statism watch

There is a battle on for the soul of this country. It is not being conducted in our national legislature, blind and neutered by the Harper gang, but in innumerable councils and summits churning out a patchwork of treaties and accords safely insulated from accountability to the people. Now we know what Schwarzenneger was really up to in BC: to sit down and sign an economic and environmental treaty spanning BC, Oregon, Washington, and California. Under the auspices of the ‘Pacific Coast Collaborative’s most recent MOU, Gordon Campbell has once again signed away a little bit of British Columbia’s sovereignty by executive fiat. You can watch the leader’s brief video statements here. While specifics from within the summit are hard to come by – unless of course you’ve gone looking for the non-searchable PDF press release found here that calls for a ‘Pacific North America’ by 2030 – the general idea was summed up by the Governator when he said “More and more, the UN and the national governments recognize that the ’sub-national’ governments are really the ones that, in the end, can put the pressure on and create the action that is needed…” This is precisely the end run around federal sovereignty the UN called for in the days prior to Copenhagen’s failure. For green taxation, this signals a regrouping. For Canada, this spells the death of economic sovereignty by a thousand cuts. For more of the thinking behind this, see the Richard Florida article from 2007, Toronto part of ‘transnational mega-region’.

Flashback: Let the Olympic surveillance begin | B.C. to get license-plate scanning system | Cops with cameras future of policing: Vancouver chief | Bombshell UN Climate Documents Reveal Planned “End Run” Around National Sovereignty | Jim Prentice: Implement A ‘North American Climate Change Regime’ | Leaked G20 Documents Shed Light on Global Carbon Tax | Copenhagen, carbon, and the global corporate agenda | Think Tank Report: Obama Will “Press The Reset Button” On North American Union Agenda | Vancouver kicks off quest for ways to fund transportation system | Obama should rename the SPP, set up two speeds on integration with Canada and Mexico, says new report | Ontario unveils cap-and-trade legislation | NRTEE Carbon Market Panel is ‘Round Table on Socialist Planning’ | Climate panel presses for federal cap-and-trade system | U.N. ‘Climate Change’ Plan Would Likely Shift Trillions to Form New World Economy | U.N. Environment Head Wants Global Warming Tax | Harper Govt. to push North American carbon market plan with Obama | Ontario joins continental WCI cap-and-trade scheme | B.C. carbon tax kicks in on Canada Day | They call it cap and trade, but it’s just another fuel tax | Quebec, Ontario sign historic climate pact | CEOs call for ‘aggressive’ action on climate change | Vancouver to import road tolls from UK

Alixandra Gould, Huffington Post
February 12, 2010

Just hours before the 2010 Olympic Games officially kicked-off, the Pacific Coast Collaborative–established in 2008 and consisting of Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of Washington Christine Gregoire, Secretary of State of Oregon Kate Brown, and Premier of British Columbia Gordon Campbell–gathered in Vancouver to discuss issues of mutual interest. One thing was clear, if action is going to be taken on the environment, it’s going to have to start at the local level.

The four leaders had just finished a meeting in which they went over cap-and-trade systems, the hydrogen highway, ocean health, renewable energy, and high-speed trains. At the end of the press conference, the four leaders signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which committed them to collaborate with each other and federal officials to develop renewable energy and improve the air quality of their ports.

Alaska is also a member of the PCC, but was not able to send a representative to the meeting.

The star of the event was no doubt Governor Schwarzenegger, who ran with the Olympic torch through the streets of Vancouver earlier that morning. “We’re united, there’s no two ways about it. Politically, ecologically, we speak with one voice,” he said. Keeping with the athletic theme, he continued, “There’s no sports team that ever has won without being together and being one unit, and all running the same direction and having one plan.”

“We saw at Copenhagen that national governments and the national community has not yet been able to come to an agreement to reducing green house gas emissions. The UN and the national governments have realized that the sub-national governments are really the ones in the end who can put the pressure on and engage the kind of action that is needed.”

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Flashback: Obama: We Need To Bailout Newspapers To Stop New Media Taking Over | Canadian media watched closely in Afghanistan | Reuters Steps Up; Says Linking, Excerpting, Sharing Are Good Things For The News | Associated Press Tries To DRM The News | Murdoch CEO Labels Bloggers “Political Extremists” | Supreme Court to rule on ‘tidal-wave’ of press freedom cases | Ottawa considering aid for private broadcasters | Berners-Lee W3C Consortium to ‘Authorize’ Website Content? | Blogger arrests hit record high | The Death of Canadian Journalism | Prepackaged News

Paul Joseph Watson, PrisonPlanet.com
October 15, 2009

Obama to control your television; brainwashing will be “organically” woven into plots and storylines all next week

An insidious brainwashing program set to be launched next week will “organically” weave the government’s political propaganda into prime time network television shows, with positive talking points about Obama’s environmental, bailout, health care and “servitude” agenda being seamlessly integrated into the content of dramas, reality shows and comedies.

Under the auspices of a program run by the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), network TV shows will be used to promote “service and volunteerism” on behalf of the public as part of a “week-long of television programming on all four leading broadcast networks – ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and all affiliated broadcast and cable properties as well, and other networks, beginning October 19.”

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Once VISA and Mastercard have taken over the debit market and merging it with their credit instruments, will we let them lead us, docile and eager for our affinity program points, away from cash and onto the electronic currency system? The further away from physical money we get, the more control banks have over the money supply.

Flashback: Banks balk at new credit card rules | The next cellphone trick: transferring money | Bullion and Bandits: The Improbable Rise and Fall of E-Gold | Digital Money Forum Pushes For Electronic Currency | Obama signs U.S. credit card reforms into law | Credit card changes benefit families, Flaherty says | Credit companies seek to avoid regulation, create global debit system | US backing for world currency stuns markets | Coming soon to your cellphone: Your credit card via RFID chip | ‘Smart’ Credit Cards, Pilot Project set the Groundwork for Wireless Credit Wallets | New credit cards may shift unauthorized-transaction liabilities to the holder

Rita Trichur, Dana Flavelle, The Toronto Star
October 10, 2009

Voluntary conduct code lacks clout, says critics

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is putting the final touches on a “voluntary code of conduct” to govern Visa’s and MasterCard’s entry into Canada’s $168-billion debit card market, sources have told the Star.

Flaherty, engaged in intense negotiations with industry stakeholders, is expected to announce the measures in the coming weeks as a complement to his new credit card regulations.

The code of conduct will tackle a number of thorny issues pertaining to both debit and credit, sources said. Those include the priority routing of debit transactions over Visa’s and MasterCard’s networks; the use of so-called “dual-purpose cards” that have both debit and credit functions; and increased transparency around rates and fees.

While the code is likely to call for “a more definitive” fee schedule, Flaherty is expected to steer clear of imposing caps, sources said. Flaherty’s spokesperson declined to comment.

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… because you’re all to be treated like criminal slaves with no presumption of innocence under the international legal regime that’s being openly patched together. (Note the desire expressed in the article below to “bring Canada in line with a number of other countries in Europe and countries like Australia, which have adopted similar measures.”) Who cares what the law in Europe is? This is a sovereign country, and Section 8 of our Canadian Charter of Rights reads “8. Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.” They’re already talking about forcibly taking your blood, too. So here’s an exercise. Click through to your Canadian Constitution here, print it up and read it. Then tear it up and throw it in the garbage, because that’s where it’s going unless more people get involved and speak up for our liberty in this country. And while you’re at it, you may want to also let your Member of Parliament know we’ve no interest in subjecting our tax, food, copyright, cybersecurity or trade legislation to international standardization in closed door talks either.

Related: Secret juror background checks not illegal, prosecutor says | You Commit Three Felonies a Day | Police training to forcibly take blood in Texas, Idaho | US Supreme Court rules police can initiate suspect’s questioning if right to counsel waived | Cops can now ‘take all your stuff’ | Entrapment becoming standard procedure for police | UK: Government ‘using fear as a weapon to erode civil liberties’ | Ottawa moves to toughen anti-gang laws | Schools seek more police as crime drops | Ontario to place prosecutors in police stations | ‘Mens rea’ intention test questioned prior to Toronto 18 terror verdict | Tory ‘Guilty before proven innocent’ law to make debut in court | Perjury: Is it different for cops? | Police to demand blood, urine at roadside stops | Police inspector posed as militant protester | Justice Critic Brands Street Racing Vehicle Seizure Law as “Police State-ism” | CBC Radio Broadcasts Expose of North American Police State | You Are a Suspect

CBC News
October 5, 2009

The federal justice minister is considering a new law that would allow police to conduct random breathalyzer tests on drivers, regardless of whether they suspect motorists have been drinking..

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson raised the prospect recently at a meeting of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, according to MADD chief executive Andrew Murie.

If random testing were to be adopted, it would be a major change to Canada’s 40-year-old breathalyzer legislation, which stipulates that police may only administer a test if they suspect a driver has been drinking.

In June, a House of Commons parliamentary committee recommended changing the legislation to allow for random testing, arguing it is an effective deterrent.

The change would also bring Canada in line with a number of other countries in Europe and countries like Australia, which have adopted similar measures.

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The 200 mile limit on the control of national resources is an artifact of the UN’s Law of the Sea treaty, which Canada ratified in 2003. The LOST is itself a threat to national sovereignty by levying international taxes on operations in the deep seabed and creating an International Seabed Authority – effectively giving the UN control over 7/10 of the Earth’s surface. The ever pugnacious Mr. Williams is right to get his hackles up over this, but it would serve Canadians well to know the wider context behind many such stories – our elected leaders are uploading power to unelected international bodies.

CBC News
September 11, 2009

Newfoundland and Labrador’s premier is calling for immediate action from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, saying Canada’s sovereignty over its fishery resources within the 200-mile coastal limit is threatened.

“Proposed amendments at the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization threaten not only to further erode the sustainability of fish stocks, but also serve to institutionalize the ability of other nations to impose their management over stocks inside of Canada’s sovereign 200-mile limit,” Premier Danny Williams said Friday.

The federal government has tabled a proposal in the House of Commons to reform its arrangement with international NAFO members regarding fisheries management in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. Williams says some of the proposed changes are unacceptable.

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Many republics throughout history have fallen at the hand of troops performing domestic operations at the behest of oligarchs. So wake up, it’s happening here – it’s just being pulled off incrementally so you don’t take any notice. But perhaps one morning you’ll wake up and wonder how your country could have become such a grim authoritarian state, and whether you could have stopped it. You can. Speak out. Just tell people – this insanity can still be reversed through political means.

Flashback: US Military To Work With FEMA During Swine Flu Pandemic | Government of Canada Participates in Major US Homeland Security Exercise | US FEMA emergency management, Israeli IDF team up for martial law exercises | British Army to Police Medicine Hat During Urban Warfare Drills | Afghan front lines take mental toll on military and RCMP | Urban warfare drills coming to Medicine Hat | Military may patrol bar zone in Barrie | Military readies reservists for threats to ‘domestic front’ | Military and police practice integration during Olympic security exercises | US Urban Warfare Drills Linked To Coming Economic Rage | Troops in the Streets: Army Brigades Standing By to Assist in Disasters, Help Quell Dissent | Canada, U.S. agree to use each other’s troops in civil emergencies

Paul Joseph Watson, PrisonPlanet.com
August 5, 2009

The implementation on martial law in America advanced a step further yesterday when the sheriff of Alabama’s most populous county said he would probably have to bring in National Guard troops to perform law enforcement duties due to budget cuts.

Plans to slash $4.1 million from the budget of Sheriff Mike Hale by Jefferson County commissioners in order to head off a municipal bankruptcy filing were approved by Circuit Judge Joseph L. Boohaker.

“A spokesman for Hale, Randy Christian, said the sheriff told Riley after the ruling that state assistance may be needed to perform basic law enforcement tasks once the department’s current funding is exhausted in early September,” reports the Associated Press.

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No coverage of this in the media, of course: The Government of Canada is participating in NLE 09, a major international exercise hosted by Homeland Security to protect against the *cough* ever-present threat of terrorism. Previous top-level exercises under FEMA and the DHS have involved the simulated rounding-up and internment of American citizens labeled as “suspected terrorists”. It’s all part of conditioning the military to carry out domestic operations alongside foreign troops – a deadly precedent – and integrating national intelligence operations into regional and international hierarchies. More here.

Flashback: US FEMA emergency management, Israeli IDF team up for martial law exercises | British Army to Police Medicine Hat During Urban Warfare Drills | Afghan front lines take mental toll on military and RCMP | Urban warfare drills coming to Medicine Hat | Military may patrol bar zone in Barrie | Military readies reservists for threats to ‘domestic front’ | Military and police practice integration during Olympic security exercises | US Urban Warfare Drills Linked To Coming Economic Rage | Troops in the Streets: Army Brigades Standing By to Assist in Disasters, Help Quell Dissent | Canada, U.S. agree to use each other’s troops in civil emergencies

Marketwire, PRInside.com
July 27, 2009

OTTAWA, ONTARIO — (Marketwire) — 07/27/09 — Canadian federal officials will participate in a large scale security exercise known as National Level Exercise 09 (NLE 09), led by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Canadian officials will work with their international counterparts in an exercise responding to a simulated terrorist attack.

“NLE 09 offers a valuable opportunity to confirm intelligence and information sharing protocols with our partners and strengthen our response to potential threats,” said the Honourable Peter Van Loan, Minister of Public Safety. “Participation in this exercise is an example of our government’s on-going commitment to the security and safety of Canadians, and making our communities safer. We are pleased to work with our allies on this important exercise.”

This exercise will involve senior officials of the United States government, as well as participants from Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and, for the first time, Mexico. The objective for this exercise differs from previous exercises that practised disaster response and recovery. For NLE 09, the objective is to demonstrate the capability to prevent a terrorist attack from occurring through effective information-sharing and coordination.

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What else can this be other than a de facto pharma bailout? H1N1 isn’t even on track to kill as many people as a regular run of the mill seasonal flu virus. Yet here we are – again – ordering millions of doses to protect ourselves from this phantasm. And with the additional incremental loading on your immune system, the ‘adverse events’ mentioned below are likely to strike down those at the greatest risk, those who are already weakened. By now, most people know of someone that has contracted the flu right after getting their flu shot.

Flashback: Manitoba First Nations declare swine flu state of emergency | WHO declares swine flu pandemic, no change in Canada’s approach | Manitoba First Nations, health system straining under flu outbreak | Swine flu ‘getting closer’ to pandemic level, WHO official says | France Considers Mandatory Flu Vaccinations | Children Who Get Flu Vaccine Have Three Times Risk Of Hospitalization For Flu, Study Suggests | Canada waiting for WHO guidance on swine flu vaccine | Swine Flu May Be Human Error; WHO Investigates Claim | Researchers working on swine flu ‘vaccine corn’ | Lessons of 1976: swine flu, fear, mass vaccinations, wasted millions | Illinois-based Baxter working on vaccine to stop swine flu outbreak in Mexico | ‘Accidental’ Contamination Of Vaccine With Live Avian Flu Virus Virtually Impossible | Officials investigate how bird flu contaminated vaccines in Europe

Steve Rennie, Canadian Press
June 29, 2009

OTTAWA–Canadians who dread their annual flu shot may have to roll up their sleeves three times this fall.

People seeking protection will need two swine flu shots, in addition to their regular flu shot, health officials said Monday.

Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. David Butler-Jones, says putting both the regular flu and swine flu vaccine into one needle would have delayed production.

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Napolitano has made it clear that the WHTI-mandated ‘enhanced’ driver’s licenses are the replacement for the defunct RealID program, which encountered massive resistance amid claims it would become a de facto North American ID card. A clever end run, Janet. Now, we’re on to gunboats patrolling the Great Lakes. The North American Union agenda is being implemented in incremental steps – as individual initiatives like the SPP rise and fall, the same policy directives are introduced under different names, and the public (those who care) are thus misled and mollified.

Flashback: New US border technology directed at insidious threat: Canadians | US Homeland Security forced to retract statement accusing Canada of importing 9/11 terrorists | Predator drones patrolling border irk Manitoba MLA | Homeland Security Assuming Broad Powers, Turning Swaths of U.S. into “Constitution-Free Zone” | Surveillance on the Great Lakes: U.S. tightens security along border | Drivers licences with chips spark heated debate | Border ‘two-headed monster,’ industry minister says | Canada, U.S. agree to use each other’s troops in civil emergencies | U.S. Northern Command, Canada Command establish new bilateral Civil Assistance Plan

CBC News
May 26, 2009

Border security issues sat at the top of the agenda on the first day of a two-day conference between high-ranking officials on both side of the Canada-U.S. border.

Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan met with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in Windsor on Tuesday. The pair will meet again in Ottawa on Wednesday.

After touring port operations on both sides of the border, the two signed an agreement allowing armed guards to patrol shared waterways and share information and resources.

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George Monbiot, The Guardian
February 5, 2009

Did you know … a law passed to protect people from stalkers is being used by the government to prosecute protesters

One of the most heartbreaking articles I have ever read was a response column published recently in the Guardian. Edward Countryman explained that he was writing on behalf of his wife, Evonne Powell-Von Heussen, “who could not bear to face” the unintended consequences of the thing she had created.

For 17 years she was the victim of an aggressive stalker, who attacked her and held her captive. She spent five years running a brave and vigorous campaign for an anti-stalking law, to ensure that nobody else’s life could be ruined as hers was. Now she has seen how that law – the 1997 Protection from Harassment Act – is being used for a completely different purpose. She is so upset by the “perversion of its intentions” that she cannot bring herself to confront it.

Powell-Von Heussen “took great care that the act would protect frightened, endangered individuals from their assailants, and only such persons”. But the first three people to be prosecuted under it were all peaceful protesters. Since then it has been used by the police and courts to criminalise almost all forms of dissent.

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