On unTimeLy "Climate-denial" cLaims.. & other ReLevanT (decidedly Canadian) diLemmas

Having recently received an emailed appeal for support from the OCLA (Ontario Civil Liberties Association), my response outlines the --highLy ReLevanT-- Reasons WHY I cannot offer unquaLiFied support to an otherwise upstanding organization.  So here's what I wrote back (keeping in mind the fact that Cdn Conservatives were the only ones who cheered when Trump was elected President):

(But yeh I stole that meme off the web - & added it to my letter!)

Hi All,

Yes I've been an avid supporter, ever since OCLA's awesome coverage of the 'Freedom March' to Parliament & ensuing pieces on the horrifying Covid-Vax mandates imposed across Canada.  Still lots of work to do ahead, with the election - again (unbelievably) - of Liberals & their leader Mark Carney, who may as well be Conservatives with their rush to further expand extractive industries & stay on the Road to Ruin that's leading us like lemmings off a cliff.. Neverthless, I applaud what you've accomplished in that realm.

And of course I fully support your work on Equality:  well done, & keep going to push past all the ugly discrimination still alive & well here (sadly.)

HOWEVER, in exploring the OCLA website I was rather shocked to find a distinct "Climate-Change-denial" bent in several articles. In the midst of horrific wildfires burning across this country, the "Climate change is a hoax" stance seems particularly counter-intuitive - & makes me wonder if perhaps the group I've supported for the last couple of years is really a Conservative-leaning entity disguised as non-partisan?

At this point, having read most of the OCLA's (& linked) articles on the topic I'm definitely not interested in hearing more "science-based" arguments contradicting the concept of human-caused climate change, which is one of the most unifying scientific theories to come from that community in decades & has formed the foundation of many much-needed public demands for transition to a conservation-led sustainable economy -- the polar opposite of what PM Carnage & his more-Con-than-Cons Liberals have planned for Canada (i.e. a dangerous rush for further expansion of O&G / extractive industries, in response to the USA's trade-hampering tariffs.)  Everyone seems to know what those tariffs are about, since Trump himself is an open book of puerile insecurities who often reveals his evil agenda of domination over weaker nations along with plans to grab all their resources for USA's purposes.  I.E. Trump is the biggest threat to world peace, along with his loyal admin/ cabinet/ congress composed of a motley crew of inept & unqualified criminals/ sycophants backing a wilfully ignorant, immoral felon of a P.O.T.U.S.  Add to that Trump's oft-stated, obstinate "Climate-denying" position (that "Climate change is a hoax") & you'll understand - at least part of - my problem with that ridick & widely debunked bias!

Please know that I sincerely WANT to be able to support the OCLA, as I have a soft spot for any anti-authoritarian group with the guts to stand by human rights above all else, as your org surely does.  But the "climate denial" stance I cannot get past, as I find it roundly LACKING - particularly in light of recent events, i.e. fires much deadlier & fast-spreading than ever before, due to human-brought activities/ govt policies (such as allowing continuation of clearcut logging; failure to protect old-growth primary forests; ramped-up LNG production & tar-sands pipeline-building across opposed BC.. ETC.:  YES NOTICE I DID NOT BLAME CLIMATE CHANGE FOR THESE CATASTROPHES - because HUMANS are the culprits in every case, the culmination of which however amounts to MELTING POLAR ICE--> CLIMATE CHANGE:  we really ARE that destructive, & that stubbornly stupid!!)  

I write this not as a scientist (which I am not!) but as a Canadian who sees fellow Canadians' voting habits (=CONS/ LIBS/ REPEAT) as corpses strapped to a rickety old bandwagon with its wheels stuck in last-century's muck:  i.e. useless as f__k!  (I've only ever voted Greens, of which I am an active member.)

Any thoughts you may have in response to mine - esp. my misgivings re. your apparent "Climate-denial" take - will be thoroughly read & welcomed.

Thanks very much.

SaRah (SaZ) C.

Vancouver, BC

Ps. To link to the OCLA:  their website is https://www.ocla.ca

Should Canada lose the UK monarchy?

The death of Queen Elizabeth has prompted The Tyee's 'quick quiz' poll asking if we think Canada should cut ties with the monarchy - @ this link:

https://thetyee.ca/Polls/2022/09/08/Canada-Cut-Ties-Monarchy/?results=true#poll-results

Here's my - kinda lengthy! - (optional) comment explaining why we must CUT THE CORD🤞 (esp. now that Charles the adulterer & his 'queen' are in)

Consider the following truths, which flowed from the gut - & the heart - because keeping well-informed is as essential to me now as breathing..

Canada's govts all talk about 'Reconciliation' without owning the genocidal atrocities VS. 1st Nations people by colonisation - carried out "by the Queen's men". 

Decolonization & honoring U.N.D.R.I.P. are ways to properly "reconcile" with FNs -- by addressing not just burying/ denouncing early colonial Govts' widespread land grabs (= why FN kids were forcibly removed from their families/ homes & put into jail-like residential schools that condemned & replaced their ancestral FN oral histories/ truths with Govts' false narratives of 'valid' control..) 

White 'settlers' were the main beneficiaries of colonial Govts' land-grabs/ power theft, while FNs were victimized & vilified, & corralled into Govt-ordered 'reservations'. Unlike other provinces, BC's founding officials didn't bother signing treaties for unceded FN land - they just appropriated & began enriching themselves by their unsustainable development/ extraction.. 

Colonial Govt-ordered apartheid/ oppression/ segregation of residential schools & reservations produced new generations of compliant Anglicized FN who returned as foreigners to their families, stripped of their elders' culture/ knowledge/ language/ traditions.. 

Many other FN kids were adopted by WASP families in an underhanded process that confirmed Govts' total disdain for indigenous rights - eg. the '60s scoop', info on which most non-indigenous citizens - & possibly many FN - are woefully ignorant.. 

Fast-forward to today & the past few years of Govt-claimed Reconciliation: 

●While backing assimilated pro-logging, pro-industry FN bands, the BC-NDP has steadfastly ignored legit opposition by hereditary FN leaders (jurisdiction holders of vast territories outside of bands, affirmed by the Supreme Court) to industrial mega-projects like CGL pipeline built thru their lands without consent; 

●Govt's automatic response to rightful FN protection of their own lands VS. CGL's many ongoing violations (reported on BC Govt's website: LOOK IT UP & be appalled!) has been to send in RCMP troops in military gear to suppress their eco-activist-backed peaceful protests - by all accounts, the same-old ugly harassment, intimidation & violence as b4.. despite BC-NDP's adoption of U.N.D.R.I.P. into BC law.. 

(It's to hereditary FNs' credit that they've resisted cont'd colonial oppression/ victimization & kept their cultural values, to inspire 'land protectors' of all stripes fighting for healthy communities & ecosystems against all odds: RESPECT)

 Point is, our Govts (& main 3 political parties) have been hypocrites & liars favoring polluting big-industry/ globalization over interests of citizens & communities for too long.. & still push ecocidal, risky & polluting projects on Crown land - in which the Queen has never intervened or shown concern. Clearly, they don't care about Cdns - & it shows. That's unacceptable in 2022! 

Yet when elected, officials pledge allegiance to the Queen instead of to serving their constituents, giving Govts even more of an excuse to work for corporations & not people. A true democracy is governed by its people - not answerable to a distant uninterested monarchy or any other entity.. 

Canada must be the only British colony that hasn't requested independence from the Crown!  And that's a sad reflection of Cdns' apathy/ complacency - of which our govts have taken enough advantage (ie. Screwed us over repeatedly!) 

We have never been so desperate as now to have the Greens - with or without a distant monarchy - lead Canada toward a better, healthier & happier destiny for everyone - but esp. for our kids & future generations...

(Let that sink in)