Sept. Canadian Discussions, News, Issues, Etc.
 

Here's the first monthly thread for Canadian discussions, news, issues, etc.

Thanks to Karen for making this sticky! Much appreciated.

For those of you who were discussing the fire at the St. Jacob's market, there's a glimmer of good news - the outdoor vendors (most of the market, actually) will be open this week as usual. It doesn't help the indoor vendors who lost there space, but it will help the community and draw people back to the market. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitche...rket-open.html

Here's hoping they will be able to get it all figured out soon. There are so meny people who depend on it. Good to see that they will be able to open some parts and have moved others around to accomidate all. Given the strenght of the comunity I'm sure this will not keep them down long!!

I also remember the ByWard Market in Ottawa. I understand that it has been prettified a lot since I first went there as a child and young woman. This was the first place where I was made aware of all the local farmers and their produce. Getting up early and going there was an absolute treat. We have a small farmer's market where I live and it has the same friendly and fresh atmosphere. And it is growing all the time. Perhaps we will really get away from the global market after all and back to local foods.

The ByWard market is a great place! Use to go there when we lived in Ottawa the first time. Dad was always finding interesting things for us to eat. Use to horrify my sister :D

OKhere's a question on laws in Ontario, specifically vandalism to mailboxes. Just spent over $75C to install a new hanging mailbox at the farm(rural size so not a cheap piece to purchase) , my Mum emailed yesterday to say it has been destroyed- It was far enough back from the road that it could not have been an accident. We assumed the damage to th eprevious one was from the snow plow. This was too deliberate. What are the laws about this type of vandalism. I plan to install a game camera to catch the instigator.

I don't know if there are other laws other than the standard ones for vandalism but I am sorry your Mom is going through this. We had a moron doing this for a while. It is usually kids. The police can't do much unless you witness the whacking and hopefully take pictures. We were eventually switched to community mail boxes and then the morons took to pushing them over until they were cemented in place. Then they just smashed them. Small things amuse small minds.

We always found strange things to eat there as well. Mind you it is 20 years since we were in Ottawa. There used to be a lot of ethnic stores so it was like being in a foreign market. And wonderful flowers.

On the news they said that St Jacobs is already open for business - outside of course. That is very good news since so many farmers really depend on it.

Conflicting employment news this morning. Unemployment for those 18 to 25 is now at 20%. Seniors are now taking over the largest percentage of starter jobs at fast food places and stores.

Well that is troubling. I know my son was having a hard time but did find a part time kitchen position. Now he is looking for a second one.

CBC Doc Zone had a great show last week called "Generation Jobless". You can watch it on line. I know it is the fashion to blame the young for not finding work - lazy, entitled, no motivation - but the truth is very different. Universities don't even communicate with each other as to how many students are in each course. No wonder we are graduating thousands of lawyers and teachers that have no hope of ever finding a job.

Yea I hear you. I have an type A girl on her second college program. She finally got a co-op position but it was a long haul. There were so few out there. Looks like the foundry she is at will offer her a perminate position after grad and help her do university. Then one boy in university and one lost boy.

The lost boy is a hard worker just not good at complying with school. He will figure it out someday but the baby is due in 3 weeks so he is freaked and trying to get more work. It took hard work to get the part time job he does have. Just not much out there.

We've had this university mentality for 40 years or so and so we have university grads doing college tec courses to get a job. Mean while the skilled trades are ageing out and retiring. It has only been a few years that the schools started talking about the trades again. The high school co-op and apprentiship programs are better now but should never have been dropped in the first place.

I will look up the program to watch Thanks

Well that was depressing. Not really surprising but depressing. I will count my blessings for my daughter and help the boys.

My parents have always been after me for "depresion era thinking". Looks like that is a good thing as my kids know you can make do or make it yourself. Something it seems more people will have to learn.

there are lots more ethnic stores and strange things to eat all over the city!! more local farmers markets as well. byward is mostly a restaurant touristy place instead of a place you could buy most anything for daily life;)!! Ottawa is becoming yuppiefied and is growing at a to fast pace now, stretch's south past Manotic now and will not be long making the tour down the Rideau!

Another cougar attack
 

Two more incidents within 2 weeks over on the islands. It seems like there isn't a month goes by anymore where there isn't some kind of cougar/human encounter somewhere on the islands.

The weekend before last it was a cougar facing off against 2 dogs in a Victoria suburb and the homeowner videoed it. Then this weekend on Flores Island a 60 y.o. woman who was bending down gardening was pounced on from behind by a cougar and badly mauled before her hubby arrived and drove it off with a spear. He stabbed it several times with the spear and it went off into the bushes 20 meters away where conservation officers later found it dead from its spear wounds. The woman was air lifted to hospital and is in rough shape but in stable condition and she will be okay.

The islands are literally crawling with cougars and nobody can say that the cougars are being pushed out of their territory by urban sprawl because there really are not a lot of towns on the islands and they're all small towns few and far between. The cougars are just getting too bold and too accustomed to infringing on human space when they have so much wild space of their own and with tons of deer to prey on. I'm starting to think it might be about time for the islands to have some kind of cougar cull around some of the towns and homestead farms where there are more humans.

This weekend: http://bc.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-islan...tack-1.1446661


Last weekend:

we are having issues with coyotes and bears here, there has been sightings of eastern cougars here as well but MNR has hushed these up.

I saw a Coyote dead on the 401 on Labour Day weekend, had to have been killed overnight as we had traveled that stretch and it was not there the day before. Although there was an article about 1.5 years ago where they did admit there were Cougars in East Ontario and were known to have travled up from NYS( guess they might have been tagged) but as usual , since they had not found evidence of breeding females they were youngsters 'traveling' thru looking for territory.....

What do you think of the new Quebec Charter of Values? I think that it is going to go head to head with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms when it gets challenged.

I believe in a complete separation of church and state and that all government offices should be secular but I personally don't care if you want to wear your religion on your sleeve. A cross or a yarmulke or hijab or turban does not offend me or affect my life.

On the other hand my opinion is that a kirpan is not acceptable nor is a burka or anything that covers the face completely.

I think the new Quebec Charter of Values is a joke, and not in a funny way. Just another way for Quebec to drive a further wedge between Quebec and the ROC and that sets Quebecers against Quebecers, and one step further in Quebec over-cooking their already charred roast goose.

Regarding the face covering - to me, if somebody chooses to keep their face completely covered then they are denying their person-hood and become an invisible nonentity with no cultural or social identity in outside society. If they choose to be an invisible, faceless nonentity that's their choice but I cannot trust anyone who hides their face from me so I would prefer that the non persona faceless ones keep themselves confined to theirselves in their homes as the invisible ghosts that they want to be and should not go out into society. Sorry, that's just the way I feel about face covering and I have no sympathy for those deluded ones who choose to wear them.

I don't care about any other religious, spiritual or cultural accoutrements that people wear.

I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for Sikh culture and for what the kirpan represents to them. I think the kirpan is totally acceptable and honourable and should not be infringed upon. Here is the reason why: http://worldsikh.ca/page/understanding-kirpan

so ski masks and skidoo helmets should be illegal? at one time the wearing of a kilt, sporran and sgian-dubh were frowned apon as well as the playing of the pipes (still should be for some players!) if they want to wear it, why not let them be? ive seen people that should be wearing a lot more clothes than they are, wearing way to little!! kirpan or sgian-dubh should be restricted to those that will not abuse the privilege
.

I would love to see you wear a ski mask and enter a bank LOL! I

f you are riding a ski-doo or motorcycle and have the visor down that is not wearing it to deal with other people. That is following traffic laws. If you wear them with the visor down in a bank or store or public building then it should be illegal.

Covering the face goes against our entire judicial system which is based on recognition. You cannot identify anyone, under the law, whose face is covered.

We are headed in the right direction. In June of this year it became a criminal offense to hide your identity during an unlawful assembly. Up to 10 years in prison. The bill creates a new Criminal Code offence that makes it illegal to wear a mask or otherwise conceal your identity during a riot or unlawful assembly.

The only acceptable reason for covering your face is a medical one.

And in fact - according to my friend who is an Imam as well as confirmed by other research - it is not a religious requirement for Muslim women to cover their face. It is a cultural one.

And I don't - personal experience. I don't lump everyone together but no matter the culture or religious values there are always many who just give it lip service. A kirpan is a knife. If I can't carry a Swiss army knife everywhere then why should I trust that every Sikh is going to be responsible with his knife. Particularly allowing children to carry them. It is one thing to say that they will never use it because it would disrespect their religion but there are lots of Jews who eat pork, Muslims who drink and Christians who break the 10 commandments regularly.

Access to a knife is not something that can be accurately controlled and its use predicted (and thus a tragedy prevented) when emotions are involved.

I don't know I'm on the fence... I don't think people should be able to hide their identity but I also don't think people should be allowed to force their idea of the correct religion or practises on others.

I find it hard to beleive Quebec wants to open this can of worms


As to Cougars government says its not a problem in our area... since the signings started the local population of raccons, posimums, and skunks has dropped. I'm sure its just a problem in waiting.

I honestly don't care if you wear a cross or a yarmulke or hijab or turban to work in a government job - which is why I think the Quebec Charter of Values will be challenged. But when it comes to issues that affect the judicial system, safety and security (such as wearing the Burka and hiding of a persons identity or carrying a knife) then I think that common sense must be applied.

If the kirpan is a symbol then it can be made of cardboard not iron or steel.

Animals evolve. This is not just a case of humans encroaching on the animal's territory but rather that animals learn to adapt - and they return to these territories and use them to their advantage. Animals also learn lessons. Wolves, cougars and even bears to some degree, have avoided humans as a survival option but now realize that the flight option does not save them from being hunted so may have adapted to the fight option. An interesting viewpoint from a friend of ours who has been a conservation officer for 30 years.

Em, you can carry a Swiss Army knife if you want to, there's no legislation or prohibition against them in Canada. Everyone I know carries an SA knife in their pocket or purse as a utility tool, myself and all my women friends included. They are very popular gift items too for people from young to old. There's no legislation against kirpans either, they fall within what is allowed to be carried, and there is no length restriction on carrying non-prohibited knives for anyone in Canada.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knife_legislation#Canada

(sorry, couldn't get rid of the bolding)

I understand that there is no law against kirpans (except now possibly in Quebec) and that I can carry a Swiss army knife.

I can absolutely confirm that I cannot board a plane carrying a Swiss army knife - but a Sikh (the three in line ahead of me) can board a plane carrying a kirpan.

A knife is a knife, a dagger is a dagger. Both my Swiss army knife and a kirpan can inflict severe bodily harm. The entire debate about kirpans came about because they have been used as weapons and to threaten.

Just watching the weekend news and I see there are thousands of people marching in protest today against the Charter of Values.

Aljazeera had an article about it today so I think this is going to get some worldwide attention.

http://america.aljazeera.com/article...oryourjob.html

A Quebec government website shows on the left examples of what religious symbols will be approved and, on the right, what will be banned.

http://america.aljazeera.com/content...9187478058.jpg

The only thing I support as being banned is the Birka - full face covering. And I would support the banning of the kirpan. The rest does not bother me at all.

Oh yea the story is so going to go international. Most people in other countries don't realize how Quebec was set-up! They are going to think all of Canada is bent! Just so wonderful for our image!!

Non of the religious symbols bother me. Not even the kirpan. I just worry about identification with the birka.

So it looks like is heating up for a religious war. People are going after straingers in the street telling them to change religions. It may get very nasty very soon.

I don't know if anything will put it right now

Terrible bus and train collision in Ottawa this morning. Six people dead. So very sad. Witness said the bus driver drove right through the lowered barrier. I used to drive across this crossing everyday to go to work.

Lots of questions as to why...

Wonder if we will ever know

emdeengee, the crossing the bus was hit at is part of the transit system here, not Woodroffe Ave. council did not spend the dollars to put an over pass in for either woodroffe ave nor the transit route when they built the transit system and the train stop at Fallowfield. I did not realise that transit did not have to stop for train tracks like school buses or coach buses have to, hope this changes now!

I don't agree with it. We have freedom of religion here. They don't just want to ban full facial coverings, but any head coverings, even those that don't obscure the face.

Canada is a nation of immigrants. Unless you are 100% Native, then you are from somewhere else. We should be grateful and glad that immigrants continue to choose Canada as their home. I know I'm happy for their contributions to the country and their tax dollars. Doesn't matter one whit to me how and what they wear, or why.

I have not been back in Ottawa for many years but they posted a map of the accident location and this looked just like my old route. There were several crossings and some just marked but no gates. This makes more sense to me though. If you are a driver on a dedicated bus route you don't really have to pay as close attention to traffic.

I don't care where people come from or which religion they practice. I do care about security and face covering is not secure nor is it part of our legal system.

I do care that there is a huge imbalance in our current immigration - the influx from China, India and the Philippines is almost double that from any other nation even though there are people who have been waiting for over 10 years to come from Europe and Africa.

This isn't just about face covering. They want to disallow any head scarf, turban or kippah and any religious jewelry deemed ostentatious. Who gets to decide what is allowed and what isn't?

For issues of security I think identifying women who cover their faces can be done in a culturally sensitive manner by having the woman expose her face in private to a female official.