Sadly Saddled

Hello

Prorogation continues to underscore the significant democratic deficit with which this country is sadly saddled. The thing that is heartening is that “the people” with widespread public protests, have shown their indignation and repulsion to this evidence of callow self-interest of “our” Prime Minister. The prorogation protest in Antigonish, NS with wind and snow whipping about showed that the commitment to good governance does have its heroes (and that if nothing else university towns can elicit well organized events).

A smaller, more ragtag but spontaneous protest happened 2 days earlier in Truro, NS in front of a hotel where Prime Minister Harper was making yet another announcement in the interest of a photo-op. What was heartening at this protest was that there were young mothers, with babes in strollers and in arms. The small baby’s sign declaring, “I can’t be pacified”, the toddler’s “Even I remember the last time you prorogued”.

The sad reality is that too many people are disengaged.  Our present minority government likes it that way and it has made them reckless.

Harper’s newly minted facade proposes to advocate for women’s health in the third world! Wow! If this were not a serious issue, this would be farcical. Stephen Harper, a spokesperson and defender of women’s rights and well-being? In Canada he has proved he is no friend of either women or children. Women in Canada have seen funds to women’s advocacy groups swiftly withdrawn. There is a high incidence of infant mortality among Inuit and first nations people. The promise to improve women’s health prospects in the third world seems like a shallow promise when we cannot even offer proper sustenance to our own. It seems more like window dressing.

Women in the third world have been ignored and actions like the halting of funding to KAIROS only underscores this. Children only do well when their mothers are strong and empowered.

Children will be further harmed because Harper is making sure that nothing will be done to ensure that their earth will not become toxic to life. Many feel that Afghan issue that precipitated the prorogation. There is a secondary advantage to Harper to shove his environmental failure further into the background. The Afghan issue was actually quite useful to the conservatives. Our world, meanwhile, continues its inexorable path to degradation.

Let us not forget that our warming seas are acidifying and becoming even more hostile to life whilst over fishing continues, incredibly, compounding the problem.

Let us not forget that things like the dirty burning of coal and bitumen extraction in the tar sands of Alberta are making the locals sick to say nothing of the flora and the fauna.

Years after the damage was done, we recognize that the Sydney tar ponds are a blight, a health hazard and a catastrophe that have yet to be remediated. How can we turn a blind eye to the Alberta tar sands? The same potential for explorations exists in Colorado with oil shale; however, because of the Alberta experience and the potential for devastation of the landscape it is being vigorously opposed.

Let us not forget that low lying lands will continue to be buffeted by stronger and harsher tidal devastations, caused by the dictates of climate change. We in Nova Scotia do not have to look far to see erosion on our own shores. This will not abate if we simply sleepwalk through our lives.

Let us not forget that our soils are fast experiencing degradation as they are poorly husbanded and subjected to run off, and more and more synthetic chemical additives. This affects our rivers and lakes, making them more hostile an environment for fish and other marine life. We cannot think that what we do on land does not affect our waters and our air and vice versa.

The Bretons have a wonderful symbol representing earth, air and water, akin to Celtic knots. These are linked, depend on each other and cannot but be seen as one organism where balance is primordial.