Flemming Holm's Blog

Finance Minister Flaherty has promised us tax cuts. The recent surplus, and projections for the future, make such a promise possible. And many people and corporations are happy. But we would prefer to see more compassionate and progressive use of the available funds.

We want the federal share of health care costs restored to former levels to make it possible to reduce waiting lists and provide everyone with a family doctor. We want to see equality in health care guaranteed – one system for all, no two tier system and no privatization. We want to see universal pharmacare, initially at least for preschoolers. As one newspaper columnist has said, our national health care plan is not broken; it is broke.

We want more emphasis on restorative justice and the prevention of crime.

We want to hear our political leaders inspiring and challenging a fairer distribution of income – there is no reason why any family should receive more than five times the income of any other family, particularly when there is so much poverty in Canada and throughout the world.

There is a growing poverty gap within our country and among the nations. We want to see it narrowed. And we want to see the stigma of poverty removed through the use of universal benefits.

We want more money spent on waging peace than on waging war.

We want to speed up the settlement of land claims and thus reduce the gap between the Native people and the majority, in order to promote justice and peace and to prevent the sacrifice of more lives, both Native and Caucasian.

We want government at all levels to take seriously the prospect of global warming and to begin preparation for the changes that are coming. We want the federal government to restore its support of home owners as they install solar and other modern forms of alternative heating. We want to see an end to the use of fossil fuels in all government buildings. We want the erection of homes on flood plains prohibited. We want a carbon tax imposed.

We want anti-viral medication made available to AIDS sufferers in Africa at cost or less. We want a recognition that clean drinking water is as much a human right as is clean air; to treat it as a commodity to be bought and sold by the wealthy and available only to those who can pay – that is triage and tantamount to genocide.

We want to see greater government assistance to university education, so as to provide the poor with equality of access to higher education.

We want to see affordable housing provided for the poor, and better provision for those who are homeless due to mental illness and similar disabilities.

Nearly sixty years ago Canada formally agreed that:

“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 23 (1)).

We want Canada to take the Universal Declaration seriously.

If cancelling the federal government’s tax cuts will make possible one or more of the above suggestions, we will gladly forego our share of the surplus.

Periodically, one hears of a survey being carried out, to determine which of the many nations of the world stand highest in the estimation of their own citizens. Time and again, we learn that the population of Canada rate their own country among the top ten, as one of the best places in the world for human habitation. We are happy to be living here and not in any of a hundred or more other countries.

What is there about this country that has earned the approval of approximately 80% of its citizens? We can cite a number of factors: scenery, climate, natural resources, freedom, democracy, peacefulness, etc. But there are other countries that share these blessings, and have not made it to the top ten.

It has been said that the success of a society can be measured by the way it treats its most vulnerable citizens. Generally, the nations that rise to the top in such surveys are those that have universal and equitable health care – conspicuously, the Scandinavian nations – and Canada.

It is also significant that in a recent survey Canadians named Tommy Douglas, “the father of medicare”, as the greatest Canadian of his century, despite a general reluctance to vote for the party which he led.

Recently however, Douglas’ legacy has been under attack.

I used to think democracy was firmly established in Canada.

After all, the Doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings was buried in 1649 when King Charles I lost his head, wasn’t it?

But now we hear that our Prime Minister and his staff have issued a handbook instructing committee chairmen how to manipulate Cabinet committees, prejudice the testimony they hear, disrupt their proceedings, make them irrelevant and even do away with the committee meetings altogether.

By so doing they are subverting our hard-won democracy.

Next thing we know, will King Steve be marching his troops into the Commons to arrest the Opposition? It’s been done before, but not for a few hundred years.

A minority government can only act with some support from other parties, and not as if it had a majority.

Dear Prime Minister:

I must have been asleep at the switch – or wherever I was at the time – to have missed Silver Donald Cameron’s article in the NovaScotian on July 30. But the letters in today’s Chronicle Herald have raised my blood pressure and disturbed my Canadian soul to its roots. And then today my son, who is visiting from Toronto, and reads other newspapers, expressed extreme pessimism concerning Canadian sovereignty because of the “Security and Prosperity Partnership” and similar agreements. How despicable of the Federal Government, and of those who pull its strings, to schedule its ratification in the middle of vacation season, particularly when there has been no debate in Parliament on the subject and the public is largely ignorant of its existence. What would John A. Macdonald say?

Recently one of my relatives in Denmark wrote me concerning Canada’s position on Hans Island; he couldn’t understand how we could oppose Denmark’s claim to sovereignty of the island. So I wrote him about it, and I am enclosing a translation of my letter. Anyone who knows anything about the reasons for building the CPR will understand what I am saying.

The US is using security (and 9/11) as an excuse for empire building. It is a wonderful country, with many good qualities and ideals. But it is more and more being ruled by Big Business – economic imperialism – government has to support its business interests abroad, if it is to be reelected – a subversion of democracy. This is a feature of capitalism, not necessarily a policy of government. “Government of the people, by the people and for the people” must not be allowed to perish in our country. I am happy that we in Canada have put caps on individual and corporate political donations. Let us not circumvent such safeguards. There are other ways of securing peace than by subverting our democracy and letting the business interests of another country control us. Giving in to the US in this matter will ensure that our water supply and our public health system will be privatized and that American controlled business will reap the benefits. (I am all for supporting other countries, but let it be the poorer nations – not the wealthiest.)

Enough of my tirade for this time. I will find other excuses for writing you another time. (Blessings on Silver Donald Cameron, Harry Bruce and Ralph Surrette! They speak truth to power!)

I understand that the Palestinian people are suffering enormous deprivation partly because the international embargo is crippling their economy.

It is bad enough that Israel is taking over much of the most valuable Palestinian property through the illegal “settlements”, is preventing the Palestinians from taking advantage of employment opportunities by building walls, and is lowering the water level in the Jordan by its industrial enterprises. While all this is going on, the governments of the world have cut off financial support to the Palestinian Authority, so that the Authority has not been able to pay its employees their salaries, garbage has been piling up in the streets of Gaza, and other normal government services are disrupted.

In the meantime the Western nations continue their support of Israel, put the blame for unrest on the Palestinians and call on them to cease their violence.

It is not surprising that some of the Palestinian people give way to anger, that mobs lash out at perceived enemies, that blood flows and bombs explode, and peace becomes elusive in the Near East.

I would urge the Canadian Government to resume its financial support of the Unity Government and to use its diplomatic clout to persuade Israel to treat the Palestinians fairly.

From the time of Joshua – about 1300 B.C. – to about 135 A.D. (some 1400 years later), the Hebrew people were predominant in the land. From Roman times until about a century ago (some 1900 years) the ancestors of the present Palestinians were predominant. On the basis of this view of history, then, each party has a long standing claim to the land – perhaps an equal claim. But some Jews, and some Christians, would hold that the biblical position of “ Chosen People” extends to the present time, entitles Israel to be pre-eminent today and excused from treating the Palestinians fairly. And some would even say that the sooner Armageddon breaks out the sooner Christ will return – so, bring on the Third World War!

In 1917 the British Government, as the occupying power, and under the pressure of the War, issued the Balfour Declaration, stating that the Jewish people had a right to return to the Holy Land and live there. Since there were many Jews living in Western Europe and in America, the Declaration received much approval and support in those parts of the world. And certainly the suffering of the Jews at the hands of “Christian” people through many centuries (culminating in the Holocaust) made the establishment of a Jewish homeland all the more appropriate. But apparently those whose ancestors had occupied the area for many centuries were not consulted.

I am not saying that Zionism is wrong. I am saying that the Palestinians have suffered much because of Zionism, and that they also have rights to the land. And I am saying that if we expect them to respect the rights of the Jews and to keep the peace, then we must also expect Israel to observe the same high principles. And Canada too must be even handed in its approach to the two parties.

The Hon. Peter MacKay,

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Government of Canada

Ottawa, ON.

Dear Peter MacKay:

I have heard on reliable authority that since 2001 more than 800 social activists in the Philippines have been assassinated in waves of state-sponsored terrorism. Most of these were human rights workers, clergy, lawyers, journalists and labour leaders who had dedicated their lives to the betterment of society. The country is much the poorer for the loss.

Myanmar has also been in the news again, with reports of similar oppression. And Zimbabwe is in a state of chronic disaster and growing chaos and poverty.

I realize that Canada’s power to effect change in such societies is limited. But there are ways in which we can exert an influence, along with other nations of good will. I remember hearing Wendell Willkie, during the American presidential campaign of 1940, saying that this was “one world”. Many people in later years have reiterated those words. The more peace and justice exist even in countries in distant parts of the globe, the stronger is the basis for peace and prosperity everywhere – including Canada.

Please make every possible effort to assist in the development of stable democracy in such lands.

While I have your attention, let me say that we have in our present Governor General an excellent ambassador to send abroad, particularly to the developing countries of Africa and Asia. With her personality, accomplishments and background, and with what she represents, she brings hope and encourages democracy wherever she goes.

With good wishes for success in your work,

The Hon. Jim Prentice,
Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development,
House of Commons, Ottawa.

Dear Mr. Prentice:

I understand that your Department has begun to search archival records for information concerning deaths of students at residential schools. This is a positive move. It is long overdue, although I can well understand that the government has been reluctant to move quickly to further open this can of worms. Many people are still bleeding over the loss of loved ones and they must be given every possible piece of information concerning their tragedy, and every opportunity for closure. Congratulations on taking this courageous step.

I happened to be listening to CPAC this afternoon, and was deeply moved by the speech in the House by the member for Temiscaming detailing the sufferings of the Native people, especially in relation to the residential schools. He said nothing that I hadn’t heard before, but to hear it gathered in one speech, and with such passion was a moving experience.

It is most gratifying to learn of the positions taken by the churches, and of their willingness to apologize to the First Nations for this and other injustices committed over the years. We of the majority population must continue to explore the nature of those injustices and their effects on the Native peoples, in order that we may continue to make appropriate reparations and guarantee equality of opportunity for all.

It is difficult to understand the reluctance of the Government to issue a national apology to the First Nations for its share of the responsibility in the tragedies at the Residential Schools. But now the decision has been made, and I congratulate you on your initiative. Of course the apology must be carefully worded. But Canada has had many years to prepare such a wording, and it is high time that this action be taken.

Two other matters. Periodically there is an outbreak of racial unrest, and even of violence, with resulting bloodshed and heavy expenditure. If, years ago, we had taken seriously our duty to settle land claims, I am sure we could have saved scores of lives and million of dollars. It is not too late to take action along these lines, and so prevent further unrest.

And we sometimes hear that (perhaps because of The Indian Act) the Native people do not have the same human rights protection as other minorities. This matter should be studied, and, if possible, rectified as soon as possible.

Keep up the good work.

Dear Gerald Keddy, M.P.,

My income consists totally of pension payments, and has always been modest. But I fully expect that if Canada is to deal adequately with its environmental problems the action will cost me at least a thousand dollars per year. And if Canada does not deal adequately with those problems, it will cost me several thousand per year – and my grandson will lose even more in his lifetime. So I expect to pay, while there still is time. And I expect that, in all fairness, the wealthy, who have benefited more than I from our misuse of the environment, will bear even more of the burden. And many of the large corporations will also have to suffer. Let us not pretend that there will be no dislocations in our economy.

We can expect flooding – as well as other catastrophes. Every harbour, every seaport town, every beach, every flood plain will suffer extensive rearrangement. Some changes may be beneficial, but the transition will be painful and costly. The whole nation will bear the burden, and unless we take drastic steps, will suffer unevenly. As in New Orleans, the poor, who can least afford it, will suffer most. The wealthy already tend to live on the hills, so are relatively immune from the worst disasters.

We cannot wait 50 years. We cannot wait 5 years. We must take action in 2007, so as to get results in 2008. The question is not whether we can afford to take drastic action. We cannot afford not to take such action. What we need is not a toothless bill, such as the original C-30, but one that will result in the use of alternate sources of power and in penalties for corporations that pollute. Let’s have a carbon tax, or the equivalent. Restore subsidies for installation of solar panels and windmills on private homes, apartment buildings and businesses. Governments must tighten controls on new buildings to make sure they are energy efficient, and prohibit building on flood plains.

Freely debate the amendments proposed by the opposition parties; allow adequate time for debate, and do it as soon as possible. Accept proposals for change, and do not play politics with this issue. There is no time for games or blaming. Come to agreement quickly so that we can get moving and be prepared for the future. Let it not be said that we did too little and that we did it too late.

Yours for a bright future. Yours for A future!!

I object to the federal government cuts to grants to women’s and social programs. Many people in our society need a hand let down from above before they can stand on their own feet and take their places as contributing members of society. In the past election more than 60% of the electors voted for parties to the left of yours. The Conservative Party did not win the election; the Liberal Party lost it because of the sponsorship scandals. You do not have a mandate to govern as if you had a majority government.

The Hon. Monte Solberg,
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Government of Canada.

Dear Monte Solberg:

Just in case you missed it, I am enclosing a copy of a recent article published in the November issue of The United Church Observer, in support of those members of the United States Armed Forces who have taken refuge in Canada.

Many of them joined the Forces under the mistaken impression that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was connected to the 9/11 attack on New York. Or they thought they were recruited only to provide humanitarian aid and assist in reconstruction following natural disasters or to defend against invasion by foreign powers. It has been said that in any war the first casualty is truth. In this case the American Government flagrantly contributed to the demise of truth, and as the truth has dawned on these military people they have found themselves in an untenable position, where they are expected to murder the innocent. How many more such members of the Armed Forces have given in to military commands, and so are suffering pangs of conscience and debilitating mental stress as they follow orders to kill? And how many innocent civilians have been massacred in recent years because of those orders?

Canada must do the right thing!

I realize that if every person who comes to Canada seeking refugee status were to be successful in his quest, our present balance in countries of origin would be seriously affected and we would be letting in some criminals or potential criminals. But because our refugee panels consist of only one person and there is no appeal, these panels are the only courts in Canada that can send an appellant to his death on the decision of one person. I am sure that hundreds – perhaps thousands – of would-be Canadians have been sent to their deaths by such panels.

Yours for a more compassionate Canada.