Sunday, March 27, 2011

Jack Layton visits Surrey



Jack Layton visited Surrey this morning and I had to check it out. The media has been playing up on his health but he looked pretty strong and vibrant to me. He walked with a cane and did the scouting tradition of shaking with his left hand because his right hand was supporting himself with his cane. When he shook my hand he looked into my eyes and all I could say was thank you. Thank you for coming to Surrey and thank you for standing up for what we believe in.

I found some of the things he said and some of the things in local candidates literature shocking. The first platform of Surrey North Candidate Jasbir Sandhu's pamphlet was Make our streets safe and Strengthen our public health care system.

Jack Layton spoke about how the hall way hospitals had degenerated into Tim Horton's hospitals in British Columbia citing a recent incident where they had to temporarily shut down a Tim Horton's kiosk and use it as an emergency ward overflow. Health care funding is a concern in British Columbia.

I was surprised to hear Jack Layton promote small business. Jack Layton truthfully pointed out that New Democrats opposed the HST federally. That was not lip service. He pointed out that the federal conservatives in BC still supported the HST when they knew how deathly opposed to the HST the residents of BC really were. He said, if the people of British Columbia can't trust their conservative MP's to represent their will on an issue like the HST, how can the people of British Columbia trust the federal conservative to represent their will on any other matter? So true.

Fleetwood Port Kells candidate Nao Fernando introduced the speakers and spoke well. He cited a list of things he believed in and said New Democrats know what they believe in, they believe in families.

Jack Layton also spoke about not rewarding big corporations for shipping jobs overseas like raw logs. Why would we export raw logs only to buy them back after they have been processed by other countries? That doesn't make sense. Neither does rewarding companies for off shore call centres. Even the mighty Obama agreed with that.

Strong families, better health care, better education, small business, no HST. All of his current positions used to be traditional conservative values which have been sold out for the neo con.

Jack Layton pointed out that in most ridings where conservatives were elected in BC it was the NDP who came in second and that it's the NDP who are capable of defeating Harper in BC which is very true.

Chuck Cadman was a legend in Surrey North. After his death his wife Donna later endorsed Penny Priddy who won that seat for the NDP. After Penny's term was up she ran for Surrey city counsel while Dona Cadman ran for Surrey North under the Conservative banner. Chuck Cadman was reelected as an independent. It was very surprising to see Donna Cadman run for the same party that tried to bribe her husband.

As much as I respect Donna Cadman and her husband Chuck, I am going to have to support Jasbir Sandhu and the NDP for that seat because Stephen Harper's cons didn't end with the attempted bribe of Chuck Cadman. Stephen Harper's cons are long and profound and it's time to stop them. Starting with the HST.



BTW the NDP are advocates for protecting pensions which is something the neo cons have sold out and are recklessly destroying. Jack Layton's motto is families first and no one gets left behind. Remember the Rambo movies? No one gets left behind? The neo con have abandoned that pledge a long time ago. It's time we demonstrate a little self respect and stop exploiting the elderly and physically challenged.

Closing Riverview and putting all the mentally ill on the street diminished all of us. You can't support a strong economy while you build reckless debt and ship jobs overseas. Coming home from the rally I saw someone put up some signs that said No surprise Bill. Turns out it was a cell phone company advertising unlimited text promising no surprise bills compared to other cell phone companies where hidden costs produce a rather surprising bill indeed.

At first I thought it was an election sign referring to Stephen Harper. Harper submitted a budget to the House of Commons without submitting the budget. He hid the costs and asked the house to vote on his budget without knowing the costs saying he'll surprise us with the costs later. He'll surprise us all right. By railroading the HST through in a Senate he just stacked after he promised an elected senate.

Recently someone on the blog asked me who I thought would best lead Canada and I said I didn't trust any of them with a majority government and since I didn't trust Harper or Iggy I was stuck with Jack Layton. I take that back. I know what I believe politically, socially and economically. I am not a neo con. I am a new democrat. I believe in real democracy and in social justice. I believe as Jack Layton pledges in Families First and No One gets left behind. Just like Carol James' motto of how everyone matters. That is the dream. That is what I support.

I'm in the process of uploading the video clips I took of Jack Layton's speech today in Surrey. No doubt it will be highly edited by the media.

The bottom line is trust. The shaking with the left hand tradition in scouting came from Lord Baden Powell. He was the founder of the scouting movement and some of the main hiking trails in Vancouver are named after him. The Lord Baden Powell trail stretches from Deep Cove, through Mount Seymour, Grouse Mountain, Cypress and on to Horseshoe bay.

Anyways, the shaking with the left hand tradition in scouting comes from Baden Powell's experiences with the Zulus in Africa. The Zulus held their spear in their right hand and their shield in their left. Shaking hands with the left was a sign of trust because it meant you had to put down your shield to do it. Likewise, I trust Jack Layton.

What would I do if Jack Layton actually became Prime Minister? Well, I think he would put an end to the HST and I don't think he would take money from schools and hospitals and spend it on the neo con Oil Wars. I think he really would promote small business, free enterprise and by not rewarding large corporations for sending Canadian jobs overseas I think that really would help the economy.

As for the neo con name calling all I have to say is that the neo cons don't know Jack about our traditional values. Word.

Here is the test of Jack Layton's speech

16 comments:

  1. Lol, well I now understand your flip flop blog. Your a very confused man. You run your mouth about us not being tough on crime etc etc. But you support a party who is the heart and soul of sympathy towards these criminals you curse. The NDP has been a big part of your provincial government. Its their weak policies that has made BC the pathetic mess it has become.

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  2. I appreciate your input but last I heard the New Democrats have never been in federal power so we can’t blame them for the situation. I can blame Harper because he refused to take the obvious amendment on his anti crime bill.

    The thing I want to really be clear about is that the whole system isn’t broken so we don’t have to throw out the baby with the bath water so to speak. In Ontario the judges there recognize the criminal organization legislation even though the judges in BC don’t under the same federal legislation.

    I know I sound like a broken record but when Harper refuses to listen, it’s time to replace him. We need mandatory minimum sentences for violent crime and for selling hard drugs like crack, meth or date rape drug. We don’t need mandatory minimum sentences for the possession of pot. That is something Stephen Harper refuses to listen to.

    I do believe the provincial NDP would be a lot harder on real crime than the provincial do nothing about it Liberals. The provincial NDP like Bruce Ralston, Mike Farnworth and Adrian Dix are grass roots activists who listen to the people. Harper doesn’t. He rather try to brainwash the people just like Gordon Campbell did.

    How about Stephen Harper’s flip flop on democracy? How about his abandonment of the Reform principles that set out to fix the double standards after Brian Mulroney changed conservatism into the neo con which Harper has reintroduced. I don’t support the Harper Sales Tax.

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  3. I personally feel Harper isn't to blame... the minority government is to blame. How can Harper get anything passed when the opposition wants him to look like a lame duck PM? And of course, people just love to put the blame where it doesn't belong.

    Instead of letting Harper come through with the obvious changes that Canadians wanted... the opposition is cutting it down. Shouldn't we be telling the opposition to lose the egos and give this man a chance to make changes? But no one does... everyone blames one man.

    Talk about flip on democracy... how about he complete lack of democracy when it came to putting Iggy into the leadership role

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  4. BC is soft on crimes at all levels. It was the provincial government that squashed organized crime here in Ontario not the federal. And it was a PC's not the current Fiberal Government. But like a blind man you blame federal government. As far as I'm see, drugs of all levels should have minimal sentences. Pot as well. There should be no variance. But see I unlike yourself don't use anything. There is just as much violence for control of pot as there is meth. Harper hasn't governed all he has done is try and stay afloat by bending to the opposition parties over and over with no real progress being made. Most of the soft policies are to keep layton happy. HST is again a provincial contolled tax while harper redused taxes the province raise tax.
    FYI there are many high ranking HA members within the NDP !!! But that's ok I guess.

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  5. Jen, don’t give me that minority government nonsense. Harper doesn’t listen. We asked for mandatory minimum sentences for violent crime and for selling hard drugs and he comes back with mandatory minimum sentences for possession of pot. He doesn’t listen and has no one to blame but himself. There’s not a snowball’s chance in hell I’d trust him with a majority government He’s a liar.

    He says he wants to lower taxes then he comes up with the HST which taxes things that weren’t previously taxed. He said he supported an elected senate then he stacked it at every opportunity to cram the HST through just like Brian Mulroney did. Harper does not believe in democracy.

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  6. Pocket: I blame Harper for not taking an amendment on the crime bill and for hiding the cost of the crime bill and the cost of the fighter jets to bomb other countries for their oil. I haven’t smoked a blunt in over 25 years. I use absolutely no drugs whatsoever. I still don’t think we should have mandatory minimum sentences for possession of pot for two reasons. It’s dumb and it’ll cost too much which would prevent the really important changes that we need to make. No one gets a burning desire to do a home invasion and rob a senior with an axe for five dollars to buy another blunt but they have in Surrey to buy crack. There is a huge difference between pot and crack. Huge. Meth and crack destroys people. Pot doesn’t. That’s not even getting into medicinal marijuana.

    HST is not a provincial thing it’s Harpers agenda. He convinced Gordon Campbell to sell us out over it. Harper plans to cram the HST through federally and that is why he stacked the senate. Again. What high ranking Hells Angels are within the NDP? Name them. Harper promoted a lawyer for the Hells Angels to be a Supreme Court judge because he was a Conservative party president. And no if there were any NDP candidates who were Hells Angels that would not be OK. Stephen Harper trying to bribe Chuck Cadman with an insurance fraud scam was very wrong.

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  7. I don't understand why you keep refering to "minimum sentences for possesion". Its minimum sentences for the purpose of trafficing. Every news article i have found says this, including the one that you reference in your blog. Can you provide even one reference that would corroborate your claim that ppl can be arrest for possesion of one blunt? If so, please do. If not, stop spinning and misrepresenting facts. Violence occurs for control of pot (trafficing- as the crime bill refered to), as clearly demonstrated by the recent HA arrest in salmon arm (which you hypothesised was for a grow op rip/ take over), just as control for markets related to cocaine, and meth.

    Just so i'm clear, there's not ONE piece of supporting evidence that backs up your interpretation of bill C-10. Either you misunderstood, or are intentionally misrepresenting facts. Every reference to minimum sentences for marijuana refered to in every news article clearly states that it is for "6 plants for the purpose of trafficing".

    Prove me wrong.

    Also, how can you say that the fighters Canada is ordering are for the purpose of stealing oil?? Thats rediculous. Are you suggesting that Canada should be without fighter jets?? Do you know what the purpose of these fighters are? Should we have also not purchased f-18s in the 1980s??

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  8. Bombing other countries for their oil? I think, in this day and age, it's about time Canada learned to stand up for itself. The war for oil is going to be big... and Canadians need to realize, and realize very quickly we're an easy target. Living with a false sense of security will be our biggest downfall... it's time this country grew a set of balls and put itself out there as a country that is not going to be easy to take out.

    But of course... people don't want to think of that, it's better to live in la la land... the land of peace and freedom. It's easier to watch American Idol and read about Justin Beibers haircut than it is to worry about a war that could potentially devastate the citizens of this country.

    The changes we need to make... are opening more prisons and making people do hard time for petty crimes. Canada's justice system is an absolute joke to the rest of the world, which is why all the criminals come here. And who can we thank for that... yep, those lovely Liberals. How much more money should we sink into those failures called "rehab programs"? They don't work.

    My province doesn't have HST... so I can't see it being Harpers agenda. But if you do a quick search of which provinces have HST and who was/is in power at the time of it's installment... you'll realize only 1 of them is ran by the Conservatives. Harper agenda? I would say a Liberal agenda.

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  9. “The Conservative government's controversial bill that would impose mandatory jail time for offenders caught growing a handful of marijuana plants appears headed to the trash can.

    The Liberals announced Wednesday they will not support Bill S-10, which has already been passed by the Senate.

    The Liberals, who supported previous versions of the bill, now say it would excessively punish some people for minor offences and would cost too much to implement because it will jam prisons that are already filled to the brink. The Conservatives have said they will spend $2 billion over the next five years to expand prisons.” http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Drug+offence+bill+likely+smoke+Liberals+change+position/4254112/story.html

    It’s not a matter of me proving you wrong. This isn’t a pissing contest. Aside from having a competent education you are a fellow citizen and are entitled to your opinion just as I am. In my opinion possession of a few pot plants doesn’t constitute possession for the purpose of trafficking.

    Having said that, I think we should set mandatory minimum sentences for anything to do with pot aside and take the most important step first and that is introduce mandatory minimum sentences for violent crime and for hard drugs like crack or crystal meth. Once we’ve done that, let’s see how that impacts our already overcrowded and underfunded prisons.

    The Liberals, who supported previous versions of the bill, now say it would excessively punish some people for minor offences and would cost too much to implement. A new bill — closer to the original version that ignored the Liberal amendment — was introduced in the Senate in May 2010.

    The Liberal senators tried again to amend the bill at the Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee but failed after losing their majority in the upper chamber. The bill passed on Dec. 13, 2010.

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  10. As for the fighter jets being used to further the oil wars, that has become very clear. Yes Canada should have fighter jets. Canada should have hospitals and schools too. Can we afford to put a hospital and a school on every corner? No we can’t.

    There was an article in the Vancouver Sun using the bombing of Libya as an example of why we need to purchase so many F-35’s at an undisclosed cost. As I said before, If I took an angry mob to Ottawa and if we took up arms and started shooting at Stephen Harper, I guarantee you the police would shoot back. Syria and Saudi were shooting at unarmed protesters. The protesters in Libya took up arms to further their cause. As soon as the Western air strikes occurred, the rebels were able to take an oil town and restart exporting oil from it. That is what that mission is all about.

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  11. Jen: “it's time this country grew a set of balls and put itself out there as a country that is not going to be easy to take out.” What on earth are you talking about? Canada has been involved in just about every UN peace keeping mission there was. My grandfather had mustard gas burns on his back from the trenches of WW I. I have a great Uncle who died at D Day. The invasion of Iraq was the wrong cause to join. Should we grow some balls and support the next Hitler by kicking Arab ass for their oil just because we can? Are we to leave our noble heritage and become racist bullies? Let’s hope not.

    Harper is pushing the HST just like Mulroney pushed the GST only he’s trying to pass the buck and blame it on Gordo after he fed Gordo the poison kool aid.

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  12. You said it right there... Peace keeping. Do you honestly believe that any country is going to give a shit when it comes to the oil and water war that Canada is supposed to be a peaceful place and they shouldn't bomb the shit out of us and take our oil and water? Lets get back to reality here! You spell it all out... power and greed... power and greed will take down this country... we have oil, the power and greed and our lack of ability to protect ourselves makes us nothing more than sitting ducks

    Maybe Iraq wasn't the best idea... but you talk about Canada being noble to our heritage, shouldn't we also be noble to our allies? We can't pick and choose when we decide to be noble.

    Canada is a nation of political unrest... we have people pitted against people... the rich against the poor, the conservative aginst the liberal... we are not a united nation. You may see the HST as a push by Harper... I see it as a policy the Liberals quickly adopted... I fail to see the push... how can you blame Harper? He never pushed the idea, he supported the idea. There is only one person who pushed it on their citizens.....

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  13. The unlawful invasion of Iraq wasn’t just a bad idea, it was an illegal occupation and invasion of a sovereign nation for their oil based on a premeditated lie. It was Imperialism. A bad precedent for anything noble. The fear mongering about someone wanting to bomb the shit out of us to take our oil and water is nonsense. That is what we are doing in Libya. Bombing another country for their oil. Russia used to be a real threat. Right now they’re not so we have to create another boogie man to justify preemptive war. Power and greed is Stephen Harper. He is a neo con and I will not vote for him any more. That is my democratic right.

    Instead of listening to voters he tries to brainwash them or better yet, slanders and fires his own people for being whistle blowers. That is another documented bad precedent. How about the clear conflict of interest in the fighter jets purchase that was also present with Brian Mulroney’s helicopter purchase? Spending huge amounts of tax dollars on insider trading. That is way worse than what Martha Stewart did. Harper should be in jail not have a Fox News wannabe spin that fact with absolute nonsense.

    I don’t think loyal to our allies should be a factor when our allies are wrong. Stand with any man when he stands right but part with him when he goes wrong. Loyal to our allies should not have been a factor in the unlawful invasion of Iraq. Sarkozy is a tyrant with his own political agenda and problems.

    Canada is a nation of political unrest because Stephen Harper refuses to listen. Refuses. He belittles and mocks those with different opinions when he himself is the epitome of social misfits. Let me put it simply, I disagree with you and your Fox News twists disappoint me as a Canadian.

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  14. You may find Jack Layton's (NDP's) true political affiliations quite interesting - the SOCIALIST INTERNATIONAL (SI ) - from whom Jack takes orders (as opposed to from his electorate):

    http://www.socialistinternational.org/

    This is a REPORT of the SI on its SAO PAULO conference which discusses new global institutions of global governance, and new international architecture, the nation-state being no longer "important":

    http://www.socialistinternational.org/viewArticle.cfm?ArticleID=186&ArticlePageID=77&ModuleID=18

    These are the Participants at the SAO PAULO conference, including Dawn Black for the NDP:

    http://www.socialistinternational.org/viewArticle.cfm?ArticleID=186&ArticlePageID=813&ModuleID=18

    Layton's NDP and the SI are working on creating a world government. However, this is old news, the SI has been working on that since well before NDP became a member of the SI.

    A couple of Permanent Links on JACK being front-page news at the SI web site after the May 2011 federal elections:

    [1] http://en.calameo.com/books/000111790ecbedacfe6d8

    [2] http://en.calameo.com/books/0001117900cdcff141f85

    AND

    [3] "The Grasp of the Socialist International by William F. Jasper (New American 16 February 2010) -- "http://en.calameo.com/books/000111790b9685aedc3f2

    That last article will explain to you precisely WHAT the Socialist International is, and where it comes from. Its roots are SOVIET, it's the continuation of the old Soviet Communist International, a plan for communist world government.

    A lot of people voted for Jack because they know Stephen Harper is annexing Canada to the USA and Mexico. However, JACK is a friendly guest speaker at the Model Parliament for North America hosted by the North American Forum on Integration. He secretly promotes CONTINENTAL UNION, the annexation of Canada to the USA and Mexico, because it's needed to complete the world communist government made up of Marxist-model continental unions.

    Visit me on Facebook.
    And at YouTube:
    http://www.youtube.com/user/crazyforcanada?feature=mhee#g/a

    Kathleen Moore
    HABEAS CORPUS CANADA
    The Official Legal Challenge
    To North American Union
    www.habeascorpuscanada.com

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  15. Give your head a shake. One world government? What do you think the North American Union is? What do you think TILMA is? What do you call it when a trade agreement removes democratic rights and makes it illegal for any level of government to create a law that would inhibit a corporation’s ability to make a profit? It is a heartless dictatorship and that is the direction Stephen Harper is taking us in.

    No doubt a socialist would be more likely to vote for Layton than Harper just as a Nazi or a racist would be more likely to vote for Harper than Layton. Name calling isn’t going to confront the serious threats to democracy Harper poses. The NDP spoke out boldly against Communist China’s human rights violations. That shatters your stereotype.

    Caring about people and the environment is not a Communist plot to take over the free world. Yet name calling and sweeping stereotypes might indeed sell our sovereignty down the river. Layton opposes the NAU. Harper doesn’t. Imagine that.

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  16. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=145961248825588

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