Hamilton's Water Services

Here's the article from Flannery Dean posted on CBC Hamilton, Wed Nov 28th, 2012.

Hamilton's water services safe from CETA, say Council of Canadians and CUPE

By Flannery Dean, Leaked documents indicate that Canada's water services are being excluded from future CETA negotiations. (iStock)

Hamilton water services won't be on the table during the ongoing talks between Canada and the EU for the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, according to the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Both groups said they have seen leaked documents that indicate that Canada's water services are being excluded from future CETA negotiations.

This is good news, said Hamilton resident Stuart Trew, National Trade Campaigner for the Council of Canadians. Trews said that had water remained on the negotiating table, CETA “could have potentially contained the means by which municipalities keep water public.”

“For us to include water in a trade agreement is extremely unsettling," said Ann Bruce, co-chair of the COC's CETA group in Hamilton, about the exclusion. "It shouldn't be traded for private gain and has to be protected for the common good."

“No one owns water,” she added.

Bruce, who also co-chairs the Great Lakes Water group, said that had water been included in the final agreement, Canadians could have found themselves in the position of one day buying their own water from an international company.

Procurement issues

But while Trews and Bruce say they are pleased by the exclusion of water services from the ongoing trade negotiations, there are some additional concerns about how certain requests by Europe still under discussion could affect water in the future.

'One of the great concerns is the fact that procurement remains on the agenda.'—Ann Bruce, Council of Canadians

“One of the great concerns is the fact that procurement remains on the agenda,” Bruce said.

Europe is pressing Canada to guarantee through the trade agreement that EU companies would be able to bid on provincial and municipal projects. Should the EU achieve that aim it would effectively strip municipalities of their powers to choose local suppliers, forcing them to take bids from powerful foreign corporations.

Trews cites the example that if a municipal government wanted funding to improve a sanitation system, provisions brought in under CETA might mean an “international company could dispute a municipality's decision to favour a local public route.”

These types of procurement issues go beyond water to cover a vast array of goods and services. The city of Hamilton was so concerned by the implications of procurement-related conditions being discussed in the trade negotiations that in December 2011 councillor Brian McHattie spearheaded a motion to have Hamilton excluded from CETA.

Hamilton isn't the only city to want to opt out of CETA. It's one of 40 communities throughout Canada to pass similar motions.

For Bruce, the reasons for this are clear.

“Local government would not be able to favour local tenders or bidders,” said Bruce, referring to how European influence could forever alter how local governments in Canada govern and spend tax dollars.

“We couldn't have buy-local initiatives. International companies could bring a claim against the municipality,” for favouring local business or products under such an agreement.

“Our city would be bound by these international trade agreements,” she said.

For Trew, however complicated CETA negotiations are, issues surrounding procurement are simple and centre on one question: “Who has the final say in how local society develops, us or multinationals?”

Requiem for Remembrance Day - Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead

Verdi REQUIEM: Lest We Forget
A Chorister’s Perspective
By Ronald Jewell

“LEST WE FORGET” – this is our call for individual and collective remembrance, for the many who have gone before us and paid the ultimate sacrifice in the cause of freedom, justice and peace. We owe them our everlasting gratitude, and give thanks for their lives. For each we implore: "Grant them eternal rest, O Lord" – Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine".

In almost all cultures from the earliest times, music has been a means of expressing all of our emotions when facing death and the dead, and to give solace to the bereaved. Musical settings of the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead express all of this, and the musical & emotional apex of this development is perhaps the Messa da Requiem composed by legendary Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi. Scored for four soloists, double choir and full orchestra, Verdi uses vigorous rhythms, sublime melodies, and dramatic contrasts – much as he did in his operas (think Aida, La Traviata, or Rigoletto) – throughout the work to express the powerful emotions engendered by the text. The tears, the anger and the search for comfort and meaning are all contained in the words – and magnified in Verdi's score, which is sweepingly operatic one moment, and powerfully intimate the next. As the Toronto Star said of the work: “If everyone could face death with the help of a live performance of Verdi's Requiem, the world would have no more need of grief counsellors.”

I can think of no better way to honour our dead and help us remember than to participate in a performance of this monumental work. In my case, it was as a chorister with a 100-voice chorus and acclaimed soloists all under the direction of Maestro Sabatino Vacca.

A performance of this work begins not with the downbeat, but when the conductor takes to the podium and stands there, motionless, as the hall becomes silent, a moment of silence to prepare us – Lest We Forget. The silence becomes the music. The Maestro slowly raises his baton, and the cellos begin the first movement with a whisper and we all enter with a sotto voce Requiem, requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine - Grant them eternal rest, O Lord. The table is set. The spiritual feast is to follow.

All eyes of the Chorus and Orchestra are on the Maestro, and we see every nuance, every little shape of a phrase, every accent magically reflected in his hands, his body, his face – we see yearning, pleading, rage, sorrow, anguish, joy, ecstasy … love and peace. Of course, Verdi gave it all to him, but he takes it and gives it form. Our challenge is to honestly portray the complex emotions that anyone has to deal with when losing someone they hold dear.
The Dies Irae is terrifying. Rex tremendae is awe-inspiring. The Lacrymosa as sorrowful as anything I have ever sung (Mournful day. That day of sighs ….).
The Sanctus, initially fearsomely declamatory with a brassy fanfare to announce “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts”, then takes off with a sprightly 8-part fugue scored for double choir stating that “the heavens and earth are full of Thy glory; Hosanna in the highest!” The angelic Agnus Dei (Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, give them rest …) which is always magical to me because it is sung a capella by the soprano and mezzo-soprano, a most haunting sound – then the choir fills in the rest of the hymn.

And finally the Libera Me, where the Soprano cries out, pleading, “Deliver me, O Lord from the eternal death on that dreadful day when the heavens and the earth shall be moved and Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.” It ends with a repeated,” Deliver me, O Lord, from the everlasting death, on that dreadful day.” And then, pianissimo, “Deliver me. Deliver me”.

As the final chord dies away, we remain in that mystical space, a sense of longing, a sense of hope. The Maestro’s arms still outstretched, the music continues in the silence. It calls not for immediate applause, but a moment of introspection, reflection, and remembrance, our personal prayer – “LEST WE FORGET”.

This article was thoughtfully written by fellow chorister Ronald Jewell.

In 2011, Big Lady Justice sang as a fellow chorister with Ronald Jewell accompanied by the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra.

Arlington National Cemetery

November 11th should be a holiday in Ontario in honour of all individuals who sacrified their lives for our freedom.

U.S. Election 2012

Big Lady Justice is eagerly awaiting to see tomorrow's U.S. Election.

Although Mitt Romney has the potential to cause a major upset, Big Lady Justice knows that Obama will be re-elected for his second term.

In 2000, Big Lady Justice lived in Boston, Massachusetts. Politically, it was exciting times. Just prior to the election, many voters in Massachusetts and Rhode Island were undecided. For a month, people speculated on who the next President would be. What a shame that George Bush stole the Presidency in 2000 from Al Gore.

Big Lady Justice suspects tomorrow will not be as close as the 2000 election, but will be watching with great interest.

President Harper meanwhile is presently in India, but we all know it's really China he's after.  Over 60,000 Canadians flooded President Harper's Inbox recently with letters about the Canada-China FIPA last week.

Stockwell Day replied to Big Lady Justice's email on to him (and Ed Fast, John Baird, Roth, etc) about the Canada-China FIPA. Stockwell Day politely thanked Big Lady Justice for her comments & lyrics, and said that ". .. your perpsective is helpful to me." Why, Stockwell, you're welcome.