Making a stand by Red Collar.
Making a stand by Red Collar.
Here are my thoughts about Abortion, Taxation, Religion, Gun Control, Censorship/freedom of speech, War, Health, Immigration, Education, Stem Cell Research, the Death Penalty, Assisted Suicide, the Environment and the United Nations (UN)…
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These are my opinions based on what seems to be best for society and also protect the citizens’ rights.
Abortion: Bottom line: Both parents are responsable. If they don’t want a child, they have many, MANY alternatives to NOT get pregnant. So use a condom, Intrauterine Devices (IUDs) the pill or even abstinance to prevent conception. Unless you’re nothing but an animal, you can understand this first part. If you chose to give birth to that child, you have to care for him/her, but some would shy away from that. Well I advocate adoption rather than abortion. Adoption is a bit taboo in Quebec, but it is an option. If you chose abortion in the end, know that (a) it’s not a game, that (b)you will remember that event the rest of your life and that (c) you did end a life. Getting pregnant is an adult situation, so act accordingly. That being said, I happen to agree with Henry Morgentaler who has to issues at heart: Mistreatment of unwanted children and also preventing botched abortions attempted by amateurs. Abortions should forever be legal and made available by qualified specialists. I think God should agree with suicide prevention and child abuse prevention.
Taxation: Perfect taxation is like the perfect army: it doesn’t exist. We want the Nanny State to take care of everything but we hate to pay more. Well frankly, after learning more on Ronald Reagan and Rudolph Giuliani, I’ve come to consider SMALL GOVERNMENT and BOOSTING THE ECONOMY as the cause and effect of low taxes. I don’t want to pay for services I’ll never use. If you cut government spending then you don’t need to take in as much money. The cause of lower taxes is that you can now afford to pay for the services you want and you don’t pay for services you’ll never use. Some spending should absolutely be trimmed: Welfare. Some should have a powerful oversight by an independant Auditor General: health care.
Religion: I don’t believe in god. On the other hand, I know that some people need organised religion. Fine by me. An organised religion is a social event. A baptism ceremony or a wedding in church, it’s a social event that is part of our history. The Catholic influence on Canadian values and our political values are something to celebrate, not something that hinders us. Religion does not intrude in my life, it doesn’t tax me. Some folks need to go to church, and good for them! People are free to believe in organised religions or not. But a secular government is just that: Secular.
Gun Control: Absolutely, we have to manage the illigal gun problem. We have to manage illegal guns entering the country. We should watch CANADA POST, our border, our costal waters and the airports. We should be putting more pressure on organised crime and street gangs. It’s a lot of work. But for god’s sake, quit pissing off the legal gun owners who have permits. They pay taxes, they obey the law.
Censorship/freedom of speech: That’s a tough question because I don’t think freedom of speech is without limits. It carries consequences. In Canada, hate literature isn’t allowed. But when hate literature takes the form of a religious text, then that becomes a problem. We want all minority groups to be safe and protected from persecution, but USING GOD AND HIS HOLY TEXT should never be an excuse to be hateful, racist or sexist. Striving for freedom should be supported but NOT WHEN YOU APPLY TERROR TACTICS TO REACH YOUR GOALS. I wish family values were more upfront in our medias, but I can’t do much about it. The promotion of marijuana use should not be encouraged by public money, since it goes against our laws and against what is best for society. Anything related to jihad or the application of Sharia Law in our politics instead of the Canadian Charter of Rights should be stopped dead in it’s tracks. The fine line is where free speech meets with death and destruction, when law enforcement comes into play. As a society, we have core values that are valuable. Citizens should have their free speech limited when they strive for the destruction of our society.
War: For better or for worse, might is right. You don’t believe me? What if Communist Russia had destroyed the USA during the Cold War or had the Nazis won WWII? Either way, right or wrong, we’d still be speaking russian. I’m glad that might is right. God bless those who fight and risk life and limb to defend what we hold sacred: Our freedom from oppression. We are free. So thank you all.
Health: A powerful Auditor General should be in place, just like the Conservatives say on their web site. What we have now is ridiculous. Also, ex-New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani once mentioned fingerprints of welfare beneficiaries which prevented beneficiaries from claiming money more than once. Our Assurance Maladie here in Quebec could easily prevent fraudulent claims this way. Health care is the most expensive issue paid by our tax money. There’s also the shortage of family doctors. The Parti Quebecois made cuts to our health system as a necessary economical measure, and we’re still feeling the effects. We have lost the capacity to serve the Quebec population adequately.
Immigration: Discrimination is a good thing: Racism is not. Here’s what I mean. We should discriminate against people who flee terrorist nations. Period. Offering amnesty to the world is very different from calling on foreigners who bring qualifications with them. Taking in the sick and the weak is a righteous attitude but it is based on our Catholic upbringing. Let’s consider that. And like free speech, it has it’s limits. One thing is certain, Quebecers don’t make enough babies, so we have a real need for immigration. Having our immigrants learn french does not mean they integrate into our multicultural society. Indeed, since multiculturalism means tolerance, we have become a nation that tolerates even the intolerant. We have lost the hability to discriminate. We are unable to weed out the undesirables. Public opinion is swayed by anyone who claims falsely to be a victim. We should have the capacity and the will to SEND BACK those who do not obey the law. No exceptions. The Welfare States of the world are failing. We will follow suit if we don’t change.
Education: Union workers are not the best workers. If employees with the most seniority decide what will be taught in the curriculum, then I don’t agree with that. We should have ONE government commitee that oversees the bounderies of what is being taught, take that decision out of teachers’ hands. A union worker does not have the right to decide what the next generation of students will be learning. And they can’t change it year after year according to their needs. The students and the Canadian education they should be getting is key here.
Stem Cell Research: There are alternatives today, no embryos have to be destroyed.
Death Penalty: Absolutely. Reduce court costs in those cases, impose a strict maximum amount of time for a decision to be given and a limited amount of appeals for the accused, that’s my suggestion. The accused who would be facing the death penalty could appeal to the Superior Court in a case where guilt is not debatable (thus, provincial juridiction, each province decides of having the death penalty or not). The accused would face life in prison at best if the case is thrown out, otherwise it’s the death penalty. 24 months would be the maximum time he gets to get out of his death penalty. Let’s not forget that anyone who would be accused of the death penalty would not be there by accident, but they would have some opportunities to offer extenuating circumstances (after all, justice must prevail at all costs).
Assisted suicide: I agree with Jack Kevorkian’s position in the sense that a person who has lost the quality of life and who is dependant on our health services should have the right to chose their own fate. I believe that in our society, we should have the right to not suffer physical or psychological pain. Being carefully followed by a physician, the patient should be directed towards a psychologist or a psychiatrist if it’s not deemed necessary for some final assistance.
Environment: We have to push the environment in the right direction. Stop collecting paper and cardboard that require treatment to clean up. If we pollute to recycle paper, why do it? If recycling is financially viable, who knows if our efforts are really going towards saving the planet? Why all this attention on CO2 and NO ATTENTION on dangerous pollutants? I am opposed to Al Gore and David Suzuki who lie their way to the bank. They are clearly not trying to save the planet. The taxpayer’s money should not go to their projects, our schools should not be using their data to educate our children (UK courts have ruled to ban Al Gore’s movie from schools ). Start composting and stop buying newspapers. If plastic and glass are easily recycled, then go for it. If products we buy are not recyclable (like cell phones and computers) then lets push research to make them as recyclable as possible. Also, if the province of Quebec has a good environment record because of our hydro-electric dams, we shouldn’t be blaming Alberta for having oil. If we were coherent in our decisions, we would have pushed for the electric car to maximise the resource we have: ELECTRICITY. One last thing: STOP THE KYOTO ACCORD. The data is questionable, the conclusions are biased and the culprits won’t pay. Russia, China and the Europeen Union all blame the United States of America, but they too have a part to play -and to pay. Kyoto also prevents the african continent from develloping towards industrialisation, which makes the KYOTO ACCORD A RACIST ACCORD.
United Nations (UN): All my thoughts are summed up here: link.
Latest update: April 2008
