TEET PULLER

Migrant workers in a Canadian vegetable field – Photo courtesy of The Western Producer

Do You Know how Tonight’s Supper got to Your Table?

Although most of Canada is still in the grip of winter, farmers who rely on a steadily increasing stream of migrant workers are in the midst of preparing for their annual arrival. Year upon year, mostly men from countries like Mexico, Jamaica and the Philippines return to the greenhouses, vegetable fields and cranberry bogs to perform back breaking labour for long hours at minimal salary. Canadians by and large are indifferent to their situation and probably give nary a thought of how exactly did the ingredients for their three squares a day made it from farm to table.

Back in the early 90’s when I was flailing about for employment after a couple of failed career attempts, I worked at a couple of dairies as a hired hand. My family and I ended up north of Portage La Prairie, Manitoba where I had the misfortune to work for Craig Finnie of Finnie-Wishart Farms. It was my distasteful experience with the man that planted the seed of how farm workers could easily be abused by their employers.

In Canada, temporary foreign workers have been employed under programs like the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SWAP). The farm workers end up mostly in the provinces of Ontario, BC and Manitoba. In 2015, a reported 59% of all BC temporary foreign workers were out in the fields. As I’m originally from Manitoba and am quite familiar with agriculture in that province, I have seen and am very aware of the potential for abuse regarding these people.

Migrant Mexicans have been coming to pick vegetables in Manitoba fields since 1974. Under SWAP, the numbers have dramatically increased in all provinces. It’s not a matter of not being able to find Canadians to do these jobs, it’s merely a fact that these temporary workers cost less to employ. Back when I was a hired farm hand in the early 90’s, technically a farmer didn’t have to pay their workers. They could get away with bartering, living accommodations, and/or food in lieu of wages. Thankfully worker’s regulations have gotten better since then but that was the starting point. Under SWAP, a farmer will bring in migrants, put them up in sometimes questionable living accommodations, work them inhuman hours, and pay them less than the going Canadian rate. Current labour laws dictate that the worker need only be paid a straight hourly wage with no overtime. I assure you that each of these farm workers are working way past 40 hour work weeks. PIus, there is always the specter that if they get uppity, they would be deported and blacklisted. These practices have spilled over to other areas of food production. For example, the large pork production plant in Neepawa that used to employ young men like my brother and cousin now only has Philippino migrant workers on the cutting floor.

The arguments from the farmers and companies are 1) they cannot afford to grow vegetables/process meat any other way; 2) Even though the wages are less compared to paying a Canadian, they were far and above what the migrants would make back home; and 3) There are not enough Canadians to do the jobs.

My counter arguments are: 1) If you have to use semi-slavery to profitably grow vegetables/cut pigs up on the floor, then switch to another crop/way of doing business; 2) All employers should follow minimum labour standards just as if they were employing a Canadian; 3) There should be a rigourous demonstration that the employer attempted to hire Canadians first; and 4) Innovation in the form of mechanization which has revolutionized much of Western farming and food production is being stifled because it is easier to employ ‘throw away’ migrants.

Canadians are already forced to follow numerous laws and regulations even when outside the country. Just because pedophilia is tolerated in the Philippines or Thailand does not mean that you will not be prosecuted upon your return from your ‘sex-cation’. Royal Canadian Navy ships are required to follow the higher environmental laws while in foreign port. I guarantee the oily waste water in many of our Caribbean or African ports of call was going straight back into the chuck once the truck was out of sight. The Navy still paid through the nose for the service even though they knew they were being ripped off. But that’s reality in the world’s shitholes. But the reverse should happen when working migrants come to Canada. They shouldn’t be taken advantage of and should be treated the same as Canadians under Canadian labour laws.

The most hilarious and sad Canadian case of temporary foreign workers occurred in the early 2000’s when Romania became our favourite supplier of strippers. Word passed back home to that struggling Eastern European country that Canadian lap dances were very lucrative so numbers increased to a high of 552 Romanian exotic dancers rubbing Canadian poles in 2003. The Liberal Immigration Minister, Judy Sgro, had a difficult time explaining how this situation developed.

The Western world increasingly relies on ‘lesser’, invisible humans to do all our dirty work. That’s why I have no patience for people getting torqued over the latest Rage du Jour when they have no idea of where their heads of lettuce, bean sprouts or cheap pork comes from. Maybe all those #metoo women marching this weekend should give their heads a bit of a shake. I wonder how many of them have Philippino nannies?

January 19, 2018

POLITICAL JUNKIE – Deuxième Partie

Source: Maclean’s-The 91 most important economic charts to watch in 2018, Dec 5, 2017

Why Is Justin Trudeau Spending like a Drunken Sailor?

At the end of 2017, Maclean’s published an excellent analysis piece which provides a financial view of where Canada is sitting at the beginning of a new year. For this article, I will focus on Justin Trudeau’s out of control spending habits.

The chart above is part of an extremely informative snapshot of how the Federal government has been hemorrhaging money with no end in sight. Here’s a list of all Canadian Parliaments to cross reference against the Federal debt numbers.

Let’s do some analysis: The Liberals starting with Lester B. Pearson (1963) and ending with Turner (1984) (minus of course Joe Clark’s six month blip in 1979) successively started to dramatically raise the Federal debt. Brian Mulroney (1984–93) continued this upward, steady climb of federal debt. Jean Chrétien took over from 1993–2003 and with some soul searching and Paul Martin’s help, finally slayed the deficit and turned the beast around in 1997. Former Finance Minister Martin accomplished this by cutting transfer payments to the provinces and the larger than forecast federal revenue. (Personally, I liked Paul Martin and I thought he was good for the country. But my beef and point of these writings is really with Justin Trudeau and where he’s taking Canada.) Steven Harper was elected in 2006 and of course was replaced in 2015. He was continuing the path of successive government surpluses when a little thing called the Great Global Recession came along in 2008. Harper is widely credited with having positioned Canada to a point of a somewhat soft economic landing but plenty of credit is due to Chretien/Martin for turning the head of the ship around in the first place. It is normal and sound economic policy to go into deficit spending mode during times of great economic downturn or in time of war.

As illustrated in the chart above, there was a sharp Federal deficit starting in 2008–09 to deal with the immediate effects of the recession in Canada. This was followed by a swift return to a surplus balance in his last year in office. Despite having weathered the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, Harper leveled out the debt in 2013 holding steady to 2015.

Now focus on Trudeau’s tenure in office and his spending. We’re not at war and not in a global recession but his deficit numbers are increasing dramatically and the projections from his finance minister don’t show any decrease any time soon especially with an election looming in a couple of years.

The Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bill Morneau are spending like we are in a Golden Age when we are not. Canadians seriously need to ask if we can afford another term in office from Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.

January 18, 2018

POLITICAL JUNKIE

Trudeau before becoming PM looking and acting as the perfect metrosexual PC man

Canada’s Beta Prime Minister

Trudeau is having a rough time of it lately with lapses of judgement in the race to shore up his Muslim ideology.

Many of the country’s populace and politicians jumped on the alleged assault of an 11 year old girl by a man who was trying to cut her hijab off. Instead of waiting for a complete investigation, which ended up taking only a day or two extra, Justin Trudeau and the Premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne rushed to decry this latest example of Islamophobia. The entire story ended up being a farce.

On Dec 19, the PM hosted Joshua Boyle and his family in his office. The family had just returned to Canada after years of being held by the Taliban. There were always questions as to why the man was backpacking in Afghanistan in the first place with his pregnant wife who ended up giving birth to three children in captivity. It seems that almost immediately upon their return to Canada, he started beating his wife (this is by inference) and now faces 15 separate serious charges.

This past November, the Liberals started to be brought to task over Canadian nationals returning from fighting with ISIS. The Liberals have been somewhat less than convincing wrt properly bringing these enemy combatants to justice compared to other nations.

This past March, the Liberals felt the need to pass Bill M-103, the so called Islamophobia bill even though Canada has long had strict laws against religious discrimination in all its forms.

Lastly, there was a bitter debate over the 10.5 million CAD payout to Omar Khadr this past year. The move was bitterly opposed by the majority of Canadians but Trudeau stated that the man’s Charter rights needed defending. Meanwhile, returning Canadian Armed Forces troops are seen as not receiving the help and support they deserve. As a kicker, Vice Admiral Mark Norman who was 2nd in command of the CAF until his police investigation started over a year ago, still sits in limbo. To this day, he has ‘still never officially been provided the reasoning for his unprecedented removal as vice-chief of the defence staff. He has never received a military hearing on the matter, and there has been no independent examination of the facts of his case.’ His supposed crime: he attempted to kick-start the process to equip the Royal Canadian Navy with a sorely needed supply ship of which the RCN has been without for years. His efforts put egg on the face of the newly elected Trudeau government and he’s been made to pay the price for the actions of a patriot.

Trudeau on his Canadian Charm offensive regarding NAFTA talks

Trudeau and his ‘Sunny Ways’ gang have a particular ideology and political correctness agenda. He plays well with the selfie types, jet-setters, and elites of the world with his smooth patter, PC ways, love for feminism, devotion to the environment and fancy socks. He also has the ability to cry on cue when he’s apologizing for the latest indignity Canadians have inflicted on this group or another. I don’t want to be mean-spirited but if you look at his body language when he meets with Trump, he looks like the little boy who has been invited to the adult table. It even appears as if he’s crossing his ankles with his knees firmly together in the picture above. Isn’t that how women wearing skirts usually sit?

Justin did shorten his hair after being elected PM as it was a political point the Conservatives were trying to make fun of. It’s more difficult for the adults to tousle now.

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

December 8, 2017December 8, 2017

APPLE PICKER

So What About Glyphosate?

If you scroll through the news feeds, Facebook and Twitter posts, there are plenty of entries from the anti-everything crowd to do with ‘residues’ in our food. One of the favourite targets of the ignorant rabble is the company Monsanto and the chemical glyphosate, the main active ingredient in the popular weed killer Roundup.

There’s a dirty little secret the environmentalists are holding tight. If it got out or if people learned the concept of critical thinking, they know their influence would vanish like a summer evening’s chemtrail.

The fact of the matter with regards to herbicide use is the amounts present before and after application are so miniscule, the entire argument and discussion is mute. The anti-everything crowd gets into a lather every time there is an increase of measurement of anything whether it’s Roundup, CO2, hormones, antibiotics, etc. What is never focused on is proportion. Just because we can measure something in the parts per billion doesn’t mean that 80 ppb is any worse for us than 40 ppb even though it really sounds scary when a headline screams that such and such has been found to contain TWICE as much SCARY SOUNDING chemical than such and such. We get so lathered up over amounts of this and that which essentially amount to zero impact on humans or the environment. It’s just an effective propaganda ploy used by the anti-crowd.

Hopefully you’ve heard of the phrase, it’s the dose that makes the poison. What if you heard that your favourite apple was being sprayed with cyanide for some reason, maybe to control some particular bug? Then even though it was scientifically demonstrated that any cyanide residue that made it to the supermarket via the outside of those apples was only in the Parts/Billion range, could you imagine the outcry, particularly from the organic types? Cyanide is pretty scary sounding. It is the suicide pill issued to spies like 007 to avoid spilling secrets when captured. What sane person would want that in their food, let alone heaven forbid, feed to their children? There would be a plummet of apple sales, protests in the streets, letters to government, boycotts of supermarkets, and entire celebrity blog sites dedicated to the eradication of a proven, beneficial agricultural practice. Concurrently, organic apple producers and marketing companies would be slapping “CYANIDE FREE” stickers on their apples and food products. They would even be throwing their stickers on their oranges and bananas because you know, you can’t be too careful when it comes to the food that you feed little Johnny and Janie. There would be whole marketing campaigns built around how much better tasting a CERTIFIED by the Anti-Cyanide Random made up Society (trademarked) cyanide free apple tastes.

What is sad, is the above was a scenario pulled straight out of my butt. Then it was pointed out to me that this exact same script played out over apples and the use of a chemical called Alar back in 1989. The science was back and forth as to the long term harm of the product but in an over abundance of caution, the chemical was banned for products intended for human consumption. But there was a massive over reaction to the news that the chemical might be carcinogenic. Apples and their products disappeared overnight. Organic outlets reaped a windfall touting ‘Alar-free’ apples and juice. The apple industries in Washington and Quebec took significant hits. The chemical is still allowed to be used for spraying on ornamentals.

Well, ironically, if you are truly worried about cyanide poisoning outside of my hypothetical example, take a trip to your local health food (snake oil and quackery) store and buy yourself a packet of apricot seeds. A Quebec man recently poisoned himself due to inattention to the small warning on the package. One kernel could be enough to kill a toddler. Here’s what the easily overlooked warning on the backside of the package looks like:

The European Food Safety Authority has specific Mg amounts that are lethal. I doubt people weigh the kernels they eat.

The front side of the package reads like a cornucopia of goodness. They are even touted as a cancer cure! (Debunked here)

WOW! This looks like a superfood. We should all eat this!

Now, if the package above was labelled properly with a sticker like the one below, how likely would your choice be to buy it for your kids? The only real warning for those who can’t consume it are women who are pregnant or nursing. It doesn’t say children can’t eat them only ‘not intended’.

By rights, these Apricot Kernels should have a poison label on the front of the package.

This is the argument against labelling products with GMO stickers. Sales of so-called healthy, sweet apricot kernels would plummet if they were labelled properly. GMO sounds scary versus natural, organic, or any of the other advertising buzzwords employed to entice you to buy a particular foodstuff. I count SEVENTEEN instances of ‘wholesomeness’ advertising on that 8 ounce package. What caring mother would buy food for her kids that has a prominent warning label on the front of the package? It’s so much easier to choose and trust a food labelled ‘ambrosial’. Besides, a multi-billion dollar ‘health’ food industry can be trusted, right?

It’s just an artificial ploy that keeps the rubes distracted and siphons more money out of their wallets. The organic industry, the climate industry, the renewable energy industry are all operating with similar scams in order to funnel our buying habits and wealth into money and power redistribution schemes. Gradually, the hypocrisy and anti-everything lies are being revealed through films like Food Evolution.

Hopefully people will eventually stop putting so much stock in these snake oil salesmen.

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

September 21, 2017

FATHER OF A DAUGHTER

A LinkedIn letter from ‘a proud father of a 10 year old daughter who has a strong will to question and fight “Gender bias” and prove herself.’

Genesis of a Snowflake

After the 1986 release of the movie ‘Top Gun’, it was reported that the USN saw a 500% increase of young men wanting to become Naval Aviators. Although I had already made an attempt to join the Canadian military as a pilot and was instead accepted as an Air Navigator, the movie still validated my decision to join the Air Force. Movies, TV, and celebrities are powerful motivators that influence people’s thinking and ambitions. Ironically, Tom Cruise’s dyslexia would have precluded him from being considered as a Naval Aviator. The cold, hard truth is many dreams are impossible. Borrowing some USAF statistics, supposedly out of 2000 prospects walking through the recruiting door, only one will eventually earn their wings. Many of those people who fail will accept their shortcomings but the more popular route being drilled into our youth is to blame outside forces.

The letter pictured above popped up in my LinkedIn newsfeed. This father’s 10 year old girl perceives that because of gender bias she will have trouble attaining her dream of becoming an airline pilot. She feels that it should be ‘Only Girls -˃ Then Boys’. The vast majority of comments are along the lines of ‘You go Girl! Tell it like it is!’. Only one person came out to contradict her position with this statement, ‘I work for an airline. 28 years. I have lots of experience. Someone needs to tell this girl that what she’s seeing and hearing isn’t true. I’ve flown with lots of female pilots and male flight attendants. She has every chance in the world. All she really needs is someone to believe in her dream with her.’ It would be interesting to know where this girl is getting her beliefs from. My guess is the constant bombardment from the MSM, celebrities, and feminists stating that women are being treated unfairly by a paternalistic society is to blame.

It seems that her home state of California has some of the strictest gender equity laws in the country. People in the industry and my own considerable experience in the field would say she’s got as much of a shot at being a pilot as any boy would. The USN trained their first six women Naval Aviators in 1974. In point of fact, to become an airline pilot having deep pockets is more of a factor than a great flying aptitude or good ‘hands and feet’. Archie Bunker is long gone and has been replaced by legions of well-meaning cheer leaders extolling the virtues of women. If anything, the gender playing field is as level or tipped in favour of women as it has ever been.

I would like to use the example of my daughter’s route to becoming a RCAF pilot to help illustrate the point I’m trying to make.

At the age of 12, she joined the 386 Komox RCACS. During her ‘career’ with the Air Cadets, she was the head of the First Aid Team & Precision Drill Team, became an accomplished shooter, a decent Biathaloner, became the Drum Major and finished as the Squadron Commander of 100 plus kids. She attended camps each summer and earned her glider and power licenses. I’ve flown with her and she’s got better ‘hands and feet’ than her old man. She finished off Cadets with a prestigious exchange trip to Europe.

Within weeks of her return to Canada, she went to the Royal Military College in Kingston, ON to begin her engineering degree. Attending a military college is difficult enough to just survive let alone graduate with an Aeronautical Engineering degree. In addition, she eventually became the head of the Highland Dance club and was very active in the Fencing Club. She has just returned from participating with the CAF contingent sent to the World Military Fencing Tournament in Italy.

Last November, I had the great pleasure to present her with her Wings and promotion to Lieutenant in Moose Jaw, SK. She has since trained to become a Category ‘C’ instructor, flew one of the Harvard II’s over Ottawa for the Canada 150 Flypast and represented the RCAF at Edmonton’s airshow. After her tour as an instructor, she will probably be asked to attend the Hawk course for eventual CF-18 training.

My daughter is 25 and accomplished all of the above through her hard work and ambition, NOT because she’s a woman. She actually becomes quite angry at any mention of her success being because of her sex. It demeans the incredibly hard work and effort she and her fellow female military friends have put into creating successful military careers.

There should be no substitute for hard work, dedication and sacrifice. Merit alone should be the basis for selection. The girl in the letter is already setting the stage for her own failure, ready to blame the misogynistic old boys club if her dream of becoming a pilot doesn’t come to fruition. Blaming others for your own failings and lack of hard work is a characteristic of the ‘Snowflake’ generation. Reality is even with all the dedicated effort in the world, you may not succeed just because you don’t measure up.

To quote Lt Worf, “If winning does not matter, than why do you keep score?”

August 30, 2017August 30, 2017

CANADIAN HISTORY STUDENT

Nova Scotia Highway 101 sign welcoming travellers to Clare

Acadians in Nova Scotia

The recent furor over historical Canadians such as John A. MacDonald, Edward Cornwallis or Frank Oliver and their place in modern day Canada has brought forward the fact that we are woefully ignorant of our own history. Other than the hazy recollection of a CBC Vignette, the vast majority of us know very little Canadian history. Hence when a vocal minority seizes control of the narrative surrounding a particular character, the majority doesn’t immediately dismiss the hyperbole as they have no knowledge of the subject.

Towards the end of shedding some light on a piece of Canadian and Nova Scotia history, the focus of this article will be on the Municipality of Clare and the vibrant present day Acadian culture. Until I had spent some time visiting the region, I had no idea of the rich Acadian culture thriving in the southwest corner of the province. The entire Le Grand Dérangement episode was never a part of my school history lessons and it seems after checking with my kids, it still is not a part of high school studies. I consider it a sin that our own history receives such short shrift.

Location of the Municipality of Clare on the southwest tip of Nova Scotia

The History of Clare (La Baie Sainte Marie)

Starting in 1755, the Acadians were flung hither and yon from their homes in the Grand-Pré region of Nova Scotia. After close to a decade, under a kinder British governor, many of the exiles were allowed to return to British territory in 1764. Their former lands had already been ceded to New England Planters, so a new area of the Nova Scotian peninsula needed to be found for them. Legend has it that a surveyor from the Irish county of Clare, carved out a large chunk of land for the returning Acadians. This became the Municipality of Clare located in the County of Digby.

Families named Comeau, Deveau, LeBlanc, Robicheau, Belliveau and Melanson were typically given land for a homestead and a 100 acre woodlot. Unlike the fertile lands of the reclaimed Grand Pré delta or the Annapolis valley, it was tough to grow crops on the rocky, wooded, boggy land. Most of the Acadians turned to logging and fishing to survive.

Today, the main industries include agriculture, lobster fishing, other fisheries, ship building, mink farming, logging and tourism. Although all the larger sawmills are gone from the region, numerous hobby sawmills are busy making lumber from the family woodlots. Red Spruce, Yellow Birch, Hemlock, White Pine, Sugar Maple, and American Beech are common Acadian forest trees. Burning wood for heat is very common. Sawing logs into planks, boards and beams for various building projects is the usual destination for the larger felled trees. A couple of niche markets is to make maple wood slats for lobster traps or Hackmatack ‘knees’ for wooden ships.

The Culture

The Acadians of Clare are fluently bilingual, had a rich Catholic religious background and have several unique foods and customs.

The Acadian Churches along the Evangeline Trail

The small Acadian communities of loggers and fisherman managed to erect several magnificent churches that run the length of the Clare portion of the Evangeline Trail.

Église Saint-Bernard Church, Saint-Bernard, Nova Scotia

Saint Bernard Church

This is the first large church you come across after taking the Church Point turn-off from the main 101 Highway. The granite for the structure was brought from Shelburne, NS and the first mass was held after a 32 year construction period in September 1942.

Église Sainte-Marie, Church Point, Nova Scotia

Église Sainte-Marie

After only two years of construction, 1500 volunteers finished building North America’s largest wooden church in 1905. Located next to it is the Acadian Université Sainte-Anne.

Paroisse Sacré-Coeur, Saulnierville, Nova Scotia

Paroisse Sacré-Coeur de Saulnierville

Further ‘down the line’, is another larger wooden church built and financed by the local inhabitants in 1880.

Saint-Alphonse-de-Ligouri Church, Mavillette, Nova Scotia

Église St. Alphonse-de-Liguori

Again, this 1921 church was another example of the local Acadian craftsmen and parishioners coming together to build a place of worship.

Acadian Food

Nova Scotia Acadians have many signature and staple dishes unique to their culture. Similar to the more esoteric dishes from other cultures, many of the traditional meals take some getting used to.

Rappie Pie

I wish I could say it was more appetizing than it looks but I will be charitable and say Rappie Pie is an acquired taste. The process of making the dish starts with finding an old fowl in the yard and boiling the meat to tenderize it. Meanwhile, you make ‘zombie’ potatoes (my characterization of the process) by mashing all of the liquid and starch out of them. They get re-energized by the chicken broth. Then in a large pan, you layer the chicken meat, some diced onions and the grey, goopy potato paste. Bake in the oven until there’s a crisp crust. It’s a time consuming dish to make especially the processing of the potatoes. This is why it is served for special occasions like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Check out the recipe here.

Acadian Stew or Fricot

This dish is similar to a meat and dumplings stew. Again, if chicken was the meat in the stew, they would use an older bird. The dish looks and tastes more palatable than the Rappie pie. Check out the recipe here.

Quahogs

Quahogs are large clams that can be found in the intertidal regions on Clare’s shoreline. Many places in the Maritimes and states such as Maine will cut them into strips for deep frying similar to other clams. The Acadians prefer to eat them stuffed as pictured above.

Dulse – An edible seaweed harvested and sold in Clare

Seafood

Due to the nature of being so close to the ocean, Acadians frequently ate lobster, oysters, red mussels, dulse (a type of seaweed), herring, and haddock. Seafood and fish chowder are common meals.

Cultural Events

Acadians in Clare hold festivals similar to other Acadians elsewhere in New Brunswick, PEI, Maine and Quebec. They also hold their own unique yearly events.

Tintamarre traffic driving up the ‘Line’ to Sainte-Anne University

The Tintamarre

This is a relatively new Acadian tradition that had its roots in New Brunswick when it was held in conjunction with important Acadian anniversaries. The traditional way of holding a Tintamarre was to start at one end of the village and make a lot of noise as you passed by the neighbors with everyone ending up at a central meeting place. In Clare, because of the long distances up and down the ‘Line’, people get in their vehicles and drive the highway from both ends of the municipality to end up at the Sainte-Anne University. It is held on Acadian Day, August 15, and in Clare is the culmination of a week-long Acadian Festival. Houses next to the road decorate their yards with flags and droves of people come out to wave at the honking line of traffic.

Metaghan, Nova Scotia Easter Canoe Trip, April 2-3, 2010 – Photo Courtesy of Lisa Sutt

The Spring Canoe Rallies

There is a strong connection between the inhabitants of Clare and canoeing. Several Canoe rallies take place in the spring. One traditional rally that had its start in the 70’s uses the Salmon River/Lake Doucette drainage area for participants to make their way right down to the ocean. The two day event is held every Easter long weekend and attracts scores of canoes. It also attracts numerous spectators and well-wishers who follow the boaters on their ‘four wheelers’. Certain popular haul-outs are good vantage points to watch the participants shoot some rapids and occasionally tip over in the frigid spring runoff. Check out YouTube video highlights of the 2010 Meteghan Easter Canoe trip courtesy of Lisa Sutt through this link.

Grou Tyme – ‘A Great Time’ for all Acadians to come together for music and dance

Acadian Music

The Acadians of Clare enjoy their music. Years ago, community centers held weekend dances for the locals to party. Numerous small home-grown bands entertained their neighbors. In recent years, several popular bands such as Radio Radio, Grand Dérangement, and Blou got their start in the area. Unfortunately, outside of the region, only Quebec fans may be familiar with their music as most of their songs are in French.

Canadians need to discover the fact that Nova Scotia is not just Halifax, Peggy’s Cove and lobster. Clare is a Canadian historical gem whose heart is a short three hour drive from Halifax. Next time you visit the Maritimes, it would be worth the time to visit.

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

July 21, 2017July 24, 2017

SOCIAL COMMENTATOR

Governor Edward Cornwallis, the founder of Halifax, Nova Scotia

No Balance

When Canada’s social experimenter, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, repatriated the Constitution of Canada on April 17, 1982, he famously made the remark, ‘For if individuals and minorities do not feel protected against the possibility of the tyranny of the majority, if French-speaking Canadians or native peoples or new Canadians do not feel they will be treated with justice, it is useless to ask them to open their hearts and minds to their fellow Canadians.’ It was a laudable goal to ensure that Canadian minorities felt protected but there were rumblings at the time that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the first part of the Constitution would cause unnecessary strife to Canada. In fact, Canada almost blew apart because of a Manitoba MLA, Elijah Harper’s opposition to PM Mulroney’s Meech Lake Accord. As a minority of one, the Oji-Cree politician opposed the Accord due to First Nations issues. His obstinate rejection ultimately led to the 1995 Québec Referendum which narrowly was won by the pro-Canada side. The tables have turned and present day Canada has been gripped by the tyranny of the vocal minority.

On July 10, 2017, a local Halifax Mi’kmaq activist threatened in a Facebook post that her group was ‘REMOVING CORNWALLIS’ the next Saturday at 12 pm. Uttering threats to destroy property is an offense according to the Criminal Code of Canada Section 264.1(1)(b) punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment. The group repeated their threat right up until the morning of the event. The authorities, led by Halifax’s mayor, Mike Savage, had no intention to uphold Canadian law prior to or on that day but instead caved to the strident minority and draped the beleaguered statue of the city’s founder in a tarp. The few police officers present appeared to be there in case of a counter-protest. Regardless of ample evidence that Governor Edward Cornwallis was not a Hitler-like tyrant bent on Native genocide, the statue’s days are numbered and it will probably be quietly removed in the dead of night similar to Confederate statues in the US Southern states. The press has been complicit in pushing the narrative because except for one excellent counter-balance article on the full history, all they focus on is the Governor’s 1749 bounty on the Mi’kmaq. Zero mention is made of the war that was being waged or of the atrocities committed by both sides. A person has to dig deep to learn of the rescinding of the decree in 1752 in an attempt to make peace. Revisionist zealots flaunt the law at will and the silent majority are being fed one-sided stories to keep them quiet.

There are a few rare individuals and groups who dare point out the hypocrisy and lawlessness of minority special interest groups. They are quickly condemned as neo-Nazi, alt-right, misogynistic, hate groups by the press and minorities in question. A group that publicly identified the threat uttering members of the July 15 event was taken to task by the press for ‘doxing’. The activist group’s transgressions were swept aside but the angle to charge this alt right group with a criminal act was fervently pursued. It was the same for members of the Proud Boys group that peacefully confronted a prior Cornwallis protest. The men were pilloried nation-wide and have probably irreparably harmed their military careers. Taking a recent example from Quebec, the rejection of a Muslim only cemetery was condemned as a racist, far right act that disappointed PM Justin Trudeau. Instead of raising the question about religious discrimination over the fact that it was going to be a Muslim only cemetery, the top politician of the land went straight to siding with the minority who will be claiming their human rights have been infringed. The message is loud and clear to the majority. If you oppose the edicts of the politically correct monoliths of the power elite and mainstream press, you will be set upon. As the vast majority of the majority just wants to go about their lives, nary a brave soul will pop their head above the wall for fear of having it lopped off in a frenzy of social media powered righteous justice.

It is only occasionally, that the majority rises up in indignation over particularly egregious decisions of our political masters and their minions. It was telling when a poll saying 71% of Canadians opposed the Amar Khadr $10.5M payout. The elites and the press came out telling us to put up with the decision. Trudeau cited Charter issues as the justification and a sudden fervor to reign in government spending. But like in a hotly contested hockey game, savvy, regular folk cried foul because they know cherry-picking when they see it.

Hypocrisy is hypocrisy and people notice. Anti-establishment splinter groups dictating who can participate in LGBT(assorted letters and numbers) parades are giving black eyes to a movement that was accepted by the mainstream for promoting inclusivity. Collectively, the rest of us are going, ‘Hold on there, we’re supposed to bend to your will but it doesn’t go the other way?!?’

Another hotspot that strikes a common chord with the masses is the occasional spat over vanity license plates. If only one person finds your plate to be offensive for whatever reason, the authorities will revoke it. ASIMIL8, GRABHER, and this list of ICBC rejected plates are all verboten for various arbitrary reasons. The rejections are all done anonymously by some triggered individual or by some faceless bureaucrat. The plaintiff faces long court battles against the politically correct State who feels free to trample on their rights of free expression on the off chance that some minority group or individual may feel offended.

This full on censorship of sensitive subjects that may ‘trigger’ minorities has been aided and abetted by our national broadcaster, the CBC. They are acting as a proxy propaganda arm for these minority groups as they have put a lock down on any sort of conversation regarding certain ‘subjects’. There is zero commenting allowed regarding the Native, LGBT, or Muslim communities. Granted, there is enough hate speech directed towards these subjects and the moderators would have their hands full deleting inappropriate opinions. But pretty much every Trump story is opened for comments which are dripping with vitriol. Supposedly, an old, rich, American white guy and his ‘privileged’ supporters are fair game for hate speech. I do not believe in free speech that masquerades as a method of cyber attacking but when you shut down all conversation, it kills any sort of dialogue designed to move an issue forward.

Maybe I should put in my own complaint for my Charter Rights of free expression being suppressed. I regularly make comments on the CBC forum boards and fairly often my content is ‘disabled’. The moderators can block it or after someone has flagged my comment, it can be blocked and deleted. For example, this particular comment was disabled four times as some individual decided to keep flagging it: ‘Trudeau is addicted to playing the Showboater Extraordinaire. All politicians enjoy the limelight and attention, it is part of the process of relentless self-promotion. But he’s all pot smoke and fancy socks with little substance. He’s been jetting around being seen by the ‘right’ crowd and making sure to march in all the politically correct parades. His office was able to shoehorn in a brief trip to the Stampede when literally a few hours away in BC there are 40,000 evacuees in a province in crisis. You can debate the value of the PM visiting a disaster scene but he was quick with the selfies while filling a sandbag in Quebec and ran up to a Northern area to discuss the emergency issues up there. But he hasn’t said word one about the BC Wildfires. I guess he’s more comfortable with special interest, in vogue causes instead of the plebian mainstream issues that affect the bulk of Canadians.’ The Ministry of Truth is making sure that only their dialogue and message makes it out to the masses.

Similar to the grassroots phenomenon that brought Trump to power in the States, I predict that Canada’s masses will eventually rise against the elite politicians, mainstream censoring press and vocal minorities who seek to push their narrow minded, special agendas. Eventually, the nail which is the tyranny of the minority will hurt the old dog enough that he/she/it/some gender neutral pronoun will get up and shake out some common sense where the needs of the few do not outweigh the needs of the many.

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

July 8, 2017July 8, 2017

FANBOY

Men to Aspire To

I was fortunate this week to meet three men whom I would confer celebrity status to. What is depressing is in all likelihood very few Canadians would be unable to identify them and what they are known for. How about you, could you name the Leader of the Official Opposition, the CDS and the former senator best known for his work to rid the world of child soldiers?

I drove an hour to meet Andrew Scheer at a Conservative BBQ out in Brookfield, NS last Monday. He was in my top three for my balloting choices for the new leader and I wanted to see what kind of man he was in person. Well, he’s a tall fellow. For some reason that doesn’t come across when you see him on TV during House of Commons question periods. He’s definitely a family man who has a passel of kids, five, all about 12 and younger. I had a chance to say hello to his wife and had a few words with the older son, who I found to be quite intelligent and able to hold a conversation. Mr. Scheer did the obligatory speech for the crowd but kept it short and light. When I shook his hand, I had to rib him about his Roughriders losing to my Bombers during the inaugural game at the new Regina stadium. All in all, he seems like a decent prairie boy and I am happy he is the new Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Through my Royal United Services Institute of NS connections, I was able to attend the Chief of Defence Staff’s unplugged talk about the new Canada Defence Policy. General Jonathan Vance has an impressive pedigree starting from joining back in the 80’s, to commanding troops in Afghanistan, to making it as the top soldier in the Canadian Armed Forces. He is not a tall man but neither were his army predecessors Gen Rick Hillier or Gen Walt Natynczyk. I have met a few CDS’s over the years, the first one at CFB Summerside, PEI. I got to carry Gen John de Chastelain’s briefcase for a short period of time while he was visiting the air base. Gen Hillier was attending an Officer’s Mess function at 19 Wing Comox in support of a Boomer’s Legacy event. He definitely held rock star status. As for Gen Natynczkk, I was the OPI for a large mess function in his honour. He had been up for a flight with the Snowbirds and was a little green around the gills from the experience. It is always good to hear from these movers and shakers of the military as their vision by definition shapes the future of the military. Gen Vance is a consummate public speaker and was firm in his belief that contrary to the skeptics, the Defence Policy will hold the CAF in good stead for the next twenty years. I also liked the fact that he had little patience for a retired Major who was spouting nonsense over the recent ‘Proud Boys’ incident. I liked what I heard from the CDS and I feel the CAF is in good hands.

The last man that I was honoured to meet in person for the third time in my life, was LGen (Ret’d) Roméo Dallaire. It was close to a decade ago when I first met him giving a talk about Rwanda and child soldiers at the Syd Williams Theatre in Courtenay, BC. He took the time to greet as many people as he could to sign copies of his ‘Shake Hands with the Devil’ or to listen to your comments. It was obvious to me that he had the ghosts of a million Rwandans on his conscience. I met him again when he and a group of fellow senators came through Venture, the RCN training school in Esquimalt, BC for MARS officers, for a tour. Now, a few years later, I jumped at the chance to meet him again as he was giving a talk about his Dalhousie University program, Veteran Trainers for the Eradication of Child Soldiers (VTECS). Again, it must be a thing with army officers, he is not a large or tall man. Simultaneously, he comes across as frail and tough as nails. You can tell that he memorized his talking points long ago and they come off his tongue as old, familiar friends. He is also a man who doesn’t brook any guff and adroitly told a questioning twerp to ‘F’ himself after accusing him of war crimes. It has become popular for the supporters of the Rwandan perpetrators of the genocide to twist the massacre to shift blame to the retired general. This conspiracy theory has been thoroughly debunked along with the blame that the general was responsible for the deaths of ten Belgian peacekeepers at the start of the genocide. It is disheartening that along with the ravages of his PTSD, the man must put up with these unfounded accusations. As for his PTSD, according to his last book, ‘Waiting for First Light’, it seems as if death may be his only final release. I was quite impressed with the book and felt it was the best of his three works to date. I made a point to handwrite a thank you note and was able to deliver it to him at the end of the presentation. There was recognition in his face when we shook hands, even though our past meetings were very brief. I would have to say that he is a hero of mine and it has been a pleasure to make his acquaintance.

I have been a student of leaders of men for many decades. Hence, I have no interest in the show boaters or narcissistic selfie takers. It is a good week when you can meet powerful men in person to see what they are made of.

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

June 25, 2017

MUSHROOM PICKER

Mystery Mushrooms

Growing up on a Manitoba farm, we were always gathering wild fruits, berries and wildlife to supplement our food supply. I doubt there are many people who have netted suckers in a ditch for canning or preserved the considerable amounts of wild berries that my mother did. As an avid outdoorsman, I constantly graze as I move, sampling what nature has to offer. The breasts of a prairie chicken taste particularly good cooked over a wood fire, meat from a squirrel less so. Later in life, I had the chance to discover the various tastes from the oceans and had some formal training from Air Force survival training. Outdoor tip: if you are bored with lots of time on your hands, rock lichen can be dried into ‘chips’ to fill a rumbly empty stomach.

When I first moved to BC, I became interested in mushrooms. Sure, everyone immediately thinks of the ‘magic’ variety but I didn’t know anyone with a horse paddock. Horse manure helps with the psychoactive ingredient for these ‘little brown’ shrooms. Instead, as I hiked through the mountain trails, I was curious about the dozens of varieties I came across and if they were edible. I recommend picking up ‘The Field Guide to Mushrooms’ by Marie F. Heerkens as a starter book for those interested in fungi.

As most people are aware, you have to be careful with mushrooms and it is helpful to be 100% sure of what you are eating. I am going to talk of the Amanita muscaria v. formosa which is a close cousin of a look-alike mushroom called the Poison Amanita or Death Cap. Descriptors of the Amanita family include destroying angel, deadly, poison, possibly poisonous, edible but eat not, unknown edibility, etc. I think you get the picture. You indulge in wild mushrooms at your own risk.

But I am an adventurer when it comes to tasting new foodstuffs, so when these amazing orange mushrooms kept popping up in my front yard, I was curious of their edibility. To start with, I got out my field guide and was quite sure it was the Amanita variety known as Fly Amanita, Fly Agaric or Fly Poison. There seemed to be a theme with the names and indeed, flies seemed attracted to the little stand and were dying. Google is also your friend and I found helpful advice and research on How to Safely Eat Amanita Mushrooms.

Step One

Find some newly sprouted buttons and take a sharp knife to the stem. Give the mushroom a little shake to seed the ground with spores. Normally, you don’t want to yank out the entire mushroom so they will come back another season. But, big caveat here, the large bulb of the Death Cap just under the surface helps to give it away.

A nice stand of Fly Poison mushrooms in the button stage

Step Two

Wash the mushrooms off to rid them of dirt and the white spots on the caps. Then slice them into at least quarters or eighths.

Anything that is such a pretty orange is good to eat, right?

Step Three

Boil the orange out of them. The water soluble poison in the mushroom is called muscarin and can be boiled or steeped out of the flesh. The process turns the water a dark yellow pee colour. If you feel like vomiting, passing out or having a total body high, then eat a couple of these raw.

15 minutes of hard boiling rids them of their colour and hopefully the muscarin poison

Step Four

Fry them up in a little bit of butter and enjoy! Like all new foods, especially mushrooms, eat a little bit and wait. Survival books preach a period of 24 hours between small amounts. Take it easy and see how your body reacts. I nibbled on a purple mushroom out in BC that had obviously been nibbled on by the little woodland creatures. When my mouth instantly went numb, I felt it wise to spit it out!

Mmmmm, all food tastes better after it has been fried up with butter!

Step Five

Evaluate the taste and whether all the bother is worth eating more. I tried one mushroom first to see if there were any bad side effects and as there were none, I tried a larger batch a few days later. I did notice a slight numbing of my tongue after about 15 minutes and a bit of an upset stomach after about an hour. I did sleep it off partly because I wanted a nap and I think I had some overall body tingles. The mushrooms tasted okay but nothing to really write home about.

Moral of the story: be curious but careful especially when it comes to mushrooms. I probably won’t bother eating them again but I am going to see if they can help rid my garden of the bugs eating my cucumbers.

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

May 27, 2017June 25, 2017

WORM WHISPERER

Tales from An Urban Worm Herder

With the Navy behind me and extra time ahead of me for the pursuit of other interests, I have turned my hand to the exciting profession of Worm Whispering. The Canadian Maritimes are experiencing their usual cool, wet spring which has generated perfect conditions for numerous wiggly Lumbricus terrestris (the common earthworm) to squirm their way across my nearby parking lots and pathways.

So, why take up whispering for earthworms? Some serious worm experts at the University of Illinois have put some heavyweight study into the little animals and you can read all about Squirmin’ Herman and his amazing benefits at the following link:

The Adventures of Herman

One of the interesting facts that I learned when I started this new profession was that worms are not coming to the surface because of the rain drowning them out of their burrows. Rather, after a good soaking, it signals to the animal that this would be a good time to start a worm pilgrimage to see if in fact the dirt is dirtier on the other side.

They are ambitious, determined creatures. Straight line distance across my parking lot is about 100 feet making it quite the trek if you were wiggling along on your belly. As you can see in this video, this worm was moving at a blistering speed of 8 inches per minute or .0076 MPH. Cutting straight across the lot, a determined worm could make it in 2.5 hours. Impressive!

Okay, now that you aspiring worm herders are jacked on the benefits of worms, let us get to know the relevant parts and characteristics of your typical wiggler. The diagram above shows the main parts of your common earthworm or night crawler. They are weird, little beasts who are both male and female, hermaphrodites, so when two worms get together to ‘do it’, they double their pleasure. Mmmmm, pornographic worm sex! Yeah, probably not a big seller. Anyways, stuff goes in the mouth end and worm poop gold comes out the back end. Also, note the Clitelum (yes, a little dirty sounding and is related to more worm sex). Also known as the Saddle, this is an important landmark for when I explain the best method of gathering a healthy starter crop of worms. Lastly, the entire worm is covered in goo that enables it to inch along the pavement or through the dirt and keeps it from drying out.

Okay, enough prepping, let’s get hunting! The best time and place to find your future herd is to go to the nearest parking lot at the tail end of a solid rain event. You have to be quick or cars and birds will take their toll first. When I was neophyte to the profession, I would just pick up a worm with my fingers. As you can see in this video, as soon as they are touched they employ their defensive mechanisms. The slippery goo makes them hard to pick up, your fingers get icky and you’re stressing out the worm.

Here’s my patented method for successful, efficient worm harvesting and re-settling:

1) Find a butter knife and a worm receptacle. Early into my new career, I determined that I needed something to carry the worms in besides my hands. There were a lot of them plus I’m pretty sure those horny worms were having sex as I carried them back to my garden plot. You can use a plain cup but I went upscale with Tina’s $12 Pampered Chef Tupperware measuring cup.

2) Find an unsuspecting worm and as demonstrated in this instructional video, slide the knife under the worm just aft of the Clitellum or Saddle, smoothly lift the specimen and plop it into your waiting worm carrier. You will soon figure out where the balance point is and if you worm whisper correctly, the worm will be limp and docile. The novice worm whisperer will startle their prey and they will rapidly contract and try to squirm away. It gets a little trickier to balance them on the knife but persevere to get the hang of it. If the worm has its head near some dirt, you have to be especially swift of hand before it deploys its setae. These are hair-like bristles so strong that you might pull the worm in two. Since worms can regrow the back half of their bodies, this is a defensive mechanism where a bird can get a meal and the worm can live another day.

A successful hunt! (Strangely, Tina doesn’t want her measuring cup back.)

3) Remember to pace yourself. I have a recurring worm herding injury from so many deep knee bends.

4) Gather worm movement intelligence from the neighbors and your significant others. Remember to reassure them you’re not some creepy person stalking their parking lots or some unemployed fisherman hunting for bait. When they understand your role as a worm protector and saviour, they are more likely to just view you as a harmless kook.

5) Just like playoff hockey, worm whisper with your head up! Some of the best specimens are right in the middle of the road and you don’t want to end up squished like a worm. Speaking of squished worms, you can pick up the dead ones too as their bodies are good worm food and fertilizer for the garden.

Find an open, turned up section of your garden for your worm wriggle’s new home.

6) Once you’ve got a decent bunch or wriggle of worms, head back to your dirt pile. Keep an eye on them as they will squirm right out of their carrier. Find an open spot that has been turned up and loosely cover them in dirt. From there, let your worms do what worms do, ie. have worm sex, eat and poop.

Loosely cover to hide the worm hanky-panky, then enjoy your new worm farm.

Hopefully I have inspired more people to take up the profession or as I see it, the calling, of Worm Whispering. During the harvest you get lots of exercise and if you time it right, you can take a free shower in the rain. Later after a successful day of herding, you can relax by the garden and listen to your worms happily hump. Your summer garden and inner soul will thank you.

Happy hunting fellow Worm Whisperers!

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger (and Worm Whisperer) to the list.