A decade ago, Queen's Park -- the castle that is home to the Ontario Legislative Assembly -- underwent a massive restoration, at a cost running into the hundreds of millions. Some aspects of the renovation were unnecessary but in this case building an entire new legislature would have cost even more and have been even more unpopular.
One would think in such projects every detail is taken care of, including the plumbing. Apparently not. Yesterday, the water flowing from the taps at the Pink Palace tested for unacceptable levels of lead. And the weirdest irony was this news came out just as the members were about to vote on legislation to -- toughen water standards.
Consider that back in 1990 when a report revealed a high number of children with lead poisoning, then Canadian PM Brian Mulroney immediately banned leaded gasoline a full three years ahead of schedule. Yet no one bothered to get rid of the lead in water, or at least attempt to reduce the levels of it. And we're expected to pay the costs of fixing our out-of-date storm and sewage sewers?
If there's lead in our water, we fix the pipes at our own expense. Or we get a water filter or softener at our own expense.
No ... clean up your own mess. The members from all three parties -- from the Premier on down -- should be forced to forfeit their stipends until the mess is fixed and the water at Queen's Park is safe both for them and the thousands who visit every day. Why should we get stuck with the bill?
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Thursday, May 31, 2007
Anaheim hot
A lot has been going around who the real "Canadian" team is in this year's Stanley Cup Championship Final between the Ottawa Senators and the Anaheim Ducks; given that 19 team members of Anaheim are Canadians while only one or two of Ottawa are.
Ice hockey is nowhere near as popular in the Southwest US as basketball, baseball or football (or should that be American rules rugby? -- only Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand call what the rest of the world call football, soccer). But something must have caught on at the amusement parks in the O.C. because Southern California appears to have taken to the unlikely heroes from north of 49.
Or maybe Team Ottawa just can't get used to the Santa Ana winds, playing in an arena that is deliberately air conditioned year round rather than just in the later spring to early fall. Regardless, the Ducks took a two games to none lead in the best-of-seven last night when goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere shut out the opposition on the way to a 1-0 win.
The series reverts to Ottawa for Games 3 and 4 of the series. At this stage, I'm picking Anaheim to win the series 4 to 2. (Which would mean, since Game 5 if necessary will be in Anaheim and 6 in Ottawa, the Stanley Cup will be hoisted in the shadow of the one-time home of the Governor-General who donated the trophy in the first place -- by the Old Enemy, although they're not since most of them are Canadians, eh?)
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Ice hockey is nowhere near as popular in the Southwest US as basketball, baseball or football (or should that be American rules rugby? -- only Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand call what the rest of the world call football, soccer). But something must have caught on at the amusement parks in the O.C. because Southern California appears to have taken to the unlikely heroes from north of 49.
Or maybe Team Ottawa just can't get used to the Santa Ana winds, playing in an arena that is deliberately air conditioned year round rather than just in the later spring to early fall. Regardless, the Ducks took a two games to none lead in the best-of-seven last night when goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere shut out the opposition on the way to a 1-0 win.
The series reverts to Ottawa for Games 3 and 4 of the series. At this stage, I'm picking Anaheim to win the series 4 to 2. (Which would mean, since Game 5 if necessary will be in Anaheim and 6 in Ottawa, the Stanley Cup will be hoisted in the shadow of the one-time home of the Governor-General who donated the trophy in the first place -- by the Old Enemy, although they're not since most of them are Canadians, eh?)
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Wednesday, May 30, 2007
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the vinyl
A bit of a watershed moment in the Canadian music business, as Sam the Record Man announced they are closing their flagship Toronto location. I didn't spend all that much time in that particular store but I had fun walking the aisles of their Hamilton stores. Sam Sniderman made it a point of stocking independent and Canadian artists, long before the CANCON rules and well before we began to speak of "alternative music." Many songwriters and singers can credit their careers in large part to the persistence of Sniderman when most deejays only wanted to play American and British stars -- and in particular, only those from whom they received payola.
But times have changed. Canada does have a home based star system so well entrenched that CANCON is probably not needed anymore although I still support it. But the big issue is that mom-and-pop operations have given way to Wal-Mart and of course online music stores which undercut physical plants. Not to mention illegal file-sharing.
With this downsizing, only two Sams will be left, and they're both franchises; in Sarnia and Belleville. As we see the insipid encroachment of tabloid values contaminating the Canadian music industry one must mourn at the loss of a true Canadian icon. One can only wonder how long it will be before the underground scene is forced back underground by RIAA and other industry groups. After all, they're still giving us music we don't want to hear and want to stuff even more down our ever-shrinking brains.
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But times have changed. Canada does have a home based star system so well entrenched that CANCON is probably not needed anymore although I still support it. But the big issue is that mom-and-pop operations have given way to Wal-Mart and of course online music stores which undercut physical plants. Not to mention illegal file-sharing.
With this downsizing, only two Sams will be left, and they're both franchises; in Sarnia and Belleville. As we see the insipid encroachment of tabloid values contaminating the Canadian music industry one must mourn at the loss of a true Canadian icon. One can only wonder how long it will be before the underground scene is forced back underground by RIAA and other industry groups. After all, they're still giving us music we don't want to hear and want to stuff even more down our ever-shrinking brains.
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Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Zoellick replaces Wolfowitz
Dubya has announced his choice for the next head of the World Bank -- Robert Zoellick, current a top official at Goldman Sachs. While there really should be someone from the Third World running the agency and not yet another American, I think Zoellick is a somewhat palatable choice. He knows his way around Washington having served in a number of posts under Reagan and both Bushes as well as a key job at the Naval Academy during the Clinton years. He was also way ahead of Team Dubya on seeing the genocide in Darfur for what it was. And while he is a free trader, he is much more pragmatic than most neo-conservatives.
The IBRD is a huge mess right now and needs someone to clean it up big time. I wish Zoellick the best of luck but I think that no matter what his integrity he may prove to be as hapless as Bob McNamara and pretty much everyone who followed him in the twenty-five years since.
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The IBRD is a huge mess right now and needs someone to clean it up big time. I wish Zoellick the best of luck but I think that no matter what his integrity he may prove to be as hapless as Bob McNamara and pretty much everyone who followed him in the twenty-five years since.
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Monday, May 28, 2007
Libs win in PEI
BREAKING: The Liberals have defeated the Cons in Prince Edward Island. The new Premier is Robert Ghiz who at the age of 33 is probably the youngest Premier or Governor anywhere in the Americas. He's promised to boost funding for health and education while cutting the gas tax.
We'll have to wait and see on that one.
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We'll have to wait and see on that one.
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Get KIA? Your family gets $4675
As our American friends mark Memorial Day, a sobering story about our Canadian military -- or rather the lack of respect for it. Even though the average funeral these days runs about $10,000 the families of service persons killed in the line of duty the stipend paid out for a military memorial service is just $4675.
So far since 9/11, 55 soldiers and one diplomat have been killed. They weren't forced to go in a draft. They volunteered for service knowing full well they might be called into action doing the thankless task the rest of us don't want to do or can't be bothered with. And so no matter whether we support the mission in Afghanistan or we don't, the troops deserve our thanks as well as our prayers.
The allowance hasn't changed in quite some time. Don't military families deserve better in times of mourning? Moreover, don't they deserve better housing and better assistance overall while their family members serve overseas or in the United States? Making their income tax free for tours of duty simply isn't enough.
Harper wants a stronger military -- and I actually agree with that, our forces have anemic equipment at best. But better equipment isn't enough. Our men and women in uniform deserve mo' money -- in life and, God forbid, in death.
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So far since 9/11, 55 soldiers and one diplomat have been killed. They weren't forced to go in a draft. They volunteered for service knowing full well they might be called into action doing the thankless task the rest of us don't want to do or can't be bothered with. And so no matter whether we support the mission in Afghanistan or we don't, the troops deserve our thanks as well as our prayers.
The allowance hasn't changed in quite some time. Don't military families deserve better in times of mourning? Moreover, don't they deserve better housing and better assistance overall while their family members serve overseas or in the United States? Making their income tax free for tours of duty simply isn't enough.
Harper wants a stronger military -- and I actually agree with that, our forces have anemic equipment at best. But better equipment isn't enough. Our men and women in uniform deserve mo' money -- in life and, God forbid, in death.
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Sunday, May 27, 2007
Stop the NAU
The stakes are too high. I've said in the past and I'll say it again: I have no affection whatsoever for Maude Barlow or Lou Dobbs, but they're absolutely correct on this one: The North American Union must be stopped.
It's one thing to streamline trade for law-abiding companies and in that sense I do support such projects as Continental 1 and the completion of I-69. I also am in agreement with the idea of compulsory e-manifests for truckers, which has been applied to a number of key border crossings for some time and was implemented along the Niagara River last week. Process the paperwork before the rig gets to the border, one saves time and ensures "just in time" remains just that.
It's quite another thing, however, to have a European style arrangment with one country calling all the shots -- or rather, big business calling all the shots. Without labour and environmental standards, common and very tough safety regulations, and general principles of quality control (all of which the EU has); and without expanding such a union to incorporate all of the Americas, including Cuba, there's simply no point.
The idea is to raise standards and not lower them. Negotiating a treaty without even ratifying it is grossly unconstitutional in all would-be member countries anyway, and being in dereliction of duty the leaders of the three countries (Canada, the US and Mexico) ought to resign or put the idea to a binding referendum with a negative vote in any of the three nullifying the deal all together.
In the future, I'd like to see the Americas become borderless, in the sense that the borders are just lines on the map and that there is genuine sovereignty-association as the EU. But we're looking at another 20 years before that will be realistic. Plus, we have that pesky "War on Terrorism" we have to win. So for now, no NAU.
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It's one thing to streamline trade for law-abiding companies and in that sense I do support such projects as Continental 1 and the completion of I-69. I also am in agreement with the idea of compulsory e-manifests for truckers, which has been applied to a number of key border crossings for some time and was implemented along the Niagara River last week. Process the paperwork before the rig gets to the border, one saves time and ensures "just in time" remains just that.
It's quite another thing, however, to have a European style arrangment with one country calling all the shots -- or rather, big business calling all the shots. Without labour and environmental standards, common and very tough safety regulations, and general principles of quality control (all of which the EU has); and without expanding such a union to incorporate all of the Americas, including Cuba, there's simply no point.
The idea is to raise standards and not lower them. Negotiating a treaty without even ratifying it is grossly unconstitutional in all would-be member countries anyway, and being in dereliction of duty the leaders of the three countries (Canada, the US and Mexico) ought to resign or put the idea to a binding referendum with a negative vote in any of the three nullifying the deal all together.
In the future, I'd like to see the Americas become borderless, in the sense that the borders are just lines on the map and that there is genuine sovereignty-association as the EU. But we're looking at another 20 years before that will be realistic. Plus, we have that pesky "War on Terrorism" we have to win. So for now, no NAU.
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Stalemate in Ukraine over -- for now
Two and a half years after the "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine saw the end of Viktor Yanukovych and the rise of Viktor Yushchenko, the country is in political paralysis. The former found his way back into the system as Prime Minister while the latter has had trouble implementing his reform program as President. To settle the issue, and after days of talks, the two have agreed to fresh elections in the fall.
I don't know what it really takes to rule a country, but sixteen years after the Soviet Union broke up it's clear some have done it right while others have gotten way off the rails. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are now all EU members and are set to adopt the Euro as early as 2010. They have also acceded to the Schengen acquis and will join the "borderless" continent regime at the end of the year, making it possible to drive from Tallinn to Lisbon without border checks -- unthinkable even just a few years ago.
Belarus is a Soviet-style dictatorship, Russia is a personality cult surrounding Vladimir Putin, and the "Stans" have become breeding grounds for radical strands of Islam with the governments there powerless to stop it.
Ukraine started out its new found freedom with a lot of promise, but since then has squandered it and quite frankly the patience of the world community. Seeing all the opportunities lost in my parents' former homeland of Croatia (as well as its unspoken but well known zeal to annex Bosnia-Hercegovina at some future date), I don't expect much better from Ukraine even after September. But stagnation is not a solution. It will either regress into oppression once more or it will move forward and not turn back.
Caving into Putin's dreams of restoring Greater Russia would not be the answer, however.
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I don't know what it really takes to rule a country, but sixteen years after the Soviet Union broke up it's clear some have done it right while others have gotten way off the rails. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are now all EU members and are set to adopt the Euro as early as 2010. They have also acceded to the Schengen acquis and will join the "borderless" continent regime at the end of the year, making it possible to drive from Tallinn to Lisbon without border checks -- unthinkable even just a few years ago.
Belarus is a Soviet-style dictatorship, Russia is a personality cult surrounding Vladimir Putin, and the "Stans" have become breeding grounds for radical strands of Islam with the governments there powerless to stop it.
Ukraine started out its new found freedom with a lot of promise, but since then has squandered it and quite frankly the patience of the world community. Seeing all the opportunities lost in my parents' former homeland of Croatia (as well as its unspoken but well known zeal to annex Bosnia-Hercegovina at some future date), I don't expect much better from Ukraine even after September. But stagnation is not a solution. It will either regress into oppression once more or it will move forward and not turn back.
Caving into Putin's dreams of restoring Greater Russia would not be the answer, however.
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Saturday, May 26, 2007
The softer side of ... Michael Moore?
Michael Moore made his first TV appearance in over two years, last night on Bill Maher's show. This is a side of the Last Angry Man I wasn't expecting -- indignant but with his anger quite controlled. I do wish he had his facts about Canada's health care system right, though -- it's in huge trouble.
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Friday, May 25, 2007
10 in a row -- and decision time in Québec
For the tenth year in a row Canada ran a surplus ... $9.7 billion. As usual it's been applied to the debt which now stands at $467.8 billion or 37.9% of GDP. No question a lot of the cuts have been done on the backs of Canadians, but we're in considerably better shape than the United States whose current burden stands at 64.7% and climbing rapidly.
The question is where we go from here. The Harper government, having inherited a positive balance sheet from the Liberals has decided piecemeal tax breaks plus a cut in the GST is the answer. I personally think it would have made more sense to have kept the sales tax at 7% while having broader based tax relief as well as increased social spending. But at least until the fall, we're sort of stuck.
It is with that in mind that one thinks about yesterday's proposed budget plan in Québec. No question the province's tax burden is huge and bringing in the tax brackets there to be more in line with the other provinces makes sense. However, I don't think Harper gave billions to the provinces to cut taxes but to fix the social deficit. Thus one should not be surprised that the ADQ and PQ are threatening to topple Charest as early as next week. And the fact is the province has a crippling debt and needs to make some tough choices to bring its burden to a more managable level first before even considering it.
The argument can be made that the proposed tax cuts in the province are broad-based and will put more money in the hands of families. Of course, they will. The question is will they spend the money or hoard it? We tried trickle-down economics under Mike Harris in Ontario. The only thing that trickled down was arrogance and the belief that the tax cuts alone stimulated the economy. In fact, the only reason why the revenues went up as taxes went down was that we just got lucky by riding the American coattails -- until 9/11, that is.
It is apparent that Charest is trying to stop the brain drain -- more skilled people will mean more revenues. But tax cuts don't make sense without getting rid of the red tape too, and the bureaucracy in Québec is bloated. Some programs were privatized yesterday but little else was done to bring the public service in line.
If there is a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly one might assume Mario Dumont might be asked to try to form a government. Or there will be a snap election just a couple months after the last one -- and Québecois will really be in an unforgiving mood. Whether it's the ADQ or the Liberals that receive the wrath remains to be seen.
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The question is where we go from here. The Harper government, having inherited a positive balance sheet from the Liberals has decided piecemeal tax breaks plus a cut in the GST is the answer. I personally think it would have made more sense to have kept the sales tax at 7% while having broader based tax relief as well as increased social spending. But at least until the fall, we're sort of stuck.
It is with that in mind that one thinks about yesterday's proposed budget plan in Québec. No question the province's tax burden is huge and bringing in the tax brackets there to be more in line with the other provinces makes sense. However, I don't think Harper gave billions to the provinces to cut taxes but to fix the social deficit. Thus one should not be surprised that the ADQ and PQ are threatening to topple Charest as early as next week. And the fact is the province has a crippling debt and needs to make some tough choices to bring its burden to a more managable level first before even considering it.
The argument can be made that the proposed tax cuts in the province are broad-based and will put more money in the hands of families. Of course, they will. The question is will they spend the money or hoard it? We tried trickle-down economics under Mike Harris in Ontario. The only thing that trickled down was arrogance and the belief that the tax cuts alone stimulated the economy. In fact, the only reason why the revenues went up as taxes went down was that we just got lucky by riding the American coattails -- until 9/11, that is.
It is apparent that Charest is trying to stop the brain drain -- more skilled people will mean more revenues. But tax cuts don't make sense without getting rid of the red tape too, and the bureaucracy in Québec is bloated. Some programs were privatized yesterday but little else was done to bring the public service in line.
If there is a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly one might assume Mario Dumont might be asked to try to form a government. Or there will be a snap election just a couple months after the last one -- and Québecois will really be in an unforgiving mood. Whether it's the ADQ or the Liberals that receive the wrath remains to be seen.
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Thursday, May 24, 2007
Think Hamilton will get a team? Dream on!
After failing to purchase the Pittsburgh Penguins, the owner of RIM (the company that makes the Crackberry) has bought the Nashville Predators. Already there is talk about Jim Balsillie moving the team to Hamilton. But it simply won't happen -- in fact unless the Buffalo Sabres or Toronto Maple Leafs both went bankrupt at the same time it will never happen.
Forget the indemnification issues -- which could run as high as $75 million US for each of those teams. It comes down to a simple thing: People in Hamilton just don't care. Really, they don't.
If they can't be bothered to support a minor league team that's made it to the Final Four and is one game away from the Calder Cup final (average attendance during the playoffs has been a pathetic 3000 out of 17000 seats) then why on earth could they be expected to support a team with tickets costing ten times as much? The attendance at the recent Brier was pathetic. So it is with a lot of other major events in town. In fact, the last time Hamilton did anything successful was the 2003 Road Cycling Championship and that really was a one-off.
My feeling is that Balsillie will move Predators to Kitchener -- just outside the danger zones for the two "enemy" cities. Besides, there are more corporations based in the Golden Triangle than Hamilton and with that much more money for box seats. A new stadium would probably be needed but it could be built practically for free and not on the backs of Waterloo Region taxpayers. Here in Hamilton, we're still paying for the white elephant called Copps Coliseum and it's completely inadequate in the present environment -- they'd need quadruple the number of boxes just to break even. A 17000 seat stadium doesn't make money. One needs at least 21000 to make it work.
Besides, we're a crowded house as it is in the East. If there's a city that really deserves a team more than any other, it's Winnipeg. Phoenix isn't about to move back to their old home but another team might be persuaded.
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Forget the indemnification issues -- which could run as high as $75 million US for each of those teams. It comes down to a simple thing: People in Hamilton just don't care. Really, they don't.
If they can't be bothered to support a minor league team that's made it to the Final Four and is one game away from the Calder Cup final (average attendance during the playoffs has been a pathetic 3000 out of 17000 seats) then why on earth could they be expected to support a team with tickets costing ten times as much? The attendance at the recent Brier was pathetic. So it is with a lot of other major events in town. In fact, the last time Hamilton did anything successful was the 2003 Road Cycling Championship and that really was a one-off.
My feeling is that Balsillie will move Predators to Kitchener -- just outside the danger zones for the two "enemy" cities. Besides, there are more corporations based in the Golden Triangle than Hamilton and with that much more money for box seats. A new stadium would probably be needed but it could be built practically for free and not on the backs of Waterloo Region taxpayers. Here in Hamilton, we're still paying for the white elephant called Copps Coliseum and it's completely inadequate in the present environment -- they'd need quadruple the number of boxes just to break even. A 17000 seat stadium doesn't make money. One needs at least 21000 to make it work.
Besides, we're a crowded house as it is in the East. If there's a city that really deserves a team more than any other, it's Winnipeg. Phoenix isn't about to move back to their old home but another team might be persuaded.
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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
School shooting in Toronto
After this kind of news, I don't feel much like blogging today. So I'm leaving this thread open for relevant comments.
Oh ... Uncle Bobby died as well.
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Oh ... Uncle Bobby died as well.
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Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Dewert had woman on the side
I don't know whether to call this news pathetic or just sad, but as I noted yesterday Dick and Joan Dewert have resigned their posts at CJIL. I mentioned at that time I had some inside information regarding this management shift but withheld discussing it until it was confirmed. Even before I got the tip, though, it was what I mostly suspected: Mr. Dewert has admitted an affair with another woman. (Text of the press release is here.)
By no means is this a death blow to the evangelical movement in Canada -- not by a long shot.
But having watched the channel for a number of years (I get it as part of my satellite service) and despite my gripes about the Miracle Channel, Dewert at first glance seemed like the last person who would go down the wayward path. Dewert was one of the leaders of the "get out the vote" drive that was partly key to the success of the Reform Party, later the Canadian Alliance and now the self-styled "Conservative" Party of Canada. He was also one of the most strident voices against gay marriage -- one of the very few issues I actually agree with him on.
That and his pronouncements on other moral issues, however, is simply no excuse for adultery. It's not a criminal offence (hasn't been for decades in Canada) but it does go against the basic set of family values that most Canadians -- from conservative to progressive to socialist -- share in common. And it may be a double standard but it's a lot easier in the public realm to forgive someone from the Second Estate -- say, Bill Clinton -- for that particular transgression than it is for someone from the First.
For when a public servant cheats, he or she can merely be rebuked. When a servant of God fails his or her Master, it strikes against people's faith. If such and such a preacher cannot be trusted, it brings the entire ministry and from all denominations into disrepute.
The channel has offered counselling for Dick and Joan and they have accepted it. I pray with sincerity that they find a way of repairing the breach. I am not a man of ill will. I believe in the sanctity of marriage and if they can make it through there may be hope for all.
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By no means is this a death blow to the evangelical movement in Canada -- not by a long shot.
But having watched the channel for a number of years (I get it as part of my satellite service) and despite my gripes about the Miracle Channel, Dewert at first glance seemed like the last person who would go down the wayward path. Dewert was one of the leaders of the "get out the vote" drive that was partly key to the success of the Reform Party, later the Canadian Alliance and now the self-styled "Conservative" Party of Canada. He was also one of the most strident voices against gay marriage -- one of the very few issues I actually agree with him on.
That and his pronouncements on other moral issues, however, is simply no excuse for adultery. It's not a criminal offence (hasn't been for decades in Canada) but it does go against the basic set of family values that most Canadians -- from conservative to progressive to socialist -- share in common. And it may be a double standard but it's a lot easier in the public realm to forgive someone from the Second Estate -- say, Bill Clinton -- for that particular transgression than it is for someone from the First.
For when a public servant cheats, he or she can merely be rebuked. When a servant of God fails his or her Master, it strikes against people's faith. If such and such a preacher cannot be trusted, it brings the entire ministry and from all denominations into disrepute.
The channel has offered counselling for Dick and Joan and they have accepted it. I pray with sincerity that they find a way of repairing the breach. I am not a man of ill will. I believe in the sanctity of marriage and if they can make it through there may be hope for all.
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Monday, May 21, 2007
No negotiations
Like many I've gotten weary of the war in Afghanistan ... but we've made a commitment and we need to stick to it, at least until our current military mandate there expires in 2009. I'm not really surprised by the polls that suggest it's time to negotiate with the Taliban -- but the fact remains that the country's next door neighbour, Pakistan, has nuclear weapons and the terrorists will do anything to get their hands on the bomb even if it means overthrowing Pervez Musharraf. And as much as I don't have any affection for Musharraf and his total lack of cooperation in hunting down the Taliban in his country as well as not securing the porous border, I'd still rather talk to him than those who aided and abetted Osama Bin Laden for years.
As for Hamid Karzai, he's blown too many chances and needs to realize the West's patience is about to run out just as it has with Iraq. Offering amnesty to the Taliban was a huge mistake and I think he's realized how big a boo-boo that was.
So I agree with Antonio at Fuddle Duddle. No negotiations, period. The Taliban must be crushed because they don't understand the meaning of good faith -- or human rights.
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As for Hamid Karzai, he's blown too many chances and needs to realize the West's patience is about to run out just as it has with Iraq. Offering amnesty to the Taliban was a huge mistake and I think he's realized how big a boo-boo that was.
So I agree with Antonio at Fuddle Duddle. No negotiations, period. The Taliban must be crushed because they don't understand the meaning of good faith -- or human rights.
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Shakeup at Miracle Channel
Details are still sketchy, but it was reported late yesterday that Dick and Joan Dewert have resigned their management positions at the Miracle Channel out of Lethbridge, Alberta. (CJIL is available in Alberta either over-the-air or on basic cable and in the rest of the country on digital cable and satellite.)
I have griped about the Miracle Channel on a number of occasions, in particular to their almost slavish devotion to the heresy called the Word of Faith -- something which nearly enslaved me during the 1980s. I will not be celebrating, however. One, it's not the Christian thing to do; and we have no idea at this time whether it's because of personal issues or because the CRTC is about to issue a ruling (not just a "determination") against the station.
Two, we don't know if there are going to be any material changes in theology under the new ownership of the channel and its in-house church, Dominion Gateway -- the new pastors are pegged to be Wayne and Rose Boersma from Brooks, Alberta; whilst the new directors of the channel are likely to be Ray and Donna Block. Frankly I suspect not.
My main source on this is the watchdog site run by longtime critic of the channel, Tim Thibault of Humbolt SK -- although the article was written by someone who may be a church insider.
It's worth pointing out that on several occasions the channel all but endorsed Stephen Harper, saying that no district in Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal voted for a Conservative in the last election because the Miracle Channel isn't available on basic cable in those cities. I think even evangelicals in the Big Three (and there are many more living in those cities than the Exempt Media would have us believe) would be insulted by that assertion. We Christians all -- including myself as a Catholic -- can read the Bible for ourselves without someone interpreting it for us; and use that as well as all the pertinent information we can get to cast an informed vote.
UPDATE (12:20 PM EDT, 1620 GMT): I have learned some more information about what the truth might be all about. It's not pretty ... but for now that's all I can say about it.
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I have griped about the Miracle Channel on a number of occasions, in particular to their almost slavish devotion to the heresy called the Word of Faith -- something which nearly enslaved me during the 1980s. I will not be celebrating, however. One, it's not the Christian thing to do; and we have no idea at this time whether it's because of personal issues or because the CRTC is about to issue a ruling (not just a "determination") against the station.
Two, we don't know if there are going to be any material changes in theology under the new ownership of the channel and its in-house church, Dominion Gateway -- the new pastors are pegged to be Wayne and Rose Boersma from Brooks, Alberta; whilst the new directors of the channel are likely to be Ray and Donna Block. Frankly I suspect not.
My main source on this is the watchdog site run by longtime critic of the channel, Tim Thibault of Humbolt SK -- although the article was written by someone who may be a church insider.
It's worth pointing out that on several occasions the channel all but endorsed Stephen Harper, saying that no district in Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal voted for a Conservative in the last election because the Miracle Channel isn't available on basic cable in those cities. I think even evangelicals in the Big Three (and there are many more living in those cities than the Exempt Media would have us believe) would be insulted by that assertion. We Christians all -- including myself as a Catholic -- can read the Bible for ourselves without someone interpreting it for us; and use that as well as all the pertinent information we can get to cast an informed vote.
UPDATE (12:20 PM EDT, 1620 GMT): I have learned some more information about what the truth might be all about. It's not pretty ... but for now that's all I can say about it.
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