ .

BCBCBCBCBCBCBCBC

Here's a report from the CBC on what happened at last night's rally.

BCBCBCBCBCBCBCBC
Vander Zalm's anti-HST rally draws hundreds in Vancouver
Several hundred concerned taxpayers turned out to hear former B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm launch his anti-HST petition Tuesday night in Vancouver.

Vander Zalm's supporters filled the auditorium of Kitsilano Secondary School to hear him criticize Premier Gordon Campbell's surprise introduction of the harmonized sales tax just weeks after the provincial election last May.

The 12 per cent tax goes into effect July 1, replacing the seven per cent PST and five per cent GST.

"If you want to make something bad look good, you have to lie, and you have to lie over and over, and that's what's been happening," Vander Zalm told the crowd.

But not everyone who turned out Tuesday night agreed the tax would be bad for taxpayers. One man said his mother's benefits would actually increase under the HST.

But Vander Zalm challenged him, saying vulnerable people will still be hurt by the new tax.

The former premier also criticized the timing of the introduction of a harmonized tax that will apply to many good and services that were previously exempt from the PST, such as restaurant food, hair cuts and sports club memberships.

"We're in a recession folks," he said. "We were hoping to come out of it. We were hoping to come out of it soon, but these people in Victoria are only digging us deeper down.

"We're going to suffer. Industry and our businesses and all of us will suffer with it. It's a bad tax at a bad time for the wrong reasons."

Recent university graduate Katherine Chan agreed with that sentiment.

"I'm planning to get married, you know, buy a house, build a family, and, seriously, I can't even feed myself now. How am I going to, like, you know, support my own kids?" she said.

Thousands of volunteers collecting signatures
Vander Zalm is aiming to get rid of the tax by forcing the province to hold an initiative vote on the issue, but first, he needs to collect thousands of signatures on a petition supporting his draft bill.

So far, the veteran campaigner has signed up nearly 2,000 volunteers from ridings across B.C. to help him collect the estimated 300,000 voter signatures required to trigger an initiative vote, which is similar to a referendum.

Speaking before the rally, he said told CBC News he has seen a lot of hectic days in his 25-plus years in politics, "but I've never ever experienced anything like this."

"I have faxes coming in and going out till my fax machine is heating up. My telephone has never stopped ringing. And the e-mails? I hate to look at the computer," he said.

About 300 people signed the petition at the rally on Tuesday night, but volunteers have already begun collecting signatures across B.C.

Those organizing the petition have 90 days to collect signatures from 10 per cent of registered voters in every riding. Then Elections BC has to verify the signatures.

Once that is done, a legislative committee would then decide whether it will send a draft bill directly to the legislature for a vote or put the issue to a province-wide vote first.

But the provincial government has already said the HST is a federal tax, and an initiative vote wouldn't affect it.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/04/07/bc-anti-hst-rally-vander-zalm-vancouver.html?ref=rss#ixzz0kTxDjz2e

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WHY MOLLY LIKES THIS IDEA:

Here are a few reasons why I think the anti-HST campaign is a good idea. Some of these reasons, I'm sure, are shared by the traditional leftists over at Straight Goods. Others are unique to a libertarian socialist perspective.

1) Value added taxes (sales taxes) are regressive. They impact people at the lower end of income distribution more than they affect those with higher incomes. If we have to have taxes they should be progressive, affecting those with higher income more or at least equally distributed. Not only is a greater percentage of upper class income devoted to savings and investment, and therefore exempt from a consumption tax, but a higher percentage of their consumption is also exempt from same. Think tax shelters, consumption in foreign countries, "benefits" as opposed to salary/wages etc..

2) Value added taxes are invariably favoured by corporations and opposed by small business. This is especially the case with the Harmonized Sales Tax where it has been introduced in various Canadian provinces. This is because such taxes favours the large, just as it does with individuals, and reduces the income of small business. Think of the hairdresser who now has to charge 12% on their labour. Small business has no legal way of escaping this sudden increase in their prices and extra accounting costs- and resulting lower sales- while corporations, especially those producing for export have a multitude of such escape hatches, let alone the ability to simply pass on extra accounting costs to the customer.

3) In connection with this the introduction of the HST in various provinces has actually been a sly way of introducing extra categories of taxable items, most particularly making labour provincially taxable. This increases the general tax burden for the consumer, especially those in lower income brackets. Put truthfully this legislation that taxes things previously exempt from at least provincial tax (the major effect of harmonization) reduces personal consumption and adversely affects the major generator of new employment in most developed societies - small business. Such taxes thus have a depressing effect on the economy that is greater than that of another initiative such as simply increasing income tax.

4) While I don't think that the introduction of a referendum process in Canadian politics is a major democratic reform it is at least a minor step to making our society more democratic. Real democracy would involve a much more radical decentralization (and "de-statization"). BC actually has a referendum process in legislation, but any attempt to put it into practice has been stillborn in every case. This protest has the potential to actually make the process a reality rather than empty rhetoric. That would be nice to see. From the final sentence of the last article above the government of BC is already thinking of ways to weasel out of this law. What they say is, of course, an outrageous lie. The decision to sign up for the HST is very much a provincial matter.

5) Far too much of our politics has been "spectacularized" into image versus substance. This particular campaign is all about substance. It is also heartening that it seems to be gathering support from both the right and the left. One of the worst aspects of "politics as spectacle" is the creation of both a right and a left that rarely articulate policy but do spend their time in petty sniping and in creating fantastical images of each other. Campaigns such as this move beyond this artificial divide.

6) As a libertarian socialist, as opposed to the statist form of socialism that is the image of socialism in most people's minds, I know that socialism cannot be created through government but only by gradually reducing the role of government and increasing the role of cooperative and local institutions. Sooner or later this has to involve the shrinking of the fiscal resources available to government. The big question is in what order you pare away the functions of the state, not whether you prune them or not. There will be no miraculous revolution that suddenly turns government organizations into cooperative ones controlled by the people affected. It will be a long and slow slog. It might as well start with resistance to increases in the fiscal power of government. that's what this campaign is.

CANADIAN LABOUR:

A UNION FOR FREELANCERS:

As the following article from the online newsmagazine Straight Goods says, "income and working conditions for independent writers, photographers and editors have declines dramatically over the past 30 years". In response such workers are beginning to organize into the Canadian Freelance Union, Local 2040 of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. The founding convention is being held as we speak, all via the internet. Check out the union's website for more details. Here's the story from Straight Goods.

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Freelancers of Canada, unite!:
Canadian Freelance Union holds inaugural meeting online across the country.
from the Canadian Freelance Union
OTTAWA, ON, September 30, 2009 — ­ The Canadian Freelance Union's inaugural meeting of members will take place October 3, 2009. Charter Members from across the country will come together via webcast and online forums to take part in this historic event. The CFU is a new union for all independent communications professionals, be they freelance journalists, photographers, editors, online writers and web designers.





"The CFU is a new kind of union for the digital age," says Michael O'Reilly, CFU interim President. "We're harnessing online tools to organize our members, and to deliver the services they need."





Income and working conditions for independent writers, photographers and editors have declined dramatically over the past 30 years.





As a member of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, the CFU (CEP Local 2040) is organizing independent communications professionals into North America's first trade union for freelancers. The CEP is committed to building a strong collective voice for media freelancers and other independent communication professionals.





"The CEP is using our collective strength to help improve the working environment of all independent communications workers," says Peter Murdoch, CEP Vice-President (Media). "All workers, be they freelancers or staff, deserve to be treated with dignity and to receive fair compensation for their efforts. This is what the CFU is all about."





Income and working conditions for independent writers, photographers and editors have declined dramatically over the past 30 years. When factored for inflation, the typical freelancer now makes 35 percent of what they did three decades ago.





"It's like living on a fixed income for thirty years. Imagine living on the same amount you were getting paid in 1979. That's the reality of today's working freelancer," says O'Reilly. "The CFU is working to bring balance back to the negotiating table. We simply want what all workers want: a living wage and reasonable working conditions."





The Canadian Freelance Union is working to bring basic benefits and services to its members.




Over time it will build solidarity so we can begin demanding better rates and improved contracts for all independent communications workers.





Background
In 1979 the average annual income for a freelance writer in Canada was around $25,000. In 1996 the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) conducted a survey on rates. They found the average annual income was about $26,000. In 2006 PWAC released its latest survey results, showing a full 61 percent of freelancers making under $25,000, with nearly 40 percent making less than $10,000. The average income had dropped to $24,000.





But these numbers only show half the picture. Between 1979 to 2009 inflation increased the cost of living by about 185 percent. What cost $1 in 1979 today costs about $2.85. Put another way, the actual buying power of today's freelancer is 65 percent less than what it was thirty years ago.





While rates have dropped, rights demands from publishers have gone way up. Today, a major newspaper chain is demanding that freelancers sign away the worldwide rights their works, "in all media now known or hereafter devised". They demand virtually all print, digital and broadcast rights, all for the paltry sum of a few pennies per word.





Most large publishers use similar contracts. From Rogers, Torstar, and Quebecor, to Canwest, Transcontinental and CTVglobemedia; they demand their contract workers sign over virtually all rights to the work they produce. There is no negotiation. It is 'take it, or leave it.'





Media companies are repackaging, reselling, and repurposing the "content" produced by independent media workers. They are finding new ways to profit from the work freelancers produce, and are ensuring that all the money stays in their own pockets.
Related addresses:
URL 1: http://www.cfunion.ca/

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS/AFGHANISTAN:

UNWELCOME AT ANY WEDDING-NATO IN AFGHANISTAN:

The following op-ed piece by Linda McQuaig was originally published in the Toronto Star. It comes Molly's way via the Canadian online news site Straight Goods. Check it out for other interesting commentary.

IPIPIPIPIPIPIPIPIPIP

NATO is an unwelcome wedding guest:
Canada continues to kill civilians in Afghanistan.
by Linda McQuaig
The downside of holding a wedding in Ontario this summer is that, chances are, you'll be rained on. The upside is that, chances are, you won't be bombed.

That can't be said of Afghanistan, where the sun is more reliable, but the bride has been known to wear blood. Since 2001, dozens of celebrants — including brides and grooms — have been killed when their wedding parties were bombed by NATO planes mistaking them for Taliban operatives.

One person's collateral damage is another's fiancée.
While Canadian troops haven't been involved in these air strikes, they have been involved in civilian killings on the ground. Just last week, Canadian soldiers fired a warning shot at a motorcyclist speeding toward them. The bullet ricocheted off the ground and entered the body of a young girl nearby, killing her.

Such killings are a big part of the reason the NATO mission appears to have failed to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. One person's collateral damage is another's fiancée.
The attitude of our military authorities toward these civilian killings is disturbing. Last week, Maj. Mario Couture simply shifted the blame onto insurgents: "We know that insurgents want to drive a wedge between the coalition force and the population, so if they can make us make mistakes, then it serves their purpose... If we fire, it works in their favour."

So we kill a young Afghan girl, and it's the fault of the insurgents?

The girl's killing at least got some media attention here. Male deaths are more readily discounted. A week earlier, Canadian soldiers killed an Afghan man and wounded three others after the minivan they were travelling in failed to slow down, according to the Canadian military. Maj. Couture explained that the victims were "all males of fighting age." Enough said, apparently.

Canadian soldiers are understandably keen to protect themselves from suicide bombers. And the Taliban undoubtedly does want to drive a wedge between us and the population. But that simply underlines why our presence there is so problematic — and wrong.

Left out of Maj. Couture's explanations is the context that we are in Afghanistan as a heavily armed foreign military force. Ottawa says we're there to champion democracy, but many Afghans see us as part of a Western occupying power that has killed, imprisoned and tortured people they love.

We're not much interested in that side of the story. While the Harper government and Canadian media show great interest in dissidents in Iran, China and Burma, they've shown little in Malalai Joya, an elected Afghan MP who was expelled from parliament for calling for the prosecution of war criminals in the Afghan government and parliament.

Hers is a compelling case championed by women's groups around the world — a young female MP in a viciously patriarchal land daring to challenge Afghanistan's powerful warlords. Yet, despite our supposed concern about Afghan women and democracy, the Canadian government and media have paid scant attention to Joya — perhaps because she considers NATO an occupier and calls for its immediate withdrawal from her country.

Although the Canadian media remain largely supportive of our military involvement in Afghanistan, Canadians aren't. An EKOS poll released earlier this month found that support for the mission has fallen from 60 percent in 2002 to just 34 per cent today. Yet two more years remain in our commitment.

Meanwhile, best to avoid weddings in Afghanistan, particularly if the party includes any "males of fighting age".

Journalist and best-selling author Linda McQuaig has developed a reputation for challenging the establishment. As a reporter for The Globe and Mail, she won a National Newspaper Award in 1989 for writing a series of articles, which sparked a public inquiry into the activities of Ontario political lobbyist Patti Starr, and eventually led to Starr's imprisonment. In 1991, she was awarded an Atkinson Fellowship for Journalism in Public Policy to study the social welfare systems in Europe and North America.

She is author of seven books on politics and economics – all national bestsellers – including Shooting the Hippo (short-listed for the Governor General's Award for Non-Fiction), The Cult of Impotence, All You Can Eat and It's the Crude, Dude: War, Big Oil and the Fight for the Planet. Her most recent book is Holding the Bully's Coat: Canada and the US Empire.

Since 2002, McQuaig has written an op-ed column for the Toronto Star. This article previously appeared in The Star.
Email: lmcquaig@sympatico.ca.

Website: http://www.lindamcquaig.com.

BLOGGING:

STUPID COMPUTER TRICKS:
Every once in awhile you just gotta get away from the old political grind. It seems that the folks over at the online magazine Straight Goods feel that way too. The following item comes Molly's way via SG. Its original source is a commercial site called Support.Com. Here, for your entertainment and education is one selection of the ten stupidest things you can do with your computer.
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Top 10 dumbest things PC users do with their computers:
Don't blame the technology if you click on that pop-up that promises to "protect" your PC.
from support.com
Who hasn't received that frantic call from their retired father or kid who's away at college, when their computer suddenly goes on the blink, due in part to something they've done? In the spirit of "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," support.com®, the remote technology service company that makes owning and maintaining technology pain-free, offers its list of the Top 10 Dumbest Things people do with their home PCs.





"We know first hand how frustrating it is when a PC owner finds that his or her computer has been compromised by viruses, malware or some other insidious infection that can leave their computer totally useless," comments Anthony Rodio, COO of support.com. "Yet so many of the problems our customers bring to us are avoidable with just some common sense practices."

Top 10 misconceptions users have about computers.
To keep your computer running smoothly, when you need it most, support.com offers its Top 10 misconceptions users have about computers:
Misconception #1.
Pop-up warnings while you browse the web are all telling the truth.
Fact: More than likely the pop-up you've received that's warning you of an imminent threat to your computer is rogue anti-virus or anti-malware software. At its worst, it's a delivery system for even more viruses and malware. If you install it, whether for free or paid for, try to uninstall it right away. But if that proves difficult, you may require professional assistance in having it removed. The best advice: Ignore those pop-up warnings, and, if necessary set your browser's pop-up blocker to limit or completely refuse pop-ups.
Misconception #2.
Recommendations to install Windows Updates don't apply to you.
Fact: They do, and ignoring them or putting them off is leaving the door open to more problems. These important Windows updates address security holes that have been discovered that allow viruses and malware to get into your system. If you refuse these updates or disable the whole Windows Update system, your system will be vulnerable to these kinds of attacks. Windows Update makes it easy to update your computer automatically in the middle of the night. The best advice: Don't disable the Windows Update feature or ignore when Windows is trying to alert you to something important. If you choose to leave your system un-patched, you could be turning your computer into an open book to hackers.
Misconception #3.
Email attachments are all safe because I have an antivirus program.
Fact: Antivirus programs are only as good as their last update and only if that update contains detection for the thing that just arrived in your email box. Most of the time, antivirus updates lag one to three days behind the release of new viruses. If you don't have the update for a virus, you're not protected from it. When it comes to email attachments, it's better to be safe than sorry. As a general rule, if you were not expecting something to come from someone, don't open it. And don't fall for scary email subjects, such as "is this really a naked picture of you?" If you open it, you won't be exposed, but your computer will be.
Misconception #4.
But that email attachment from my BFF is definitely safe, right?
Fact: Even if you recognize the name of a sender, be wary. Many viruses send themselves out automatically without your friend's knowledge. Viruses will infect your friend's system, go through their address book and send out an email to each of those addresses. In fact, you're MORE likely to get a virus from someone you know. Again, if you were not expecting an attachment to an email, don't open it.
Misconception #5.
Backups are only for big companies.
Fact: Think of backups like this — how important are the files on your computer and how long will it take to replace them? Enough said. You don't need to back up the entire hard drive every time you do a backup. But find a good backup program that backs up only the data that you create. Once you start backing up your data, you'll never again worry that your library of family pictures is gone forever or the novel you've been writing for three years is no longer there.
Misconception 6.
All peripherals work with all computers.
Fact: In a perfect world, all printers, scanners, video cameras, webcams, monitors, etc. would work with all computers. Unfortunately, the computing world just doesn't work that way. Not every version of Windows will handle all new hardware, even though Microsoft does its best to make sure your old hardware will work with their new version of windows. The bottom line is, as you upgrade your operating system, you just might have to upgrade some, if not all, of your peripherals.
Misconception #7.
Microsoft takes care of all my updates.
Fact: As nice as this thought is, it's just not true. There are many other technologies in your computer apart from Microsoft's, including Sun's Java and Adobe Flash, to name a couple. Just like with those Microsoft updates, don't ignore the update requests you receive from other important technologies and software.
Misconception #8.
You can put your faith and belief in everything you read in forwarded emails.
Fact: According to Dughael McLean, the "Godfather of Technology" at support.com, "99.999 percent of stuff that you get forwarded from someone else are bald-faced, dyed in the wool, 100% un-authentic, complete and utter lies." But to be sure, McLean suggests checking the authenticity of forwarded emails at http://www.snopes.com/.
Misconception #9.
You can always believe that an email that appears to come from a company, actually came from them.
Fact: That email from what appears to be a legitimate company, banking institution, or government agency is likely to be the work of a Phishing scammer. Phishing is a process of sending out thousands (sometimes millions) of emails that look very legitimate and that ask you to visit their website and enter your personal data, including your password. If you've followed the instructions, you've just given the scammers the key to your identity. The easiest way to thwart a Phishing scam is to avoid it. But if you're not sure, you can click on the link. Then before you type anything into the webpage, go to the "address bar" at the top of the page which contains the address of the website you're currently at. If, for instance, you expect to be at support.com, the address bar will read http://www.support.com/. If you're not there, you're somewhere else and you're about to reveal your personal information and password to someone else. Identity theft through Phishing is almost always caused by someone getting fooled like this. Be wary of those emails and you'll keep your information safe.
Misconception #10.
Thinking that computers don't need maintenance by a human.
Fact: You take your car in for service every 5,000 miles. So why wouldn't you do that with your personal computer. It too is complex machinery. To be safe, every once in a while have your computer looked at by a professional, human technician, who has years of experience and the tools needed to properly assess and address any problems your computer may be experiencing.
Related addresses:
URL 1: http://www.support.com/
URL 2: http://www.snopes.com/

CANADIAN POLITICS/AMERICAN POLITICS:

SHOOING BUSH AWAY FROM CALGARY:

In a hideous profanation of the most sacred day of the year ex-emperor George Bush II plans to visit the Canadian city of Calgary this upcoming St. Patrick's Day, March 17. What a lousy way to spoil a good bender ! Needless to say many are not pleased with Georgie's first feeble attempt to cash in on the lecture gravy train. Here's a story from the online news magazine Straight Goods about what some feel should greet Bush when he arrives on Canadian soil.

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Canada should bar or prosecute Bush: lawyer:
Foreign Affairs stays silent on upcoming Calgary visit.
by Jeremy Klaszus for Fast Forward Weekly
As George W Bush's St Patrick's Day visit to Calgary draws near, the federal government is facing pressure from activists and human rights lawyers to bar the former US president from the country or prosecute him for war crimes and crimes against humanity once he steps on Canadian soil.

Bush is scheduled to speak at the Telus Convention Centre March 17, but Vancouver lawyer Gail Davidson says that because Bush has been "credibly accused" of supporting torture in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Canada has a legal obligation to deny him entry under Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The law says foreign nationals who have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity, including torture, are "inadmissible" to Canada.

Immigration Act bars foreign nationals who have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity.

"The test isn't whether the person's been convicted, but whether there's reasonable grounds to think that they have been involved," says Davidson, who's with Lawyers Against the War (LAW). "... It's now a matter of public record that Bush was in charge of setting up a regime of torture that spanned several parts of the globe and resulted in horrendous injuries and even death. Canada has a duty."





In February, Davidson sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other cabinet ministers asking the Canadian government to either bar Bush from Canada, prosecute him once he arrives, or have the federal attorney general consent to a private prosecution by LAW against the Texan. She hasn't received a response, and concedes she's fighting "an uphill battle" with "terrific challenges." Davidson laid torture charges against Bush during his visit to Vancouver in 2004, but a judge quashed them within days.





The federal government is keeping silent on the upcoming visit. "We have no comments to offer on the visit of Mr George W Bush to Calgary," said Foreign Affairs spokesperson Alain Cacchione in an e-mail to Fast Forward. When told about Davidson's letter, a spokesperson with the Canadian Border Services Agency said, "We wouldn't comment on something like that."





Davidson is one of many voices around the world calling for Bush's prosecution. Earlier this year, Manfred Nowak, the UN's Special Rapporteur on Torture, said the US has a "clear obligation" to prosecute Bush and former secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld for authorizing torture — a violation of the UN Convention on Torture. "Obviously the highest authorities in the United States were aware of this," Nowak told a German TV station in January.





Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counterterrorism director for Human Rights Watch, says that while there's legally "all the reason in the world" to prosecute decision-makers in the Bush administration, "it's a different story" politically. "The Obama administration certainly has not given much in the way of encouraging signals for such a prosecution," says Mariner, who's based in New York. "Obama has consistently said that he wants to look forward." Mariner says that while a US justice department investigation is unlikely, a congressional investigation is more probable — and "that could lead to recommendations for prosecution."





Mariner's not expecting a Canadian prosecution against Bush. "Obviously the Canadian government would have to be in favour of it, and that seems rather unlikely," she says.
Calgary activists, meanwhile, are organizing a number of events for the week of Bush's visit, culminating in a noontime rally outside the Telus Convention Centre during Bush's speech. "We want to give him the welcome that he deserves — which is we want him to go back to the States, or we want him arrested," says organizer Collette Lemieux. Activist Julie Hrdlicka, who visited Iraq twice during the American occupation, agrees. "We need to send a clear message to him that he's not welcome," she says.





Lemieux is hopeful that Bush will eventually be prosecuted. "Do I think that it's going to happen very soon? No," she says. "But I think that it's very important that we keep the pressure up.... We have to make it clear that there's accountability."





The Plaza Theatre, meanwhile, is screening three Bush-themed documentaries for a "Bush Bash Film Fest" the night of the visit. Half the box office proceeds will go to the United Way.





Jeremy Klaszus is the staff writer for Fast Forward Weekly in Calgary and a former contributing editor for Alberta Views magazine. His writing has also appeared in Geez magazine, Swerve magazine and the Edmonton Journal.
Website: http://jeremyklaszus.com/.
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Yes, Virginia Cow Town actually does have radicals, and they are busy,busy busy preparing for the ex-emperor's visit. Here's a schedule of events from the People Versus Bush website. No rose petals spread in front of this criminal's path.

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Bush is coming to Calgary - Event listing :
Note: This can also be used as an email announcement that you can send to your lists.
GEORGE BUSH IS COMING TO CALGARY
On the sixth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, President George W. Bush is coming to Calgary. To coincide with his visit, a series of events culminating in a rally to coincide with his speech have been organized. The events are centred around the theme of putting George Bush on trial for his war crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan, his crimes against humanity and his disregard for the rule of law.
For more information:
Webpage: www.peoplevbush.ca
Email:
info@peoplevbush.ca
Events listings
George Bush Go Home Rally!! While Bush is giving his speech, we will be outside of the Telus Convention Centre letting him know that we don't want him in Canada and that he must be held accountable for his war crimes.




As an act of solidarity with this event, people are sending in shoes from across Canada that will be displayed as a symbolic gesture.




Bring banners, drums, placards, yourselves and friends.




The rally is a family friendly event. We ask that people respect that it is a peaceful rally. When: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 - 11:30 A.M until 2:00 P.M.
Where: East of 1 St. S.E. on Stephen Avenue (Between Teatro's and Epcor Centre)
Public Forum
A public forum will look at the issues being brought forward in the trial. Speakers will discuss the illegal invasion of Iraq, the use of torture and the treatment of American soldiers.




Confirmed speakers include Julie Hrdlicka, former executive director of CANDIL, who will speak on breeches of international law that directly affect Iraqi citizens and her personal experiences in Iraq. A war resister will also speak on their experience in the US military and why they felt they had to come to Canada to seek refuge.
When: Monday, March 16, 2009 - 7:00pm and 9:00pm
Where: Parkdale Nifty Fifies Meeting Room, 3512 5 Ave N.W. (adjacent to Parkdale Community Association Building)
Trial - The People vs George W. Bush
George Bush and his administration will be tried for war crimes, crimes against the peace and crimes against humanity based on submissions of evidence from people around the world. When- Saturday March 14th at 2pm
Where - TBA
Banner Displays downtown on the Stephen Avenue
Large banners, with the theme "Take Back the Future from Those Who Have Stolen the Past", serving as a “Memorial Wall of Shame”, with images and messages showing the legacy of the Bush Administration will be displayed. Opposite to that, will be a “Wall of Hope” with similar imagery and messages depicting the just, sustainable, and equitable society for which we, collectively, hope and work towards.




People are welcomed and encouraged to come and add their messages on these banners. When: March 11-13,11:30am to 1:30pm
Where: 100 block Stephen Avenue S.E. (Telus Convention Centre)
Help Needed
Volunteers are needed for most of these events. We need people to help with set up, hold banners, etc. If you are interested, please let us know (info@peoplevbush.ca).




There are people coming from out of town and billets are needed. If you can coordinate, please let us know (info@peoplevbush.ca). If you have space available, then please fill in the form found on www.peoplevbush.ca.




We also need funds to pay for event locations and bringing in the war resister from Toronto. If you would like to donate, please go to www.peoplevbush.ca and click on the Fundable link.




People from Lethbridge, Toronto, Vancouver, and Edmonton have expressed interest in attending. If you have suggestions or have heard on any opportunities for car-sharing or bus-sharing from these cities, then please let us know.




The People Vs Bush group is an ad hoc committee that has come together in their belief that Bush should stand trial for his crimes.
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Can't make it to Calgary ? Wouldn't be caught dead there ? Well, there's a solution. Send your shoes instead. That's what the graphic above is all about. The following gives details about the 'Shoes for Bush' campaign. Gathering footwear from across the country to give Bush the boot. Besides the link given below there is also a Facebook site for this campaign. March on over. Have some sole. Don't toe the Emperor's line. Betcha you never thought you could sign a petition with your feet. Hey, don't forget to catch this other site about the "warm" welcome being prepared for Little George.
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Shoe Campaign Underway!:
George Bush is coming to Calgary! Send your shoes to Calgary to give Bush the “boot”
For more information: info@peoplevbush.ca
http://www.peoplevbush.ca/index/campaigns
George Bush's first international speech after finishing his presidency will be to the Calgary Rotary Club on March 17th, the sixth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, and the Calgary's activist community would like to give him the welcome he deserves.




There will events throughout the week leading to Bush's visit but for those outside Calgary we wanted to give you a chance to give him his due welcome. To that end the local activist community in Calgary is asking people from around Canada to send us your old shoes so they can be a symbol to boot Bush Out of Canada! We are hoping people will send shoes in from across the country to show solidarity.




Also, people can include notes or letters with their shoes and we will post them with the wall of shame or attach them to the shoes at the rally for people to see.




The sent in shoes will be displayed around the perimeter of the “George Bush Go Home Rally” and the conclusion of his trial. We are also going to build a shoe-cannon that will fire shoes at a picture of Bush.




The CUPW, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Calgary Local has enthusiastically agreed to have their Calgary office as a location where shoes could be sent and stored:




CUPW -Calgary Local 109 - 5621 - 11 St. N.E. Calgary AB. T2E 6Z7




After the rally, some shoes will be sent to George Bush's best friends and local MP's, Stephen Harper and Jason Kenney. We will donate the remaining ones to an appropriate clothes bank.




For people in the Toronto area please drop your shoes off at the Canadian Peace Alliance office at 427 Bloor St west so we can send a package to Mr Bush. Contact cpa@web.ca for more info.

ECONOMIC CRISIS:

VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY ?:

The following article by Linda McQuaig is taken from the online progressive news site Straight Goods. It originally appeared in the Toronto Star. Think about the following the next time you hear about the "incentives" that management claims it needs.

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About those bank CEO salaries...:
There is no evidence that phenomenal pay packages inspire higher performance levels.
by Linda McQuaig
It's probably a while still before we see bank CEOs on street corners selling the homeless news.

But reports last week of bank presidents cutting their own pay were somewhat eye-catching. (For a little perspective: Rick Waugh of Bank of Nova Scotia will take home $7.5 million this year — after his cut.)

Starting in the 1980s, a sea change swept away concerns about inequality and unleashed an era of greed and skyrocketing incomes at the top.

Still, the pay cuts suggest that even inside the most well-fortified Bay Street towers there are jitters that the people down below may start questioning how the economic pie is divided and why they are getting such a small — and shrinking — slice.

Certainly revelations of Wall Street hijinks have raised questions about the skewed nature of financial rewards and, more generally, about how far North American culture has drifted from what used to be known as the "work ethic".

We're waking up to the fact that, starting in the 1980s, a sea change swept away concerns about inequality and unleashed an era of greed and skyrocketing incomes at the top.

We're told that exorbitant pay is necessary to motivate great performance.

But that canard was surely put to rest last month by John Thain, former CEO of Merrill Lynch. Thain explained that it had been necessary to pay $4 billion in executive bonuses to keep the "best people", after those people had just steered the company to a net loss of $27 billion and helped trigger a global recession. (What might some less capable people have done? — started a nuclear war?)

Even when there is great performance, does the wild inflation in top incomes make sense?

Take baseball. In the early 1970s, Hank Aaron was the top-paid player at $200,000 a year. Last year, Alex Rodriguez, with similarly dazzling statistics, earned $27.7 million. Adjusting for inflation (but not for drugs), that makes Rodriguez's pay more than 25 times greater than Aaron's. Is Rodriguez's performance more than 25 times better?

There's no evidence that today's phenomenal pay packages — in sports, entertainment or business — are motivating today's players, performers or executives to any higher performance levels than more modest packages did a few decades ago.

Indeed, there's little logic to our approach to financial rewards. People want to be compensated for work — particularly when it involves drudgery or unpleasantness. But those at the top typically love their jobs, and are motivated by the desire to excel and win recognition. Money is one form of recognition, but there's no evidence that financial rewards have to be gigantic, or that much larger financial rewards produce any greater results.

Vincent van Gogh was motivated to produce hundreds of works of great art, even though he only managed to sell one of them, for a pittance, just before he died. Shakespeare produced the world's greatest dramas without even the prospect they'd become Hollywood blockbusters.

The pay for those at the top has gotten ridiculously out of whack in recent years. Among other things, this underlines the need for a more progressive tax system.

It's also been noted that if we cut the pay of those running our financial institutions, they might seek more useful employment as teachers or health-care workers. But a letter to The New York Times last week made a compelling case for maintaining Wall Street bonuses: "Without them, Wall Streeters will all look for other jobs. Do we really want these greedy, incompetent clowns building our houses, teaching our children or driving our cabs?"

Journalist and best-selling author Linda McQuaig has developed a reputation for challenging the establishment. As a reporter for The Globe and Mail, she won a National Newspaper Award in 1989 for writing a series of articles, which sparked a public inquiry into the activities of Ontario political lobbyist Patti Starr, and eventually led to Starr's imprisonment. In 1991, she was awarded an Atkinson Fellowship for Journalism in Public Policy to study the social welfare systems in Europe and North America.

She is author of seven books on politics and economics – all national bestsellers – including Shooting the Hippo (short-listed for the Governor General's Award for Non-Fiction), The Cult of Impotence, All You Can Eat and It's the Crude, Dude: War, Big Oil and the Fight for the Planet. Her most recent book is Holding the Bully's Coat: Canada and the US Empire.

Since 2002, McQuaig has written an op-ed column for the Toronto Star. This article, which appears here with permission, previously appeared in The Star.
Email: lmcquaig@sympatico.ca. Website: http://www.lindamcquaig.com.

CANADIAN POLITICS/AMERICAN POLITICS:

RETURN OMAR KHADR TO CANADA:

Omar Khadr is one of the children of the Pakistani-Canadian Khadr family whose jihadi beliefs and incredibly loud mouths (especially Khadr's foolish mother) have made them somewhat infamous in this country. With little access to the outside world in Canada Omar was "guided" from an extremely young age to become a good little Islamic soldier. Reprehensible no doubt, but little different except for opportunity from millions of fundamentalist Christian families in the USA and Canada. Omar had the misfortune to be in Afghanistan at the time of the US invasion of that country, and he had the further misfortune of being in a house where others were committing the "war crime" of fighting back when they were attacked by a country that hadn't even declared war. He was severely injured in the attack and almost killed. Later on he ended up in the Guantanamo concentration camp at the age of 15. Since then other citizens of western countries have been returned to their country of citizenship, and Khadr is the only one who remains. He has long since renounced the beliefs of his family. Civil rights activists in both the USA and Canada have urged his return to Canada. The following is the story from the American Civil Liberties Union via the online Canadian newsmagazine Straight Goods. To learn more about the Khadr case see the Wikipedia article on him.

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Review justice for Omar Khadr:
US human rights groups urge Obama to stop Guantánamo proceedings against child soldiers.

from the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, and others
WASHINGTON, January 12 — Five leading human rights and civil liberties groups sent a letter to President-elect Barack Obama today, urging him to suspend the Guantánamo Bay military commissions and to ensure that the upcoming trial of Omar Khadr, a 22-year-old Canadian, does not proceed. The trial is scheduled to begin on January 26, six days after the presidential inauguration.

Khadr is slated to be tried before the widely discredited military commissions for war crimes he is alleged to have committed when he was 15. There is broad global recognition that the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict is a serious abuse in itself. This is reflected in the fact that no existing international tribunal has ever prosecuted a child for war crimes.

If the trial goes ahead, Omar Khadr will become the first person in recent years to be tried by any western nation for war crimes allegedly committed as a child.

The groups — the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Human Rights First and Human Rights Watch — urged Obama to drop the military commission charges against Khadr and either repatriate him to Canada or, if there is evidence to support it, to prosecute him in US federal courts in accordance with international juvenile justice and fair trial standards.

The groups also called on Obama to immediately suspend pending proceedings against Mohammed Jawad, an Afghan who is also charged before the military commissions for crimes allegedly committed when he was 16 or 17. A military judge twice ruled that statements Jawad made following his arrest were not admissible at trial because they were obtained through torture. However, the government has challenged the ruling and the Court of Military Commission Review in Washington, DC, is scheduled to hear arguments on Tuesday, January 13.

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LETTER TO PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA
January 12, 2009
President-elect Barack Obama

Obama-Biden Transition Project

Washington, DC 20720
Dear President-elect Obama:
We write to you regarding Omar Khadr, the 22-year-old Canadian national slated to be tried by military commission at Guantánamo for crimes allegedly committed when he was aged 15. If the trial, now scheduled for January 26, 2009, is allowed to go forward, Omar Khadr will become the first person in recent years to be tried by any western nation for war crimes allegedly committed as a child.

We urge that upon taking office, you act quickly to suspend the military commissions, drop the military commission charges against Khadr, and either repatriate him for rehabilitation in Canada or transfer him to federal court and prosecute him in accordance with international juvenile justice and fair trial standards.
Background
United States forces captured Khadr on July 27, 2002, after a firefight in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of US Army Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer, as well as injuries to other soldiers. Khadr, who was seriously wounded, was initially detained at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. There, according to his lawyers, he was forced into painful stress positions, threatened with rape, and hooded and confronted with barking dogs.

In October 2002, US officers transported Khadr to Guantánamo, where the abusive interrogations continued, and where he has been ever since. Khadr told his lawyers that his interrogators shackled him in painful positions, threatened to send him to Egypt, Syria, or Jordan for torture, and used him as a "human mop" after he urinated on the floor during one interrogation session. He was not allowed to meet with a lawyer until November 2004, more than two years after he was first captured.

During his third year of detention, Khadr was charged with murder and other related crimes under the first set of military commissions authorized by President Bush. Those charges were dismissed when the Supreme Court ruled the commissions unlawful in the case of Hamdan v Rumsfeld. In 2007, under newly authorized commissions, the United States government charged him with murder, attempted murder in violation of the laws of war, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism and spying. He faces a possible life prison sentence.
Violations of human rights and juvenile justice standards
Khadr's prolonged detention in Guantánamo Bay contravenes the United States' binding legal obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and international juvenile justice standards. Although these international standards allow for detention of juveniles only as a last resort and require prompt determination of juvenile cases, Khadr was detained for more than two years before being provided access to an attorney, and for more than three years before being charged before the first military commission. After more than six years the lawfulness of this detention still has not been judicially reviewed on the merits.

Further, despite international standards requiring treatment of children in accordance with their age, as well as segregation of children and adults, Khadr has been housed with adult detainees, even when other child detainees were being housed together in Guantánamo's Camp Iguana. The abusive interrogations and prolonged detention in solitary confinement violated both international juvenile justice standards and general humane treatment standards, including Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, and other binding prohibitions against torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
Failure to comply with obligations under the Optional Protocol
International law requires the United States to recognize the special situation of children who have been recruited or used in armed conflict. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict ("Optional Protocol"), which the United States ratified in 2002, explicitly prohibits the recruitment or use of children under the age of 18 in armed conflict by non-state armed groups and requires state parties to criminalize such conduct. It also requires the rehabilitation of former child soldiers within a signatory's jurisdiction, including "all appropriate assistance for their physical and psychological recovery and their social reintegration."

Yet in its dealings with Khadr, the US government has ignored its legal obligations under the Optional Protocol. For years, Khadr was denied access to education, vocational training, counseling, or any family contact. Instead, he was held in isolation and abused.

Last May, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which oversees compliance with the Optional Protocol, criticized the United States' treatment and military prosecutions of children held at Guantánamo, and called on the US government to treat children in its custody in accordance with international juvenile justice standards.
Military trial moving ahead
Despite widespread criticism of the military commission system and its treatment of Omar Khadr, the outgoing Bush administration has continued to move his case toward trial. Motions hearings are now set for January 19, with a trial date scheduled for January 26. Unless you act quickly to suspend the commissions, Khadr will become the first person in recent history to be prosecuted for war crimes allegedly committed as a child, before a system that you have consistently criticized as "flawed."

As you are aware, you voted against the legislation passed by Congress in October 2006 to authorize the commissions, calling it a "betrayal of American values." When charges against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the 9/11 co-conspirators were announced in February 2008, you criticized that decision on the grounds that "[t]hese trials are too important to be held in a flawed military commission system" and that the men should be tried in federal court or by courts-martial, in order to "demonstrate our commitment to the rule of law." Just five months ago, after the conviction of Salim Hamdan, you reiterated your criticism of the commission process, stating it is "time to better protect the American people and our values by bringing swift and sure justice to terrorists through our courts and our Uniform Code of Military Justice."

You have also co-sponsored legislation (the Child Soldier Prevention Act, S1175, which was subsequently incorporated into the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, and the Child Soldier Accountability Act, S2135) designed to help end the use of child soldiers. These measures, both signed into law in 2008, commit the US government to expand services to rehabilitate child soldiers and reintegrate them back into their communities, and allow the United States to prosecute the individuals responsible for the recruitment of children as soldiers.

Now is the chance to ensure America's commitment to the rule of law by putting an immediate halt to Omar Khadr's trial. If there is evidence that Khadr committed a federal crime, he should be transferred to a federal court and prosecuted in accordance with international juvenile justice and fair trial standards; if not, he should be repatriated for rehabilitation and integration.

This is also the course you should take with the other known juvenile detainee, Mohammed Jawad, an Afghan, who has been in Guantánamo for six years, reportedly subjected to torture, sleep deprivation, and other abuse and charged with attempted murder by the military commission for acts allegedly committed when he was either 16 or 17 years old. No trial date is currently set in his case.

We hope that you will act quickly on this matter in the interest of justice, protection of human rights, and the rule of law.
Sincerely,
American Civil Liberties Union

Amnesty International

Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers

Human Rights First

Human Rights Watch
The letter from the groups to President-elect Barack Obama is below and can also be found online at the page linked below.
More information on the ACLU's work to close Guantánamo can be found online, please follow the link below.
Related addresses:
URL 1: http://www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/38285res20090112.html

URL 2: http://www.aclu.org