Op/Ed

Two recent stories out of Ottawa underline the ongoing political and economic assault on ordinary Canadians. More Canadians are now working for low wages than at any time in decades, continuing a trend that began in the early 1990s, and Stephen Harper has announced major changes to retirement benefits — including delaying Old Age Security (OAS) eligibility to age 67.

You heard it here first...and hopefully last!

I’ve been thinking--always a dangerous and sometimes a quite cheeky intellectual exercise--and I’ve come up with a few new program suggestions for CBC’s next television season … featuring a “Revised”  Program Standards Policy to fit with its new reality.

First, Hockey Night in Canada can now have a new Sports Reporter, Jennifer Mather, ”embedded” to  cover the Toronto Maple Leafs.

While many of us are working to ensure that the Occupy movement will have a lasting impact, it’s worthwhile to consider other countries where masses of people succeeded in nonviolently bringing about a high degree of democracy and economic justice. Sweden and Norway, for example, both experienced a major power shift in the 1930s after prolonged nonviolent struggle. They “fired” the top 1 percent of people who set the direction for society and created the basis for something different.

Citizens for Safe Technology Society (CST) has launched a Human Rights action against BC Hydro requesting accommodation of individuals refusing a wireless "smart meter" for health reasons. These are persons with a variety of health concerns ranging from cancer to heart problems, from seizures to electrosensitivity, and who have medical letters from their doctors requesting BC Hydro accommodate their health conditions by allowing an analogue meter to remain.