Walking into China - Winter 1981-2

Walking
I looked across the long military style bridge that stood before me. On the other side was Communist China and adventure. I had stated when I was five years old that one day I would learn to speak Chinese and go to China. Here I was twenty years later on the cusp of realizing one more Dream.

I looked across the hundred or so meters of metal bridge with wood planking for a road way. It was a bridge where no vehicles drove, with barbed-wire covered barricades at both ends. On either side in seemingly endless rows I could see soldiers of The People's Liberation Army standing at the ready facing inwards to scrutinize all who walked the gauntlet.

I had just talked my way into China, now I had to face the music – military music. I took a breath, whispered a quiet prayer, and stepped forward into history.

These were the waning days of the hardline Maoist regime and China was in flux, but everyone knew that what I was doing could mean imprisonment and even death. I smiled, walked calmly and even whistled a bit as I walked slowly towards my destination and destiny.

I knew very well how the poor people of China had languished under Mao's authoritarian government, while in some way they had also been liberated from a dreadful past.  I had come to bring hope to these people.  I had a Plan and I was determined to execute it and initiate change in the ancient Middle Kingdom. 

Thinking
I had a model from Chinese Buddhism in mind as I prepared to share democratic ideas as an alternative to tyranny.  China had become over 80% Buddhist within thirty years of being introduced according to census data from their history. Social conditions then were almost identical to those of Mao's China when I arrived.

Mao's China was a threat to the world at that time. It was like North Korea today – with a 'supreme leader', paranoid, heavily armed, with a huge nuclear arsenal and a belligerent attitude towards all outsiders and non-conformists.

Something had to be done to change the direction of that nation and the hands of governments were tied in the dance of diplomacy.  I was a Chinese Scholar, an expert in their Classical period, ideas, history, language, art and so on, with a degree from the University of Toronto and several months of living in Taiwan. As a democratic citizen I took responsibility and acted when others could not.

Talking
My Mandarin was pretty good by then, in spite of my limited talent for language learning. I marched slowly, looking side to side into the eyes, minds and hearts of these young soldiers, all in green uniforms with automatic weapons across their chests as one long unbroken line of defense and hostility and danger.

I smiled and walked and imagined a new China that could emerge in twenty years. The risk seemed worthwhile. If China did not change then the world would be destroyed. 

No one could get into China in order to influence the direction events would take now that Mao was dead, even though his wife was on trial for treason on television. I knew the Chinese would come to Canada one day and I was hoping they would arrive in business shoes rather than army boots so I told them about free market capitalism.

Hoping
Now halfway across the bridge I saw a light dawning in my heart and over the ancient Sleeping Dragon - China. I calmly and compassionately looked into their eyes and tried to communicate that I was a friend and that I had come to bring something wonderful – hope.  My personal encounter with the great Marcel Marceau, inventor of modern mime helped me to communicate non-verbally.

I walked towards the last possible point of destruction – Customs and Immigration. If I could get through there without them searching my bag I would be fine. But they could search me, arrest me, imprison me and even execute me for simply talking about democracy.

I was the last passenger from the train I rode from Hong Kong to the frontier. The Customs officials all looked at me as I walked in and surprised them. They had likely already heard about me coming from the officials on the other side of the bridge who had admitted me after a lengthy political meeting in their open workspace.

Thirty of them had gathered to discuss how they should deal with me. I had shown up out of the blue and told them I wanted into China and my passport had already been stamped by their office in Hong Kong.

This was unheard of and unprecedented!  I asked politely and with a compelling and intimidating political argument in quite good Mandarin to be admitted.  They would not disagree with Mao - at least not yet.

This caused quite a stir among them and they were forced to accept my interpretation of Maoist doctrine and let me in.  I knew more about current ideological trends in China than some members of the Politburo and the Communist Central Committee. They had never met anyone like me before.

Flirting
The woman in the green uniform scowled a bit as I walked up and placed my bag on her counter and smiled at her. Where are you going? To Hang Zhou? Why? To visit my friend and fellow Chinese scholar from Canada. How long would I be in China? About there months. She began to smile a bit.

Let me see your passport. What's this stamp from Taiwan? I told her and her associates what I had told those Border security officers at the train station on the other side of the bridge. They also bought my argument and we had a few stifled laughs over my strange official designation.

I am a student at a Chinese university. Which one? Tai-Da. Oh, in Peking? No, in Taipei. Shock!  Taiwan and Mainland China had been enemies since 1949.


Arguing
That's not in China! she said as mouths dropped open all around in disbelief at my audacity.  Quiet hands slipped towards holstered guns and machine-gun triggers. "That's not what Chairman Mao said about it. He says that Taiwan is part of China - a province - and that there is only One China." I argued

Therefore I should be allowed to travel freely as other scholars in Chinese universities do and I should also receive the student discount for travel and accommodation. They were flabbergasted, but they signaled me forward shaking their heads in disbelief. I was jubilant within. This was me using Mao's own doctrine of One China. "One China" principle (一個中國原則/一个中国原则).


I counted on the reputation of all Chinese bureaucrats of the day coming into play. They were reputed to be too lazy to pick up a piece of paper let alone do any kind of work. She waved me through with a sweet smile and fluttering eyes.  

Traveling
I jumped on the train to Guang Zhou City where I stayed overnight before the eighteen hour train journey to the ancient capital city of Hang Zhou near Shanghai. The stream driven train made it's lumbering way across the great central rice plain and onward towards the coast. This was all railway rolling stock from Canada and I ate a lot of Canadian wheat products as I traveled through China.

I planned to tell the staff and students in China's most respected art college  about democracy, free-market capitalism, human rights and the open society. I asked them to carry these great ideas to the ends of their nation to share peace and hope with all. I had found hope in these things and I knew others could too.

This seemed like the best possible place to launch a new set of revolutionary ideas. And these were the best possible people to do it. 

Leaving
The Chinese revere their classical artists above all other citizens in all other professions or pursuits. This is a deeply rooted value that is in all Chinese and is in their culture, their customs, their value system and more.

This is an ancient value rooted in their collective DNA. This was protracted counterrevolution. These artists have been instrumental in the renewal of China and it's modernization.

See Mao's On Protracted War (simplified Chinese: 论持久战; traditional Chinese: 論持 久戰).

I threw my heavy bag over my shoulder, turned and walked away with relief.  Within a few weeks I would deliver my cache of ideas, travel in China's heartland, visit Shanghai, be interrogated by the Chinese Secret Police and then flee on a night train to avoid another discussion about my actions in Hang Zhou.

Getting into China was not easy. Getting out almost became impossible. But so much seemed at stake and worth the risk.

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Peace in El Salvador - The Canadian Connection

The Circumstances of Life

Circumstances of life landed me in a situation where I could provide leadership that resulted in the end of the civil war in El Salvador. This was not something I thought of. It was something that happened to me in large part because I am Canadian.  That permitted trust among those who had been killing each other for so long.

Early in my career working in the church my wife Tamara and I adopted a child in El Salvador through a Christian organization. We had Hector Blanco Iglesias in our financial care for several years and got little notes from him and an occasional picture of his smiling face.  I always wanted to do more for the little fellow.

When I was a student at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey I had made a very good and lasting friend named Joseph 'Joe' Castleberry, Princeton University chaplain and youth minister. Joe is an exceptional person and we became fast friends. We were drawn together and stayed in touch.  This was a time when liberation theology was popular in churches and lecture halls.

After a year I returned to Canada while he finished his degree and then went to Columbia University NYC to complete a doctorate in education. He then went quickly to El Salvador to follow his dream of ministry in Latin America and opened a church in a small premises downtown in the capitol San Salvador. 

His Spanish language abilities are extraordinary and he's interesting so the church rapidly grew. Joe had even come to Canada to be in our wedding party and grew to love our country and people.  He's gifted in many languages.

He moved to San Salvador with his wife Kathy and they had had two little girls in the process. El Salvador had been embroiled in a bloody civil war for fourteen years and the nation was divided along political lines. The American backed government was waging war against the Communist rebels in the hill country. 

America's biggest bombing mission between WW2 and “shock and awe” in Baghdad was in El Salvador during that war. There were still mortar rounds falling on the city while I was there and everyone was on high alert.

The military had rolled onto the campus of the National University of San Salvador and had blown it to pieces, shooting students and staff in their classrooms and leaving the place pockmarked by shelling as a monument to tyranny and injustice. I saw the remnants of all this with my own eyes. 

Workaday world

During this period I had worked at a church in Hinton, Alberta and then moved to another in Napanee, Ontario.I was there sitting in my kitchen relaxing on a Sunday afternoon when the phone rang. 

It was Joe telling me that he had a problem, with a capital P. What's up? He said, “I opened a small church in San Salvador across the street from the National University. After a while some members of the Communist Party started attending and many of them have been converted and have relinquished violence.” That's great I said, so what's the problem...Problem?

“Well,” he continued, “recently some members of the government party have begun attending our church too, including the brother of the military dictator. Now every Sunday morning I find myself at the front of the church fixing to preach and all I see is these two violent factions sitting on either side of the sanctuary glaring at one another. 

The place is tense and I need a way to release that pressure. It's unnerving and I don't know what to do about it. Any suggestions?” I had studied administration which involves problem solving so he thought I might have learned about this kind of situation in school.  I had not.

The idea that moved things

Why yes! I have suggestion. It looks like you have an opportunity. With both parties there you could bring them together to talk and help them negotiate a peace treaty that would put an end to this bloody war. “You really think so?” Yes I do. They trust you don't they?

Joe bought the idea and began moving his friends swiftly towards a new life of peace and reconciliation. So he cautiously set about bringing up this plan with those involved. They also saw the opportunity to do what was right – to nurture peace. Salvador means Saviour.

This process went on for a couple of months during which time we talked it through on the phone while he acted it out on the ground.  I proposed that they build their future peace upon the Canadian model. 

Then Joe called again to tell me they had achieved an agreement and that a date had been set for the signing of a cease fire. I was thrilled when he invited me to come to El Salvador to be a part of this historic event.

An unusual study leave - success with less

I had some study leave available from my job as a minister and decided I would do a study of Latin America. :) The study leave came with a grant and I added $800 to the budget. 

So stopping the civil war in El Salvador cost me less than $2000. It's noteworthy that those who were sponsoring this war of representation had spent more than a billion dollars over fourteen years. That small price is what I call good economics.

San Miguel - "Welcome to hell!" said our guide.

While there we also traveled across the country through the rebel held mountains in order to visit Hector Blanco Iglesias in San Miguel. This city was the place where the Colombian drug cartel laundered their money in those days and it was a very dangerous place, filled with criminal gangs and gangsters. The notorious American street gang MS13 started there shortly after the war ended.

Little Hector attended a Christian school where the startled principal told me they were constantly being attacked by thugs. She was surprised to see me as I was the first sponsor who had ever come to see a child. I brought Hector a soccer ball from Canada and took him out to buy soccer shoes and dinner in a restaurant. The little boy with the hair lip was ecstatic and empowered.

We traveled to San Miguel with one of Joe's church members, who was from that city and was also the economic adviser for the Communist Party of El Salvador. We had to make the return trip in one day as there were banditos and rebels everywhere with little civil law or civility in many places. 

The infrastructure - bridges, power lines, roads and so on was blown to pieces - literally. The people lived in poverty, longing for justice and peace. There was tension in the air as the last week of war passed.

Rebels in the Mountains

We stopped at a mountain village on the return trip. We had been invited for dinner at the home of a Christian dentist. They asked me to speak to locals who were the poorest people of El Salvador in the region of La Palma. There were few lights in the dark meeting tent but thousands appeared out of the shadows to meet 'the Canadian'.

This was the rebel mountain stronghold where they famous La Palma art was produced to finance their side of the war. The government dictatorship was generously financed by the US government. Those people had nothing! Their revolution was financed by indigenous art.

They had no food, no work, no public security and no one to protect them from the troubles of life. They had no doctor, no teacher, no hope and no help. We prayed for all of their needs and for their nation. 

Tottering on the Brink of Peace

As it tottered on the brink of peace I comforted them with the news that Canadian peace had come to El Salvador. The trip back to San Salvador along bandit infested roads that night was uneventful.

I stayed in El Salvador one week which seemed to be months long because we did and achieved so much. During that time we visited the bombed out university as well as the Catholic University where some priests, their housekeeper and her daughter had been murdered. We later visited a coffee finca [farm], some volcanoes, some Inca ruins and had dinner in a posh restaurant overlooking the capitol.

We had lunch with the dictator at a Pizza Hut [or his brother – I was never sure which] early in the week. We had dinner with the man who would become the first democratically elected president of El Salvador . He came to Joe's home where I barbecued chicken for the meal. He arrived with a heavily armed group of bodyguards and left with a heart full of hope for his people.

Most important of all, as I flew out of that city on Saturday, those two men met to sign the ceasefire agreement which was later ratified in a place called Chapultepec, Mexico. This proved to be a very important model for other peace agreements.

With soaring hearts

So as I winged my way overhead they met at a table below to sign the papers. I went back to Canada via Belize and Miami feeling a sense of joy and gratitude to be included in this important historic action. Also other countries in Latin America soon followed this lead and ended their wars. This ushered in democracy, liberty and hope for countless millions.

That was a fun, fulfilling, useful and instructive week of high adventure. It was a week when being a Canadian brought abundant hope to poor people in a distant land who have since helped many others do the same. Canada is the vehicle that helped to deliver peace to El Salvador.

This experience reinforced for me that all things are possible to those who believe. I believe in Canada. I know we can do much more still. I have seen the evidence.

Dr. Castleberry later impacted Ecuador in a similar way. Now he is president of university in Washington State, a sought after speaker, a published writer and scholar and leader in America society. He has three daughters and is married to Kathleen.

Salvador - live link - This movie by Oliver Stone helps us see the challenges faced by El Salvador at that time.

Attacks on The Canadian Senate - What do they mean?

Prime Minister Harper wants to tamper with The Canadian Senate - one of the strong bases upon which Confederation was built. He is trying to dismantle our parliamentary democracy and changing of the Senate will have seriously negative consequences in my opinion. But who would want to question the Prime Minister's motives?

As you know our system of government - parliamentary democracy - has three parts - Legislative, Administrative and Judicial.

If judges and lawyers and police officers behave badly we do not contemplate throwing out the judicial and enforcement components of our democratic system of self-government - nor do we target parts of the system like the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court for elimination or destruction or do away with lawyers, prosecutors and due process.

Same with The House of Commons - many MPs and even some PMs have proven less worthy than others for these august offices and duties. But we still believe in legislative process and the powers of parliament and we do not discuss eliminating the Privy Council or parliamentary committees and officers - OR the Prime Minister.

The Senate has a place in our system that seems to mystify many Canadians - and this mystery is used by him and others as a lever to discredit The Senate.

But to me as a citizen and careful watcher of Senate Committees and in my many interactions with Senators over the years The Senate has been a happy functional surprise in the midst of what has often been chaos in the Lower House and The Prime Minister's Office [PMO].

Senators have stood up for the helpless and the vulnerable and for accountable government. And in keeping with their constitutionally defined job descriptions they have represented their regions to provide balance across all parts of a Canada that has always had uneven population distribution.

Thus less populated regions still have a meaningful voice in this Upper House. This was one of the conditions for Confederation – fair representation across unequal constituencies is very important to sparsely populated places like Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. 

So damaging the historic functionality of The Senate is really an assault upon Canada's Regions, provinces and more vulnerable population groups, all contrary to the intent and spirit of Confederation.  And by the way I have seen evidence that even some new Conservative Senators take their duties to heart and will not be manipulated.

Removing the Senate will not produce the jobs, wealth, investment, increase in the financial tax base or any other useful steps in addressing what many see as a macro-crisis in its early stages.

It will not help the environment nor the economy. But it WILL create another constitutional crisis and I'm sure that would please the guy who is striving to dismantle Canada and strip you of your Rights and collective inheritance. :) That's right – Stephen Harper!

With all due respect it does look like a distraction to me and has been part of trustworthy old Steve Harper's plans and rhetoric since he entered politics. What better reason could we want to make it our priority too!??

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A Nation of Leaders

A Gifted Population

Canadians are almost without exception leaders in their own spheres of activity and communities. Providing leadership to a vast army of leaders is an interesting challenge that requires respect and tact.

Who can provide leadership that can pass the scrutiny of Steve Paikin, Andrew Coyne, Michael Coren, David Mainse, Christine Williams, Sid Ryan, Elizabeth May, John Gormley, Andrea Horwath, Evan Solomon, Gilles Duceppe, Justin Trudeau, and the diverse network of humanity and opinion that has grown up in this land of freedom? 

We have no shortage of genius and leadership in this country – which is a great blessing ripe with potential in a world steeped in chaos. This is no small challenge.

Abundance of Leaders

Leadership also runs deep under these top level and more visible personalities. They represent communities which are in turn comprised of leaders. Every teacher in every classroom in every school and the children they nurture, every manager and foreman and high fashion model and designer and bosses on the shop floor, fishing boat, mining project, construction or power project.

Bankers, businesspeople, bullies and blowhards. First Nations chiefs, mayors, fire and police chiefs and military commanders - they are all Canadian leaders in their own right as are those whom they lead...and they each and collectively in turn need leadership. Life is complex and difficult for all people.

The Challenge

So this is the challenge – to provide leadership that speaks comfort, hope and meaning with clarity to the entire community – in at least two official languages. Yet there are other factors at play aside from our diversity and our inclusiveness. We hold different beliefs – religious, scientific, political, social, cultural, and so on.

Moreover we live in far-flung communities where equality is rare and justice is in need of support – from Attawapiskat to Rosedale and from Smithers to Westmount and Cornerbrook and Halifax there is suffering and sorrow and human need for assurance that things can be made right, made better, safer, more profitable in every way. In short people need hope.

Scrutiny and Integrity

Any proposal must pass the heartless scrutiny of Rick Mercer, Guy A. Lapage and Ron James, all thirteen premiers and cabinets, a vast community of diverse artists in all fields and creative people in all places and occupations AND the Media. This number must also include an unelected Senate, an appointed judiciary and a battery of lawyers too large and smart to comprehend.

There is a world class community of scholars and scientists and engineers and professionals in all vocations – in field, forest, factory, office, classroom and store front. Even our waiters, cab drivers, labourers, unemployed and stay at home parents are brilliant, educated and caring.

Neither can any plan offend our diverse faith communities and those who claim no such beliefs - all at the same time. It must meet the standards of the Constitution, Charter, Law, Supreme Court, business communities, social communities, activist communities, organized labour and rocking chair politicians of every description and stripe. 

Then there is the international community and an intricate network of treaties, agreements and detente and a list of vested interests and powerful dynamics. First Nations and ALL nations will look for their share in the plan. This is one TALL order. Lol

Perspective and Reality Check

So let me quote something here that I read this week somewhere, “The dream never matches up to the reality that follows when we reach for it.” In other words, “Don't get your hopes up!” 

But my hopes are already up because I see the extraordinary people with whom I share this country and this planet and the plans THEY have for a meaningful and hopeful future. This makes me hopeful and optimistic about the future I dream. Their dreams – your dreams – are my dreams – shared dreams.

Sadly this crude paraphrase accurately communicates a pessimistic view of a common phenomenon – dreams – waking and sleeping, hoping and fearing. And many dreams do fail and falter and prove futile or false. 

Yet I often find the opposite to be true – the result by far outstrips the dreams and plans I carried into a situation – by unimaginably large magnitudes. I often stand amazed. Going to university gave me that experience.

Canadian Wealth

It is our rich Canadian culture that enriches us and the world beyond our borders through many programs, relationship and opportunities in business, education, friendship, art, trade, science, diplomacy and in every way. 

This Canadian Culture has evolved in the warmth of Canadian hospitality like that which helped America air passengers on 911 in Gander or the assistance sent to Haiti after their earthquake and a thousand other points of sustainable light.

Canada is a unique and amazing place that is full of leaders in every area and in every occupation and position in society - from school children to Members of the Privy Council to global artists and NGOs. We have a collective opportunity and responsibility to reach out to the world before the world closes in on us. This action must cut mustard with the intelligence community, the law enforcement community, the armed forces community, and citizens of all kinds, origins and descriptions.

This is the kind of democratic leadership that I'm proposing in the Plan of Hope. It has a democratic spirit and employs democratic values, practices and methods within the traditions of democracy in Canada and inside the institutions and processes we have built and nurtured with which to govern ourselves together democratically.

Tools for the Job - The Long View

We do NOT have to reinvent the wheel of Liberty. It's in our documents – Constitution, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, society and a history of case Law stretching back more than a thousand years to a time of kings and Magna Carta.

This plan takes the diligence and creativity, the sense of justice with compassion of many great Canadians and imports this work for all to see, help with and benefit from. By supporting others I propagate democracy – your ideas and dreams and aspirations matter to me and to the national community. The Plan of Hope is evidence that I recognize that and that I listened and took notes.

I believe that this diverse community of leaders need leadership that empowers them and enables them to do the impossible in an age when nothing less will do to face our current complex set of challenges. I believe that I am that leader because I have been doing this work for a long time with results that are not obvious to most.

The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu – whose work I read many times in both English and Classical Chinese beginning at the age of fifteen – claimed that “When the best kind of leaders complete their work the people say - We did it ourselves.”

Working with this model and implementing what I see as a gift for democratic political leadership and action I have quietly and patiently stood up for, fought for and worked for Canada and Canadians in many important ways - both on our soil and abroad.

A Modest Proposal

Now I propose that we take our collective goodwill, intelligence, skills and resources and build a hopeful world together along with global neighbours everywhere. “Come all who will for an alliance of the good-willed.”

The Math – calculations and analysis - tells me that we have all that we require to build another Canadian century of prosperity, Liberty and responsibility that will benefit people everywhere and build warm and lasting relations among nations as we all address this macro-crisis together. The Chinese word for crisis means 'danger and opportunity'.

In this way we will be better able to help allies and neighbours alike in an age of limitations. Who better to lead the world than a community of leaders!? Our best years lay ahead.

Daring Resolve

“As in the time of Sir Walter Scott, we are in need of “...people of daring resolve”. We are best when we harness and embrace those people of genius in our midst - in all sciences and branches of learning and research and endeavor. Science needs time to expand and space in which to grow. This requires political will that delivers responsible and reliable funding. 

This is the respectful and sensible approach I have taken in compiling The Plan of Hope. I've consulted Canadians in the process of assembling a wholly Canadian plan for a healthy, confident, successful, sustainable Canada – a priceless inheritance for our children.

We deserve government that respects us as the extraordinary people we are. Canadians are unlike any people who have ever lived anywhere at any time in human history. We deserve better and we can DO better. Stephen Harper is shortsighted and heavy handed and we need leadership that is warm hearted and able to recognize and respect the amazing qualities of the Canadian Citizen.”

- from Highways to Nowhere – Stephen Harper's Policy Plan for Canada

CANADA – Stand alone and work together!

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Highways to Nowhere – Stephen Harper's Policy Plan for Canada

Coming from the Northern bush as I do I have been on many roads that lead into the bush and then vanish amidst the wild vegetation and tangled underbrush of the boreal forest. Some are lumber roads that once led to the sites where timber or pulp logs were extracted selectively or in clear cutting rampages that obliterated tens of thousands of hectares of mature trees. These roads lead to vast treeless wastelands.

There are roads that once led to communities where a resource provided employment and opportunity – silver or gold or nickel or uranium or copper. These were mostly single resource communities. Still others were the result of plans gone astray. Great expectations in the marketing stages of a project ended in disappointment when the funding was not available to develop the property or project. And sometimes these roads to nowhere appeared as the result of a scam or a fraudulent action that brought investment based upon false exploration data. Roads to nowhere can have many reasons for existing.

Now I see the Prime Minister of Canada building roads to nowhere in the development of a national plan and policy direction for his government and for CANADA. He builds a station in the north for scientific and military purposes and promises investment. But later he cancels the second and third stages of the project once the media lights have dimmed and the reporters have gone on to the next story. He hopes that his next set of fabricated crises will obliterate this fact - for Stephen Harper is a disciple of Leo Strauss and a student of Tom Flanagan, "The Man Behind Stephen Harper".

Same thing with First Nations communities in crisis – I'm talking about Attawapiskat here. He makes noise and promises and prims and postures and makes speeches in distant lands far from his constituents. But he decides that an auditor will help those in financial crisis in First Nations communities. At the same time he ignores the recommendations and criticisms of the Auditor General of Canada on many matters of grave importance from the environment to the spending habits of this government and the interference by ministers in the affairs of government departments.

In the end nothing significant comes of his apology to First Nations and his rhetoric for he does not love the Canadian people - First Nations and ALL Nations - as I do. His heart is not moved with compassion as mine is for the poor, the distressed, those with illnesses, mental or otherwise, those in financial difficulties and without adequate employment. He does not even care about the wealthy and the secure but scorns all who stand in the way of his plan for Canada. He threatened us when he said, “When I get done with Canada even Canadians won't recognize it.”

Mr. Harper has no Vision of where we could go as a national community. He does not see what we are, could be and what we could achieve because his vision is tarnished with the biases of patronage and betrayal. He builds shortsighted policy roads because he cannot see where the roads SHOULD be taking us. We must go somewhere - adapt - if we are to remain an intact national community with a sustainable future in sight, and with Sustainability in all policies at the federal level and at every level.

Making military war on enemies chosen for their weakness and for financial gain [Libya/Afghanistan]; and too readily capitulating to our friends [UK/USA/NATO/UN] is not a recipe for independence and democracy. It is an affront. And speaking of war this government has made some prudent investments in equipment and training for our Armed Forces but they have no long term plan for a CANADA that can, “Stand alone and work together.” We can be too involved with the military enterprises of our allies.

This is why we have no final plans for air defense, no follow through with Northern deployment, no maintenance of the size of force we employ and deploy, no rescue helicopters, no usable [or reusable!] submarines, no shallow water rescue and defense Navy and Coast Guard boats – high speed with a shallow displacement and heavily weaponed for fiords, narrows, the North. 

There is no comprehensive and systematic fresh and salt water rescue and defense planning, emergency planning or Plan period. What exactly are we getting for the huge and ballooning military budget?

Nor does he care about our Vets as he should. Wounded vets have little or no support, little or no home, little or no stability, little or no peace of mind, little or no say in how things happen and in decision making with reference to their own care and career. We can and will do better than this with the Senator Romeo Dallaire Veterans of Foreign Service and Conflict Strategic Support Plan. @ Compassionate Policies.

Mr. Harper makes a big deal when a Canadian soldier returns dead. There is the ramp ceremony, the Highway of Heroes parade and the glorious burial. But there is little glory in what happens to veterans of these foreign conflicts and military actions, including peacekeeping – AND their families. They are abandoned, neglected, insulted, offended and treated with contempt; instead of being treated with the gratitude and care they deserve. They put it ALL on the line for us and this government seems unwilling to put it on the line for them in return as they deserve.

These roads to nowhere are not without cost or consequence to Canada and Canadians. There is the wasted money to be sure. But there are other threats that come with these pointless roads into the wilderness of economic potential for this country. If one misreads a topographical map in the deep Canadian bush it can mean death in the cold or in the jaws of predators – as in the case of young singer-songwriter in Cape Breton with coyotes or wolves. Then there was the poor couple in British Columbia who trusted their GPS and were led into a road to nowhere from which there would be no escape. Romance turned into a fatal nightmare of starvation, natural dangers, weather and wild beasts.

Building these roads and traveling on them create great hazards for us on many levels and in many ways. We have no sustainable fresh water policy, no progressive food policy, no renewal energy policy, no national defense strategy, no national housing strategy, and no clear Vision of where we can and should go together as a People.

As in the time of Sir Walter Scott, we are in need of “...people of daring resolve”. We are best when we harness and embrace those people of genius in our midst - in all sciences and branches of learning and research and endeavor. Science needs time to expand and space in which to grow. This requires political will that delivers responsible and reliable funding. 

This is the respectful and sensible approach I have taken in compiling The Plan of Hope. I've consulted Canadians in the process of assembling a wholly Canadian plan for a healthy, confident, successful, sustainable Canada – a priceless inheritance for our children.

We deserve government that respects us as the extraordinary people we are. Canadians are unlike any people who have ever lived anywhere at any time in human history. We deserve better and we can DO better. Stephen Harper is shortsighted and heavy handed and we need leadership that is warm hearted and able to recognize and respect the amazing qualities of the Canadian Citizen.

Peace Pays!

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First thoughts about blogging

'Be economical in all things' is a principle of sustainability.

When we are blogging...

The first and most important Principle of blogging is brevity. Think Twitter. The word wit is in the heart of Twitter btw. Also use links to expand the dimensions of the conversation and limit word numbers.

'Be economical in all things' is a principle of sustainability. Be compassionate to the Reader who can only read SO much. :)

A caveat [note of warning] about the Twitter Flow. Some folks seem to get enthralled by this constant tide and spend their time and resources reacting to every little Twitch. This is bad news and bad methodology. We must be guided by our own thinking not that of twittish provocateurs - trolls. Calm focused continuity is needed.

In this Information Age we are all bombarded with vast amounts of swirling data. We can and should ease the pressure on each other through the application of a few simple principles that will carry us into the heart of the Data Flow and out of the wind while creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust through the careful use of language.

We have some complex and important discussions to traverse together and bulk will not help - it will hinder and defeat our purposes. Everything seems to rest upon us Canadians for a hopeful future for and we cannot afford to fail.

I happen to be visually impaired. I was blind and my current visual abilities are a vast improvement thanks to medicare and surgery.  BUT long unbroken blocks of prose are a challenge for me. 

The same is true for most people online for various reasons - constraints of time, concentration and attention span, and the demands of life present limits. So please keep your comments brief – at least with short paragraphs and no more than six to ten of them – fewer if possible.

Be disciplined in your thought and composition and we can ride the Data Flow to victory. Lol

Peace

John

“Don't keep the peace...pass it on.”

Blind Man Sees Essays - True North Strong and Free

- Liberal Thoughts -
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Conclusion - 'The Future - Peace Pays - an essay about Canada

The Future: Peace Pays - Exploring The Canadian Identity

Canada is a nation coming of age in an historic Moment when we can make a significant difference in determining The Future of the world and our existent civilization.  

 

By deciding to pursue peaceful means and methods and goals we can influence the entire world and help shape The Future into The Canadian Dream of World Peace, prosperity, security and tolerance.  We do it all here on a daily basis and have proven that it’s possible for people of all kinds, types and backgrounds to live together in cooperation and peace.  And Peace enables discussion, problem solving, solutions and discoveries.

It begins by Canadians understanding who and what they are in and of themselves, and who we are in the broader scope of The Global Village and History.  We are unlike any people who have ever lived anywhere at any time.  This places a responsibility upon us to act in our collective best interests, which are the interests of all people and nations everywhere.  

This is a Moment of Opportunity that could easily dissolve into the mists of history.  We must grasp this historic opportunity and act, or lose the slender hope we embody while the world languishes in a fog of violence and destruction.

Canada is a Nation with great potential and great opportunity.  We can embrace this opportunity and share our riches with the world or we can perish with our brothers and sisters everywhere.  Stepping forward as a leader among nations and guiding the world towards peace and stability in a peace-based economic climate will instill a much-needed sense of hope for people everywhere.  

Let's turn our national character into national policy and reach out to a hurting world with the same Compassion we have extended to our fellow Canadians, who are of every Race, Nation, Language and Belief.  Together we are one Big Beautiful Red Machine, under the emblem of The Red Maple Leaf.

The World is in crisis and headed for disaster.  Canada can help through self-awareness and conscientious decision-making formulated into an “appropriate and compelling Vision” for Canada and for the world.  Welcome to the Golden Age of Canadian Culture.

Peace.

'Justice with Compassion'

'Peace Pays more and better than war.'

'Sustainability in ALL things'

 

Plenty of food for Canadian thought  @  Plan of Hope.

“Don’t keep the peace…pass it on.”

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