Is There a Canadian Equivalent to the EFF? 49
javacowboy asks: "I'm a Canadian citizen who recently emailed the Electronic Frontier Foundation to ask about the tax-deductibility of donations to that organization. They replied telling me that they have no presence in Canada and that they can't issue a Canadian tax receipt. What I would like to know is if there is a similar organization in Canada, working towards the same goals, that I can donate to as well as writing off the donations on my tax form."
Re:The EFF Isn't (Score:1, Informative)
Re:The EFF Isn't (Score:1, Interesting)
Any foreign (non-Canadian) organisation such as EFF would be required to register in Canada as a non-profit organisation to be able to issue Canadian charitable donations receipts. This would require EFF to meet several guidlines to fulfill the (ass-backwards) Canadian requirements of a foreign controlled not-for-profit company.
Lordhern
Same question goes for Germany (Score:1)
So I concluded that they don't want my money.
But I'd like to extend that question above: Is there an organization in Germany (or Europe) similar to EFF?
- Stephan.
Re:Same question goes for Germany (Score:1)
Stephan,
I would recommend the Chaos Computer Club as a potential recipient for a "Spendchen". They are at http://www.ccc.de/ [www.ccc.de]. Since it is a registered membership organization (e.V.), you can write a donation off on your taxes. You can also subscribe to their magazine ``Datenschleuder''.
Mach's gut!
Do we need one? (Score:3, Interesting)
Does Canada need this sort of thing? Any censorship done by our government is done to keep peace with American companies (RIAA) and the American government. In order to maintain our trade with the US, we have to pretend to like their priorities.
If you really want to help, you have a few options.
You could start a group petitioning the Canadian government to stop following US policy. Canadian governmental policy regarding the internet is excellent, there's just a few little glitches now and then. In fact, there haven't been any big things - we don't have a DCMA-like law in Canada, and it would probably be overturned by the supreme court pretty soon if we did have one - so I don't know if we even need something like this right now.
If you really want to help the state of the world, help the US - donate to the EFF and pay taxes anyway. I think it's a lost cause, but if enough people donate, then it might cease to be one.
If you really want to get a tax break, donate to one of the many hundreds of other charities out there. Medical charities like the cancer foundation (or whatever), Heart and Stroke Foundation [heartandstroke.ca], Crohn's and Colitis [www.ccfc.ca], things like that, can all use our help. Or, if you think Canadians can buck it up, then donate to one of the foreign charities - personally, I wouldn't donate to any of the ones driven specifically by religion, but if you have no such qualms, then donate to the Christian Children's Fund of Canada [ccfcanada.ca], or check out the website of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation [www.ccic.ca] for a whole slew of interesting info.
If all that fails, you can always check yourself. The Canada Customs and Revenue Agency [ccra-adrc.gc.ca], in their Tax/Charities [ccra-adrc.gc.ca] section of their website, has a list [ccra-adrc.gc.ca] of all registered charities in Canada. If you don't feel like searching [ccra-adrc.gc.ca], you can download [ccra-adrc.gc.ca] it in zip file format.
I hope this helps you, and any other Canucks who feel like helping others. Lord knows the world needs more helping hands.
--Dan
Re:Do we need one? (French links) (Score:1)
L'Agence des douance et du revenu du Canada [ccra-adrc.gc.ca]
la section de ce website au sujet des
impôts - Organismes de bienfaisance [ccra-adrc.gc.ca]
La liste [ccra-adrc.gc.ca] - rechercheable [ccra-adrc.gc.ca] et downloadable [ccra-adrc.gc.ca] (3,7 Mo délimité par des tabulations)
I would have translated the whole comment, but my French [france.com], quite frankly, sucks.
--Dan
Re:Do we need one? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Do we need one? (Score:1)
We'll see, I guess.
--Dan
Re:Do we need one? (Score:2)
High taxes, government regulation, lack of opportunity, no free speech, no right to self defense, big brother government database on all citizens, and what's more the postal service opens and photocopies a certain percentage of mail without a warrant as a matter of policy. Apart from hockey and donuts, what's superior?
RE: but...
Shouldn't that be "boot"?
RE: Does Canada need this sort of thing?
Absolutely not. Anything that would prevent the Liberal party from imposing anything from requiring all packets to be sent to Shawinigan for analysis to censorship laws prohibiting the denigration of Pierre Eliot Trudeau is to be BANNED and CURSED by the CBC.
RE: In order to maintain our trade with the US, we have to pretend to like their priorities.
You're America's bitch. Get used to it. Don't like it? Build your own military and economy. Unfortunately, that would involve you lowering taxes, getting rid of Shiela Copps and eliminating the HDRC and other Liberal slush funds - and that would impede Chretien's ability to pave Shawinigan with gold and sell a few of his golf courses on the public ticket, so forget it.
Re:Do we need one? (Score:1)
Free, universal health care, lower tuition fees, free highways (no toll booths!!!) and lower rent for nicer appartments...
government regulation
Cleaner environment, easier recourse against abusive landlords/corporations/institutions, few guns all around...
lack of opportunity
Eh?
no free speech
Okay, it's marginally less well-protected here than in the states...yet our media is a lot freer from corporate meddling (well, CBC/SRC is, anyway...) and the charter of rights and freedom is still a pretty good safeguard on protecting free speech. The same problem as in the states, though: access to the distribution channels so what you SAY can actually be HEARD...
no right to self defense
You mean the right to bear arms? Look at it this way: you guys have the highest murder rate in the world. Guns kill people. People without guns just beat each other silly, occasionally stab each other - but they usually get to see the next day.
big brother government database on all citizens
Okay, that's disturbing...but at least we don't give our taxes to an agency [nsa.gov] that routinely eavesdrop on its citizens AND those of other countries (Echelon, anyone?). Don't you think they have secret databases of their own, mmh?
and what's more the postal service opens and photocopies a certain percentage of mail without a warrant as a matter of policy
Well, I think they do that in the States now, too!
RE: but...
Shouldn't that be "boot"?
No, it shouldn't. I really don't know where Americans got this notion that anglo-canadians pronounce "about" like "aboot". I lived in Toronto for two years and went across Canada in 1986 (I'm a franco-canadian myself) and never once heard it pronounced like this. I guess it shows how much you REALLY know about Canada. (They do say "eh" all the time, though!
More to the point, what does Canada-bashing have to do with the current subject, anyway? I'm the separatist here, I'll do the bashing, thank you very much!
Re:Do we need one? (Score:1)
Parent comment is 5: Insightful.
Re:Do we need one? (Score:2)
NEITHER is the case. Half your income in taxes isn't "free" unless you're a welfare bum. As for universality, why do so many Canadians go to the USA for required surgery, INCLUDING Jean Chretien? Citizens are told they have to wait cause there's no money in the health care budget. Of course, there's ALWAYS money for a singing fountain in a river or a golf course. Or for a Mexican to squirt his DNA into a test tube and call it ART.
RE: lower tuition fees,
Not anymore - why are your students demonstrating?
RE: free highways (no toll booths!!!) and lower rent for nicer appartments...
In Montreal, maybe.
RE: Cleaner environment,
Not in Ontario, or large parts of Alberta... and BTW our water doesn't kill us. E. COLI anyone?
RE: easier recourse against abusive landlords/corporations/institutions, few guns all around...
Result: fewer landlords, corporations leave, taking jobs with them...
RE: Okay, it's marginally less well-protected here than in the states...yet our media is a lot freer from corporate meddling (well, CBC/SRC is, anyway...)
CBC - "Chretien's Bitch" Channel. All the news that's slanted to make OUR GLORIOUS LEADER look good.
RE: and the charter of rights and freedom is still a pretty good safeguard on protecting free speech.
Heck you don't even have the ingrained right to own property according to that charter.
RE: You mean the right to bear arms?
Stupid argument snipped and ignored.
RE: big brother government database on all citizens
Okay, that's disturbing...but at least we don't give our taxes to an agency [nsa.gov] that routinely eavesdrop on its citizens AND those of other countries (Echelon, anyone?). Don't you think they have secret databases of their own, mmh?
They spy on people in other countries as well as people recognised as threats. They don't go snooping just for the hell of it, like in Canada.
RE: Well, I think they do that in the States now, too!
Think? Try getting facts.
RE: No, it shouldn't.
You're right it shouldn't. But you do pronounce it "boot".
RE: More to the point, what does Canada-bashing have to do with the current subject, anyway? I'm the separatist here, I'll do the bashing, thank you very much!
Well, if you can tear yourself away from the backyard wrestling in Beauharnois and wearing fringed leather jackets that went out in the 70s long enough to pay attention I'll tell you. The EFF, like other RIGHTS ORGANISATIONS is about YOUR RIGHTS, and Canadians DON'T CARE ABOUT RIGHTS. Your government says "hand them over" and you say "how fast"?
Re:Do we need one? (Score:1)
C'mon, you can tell me, you're really Canadian and ashamed of it, right? That's okay, you don't have to resort to misrepresenting the truth and spewing forth racial slur, you known (i.e. backyard wrestling in Beauharnois)...even though you're really the only canuck that says "aboot", there's no reason to hate your own kind so much! Come back to us, son, we love you, eh?
Meanwhile...
Our health care and tuition fees are STILL cheaper, our air is STILL cleaner, our murder rate is STILL lower, the NSA is STILL snooping on you AS YOU READ THIS (I know, they just told me) and Montreal babes are STILL the hottest on the planet, end of the line.
RE: Well, I think they do that in the States now, too!
Think? Try getting facts.
You first, troll! C'mon, give us your facts! I dare ya!
Note to rational beings out there: I actually have nothing against Americans, all of those that I've met I've really gotten along great with...but I do have issues with american foreign policy. Meanwhile, the EFF rocks and the EFC's site looks like they need a LOT of donations, very soon!
Re:Do we need one? (Score:2)
It is a reasoned argument. A troll is a deliberate attempt just to piss someone else off - and although I'm being abrasive, I'm actually discussing the point. Which conveiently gets ignored the moment I make a half decent one.
RE: C'mon, you can tell me, you're really Canadian and ashamed of it, right? That's okay, you don't have to resort to misrepresenting the truth and spewing forth racial slur, you known
In terms of racial slurs, sorry but the French Canadians aren't a separate race. Oh, I'm sorry, you believe you're the ubermensch PURE LAINE RACE, right? Superior to those other people, you're the REAL PEOPLE of Quebec, as Parizeau says?
RE:Our health care and tuition fees are STILL cheaper,
Compare my insurance rates to what half my income in taxes would be. Any questions? Didn't think so.
RE: our air is STILL cleaner,
That is an outright LIE. MANY parts of Canada are more polluted than their American counterparts! Ontario in particular has VILE air.
RE: You first, troll! C'mon, give us your facts! I dare ya!
I asked you first.
RE:Note to rational beings out there: I actually have nothing against Americans, all of those that I've met I've really gotten along great with...but I do have issues with american foreign policy.
Yeah, those low taxes and high paying jobs are taking away all our best and brightest! GRRR!!!!
Re:Do we need one? (Score:1)
Nah, you don't make a point, you present arguments as facts, while taking a derogatory tone. In my book that's a troll. Plus I think you keep modding yourself up!
In terms of racial slurs, sorry but the French Canadians aren't a separate race. Oh, I'm sorry, you believe you're the ubermensch PURE LAINE RACE, right? Superior to those other people, you're the REAL PEOPLE of Quebec, as Parizeau says?
You're right, I should have said ethnic slur instead. There is in fact only one race of man. My humanist/buddhist philosophy would prevent me from thinking otherwise anyway.
But I see you're as intent on demonizing separatists as well as Canada in general. Funny, I know a lot of separatists, but NONE of them believe in the superiority of a so-called Quebecois race. If anything, Quebecois have traditionally thought the opposite, that they were somehow inferior to others (perhaps because anglo-montrealers kept telling them they were up until the 60s...). I get a feeling you're letting Conrad Black speak through you again... Out, vile demon, OUT!!!
RE:Our health care and tuition fees are STILL cheaper,
Compare my insurance rates to what half my income in taxes would be. Any questions? Didn't think so.
Again, a very mature way of debating...typical of a Troll. Fact is, not half of our taxes go for Health Care. And the great, great majority of the population seems to think that our Health Care is a lot superior to that of the states (a view shared by many american as well), so I guess you could say that it suits us fine, i.e. we're ready to pay a bit more so that we can stay in good health, as well as those less fortunate than us (oh, but you don't really care about these "freeloaders", right?)
RE: our air is STILL cleaner,
That is an outright LIE. MANY parts of Canada are more polluted than their American counterparts! Ontario in particular has VILE air.
Oh, now I'm a liar, am I? Well, I don't see the point in continuing this discussion after this post, troll. I'll just state the following: as a WHOLE, our air is CLEANER, and while Hamilton, Ontario is certainly less polluted than Vermont, Los Angeles is a lot more polluted than Toronto or Montreal. See, troll, I think the pollution has gotten to your brain...quick, wash it some more with a fresh copy of The National Post!
Yeah, those low taxes and high paying jobs are taking away all our best and brightest! GRRR!!!!
Well, I'm still here, ain't I? So that proves you wrong!
Judging from your last line, can I conclude that you really ARE a Canadian, right? (Don't answer, I'm not continuing this conversation anyway...)
Re:Do we need one? (Score:2)
No, I'm presenting facts as arguments, which you are getting annoyed at, and so are trying to refute by attacking me personally. Sorry if it bugs you that your economy sucks.
RE: In my book that's a troll. Plus I think you keep modding yourself up!
Nah, that's a cheap shot.
RE: You're right, I should have said ethnic slur instead.
That would have been correct. Guilty as charged. But that was incidental to the main point. I was hoping it would draw your attention to the rest of the sentence, but apparently all that focus went on venting your rage, so it was lost.
RE: But I see you're as intent on demonizing separatists as well as Canada in general. Funny, I know a lot of separatists, but NONE of them believe in the superiority of a so-called Quebecois race.
I worked in deepwoods Quebec for a while. After being suitably reviled for being Anglo and not of their bloodline, I was told that I was responsible for their misery, as well as the Jews in Montreal. I wish I was making this up, but I can't possibly make that up.
RE: Again, a very mature way of debating...typical of a Troll.
Whatever. Still, compare the cost of insurance with the cost of half your income going bye bye, supposedly for health care.
RE: Fact is, not half of our taxes go for Health Care.
Nope. They go to the HDRC, Shawinigan, singing fountains in rivers, hand-jiving Mexican performance artists, the CBC, the NFB, yearly fat pay raises for the MPs, a really big fat pay raise for the PM, etc. with a bit left over for the odd hospital.
RE: And the great, great majority of the population seems to think that our Health Care is a lot superior to that of the states (a view shared by many american as well),
Well, hopefully the collective IQ can be raised somewhat and eventually there'll be some sanity.
RE: Oh, now I'm a liar, am I? Well, I don't see the point in continuing this discussion after this post, troll. I'll just state the following: as a WHOLE, our air is CLEANER, and while Hamilton, Ontario is certainly less polluted than Vermont, Los Angeles is a lot more polluted than Toronto or Montreal.
Ontario is MORE polluted than Vermont.
RE: Well, I'm still here, ain't I? So that proves you wrong!
Uh, dude, you made THAT one too easy. I'll refrain. But it's tough.
Re:Do we need one? (Score:1)
No, actually you're presenting opinions as facts to support your broad argument that Canada sucks. Well, as the american say: whatever. I've argued with enough people during two years on Usenet to know that this is going nowher. Goodbye troll!
I worked in deepwoods Quebec for a while.
Ah, yes, and that gives you the needed insight to judge an entire society, right? So, if I stay for a while in a redneck town down south that features the occasionnal cross-burning, then I guess I could say that americans are racist, violent bigots, right?
Then again, seeing as you're implying in your post that the collective IQ of Canadians is lower-than-average, I guess you are a bigot! And a troll. Goodbye!
RE: Oh, now I'm a liar, am I? Well, I don't see the point in continuing this discussion after this post, troll. I'll just state the following: as a WHOLE, our air is CLEANER, and while Hamilton, Ontario is certainly less polluted than Vermont, Los Angeles is a lot more polluted than Toronto or Montreal.
Ontario is MORE polluted than Vermont.
Typo. Of course, Ontario is MORE polluted than Vermont. Still, the rest of my point holds.I did notice you didn't try to refute it. Smart move.
Uh, dude, you made THAT one too easy. I'll refrain. But it's tough.
Gee, I don't know, after all I am winning this argument, and in a language that is not my own. I guess it does make me kinda smart, doesn't it?
Nice to know you, troll. Now go and hide, the sun is coming.
(And just to answer something you said in another reply: countries do have the right to defend themselves. This has nothing to do with the fact that the US has an aggressive foreign policy, which in turn is not validated by the fact that innocent people died in the WTC. You're confusing three different issues here. Stop making a fool of yourself...in any case, I don't think no one's left on this thread but us, and I've lost enough time on this as it is. As I said, I've spent enough time debating on political newsgroups to know when I'm arguing with someone who's only interested in pursuing his own agenda, and matter-of-factly resorts to ethnic slurs and broad generalizations. J'ai pas que ça à foutre. Salut!)
Re:Do we need one? (Score:2)
Oh, so the database (they disbanded it!) is opinion? The lower taxes in the US is opinion? The fact that the USA has a Bill of Rights and Canada doesn't (at least, not one that supports free speech, the right to bear arms, etc) is opinion? Who's the troll.
RE: Ah, yes, and that gives you the needed insight to judge an entire society, right?
That, and having spent time in Montreal, Chicoutimi, etc. And Beauharnois. Where they do do backyard wrestling.
RE: So, if I stay for a while in a redneck town down south that features the occasionnal cross-burning, then I guess I could say that americans are racist, violent bigots, right?
No, you'd say that based on propaganda from the CBC.
RE: Then again, seeing as you're implying in your post that the collective IQ of Canadians is lower-than-average, I guess you are a bigot! And a troll. Goodbye!
I am suggesting that there's some disconnect between intellect and the way y'all vote. You know Chretien's a lying crook who refuses to pay for healthcare and jacks the taxes up and up and up yet still you vote the guy in.
RE: Typo.
A typo is where you hit the wrong key. You chose completely different words. Your brain is disordered. Calm down and try again.
RE: Still, the rest of my point holds.I did notice you didn't try to refute it. Smart move.
I'll say this again, though there are "hot spots" in the US, the bigger polluter in the NorthEast is Ontario. And due to environmental pollution, you have people dying from the water, something that doesn't happen in the USA.
RE:Gee, I don't know, after all I am winning this argument,
You think? Ad hominem attacks against me and Conrad Black won't either win this argument nor will it give you rights and freedoms.
RE: and in a language that is not my own.
Ce n'est pas le mien non plus.
RE:I guess it does make me kinda smart, doesn't it?
Actually, no.
RE: (And just to answer something you said in another reply: countries do have the right to defend themselves.
Well then, buy your own military. Don't insult Americans all the time and turn your back, and then suddenly expect the USA to come charging in like the Cavalry if you ever have problems. K?
RE: This has nothing to do with the fact that the US has an aggressive foreign policy, which in turn is not validated by the fact that innocent people died in the WTC.
We were discussing the need for self-defense. The USA right now is trying to root out people intent on killing them. Who have already started a war with the US on US soil. That is not evil American bad aggressive foreign policy, it's self defense.
Unlike Queebeckers, who lose a war and then go on to run the country anyway as if they won it.
RE: J'ai pas que ça à foutre. Salut!)
Tu quoque.
Re:Do we need one? (Score:1)
You miss the point entirely. When mention was made of aggressive foreign policy, it wasn't about the attack on Afghanistan, but about events that took place before sept. 11.
Viet-Nam. Laos. Cambodia. Nicaragua. El Salvador. Guatemala. Grenada. Tacit support of genocide in East Timor. Of Kurds in Turkey (and Iraq!). Of Palestinians in Israel. Don't ask me, ask the whole wide world! The U.S. is one of the only country to vote against a U.N. resolution against torture. To vote down another resolution that said that countries should submit to international law. The global policeman, indeed. But who will police the police? Not you, obviously. And you wonder why so many people throughout the world hate what the U.S. has come to represent! Open your eyes, travel a little, and stop reading that godawful National Post! Until then, there's little I can do for you. Ciao!
BTW "Tu quoque" is latin, not french. It means "you too", which in the context where you put it doesn't mean a thing.
Re:Do we need one? (Score:2)
I'm sorry - you must have a version on your screen that mentions Viet-Nam, Laos, Cambodia, etc. All I saw was "aggressive foreign policy".
RE: names of countries
There were valid reasons for all of this.
RE: Don't ask me, ask the whole wide world!
The same world that sent troops to Viet Nam (including Canada and Australia) and Iraq as well as Afghanistan?
RE: The U.S. is one of the only country to vote against a U.N. resolution against torture. To vote down another resolution that said that countries should submit to international law.
The US is NOT going to bow its sovereignty down to a bunch of third world Marxists who can't even generate a decent Christmas card.
RE: And you wonder why so many people throughout the world hate what the U.S. has come to represent!
Well, apart from wackos who want women shrouded and chess sets burned, and Marxists who want to rule the world and make it their plaything... who?
RE: BTW "Tu quoque" is latin, not french.
And means about as much in context as your French. More pretentious than your attempt though.
Re:Do we need one? (Score:1)
If you look at any data that the Canadian Atmospheric Environment Service, or the US equivalent have to provide, you'll note both that:
a) Canada _does_ have much lower pollution levels
b) A significant portion of the air pollution in Canada is thanks to winds blowing nice dirty US air up to Canada.
I really wish I had links to provide, but this information comes from discussions with scientists from AES.
This is by no means to come off as a flame or US-bashing, quite frankly I think that both the US and Canada are great, but different countries, and comparisons are like apples and oranges. Just felt like contributing some actual fact to your debate.
Re:Do we need one? (Score:2)
Now, I saw you say that you were a separatist, which therefore makes you an official kook, but I think it's worth responding to a couple of these claims.
Okay, that's disturbing...but at least we don't give our taxes to an agency [nsa.gov] that routinely eavesdrop on its citizens AND those of other countries (Echelon, anyone?). Don't you think they have secret databases of their own, mmh?
The sad fact of the matter is that we do.
See:
I can't be bothered to pay Stats Canada a few bucks to get the exact figure, but a CP article here [canoe.ca] puts CSIS's budget at roughly 200m per year. The link up above put the CSE's at 106m.
There's an article here [google.com] that provides a couple alleged examples of illegal domestic operations by CSIS... Back in late September, there were a great number of newspaper articles from various sources [spiescafe.com] discussing what CSIS does and doesn't do, among them were mentions of things such as statements by former foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy declaring that CSIS "does not undertake any kind of overseas operation," yet after musings about the creation of a new, foreign operations agency by the present government in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks in the USA, someone at CSIS, possibly the director, revealed that CSIS has, in the part, operated in foreign countries and maintained the ability to do so. It's so good to see the Liberal's foreign minister either deliberately lying about or actually ignorant of such goings-on.
Here [pir.org] is a page that gives brief summaries of several books about Canada's spy agencies, including one that gives details on a particular CSE operation in England.
Don't forget that any mail (ie, post), telephone conversation, or internet traffic that crosses an international border into or out of Canada is considered fair game, and can legally be intercepted. Again, there are many second hand reports that illegal domestic surveilance has also taken place for many years.
Next,
The National Post is one of Canada's most conservative newspapers. It is owned by Conrad Black
Incorrect. The National Post (I don't read it, myself) is now owned by CanWest (the Aspers), who are well-known Liberal supporters. If you've been following the news in the past week, you'll see many reports that they are *far* more restrictive of what gets printed in their papers than Conrad Black ever was. Black allowed dissent, apparently with *very* few topics (unknown to me) off limits. The Aspers are more than a little looser with the word 'taboo'. The Globe&Mail's search function never works for me, but I believe they ran something by a former National Post columnist titled 'Why I Quit the Post' on Monday or so.
Re:Do we need one? (Score:1)
There's no need to insult me just because you don't share the same political beliefs as I do. You don't know what I have to say about the subject, and yet you've already categorized me, figured me out. Unfortunately this is not the time nor the place for me to enlighten you about what I really think. Anyway, I don't talk about that subject anymore on newsgroups - believe me, I've done more than my share a couple of years ago! But if you're ever in the MTL region and would not mind a spirited but friendly debate on the question, above a couple of pints of Guiness, then I'd be more than happy to oblige.
On the other points you make, you are correct (and much more civilized than BluedemonX). I wasn't up to speed on the CanWest acquisition - to tell you the truth these days I've been reading more along the lines of Haaretz, the Jerusalem Post, ZNet, San Jose Mercury News and the Washington Post web site. I realize I should pay more attention to what's going on in my own backyard!
I also must admit I know more about the US spy agencies than the Canadian ones! But as high as their budget is, I'm sure it still pales in comparison to the collective budget of the CIA, FBI, NSA and DIA...not to mention all the intelligence gathered by the DoD as part of the war effort!!! But I agree, it's not that much better here (just a little bit!)
Archie Steel, your non-kooky separatist friend
Re:Do we need one? (Score:1)
This turned out to be so much hype. Sure, they tried to create a database, and once word got out, it was quickly gassed. HRDC (Human Resources Development Canada) even offered to send you whatever info they had in it, provided you requested it by letter before a certain date. Supposedly the database was destroyed, but even if it wasn't who really cares?
All it had in it was mostly tax records, and where you have been employed, and your past addresses. All which can be found out anyway, if you know where to look. Unfortunately, I don't know where to look.
Re:Do we need one? (Score:2)
The fact that a government would want to create something like that says something. Let's ask this - how did Mr. Wappel (sp?) know how that veteran had voted? The one he wouldn't help cause he didn't support the Liberals?
RE: Supposedly the database was destroyed, but even if it wasn't who really cares?
If you don't, why do you care about a Canadian EFF anyway? It SCARES me that a country would want to keep such close tabs on its citizens.
Re:Do we need one? (Score:1)
This kind of information is easily gotten via simple door to door canvassing, or perhaps a simple phone call. Are you suggesting that there is a database keeping track of who people vote for? Last I checked it was a secret ballot.
Re:Do we need one? (Score:2)
The veteran in question make it clear he didn't share that information with ANYONE, including his own WIFE. Guess you missed that broadcast. For some strange reason his angry requests for answers about this question were ignored by the media. He didn't wear pins, didn't have a sign on his lawn, he was of the belief that his business was his own. Hence his UTTER surprise at Wappel's "our records indicate..."
RE: Are you suggesting that there is a database keeping track of who people vote for? Last I checked it was a secret ballot.
It might not be. That was the point of what I was saying. And given that the government only helps its supporters, this is even more disturbing. I certainly wouldn't want to be in a situation where whether or not I get health care or speedy 911 service depends on whether or not I pass the background check at Liberal HQ in terms of having voted right.
Re:Do we need one? (Score:1)
Who knows what happened. Obviously Wappel's handlers told him something, and he believed it. I guess only the old man know for sure...
One final point. While I appreciate what you are getting at, I find it practically impossible to belive that the Chretien Liberals could succeed at such a task. This is a man who doesn't know what pepper spray is, and has such lack of brains to appoint Elinor Caplan to cabinet. Not to mention the likes of Jane Stewart and mismanagement of billions of dollars.
Quite frankly, creating such a database is beyond the capability of this government.
Re:Do we need one? (Score:2)
And the fact WAPPEL WON'T TELL YOU HOW HE KNEW doesn't worry you?
RE: One final point. While I appreciate what you are getting at, I find it practically impossible to belive that the Chretien Liberals could succeed at such a task. This is a man who doesn't know what pepper spray is, and has such lack of brains to appoint Elinor Caplan to cabinet. Not to mention the likes of Jane Stewart and mismanagement of billions of dollars.
I think Screwface is far less ignorant than he wants you to think. He's dat liddle guy dere from da Shawinigan, hey look hat me hon dat skateboard! When in actuality he's a conniving, lying, and incredibly shrewd human being. They say never attribute to malice what can be best explained by ignorance. The inverse also applies.
Re:Do we need one? (Score:1)
Hah, Carnivore anyone?
Re:Do we need one? (Score:2)
Re:Do we need one? (Score:2)
Which pay for things like health care, roadwork, welfare programs, education... It's not taken and kept you know. Compare Canadian tuitions to American tuitions, for example. $8000 USD/yr compared to $2100 CDN/yr was a comparison I showed to a friend of mine, who was complaining about the low quality of his education.
government regulation
You mean the thing that makes sure monopolies do good things, and not bad? Or that telcos provide reasonable levels of service, or that standards are upheld in all sorts of areas? The thing that keeps prices low and service quality high? Yeah, man, I really hate that.
lack of opportunity
This is about as vague as one can get. Opportunity to do what? Buy donuts? Commit war crimes? Come on, if you're going to make weak points, at least make clear weak points.
no free speech
This one's just downright laughable. Are you saying American free speech, where someone can get arrested for talking about how to bypass security, is better than Canadian? I can say whatever I want, but no one has to listen.
no right to self defense
No need for self defence...
big brother government database on all citizens
1) It was dismantled, 2) They have that data anyway, it's just spread out across tons of ministries at the moment
and what's more the postal service opens and photocopies a certain percentage of mail without a warrant as a matter of policy.
I'd be interested to hear your source on this.
Apart from hockey and donuts, what's superior?
Our (apparant) socialist philosophy of 'help others', compared to the American 'help yourself, screw others' Big Business philosophy?
Shouldn't that be "boot"?
Oh that's clever, did you think that up yourself?
Absolutely not. Anything that would prevent the Liberal party from imposing anything from requiring all packets to be sent to Shawinigan for analysis to censorship laws prohibiting the denigration of Pierre Eliot Trudeau is to be BANNED and CURSED by the CBC.
It's amazing. You speak as though you know what you're talking about, but all you're doing is taking random events, throwing some names in with them, and then making up accusations with no basis in reality. Truly a fascinating habit.
Don't like it? Build your own military
To do what? Defend us from the results of our own foreign policy? We don't take on the world, they haven't got it out for us like they do for you.
Unfortunately, that would involve you lowering taxes
I don't see what taxes has to do with anything. Most European countries (Germany, for example) are far more socialist than Canada, and they've got even better economies. In fact, there are a huge number of great economies in the world, and of all of them, the United States is the only one without state-sponsored health care, and the only one with the death penalty. The US seems to be the exception, not the rule.
that would impede Chretien's ability to pave Shawinigan with gold and sell a few of his golf courses on the public ticket, so forget it.
You know, this is getting quite lame. Everyone involved in the issue agreed - in sworn statements - that Chretien had sold his shares in that hotel that he owned (yes, he owned no part of the golf course, only a hotel) before having done anything to help the golf course, and had not yet gotten paid.
Unlike some countries I could mention, we don't look for scandals to sensationalize, we don't elect leaders and then spend 4 years distrusting them, and we don't blame the government for selling out after we let them pass laws letting them sell out - oh, wait, we've never done that. But the US has.
Canada, its government, its philosophies, and its economy value people over money. If that, to you, is a bad thing, well then so be it. If you're going to be so arrogant as to put the dollar before social welfare, then honestly, your opinion matters not to me.
Re:Do we need one? (Score:2)
Why don't schools have proper books? No money. Why does the water kill people in Canada? Not enough money. Hey, wait, why does the PM's personal investment get a huge grant from the federal government? Enough questions. out.
As for welfare... you let people leech off the system for life. And wonder why Canadian productivity is falling.
RE: Compare Canadian tuitions to American tuitions, for example.
Compare what you can do with a degree in the US, to what you can do with a degree in Canada. B.Sc's in Mechanical Engineering serving lattes at Starbucks, much?
RE:You mean the thing that makes sure monopolies do good things, and not bad?
Like the CBC and the NFB? Or are we talking about the social engineering that gives millions in handouts to Bombardier and other French Canadian businesses?
REL This is about as vague as one can get. Opportunity to do what?
Get decent jobs. Heard of the brain drain? Or do you think that's just another right wing lie?
RE: This one's just downright laughable. Are you saying American free speech, where someone can get arrested for talking about how to bypass security, is better than Canadian? I can say whatever I want, but no one has to listen.
Those charges were dropped.
RE:1) It was dismantled, 2) They have that data anyway,
But they built it. And would have kept it if some hadn't made a stink. And BTW are rebuilding it.
RE:I'd be interested to hear your source on this.
The National Post. Oh, wait, that's Conrad Black. So we can just discount that, right?
RE: Our (apparant) socialist philosophy of 'help others', compared to the American 'help yourself, screw others' Big Business philosophy?
Which country is the envy of the world and the beacon of freedom? Anyone? OK, now which is the laughingstock backwater nobody cares about? I rest my case. What's the Canadian Dream? Finding an extra Timbit in the bottom of the box? Two hockey games on in one night?
RE:To do what? Defend us from the results of our own foreign policy?
Oh I see. So WWII was Europe's fault, too? I'm sure the families of the WTC dead really appreciate you saying that "America gets what it deserves."
RE: I don't see what taxes has to do with anything. Most European countries (Germany, for example) are far more socialist than Canada, and they've got even better economies.
OK, but they don't have low tax, high powered economies right next door. You have to be price competitive with the neighbour, at least.
RE: and of all of them, the United States is the only one without state-sponsored health care, and the only one with the death penalty. The US seems to be the exception, not the rule.
And the place all the Europeans seem to want to flock to when they're tired of low pay, high taxes, and living in tiny shoe boxes.
RE:You know, this is getting quite lame. Everyone involved in the issue agreed - in sworn statements - that Chretien had sold his shares in that hotel
And you believe them? I hear he repealed the GST, too.
RE: that he owned (yes, he owned no part of the golf course, only a hotel) before having done anything to help the golf course, and had not yet gotten paid.
And his getting paid was conditional on the sale of the golf course - hence the handouts to make the investment AS ATTRACTIVE AS POSSIBLE.
RE:Unlike some countries I could mention, we don't look for scandals to sensationalize, we
No, you elect crooks, and then wonder why they're screwing you. Enjoy being Argentina in a decade or two.
RE: Canada, its government, its philosophies, and its economy value people over money.
They certainly don't value rights or opportunities. Which is why you have neither.
Re:Do we need one? (Score:1)
The National Post.
Well, that explains a lot! For those who don't know, The National Post is one of Canada's most conservative newspapers. It is owned by Conrad Black, a man who despises Chretien bechause he prevented him from becoming a British Lord (I despise Chretien too, but for different reasons). It seems Black has a fondness for the "good old days" of colonial rule...Black's name is also synonym with "concentration of the press" in Canada, a fact that BluedemonX here doesn't seem to think is inconsistent with freedom of speech. Let's just say that his brain is probably one of the cleanest of the people around here...
By the way, BluedemonX, it's in really poor taste to bring in the victims of the WTC into this...the fact is that their deaths does not give an automatic seal of approval to U.S. foreign policy. In other words, two wrongs don't make a right (even though that would help your personal agenda!)
Now run along before I call in SantoX to kick your butt!!!
Silly troll...
Re:Do we need one? (Score:2)
And... your point? You'd prefer to read the same fact from the Toronto Star? Oh, BTW this guy is about to insinuate that the paper is lying because it is conservative.
RE: It is owned by Conrad Black, a man who despises Chretien bechause he prevented him from becoming a British Lord (I despise Chretien too, but for different reasons). It seems Black has a fondness for the "good old days" of colonial rule...Black's name is also synonym with "concentration of the press" in Canada, a fact that BluedemonX here doesn't seem to think is inconsistent with freedom of speech.
And this has what to do with the fact that Canada Post regularly opens mail without a warrant? Anyone?
RE: By the way, BluedemonX, it's in really poor taste to bring in the victims of the WTC into this...the fact is that their deaths does not give an automatic seal of approval to U.S. foreign policy.
Dude, you don't seem to realise that people need to be able to defend themselves. This "oh well, we don't need to cause we don't go around attacking other people" is nonsense. There will always be psychos. The victims of the WTC didn't ask to be bombed. Countries and citizens need to be able to defend themselves.
Of course there is! (Score:5, Informative)
Of course there is: Electronic Frontier Canada / La Frontière Électronique du Canada (http://www.efc.ca/) [www.efc.ca]! And following great Canadian traditions, the site is bilingual.
Australia has one, too: Electronic Frontiers Australia (http://www.efa.org.au/) [efa.org.au].
I don't know if either is tax-deductible, but they do have interesting info on legislation in both countries. Cheers.
Re:Of course there is! (Score:2)
Uh, well... (Score:1)
BTW: It's a donation for bob's sake! If the lack of a deduction bothers you, factor that in and make a smaller donation. Or, if you're actually _charitable_, bite the bullet and go with the full amount.
Do you have any US income? (Score:2)
There's this thing called a search engine. (Score:3, Informative)
Google is your friend. [google.com]
Re:There's this thing called a search engine. (Score:1)
This one should be modded up as well, for the simple reason that if people used search engines more often, they would be able to save themselves asking. But of course /. is more fun and you get people's opinions about their recommendations as well, so don't feel too bad.
I got my information from a search I did months ago for international free speech organizations, but I too used Google [google.com].
The word for today is ``sinecure''.
Re:There's this thing called a search engine. (Score:1)
words to live by....
Um (Score:1)