letters

The following is the content of a complaint filed against the CBC through their website, in response to the ongoing coverage of the Aboriginal Day of Action.

I'm lodging a complaint regarding the usage of the term "violence" on the CBC. In particular the coverage of today's National Day of Action (for First Nations people), has attempted to dismiss the actions of First Nations peoples as a marginal, and violent group.

Hello Mrs Chamberlain,

I was watching CPAC, and heard this statement. I almost immediately wrote this email and sent it off. Mrs. Savoie must have responded from her Blackberry, because 14 minutes later, I had a response.

Restorative Justice

Dear Mrs Savoie,

I was just watching the statement portion in the house of commons, and was listening to your statement on restorative justice. I'm a party member and active within the Guelph Riding Association, and have often felt that the NDP needs to take a more comprehensive approach to justice, as you mentioned.

On 31-Aug-06, at 4:46 PM, Layton, Jack - M.P. wrote:

Further to your email about Canada's mission in Afghanistan, I would like to provide an update of the NDP's position on this matter.

At a press conference earlier today, I issued a comprehensive policy statement calling for the withdrawal of Canadian troops from Southern Afghanistan. To read my statement in full and the accompanying press release highlighting our policy, please visit the following links:

http://www.ndp.ca/page/4119
http://www.ndp.ca/page/4117

Again, I appreciate hearing from you on this critical issue. Please feel free to pass on this email to anyone who may be interested. All the best.

This was written after reading this release:

NDP motion to include free drugs and dental for those 65 and over

Dear Mrs Priddy, Mrs. Charlton, and Jack

I'm writing in response to the recent move to afford free dental-care to seniors. Bravo. I think Jack had expressed it quite well in the elections that with ailing and struggling seniors, the whole society feels the repercussions. I'm young, however I hope dearly that my parents will not face their senior years with worry, or disparity. It is said that one of humankind's major developments was called "the grandparent revolution". This leap forward occurred thousands of years ago, and allowed two things: parents to establish a fixed domain, so they could explore and gather while the grandparents cared for the children. It also inaugurated an era of culture with the grandparents now able to teach and influence their young.

This letter I sent following the vote

Dear Jack, Mrs. McDonough, and Mrs. Black,

I appreciate that you must have been inundated with emails regarding Afghanistan and the vote in parliament, but I wanted to express my concerns now that the vote has gone in favour of the two year extension. I have serious concerns that I feel deserve specific demands in parliament and require the support of the NDP.

Afghanistan is clearly divided as both a peacekeeping operation and a military occupation, with Canadian forces thrown into a grey area between the two. While our operations have been defended now as 'peacekeeping', our initial involvement was under the US's military invasion. Additionally, with the US continuing their military occupation, we are unfortunately subsidizing and legitimizing their role in Afghanistan. We must clearly distinguish (with actions, not words) our role from that of an invading force, if we can ever expect begin our role as peacekeepers.

Here is my letter to the relevant NDP MPs right before the vote in parliament (rushed as it was).

Dear Jack and Mrs. Black,

I'm writing you both as Jack is my MP (and the party leader of course), and Mrs. Black as the Defense and Peace Advocacy critic. I am writing briefly to request that all NDP MPs begin to represent the strong and currently orphaned anti-war movement. I recognize the NDP have attempted to take a constructive, propose-not-oppose standpoint on these issues, and I admit there is value there (particularly asking questions such as what is the objective and so on). However, there has been no clear oppositional strategy to the imperialist foreign policy of Martin and Harper, at least not one that parallels the strong movement at protests, in communities, and in households across Canada. Canadians are now more than ever exceptionally critical of the causes for this war, and certainly I have no doubt that our involvement has compromised our status as a sovereign and secure country. Canada must now begin to repair our seriously violated reputation of a peace-keeping country, restore full funding of peace-keeping operations to our military (80¢ of every $1), and establish new protocols and means of controlling economic motives for military action.