A standard bankruptcy with 14,000 high tech employees in Ottawa out of work at basically the same time as the global recession hit in 2009.
This area was devastated and finding a job in high-tech today is almost impossible.
Did the ROC know about this devastation I wonder?
Going to be an interesting couple of days for me. Last week I put together a claim that was woven like a law school exam, and I based a key part of it on a fairly recent case. That left me thinking “Wouldn’t it be nice if a prof from my alma mater a thousand miles away would magically appear and explain it all to me.”
Imagine my surprise when for the first time I checked the agenda for a conference I’m attending here in town tomorrow. Yup. A prof from my alma mater a thousand miles is flying in on Thursday to give a talk on the very issue that I’ve been working on. You know, it’s better to be lucky than to be good, and I’m one lucky son of a bitch.
Anyway, what would be of interest to you folks is a talk being given by another fellow on on Friday. Here’s a link to his reporton why it is so difficult to get First Nations people to serve on juries (that’s an issue that flared up here about three years ago). It’s a long read, but it provides a great deal of insight not only into how, but also as to why, many First Nations people simply don’t relate to our legal system.
Have a careful read through it. If you are part of the white majority, parts will make you grind your teeth and grumble that there should be one law for all, that First Nations people are sucking and blowing at the same time to complain about being under-represented on juries while at the same time refusing to provide jury lists and not showing up for juries, and that there is a very nasty pattern of blaming the white culture for absolutely everything. But if you are willing to suspend your disbelief and try to put yourself in the shoes of the First Nations people, parts will help you understand their often quite sound reasoning behind both the First Nations jury problem in particular, and the Canadian legal system in general, such that by the end of the report, there’s a good chance that what once was black and white to you is now a bit more grey, albeit flecked with pepper and salt, leaving you thinking “Holy sweet mother of god, what a fucking abscess,” for it gives insights into a clash of cultures that you might not otherwise come across unless you share a community with First Nations people. Although the report may not sway your opinion on any particular issue, you might find that it helps you better understand those who have differing opinions, and thereby helps promote tolerance, communication and perhaps respect, despite the obvious severe conflicts.
Can’t speak for the ROC, but in even here in the middle of nowhere we knew about it. BTW, the big trial concerning Nortel’s employees’ pensions is just about over.
I don’t need to read it to know that the aboriginal situation in Canada is extremely grey, neither side is completely right or completely wrong, and we’re getting absolutely nowhere pretending it’s better than it actually is.
Quite frankly, it’s fair to say many sides are wrong, and everyone is worse off for it. It’s the most frustratingly intractable disaster of human misery one could imagine.
I’m Canadian… Hey! Saskatchahoovians don’t have horns! Usually!
Too funny. Welcome back.
I missed you.
BC asshole gets busted throwing his garbage out his car window. Isn’t BC supposed to be full of people who are all green and caring about the environment and not letting horrible dirty pipelines go through their pristine province and stuff?
Not to judge my downstairs neighbours. Last night they had a barbeque again, this time I think with pork chops. Butcher paper, bones, corn on the cob, beer and pop cans… general clutter all over the back yard. And more raccoon poop on my stoop. Nice guys, all of them, but I am afraid I am going to go full on “mommy said clean up” on them.
Plus there are three junk cars in 4 parking spots. One should probably be my spot. And it is Yom Kippur, and I live on the same block as a Synagougue and today I cannot get a place to park for three blocks. This is the first time it has happened…although things were dicey on Rosh Hashanah.
Air Canada’s rules on musical instruments on airplanes. Good and arbitrary, just the way we like 'em!
Nothing brought that point home to me more than attending one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission events. My Comd was invited to speak, so I was there in case things went pear-shaped (I guess that makes me ‘The Muscle’?).
There are no easy solutions to help the decimated Aboriginal culture and people, coming from Winnipeg, you get a lot of first-hand appreciation of the issues, but no answers. I wish more Chiefs would step up like Chief Clarence Louie.
I’m home from work early today and am watching CPAC; they’re debating Canada’s military involvement in Iraq, specifically with air support and refueling capabilities.
What’s your opinion? Should Canada be sending in 6 CF18s to conduct air strikes against ISIL and 2 Polaris refueling planes?
A friendly nation is begging us for help in stopping an invasion of murderers and war criminals. I can think of few justifications for war but this might be the most justifiable one of my lifetime.
I’ve taken musical instruments on aircraft before. My flute tends to fit in my carry-on (though security always takes it out and looks at it–I’ve learned that they will want to look at metal tubes with “machinery” on the side), and I delivered a violin for a friend once (it counted as carry-on).
I understand that larger instruments must be checked, unless you’ve bought them their own seat. I couldn’t get the video running–can you give a rundown of what’s changed?
Meh. I lived for years around the corner from a Catholic church in Toronto. Around Christmas and Easter, I ended up parking three blocks away–I simply could not get in my driveway, the way they were parked. Narrow street, on-street parking, too many cars.
After midnight on Christmas Eve, when they all cleared out, I could manage. But it wasn’t much fun waiting until after midnight to walk three blocks and move my car. Forget Easter, they were in church all day, it seemed.
Driving on Yom Kippur? Tut tut (at the congregation). 
If you want real excitement, try taking half-size pastels through Israeli customs. 
What I discovered (the hard way): half-size pastels, having metalic pigments, show up strongly on x-ray machines; and they are about the same appearance and size as bullets.
As for the video, it is poking fun at the arbitrariness of the new policy, which is here:
Remember that pot-smoking mounty? Well, he’s deadJim.
It’s basically a satire, poking fun at how arbitrary the Air Canada musical instrument rules are (a violin is okay, a fiddle is not, etc.), and how their workers have bad attitudes.