Kanesetake (Oka reserve) = Jerusalem?

I do understand the natives, I really do. You have land taken away from you, then a tiny by comparison bit of land promised to you. On this 'promised land' (this reminds me of the Jews and therefore myself) you have your ancestors buried and this is your sacred ground. Then, these people who you have agreed to be neighbors with, suddenly want to take your land.

This is quite similar to the situation in Israel. The Jews have ancestors buried there, this land was originally there's, a tiny by comparison bit was promised to them by the U.N., and now Palestine wants to take it. 

This seems to be outrageous, but then the government comes and supports those trying to take the land. 

All the natives wanted to do, was keep their land, and get the government to care about them. Althoug in the end they succeeded, one by-product was the army having to march in to their territory and put pressure on them to stop resisting.

In Israel, the U.S., Egypt, U.N., Turkey, etc. are putting pressure on Israel for defending land that belongs to them.

I think that the actions of the natives were justifiable, albeit slightly extreme. In the end, they got to keep their land, and maybe that was the right approach after all. Maybe Israel could learn a lesson from the natives about not fearing external pressure and standing up for what is rightfully theres. 

One can only hope...

Nuclear Disarmament - Conspiracy?

We recently talked about nuclear arms and nuclear disarmament in class, and I just had a thought....
Should we really be disarming and encouraging the U.S., Russia and other modern democratic countries to disarm.

On the one hand, yes. We want to disarm them to prevent a Hiroshima and Nagasaki from happening on a global scale. If we have no nuclear weapons, then we can't use them, therefore we cant misuse them, and therefore we are thereby eliminating another pathway to wipe out all mankind.

On the other hand, there's a problem. There are many countries that have a nuclear program, or are working to achieve one, that do not want to disarm. A current example would be Iran. By disarming the U.S. and other friendly nations, we are causing a shift in power to the armed countries. Iran (and others) will now control the world's stock of nuclear weapons. This could allow them to commit acts of massive destruction, or to coerce others into doing what they want.

Do we really want to be controlled by Iran?
I personally don't think so...
So maybe... just maybe... we should forget about disarmament for now, at least until we can insure that everybody disarms.

Harper Vs. Obama

Recently, Stephen Harper has been under a lot of criticism from a lot of people. Those same people then go and whine about how Obama is being unfairly criticized and how good he is in reality.
Personally, I disagree with these people. Maybe Stephen Harper appears less in the media and is less of an attention-seeker, but he has has done some great things for Canada especially in comparison to Obama,

It seems to me that Harper has achieved a lot more than Obama even though Obama's media exposure has been far grater than his. Maybe he didn't "kill" Osama bin Laden, but nonetheless Harper deserves to be recognized as a great PM.

Some more Harper Accomplishments

To continue with the last post. Here are some more reasons why Stephen Harper is a great PM.

Helping Families:
- Universal Child Care Benefit
- special tax credits for children’s fitness programs and public transit passes
- tough new product safety legislation

Crime and Justice:
- Tackling Violent Crime Act
- increasing the age of protection from 14 to 16

Tax Relief
- cut the GST from 7 per cent to 6 per cent to 5 per cent
- Canada has the lowest tax rate on new business investment in the G-7 

Accountability (go democracy and fair elections!)
- banned both corporations and unions from making political contributions
-reduced the amount of money that individuals can donate from $5,000 to $1,100 per year
- strict new rules for lobbyists

Other:
- signed the Copenhagen Accord

Seems like a lot of good stuff too me. Sadly, there's many who would disagree. In particular they mention Afghanistan, and the purchase of the jets. Personally, I'm not sure if either of those 2 were bad decisions. We'll just have to wait and see how it turns out...

Stephen Harper is 'dividing' us? Whaaat?

I was recently told that Stephen Harper is a bad PM because he is 'dividing' us.
How is Harper dividing us? Is it by helping Canada have the one of the strongest growing economies as we enter 2013? Or maybe it's because Harper refused to be pressured into certain decisions in the U.N., and showed once again that Canada makes its own choices? Maybe it's because he lowered taxes when he came in? Or then again, maybe he's dividing us by pulling us out of a massive global recession with minimal deficits?

If this is what you consider dividing us then you're right. Now that I think about, he is clearly dividing us. 

Are there more ways he's 'dividing' us? Maybe it's the fact that he made student scholarships non-taxable income and thereby promoted government sponsored tertiary education? Or maybe it's because so far he's managed to keep Obama from completely taking our Oil Sands oil despite high-pressure? Maybe it was the ecoEnergy Renewable Initiative which set aside $1.5 billion Canadian for the development of renewable energy? Or maybe its the Clean Air Act which was the first bill to implement nationwide standards on air pollutants and greenhouse gases? Then again, it could be the National Marine Conservation Area which established the world’s largest freshwater marine conservation area, right? 

Oh! I Know! Maybe it's the Action Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gases and Air Pollution which strengthened energy efficiency, set a date to begin increasing fuel efficiency by 2011, established a market price for carbon, set up a carbon emissions trading market, and imposed industry targets of 150 megatonnes of greenhouse gas reductions by 2020.Is that it?

I guess then that 'dividing' people is what makes a good PM.

The Avro Arrow - Opposition to Cancellation

The Avro Arrow - Opposition to Cancellation

On the other side of the debate was A. V. Roe and Avro corporation. They had several interests in keeping the project alive. These reasons were profit, pride, dependence, and national defense. 

The first most obvious reason why Avro would lobby to continue the project is profit. Avro was contracted to build the Avro Arrow and all the capital the government spent went into the pockets of Avro. If the project were to continue, Avro would gain world fame for their state-of-the-art jet, and they would receive roughly $12.5 million per jet. Also, if the project were to be scrapped, Avro would be forced to fire thousands of employees that were hired to work on the project. That's exactly what happened, over 14000 employees working for Avro and another 15000 workers, receptionists, planners, etc. working externally, were fired. This would've not only heavily damaged the company itself but also the economy of the country as a whole. Scrapping the Avro Arrow not only damaged Avro but also the economy of Canada as a whole.

The second reason why A. V. Roe and other supporters of the Avro Arrow lobbied to continue it was national pride. If created, the Avro Arrow would have been the most advanced jet interceptor of its time. It would have put Canadians ahead of both the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. in control of the skies. It may have even given Canada a chance to become the third superpower at that time. For many Canadians, this became an issue of pride. Giving up the Arrow was like forfeiting a contest, it showed that the Canadians were too weak to go through with their projects. The Arrow became a symbol of Canadian progress, and the government wanted to just erase it. Scrapping the Avro Arrow became a harsh blow to Canadian pride.

The third reason was Canadian dependency on the States. The initial plan for the Avro Arrow jets was to sell them to the U.S. This would have allowed more balanced trade between Canada and the U.S. However, by cancelling the Arrow the trade between the U.S. and Canada became one-sided towards the U.S. Canada became dependent on the U.S. for weaponry, especially defensive weaponry. This would cause an economic shift in favor of the U.S. Scrapping the Avro Arrow drastically increased Canadian dependency on the U.S.

The fourth reason was for continuing the project was national defense. During those years in the cold war if the U.S.S.R. were to invade the U.S. it would do so through Canada. Canada would become the front line between the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. Although by this time, the U.S.S.R. had developed missiles, it was still possible that they would use their jets and bombers in an attack. If they were to do so, the Avro Arrow would be crucial in intercepting and stopping them. A potential attack route would have been closed with the production of the Avro Arrow. Scrapping the Avro Arrow increased risk of invasion in both Canada and the U.S.

The Avro Arrow had many potential benefits for Canada, among these were profit, pride, dependence, and national defense. Sure the project was becoming costly, but the benefits of the Arrow were worth the cost. Scrapping the Avro Arrow was definitely and will always truly be a Canadian tragedy.

The Avro Arrow - Justification for the Cancellation

The Avro Arrow - Justification for the Cancellation

So, the first side of the debate led by the conservative government led by John Diefenbaker believes that the cancellation of the Avro Arrow project was completely justified. The basis of the justification for the cancellation is based on economic reasons, the advances in Soviet technology that rendered the Avro Arrow useless in their opinion and finally the Soviet spies posed a threat to the project.

 The main reason that the conservative government gave for cancellation of the project was that the Avro Arrow project was wasting a lot of valuable government resources. A lot of money and capital as well as human resources (employees) were put into making the project and the government felt that the costs and expenses that the project was incurring outweighed the potential benefits from the project. The project from start to finish cost $450 million and each plane would have cost $12.5 million which was much greater than the estimated figures given for the aircraft and costs were continuing to rise. Also, during the time of the cancellation, the government had to cut back on unnecessary expenses, they were going through a recession and it recessionary times the government has to cut back on spending and they have to allocate their resources towards better uses so the government felt that the Avro Arrow project was an unnecessary expense and it cost too much so the project was cut.

The next justification for the cancellation was that the project was unnecessary in the defense of Canada and the United States. The whole purpose of the Avro Arrow Project which was created right at the beginning of the cold war following WW2 was  for there to be a jet interceptor as a defense for a possible air invasion by the Soviet Union on the United States and North America. This was a very plausible scenario at the beginning of the cold war when the Soviets didn't even possess a nuclear weapon however in 15 years the Soviets had advanced their technology far beyond what the government thought it would have to defend itself against. The problem was that the Soviets had recently acquired ICBM's (intercontinental ballistic missiles) which are missiles that could be fired from the mainland in the Soviet Union and reach the United States within 20 minutes of being launched. Unfortunately, the Avro Arrow was unable to do anything to stop the ICBM's from reaching their targets and it was only effective against jet planes. This rendered the Avro Arrow useless and is a reason why it was considered an unnecessary expense and was cancelled.

The final reason that the government decided the cancellation the project was that they felt that the Soviets had infiltrated the facilities where the Avro Arrow was being built and designed and that sensitive, classified files and information were at risk. In the 1950's spy wars began and slowly it started becoming apparent that spies had infiltrated top secret facilities throughout the US, Canada, other NATO countries as well as the USSR and Warsaw Pact countries. For this reason the Canadian government believed that the facilities where the Avro Arrow was being designed and built and felt that top secret classified information was at risk of being possessed by the USSR. In fact it was revealed following the cold war that too some extent the Avro Arrow Project facilities had been infiltrated by Soviet spies. For that reason, all of the files on the Avro Arrow were destroyed after the project was cancelled as the felt that they were at risk of being discovered by the Soviets.

Many say that the Avro Arrow project was a matter of pride for Canadians and that it exhibited Canadian innovation and ingenuity. Many also believed that we were taking a step backwards in the defense and protection of Canada and the United States. These statements are false as the Avro Arrow was an unnecessary expense that used up important government resources. The Avro Arrow was also be useless in the event that the Soviets attack because they would have used ICBM's which the Avro Arrow can't shoot down. Finally, the Avro Arrow Project risked compromising classified documents containing designs, schematics, records, and other information that could have been used to further advance the Soviet Union and help develop technologies that could potentially harm Canada and its allies. For these reasons the cancellation of the Avro Arrow Project was completely justified.

The Avro Arrow - Let the debate begin: Two Sides

In 1958, a heated debate began in Canada. This debate has spanned 5 decades and has affected thousands of people but could have been the difference between life and death for millions. Although now it is sometimes considered a non-issue issue, for a long time it was one of the biggest issues in Canadian headlines and a matter of Canadian pride.

In this debate there were two main sides: Those who believed that the development of the Arrow should have been continued, and those who believed that it should be scrapped..

On one side of the debate is John Diefenbaker and the Progressive Conservative Party who felt that the Avro Arrow project was wasting valuable resources and large amounts of capital and was also unnecessary for the defense of Canada and the United States.

On the other side of the debate, A.V Roe and the Avro Corporation who believed that Avro Arrow was the crowning achievement of Canadian innovation and ingenuity and would be necessary in defending Canada and the U.S. against the Soviet threat.


"The Avro Arrow." The Canadian Encyclopedia N. pag. Web. 4 Jan. 2013. <http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/avro-arrow>.

A. V. Roe

Diefenbaker

The Avro Arrow - What is it?

So what is the Avro Arrow?

The Avro Arrow was a state-of-the-art cutting-edge interceptor jet invented, designed, and created in Canada. The company in charge of the Avro Arrow Project was owned by Avro and was spearheaded by A.V. Roe. The Avro corporation began creating commercial airliners following WW2 but at the request of the Royal Canadian Air Force began creating military style jets and scrapped their commercial airliner production. The Avro Arrow project began in 1949 and lasted a decade until it was disbanded by the government in 1959. 

Although only 5 were built and it was only tested a few times, the Avro Arrow was considered to be the most advanced jet interceptor of its time. 

See it's maiden flight here:

http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/science-technology/aviation/the-avro-arrow-canadas-broken-dream/the-arrows-maiden-flight.html

SCAA. "The Avro Arrow." SCAA. SCAA, 2009. Web. 30 Dec. 2012. <http://scaa.usask.ca/gallery/arrow/>.

http://kaap.purpleglen.com/images/HISTORIC%20-%20avro%20engineers.jpg

Cancelling the Avro Arrow - Justified or Costly Error? .

Cancelling the Avro Arrow - Justified or Costly Error?

In 1959 at the height of the Cold War, the Avro Arrow Project was cancelled and all documents burnt. Possibly, the first defense against a possible invasion/ attack by the now non-existent Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) on the United States of America (U.S.A.).  Now, 54 years later the debate still rages on about whether this was justified or a costly, dangerous error. Was it an unnecessary expense or the front line defense in a high-tension time period of history? The next several blog posts will try to discover the full extent of the effects of the Arrow, and attempt to answer some of the more intriguing questions regarding it. Sources will of course be included. Read on!

The Avro Arrow in all its glory