Haiti

It seems to me that when the Universe decides to focus on a country it's never a good thing. Since the days of its independence from from France Haiti has gone from being France's richest colony to one of the world's poorest countries.

In 2004 the country faced a rebellion from within and a massive food shortage, in 2008 hurricane after hurricane pummeled the nation and now in in the 2nd week of 2010, the strongest earthquake in over 200 years rocked the capital city of Port-au-Prince.


Report vary but one thing that people seem to agree on is that mostly any building taller than one story is reduced to rubble. Death toll estimates vary from 50,000 to over 100,000 in Port-au-Prince. With a population of just over 1million and very very few first responders we can only guess that those figures will rise dramatically as Haitians pile the dead in the streets and wait for foreign aid to trickle in.

Canada has sent its rapid response team (DART) to Haiti and pledged 5 million dollars in aide, the UN has pledged another 10 million, the US is sending a contingent of Marines to Port-au-Prince and countries around the world are showing their support for the battered nation. Hopefully the money and the personnel will arrive in time.



Let's see if this international show of support will become a long term feeling of goodwill. Let's see if countries, such as Canada, that has a huge native Haitian population living within its borders can put together something to compliment the dozens of law enforcement officers we already have there.

Ideally, after the world is done digging out the rubble and helping with this catastrophe, I would like to see the world forgive Haiti's national debt and help put it back on its feet again, really and truly.

For those of you who'd like to help with donations please check the websites of Doctors without Borders, Unicef or World Vision. For Canadians please click HERE for a list compiled by the government of organizations that are helping with relief effort.

Lastly, my deepest sympathies go out to all the families and people that have lost loved ones in Haiti and my prayers go out to those still wondering about those they hold dear.

A Metaphor for a Broken System

While our Prime Minister parades around talking about his plan for protecting Canada's north and asserting our sovereignty north of the 60th parallel, one has to ask oneself about our communities who live in the northern territories. After all what's the point of protecting the north and asserting our ourselves if our communities are dying a little at a time?



This whole thing for me was sparked by the picture seen about of two ten your old boys sleeping next to an Iqaluit grocery store in the early hours of the morning. I know that it might be an isolated event, as officials from Nunavut were telling the Globe and Mail. The bottom line though is that the figures don't lie here is a chart below that shows the suicide rate in Nunavut as compared to the rest of Canada.



The suicide rate in Nunavut is 11 times higher than the national average. That should tell you something about our northern supremacy. I understand that we have a legitimate claim to the land and the oil and the ice, but how about claiming back the basic rights of our own people and take a second to think about them before we worry too much about the rest?

There is a chronic housing shortage that sees at times 20 people living in the same 2 bedroom residence, it is also a place where 25% of people taking part in a psychology study claimed to be victims of abuse and a place where children would rather sleep on the streets than go home.

I'm not saying that the government is the only one to blame, but I think that the territorial government when asked about the issues should address them directly with a concrete plan instead of saying:
"Just like anywhere else in the cities or towns across Canada, there are negative things that are happening as well as positive things, and Nunavut is no exception.”
and
“The media will certainly concentrate on one area, most times unfortunately on our negative side of things, and not so much on the positive things that have been happening in Nunavut since the creation of the territory.”

While the media are certainly scandal hungry, I also think that they have done a wonderful job in bringing this issue to the front and center where it belongs. In a country that spends billions on bailouts, billions on foreign aid, billions in Afghanistan, billions in repairing our roads, billions on the Olympics couldn't we also spend a mere 250million on building enough homes for everyone in Nunavut, or job creation? (I know we have programs present, but it's clear that they aren't sufficient)

The picture of the 10year olds is a metaphor, an image that mirrors the situation of thousands of our fellow citizens and we need to address this as if they were our own children. Our children and those of generations to come really are the most precious resource that we have and if they keep sleeping in the streets or committing suicide there won't be a population left in the north we're trying so hard to protect.

(all images above are reproduced from TheGlobeandMail.com)

"Gaza will be paved with fire and hell"

Israel had its troops march on Gaza today as air strikes continued over the strip. Soldiers marched into Gaza one by one, following by tanks and gunboats. The death toll in in Gaza has exceeded 460 on the Palestinian side and 4 on the Israeli side. I do not condone Israel's actions. I do not believe that a rich developed country should invade a small strip of land that is fighting with metaphorical sticks and bone. Whenever I think of Israel invading Gaza is makes me think of images I'd seen of Italy invading Ethiopia where people with guns were killing people with hunting spears.

The main difference however is the hypocrisy of Hamas in all this. They're supposed to be protecting Palestinians, to provide for them... As their elected government they should have their people's best interest at heart, which they don't seem to have. When one thinks about all this it's important to remember that in their charter Hamas has refused to recognize the existence of Israel. It's also important to remember that Israel has aggressively tried to bring settlers into Gaza and the West Bank.

The rhetoric that is ongoing between the two nations is the worst, in an Associated Press article, Hamas was quoted as having said: “Gaza will not be paved with flowers for you, it will be paved with fire and hell.”
Israel has stated that it is prepared for a lengthy war.

Then near the end of the article a Hamas spokesperson said:“Anyone who thinks that the change in the Palestinian arena can be achieved through jet fighters' bombs and tanks and without dialogue is mistaken.”

Wasn't this the same group that said it would pave Gaza with fire and hell? How can anyone think that negotiating a ceasefire will be a viable option. Between Israel's fervor for war and Hamas' relentless threats, I fear that many more innocent civilians will die before any sort of temporary ceasefire is reached.

Muchacho Enfermo

Gaza is on its knees

After another day of air strikes and an apparent ground invasion of the Gaza strip by Israeli forces Palestinians rushed the Egyptian border in an effort to leave the strip where the death toll is now close to 300.

The press from all over the world has covered these stories, despite the reports the world has remained mostly silent in its response to this latest Israeli assault. The UN called on both sides to halt the violence and many Arab nations have called Israel's acts criminal... but what about Canada? What about the US? What about England? Why isn't the world putting more pressure on Israel and on Palestine? How can we in the west sit idly and watch hundreds of people get slaughtered by planes on one side and buses blown up on the other and do nothing?

The better question is what could we do?
I hope someone has the answer, because Israel and Palestine certainly don't look like they have it.

Muchacho Enfermo