Grouse on Cypress

Saw some grouse while I was hiking up Skychair on Cypress Sunday.



The Lions are pretty bare. No snow left at all. Not for long.



It’s a good time of year to climb the Lions. You don’t have to cross those steep snow patches.



It’s always good to get back into the mountains to keep things in perspective.

Catherine Galliford receives Medal of Courage

A blog reader recently sent me this picture of Catherine Galliford receiving a medal of courage on February 22 2013. Ironically it was recently reported that the RCMP are now trying to fire her and all the other women who have joined the class action sexual harassment law suit. Some things will never change. So it seems.

The multitude of allegations in the law suit are outrageous. What was supposed to have been a professional organization has clearly been anything but. Stephen Harper is not the one to deal with this issue. He fires and slanders whistle blowers and he is doing the same thing here.

It was a public outrage how the government responded to the sexual harassment law suit with denial and slander. It shows they have no desire to take responsibility and correct the problem. The fact that Don Ray and Jim Brown are still employed with the RCMP is proof of that. That is why a law suit was necessary. Because they have and are still refusing to admit there is a problem and are still refusing to deal with it despite their false claims. It is discouraging to say the least. We don’t restore public confidence after it has been lost with denial and continued bullying.

50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King’s I have a dream speech

Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the historic march on Washington where Martin Luther King delivered his eloquent and inspiring I have a dream speech. It’s hard to conceive that unconstitutional laws of segregation existed as recently as 1963. That was a massive march on Washington that was completely peaceful and productive. It was an inspiration to all.

Martin Luther King’s dream was that the constituting would one day be more than a nice piece of paper hanging on the wall. His dream was that the constitution would one day be implemented and not just talked about.

On our day that same constitution is under serious attack and corrupt governments who are legally bound by it and have sworn an oath to preserve and protect it are in reality destroying it and the free republic it represents. Civil liberty is still on the table. Only it’s not just civil liberty for one race or creed, it is civil liberty for everyone and surprisingly enough, Obama is killing that dream.

“I say to you today my friends that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted within the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of it’s creed, we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal. I have a dream today.” Indeed, from every mountain and from every mole hill, let freedom ring.



One man come in the name of love One man come and go One come he to justify One man to overthrow One man caught on a barbed wire fence One man he resist One man washed on an empty beach One man betrayed with a kiss Early morning, April 4 Shot rings out in the Memphis sky Free at last, they took your life They could not take your pride In the name of love One more in the name of love. Won't you help to sing these songs of freedom?

Harper’s Arctic Lie Continues to Unravel

It is astounding that Harper’s media machine is still trying to portray Harper as someone who actually cares about Canadian sovereignty in the arctic when in reality he has single handedly done more to destroy Canadian sovereignty than any other Prime Minister in Canadian history. He sold Canadian oil rights to Communist China, he agreed to cross border policing with the United States and he is still censoring the media.

He claims the NDP are socialists yet he sold our oil rights to Communists with a worse human rights record than Cuba. Now, every time we get gouged at the pump we are helping fund a communist dictatorships’ military expansion.

He ran commercials about the War of 1812 and how we historically stood up for Canadian sovereignty yet he agreed to give that up by letting Americans police Canada. The whole protecting Canadian sovereignty in the arctic is one big fraud. That fleet of outrageously expensive jets from his insider trader didn’t work in the arctic. He clearly has no real desire to protect the arctic despite his media lies. It’s a smoke and mirrors side show just like everything else in his campaign.

He said he was tough on crime yet he cut funding for the RCMP and the gang task force while he dramatically increased funding for commercials to promote the RCMP brand. Saying one thing and doing the other while spending large amounts of tax dollars on advertizing to convince us that bad decision was good for Canada is called propaganda.

Instead of addressing the long history of sexual harassment in the RCMP, Harper promoted a chief who tows his line and fires whistleblowers while covering up what has been exposed with slander and harassment.

Harper claimed to be tough on crime yet he put out a bill that puts mandatory minimum sentences on possession of pot. That in effect prevents us from putting mandatory minimum sentences on violent crime or for selling crack and crystal meth. I don’t think legalization of pot is the answer. I think decriminalizing it is. We also need mandatory minimum sentences for selling small quantities of crack or crystal meth in public. Three months for selling crack in public is not excessive. A three month mandatory minimum sentence with no early release for chronic offenders of property theft is not excessive. Anything less than that mocks justice and bullies victims.

Harper cut funding for the prisons and wants to privatize them. The privatized prison system in California has been one big colossal failure. That is the wrong model to follow and everyone else knows that now. We need to oppose corporate communism that gouges tax payers.

Harper pretended to support the military but cut wages, pensions and benefits for soldiers. All while he allotted billions for a fleet of over priced jets from a company one of his candidates lobbied for. That's Mulroney's Airbus kickback mountain times ten. He even cut the Canadian coast guard in Vancouver.

Harper has made no secret about his opposition to the Charter of Rights. That is because he is trying to destroy civil liberty. The Charter of Rights is similar to the US Bill of Rights. Both documents are under attack on both sides of the border. We need to protect civil liberty.

My concerns with Stephen Harper are not about left versus right. It’s about right versus wrong. It’s about those who support a free republic against those who oppose one and I don’t think Justin Trudeau is the answer. I used to. Who would have thought the son of that great patriarch would betray the Charter of Rights? Who saw that coming? I didn’t. Justin claimed the NDP were soft on the charter while he himself voted with Harper to destroy it. That was astounding. For Justin Trudeau to talk about protecting the Charter of Rights now is as hypocritical as Harper talking about protecting Canadian sovereignty in the arctic. Both lies have been revealed.

I think Thomas Mulcair is a good leader and it’s not about supporting socialism it’s about supporting a free republic. The NDP, the Bloc and the Green Party are the only ones who voted in favor of supporting the Canadian Charter of Rights when all the other mainstream political parties voted to destroy it. Isn't that ironic.

Yes I am concerned about the NDP’s ability to balance a budget. But I’m more concerned about Stephen Harper’s ability to balance a budget. His banking and corporate fraud has created a far bigger debt than any left wing socialist would have ever dreamed of. And yes the left wingers would have spent the money on better things.

Mulcair claims “Several provinces are now at the 50 per cent rate. Beyond that, you’re not talking taxation; you’re talking confiscation. And that is never going to be part of my policies, going after more individual taxes. Period. Full stop.” He said the NDP would spend money on different things, and the NDP would make cuts, but they would be better cuts.

Spending money on different things is a good example. Harper spending $65 billion on a bank bailout the banks didn’t need then raising the age of retirement to pay for it was a crime against Canadians.

Obviously you don’t want to over tax corporations or anyone else. Anything over 50% tax on someone no matter how much money they make is wrong. Yet so is the fact that Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. As is the fact that Obama pays tax at a lower rate than his secretary too. Donald Trump paying no tax is a complete crime just as when large corporations pay next to no tax. That’s the purpose of gas taxes. To off load taxes from the oil companies onto the consumers.

Letting CSIS lose billions of dollars from their anti terror fraud budget every year is another example of massive fiscal irresponsibility. JP Morgan and Goldman sacks are bad. Very bad. They are deeply involved in investment fraud and have a huge control over the US government.

I am concerned with the NDP’s position on harm reduction. Handing out free crack pipes so people don’t catch a cold while getting flesh eating disease is not the answer. Letting crack dealers sell drugs around needle exchanges is not the answer either. That isn’t harm reduction it’s harm mass production. It is not promoting heath care it is destroying it.

Elizabeth May makes a lot of sense. People who care about the environment evidently also care about people and protecting civil liberty. They also care about fiscal responsibility.

Stephen Harper is taking us down the road to Bilderberg and that is the wrong road to be on. Corporate Communism is a huge threat to civil liberty and it is anything but fiscally responsible. Once again, this song is for all the undecided. Ya gotta get up. Stompa your feet.



Michael Harris, Journalist and Author speaks on The State of Canadian Parliamentary Democracy at the South Shore Chapter, Council of Canadians. [Part one] [Part two] [Part three]

Justice Denied

The other day I was driving back to Surrey from Abbotsford and I saw a huge sign at the side of the freeway that brought a smile to my face. Instantly I knew who put it there and it wasn’t me. There’s an activist from Aldergrove who is big on signs and T-shirts. He made the big recall Wally Oppal sign on a flatdeck and showed up at several local rallies with signs that said Judges are the Problem. He even made several T-shirts about judicial failures in BC including his 100% Contempt for BC Judges.

This particular activist got involved with a local group striving for judicial reform. That group is passionate about correcting the problem and is striving to be politically correct in it’s approach. Once in a while he gets frustrated and goes off on his own and makes a new sign. I applaud his work. They started off with property theft. A huge theft spree in their community was committed by one or two people and they all knew who it was. The judges kept giving him a slap on the wrist and letting him reoffend. Jamie Pool I believe was his name.

It’s not hard to see and understand their frustration. The VPD put out a video about chronic offenders. How the more crimes they commit the less jail time they serve. Kind of the direct opposite of what one would normally expect. The situation is so bad that the VPS came up with a 30 strikes and you’re out as opposed to the three strikes program in the States. As it stands the situation is pathetic. They came out with the recall Wally Oppal sign because he said everything was fine with the BC Judicial System. Not.

I heard him speak at the public safety rally in Port Moody where the public expressed their concerns about a rash of gang shootings in their neighborhood. His position was that judges are the problem. The panel kind of gave him the rolly eyes to which he responded these people commit crime and the judge keep letting them go, how is that not the judges problem?

Some people rationalize the situation and claim it’s not the judge’s fault it’s the laws that need to change and those laws are federal. Yet Ontario has the same laws that we do and they don’t have the same problem with judicial dysfunction. Clearly he does have a valid point. Many of the judges in BC are horrible and we have no mechanism in place to get rid of bad judges. Peter Leask is a prime example. I heard “they” didn’t let him do criminal cases any more. Then “they” are admitting there was a problem with his ridiculous decisions.

Right now the biggest judicial failure in BC is the Jamie Kehoe case. The police have the suspect and they have witnesses. We even have a body that he did murder by slitting his throat with a knife. Yet the police let him go because the crown thought there was a chance they might not get a conviction. Not proceeding with that trial is the most evil and criminally negligent act in the history of this province. There simply is no excuse for that. Just like if they don’t proceed with charges against the man who got out of his car and stabbed Kyle Yellowbird. God help them if they don’t proceed with charges in that case. That innocent blood will be on their hands.

It means Canada is a place where justice is denied and our friend is quite right. Every unjust sentence, or in this case every unjust failure to proceed with charges, bullies the victim. Losing a child is a horrible thing to experience. Denying justice prevents the healing process. The Laura Szendrei murder was a horrible tragedy. It would have been equally outrageous if the crown didn’t proceed with charges in her murder. Even then we had a suspect who showed no remorse for the murder and had a high likelihood of reoffending.

The ridiculous consequences in Canada for violent crime like murder and rape is a separate issue. We can’t even get the crown to proceed with charges so the accused murderers can get a slap on the wrist. Instead the crown gives the families of the victim and public safety a slap in the face. That diminishes all of us. Letting Katherine Quin free after her documented involvement in orchestrating the murder of Matthew Martins was another human tragedy. That's why Wally Oppal was fired as AG and why he should not have presided at the missing woman inquiry. He couldn't see the forest through the trees. Either that or he deliberately hid it. Which again re instills our friend's claim that the Revolving doors makes judges accomplices. Just as it does when crown fails to proceed with charges because they think they might not succeed.

Mining company fires Hells Angels

We’ve heard a lot about the Hells Angels drug related violence in Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Fort McMurray. We’ve also heard how many of them are employed in the potash industry there. Well one potash mining company has finally taken the bold new step of denying employment to anyone who is a member of the Hells Angels. This is a step forward.

The Charter of Rights protects the freedom of association. That means you are free to join any religion, political party or trade Union that you want to. It does not include the right to commit crime and belong to a criminal organization. The nest step would be to get them out of the docks as longshoremen. Criminal org checks should be done just like criminal record checks.

Spy Drone Turkey Shoot

Well this is refreshing news. A small town in Colorado east of Denver has come up with a brilliant idea in response to the Domestic Drone Wars. Since spying on Americans is illegal and violates the constitution, the town of Deer Trail is proposing to offer Drone hunting licenses and offer a bounty for anyone who shoots down an US Spy Drone on American soil. It’s about time.

The fact that the US government has relaxed FAA restrictions regarding the overflight of drones in U.S. airspace to spy on U.S. citizens is absolutely astounding. That kind of lawlessness needs to be addressed. Welcome to the wild wild west. Time for a turkey shoot. Hey does that mean we get to shoot CSIS if we catch them breaking the law too? Please advise.

Harper is spying on Canadians

MSN news is reporting that critics are urging the Harper government to lift the veil that shrouds Canada's electronic eavesdropping agency in the wake of an overseer's report that suggests ordinary Canadians may have been illegally spied on.

No kidding. Harper created a new agency whose mandate is to violate the Charter of Rights and spy on people without a warrant and shares that information with CSIS who were responsible for the Air India bombing. Concerning since it was Harper and his people who banned a University student from attending one of his speaking engagements during the election because she posted a picture of herself with another candidate. How did they know she did that? They were illegally monitoring her.

South of the border, the Obama administration has been embroiled in a controversy over the collection of thousands of Internet communications by Americans, under the guise of fighting terrorists. On Wednesday, documents were released by U.S. intelligence officials after a court ordered the National Security Agency to stop the practice of gathering information from Americans who have no connection to terrorism.

Concerning as well since Glen Beck broke the news that Obama and the IRS were targeting groups like the Tea Party and other radical groups that supported the constitution and putting unrealistic restrictions on them. That puts spying under the guise of terrorism into a whole new perspective. It is a violation of their oath of office to preserve and protect the constitution from all enemies both foreign and domestic.

Surrey man facing gun charges

The Surrey Leader is reporting that “a Surrey man is custody facing several charges related to the seizure of a cache of weapons. The 42-year-old was arrested on Aug. 21 at his home in the 10400-block of 140B Street.” Numerous firearms were seized including suppressors and body armor. Ten of the 11 guns seized had their serial numbers removed.

Although the man hasn’t been named yet since charges are pending, the accused, who is currently prohibited from possessing firearms for life, has previous convictions for a variety of property-related crimes, driving offences, drug offences, and firearms offences.

Kerri-On Update

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