My apologies to everyone for the light posting. My excuse is it's summer and I'm on vacation. I hope to resume regular posting after Labour Day.
You can read more about their fight at their site - Fighting for a School For Attawapiskat.
According to our federal Minister of Health [Globe & Mail, Clement's Insite attack leaves WHO red-faced]:“Allowing and/or encouraging people to inject heroin into their veins is not harm reduction, it is the opposite. … We believe it is a form of harm addition,” Tony Clement said Tuesday in Mexico City, where he is attending the XVII International AIDS Conference.
If it isn't already bad enough that Tony Clement contradicts reality, he then contradicts himself.
While the minister's views on Insite are well known, Mr. Clement repeated them Tuesday at an event where he was endorsing and promoting a new WHO “how-to” guide on battling the epidemic, which promotes needle exchange and safe injection sites. The Health Minister's comments left officials from the agency flummoxed and red-faced.
[H/T, Peterborough Politics]
Let's reiterate for the folks at home some of what Insite has done:
It would have been far better for him to stay home from the conference like Stephen Harper did when Toronto hosted last time. At least then we'd only be asking why he didn't show up.
Instead we're left to ask why he did show up.
The yellow exclamation mark means, for those unfamiliar:
Where are the "vision" ads, where are the "good government" ads, why can't this government seem to offer anything but attacks? Maybe, it's because the reality of this government, they don't really have anything to offer anybody, apart from vote driven policies, the entire new Conservative Party predicated on what they dislike, what they "hate", rather than what they stand for. It is really an indication of a party that really stands for nothing, it's mainly nothing more than a reactionary entity. In the end, negativity is all they have, Harper more suited for leader of the opposition, than leader of men. Run the ads, and reinforce your own shortcomings, it really does says more about the messenger than anything else.This is what the Globe & Mail calls a good thing.
It is true that Canada was under-represented at a recent special meeting of circumpolar nations, and that the Tories could usefully revive the office of circumpolar ambassador, but in the end it is hard to make a case that this government has in any serious way failed in terms of its Arctic policy. If this constitutes alarmism and paranoia on the part of the Conservative government, then hope for more of it from Ottawa.
Beyond asking the simple question of what actually is to be delivered toward this grand Arctic policy versus what was promised, the paper which the Globe criticizes indicates that a real Arctic policy is necessary, a policy that should include diplomacy, an international effort to build bridges, and strong northern development in addition to the expansion of Coast Guard and military capabilities in the region.
Anyone may criticize any government, past or present, for failing to develop an Arctic strategy in this regard, but it should be clear that none of this appears in the current government's Arctic strategy and the Conservative Party deserves no special praise.
The paper argues that an Arctic policy should not be centred around issues of sovereignty or developed under an imagined threat of invasion. If no other country puts a flag on the Arctic floor or claims an unwanted island, then you can be certain that the government will drop this current Arctic policy.
In fact, the paper says as much:
After all, a crisis mentality is more conducive to symbolic reactions and hollow commitments, designed to serve positive short-term optics rather than sustained investment in Canadian capabilities and northern development.
The Globe & Mail would do well to remember that it was a Conservative government that reneged on the last "defend the Arctic" plan - it too was born from alarmism and reactiveness.
I'm sure, though, that this time it's different.
Updated: Cleaned up the wording a little bit.
Look, it's another Liberal inside job to undermine the Conservative government's non-position on climate change.A major Health Canada report is warning of a jump in health problems across the country as the planet's climate changes, ranging from more heat-related illnesses and deaths to outbreaks of previously unknown infectious diseases.I, for one, am glad Tony Clement is on the job.
A 500-page report released Thursday urges the federal government to act immediately to gird the nation for an onslaught of climate change calamities.
"The findings of this assessment suggest the need for immediate action to buttress efforts to protect health from current climate hazards," it says.
The report forecasts more frequent heat waves will increase the number of heat-related illnesses and deaths and lead to more respiratory and cardiovascular disorders.
Speaking to reporters at the Conservative caucus retreat in the rural Quebec town of Levis, Health Minister Tony Clement said Canadians will "have to get used to" the gloomy scenario laid out in the report.Let's do nothing and just make sure everyone gets used to it. A pound of cure beats an ounce of prevention all the time.
"This report makes it clear that if you have bad health outcomes now, you're likely to be more impacted by extreme weather events than if you're at the top of the health ladder," he said.
