Hello everyone, sorry for the delay in writing! We have been busy with our audit (yes, it's STILL not finished) and with a number of other animal issues, which have been incredibly occupying.
Karen and I returned last night from an Elections Canada (EC) meeting held in Gatineau.
During the last federal election, Karen was excluded from a number of "all-candidates" debates. We sent in a complaint to EC that excluding a party from a debate was contrary to the law. EC disagreed. Once Karen raised the issue we learned we were not alone -- the other smaller parties had the same problem. We (the smaller parties) are all upset about this, all want change, and all want access to the public. I think it is evident, judging from increasing voter apathy, that people want more options. We're here! There are over 15 federally registered political parties! We just need to be allowed to be included. (This will be an on-going issue.)
We also met with the Broadcasting Arbitrator. All smaller parties voiced our concerns about the free airtime we receive during elections. Hopefully we will receive more airtime but will not know for a few weeks.
All in all, a good discussion but hopefully more productive next time.
Karen and I went to the EC meeting in place of Liz, who was in Point Pelee, documenting the cormorant killing by the park. Staff will be killing the native birds over the next few weeks, in the hopes of "protecting" the "species at risk on Middle Island". Protecting the cormorants has been a struggle for animal protection groups and incredibly disappointing since the species' population is now returning to natural numbers after years of persecution and death from DDT. Killing of native species is routine for the Ministry of Natural Resources, insisting that species must be "managed" (I guess Mother Nature isn't doing her job).
If anyone has made plans to visit Point Pelee, please consider boycotting the park until they allow native species to live unmanaged by humans!
For more information, visit http://www.zoocheck.com/cormorant
