Out of Tragedy Comes…

This is a sad story. I feel very sorry for the family and friends of Jeff Draper, and for the engaged couple whose wedding was the impetus for the tragic bachelor party.

Jeff Draper loved being the host.

It was no different Saturday when the 28-year-old Kinburn man planned a bachelor party for a friend: a day of golf, a home-cooked meal and a night out in the city.

However, the party ended in tragedy when an ATV that Draper was driving hit the back of a riding lawnmower during the early hours of Sunday.

A little more than one day later, Draper died in hospital from head injuries.

Unfortunately, the sudden loss of a young man, clearly adored by his loved ones, is threatening a tragic result for another young man:

Police arrested the man who was allegedly driving the lawnmower. Brian Miller, 26, of Pakenham is charged with impaired driving and driving over the legal alcohol limit. He is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 25.

When I read that a Saturday night bachelor party turned into an early Sunday morning ATV accident, I figured alcohol was involved.  It could well be that the driver of the lawnmower was at fault, and, thus, caused the death of his friend, but in what world do we live where this results in criminal charges?  The man was not driving a car, and he was on private property.  Both the victim and the “perpetrator” were willing participants and, likely, both are responsible for whatever outcome occurred.  But not all tragedies equate to crimes.

I realize, as a society, we have become obsessed with drunk driving, often implementing ill-advised, reactionary laws, but, eventually, we really must stop.  I would imagine Mr. Miller is hurting enough.  Let’s call off the witchhunt.

On the Census, School Choice and Social Engineers

I’m sure everyone has been, by now, fully inundated with the census debate.  The idea of a voluntary long form is pretty dumb… almost as dumb as citizens being threatened with fines or imprisonment for not bending to the whims of politicians and bureacrats.  Anyway, I want to address the issue of the census as a means for social engineers to control our lives, and, thus, that doing away with the census fights back against this grave menace.

Look, the argument is bunk.  How many people actually think that these “social engineers” will stop if they have no census data?  Do we really think that the politicians, activists and bureaucrats who are trying to run our lives will just give up their mission if they don’t have acurate statistics?  If North America’s social engineers were that concerned with data, every jurisdiction would have some form of school choice by now, and we’d be rid of the tyranny of teachers unions.

So sure, let’s ditch the long form census; it’s offensively intrusive, but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that this will actually strike a blow againts interventionist goverment.

(P.S. I’m not suggesting that only left wing politicians are guilty of ignoring data; politicians of every stripe ignore, use and abuse data as it suits them.  A pox on all their houses.)

Dropping key standards for the Cyclones

Perhaps military personnel can set me straight on how leaving out key standards is a good thing, but right now this decision seems remarkably short-sighted.

OTTAWA is dropping key performance standards for navy helicopters due this fall in return for the manufacturer’s promise to guarantee another $80 million in work for Canadian aerospace companies over the next two decades.

The revised deal… means the first six Cyclone choppers that fly from frigates in November won’t be required to have a system allowing some encrypted tactical information to be exchanged between ships and helicopters. [...]

The helicopters will also no longer have to pass an endurance test for flying in warmer temperatures nor a test that requires one engine to keep going if a second engine fails in higher temperatures.

HIV-AIDS on the rise in Canada

The 36% of new infections among heterosexuals, the 44% of new infections among “men who have sex with men,” i.e. gays, and the 17% of new infections among intravenous drug users have nothing whatsoever to do with choice and the shirking of personal responsibility. No n-no no no. They were caused by “inequities of race, ethnic group, gender, sexual orientation and immigration status.”

Glad to have cleared that up for you.

Book’em Dano…

Then “book” them. No? Lucky bastards, and the tragedy is, they probably don’t understand why.

So the Toronto Police has managed, with overwhelming public support, to identify, locate and arrest 7 more criminals from the G20 Most Wanted List. They have assured the public that the search continues, and they will eventually track down and arrest everyone they are looking for.

So, the newly added names as of July 19th are:

Six men and a male youth are facing mischief charges in connection with property damage inflicting during G20 Summit protests last month….

…Andrew Loughrin, 23, of Toronto, Michael Corbett, 29, of Toronto, Brian O’Handley, 19, of Toronto and Robert Kainola, 24, of Toronto are each facing mischief charges.

Kurt Roarco, 22, of no fixed address is facing a mischief charge, an arson charge and failing to comply with probation.

Jeffrey Delaney, 23, of Toronto is facing a mischief charge and an attempted theft charge.

Of course, under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, anyone under the age of 18 can’t be named, hence the “youth”. Maybe I’m wrong, but if he/she is old enough to decide to take those kinds of actions on their own, they’re certainly “old enough” to deal with the publicity. They certainly weren’t shy about getting out in front of Toronto and the world and making asses of themselves.

This was in addition to arrests made on July 16th:

Police said Friday they have laid charges of assault, mischief and theft over $5,000 against Cody Caplette, 21, and Phillip Lee, 28. Both men are Toronto residents

And earlier:

Peter Hopperton is one of about 20 people identified as part of a police investigation into activities of people planning violent G20 action.

Police allege Hopperton is a member of the Southern Ontario Anarchist Resistance.

William Vandreil also got bail today, with his set at $50,000.

As well as this:

A man caught on tape damaging a police car was arrested July 14 after turning himself into police with his lawyer. He was one of six people identified after images of vandals were released on July 7. Three were identified within 12 hours.

Ashran Ravindhraj, 25, of Toronto, was charged with arson and two counts of mischief over $5,000 in relation to damage done to a police scout car on June 25.

I don’t know if these thugs truly appreciate how lucky they are that we live in a country that respects the rule of law, even if they do not. They are safe in our jails, they are safe from the public, and they are safe from vigilantes.

Now, I’m sure that in the days ahead we will hear all sorts of weepy, tear-jerking stories about how hard of a life these guys had. The “hug-a-thug” crowd will try to make a case that their anger and violent behaviour is actually the fault of society insofar that society as a whole has failed them and didn’t provide them with sufficient opportunity blah blah blah….pardon me while I puke.

Too harsh? I don’t think so. In fact, I think that’s part of the problem.

Too often we (the afore mentioned “society”), do not speak out hard or loud enough to condemn this kind of behaviour and give quarter and sufferance to those who would seek to place the blame anywhere but upon the shoulders of the individuals who made the choice to take the violent route, knowing full well that such behaviour is wrong. They’re not 2 year old infants who haven’t developed the reasoning skills necessary to determine the difference between right and wrong.

I’m all for throwing the book at them. Charge them, and if found guilty, punish them to the full extent of the law. The message needs to be sent loud and clear across the land: This kind of behaviour is unacceptable in this country, and those who engage in such lawless activities will face the full force of our justice system.

Contrary to popular belief (albeit with good reason through demonstration in recent history), our Justice System actually does have teeth. Unfortunately, thanks to the hug-a-thug loons out there, it’s considered uncivilized for it to bear it’s teeth and take a bite out of crime. No no no, we can’t have our justice system feared! How déclassé! To think that there are those who believe that criminals and deviants should fear the consequences of their actions! How barbaric! No no, let us take them into our arms, show them that they are loved and have value…[end sarc]… good lord, I think I’m going to puke again.

There is right, and there is wrong. Sure there’s shades of grey, but really, grey is still dirtier than white. There are also consequences for actions. These, dare I say men, knew that they were acting in the wrong and they need to know those consequences. I can’t dream of any excuse for what they and others did that day other than a desire to be violent.

I’m disgusted by their actions, nearly to the point of physical illness. And I’m not alone.

Maybe it just needs a jump-start…

Isn’t that supposed to be what this “Tour” was all about? Giving the Liberal Party a jump-start? I hate to be the one to say it, but when the patient is dead, no amount of power will get the body going again.

And really? What is it with Liberals and transportation?

Shall we review current and past events?

In what appears to be hilarious irony, The Liberal Express breaks down within the first hour of setting off on what the Liberals have been touting as the largest event a Leader of the Official Opposition has ever undertaken. Given their current polling numbers…..quite apropos.

In other transportation news, an oil tanker has lost some of it’s load, up to 200 tonnes it’s said, in the St Lawrence seaway. How is this related to Liberal Transportation you ask? The ship was part of the Canada Steamship Lines fleet. For those of you who’s ears don’t recognize the name, this is the fleet that is registered in the Bahamas and belongs to the family of Paul Martin. For shame! I fully expect the Liberals to be as vocal about environmental damage as they have been in other situations.

Then, under the “Head in the Sand (Ash?) Dept.”, several Liberal MP’s were “stranded” in Newfoundland back in April when the Airport decided to cancel morning flights as ash from Iceland’s Eyjafjoell volcano was predicted to arrive. They began to cover their tracks by suggesting there was a conspiracy involved. It was found out that in light of the planned cancellations, additional earlier flights were provided. Tsk tsk tsk.

In 2008, then Leader of the Official Opposition Stephane Dion had a little trouble with transportation. It seems the Liberals were unprepared for an election they were so busy preparing for. When the time came, poor Mr. Dion was unable to acquire a plane to bring him around the country. When he was finally able to get one from Air Inuit, it turned out to be a massive gas guzzler that cost the party between $18,000 and $20,000 an hour to fly, and was 35 per cent less efficient than the Conservative and NDP planes. To top it all off, this was the launch of the Green Tax Tour.

Maybe it (LPC) just needs a jump-start?

More likey, it just needs a casket.

Yoga: the latest victim of copyright madness

Yoga moves are patented.

Is the wind blowing that way now?

With Quebec struggling through reasonable accomodation issues in order to preserve their heritage, France has just voted 335 to 1 on a total ban on of face-covering veils in public spaces.

Similar laws are pending in Belgium, Spain and some Italian municipalities.

Is this the way the wind is beginning to blow in Western Societies? I’m both encouraged and dismayed if this is true. Not specifically about the veils, but rather by the attitudes behind it.

As far as being encouraged goes, I’m pleased to see countries and societies standing up for their own way of life and culture and protecting it from being trampled over by the stampede of Cultural (Reasonable) Accommodation.  I’ve previously discussed this issue in other aspects here, and here.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The reason why so many people want to come to Canada is because it was such a wonderful, stable, and respectful country. We had clear values and respect for one another’s differences. What brought us to that status was a legacy inherited from Britain and France of a predominately Christian philosophy and a structured but flexible legal system based on basic Christian values.

Just as Quebec and France and other countries have been trying to do, I agree that if faced with protecting my culture (which is what has made Canada for example, a wonderful place to live and why people want to come here) that there should be conditions upon migrating to my country.

Foremost, I want to ensure that migrants understand that when they come to Canada, it is to pursue a better life in a Canadian manner, not to seek to rebuild the country in an image of how they would have rather seen their country of origin under those cultural rules.

Increasingly, other countries are saying ‘We are not some place to be considered a tolerant blank-slate-state that you can come in and change to suit your own beliefs’.

I say that there is nothing wrong with this.

I appreciate the differences that other cultures and individuals bring with them, but I recognize that not all of it can, or should be tolerated in Canada. (see Sharia Law, Honor “Crimes”,  etc). Those things are not Canadian and have no place in Canadian Society or Culture. Time and again, I’ve seen other countries stomp on those who say “In my country…” with an immediate and sometimes hostile “You are not in your country!”.

Why are we in Western Societies so afraid to do the same? Is this some form of White Guilt/Wealth Guilt/Survivor Guilt etc? Are we so ashamed of our own cultures and ways of life that we are unwilling as citizens to stand up and defend it?

And why should I be dismayed by this? Frankly, I’m dismayed that there is only a small handful of countries getting on board with protecting themselves and their own ways of life and culture from outside influences.

Personally, I’m willing to say “This is my country and my way of life and my home. If you choose to come to live in my house, there are different rules you’ll have to live by. If that’s unacceptable to you, then I respectfully suggest you find someplace else more to your liking.”

And there’s nothing wrong with that.

No free lunch yet for Federal engineers

Engineers working for the federal government want more freebies but the government is holding strong against a Federal Court ruling that insists the tax-payer gets shafted. We would not want these poor engineers to do without:

The union urges engineers to pay their fees — even though the federal government doesn’t require them to be registered — or they will be unable to work as engineers if they leave the public service.

now, would we?

On Meeting Her Majesty and His Royal Higness

Let me first start by saying that the reality of having met Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh has yet to fully be absorbed. I’m still in awe of having been formally presented to the Queen and her husband as a representative of Canada.

Many people have lists of things they would like to achieve or do in their lifetimes, more commonly known recently as a Bucket List. Most people include things that they’re fully aware may only ever have a remote chance of happening. For me, meeting Her Majesty was one of those remote happenings. Now, thanks to my political activism and dedication through the opportunities provided to me, I have achieved exactly that. And I couldn’t be more thrilled about it.

The evening itself however, endured a dubious start. A transformer in the downtown core of Toronto chose that evening to fail, and the entire downtown core fell into darkness. This included the Fairmont Royal York Hotel where Her Majesty’s Reception and Dinner were to take place. Traffic was a nightmare when combined with those converging on the Royal York to hopefully catch a glance of the Royal Tour and no traffic signals to control the flows. Inside the hotel, with 38 degree weather outside, the temperatures began to rise without air-conditioning and the Salon in which the Reception was taking place was dimly lit by emergency lighting. Whether it was due to the excitement of the event, or because of a kind of patience and understanding inherent in Canadians, everyone took it in stride and when the power was finally restored, there was simply a sigh of relief and a smattering of applause as the lights came on and the groan of the air-conditioners began.

It was during the Reception that I had the fortune to meet up with fellow Blogging Torries Roy Eapen of Dr. Roy’s Thoughts, Steve Laikos of Officially Screwed, and Matt MacGuire of A Step To The Right.

I was also pleased to meet Mark Dotzert, Kara Johnson and Simon Chapelle of our National Council, Senator Mike Duffy, Olympic Champion Jennifer Heil, Ministers Jason Kenney, Rob Moore and Rona Ambrose and many others of whom I had either known before or had the privilege of meeting for the first time.

I was delighted when I learned that we would be individually presented to the Queen, His Royal Highness, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his wife Laureen Harper. When my name was announced, I’m sure the pleasure I was experiencing was evident on my face, but I also know that I wasn’t alone. Each of them offered their hand which I took in amazement. This was an honour to which there can hardly be any comparison. As with all moments of staggering importance, it was over far too quickly and seemed a bit of a blur, but it was time to be ushered to my table by a charming and engaging woman with the Royal Tour.

I knew one person at my table, Steve Laikos, who I had met briefly at the National Convention, but everyone at the table was charming and talkative. When the Queen was announced, the room thundered with applause that seemed more than what a room of 350 people could manage. There were a few speeches, a presentation of a new addition to the Hockey Hall of Fame in honour of a previous visit by the Queen and an address by Her Majesty as well. The applause during her entrance was humbled by the sound when Prime Minister Harper announced that Canadians were particularly looking forward to Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 by which time she’ll have served as Queen of Canada for 60 years!

At somewhere around what I believe was 10pm, the Queen gracefully retired for the evening after a wonderful performance by The Canadian Tenors and proceedings were brought to a close. Many people stayed for a time visiting with one another and discussing the privilege of the evening we all shared while taking a few pictures for posterity.

It was a singular event of magic and elegance; everything an evening with the Queen aught to be, and it is a night I will never forget!

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