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POPSCanada kowtowing to U.S. Border Intimidation The U.S. has apparently intimidated Canada into banning people from crossing into their country if they appear on a list showing they are political activists or protesters. I could not effectively clip this lengthy first person report, but I urge you to read it in its entirety.
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POPSAn Embarrassed Canadian/American
As an American living in Canada, I am embarrassed by both of my countries for working in such an obstructionist fashion to sabotage the climate change conferences they attend. While it is true the former Liberal government made a lot of promises it did not keep, nor was it able to meet its Kyoto commitments, at least they recognized the problem. Finally, when Stephane Dion was made the minister of the environment, he started to do some marvelous work, but the government fell soon thereafter, not really giving him the time to make a difference and to get his plans in place. All that time, the Conservatives in opposition voted down every environmental bill, and referred to the Kyoto protocol as a "Socialist plot." Of course, now that the Canadian public has caught on to this issue, they are pretending to care while the constantly point to the Liberal's inaction rather than actually taking action to work with other countries to get plans moving. What a shame and a fraud.
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POPSIndependent study validates Canada's medicare program With all the shouting in the U.S. as to how the Canadian system is so totally inferior than the fee based system at home, it is nice to occasionally find an article such as this to clip. As someone who has lived under both systems, and who makes major use of heathcare services, I can tell you without any hesitation, that the Canadian system is far fairer and superior to the discriminatory system in my home country, the U.S.
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POPSWe’ll Marry Each Other as Often as Needed I wish I could have clipped the entire article. So I just included as much as I could. I urge you to read the entire piece, as it is absolutely beautiful, humourous, touching and honest. It is entirely apropos at this time, as next week, August 31, my partner Arnold and I are getting legally married here in our home city of Montreal. Same-sex marriage became legal in Canada in 2005. We waited until this year, because Sept 10th shall mark the 25th anniversary of our original unification ceremony we celebrated in Boston in 1983. What better way to renew our vows than to do so while finally getting married legally, in a country that recognizes and honours our relationship?
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POPSCanada Celebrates 40 years of Gay Rights Activism I am so proud to live in a country that has come so far in such a relatively brief period of time. Only 40 years ago consenting gay adults could be thrown in prison for engaging in sexual relations. Now we actually have same-sex marriage as the law of the land. Will our neighbours to the north ever lean the lesson that gays are people too?
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POPSSome Canadian Schools Wanna Sell Soap Does your child wanna go to MacDonald's Fun Meal High? Or perhaps Walmart's Smart Price Middle School? What kind of thinking is taking place in Ottawa these days? Public educational institutions should not be turned into gigantic commercial billboards for the sake of raising funds. Come on folks in Ottawa-Carleton, come up with something more sensible and realistic. Creativity is one thing, but this kind of thinking is just plain crass.
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POPSThe Conservtive Gov't of Canada is imitating the Bushies Canada has always been far more democratic than the U.S. when it concerns access to information and transparency in government. Not perfect, for sure, but terrific compared to some of the tricks used in my home country of the U.S. But since the Conservative government, which is essentially made up of remnants of the failed Reform Party, has come to power, they have done everything in their power to imitate the machinations of the Bush administration and its policies of secrecy and outright lying. This article explains how they have now, without any notice whatsoever, closed down the access to information database that is used by journalists and the public to track the goings on in government. Canada must dump Stephen Harper and his gang of regressive assholes, and bring back transparency in government before the entire system turns into a carbon copy of the Bush administration. Harper has said his political hero is George W. Bush.
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POPSToo Bad Canadians Can't Vote in the U.S. It seems that if Canadians had the opportunity to vote in the United States, there would be no need for the Republicans to waste their money on running a candidate in the upcoming presidential election. The Democrats would have a landslide victory no matter which Democrat wins the nomination. As an American living in Canada, I vote in every election via absentee ballot. Maybe I could send for a whole slew of them. Nah! That's too much like what a Republican would try to get away with. :-)
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POPSCanada's Loonie Flies Canada loves its Loonie. Replacing the one dollar bill was such a popular move with most Canadians that a couple years later the government replaced the two dollar bill with a new coin called the Toonie. The U.S. has tried on several occasions to interest citizens in using a one dollar coin, but their mistake is that the never discontinue the dollar bill in the process. Canada stopped printing one and two dollar bills at the same time they released each coin respectively. It worked like a charm, and the two coins are enormously popular with the Canadian public including yours truly.
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POPSIt's Never Too Late for Romance and Marriage
Stories like this really warm my heart. I am sure the fact that my partner of 26 years, Arnold and I are getting married in Montreal on August 31st has something to do with my personal reaction to this report. I am so proud to live in a country that finally recognizes that same-sex couples are just as much in love, and dedicated as heterosexual pairs. Anyone who knows Arnold and me knows how very much in love we are, and how we share our lives together completely. These two ladies are another example of how love between two people is special no matter what sexual orientation is involved. As an American living in Canada, I am always saddened to see how far behind my home country is from Canada and other countries in the world who are finally recognizing the rights of gays and lesbians in their society. Yes, a great deal of progress has been made in the U.S. but there appears to be a real hard-core resistance to granting equal rights to homosexual couples.
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POPSCalifornia Says YES to Same-Sex Marriage Great news, indeed! Even greater news is that Ahnold has promised to abide by the court's decision, and NOT support the upcoming state constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage. So, this is a done deal. This comes at a very interesting time for me. My partner and I are getting married on August 31. We are a same-sex couple, and we live in Canada where gay marriage came into being in 2005 (country-wide.) So, naturally, we are really thrilled to know that finally the U.S. seems to be taking a step in the progressive social direction. It is certainly about time.
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POPSAverting our gaze from U.S. cruelty This article examines the depravity with which the Bush adminsitration has conducted itself since 9/11. It asks some very important questions. But the biggest question to me is why the hell is Bush and his henchmen not being tried for war crimes?
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POPSI'm Dreaming of a White Memorial Day....... I'm amused by this story, because two weeks ago it snowed here in Montreal. Today we are experiencing temps of 85-90 F. Meanwhile. Calgary, in the Western [part of the country, where it was very hot two weeks ago, is now dealing with streets full of snow. Climate change? Nah! That's just Al Gore's Socialist plot.
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POPSOntaro Canada Woos Gay Doctors Ontario is spreading the word about Canada's friendly atmosphere for homosexuals. Gay doctors who have live-in same-sex partners are especially good candidates due to the fact that Canada has legalized same-sex marriage in July of 1968. It will be interesting to see if gay doctors in the states actually make the move.