from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Tue, Jun 2, 2015 at 11:27 PM
subject Pensionnats autochtones: Harper n’accepte pas le terme «génocide culturel»; Vatican’s embassy calls residential schools report ‘high priority’
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. What a weekend! Clo and I have been married for 8 years today but we celebrated on Saturday and Sunday evening at the MAC for MUTEK. We dropped MDMA both nights and it was so much fun! I really like that drug, it’s so smooth on the body and mind. The music, the dancing, the variety and sophistication of the live sets, it was quite an eye (and ear) opening experience. Late Saturday we bought reduced-price tickets to the show at Metropolis and caught Atom TM and Tobias and DBX, it was all so fascinating. I didn’t sleep much at all, until last night with the kids, and still managed to make a lot of headway on the plans for the next show at work. Haven’t been to the gym yet; my back is quite sore, and the weather crap. Rose had her preview visit at her school on Saturday morning and a playdate with her friend Sarah in the afternoon, the last day of sun and warmth. On Sunday the kids watched Toy Story 1 and 3. I finally downloaded 3, as the disc version I bought last year freezes halfway through. What an ending! What an emotional roller coaster, Oscar-worthy performances from animated cartoons. What else is emotional about this weekend? One effect of MDMA on me is that I think of mortality a lot, and how much I love my kids, and Clo, and my friends, and family, and good art and music. And now there is the Truth and Reconciliation report. I hear you are attending the closing remarks tomorrow. Are you going to accept the term “cultural genocide”? Even now, as the current push for pipelines makes it clear that there is no respecting of treaties or indigenous lands. Your puppet of Indian Affairs didn’t even have the balls to stand up when Justice Murray Sinclair called for a public inquiry into the missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls in this country. How are you going to address this? What about The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples? And that stupid, ugly, awful Mother Canada statue still seems to be full steam ahead, as is the ridiculous Monument to the victims of communism. When and where will we build the monument to the victims of the Harper Government?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Jun 3, 2015 at 11:04 PM
subject Parizeau était un grand bâtisseur, dit Mulroney; Poilievre aide broke conflict of interest rules: ethics commissioner
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another day of work, working on plans, taking measurements, listening to house and downbeat dub, and spontaneously buying a plan ticket for Rose so she can accompany me to Stacy’s wedding in Kelowna in 3 weeks. She’s booked on the same flights as me, to Vancouver, where I rented a car to get us around the city and of course to Kelowna. Hoping to hang out with Aaron for a day as well. Not sure if I’ll get a chance to play street hockey with Brodie or not; time is tight, we’re only there a week. Still not sure how much vacation I have. I hear the senate could vote on C-51 tomorrow. Isn’t this just crazy how fast this was rammed through parliament and now the senate? What kind of “sober second thought” can they possibly be giving this legislation in just a few weeks? Had a busy evening, Michael and Emi and Lowell came over, we cooked fish and skewers of scallops and veggies, the kids ate sausages and Sol was fascinated with the mackerel but didn’t eat any, he just wanted to look at them: look at them cooking on the barbecue and then look at them some more on the plate. Just looking. He’s having more fits, I hope it is just a phase, just part of the Terrible Twos. He stayed up late looking intently at a book about where babies come from; staring intently at each page. I’m going to read for a bit and hope my back feels better in the morning; I’ve been on Motrin for the past 2 days.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sun, Jun 7, 2015 at 10:45 PM
subject Pensionnats autochtones: Mulcair veut que Harper réclame des excuses au pape; Two murderers use power tools to cut their way out of New York prison near Canadian border
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another weekend. I also survived an interview on Friday with Urbania magazine, which went really quite well I thought. The Truth and Reconciliation report is still very much in my head, which skews perhaps my perspective now on what it means to be “Canadian”. Not sure if it was that, or my chronic back pain this past week, or residual side effects from our MDMA weekend last week, but I was quite lethargic and borderline depressed this weekend. Took the kids to Jarry Park on Saturday afternoon (Clo had to work) and there was lots of videos in between outdoor activities, but we mostly stayed close to home. Tonight we went for supper to Sarah and Etienne’s as Tracy and Felix are there visiting from Down Under, and the kids had a blast, but Sol is quite clearly entering his Terrible Twos. Tonight when we got home he hit Rose with a wooden train and I lost patience and was rough and loud with him, which always works getting him to sleep faster (after the crisis subsides he drifts right off) but it made me feel terrible. Usually I can be so patient in the face of these screaming tantrums because I know that they pass, but I seem to have a problem when it comes to discipline, especially when he hits. I can’t seem to get through to him unless I yell or smack him, neither of which I want to do. Now my throat is sore, I feel a cold coming on, so I’m going straight to bed. Might even finish an article I started reading in Harpers three days ago. Oh, and I’m up to September in formatting the letters from 2011.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Jun 8, 2015 at 10:49 PM
subject Harcèlement sexuel: les députés fédéraux proposent un code de conduite; Old anti-poverty idea — guaranteed minimum income — getting new life in Alberta
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another Monday! Not many folks in the office today. Didn’t make it to the gym, as I left work early to try to catch the passport office, which was ridiculously crammed inside with an additional twenty people lined up outside, at four o’clock. I just need to check with them that the physical state of our passports is OK after I spilled some water on them last week overnight and there was some damage, mostly to Sol’s, which will probably have to be replaced. I’ll try to do it tomorrow morning. Came home and then cycled to Yeti to drop my bike off for a tuneup. It was pouring rain this morning, and I don’t cycle in heavy rain with only one working brake. We ordered food from Velo Burrito tonight, as a treat to ourselves, to not have to cook. We’re taking meatless Monday to a whole new level. And I emailed a bunch of senators today asking them to vote against C51. You have to admit, it’s a terrible bill. Oh, and Pam S. called from SJ to ask about the 3 panels they want painted for their new restaurant. My last quote was $5800. She says she’s thinking $3500. I’m thinking, how the heck am I going to even make 2 paintings and another chalk pastel 4×6-feet large in the one week that we’re planning to be in NB? This is unrealistic any way we cut it. I’m looking at backup plans, like hiring a local artist to help me, or pass the 2 panels off to someone else and just do the pastel…I need to give her a price asap. Do I really need to spend my summer vacation making golf-themed Miller Brittain knockoffs? I don’t need the money, though it would help pay down my line of credit…what to do?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Jun 10, 2015 at 12:37 AM
subject Ottawa rejette les critiques sur le registre des armes à feu; Air Canada, WestJet reject global suggestion to shrink carry-on bags
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived the final vote in the senate on Bill C-51 and I have to say, while not terribly surprised, I am deeply disappointed. Whatever tiny traces of respect I had left for that institution have now disappeared. The report on spending didn’t help either, but the fact that this high office is so blatantly and clearly stuffed with cronies that blindly vote according to party wishes is downright disgusting.
I’m reading up a little on a person you must have heard of, Captain Paul Watson (clearly a terrorist in your eyes), and also biocentrism. From Wikipideia: The term biocentrism encompasses all environmental ethics that “extend the status of moral object from human beings to all living things in nature.” [5] Biocentric ethics calls for a rethinking of the relationship between humans and nature. It states that nature does not exist simply to be used or consumed by humans, but that humans are simply one species amongst many,[6]and that because we are part of an ecosystem, any actions which negatively affect the living systems of which we are a part adversely affect us as well,[6][7] whether or not we maintain a biocentric worldview.[6] Biocentrists believe that all species have inherent value, and that humans are not “superior” to other species in a moral or ethical sense.
Hmmm. Not a whole lot of mainstream media covering the senate vote on C51 today. More obsessed with decorative scandal?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Jun 10, 2015 at 10:42 PM
subject Brian Mulroney se rallie derrière Harper; Guarantee a minimum income, not a minimum wage
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I’m still annoyed at the senate, and angry about C-51, and after listening to some podcasts about your treatment of government scientists, especially at the NRC, I’m feeling depressed, too. So, without any ado, a poem:
I, too, dislike it.
Reading it, however, with a perfect
contempt for it, one discovers in
it, after all, a place for the genuine.
-Marianne Moore, Poetry, 1967
I can’t write any more, am going to start reading Leaving the Atocha Station or watch Louis on Netflix or maybe that documentary about Pulp. I’ve stalled on Infinite Jest. Maybe the Inexplicable Universe with Neil deGrasse Tyson?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Jun 15, 2015 at 10:46 PM
subject Le débat des chefs du Maclean’s aura lieu le 6 août; About 20% of university students cut back on food before going out drinking: study
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another Monday, as well as the weekend. Goodness, when did I last write you? It was five days ago, so much has happened since then. Thursday I took the afternoon off work to participate in employee evaluations at SKOL. Friday was my day off but I can’t remember now what, if anything, I did. I do know that I ate some pot brownies late in the afternoon and felt a little bit baked when I picked the kids up from daycare. The weather cleared up and it was nice for the weekend, I went to the Outremont pool on Saturday meeting Sarah and Etienne and Femke, then got the kids home in time for Romy to babysit, ans then was off to the Surviva! fundraiser for Viva. The performances were short and sweet and most were quite good. Drank some beer and left early to get the kids to bed. Sunday was a family day, we spent it cycling around looking at yard sales and playing in different parks. We also bought Sol a new potty, as he is completely ignoring his little red Ikea potty. He does seem to like the Baby Bjorn better, and has sat on it (clothed and not) a few times, but has yet to make a pipi or caca. We’re trying to minimize the diapers when he is at home but that only seems to guarantee accidents. Tonight I was going to attend a Fair Vote Canada meeting but lost the resolve to cycle back downtown after work. I had gone to the gym and maybe that influenced my decision. In the end Clo was able to go to a Viva board meeting. And I received mail from CSIS today: a response to my Access to Information request. They can “neither confirm nor deny that the records (I) requested exist”. They then go on to say that “such records, if they existed, could reasonably be expected to be exempted under one or more of sections 15(1) (as it relates to the efforts of Canada towards detecting, preventing or suppressing subversive or hostile activities)”. Wow, so do you suppose I am considered more subversive or hostile? I have sixty days to complain to the Information Commissioner of Canada.
In reading through the Act, this part struck me as odd:
OATH OF SECRECY
I, , swear that I will not, without due authority, disclose or make known to any person any information acquired by me by reason of the duties performed by me on behalf of or under the direction of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service or by reason of any office or employment held by me pursuant to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act. So help me God.
So help me God! What does “God” have to do with spy agencies?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 12:40 AM
subject Un candidat libéral fédéral se retire à cause de l’appui du parti à C-51; Toronto rapper Mark Moore jailed for life over murder spree: ‘A monster with no heart’
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another day of work. Not much to report on that end.
I posted the CSIS letter to my blog, and recently wrote a letter to the journalist who had helped inspire a Facebook group (and subsequently, me) to make the Access to Information request (the group has mysteriously disappeared, which I hope does not happen to me and anyone else guilty only of exercising our basic rights and freedoms). This is my letter to the journalist:
We have a mutual friend in common, Eleanor King. I recently went through a similar Access to Information request as you and received the same “neither confirm nor deny” response. In fact, I had made the request after joining a Facebook group urging people to do so, but the page now seems to be missing. I have heard many other reports of people receiving the same reply. My question to you is did you ever follow-up or complain? I see I have 60 days to do so.
Great article, BTW.
And courtesy of another friend I have added the following to my email signature. I had a brief scare when I checked and wasn’t registered to vote, and then Clo reminded me that we had moved in 2012 and when I checked again with our address from the third floor lo and behold there I was. So no great conspiracy there!
Under Harper’s new “Fair Elections Act”, Elections Canada is no longer allowed to promote voting. It’s up to us to get the word out. The first step is to make sure as many people as possible are registered to vote. Please share this link widely: https://ereg.elections.ca/CWelcome.aspx?lang=e
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 11:12 PM
subject Des véhicules blindés seront transformés en mémoriaux; Hacker group ‘Anonymous’ claims credit for federal cyber attacks
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another day of work which included a visit to the gym and some drinks in the office at the end of the day. The weather was decent so I cycled to and from work and did so quite quickly. I saw on Facebook that nscad fired many support staff, which is sad and seems unlikely to solve any deeper problem. Ugh, my Twitter feed is full of angry right-wing vitriol tonight. We started watching a film about Hannah Arendt and her coverage of the Eichmann trial, but Clo fell asleep partway through. I had fallen asleep with Sol earlier, so now I’m awake, I guess I’ll read. Do you believe that evil can reside in banality?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Jun 18, 2015 at 10:36 PM
subject Postes Canada continue d’improviser, dit Boulerice; Stephen Harper announces $2.6 billion in funding for John Tory’s SmartTrack transit plan
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. Survived another one. Made some headway on plans and helped tweak the setup for the education film screening tonight, then went home early, mostly to get a jump on laundry and clean up the apartment a bit. There were toys and tracks and games and puzzles and books and all sorts of things strewn about since last weekend. Picked the kids up, made a quick supper and then we went to the park by the Pharmaprix. We found a tricycle to give away that Sol really took too, and it has handles to push so functions as a stroller. Only problem is it squeaks a lot. I’ll need to WD40 it. Tomorrow Marcello is supposed to come to start our kitchen backsplash, and since I have the day off I will give him a hand. We’re trying out a new sitter tomorrow night, as Clo and I both want to go to the openings at the MAC. Clo is out tonight with Pip. It’s raining, again. but I had lots of time to get things under shelter, like the bikes and our tomato plants. They don’t get enough sun and with all the rain lately, they look a little waterlogged. Clo forwarded to me an invitation from the Conservative Party to celebrate La Fête Nationale in Beauce next week. I posted the info to the Facebook Papineau page, and am considering sending an email to register, just to see what kind of response I’d get. Oh, and I also sent an email to the Bloc Quebecois asking if they had a candidate yet in Papineau, and if not, that I’m interested in the position.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Jun 22, 2015 at 12:58 AM
subject Une politique perçue comme pro-torture tarde à voir le jour; Luxury $18 million Vancouver penthouse for sale — to local buyers only, developer says
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived a very pleasant weekend, which involved an overnight visit from my nephews as well as a full day of work with Marcello on our kitchen backsplash on Friday. I mostly made cuts, he did the hard work, measuring and placing and getting the adhesive up. It’s going to look quite good when finished, hopefully tomorrow. My parents arrived tonight for a stopover on their way to Cambridge to visit my aunts and grandfather, who is not well. He has cancers in his bladder, a kidney has failed, something on his lungs – he’s getting quite week. So I’ve decided to go as well, and bring the kids, and drive with my parents and they’ll drop Rose and I off at the Montreal airport on Wednesday. It would cost an extra $312 each for us to change our tickets to fly direct out of Toronto, which seems real odd since we would be changing planes in Toronto anyway. I’m still going to see if it could be changed but I will make that call en route tomorrow; that department doesn’t open until 10am, and we’ll be on the road by then. Lots of frantic packing tonight, including making Stacy and Caroline’s wedding painting. I was yelled at by a dumbasscop while I was making the rubbing. He actually stopped his cruiser in the middle of the road to yell at me to stop what I was doing, while he was on his way to some “emergency”. Is this what a police-state looks like? Where any activity out of the norm is to be aggressively stamped out? Or is this just common practice in Montreal? Boy I hate the cops here. They’ve started ticketing cyclists again at the Bellechasse-St-Laurent intersection, even though the city planners have completely botched the bike lane connections and it is totally confusing for everyone involved. Will C51 make them even worse?
-chris
DEAR PM 