Federal politicians continue to fail to require disclosure of key information to ensure the Canada Elections Act is enforced fairly and effectively

OTTAWA, April 16, 2012 - Today, Democracy Watch released its analysis of Elections Canada’s enforcement of the Canada Elections Act since 1997, revealing that the main problem is no one can tell whether Elections Canada has been enforcing the law fairly and properly because it has failed to disclose details of how it has investigated and ruled on 2,982 of the 5,018 complaints it has received about federal elections in the past 15 years.

I just received an invite from an activist friend to attend the Ottawa launch of Judy Rebick new book on the Occupy movement and solidarity-building, Occupy This! The book excites the activist in me already, even before I’ve read it. Excites me because of… the author.

Rebick is a Canadian journalist, political activist, and feminist. She’s the Eakin Fellow at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. She is the founding publisher of Canada’s irreverent web magazine rabble.ca, author of Transforming Power, and a regular on CBC Radio Q’s media panel.

The launch takes place Wednesday, April 18, at 7pm, at the Ottawa Friends Meeting House. 91A Fourth Avenue (just east of Bank St)

by Obert Madondo, @Obiemad | The Canadian Progressive, April 13, 2012:

PRESS RELEASE

OTTAWA - Today is Day 31 of my  indefinite hunger strike against Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s new draconian crime law, deceptively christened “Safe Streets and Communities Act”, formerly crime Bill C10. I’m an Occupy Ottawa activist and progressive political blogger. I started my hunger strike on March 14. I have lost 21 pounds since I started the peaceful protest. I want to thank all of you around Canada and the world for your continuing support. Please be assured that my life is not in danger.

Last summer Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives demonstrated their tough stance on foreigners suspected of war crimes abroad. The suspects were rounded up, detained and deported. The sweep was the beginning of a crackdown on immigrants that also deliberately links immigration and criminality. It laid the foundation for a future powerful private prison industry in Canada.

A few weeks ago, Harper and his Conservative majority government passed a universally-condemned, ideologically-driven new crime law, deceptively christened “Safe Streets and Communities Act”. Harper used his acquiescing majorities in the House of Commons and Senator to pass the bill without any substantial debate. Indeed, the GEO Group, a major player in the private correctional services in the US, UK, Australia and South Africa, lobbied for the new law. In the video below, Al Jazeera’s Fault Lines travels to Texas and Florida to investigate the business of immigration detention in the US and to find out how a handful of companies have managed to shape US immigration laws.

That’s the key message in a new TV ad introducing the newly minted  leader of the New Democrats, Thomas Mulcair, to Canadians. Layton’s widow, Olivia Cho, and ordinary folks, assure us that Mulcair and the NDP will continue from where Layton left off when he succumbed to cancer last August. The ad also dispels fears that Mulcair would drag Official Opposition to the centre. And that he’d turn into into a carbon version of the Liberal Party.

Former Brazilian President, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, has argued that the war on drugs has failed and cannabis should be decriminalised. He argued that the hardline approach has brought “disastrous” consequences for Latin America. Having just returned from Rio, we can only agree.

This journal entry covers days 15, 16 and 17 (March 28, 29 and 30) my indefinite hunger strike against Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives’ draconian Safe Streets and Communities Act (Bill C-10). I started the peaceful protest at 12:01am on Wednesday, March 14. Two of my 5 demands: Repeal of the Act in its entirety and immediate resignation of newly-appointed Conservative senator Vernon White.

My legs are weaker (at times) and my injured back bothers me still. In the mornings, I’m usually alert and full of energy. The energy wanes as the day progresses. My body also now dictates two sleep schedules: midnight to about 6.30am and 2 to 3 hours in the afternoon. Otherwise, I’m doing great. My spirits are high.

On March 14, I started an indefinite hunger strike here in Ottawa to protest Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s new and deceptively christened “Safe Streets and Communities Act” (formerly omnibus crime Bill C-10). My  five demands include the immediate repeal of the backward-looking and undemocratic Act, and the resignation of newly appointed Conservative senator and former Ottawa police chief, Vernon White. I’ll continue the hunger strike until all the demands are met.

“The fundamental task of the security and surveillance state … is to sever a movement that articulates the truth as Occupy did from the mainstream,” says Truthdig columnist, author and activist, Chris Hedges. He says the goal of the security and surveillance state is to serve the movement from the mainstream, and to make the mainstream fearful of the movement. He made these remarks during a keynote speech at the Left Forum conference in New York on March 8. This YouTube Video:

RELATED: Canadian Online Surveillance Bill on Pause, But the Fight Continues

This journal entry covers days 12, 13 and 14 (March 25, 26 and 27) my indefinite hunger strike against Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives’ draconian Safe Streets and Communities Act (Bill C-10). I started the peaceful protest at 12:01am on Wednesday, March 14. Two of my 5 demands: Repeal of the Act in its entirety, and immediate resignation of newly-appointed Conservative senator Vernon White.

After the weakness and mild chest pains I experienced over the weekend, I’m feeling much better. And my spirits are high.