Harpers' Demilitarization

An article on Sympatico asks Is Harper trying to increase Canada's military might? My knee jerk response was after cutting half a billion dollars to Veteran affairs, most certainly not. Yet the article talks about Thursday's celebration of Canadian Forces' contribution to the NATO mission in Libya.

The celebratory event, which was attended by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Defence Minister Peter MacKay as well as a host of military officials, included a flypast by CF-18 fighter jets, a 21-gun salute and the awarding of a Meritorious Service Cross (Military Division) to Lt.-Gen. Charles Bouchard, the Canadian air force general who commanded the NATO mission in Libya.

What's more, not only did Canada play a significant part in Libya, in the past few weeks the prime minister has also suggested he would commit Canada to any potential Israeli-American action to take out nuclear bomb-making facilities in Iran.

Where to begin. Canada's involvement in the Libya mission was shameful. We went in to enforce a cease fire and we started bombing one side. We said Gaddafi was a dictator yet France and England had been doing business with him for years. Gaddafi even contributed to Sarkozy's political campaign. Unlike Syria or Saudi Arabia where the government was firing on unarmed protesters, the protesters in Libya took up arms and Gaddafi fought back. That mission was about oil just like Iraq.

Harper supported the invasion of Iraq. Which I might add was based on a malicious, premeditated lie about them having weapons of mass destruction. That mission was a moral tragedy and a huge tax payer fraud embezzling millions into private conflicted companies like Haliburton. Supporting the mission in Iraq would simply have been the wrong thing to do, morally and financially. Spending millions of tax dollars on wars for oil, then slashing pensions and public services is just plain wrong.

Now we have the Iran propaganda and Harper is drooling at the opportunity to portray himself as some kind of military force at the risk of being a corporate blackwater coward. Canada wants to be seen as peacekeepers not as bullies. Even those good God fearing Canadians who voted for Harper and want Canada to be strong and free don't want Canada to become militarily corrupt and start selling Iraq chemical weapons to use on Iran.

England got involved in Iran's politics years ago in Operation Ajax and convinced the Americans to assist them in a coo for oil. MI 6 were caught red handed giving false information to the media about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. We are now supposed to believe a word they say about Iran? After Operation Ajax? I don't think so.

Canada is selling China, India and Pakistan Candu nuclear reactors. Canada is giving those countries the means and technology to use nuclear weapons. "Confronting" Iran, if those allegations do in fact have any truth to them are nothing but hypocritical at best if not suspect. The jets Harper wants to buy are a conflict of interest from a company one of his candidates lobbied for. Spending millions on a huge fleet of jets to commit corporate murder not civilian liberation while cutting millions from soldiers and civilians pensions is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Yes Harper was elected but his actions and his words are very far apart. Getting elected on a tough on crime position then cutting funding for the RCMP is just one of many examples. Wars based on lies is yet another.

Vancouver Mayors support Pot and the Black Door

The Vancouver Sun is confirming what I heard on the radio this morning. Mayor Gregor Robertson of Vancouver has joined four former city mayors in support of legalizing marijuana. He tweeted Thursday night: "Good to see 4 Vancouver ex-mayors calling for end of cannabis prohibition. I agree, we need to be smart and tax/regulate."

I don't want to be too cynical but I have some serious concerns. Which of those mayors were in charge when Vancouver City Hall bought the Drake Hotel from the Hells Angels to turn it into social housing? They gave the Hells Angels $2 million more than it was worth. You can't even call it a bribe because they didn't get anything in return. It was simply a $2 million misappropriation of social housing funds. Once again the DTES residents get screwed.

Let's see, Gregor Robertson was elected mayor November 2008 and the purchase of the Drake Hotel from the Hells Angels was in 2007. That would be when Sam Sullivan was mayor when the NPA formed a majority on City council. Legalizing pot is one thing but handing over $2 million marked for social housing to a criminal organization is another.

Which brings us back to the Black door. I've written about the Black door, twice, make that three times and notified the Gang Task Force. Nothing has been done about it. Freddy claims the VPD are well aware of it and let it operate. He claims they told them to shut down during the Olympics but let them open up again right after. Today, the Black door was the revolving door. People were in and out as it was doing major business.

Letting the Hells Angels sell pot is one thing but letting them use violence to control the market is another. They are not allowed to sell pot in the Amsterdam cafe. If they do, the city will shut them down. Then why does the City let the Hells Angels sell pot across the street at the Black door and the Vancity Bulldog Cafe? Letting one but not the other is wrong. In fact it is suspect.

My question is, when the Vancouver mayors say they want pot regulated, I have to ask by who? The Hells Angels? That is who the City is currently letting regulate it. Claiming that legalizing pot will eliminate organized crime is nonsense. Gambling is legal and there's plenty of organized crime involved with that.

Don't get me wrong, I much rather see them smoking pot in east van than crack but that is just on one corner. On another corner you can buy crack, another corner crystal meth and another corner you can buy heroin. All controlled and regulated by the Hells Angels. That is a massive amount of money changing hands. The City is fully aware of the problem because on welfare day they line up for their crack like for a boxing day sale. Instead of arresting the obvious dealer, they hand out free needles and crack pipes. This is inherently wrong.

Arresting everyone else but letting the Hells angels sell drugs is absolutely bizarre. Yet that is what City hall is now doing. So my question has merit. When the mayors of Vancouver say they want to regulate pot I'm forced to ask who they want to regulate it - the Hells Angels?

It's kind of strange that they be launching this public campaign right after a federal election when the Conservatives were given a majority government. It's kind of like the Rogue Page standing in Parliament with a Stop Harper sign right after he was elected. Shouldn't you be doing that before an election? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for free speech and I totally agree speaking out against certain policies of an elected government is not only a right but a civic duty. Yet the minority does not over rule the majority just because they yell louder.

At one time, Quebec Separatism was a huge issue with a huge following. It was hovering right around 49% for and 51% against. It was very close and was a significant issue. Yet just because the minority yell louder doesn't mean they are the democratic majority.

I fully agree that both extremes are absurd. One one side we have the 49% screaming for the legalization of pot. On the Other side we have the Harper government implementing mandatory minimum sentences for growing pot and demand the provinces pay for their legislation. Somewhere in the middle we have 69% of the population that says putting all those resources into incarcerating people for growing pot is a waste of time and taxes.

Legalizing pot would make it way more popular. Everyone would be pulling out the blunts and saying party! It's Mardi Gra! I'm not sure that would be such a great thing. Although there is a huge difference between pot and crack or meth, there are a lot of people out there that smoke way too much pot. Becoming potheads isn't something to brag about either. It still boils down to extremes and special interest trying to promote their own agenda.

Meanwhile we can all agree too many people are dying from the gang war. I'm just saying legalizing all drugs is irresponsible and legalizing pot most certainly won't stop the Hells angels from using violence to control or as the mayors say, "regulate" it.

My appeal for common ground is to leave the status quo, get rid of mandatory minimum sentences for growing pot and actually implement mandatory minimum sentences for violent crime and for selling hard drugs like crack or crystal meth. We see them selling crack on the corner. Arresting the crack dealers for selling crack not the users and putting them in jail for three months is not excessive. It is a goal within reach. And I still think that arresting everyone else for selling pot but letting the Hells Angels do it is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Salvatore Montagna found dead outside Montreal

The body of an alleged Mafia boss, who U.S. authorities said once headed New York's notorious Bonanno crime family, has been fished out of a river near Montreal. Salvatore Montagna's body was found in the Assomption River Thursday morning, in Charlemagne, northeast of the city.

Nicknamed Sal The Iron Worker, Montagno owned and operated a successful steel business in the U.S. The FBI once called him the acting boss of the Bonanno crime family – prompting one of New York's tabloids to dub him the "Bambino Boss" because of his rise to power in his mid-30s. His death is the latest in a series of Mafia-related killings and disappearances over the last two years. Montagna was considered a contender to take over the decimated Rizzuto family.

Montagna was born in Montreal but raised in Sicily and, although he moved to the United States at 15, he never obtained U.S. citizenship. The married father of three was deported to Canada from the United States in 2009 because of a conviction for refusing to testify before a grand jury on illegal gambling.

He pleaded guilty to the minor charge, but it made him ineligible to stay in the U.S. Because he is a Canadian citizen, Ottawa couldn't refuse his re-entry into the country, and Montagna crossed the border without any trouble. His arrival in Montreal occurred just months before members of the Rizzuto family began being killed.

Let's not forget, the New York Times quoted an FBI document wherein FBI informant Frank Lino claims he was introduced to Alfonso Gagliano at a mob meeting in Montreal where he was told Gagliano was a politician and a made member of the mafia in Montreal connected to the Bonno and Gambinno crime families in New York.

Let's not forget how the Sixth family at one time worked with the Hells Angels as well. With friends like them, who needs enemies?

One media outlet is reporting that Salvatore Montagna was next in line to take over for the Rizzuto family as was Raynald Desjardins who was shot at September 2011. His bodyguard was charged in that shooting. Kinda like how Peter Scarcella was just a driver for a mob boss named Paul Volpe. "Someone" his boss knew shot him in the back and left him in the trunk of a car. That's when Scarcella took over for his boss.

Peter Scarcella hooked up with Toronto Hells Angel Paris Christoforou in that botched hit on Mike Modica at a Toronto sandwich shop. CBC claims that among the people working for Peter Scarcella is Mike Marrese, who runs the mortgage fraud scams for Scarcella. Rizzuto family timeline.

Interesting to note that the Rizzuto family has been deeply involved with cocaine trafficking and is being hunted down and wiped out by non Sicilians. The Hells Angles have been associated with them and are also primarily involved with cocaine trafficking.

Sustainability

A little bit off topic but not entirely. I just heard a commercial for the David Suzuki foundation on the radio. They're doing some pretty intense fund raising at Where will Santa live dot ca. People still talk about climate change and how the polar ice caps are receding. I can't believe Canada still mines and sells asbestos to India. We really should have more self respect than that.

People complain about the oils sands though there is big money to be made. It's still a scam when you think about who killed the electric car. That is what we should be focusing on. There's a lot of talk about sustainability these days. A concern for the environment which is not only good, it's imperative. A big shout out to Adriane Carr, former leader of the BC Green Party who finally got a seat on Vancouver's City council. Well done.

My personal environmental epiphany came when I went to a earth day presentation at my kid's high school. They showed a Youtube clip about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Seemingly plastic takes a really long time to break down and all the plastic that gets dumped in the ocean gets swept away by the swirling currents in the Pacific ocean which dumps it in one spot. As a result huge island of plastic have emerged in what environmentalists refer to as the great pacific garbage dump. I had no idea.

I has cruel effects on wildlife. Birds will eat small pieces of plastic thinking it's a bug. Only the plastic doesn't digest and won't pass through their system. As a result there have been many birds found dead because their stomach was full of undigested plastic and there was not room for real food to get through. The same thing with fish. It's really sad.

Although part of the problem is caused by countries that dump their garbage at sea, 80% of it is litter from land. All the litter on beaches, rivers and from boats contributes to this massive pacific garbage patch. We do need to stop our litter on the beaches and at sea.

Again the word sustainability keeps resurfacing. The old ways of sheer consumption won't cut it any more. Clear cutting the forests is irresponsible. Years ago I remember handing flyers outside the Arts Centre. Some kid starts to heckle me and shouts out how many trees had to get cut down to make you flyer? Without a seconds hesitation I shout back: How many trees had to be cut down the last time you went to the bathroom? The kid froze and had that real puzzled look on his face and turned to his girlfriend. She explained: Toilet paper. Everybody uses toilet paper and that cuts down trees. They didn't know what to say after that.

That's the thing, as much as we complain about it we are all consumers and all use paper products. Logging is essential. Yet clear cutting is not. In fact banning clear cutting is essential and promoting more realistic tree planting is essential. Which brings us to hemp paper. Hemp fibre is very strong.

I can't believe how popular hemp paper was back in the day. We used to have huge farms devoted to growing hemp to make rope and paper. It was totally sustainable. Then the petroleum industry pushed out the hemp farms for making rope and pulp and paper industry pushed out the hemp farms for paper. That was a tragedy. Just like how the oil companies killed the electric car. The free market is all about supply and demand. There's no reason we as consumers can't increase the demand for hemp paper. You don't get high off of hemp but hemp paper will indeed save the rain forests.

Oh and speaking of the oceans, we get most of our oxygen from the ocean surprisingly enough. Only there are these huge dead zones in the ocean where nothing grows like a desert on dry land. These dead zones are growing and we really need to address them. Fish can't survive in them and they are beginning to appear on the West coast. That huge oil spill in the gulf from the uncapped oil well made it much worse. Drift nets that drag along the ocean floor clear cut the ocean just like a forest. We really need to be more aware of the products we buy from drift nets that destroy everything in it's path. That is not sustainable harvesting of the ocean. Consumption based industry leaves nothing for subsequent generations. We need to start thinking about the next generation.

Largest cocaine bust in Grande Prairie history

In what is being called one of the biggest drug busts in Grande Prairie history, four members of the 'Baseball Team' organization are facing drug and weapon charges after two kilograms of cocaine was seized from a vehicle on Saturday, Nov. 19.

Clayton Kelly Buhler, 44, of LaGlace, is facing seven charges, including possession of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking as well as possession of an unregistered restricted firearm. A third suspect from Grande Prairie, is facing three charges including possession of a prohibited weapon. Bradley Joseph Demont, 25, of Grande Prairie, is facing three charges as well.

Police say that these arrests are related to the arrest of Ralph McGuigan last month. McGuigan, who is a known member of the Demon Soldiers motorcycle gang, was arrested while in gang colours in possession of half a kilogram of cocaine. In total, on Nov. 19, police seized two kilograms of cocaine, a handgun, a loaded rifle, a taser and half a pound of marijuana.

So guess who the Baseball team and the Demon Soldiers work for? The Hells Angels. Surprise surprise. In the north, CISA says Hells Angels from B.C. "subsidize" a criminal group in Grande Prairie, while their Alberta counterparts back drug traffickers in Fort McMurray.

Hells Angels drug bust in Montreal and New Brunswick

More than two-dozen people were arrested Wednesday during large-scale drug-trafficking raids in Quebec and New Brunswick that authorities say could neutralize an organized crime ring linked to the Hells Angels.

"Our investigation tends to demonstrate that this ring included Hells Angels associates who took over drug trafficking territories after the 2001 Spring Raids and SharQC in 2009," Pelletier said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, alluding to two major crackdowns last decade that targeted biker gangs.

Investigators with the latest sting operation believe they have identified four distinct drug trafficking cells working primarily in Montreal, the South Shore and New Brunswick, Pelletier said. Officers seized large amounts of cocaine, marijuana, hashish, methamphetamine pills, weapons and cash.

Investigators allege the three Quebec cells regained control of lucrative drug-trafficking territory in the greater Montreal region in the aftermath of massive police raids in 2009. The fourth cell, based in New Brunswick, is alleged to have travelled regularly to Montreal to pick up drugs for trafficking.

QMI Agency has learned the main target of the Quebec raids was Marc-Andre Lachance, 28, one of two people arrested in October for allegedly threatening a Montreal police investigator. The cop was savagely beaten in the Mexican resort town of Playa Del Carmen last January. Lachance was arrested in his home in Montreal's north end. I wonder if they arrested Leo and the Dweeb.

Sounds like there were some arrests in Ontario as well.

Explosive testimony to come at Pickton Inquiry

Cpl. Catherine Galliford claims that she will be testifying at the missing Women Inquiry not for the RCMP but for the victims. She claims her evidence will be explosive. Let's hope she doesn't suffer and unfortunate accident before then.

Catherine Galliford is the one that has come forward outlining years of sexual harassment while working with the RCMP. One media outlet claimed Deputy Police Chief Jennifer Evans’ report blamed the delay in arresting Pickton in infighting between the RCMP and the VPD. Yet that really doesn't make sense. Infighting is what crushed Operation Phoenix. The RCMP were upset they lost the gang task force jurisdiction for BC and sabotaged that mission to get it back which they did.

However, infighting can't explain the delay in arresting Pickton. If either group were zealously wanting to promote themselves, it would have been a race to get the warrant and make the arrest. Yet that's not what happened. The reason for the delay seems to be the crucial question. Catherine Galliford testified that the police had enough evidence to get a search warrant of the Pickton farm two years prior to them doing so. The reason for that delay is significant. It wasn't just a matter of being lazy or not taking the murder of sex trade workers seriously. It was more than that.

I don't know what Catherine Galliford's explosive evidence will be but we do know that the Globe and Mail has reported that the Inquiry will hear testimony that off duty police officers attended parties at Piggy's Palace. We don't know what witnesses will testify to that fact. That could explain the delay in getting the warrant.

The front page of the Vancouver Province today was about Catherine Galliford's new claims about testifying at the inquiry. The headline claims
Cops watched porn, skipped work instead of investigating missing women. Which once again would imply laziness not a hidden agenda in suppressing the case.

When very junior RCMP Const. Nathan Wells finally obtained a firearms search warrant on Feb. 5, 2002, for the Pickton farm, Galliford said, she confronted a top RCMP officer, telling him, “You’ve known this since 1999.”

I don't want in any way to minimize the sexual harassment she endured working with a bunch of pigs, please excuse the pun. I just want to clarify there is a difference between being rude and politically incorrect and attending parties at Piggy Palace. We know a lot of people attended parties there. We have the recorded testimony of one witness who claimed people were doing the wild thing all over the place. That would imply that sex trade workers were present at the Piggy's Palace parties run by the Hells Angels. Everyone seems to be silent about that part. The court did hear the Hells angels had a grow op on site and we did hear testimony that Hells Angels attended those parties in colours all the time.

There are quite a few conspiracy theories abounding on the case. We need to remember that Robert Pickton was convicted even if he wasn't the primary suspect in the murders. The judge told the jury that he could be convicted if he was an active participant. The one who disposed of the bodies so to speak.

It mall makes me think about Hunter Thompson's untimely death. Hunter Thompson was a journalist who spent time with the Hells Angels in the US to write a book about them which he did. At the time he was criticised for his casual attitude abut the Hells Angels' involvement in gang rape. Yet the thing that gets me is the last story he was working on. About snuff films and the sexual abuse of boys tied to US politicians.

In fact there have even been allegations that he wasn't just writing a story about it but that he was actually involved with it. Involved with the child sex abuse and snuff films at the Bohemian Grove Alex Jones talks about. That would be taking gonzo journalism a step too far. We know that the news of the Franklin Cover up hit the Washington Times:

"A homosexual prostitution ring is under investigation by federal and District authorities and includes among its clients key officials of the Reagan and Bush administrations, military officers, congressional aides and US and foreign businessmen with close social ties to Washington's political elite. Reporters for this newspaper examined hundreds of credit-card vouchers, drawn on both corporate and personal cards and made payable to the escort service operated by the homosexual ring." -- Washington Times, 6/29/1989

In fact, one Youtuber claims that one of the victims, Paul Bonacci, who reported about the child abuse ring at the Bohemian Grove, identified Hunter S Thompson as the videographer. Photographer Russell E. "Rusty" Nelson was arrested two days after journalist Hunter Thompson reportedly committed suicide.

Hunter Thompson's involvement isn't the subject of my query. The fact is, a child prostitution ring involving US politicians did exist. My question is, was Piggy Palace Canada's Bohemian Grove? (Less the homosexual child part)

Pot activist dies on hunger strike

Istvan "Steve" Marton, 69, the local marijuana dealer in Sointula, off the north-east coast of Vancouver Island, died in Port MacNeill Hospital Sunday after more than a month on a hunger strike to protest Canada's marijuana laws. I'm sorry to hear he passed away.

Freddy just posted a link to a Vancouver Sun article about Stop the Violence B.C. which is a coalition lobbying for the legalization and regulation of marijuana. I'm glad this group has drawn the line at pot. I think they will get more support. I cannot accept legalizing all drugs like crack, crystal meth or date rape drug.

There is a large percentage of the population that supports the legalization of marijuana. About 50%. More if you make it the decriminalization of Marijuana. That's where I stand on the issue. I'm not comfortable with pot being sold at the 7/11 or smoked in public. People have a hard enough time dealing with cigarette smoke in public. If I chose not to smoke pot, I don't want it forced upon me by having to hot box it on the bus or in public.

Yet I will completely agree that building more prisons for nonviolent crime is absurd. Especially when our courts and prison systems are clogged up at present and can't effectively deal with violent crime. Harper's extreme of implementing mandatory minimum sentences for growing pot is disproportionate and undemocratic. Since we don't have a two party system in Canada, Harper did not get 50% of the vote. Yet more than 50% of the population support the decriminalization of marijuana. Somewhat ironic.

The Vancouver Sun has published a copy of a letter from four former Vancouver mayors calling for the decriminalization and regulation of marijuana. In it they state: "A recent Angus Reid poll demonstrated that 69% of British Columbians believe that chasing and arresting marijuana producers and sellers is ineffective and that British Columbians would be better off taxing and regulating the adult use of marijuana. We fully agree. Clearly, elected officials are out of step with their public on marijuana prohibition."

Hells Angels clubhouse turned into community space

Thunder Bay City council unanimously voted Monday night to approve Evergreen a United Neighbourhood’s plan to convert the former Hells Angels clubhouse on Heron Street into a community space. Evergreen coordinator Linda Bruins told council that the group currently holds its meetings on a street corner near Minnesota Park. The space on Heron Street, given to the group by the Ministry of the Attorney General, would allow Evergreen to have indoor meetings and have a space to hold events.

Clem Hamel said the area has enough community centres and churches. Council heard from supporters of the idea before making the unanimous decision. Coun. Paul Pugh said this was the best opportunity to see a former negative space turned into a positive one. “It’s got to be about a positive move as I can imagine,” Pugh said. Former police officer mayor Keith Hobbs said he supported the change.

Occupy Vancouver Relocates

I am somewhat amused that the Occupy Vancouver protesters chose Robson Square for their next location after the court ordered them to move from the Art Gallery. I had walked under there a couple of weeks ago and noticed it was basically abandoned and that there was no ice in the rink there. Too bad. Bringing the ice back for the Olympics was a great idea. Maintaining that ice rink is a positive thing for the city. Yet they've been ordered to move again.

When I first heard there was going to be an Occupy Wall Street protest in Vancouver I asked where are they going to occupy? Vancouver doesn't have a stock exchange any more. The Art Galley? They could occupy that until Christmas and no one will notice or care. Unfortunately, protest bashing has become the popular political twist of late. You would think they let Conrad Black out of prison and he was the owner of the local papers again.

I am somewhat outraged by Christy Clark's comments in today's Vancouver Province. The headline read "Enough is Enough" and the article quoted Christy airhead as saying "I don't know what these folks stand for now." Why is that not surprising? Has she ever asked? She doesn't listen. She doesn't care. Yet trampling on lawful assembly is a horrific precedent for the nation.

No wonder Christy Clark wants to seize the opportunity to distract voters for the new disclosure about her own personal involvement in the BC Rail scandal along with Gordon Campbell. It wasn't just her brother, it was her too. How can she call a public inquiry into herself? This is way worse than Fantasy Gardens and way worse than fast ferries. She should be hanging her head in shame but no, she seizes the opportunity to kick the cat. She doesn't know what the protest is about? Maybe it's about her involvement in corrupt politics. We have seen that corruption in Wall street has infiltrated politics.

Someone wrote in to the Province slamming the mayor and Jim Chu for the Vancouver Riot. It wasn't their fault! They asked Christy Clark for more funding for police during the Stanley cup final and she giggled and said no. Then she had to audacity to rub it in their face and say but your concerns have been taken into consideration when we made our decision.

That is the inherent problem of our current political climate. Our pork barrel politicians only care about taking care of their lobbyists who contribute to their campaign. Big Unions or Big Corporations, it's all special interest. Only there are no big Unions any more. Only snakes in the grass like Buzz Hargrove trying to sell out their members so they can continue to exist and stay on the payroll.

In Canada, people have a protest and no one cares. The concerns aren't listened to. They just give them a little parade to express themselves then go on their merry way and do the exact opposite. At least in Egypt the government listens to the people. They protested demanding the government resign. Not necessarily the brightest thing when you don't have a plan as to who is going to be elected to replace him. Now they are protesting because after the government stepped down the military took over. Only the military promised to hand over the power in six months and that's not happening. Big surprise. Political opportunists exist everywhere.

Yet Egypt's military ruler says he is prepared to hold a referendum on transferring power to a civilian government immediately, following a massive demonstration in Cairo's Tahrir Square that saw tens of thousands turn out. That's a lot better than Stephen Harper or Christy Clark would do. Hold a referendum. Imagine that. Harper would rather spend millions of tax dollars on bogus advertising telling us how to vote rather than listen to the democratic will of the people. Our democracy is in peril.

There are two issues on the table: Tents and protests. I separate the two because although the Occupy Vancouver protest is clearly a political protest, the right to assemble in public places and petition the government for a redress of grievance is a God given unalienable right. No court has the authority to take that away from us. Period. Any court order that bans protesters instead of tents would violate the charter or rights and be an illegal order.

These are serious issues. A couple weeks ago I was standing outside the Vancouver courthouse with a sign that said Lawful Assembly is a Charter Right. The sheriff at the front desk comes out all agitated, reads my sign and says lawful assembly is a charter right but you can't stand there. I crinkle my brow and my nose and in disbelief say What? He said you can't picket here. You have to leave. Picket? I said. I'm not a member of a union. I'm not blocking any one's access to the courthouse. Then I look at his shoulder and notice he's a sheriff. I said if you get a police officer to arrest me for holding a sign that would be an illegal arrest and I will counter sue for lost wages. He gets even more agitated and said you can do what you want but I'm going to make a phone call. Fine I said as I held my position.

I was only going to stay there ten minutes but ended up staying 2 and a half hours just to see who would have the audacity to come and arrest me in violation of my Charter Right. No one showed up and I was furious. How dare he steal my Charter right? How dare he lie and claim that it is not my charter right to stand in a public place with a sign in a political protest. How dare he? People from the Occupy site just laughed and said you really think people won't try and convince you you don't have rights? I had no idea.

In the latest court application, Christy BC Rail Clark was asking for a permanent injunction and the Judge said such a move would be an inappropriate use of the law. No kidding. Speaking of the law, let's talk about generations of British Common law that refer to squatters rights. I was amazed in England many years ago that when squatters gathered they couldn't just move them without finding them a new location to move to. That was during the stone henge festival I visited back in the day. Before the Charter of Rights and before the British North America Act was introduced, our law was British common law. Generations of court decisions formed jurisprudence and became known as common law. Like it or not squatter's rights were part of that common law.

Yet tents and signs are separate. They can get a court order to remove tents but they cannot get a court order to ban a protest on public land. Such an order would be illegal and an act of war.