The Liberals record? Not much better. “I can’t answer the question about the former government, what their reasons were,” said Sajjan, also noting he does not believe any of the metadata inadvertently shared could have ended up in the hands of any countries beyond the Five Eyes. BREAKING: #CSE suspends #metadata sharing with int'l partners […]
Continue readingTag: Ottawa
Joe Fantauzzi: The Political Economy of The Sharing Economy
Introduction Today, getting a lift to the store is as easy as loading an application on a digital device and summoning a roving car to one’s door. It is fast, cheap and, many argue, less onerous than ownership. The so-called sharing economy is on the…
Continue readingTrashy's World: Harper is pandering to the victims of communism…
… in fighting tooth and nail to have it located in one of the most iconic spaces in the Parliamentary Precinct. That is obvious and typical Harper. And City Council thought they should have at least been consulted about this. After all, the proposed redevelopment of Tunney’s Pasture and the old Rockcliffe
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: The Establishment And Your Phone
In the good old days, Canada’s spy agencies were not supposed to spy on Canadians. Government departments are also supposed to benefit from their research into vulnerabilities in computer systems, because holes can be closed. CSE was, according to The CBC, and The Intercept, intentionally not filling holes it found
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Reflections on McChesney: Problematics of Media Self-Regulation
FULL DISCLOSURE: I worked as a mainstream news reporter between 2003 and 2012. News media goes where many cannot or will not. It infiltrates the halls of power, the courtrooms, protest sites, war zones and scenes of tragedy. It is, unquestionably, the source of much of the information used to
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Reflections on McChesney: Problematics of Media Self-Regulation
FULL DISCLOSURE: I worked as a mainstream news reporter between 2003 and 2012. News media goes where many cannot or will not. It infiltrates the halls of power, the courtrooms, protest sites, war zones and scenes of tragedy. It is, unquestionably, the source of much of the information used to
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Oh My
Monday morning CBC news with David Common led with the story of Elizabeth May’s failed PPG skit on Saturday. How’s that for perspective? These are the people who until last month had been considering not even letting the Green Party leader speak at the televised leaders’ debates, and now she’s
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Relocate Victims of Communism Memorial or Cancel Project
An online petition and prominent Canadian voices demand that the proposed Memorial to the Victims of Communism be relocated, or the project entirely. The post Relocate Victims of Communism Memorial or Cancel Project appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: C-51 Being Pushed by “Fascist” language
A former Mountie and CSIS operative thinks Harper’s so called anti-terrorism bill is scary and unnecessary. Mr. Lavigne, 55, left government in 1999, but follows intelligence news closely. He spent years tracking dangerous radicals without the powers the government wants to give to CSIS. “I find it a little convenient
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Hot Room Politics
Media in Ottawa are too busy eating each other alive to focus on the main course passing authoritarian Bill C-51. Glen McGregor takes the proposed Press Gallery changes apart. @pdmcleod fair enough, moneybags. New territory to me. What's a more apt description? — Jesse Brown (@JesseBrown) February 24, 2015 @laura_payton
Continue readingTrashy's World: Yet another rant about texting…
… and driving. So here I was last week, coming home from work along my usual route. I stopped at the Heron/Riverside lights and looked around me at the other vehicles. I really wasn’t to surprised to see that every one of the drivers were “heads-down”, furiously typing away or
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Parliament Should Go Solar
Following up on my 2010 blog post on solar for the White House, it takes almost 3 years to get solar added to a historic national building. That’s why we should all get started with pressing Parliament Hill’s renovation to include commercially available PV solar panels to the south facing
Continue readingdrive-by planet: RCMP backtracking on release of video by Ottawa shooter Zehaf-Bibeau reeks of political influence
After we were told the video made by Ottawa shooter Michael Zehaf-Bibeau would be made available to the public, the RCMP has changed its mind, or had it changed for them. RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson wasn’t exactly clear on the specifics. He said there may be a release of “some aspects of a transcript of the video”… whatever that means.
Given the terrorist narrative favored by the government and also by the police, how can the public be sure that ‘aspects of the transcript’ aren’t cherry picked to reenforce the preferred narrative. Surely the honest and transparent thing to do would be to release the video for the public to make its own judgment or alternatively release the entire transcript, rather than “aspects” of it. If as some claim, there are concerns about the video being exploited in some way for jihadi propaganda, the odds of that happening would be diminished considerably if a transcript was involved – cop out though that would still be – because there is no compelling reason to sit on the video.
There are any number of jihad-inspired videos in circulation that glorify jihad and attack the West… lots of audio-visual incentive out there for anyone influenced by such material. The release of Zehaf-Bibeau’s video – assuming it contains any such content – would not likely make a substantial difference one way or another.
In giving reasons for withholding the video, Paulson also made vague allusions to “some sort of court process.” But given what we know this doesn’t add up. Zehaf-Bibeau is dead and there were no known accomplices.
The decision to withhold the video seems to be more about political calculations. Perhaps Harper is concerned that the video’s contents might in some way influence public opinion about Canada’s involvement in the US-led war in the Middle East… part of the government’s deeply misguided foreign policy agenda.
There has been some debate in parliament about whether or not the term “terrorism” should be used in describing Zehaf-Bibeau’s actions. But from the outset it was clear that the government was dead set on labeling it a “terrorist attack” despite information about Zehaf-Bibeau’s past that indicate mental and emotional problems were a likely trigger.
Zehaf-Bibeau’s mother, Susan Bibeau, who presumably knew her son better than most, denied that he was a terrorist acting “on behalf of some grand ideology or for a political motive.” She said he felt “cornered” and “acted in despair.” She is also skeptical of the radicalization theory and said she believes “mental illness is at the center of this tragedy.”
According to a recent poll Susan Bibeau’s view is shared by a high percentage of Canadians … while 36% describe the shooting as a “terrorist attack” 38% believe mental illness played a part in it.
Although the Harper government has been careful not to appear to be chaffing at the bit to beef up enforcement powers in the wake of the attack… given the reactionary right-wing nature of this government you can be sure it wants to extract as much mileage as possible from the incident. The wheels are apparently in motion. On Monday a Commons committee passed Bill C-44 that hands additional powers to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). According to Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney, another bill is in the works that will boost law enforcement powers in the areas of surveillance, detention and arrest.
In the course of conjecturing out loud when and if the Zehaf-Bibeau video might see the light of day, RCMP chief Paulson wasn’t big on specifics… “I don’t know when it’s going to be released. It will certainly be released some day, but I would be a fool to say when it will be released.”
Continue readingdrive-by planet: RCMP backtracking on release of video by Ottawa shooter Zehaf-Bibeau reeks of political influence
After we were told the video made by Ottawa shooter Michael Zehaf-Bibeau would be made available to the public, the RCMP has changed its mind, or had it changed for them. RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson wasn’t exactly clear on the specifics. He said there may be a release of “some
Continue readingTrashy's World: Helping out Clifford Bowey PS…
… in the Aviva Fund competition. Hi all – PSA time: Clifford Bowey PS has moved into the Aviva Fund Semi-Finals! I like to think that our school community last year helped Vincent Massey win this competition – and a new playground! Please visit the site and register and VOTE
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Whether You Support Pipelines or Not, Here’s Something We Can Surely Agree On.
No secret I’m opposed to both Kinder Morgan and Northern Gateway. A sizeable majority of British Columbians are of the same mind but a significant minority supports the pipeline initiatives. In situations like this it can be helpful to seek out areas of agreement, common ground. Here’s an idea we
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Susan Bibeau: Ottawa shooter’s mother speaks
Susan Bibeau, the mother of Ottawa shooter Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, says her son was not a terrorist but “felt cornered” and “acted in despair.” The post Susan Bibeau: Ottawa shooter’s mother speaks appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Old Stone House – To Be Saved or Destroyed
There is an old stone house in what was once a rural area and now is within the Emerald Meadows portion of Bridlewood in Kanata. A few weeks ago I biked by it and noticed that, while still standing, it was surrounded by construction and all the doors and windows
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Old Stone House – To Be Saved or Destroyed
There is an old stone house in what was once a rural area and now is within the Emerald Meadows portion of Bridlewood in Kanata. A few weeks ago I biked by it and noticed that, while still standing, it was surrounded by construction and all the doors and windows
Continue reading