Letter to my Friends in America

Dear Friends:

It has been some time since I wrote a letter since we have all these new technologies. There is an app for everything under the Sun yet we rarely talk face to face. I prefer the conversations over a good cup of coffee to a line of text any day of the week.

As you know I remain disconnected from the fantasy world of television. I stopped by to see Anita and she had one of those devices playing. In two hours there were twenty-two violent deaths portrayed on two of the shows. Apparently the programs are in their 9th or 10th season due to people being big fans. I've often wondered what the relationship to watching so much death has to being happy about war.

Later I headed over to see Nash. You remember him from years ago. He keeps his children busy playing video games or watching television. I couldn't help myself from making a comment about the 70 inch screen being plastered with blood from the video games. Nash shrugged and talked about how is doing much better after the third divorce. He and his new spouse are expecting a baby soon. They currently have five children between nine to eighteen years old. I thought it would be prying to ask if the children get confused about the parent thing. I've never believed the village has any control over the wishes of a family.

The Internet remains a great place to meet people and stop for a chat. After the Bush Jr. debacle it is difficult to  believe an election could be so dramatic. I always thought the person with the most votes gets to be the President. That election proved me wrong.

I pulled a short story from my daily journals started when I was fourteen. As children we would spend our summers at the cottage. It was a log cabin deep in the wilderness without electricity. About twenty cottages built on the shores of McKenzie Lake made summ.  er a wonderful experience. Great fishing, swimming, chopping wood along with many other chores gave it a lively time. Evenings sitting near a fire on the sandy beach is embedded deep in my consciousness. My friends and I would talk for hours under the star filled night sky. Everyone except big Tim, age fifteen, were between ten and twelve years old. There was a radar base operated by the U.S. military nearby. The young soldiers, 18 or 19 years old, would often visit for a home cooked meal or to let us kids know the events they planned for us.

 

Our summer cottage at McKenzie Lake

One particular night in August one of the soldiers sat with us at the beach fire. They were always welcome to join us and tell stories. He appeared restless and asked us how fast we could get to the base. We told him it would take less than a ten minute run with Tim declaring he could run faster.

As he looked at each of us words slowly fell from his lips. "There are often problems when adults forget how to talk to one another. We have a situation where a few of them are getting angry with each other. Promise me, the next time you hear the air raid siren, you will run to the base and we will do our best to protect you." We made a promise to him because he was cute too. Nature gave us a hot summer including her wind, rain, thunder and lightning.

When we were back in town I could hear his words as the sirens wailed daily, or more, during September and October. There was no safe place to run so Mom, my younger brother and I huddled under the basement steps. Even today I can hear the air raid sirens in my dreams. Those 13 days during October, 1962 were terrifying.

Despite all the rhetoric spread everywhere today we became friends with the people who played a major role in winning World War II. The cold war ended long ago and I am happy it did. I was re-united with family in Russia and Ukraine after the Berlin Wall came crashing down. For a brief moment I felt a very beautiful sense of peace.

I know you have an important day coming up to elect your next President. This I can promise you as a citizen of the world. I will always be your friend as will the people of Russia. We are counting on you to vote on November 6, 2016 and bring those adults into the room to talk.

I hope before I die those air raid sirens will stop messing with my dreams.

"For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal." President John F. Kennedy June 1963

Nikita Khrushchev and President Kennedy hold nuclear peace talks

Gay or Queer and Why it Matters

Some use it to encompass all non-heterosexual, non-cisgender identities. That’s an understandable use of the term – like I mentioned, I interpret it to be partially about giving space for exploring gender and sexuality, and including so many different groups of people demands that space, demands a challenge to stability. Certainly a wide variety of non-heterosexual, non-cisgender folks are queer.

But though queer might cover some part of that spectrum, it is not limited to it. I am not gay nor lesbian nor bisexual nor transgender. I am not anything other than just queer.

There are people who some of you might call straight, if you looked at them and their partners and impose genders onto them, but who are actually queer. And many gay, lesbian, and transgender individuals do not identify as queer.

Like plenty of the names marginalized people call themselves, queer has a fraught history of reclamation, many controversial political implications, and a universalizing aspect that is too contradictory for some.

Source: 3 Differences Between the Terms 'Gay' and 'Queer' — and Why It Matters - Everyday Feminism

Adrian Ballou is a Contributing Writer for Everyday Feminism. A genderqueer writer, artist, activist, and educator who does youth development work both inside and outside the classroom, they particularly enjoy writing and facilitating social justice education and youth organizing curriculum.

Letter to the Editor

People around the world are angry at America for our support for Israel and its mass murder in Gaza. We don’t see it on American TV, but in the past week there have been massive demonstrations all over the world: in London, Tel Aviv and Washington, DC. In Indonesia, Latin America and Turkey.

This saddens me. I am a natural born American. My father and grandfathers fought in both World Wars. My ancestor, George Wythe, signed the Declaration of Independence.

I cannot stomach what my country is doing.

We are giving BILLIONS of dollars of our tax money every year to a state that practices apartheid and genocide.

Israelis complain that Sderot is the target of Hamas’ homemade rockets. Sderot is built on the old Arab village of Najd

, which was ethnically cleansed on May 13, 1948. Over 700 Palestinians were massacred there by Israeli forces.

During the 1948 war

, dozens of Palestinians in Jaffa were DRIVEN INTO THE SEA by advancing Jewish fighters. THIS is why in the past Hamas has advocated reciprocating these massacres. Would we do any differently? We consistently use the deaths of Americans on 9/11 as the reason for advocating war. WE OURSELVES do not practice “turning the other cheek” as Jesus taught!

Today, Israel is using Gaza to test weapons: uranium weapons, DIME weapons, microwave weapons and others. The bright flashes you see in pictures of Israeli bombing of Gaza are white phosphorus, which is internationally outlawed for use against civilians. Israeli jets overfly Gaza (which has NO air defense), deliberately creating sonic booms. The UN estimates over 46% of the children in Gaza suffer hearing loss and severe psychological trauma as a result.

Now, Israel is bombing Gaza after months of starvation and denial of water, electricity and medical attention to its people. Palestinians are being killed, mostly civilian: the number is now over 1000, but how can anyone know how many more bodies lie in the rubble? The American mass media tell us NOTHING of what is going on but you can see the true extent of the slaughter on the Internet. Again, the denial of necessities of life to civilians is against international law.

What would Jesus say? Palestinian CHRISTIANS are targets of Israeli ethnic cleansing, too, yet Christians in this country say nothing even about that.

Israel has been condemned around the world for its war crimes and genocide. The victims of the Nazi Holocaust have now become the victimizers.

I am ashamed that my country is an accomplice to these crimes.

Sent by Hajja Romi

"The lesson of the Holocaust is that when you have the capacity to halt genocide, and you do not, no matter who carries out that genocide or who it is directed against, you are culpable... Jewish Holocaust Survivor”

Reminicing Gay Pride Edmonton while walking along Jasper Avenue with Millie

I was strolling along Jasper Avenue on a warm summer's Saturday afternoon with the sidewalks packed with shoppers. Those were the days in Edmonton when hundreds of independent businesses lined both sides of Jasper Avenue along with the side streets. The working crowd would take a lunch break in the tree-covered park in front of city hall or any number of quiet places downtown. 

Downtown was alive and included Alice the quarter-quarter bag lady. Between 103 and 104 streets, the Bay store took up an entire block on the north side of Jasper with a cinema across the street surrounded by a variety of shops. It was the mid to late 1970s when transit buses ran on a regular schedule. Street parking was available everywhere, making it easy for anyone to drive downtown day and night. The atmosphere of friendliness filled the summer air on this particular Saturday.

As I crossed 103 Street, the sweetest voice asked if I would mind giving a lady a hand. I happily put my arm under hers and glanced at a lovely face decked out in an amazing dress and hat.

"Do those boots of yours click?" she asked. I clicked the heels for her. "Your jeans are a tight fit for this weather." to her I replied "The dress you are wearing is more fit for a ball." 

We were cruising along in front of The Bay store where crowds were loading on and off the buses. The sidewalk was very crowded so I moved this lovely lady closer to me.

I asked "What name shall I address you?"

"Millie Empress I when I'm in Drag and you may call me Paul when I am not doing a Drag Show. Will you come to see me?" she said.

"Empress 1makes an activist and here we are walking along Jasper Avenue with you in full Drag. I love it." replied I.

Millie posed a powerful question to me. "What will you do to make equality for gay men and women, homosexuals, something we can be proud of in Canada?"

"Will you give me a few minutes to understand what must be done?" was my simple reply.

"You can count on Millie Empress 1 for advice at any time. What name shall I call you?"

"Dennis, as in Dennis the menace the cartoon figure." as I grinned at Millie

 We parted company on 105 Street with grand fanfare and adieu.

I did on many occasions ask for advice from our Millie Empress 1. 

I remember Millie for helping to deal with my sexuality. As a recovering Catholic, the doctrine I was taught made me believe that god created junk. I knew better and did learn it was far from the truth. Everyone is born with the ability to love whoever they wish to love. 

People should not fear the government, a landlord, a business or healthcare workers who will not let you visit the one you love. 

It took decades to get any government to listen. One did finally make changes to laws preventing discrimination against homosexual men and women in Canada. It was the beginning of further changes, including people of any gender they wished to be called.

Canada rolled along as a recognized member of the best world economies. Making a modern decision to embrace everyone did not lead to a disaster that some said would happen. 

This is one of the only remaining photos of Millie Empress 1. Love you Paul for starting a tradition carried on to this day.

 

The Koan describes three monks watching a banner flutter in the breeze. One monk observes, "The banner is moving," but the second insists, "The wind is moving." Finally, the third monk says, "You are both wrong. It is your mind that is moving." Zen Buddhism

Dennis A. Cambly 

Further Reading

Play-writer Darrin Hagen about Millie https://wp.me/pWjRa-2Ee

Members of The Imperial Sovereign Court of the Wild Rose https://iscwryeg.ca/?p=1900

Why do You Believe the Canadian Government represents Democracy?

Government includes all of them. Federal, Provincial, City, Town, Municipal, Committees, Senate, Crown Corporations, First Nations Corporations, Cabinet posts and some I likely forgot.

As promised in an earlier article here is the rest of the story.

We live in an illusion created by the giant corporate media owners. Most people sincerely believe our system has something to do with democracy. I ask: "Other than the selected days for voting, when do you have any input into decisions enacted by bureaucrats, and elected officials?" Yes, there might be an open house, where you can have input on a neighborhood concern. A plan for the neighborhood is already drafted by the administration before you arrive. Democracy is more than laws and rules enacted without input from the citizens.

Democracy is the basic right to have input before the final draft or decision is made.

My Opinion differs from the Media Version of Democracy

A short background on how Canadians were feeling during the 1960s and early 1970s. The Liberal government introduced the Canada Pension Plan.  A tremendous feeling of national pride grew with the rising of a distinctive Canadian Flag. Canadians participated as the country looked for its own personality at home and on the world stage. The NDP with Tommy Douglas as leader played a very big part in introducing and voting in favour of both initiates.

With the cooperation between the Liberals and New Democrats a Universal Healthcare plan was finalized. Late in the 1960s, Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau, proclaimed "there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation". This was the uniquely Canadian classical version of democracy.

The final move towards a more democratic country came with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. The debates raged widely as the provincial governments sought more power than democracy. Democracy begins to fail when self-interest and corporations cast the people aside.

The Aim of Terrorist Laws is to Annihilate the Citizen's Rights

As I said in the previous article I considered it my right to voice my opposition to war. During the months after the 9/11 attack we heard the attackers were Saudi in origin. Who convinced countries, especially NATO members, to attack Afghanistan and then Iraq? Why didn't we go to the source and bomb the Saudi Royal Family into oblivion?

I wrote in an editorial printed in late January 2003: "I have heard from many of my American friends who are terrified to write anything against the current powers in Washington for fear of their lives. It would be easy to see, for most people, Bin Laden from a wealthy Saudi family is winning the so called terrorist war. After all, he is the professional in the field and it is more and more obvious the voice of reason is being silenced in the United States. Canada is not far behind as new terrorist laws are being put in place..." Many more editorials were written along the same line with one titled Dear Paul aimed directly at Prime Minister Paul Martin Jr.

Hundreds of letters, from various Canadian government departments, began arriving daily day as I wrote against war. An audit of my businesses took place in mid 2004 by Revenue Canada. At a cost of over $100,000.00 the auditors found I owed the government $88.00 over the previous 7 years. The head auditor said: "I have no idea what we are doing auditing your companies. We received an urgent memo from Ottawa to get it done immediately."

When the statement for $88.00 arrived it included a $15,000.00 fine. The letters were now arriving at a rate of 9-12 a day and so were the phone calls. Imagine owning three businesses and having a phone for each plus a cell phone for yourself. Every phone was being bombarded with calls from multiple government departments night and day.

The meetings with Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan (and Minister of Justice) turned into shouting matches. She was also the Justice Minister who helped draft up the anti-terrorist legislation. As far as I was concerned she had lost control of her senses.

In August 2004 under a lot of stress I went for a bicycle ride in the River Valley. As I moved down into the valley I rounded one of the corners. Someone had put a pile of gravel in the middle of the path. I had been riding the path thousands of times over the years. This time I must have flown over 4 meters (approx 15') before hitting the pavement flat on my back thankfully wearing a good bicycle helmet. Six ribs were broken, one third of one lung kept me alive, shoulder and collar bones shattered into pieces, bones flew out of my body when I hit the pavement and blood was everywhere.

Six days in ICU with a few weeks in the hospital left me feeling out of this world. My businesses were in trouble and so was I. The day I was taken home, there on my desk sat a small cardboard box, full of letters from the government. (one of them claimed I had not reported income from a schooner in Nova Scotia) The new business, supposed to open a few months earlier, was also in financial trouble. On the table was a bill from the City of Edmonton amounting to $300.00 for using an ambulance. Goodbye Universal Healthcare thanks to the corporations.

The all volunteer magazine was kept in print with funds from business supporters and my businesses. No stopping PM Paul Martin from easing up the pressure. On New Years Eve I locked the doors and walked away from two of the businesses. The last of 112 printed issues prepared by volunteers was released in July 2005. We had started an online version in 1994. It remained online with many contributing articles and editorials until 2007.



Every time I was hired the job lasted 4-5 weeks. No reason was ever given to me. The letters kept arriving from the federal government. The fine rose to $28,000.00 for not paying the $88.00 on time. My condo was almost paid for with a balance of $42,000.00 and had an appraised value of $225,000.00. Alberta Treasury Bank (ATB), where I had accounts for business plus my mortgage, told me they did not see any reason to assist me as my funds dried up. The same bank was handed $102,000.00 by the Federal Government kangaroo Court.

CSIS "...the order came from the PM.."

The lawyers told me the only way out was to sell the condo at the appraised value. My mind was in the mood to end my own life. You had to be there to watch friends abandon the ship. The community I helped grow, and spread it's wings, were long gone.

The Judge was bewildered. "I have an order from the federal government..." They along with Alberta Treasury Bank  a government owned financial organization took all of the proceeds and tossed me on the street. Two doctors and one psychiatrist wrote up reports diagnosing me with PTSD. It made no difference to the tainted, and prejudiced judicial system in Canada, doing the bidding of the Queen of England. Canada's Oath of Allegiance is as follows:

"I, .., do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors. So help me God." Every elected and non-elected Canadian government official, including the judicial system, must swear allegiance to a person in a foreign country. Had I have been there when Benjamin Franklin asked Quebec along with Upper and Lower Canada to join the Union, he would have had a promoter, to rid us of the parasitic monarchy in England.

What Rights do You Have Today?

It is my hope you will realize you do not live in a democracy. When Bill C-51 became a big election issue it was the Liberal Party of Canada who supported it under the leadership of PM Justin Trudeau. It allows a government official the right to do whatever they deem necessary, without a warrant, without a charge, without a trial to anyone who disagrees with their policies on any topic. Your elected officials, and non-elected bureaucrats, have become your judge and jury. The people are silenced using the same methods used by Stalin in the former Soviet Union.

You know what a government can do to the people protesting at the G-20 meeting in Toronto and the Occupy Movement in the United States. Now you have an example of what a Prime Minister can do to an individual without charge, warrant or trial.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms or the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights are meaningless words without an honest judicial system.  Your rights can and are violated and censored every hour of the day. After World War II  the UN Declaration was put in place to grant every citizen freedoms and to prevent wars. Every nation who becomes a member of the UN must sign the Declaration. There are too many examples to list of many nations violating the International Laws agreed too. Why does it happen? The International Criminal Court is ignored due to lack of support from citizens from every country world-wide.

"Cease then to call yourselves religious, lest you declare to the world your hypocrisy. Cease too to call other nations savage, when you are tenfold more the children of cruelty than they. I bow to no man for I am considered a prince among my own people. But I will gladly shake your hand." First Nations Chief Joseph Brant to King George III

My Partial Bibliography

Worked in broadcast media for 30+ years

Edmonton Chamber of Commerce - Marketing

Alberta Chamber of Commerce - Education Coordinator

Canadian Chamber of Commerce - Business Education Coordinator and Speaker

Editor/Author - Four books on Economics commissioned by Premier Lougheed

Adviser - Alberta Minister of Education Julian Koziak

Adviser - Liberal Party of Canada under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau

Published - One book of Poetry

Independent Entrepreneur

Owner of Pride Video Edmonton 1994-2005

Partner in DiNovi's Lounge Edmonton 2002-2005

Volunteer Managing Editor - Times .10 Magazine 1993-2007

Independent Journalist and Activist

Notes https://tinyurl.com/2pa64cnu

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Letter to NATO, UK and EU Member States as You hand Your Sovereignty to America

Fellow members of these organizations thank you for breaking every promise you made to future generations after World War II.*

You agreed to the following from the United Nations Charter

WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED*

to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.

AND FOR THESE ENDS

to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples.

Article 1

To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;

For your homework please read and memorize all of the articles in the UN Charter as opposed to the US Constitution. Although, since you are no longer a sovereign nation perhaps you should memorize the US Constitution too, while you shred your own Constitutions and Charters.

Continuation of the UN Charter

US Constitution

How did you feel about the war in Afghanistan? The American led war ended in a humiliating defeat after twenty years. You walked lock step by placing sanctions on the Taliban winners. Every women in Afghanistan thanks you for their brief encounter with being able to go to school. You are a part of the defeat with all your weapons turning cities into rubble.

How about that great adventure in Iraq? You must have enjoyed watching Shock 'n Awe as the bombs sucked the oxygen out of the Iraqi people. Another American and NATO loss killing a million while leaving Iraq in ruins. Since the end of World War II America along with it's NATO partners have not won any war. The great lie about Iraq showed the world how you can brow beat the public in a few countries.

 America does not want the democratically elected leader of Syria in office and off to war they go again with NATO countries in tow. When American-led NATO finally gets the message it will be, as it is now, another loss. 

Shall we mention what US-NATO did to Libya? Don't count on any oil coming to your rescue from any of your former friends in the middle-east. They are finally getting pay-back watching NATO and EU drown in massive inflation along with out of this world debt.

Where are the Peace Negotiators?

Over 2400 years ago Plato wrote his thoughts about democracy in the Republic. He said: democracy tenders it conducive to mass ignorance, hysteria, and ultimately tyranny.  What is tyranny? Is this why you leaders of NATO countries the EU and UK gave up your sovereignty to the United States?

Make no mistake about how most of the world's population despises war including the one in Ukraine. Why did Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France agree to a ceasefire under the Minsk Agreements and not follow up to ensure they were being enforced? Did the President of America bully you, as they always do, that they are the greatest democracy in the world? Ask the people of ancient Palestine, Yemen, Bolivia, Cuba, Venezuela and Yugoslavia about American style democracy. Vietnam was an early warning sign about spreading American style democracy.

Negotiations that use tariffs and sanctions are not negotiations resulting in a win-win situation. Sanctions are an act of war though America never declares a war even as the bombs begin to explode.

Sanctions starve people far away from the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Do you need a map of the world's less fortunate countries? They are the same ones where you stole resources, deforested the land, found your slaves to build the United States and left the rivers and lakes polluted. 

American Leadership is Jealous of what the Russian People have Done

Nazi Germany left thirty million dead in Soviet Russia, (the U.S.S.R) and the surrounding states after World War II. As the walls went up in ancient Palestine the Berlin Wall came tumbling down. Anyone could see there was virtually no construction in east Berlin. The soviet style buildings could be found from one side of Russia to the other even though it was rich in renewable and non-renewable resources. Today Russia has a new look after twenty years of construction, low unemployment and resource money being used to rebuild the country. 

Your People are Paying the Higher Price

The world was beginning to pick up a little steam since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Businesses were starting to open up again with people going to work or in search of finding work. Industries had disappeared while smaller ones began to open the doors. Many of the jobs were low paying leaving tens of millions unable to catch up with their debts.  

Who will pay for the cost of LNG at ten times the cost of Russian gas, shipped from America to Europe further polluting the Atlantic Ocean? The cost of goods is being artificially inflated by the United States printing money for wars. With an additional $39 Billion dollars for weapons to kill being sent to Ukraine are any countries within NATO, UK and EU willing to stop the bloodshed?

Where is the peace you promised when you signed the UN Charter in the years after World War II?

Respectfully Yours

A Canadian who wants to see you keep your promise.

Dennis Cambly

 

Edmonton City Council will knowingly destroy West Jasper Place with the LRT for Wealthy Property Developers

 by Dennis Cambly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I see it as the most racist and discriminatory move as a part of the West Valley Line through the neighborhooods in West Jasper Place. The LRT or trolley car aka Bus on Rails will plough down Stony Plain Road effectively killing every small business. It was very easy to walk from home down Stony Pl Rd to the Bank, Pharmacy, Post Office, Grocery stores while stopping into a corner store. Now people will need to drive to further west or make their way to Meadowlark Mall. We don't expect it will be easy to drive to Meadowlark when construction begins on 156 Street.

 The X on the map shows where TD and Safeway have already closed their doors. Edmonton council who have likely never visited the area easily voted to wipe out existing businesses. The long red arrow shows the area where buildings have been demolished and will be demolished. Same thoughtless procedure is underway on the south side of Stony Plain Road.

I found it amazing to hear a city councilor say the area only had sex shops, prostitutes and pawn shows. He must have missed the hundreds of other businesses including No Frills, Shoppers, dozens of neighborhood restaurants serving foods from multiple countries, along with London Drugs, Starbucks, Dollarama, Safeway and other big brand stores. Small businesses run by people who came to this country and built up a business have been and are being shut down. It has a lot to do with the area being populated by those people who will no longer be a problem. 

For those who commute to work by a vehicle coming into the city via Highway 16A are in for a surprise. (You can expand the top diagram by clicking on it) Considering it took 4 years to construct a small bridge across the river there will be years of construction at the corner of Stony Plain Road and 156 Street including 100 Avenue. Traffic on 100 Avenue averages 25,000 vehiciles per hour during the morning and evening commute. I am guessing the same would be true of Stony Plain Road. 

It is odd the company doing the survey prior to construction did not find the concrete block in the river. They could have asked me or 1000s of other Edmontonians about it since we knew it was laying on the river bed. We pulled a fellow who had too much to drink out of the river near the old bridge. He was very lucky since a small piece of that concrete held him up enough not to drown. It must be better to spent millions of dollars than be honest with the voters.

Take a real close look at the diagram above and please let me know where in the world a train can make a 90 degree turn. When I attended one of the many meetings I asked one of the engineers what they had in mind with the 90 degree turn and he looked rather dumbfounded. The train tracks will need to go behind the former Grant MacEwan Campus to make the corner and stop at the station. You will no longer be able to use Stony Plain Road as you travel east or west. As far as 100th Avenue goes two trains parked at the station, or moving like a snail, should make for an interesting wait time east or west.

It also means the businesses from 156 Street to 167 Street will be cut off from traffic due to councilors and city planners who never traveled the area. The big X is what the developers are eagerly waiting to build 12 to 14 floor condos. Both sides of Stony Plain Road from 142 Street to 156 Street will also be lined with up to 12 floor condos. They are the wood framed floor condos Edmonton city council approved of for the developers. I am sure the Fire Department is thrilled about them as they are about how they will respond to a fire in the area. The Fire Station is located north of 156 Street and Stony Plain Road. Good luck getting to a house or apartment fire with trains blocking the intersection. Those trolley cars sure do move slow especially when they hit a 90 degree turn. Perhaps the entire intersection will rotate.

The train then heads south on 156 Street to 89 Avenue where it makes another 90 degree turn on it's way to West Edmonton Mall then to Lewis Housing district. 

It is very sad what the city is doing about the former Grant MacEwan Campus. City council said in one of their 100s of reports they wanted to reposition the campus as a hub for the community. They put their imaginations together and came up with the name Orange Hub. 

The building sat vacant for almost four years since the last students used it. Twenty non-profit organizations met with the city committee that invited them to discuss a community based plan. All of the groups work with the Food Bank, housing, community based events, work with everyone regardless of race, creed, color etc. Disclosure: (I volunteer with one of the groups). At present every one of the community organizations have locations scattered around West Jasper Place. 

All twenty were turned down by city council. The current mayor and council decided to stay away from community based groups and jump into the Canada Council trough. It'snot what you know when it comes to Canada Council it's all about who you blow. Alberta Arts council jumped in with $25 million and a non-profit company gathered up the money to take over Grant MacEwan campus aka Orange Hub along with another pig at the trough.

A few non-profits from West Jasper Place were kicked out of the building by city council. In the brochure Building a City around the LRT it reads; Establish land uses around LRT stations to
reflect the characteristics of its surrounding areas and each station’s role in the LRT network. An integrated community system with an emphasis on housing, shopping, pedestrians and bicycles with reduced car use.

I have big news for mayor and council we had all of that before you bulldozed and bullied your way into our community with a train. We do not need your train tracks nor your lies about how you would create your perfect community. As white as you are you would have been welcome to dine out in one of our restaurants owned and operated by a family from Pakistan. Unfortunately they were given a 30 day notice to vacate the building they operated out of for three decades. Nice white folks paid too much to recklessly spend our money.

 

Published by Dennis Cambly who has no relationship with a company who stole my ancestral surname dating back to Jacques Cartier and then to an area where Julius Caesar camped his armies in Italy. The company was started by an ex-Google employee with an investor from India. In my conversations with them I was told the name was simply an abstract object. If surnames are objects why didn't they use their own surnames? It's appauling that a corporation is allowed to use someone's surname and confuse later generations as to the ancestry of the name.

 

 

What the People of Edmonton Should Know about the Cost of the LRT at Election Time

by Dennis Cambly

As we move towards the Edmonton municipal election I could not help notice how the media coverage has been next to none. There is never any talk about the economic side or as we may call it how much does the Mayor and Council spend each year. What projects get the majority of the money and others such as roads get very little. We still drive cars in Edmonton regardless of the $100 million spent on bike lanes used six months of the year. Many of our main roads are in horrible condition. Ask any driver if you are unaware of the road conditions. The city in the meantime have hit us will slogan after slogan: The Greening of Edmonton, Touch the Water, Build for Two Million, Smart City, Ribbon of Green, Edmonton River Valley Ice Strategy and One Million More. 

Those are a few otherwise I would go on for another page of wonderful window dressing on the cost we pay. It doesn't matter which way you look at it we pay from Federal Payments, Provincial Payment and City Taxes it all comes down to one taxpayer at a time. The city of Edmonton uses some of the sneakiest ways to get our money of them all.

First due to name changes by city council this line goes downtown along Stony Plain Road, 104 Avenue, to West Edmonton Mall. It is commonly called Valley Line West and is expected to take five to six years to complete beginning in 2021. Construction has begun near West Edmonton Mall so you won't notice the traffic problems and destruction in between.

In order to assist you and ensure you don't get too confused the next diagram is the West LRT aka Bus on Rails I am writing for you information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Due to the massive impact I find it best to provide you with the most recent diagrams of the route with its 16 stations/stops from downtown. The train will move onto 104th Avenue at 107 Street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now we travel along 104th Avenue and the first traffic snag we hit is 109th Street and 104 Avenue. There is one lane of traffic east and west along 104 with the train I mean LRT or Long Rail Trolley moving slow in both directions. 

During construction this major intersection will detour you somewhere far from your destination. Getting into and out of any businesses up to 116 Street will be difficult at any time. Pity the business on both sides of 104 Avenue after being hard hit by a pandemic followed by years of construction. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we come 116th Street intersection once again under construction. 116th Street is another major road for those moving north and south as is 109 Street. You can expect this part to be under construction for two or three years. I am basing this on the amount of time the beautification and narrowing of Jasper Avenue is taking. 

Jasper construction should hit 116 Street about the same time as 116 Street and 104 Avenue. Bike lanes are a top priority in our northern city, so you can leave your vehicle at home, and take a bike. Great planning deserves praise for the 100 people riding a bike during our mild six months of winter.

It is a tight squeeze along 104 Avenue at the best of times so prepare yourself for an even tighter squeeze. At some point along the section from 116 to another busy intersection at 124 Street there will be little to no room for any vehicles during and after construction. 

The train will be at ground level since the city never looked at what Vancouver did with their Sky Train. At least Vancouver calls it a train. It does not run at street level causing massive traffic jams nor cause problems with bikes and pedestrians. The weather in Vancouver is in deep contrast to the Edmonton freeze-up starting in October through to April. When it is +10c in Vancouver it can easily be -36c with bitter cold winds in Edmonton from December to February. Council in Edmonton starting with Mandel decided the design should be at street level. They appear to believe this is Palm Springs.

124th Street will be a fascinating crash landing for vehicles north and south bound. Most buildings will be knocked down and all trees through to West Jasper Place will disappear as we move along 104th Street now called Stony Plain Road. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The recent updates say there will be vehicles allowed from 124 Street to the next big intersection 142 Street and Stony Plain Rd. This is where 102 Avenue meets 104 Avenue with a kind of twist turn into 142 Street. Should be fun deciding who goes first in which direction with two trains stuck at ground level along with 8 lanes of traffic north/south and east/west. There are two train tracks the same system used over 75 years ago with trolley cars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is the LRT in Edmonton Environmentally Friendly?

Mayor and Council tell us the LRT will be environmentally friendly while every part of it is depleting the planet of non-renewable resources to build and maintain. To top it off this recent chart shows where we get our electricity. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is that what we want to call environmentally friendly?

Mayor and Council did not listen to what the people of Edmonton told them. They only listen to the big developers eager to sell this obsolete system to you. It's an expensive experiment with the cost nearing $20,000,000,000.00 and rising. Council does not release costs to the media or anyone who wants to know.

However, some of us, have a extended background in economics and know where to look and how to read numbers. Example: The original estimate for the short train line from city hall to NAIT was $256 million, but, the almost final cost $2,540,000,000.00. 

Articles will be released as early as they can be written so you have a chance to decide who you will vote for in the municipal election. Think what $20 billion dollars could have done rather than build an obsolete trolley train? 

Why the media are avoiding this topic during a municipal election makes me wonder what's in it for them. (more to come)

Published by Dennis Cambly who has no relationship with a company who stole my ancestral surname dating back to Jacques Cartier and then to an area where Julius Caesar camped his armies in Italy. The company was started by an ex-Google employee with an investor from India. In my conversations with them I was told the name was simply an abstract object. My rebuttal was a simpler. If surnames are objects why didn't they use their own surnames? It's appalling that a corporation is allowed to use someone's surname and confuse later generations as to the ancestry of the name.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Off to War we Go

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - a rock and a hard place

The Paris attacks are being played as though no one in the world has seen anything so outrageous. Big media are ringing the alarms by the minute. Social networks have people decorating their profiles with the colors of the French flag. A cluster of "bomb them" sounds through the mouths of media readers and experts. Perhaps Canada ought to keep the six F-18s bombing in Iraq and Syria or not. Yes it is sad to see families mourning the loss of loved ones in France.

Attack Afghanistan

What did people expect after being led into the Mother of all Wars as Saddam Hussein said before the U.S. attacked Iraq in 2003? It is all part of a U.S. plan to protect Israel with its' full military strength. That in itself is a cruel joke for the people of Palestine. With his direct communication with whatever God he believed in George Bush, the lessor, names three countries as evil. Since the 9/11 attacks were carried out, according to the CIA, by Saudis it made sense to attack Saudi Arabia. Yet the bombs began dropping in Afghanistan within a few months of September 11, 2001. 

The military must have had the wrong map of the middle east. A million people from Afghanistan paid with their lives because, supposedly, a Saudi leader was hanging out somewhere in the mountains of their country. Afghanistan was pulverized by the coalition of the willing. Meanwhile Israel continued massacring Palestinians with weapons made in the U.S.A. and thirty foot walls rose faster. Canada participates in the invasion supposedly as a peace keeper. We know we were lied to.

Attack Iraq

Saddam Hussein, the U.S. supported and appointed dictator, was next. Iraq was a big prize for the wealthy. Once beautiful cities with a friendly people graced the region called Iraq. The wealthy billionaires no longer wanted to buy the oil so they muscled up the lies and bought the U.S. and British military. 

You are likely under the impression the military is meant to protect the citizens of a given country. Truth is, the military protects the billionaires, to compound their unscrupulous wealth. Today Iraq lays in rubble without electricity, clean water, hospitals and proper food. Wealthy billionaire corporations steal the oil leaving the people of Iraq scrambling to live.

Iraq was bombed long distance, close up and personal. UN estimates put the deaths of the Iraqi population near 1.7 million with countless wounded. Saddam Hussein, love him or leave him, was entitled to a fair trial for those who believe in an honest judicial system. An additional 10% of the middle class population of Iraq fled to Syria and Jordan. 

Help Israel Attack Iran

Once again Israel makes a joke of itself by attempting to stir up lies about Iran. In fact as some crazy people began looking deeper into the story of Iran. Iran is far greater than what the twisted media pretends. Historically their story begins nearly two millennium BCE. Iran also has historical ties to ancient and modern Russia. The Iran myths and lies put forward by wealthy billionaire media moguls did not work out as planned. There is no conscience when it comes to the wealthy tyrants.

Attack Libya 

After years of U.S. imposed sanctions the wealthy decide they want the resources of Muammar Gaddafi had nationalized the oil industry to benefit the people of Libya. He created a hell-fire by abolishing the monarchy and asking people to think outside traditional authority.  Muammar Gaddafi showed support of Palestine against imperialism and Zionism. Big media critics overlooked the fact that per capita income of Libya rose to more than US $11,000 during the 1970s. To punish Gaddafi, the wealthy ordered NATO, to bomb the country sending the people into slave wages. Deaths of civilians upwards to 500,000.

Attack Syria

The ever powerful wealthy turned the military weapons against the popular Bashar Assad of the ruling Ba'ath party. First the Israelis hit a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus in 2003. They did leave behind enough death and used a second air strike against Syrian civilians and refugees in  2007. Immediately the U.S. used the sanctions card on Syria for not behaving as any citizen of the U.S. should behave. Not that most people in the U.S. could find Syria on a world map. It is better to watch reality television than look at the bombed out cities in Syria you allowed to happen.

First the bloated media experts showed pictures and video of the dead refugees washed up on the shores of the northern Mediterranean Sea. Without looking at a map they claimed they were from Afghanistan. They must have traveled south, crossed the Persian Gulf, then they took boats north to cross the Mediterranean. 

Next the media, owned by a few wealthy moguls, changed it to Syrian refugees. Again the wealthy called up their military from the U.S. and Canada to fire missiles at Syria. Russia, portrayed as a nation to fear, has repeatedly requested open talks on Syria. Billionaires Club were not expecting nuclear Russia to get involved.

They thought their coup d'état removing the elected President of Ukraine would stir public opinion against Russia. The media are far to illiterate to present evidence Russia did anything to overthrow the government of Ukraine.

History began before 24/7 non-stop trite gossip broadcasting. Whatever happened to Democracy is the wealthy having fun with billions of slaves. You have been conned into believing more lies akin to the one of finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. 

As long as you ignore the people of Palestine count on more rebel groups too numerous to mention. War has two sides to the story. You have allowed wealthy corporations to blunder the wealth of Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Palestine along with African and Latin America

I cannot find Tel Aviv on any map of Palestine. Palestinians did not build 10 meter concrete walls around any one. You did.

Edmonton Pride Week after 1600 Years of Gay and Lesbian Persecution

Pride Week began organizing when a few Gay men and Lesbians met in 1975

The story about a group called Shades of Color (SoC) protested at the opening of the Pride Week Parade in 2018 was a sad day. After decades of being attacked during every Pride Parade by evangelical pastors and their followers I felt sick. SoC was not satisfied when four of its' members were invited to meet with the Edmonton Pride Festival Society (EPFS). When they arrived at the meeting thirty of their membership arrived and again attacked the Pride committee. The police were called or more physical violence would have taken place.  Here is an article filled with errors by one of the people who chose to attack the gay and lesbian Pride Parade.

Long before 2003 there was a healthy and inclusive incorporated Pride society in Edmonton. When a new group took over in 2003 they ditched the original society and eliminated the words gay and lesbian from Pride Week.

Originally we included everyone who wanted to volunteer in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender communities. The committee operated on a $20,000.00 budget for all of the Pride Week activities. You will never find that information, on the world's worst website, Wikipedia used too often as a reference. Wikipedia is for dummies who either do not know how to read or most likely never read a book.

SOC Made the Following Demands of Edmonton Pride Week

Here are some of the highlights from the demand notice. None of the wording was altered in any way to enable you to see the original wording by SoC found on this media website. The struggle for freedom began under torture and death by religious authoritarian theocracy circa 500 CE. SoC is attempting to rewrite and hijack history by using personal problems as a facade.

1. Open Pride with a protest lead by QTIBPOC, trans folx and their allies. 

2. Pride in the Park. Included in this would be musical performances by QTIBPOC artists

This protest will be in place of the parade, and anyone who joins must have beliefs that are in line with the message of the protest.

3. Shades of Colour Community and RaricaNow will assess via email who applies to partake in the protest and ensure the applicants adhere to a set of criteria based on the values and principles of the protest.

4. These workshops and resources should take up the most space and be at the centre of Pride in the Park

5. Pride in the Park needs to end with a vigil to honour the lives lost due to numerous forms of oppression transphobia, racism, colonization, queerphobia, capitalism, classism, ableism, Islamophobia, homophobia, etc.

6. QTIBPOC+ and trans folx will lead this vigil, followed by white allies and supports.

Applicants will acknowledge that whiteness is pervasive in mainstream LGBTQ+ communities.

7. We need to fight to defend this land at all costs against all threats, including government-sanctioned invading pipelines.

8. Write a public accountability  (ed; apology) Statement outlining the harm the EPFS has caused the QTIBPOC community and a public commitment to rectifying this harm.

Sorting the Facts from Fiction

Why were charges under Canadian Law not made by the Edmonton Pride Committee against the violent nature of SoC? The demands placed on gays and lesbians are both diabolical and a form of extortion against a highly discriminated minority group.

We have been dealt a serious blow for almost 1400 years by mythical words put into the vocabulary by religious groups. If you need proof look at the clergy of Iran where gay men face execution. They too have a reliable source given to them by a young man who hooked up with a very wealthy older woman. It was a small known world at the time and Iran keeps it that way in the 21st century. There are a few other countries where the death penalty remains in place for homosexuals. Bringing religion into a celebration of freedom is mixing oil and water.

Here is a quote from the trial brought before the Supreme Court of Canada caused by discrimination by the government of Alberta. (Factum of the Intervener in favour)*

Historically, Jews and gay persons have frequently been the targets of discrimination at the same time and from the same sources. In Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1980).

Do You want more Evidence?

As a target of racism and a victim of the Holocaust, the Jewish community uniquely appreciates the importance of being vigilant in the fight against racism and all forms of discrimination. Canadian Jewish Congress views the issues raised in this case not only as issues pertaining to gays and lesbians, but also as human rights issues relevant to all minorities and all Canadians. Congress understands that tolerance of diversity must be a goal for all Canadians. Congress recognizes that it has an obligation to object wherever discrimination exists. (Factum of the Intervener)

According to the Jewish Holocaust Museum over 30,000 gays had their lives ended in the Nazi concentration camps or by hideous torture (or both). After years of research, another 900,000 mostly gay men and lesbians, disappeared between 1933 to 1945 during the Nazi purge of gay men and women. In the 1930s and 1940s, both governments, Hitler’s and Stalin’s, presented homosexuality as the enemy’s aberration and deviance.

The same laws which oppressed Jews oppressed gay people; the same groups bent on eliminating Jews tried to wipe out homosexuality; the same periods of European History which could not make room for Jewish distinctiveness reacted violently against sexual nonconformity; the same countries which insisted on religious uniformity imposed majority standards of sexual conduct; and even the same methods of propaganda were used against Jews and gay people, picturing them as animals bent on the destruction of the children of the majority. (Factum of the Intervener)

This isn't Russia where being a homosexual is no longer a criminal act, but, everything you do is gay propaganda. Therefore it is normal in Russia to be beaten or murdered by Nazi-like gangs who prowl the streets of Moscow. They are free do so because Heir Putin did not put a remedy in place for discrimination based on sexual orientation. The law is a typical example of political homophobia.

Putin did however ensure spreading gay propaganda, a open assault on a minority group, giving his Nazi-like thugs freedom to bash gays. Who are the men in dresses from a millennium ago who dictate how Russia is governed in this century? One of the strictest regimes from a 1,000 years ago, the Russian Orthodox Church, made Russia a religious state. Russia is not a democracy as they claim to the world. It's a state-backed oligarchy for those who adhere to the Russian Orthodox Church rules and laws written centuries ago. The idea of human rights is lost to religious and often fascist non-taxable organizations.

Possibilities for Gay and Lesbian Pride Month

Pride month and pride week must look to it's roots of persecution dating to the creation of authoritarian states with religion as its code of death. Let those who want to live by rules made up by angry old men, most of them non-white, stay in the 6th century. Pride can happily celebrate in the 21st century and let the mythical texts fade away into dust.

Bring the Pride Parade back to Jasper Avenue where 200,000 people enjoyed a great time on a Saturday. People of Edmonton flooded the sidewalks and Jasper Avenue taking a break from home life or working in their offices. The parade stretched from 112 Street to 103 Street creating an exciting time for everyone.

Allow the words gay and lesbian to be used as a reminder we are here.

Find people who live in Edmonton and understand our history, to volunteer without payment, to act as board members and advisors. Offer pepper spray to those in front of the parade and have an ample supply of officers of the law on hand. (Only to be used should any radical group get in our way)

As for the violent group Shades of Colour and RaricaNow they can hold their own protest rally. In their list of demands, it appears your choice, is their way or the highway.

For me I dread violence and people who make abusive threats while wearing a masquerade.

Dennis Cambly

*Appellant Vriend the right to pursue his human rights complaint.

May 1997 Ronald A. Sorokin Lyle S.R. Kanee Witten Binder Chivers Greckol and Kanee Counsel Canadian Jewish Congress

Our Leaders are Looking Backwards for the Future

What do we get when we vote these miserable bastards to office?

We expect the politicians to act in a civilized manner. We are bored of your pathetic attempts to pour propaganda down our throats. Promises you made to us and every citizen on this planet are expected to be kept. Did our families beat that minion Hitler so you could be proud Nazi supporters? Why are you backing a Nazi regime where there was a democratically elected leader? Our families built the United Nations so you would have an open forum to work out differences. Too arrogant to admit you are wrong yet always ready for photo-ops.


You have deliberately created a delirious sense of hate and terror to enable more weapons of destruction. Where is your sense of decency? Your words yes we can and real change are meaningless. You have hit us with a blizzard of media half truths and outright lies.

Why are you sitting on your brain? Did you shove your head so far up your ass you are blinded by the dark side. Have you developed a speech problem? Do you require our assistance in showing you how to speak to another person over a disagreement? We do it every day of the year. Perhaps your use of verbs, nouns and adjectives needs some refreshing.

The big boys behind the military have conned you into believing they have solutions. They do not know how to dream of creating a world with everyone living in variations of peace. Why do your very wealthy friends horde trillions in paper dollars? Power is an illusion for the delusional mind. History is cluttered with those who wanted power over the citizens of this planet.

You use education as a tool to jam your religious agenda to the front. Religion is the dead waiting to die rather than build a better life for everyone now.

Tell your wealthy friends to release their trillions into the economy. We will thank them for their generosity, if, you do not kill us with more taxes.

You disgust me with your blithering remarks about sanctions as a weapon. We lived through the years of the bomb once. I could not imagine any of you jerks being in charge during those years. We had real leaders who were willing and able to speak to the other side. There is a difference between intelligence and being sleazy.

You have lost the capacity to speak an honest word.

It is pretentious of you to believe good jobs, a decent living and family can are created by building weapons of death. Did we have a day without war during the last 100 years?

When you were not looking the dreamers created millions of high paying jobs in the space program. Today the wealthiest act as pigs at the trough looking for more wealth while they rob our bank accounts. I know you are a slow learner so this was written with very few big words.

How did you forget the promises you made to the citizens of this planet?

You are so neurotic you depress me.

Listen to the children

"Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet.

We all breathe the same air.

We all cherish our children's future.

And we are all mortal." President John F. Kennedy

Twitter is Meddling in Canadian Election 2019

Canadian Federal Election Results 2015

Every Canadian should beware you are using American corporations to post your thoughts about the upcoming election in October. Twitter began purging individual Canadian accounts at a high rate in August 2019.

Suspended, temporary suspension, temporary restricted or banned are common attacks on Canadians expressing their thoughts and opinions. It is done without the user being told why it has happened. The email points to the vague and rambling clutter of nonsensical words called Community Guidelines.

All headings in the guidelines has an ever expanding sub-category. However, it is Canadian account holders Twitter is making a point to shut down, by meddling in our election.

An additional link points to Rules and Policies only applicable without reason(s) being given. Twitter considers all of the rules, guidelines and policies aiming towards a healthy conversation. Having held an account for over ten years many good conversations took place until a month ago.

Once a Canadian election is in the air the chats and comments become more intense. Twitter's artificial intelligence system is setup to handle reported accounts by people who for the most part are far right extremists and religious fanatics. These groups are de-humanizing every time they comment by posting another mythical lie.

With the election of Kenney in Alberta under the Wildrose Party disguised as United Conservatives, Twitter added religious values to the machine. Here's an example of how fast a comment is called hate speech:

Twitter Meddling in the Canadian Federal Election

Anyone who reads online or off-line media knows this topic is posted almost daily. The diminishing Canadian online media often have links to Twitter embedded in articles. With the Federal Election this year be careful with links to Twitter.

Twitter disallows automated behaviour for an individual tweeting fifteen times a day. Each of these accounts tweet 600 hundred times per hour in favour of Andrew Scheer. Artificial so-called intelligence cannot find these paid accounts opened a few months ago.

Of the four hundred Canadian citizens who formed a small group over the past 10 years only three have active accounts today. We live everywhere in Canada and are a diverse group who love to ask questions and poke fun at politicians. Twitter believes asking questions is against the rules.

Others have sent messages to me reporting they have also been suspended or banned from Twitter. With the Canadian election being called on Wednesday, September 11, 2019 Twitter has already proven they are meddling in our Canadian election. 27 percent of Canadians use Twitter as a part of their online social media platforms.

Please consider the number of voters Twitter will censor before you use Twitter for information during the election campaign.

Here is a glance at my Twitter audience.

Defining an Environmentally friendly Future in Canada

High on the side of a mountain range

The definition of a green economy is as elusive as the name itself. It appears to be divided somewhere between a green environment and green economy. In this article we will be looking at how Canada is doing today with a peek into the future. I consider every person living in Canada a Canadian when referring to this topic. No matter how many ways we think of a greener future everyone can participate.

How is Canada doing Today

The population of Canada is slightly less than 37 million in 2018. Statistics Canada released the following statement in early 2019.

"Motor vehicles accounted for close to three quarters of the total registered vehicles in Canada, with 24,000,000 million registrations. Ontario had the highest number of road motor vehicles registered at 8.7 million... with the 2016 census showing 15,900,000 million commute to work"

The largest majority of the vehicles use either regular, diesel or a bio-fuel combination. Almost an additional 35,000 plug-in electric vehicles were sold in Canada as of September, 2018.

My purpose is not to drown you in page after page of statistics. Vehicles for the most part, are an extension of another fuel consuming location, our home. Canada is almost self-sufficient when looking at our natural gas and fossil fuel use. The question becomes: How do we get to a green economy without risking further loss of the natural environment? We have to some extent a country admired for natural wonders, given to us through the billions of years of the ever evolving planet Earth. Every human along with all life is indigenous and native to this planet.

Fuel Consumption at Home

Energy is required for heating, water, sewage, electricity and seasonal cooling. Look around your home whether is be a house or rental suite. How many of your electrical outlets are in use at this moment? Please pause moment while you glance around your residence.

How Friendly is the Energy Canadians Use?

Looking at the graph above the renewable energy sector is approximately five percent in Canada. How much of what is called renewable is environmentally friendly? Energy created by Wind power uses large amounts non-renewable resources for construction and maintenance. Here is an example of the motor required to turn wind into a small amount of usable energy.

How can Wind be considered non-renewable when it relies on diminishing raw natural resources?

Nuclear Energy

Nuclear power leaves behind a toxic and deadly poison to all life. What does Canada do with the spent nuclear fuel rods and other nuclear waste? As of today the nuclear waste is being stored in various places either in steel drums or nuclear waste cooling ponds. Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is looking for a location to store the waste in a fuel dump either 1.6 km from Lake Huron or in Northwestern Ontario. It will be kept safe for 100s of 1000s of years says OPG.

Image from US Army Corps of Engineers

It may surprise people to read about the proposed nuclear waste dump site mainly because Canada's media avoids the topic. Drill holes have been completed in the second location outside of Ignace, Ontario on Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation land. Try to imagine transporting deadly toxic nuclear waste from southern Ontario to any location in northwestern Ontario?

Coal used to Generate Electricity in Canada

Coal pollutes the earth, water and air yet Canada continues to use it. When Rachel Notley announced the closure of coal fired plants she was met with opposition party resistance. United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney pledged that he would end the NDP’s statutory shutdown of coal. The remaining coal fired plants will be phased out by 2030 in Alberta. Natural gas and renewable solar sources will be used instead of coal.

Hydraulic fracturing aka fracking, also referred as shale gas, is becoming a major source of non-conventional natural gas. Definitely a non-renewable resource.

Canada at the Crossroad to the Future

While we argue about one government versus another government it is our city governments who are talking up grand proposals for happy campers.

Articles about a Greener Environment

British Columbia: We need to develop green, renewable sources of energy instead of fossil fuels
Calgary: Next green energy hub
Financial Post:  Worthless green projects exposed
Huffington Canada: Net zero-emissions economy by 2050
Macdonald-Laurier Institute: Green energy, like all energy sources, uses more capital than labour

Canada is a Member Nation
UN Environment: Recognizing there are many and diverse pathways to environmental sustainability

I have little faith in most of our leaders especially when they talk big words without meaning what they say. To Canadians who helped build this country I understand your dilemma. Why is a relic of corruption and despicable acts, the only ones to whom, they give their Oath of allegiance? They couldn't be telling Canadians the truth even if they wanted to do so. We are not mentioned in the Canadian Oath of Allegiance. The cleverness is proven with the added words Queen of Canada. Give me the hundred million dollars and I'll be Queen of Canada and will appoint my friends to lofty positions :)

In the next segment I will show you information about a few major cities from coast to coast. The main focus is on how environmentally friendly are the most costly proposed or under-construction projects from the cities.

Cheers
Dennis Cambly