What follow are links to more background information on land claims, treaties, et cetera. Allowing MP Andy Scott, the Minister handling this land claims debate, to bypass Parliament so as to get the pipeline project underway is short-sighted and deserves Parliamentary debate and input.
Today, I was looking at this article on the Mackenzie Valley pipeline again and I noticed a photo of Stephen Kakfwi in the article. For another view on Canada's North, native land claims, the demands, previous negotiations with aboriginals represented by then Premier Kakfwi, and more, link to This Really Gets My Blood Boiling - My Commentary! or the original article, Kakfwi a rough diamond by Peter Foster, Sept. 12, 03
There are four other links on Frost Hits the Rhubarb, Feb. 27, 04, as well.
There is information on the diamond mining in the north and related criminal activities; skim for the following posts and their links to others and to original articles.
* Organized crime targets N.W.T. diamond mines -- with a link to Asian * Organized Crime in Canada 2003
* Canada Fears Possible Mafia Infiltration of Diamond Mines
My question is, with the information I have gleaned, should our Parliamentarians not be obliged to get involved? Who stands to benefit from allowing Mr. Scott, the representative for the aboriginals, a few bureaucrats and a few other members of the government to bypass our elected representatives, to speed up negotiations on their own? This is too important to be allowed to bypass Parliamentary input. There are long term consequences to the rest of Canadians and we need our MPs' and Senators' input.
Again, I ask, who benefits from this fast tracking, Andy? What pressures are being applied to MP Andy Scott to get the aboriginals on-side? Who stands to make money?
UN -- Forget Annan
Forget Annan Ermest W. Lefever, Washington Times, Dec. 29, 04. Ernest W. Lefever is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. "America's Imperial Burden: Is the Past Prologue?" is his most recent book.
Shaken by the United Nations' multibillion-dollar Oil-for-Food scandal, several U.S. senators have called for the scalp of Kofi Annan. They miss the point.
The quiet-spoken secretary general is not the problem, but only a symptom of it: the U.N. system itself which is simply unable to cope with the assignments of its 1945 Charter. [. . . . ]
The root problem is the United Nations itself, specifically the Security Council, the raison d'etre of the world organization, whose mandate is to keep the peace. This the council has not done. Though it has legal "authority" to curb conflict, it can act only with the unanimous consent of its permanent members — the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China. Rarely, if ever, have these powers agreed on how to meet any serious threat to world peace. [. . . . ]
In a bid to both bankrupt those who finance terror and bring some sense of justice to its victims, the legal team that is suing the Saudis for $1 trillion has launched yet another massive lawsuit against prime supporters of radical Islamic jihad.
Filing in the Eastern District of New York last week on behalf of 700 survivors and family members of those killed by terrorism in Israel, legendary trial lawyer Ron Motley is seeking unspecified billions to continue his quest to change the face of counterterrorism.
Mr. Motley, who made a mint taking on the likes of tobacco companies and asbestos manufacturers, is now leading the charge against Arab Bank, which operates in every Arab country that allows private banking. Among its 400 branches and offices in 30 countries — and the reason the plaintiffs have a real shot at recovery — is a federally chartered branch in New York City.
While the case against the Saudis is considered a long shot by many legal experts (though plaintiff insiders feel the action is going quite well) the Arab Bank lawsuit seems solid.
Or maybe a better word is damning. [. . . . ]
Responding to an Asian crisis -- the usual grandstanders
It's an amazing irony that Bill Clinton, of all people, should be the first American up to the microphone to snipe at President Bush's tsunami response, less than four days after the catastrophe. Of course, nobody could outrace a United Nations bureaucrat for the honors, but Clinton’s effort still wins him "progressive" style points in this informal branch of the Olympic Games. Besides the impropriety of an ex-president sniping at a sitting president, it's a contemptible thing in itself. Investor's Business Daily has one of the best editorials scorning the ex-president's disgusting performance, but many other media organs are muted on the subject.
Using the cocktail chatter language of the Davos and United Nations VIP lounge crowd, Clinton had the gall to claim President Bush's response isn't fast enough, when what he really means is that Bush is not particularly willing to turn Americans' billions over to the international bureaucratic racketeers, the people who brought us the Oil for Food scam.
Clinton is not only a compulsive showboater, though, he is also an unusual hypocrite. While Clinton takes potshots at Bush, the mind reels at his own performance in Southeast Asia during his presidency. [. . . . ]
Zarqawi is the first "prince" in Iraq, but the Emperor is Bin Laden (Walid Phares, Terrorism Analyst, MSNBC) -- We must bring Al Jazeera to Canada
To understand Osama Bin Laden's latest audiotape aired by al Jazeera, one must understand the ideological background of al Qaida and its perception of the war against the US and its allies. The tape will make sense from an al Qaida's perspective as follows:
[. . . . ] 6. The issue of the messenger -- al Jazeera-- is still raising issues in the Arab world, especially in Iraq. Sources are advancing many points about the reasons the tapes are constantly sent to al Jazeera, and why would the network should “widen the analysis" of Bin Laden. They make it accessible to millions of viewers via a number of "experts" on the Islamists movements, as was the case with this latest tape. The commentators seemed to rationalize the message to the masses, while repeating the entire audio many times. Al Jazeera calls it is a "newsworthy item."
Some analysts say that that the repetition of the whole audio, followed by sympathetic "panels" is a reproduction of the actual audiotape. [. . . . ]
The Chinese Dragon submerges
The Chinese Dragon submerges Asia Times, Phar Kim Beng, Oct. 28. 04. Phar Kim Beng is a regular contributor to Asia Times Online. He is currently on a Sumitomo Foundation fellowship, where he is studying the state of Japanese social sciences. He was trained in international relations and strategic studies, first at Cambridge University, later the Fletcher School and Harvard University.
TOKYO - Over the past decade China has been expanding and enhancing its maritime forces to make them blue-water capable. A major focus is submarines, the Chinese Dragon U-boat. . . .
[. . . . ] According to US and Taiwan intelligence estimates, China has about 70 submarines (virtually all conventional), it is building more and buying more from Russia. [. . . .]
. . . . China's confidence in imported Kilos has not halted domestic production of the new Song-class diesel submarine. In addition, China's nuclear propulsion program will soon field the first of its second-generation vessels, which will include both attack submarines and strategic missile boats. Finally, the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is undertaking an overhaul of the submarine force's weaponry, training, recruitment, and doctrine."
. . . . China had built new Yuan-class diesel submarines that combine Russian technology and Chinese engineering. [. . . . ]
Japan is wary of China's efforts and has fully supported such detection exercises, since Chinese submarines have been spotted off the coast of Japan with increased frequency. Indeed, China has even begun to conduct resource surveys in the vicinity of Okino-Torishima, 1,700 kilometers south of Tokyo.
The Chinese survey activities have been undertaken within Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in violation of the Law of the Sea [. . . . ]
That China is improving its submarine and naval capability has clearly made Taiwan wary. In October 2003, the Taiwan parliament was informed that a Chinese destroyer from the North Sea fleet had, for the first time, sailed through the waters east of Taiwan to join exercises in the South China Sea. [. . . . ]
Two worlds about to collide in the new Saskatchewan -- A soaring aboriginal birth rate suggests native people cannot help but eventually form the province's majority
[. . . . ] We need to stop having these stereotypical ideas and accepted opinions on aboriginal people placed on us."
It is, of course, a tough challenge. Those stereotypical images -- the drunken Indian, welfare, abuse, tax avoidance -- pour effortlessly in casual conversation out of some of even the most innocent-looking white youths.
"It is going to require a shift," Ms. Hubbard says.
Chief Merasty says that shift is already under way in the north, where legislation and negotiation have both forced and encouraged resource companies to involve aboriginals, where treaty payments have brought in new wealth and where his Prince Albert First Nations Business Development Partnership is quickly becoming a major provincial property owner. The partnership has bought up numerous hotels, most recently the Best Western in Saskatoon, and is a major partner in everything from golf courses to the province's largest charter airline.
"We are the future of this province [. . . . ]
"People keep saying, 'Who will pay the taxes?' Well, the Prince Albert Partnership is the fastest growing tax provider in the province. But there are still misunderstandings out there." [. . . . ]
Refugees pack Buffalo shelter -- Vive la Casa residents adjust American dream to Canadian hope
BUFFALO, N.Y. – It’s a long way from Mogadishu, Somalia to Buffalo’s downtown core.
But Nur (who didn’t want his last name used) made his way to the converted parochial school on Wyoming Street near East Ferry, known to those in the business of sheltering refugees bound for Canada as Vive la Casa, five weeks ago, in hope of a better life.
The 28 year old left his African homeland, which has been ravaged by civil war and AIDS for nearly two decades, in September 2001.
His timing couldn’t have been worse.
Nur landed in Arlington, Va. outside Washington D.C. just days before al-Qaida terrorists flew airplanes into the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.
Somalians, by and large, are Sunni Muslims, as are many key al-Qaida operatives. Nur’s American dreams faded quickly.
[. . . . ] Nur’s application was denied.
So was his appeal.[. . . . ]
His few possessions are packed into a duffel bag. His government documents lie on top of his clothes in a white plastic bag from a local athletics store, waiting to be shown to government officials in Canada.
Nur is one of hundreds who have passed through the doors of Vive en route to Canada in December and thousands who have stayed there over its 20 years in operation. [. . . . ]
