The Equal Right to be Counted finally had its day in the Federal Court.

Our challenge  focuses on the Mandatory Short Form, the only mandatory tool that lands on every Canadian door step left in Stats Can's basket of tools. And the only "true" Census enshrined in our Constitution, not a survey, not voluntary and sadly not representative.

With all of the changes and meddling into the 2011 Census, the Government cancelled or changed well over 10 Stats Can surveys. The cancellation of the Mandatory Long Form was of course the lightening rod that set off wide spread push back and disbelief from almost every segment of Canadian society that something so fundamental to all of us, would be compromised by our Government and in sad fact, by design. Why doesn't the government want the best information to make the best decisions about how to meet the needs of Canadians? Particularly now that every level of government in the country is faced with significant deficits, if you have to ration tax dollars, wouldn't you want the best information available to guide you decisions? Apparently not.

So yes despite the loss of the Long Form and how misguided it was, our challenge focuses on the Mandatory Short Form, where once again, by design, the Government excluded key groups of Canadians by not asking questions about Ethnicity, Country of Origin, Disability or Aboriginal Heritage. Let's face it, these are already marginalized groups of Canadians, leaving them out of the census sends a message, we don't care, we don't want to know how you experience Canadian life, we don't want to respond to your needs...you just don't count. Unacceptable. As our Legal Counsel Paul Champ, said in his closing remarks, this is the least inclusive census in the history of Canada. Think about that.

During the Hearing the Government, suggested that including Disability, Ethnicity and Aboriginal Heritage was not necessary, they contend that the National Household Survey does the trick, because it asks some of the questions, so what's the big deal?  For starters, its a survey that goes to 1 in 3 Canadian households, that is voluntary, it is not a census, that's the big deal. If you're going to ask about certain attributes, or characteristics such as martial status, sex and age, you should ask about other attributes, you can't cherry pick. Consider what was left out of the Short Form and consider what it is used for....these are the groups that require tailored services and supports, they have unique needs, they enrich our country in so many ways...they ensure that we are not homogeneous. Leaving them out paints a very dull portrait of our country, white, middle class, upwardly mobile, educated. And perhaps that's the point, if we leave out these groups you don't need to design programs and services to meet their needs, less $$ to transfer to other levels of Government.  Huge implications.

So now we wait for a decision.  In his questioning,  Justice Mandamin clearly got the essence of our argument, and the argument is clear, simple, you can not design a tool that is so fundamental and exclude groups of Canadians, it is irresponsible and will have serious implications that will further marginalize groups of Canadians who often have to fight for their place in Canadian society.  We want recognition of the importance of the Census, we want the Government to ensure its integrity, its use and its need to be representative, we do not want a repeat of 2011. Let the experts design the questions and the methodology and let Canada in all is diversity, splendour, prosperity and struggle be represented in our next census portrait.

(Ottawa Citizen article available here)

Some have said that Occupy isn't about anything. That convenient and short-sided response is missing what has led to this unprecedented movement. Occupy is about all of us, its about the fact that we have become a have - have not society, this is the new global pandemic, and our governments are not ramping up their rapid crisis response systems.   This is about the reality that prosperity and opportunity will soon be out of reach for our eroding middle class.

This is about people, people and their economic structures that are not meeting their needs; people and their governments who do not understand their needs; and people bumping into systems that are not designed to meet their needs. This is about fear, real fear that shortsighted policies are reaping havoc with our future.

Whether it’s ignoring the 15-degree temperatures in Ottawa in November, yes Ottawa.... that is signaling climate change has found a comfortable place to nestle in thanks to Canada’s non-response response and fear of anything green. Fear that with rising health care costs and pressure on an eroding social infrastructure, there will be little left for future generations. It’s about feeling unheard, and frustration that the fabric of our social infrastructure is crumbling beneath us and much of what we grew up believing about our country is today more aspirational than real.

And it’s about the fear of being left behind.... It is inconceivable that a country as well endowed as Canada, a country that prides itself in protecting and empowering the most vulnerable in our society, a country that was once heralded a moral compass in the international community is quickly becoming a country of myths. Universal Health Care, the Social Quilt, Peace Keeping, Our Aboriginal Heritage, the Cultural Mosaic were all once pillars of Canadian Just Society. Uniquely Canadian, once sources of great pride and today, no longer reflect who we are.

Have we decided that it is okay for children in Canada to go to school without breakfast, to hide during lunch so that no one will see they have nothing to eat? To go home at the end of the day uncertain as to whether there will be a meal for them?

That after years of raising their families, working and contributing to their communities their country that it is okay for seniors to go without. To make choices between paying rent, heating bills or groceries, where is the dignity in that?

That our shared Aboriginal heritage is not something to celebrate? That for so many, their rich heritage has become is a life sentence to live in catastrophic poverty, conditions that rival developing countries? That isolation, discrimination and hunger are simply regarded as a fault and not a symptom of discrimination?

That after fleeing persecution, war, torture and coming to Canada that going hungry and living on the social fringe is just part of settling into Canadian Society?

The Occupiers have not.

Clearly, it is time for a rethink…. A renewal of our social contract, time once again for a big national conversation about who we are today, where we want to go and how we will get there. That is what Occupy is about. So when draconian measures force the tents down, the spirit of Occupy will continue, it’s a movement, the tents are simply a symbol.

Sure, you can dismiss it, ignore the signs, pretend we are that Canada, the moral compass, but the reality of what is happening will strike you, whether it's today, next week or ten years from now, a country fundamentally changed. Get involved… join a movement, occupy, volunteer, sign a petition; anything is better than standing on the side of the road.

Well it happened, it was only a matter of time, 6 dead, a US Congress woman, considered a rising star in the Democratic Party along with 14 others, gravely injured. Angry rhetoric being cited as what may have influenced a troubled young man to take innocent lives.

Angry rhetoric --- the same angry rhetoric that is sweeping across the globe used as a political tool, the same angry rhetoric that has taken over Canada's political discourse,  the same angry rhetoric that is turning off generations of voters and creating a chasm between the political class and the rest of the population. Civility in politics has quickly become an oxymoron.  

This is the same stuff that if you care to watch, has become the tool of choice in our House of Commons. Insults, heckling, dramatic posturing, testosterone politics; the stuff we learned was inappropriate in elementary school, used commonly in the House to shut down any thoughtful dialogue.  Acting lessons are now part of the political procedure 101.  Question Period is no longer about answering questions, it's about who lobbed the best salvo.

It's become so personal, so ugly, politics these days ---- it used to be respectful, honourable: they have ideas, we have ideas, we have policies and they have policies, we differ and respectfully debate. We have allowed our democratic institutions to erode to the lowest common denominator, we tune it out and carry on with our frenetic lives convincing ourselves it doesn't matter, when the fact is, it's never mattered more.

We have to recognize that anger is fear's mask, mediocrity in leadership breeds fear. Fear of losing power drives so much of the rhetoric we hear today. It's used as tool to create the us and the them. Used as a tool to build allegiances, and spark interest in what could easily seem banal.  So you rant, complain, and the magic in that you realize, you don't even need to put forward solutions. Solutions and policy are too convoluted for our sound bite culture. Plus, you have to fight for air time these days, fighting for attention on a pretty crowed stage. So again, the angry rant is a perfect tool, dramatic, inappropriate and the theatrics will most certainly get you a clip on the insatiable 24 hour news circuit. It's nothing personal,  it's just how the game is played.

Just how the game is played, until a troubled young man takes your words and translates them into an unspeakable act, the mediocre leaders will undoubtedly come out quickly with condolences, condemning violence, pretending that this had nothing to do with them. And then by then next 24 hour news cycle what's that we hear?  You bet, the same angry rhetoric, re-emerging by the same mediocre leaders, in the end that's all they know. It's time, Canada, let's demand more. 

Chair of the Council of the Federation and Premier of Manitoba, Premier Greg Selinger accepts the Winnipeg Statement on Poverty Eradication from CCSD Board Chair, Wayne Helgason.