Mid-September of this year an article published in the Vancouver Courier discussed how politically active police should be.
In the last decade tools such as police boards have been established to limit corruption. However, our more recent conservative government aims to "blur the thin blue line" between police freedom of political thought and society's right to have a politically-neutral police force. That is the question-should police be forced to adopt the political ideals of our federal, provincial or even municipal governments?
From my point of view, there needs to be some consistency between government authority and police authority, but only on a very general level. In other words, our police as citizens have the right to freedom of political thought, but must never let their owns ideals hinder moral and ethical judgement.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Free Knowledge Day!
Honestly, before attending this information session I was quite unsure what to expect. Would the workshops be academic-based, politically-focused, or a little of both?
Furthermore, the session that drew interest was "Indy Media" by Patricia Elliott. The focus of this session was simply to inform people on how to not only access independent media, but how to be directly involved. She started by introducing an organization called Independent Media Center which was formed circa late-1990s in efforts to aid in the Seatle WTO Protests. It is essentially a tool for people to voice opinions and create awareness of issues that are often filtered or distorted by corporate-driven mass media. Anyone can create a membership and begin creating posts and comments within minutes. This new kind of media form was based on a decentralized network that gives a fairly uncensored free-speech opportunity with a socialist and/or anarchist vibe.
Since the development of the IMC many other sites have arisen. In particular, Act up in Sask is Saskatchewan's own independent media resource. It was started in 2005 in Saskatoon as result of activism targeting business ownership of mainstream media. The primary goal of Act up in Sask is to provide an easily-accessible open forum which not only shares skills in journalism, but promotes active democracy.
The workshops at free knowledge day covered some very important relevant information and issues from Saskatewan's economy to fair and ethical trade. However, I felt the presentations could have been more structured and focused. On the bright side, the zine and project dealing with "fair trade" was excellent. It is great to see 12 and 13 year old students care about and tackle such an important issue!
Furthermore, the session that drew interest was "Indy Media" by Patricia Elliott. The focus of this session was simply to inform people on how to not only access independent media, but how to be directly involved. She started by introducing an organization called Independent Media Center which was formed circa late-1990s in efforts to aid in the Seatle WTO Protests. It is essentially a tool for people to voice opinions and create awareness of issues that are often filtered or distorted by corporate-driven mass media. Anyone can create a membership and begin creating posts and comments within minutes. This new kind of media form was based on a decentralized network that gives a fairly uncensored free-speech opportunity with a socialist and/or anarchist vibe.
Since the development of the IMC many other sites have arisen. In particular, Act up in Sask is Saskatchewan's own independent media resource. It was started in 2005 in Saskatoon as result of activism targeting business ownership of mainstream media. The primary goal of Act up in Sask is to provide an easily-accessible open forum which not only shares skills in journalism, but promotes active democracy.
The workshops at free knowledge day covered some very important relevant information and issues from Saskatewan's economy to fair and ethical trade. However, I felt the presentations could have been more structured and focused. On the bright side, the zine and project dealing with "fair trade" was excellent. It is great to see 12 and 13 year old students care about and tackle such an important issue!
Friday, September 21, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
"Do police need more power?"
Some of us call those who protect us from crime police officers. Our neighbours to the south sometimes disagree-ie. Mr. King. As we know there are always some bad apples in the bunch, however, more often than not, governments may need to empower our protectors. Recently, Jack Aubry of CanWest News argues that many Canadians condone police lawbreaking? but how far is too far? In addition, there is question to the legitimacy of these surveys as some experts suggest our conservative government may be using them as tools to justify their own desired law changes.
My Critique
Media is a simply a tool for communication. Quite frankly, a damn good one-especially for governments wishing to suggest and influence. Yes, the power of influence is very real and very concerning. Without a true democracy, we cannot begin to concieve governement actions and decisions as Pareto efficiency Yet, we read the papers and watch television because how else would we become informed? Well, how about some objective education or maybe a little research? For most, that might be too much to ask, but for those of us who wish to dig deeper may see that Harper and his goons use subjective material to support their power of influence. In effect, it's a headline story which shows that close to half of Canadians want police to have the power to break the laws they enforce. In other words, a buffer for legislation geared at law changes.
Advocacy of the Devil
In contrast, does holding the authority's hand reduce productivity and effectiveness? Most likely. Police and simliar authority can not and must not be affraid to protect and serve. A lack of empowerment can be damaging to performance. We need police to have power otherwise we might as well hire security guards to enforce laws and keep us safe.
My Critique
Media is a simply a tool for communication. Quite frankly, a damn good one-especially for governments wishing to suggest and influence. Yes, the power of influence is very real and very concerning. Without a true democracy, we cannot begin to concieve governement actions and decisions as Pareto efficiency Yet, we read the papers and watch television because how else would we become informed? Well, how about some objective education or maybe a little research? For most, that might be too much to ask, but for those of us who wish to dig deeper may see that Harper and his goons use subjective material to support their power of influence. In effect, it's a headline story which shows that close to half of Canadians want police to have the power to break the laws they enforce. In other words, a buffer for legislation geared at law changes.
Advocacy of the Devil
In contrast, does holding the authority's hand reduce productivity and effectiveness? Most likely. Police and simliar authority can not and must not be affraid to protect and serve. A lack of empowerment can be damaging to performance. We need police to have power otherwise we might as well hire security guards to enforce laws and keep us safe.
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