Canadian News Roundup

- Native protesters in Caledonia, Ontario have decided to take down their barricades in an effort to show the community that they mean no ill will to the residents, following a violent clash between native and non-natives on Monday. Negotiations over the land claim dispute will continue but could likely take years.

- A UN report by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights criticizes Canada over concerns about the lack of ineligibility for the Employment Insurance program (only 39% of the unemployed qualify), minimum wage rates, eviction procedures, and cuts to social assistance transfer payments - among other issues. There is no response yet from the Conservative government.

The Toronto Star has more:

Welfare benefits in most provinces have dropped in value in the past 10 years and often amount to less than half of basic living costs, a UN watchdog group charged yesterday.

The employment insurance program needs to be more accessible, minimum wages don't meet basic needs, and homelessness and inadequate housing amount to a "national emergency," says the UN body's report from Geneva.

Amen to that. As one of 'Canada's poor' (due to chronic illness), I can tell you that access to adequate housing is practically non-existent, especially in a city like Calgary that is booming due to the oil patch activity. The agency that handles low income housing for the city won't even tell apllicants how long the waiting list is because it's quite well-known that, even before the current boom hit, that list was 2+ years long. The welfare rate for an employable single person in Alberta is ~$400/month. The disability pension (AISH - Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped) offered by the Conservatives to the approximately 30,000 residents who qualify in Alberta was recently increased to $1000/month after being held at $855/month for well over a decade - much less than the actual costs of living in this province. There simply is no political will at the provincial or federal level to raise these standards. Collectively, poor and sick people have no voice and we certainly don't have the money or power to lobby politicians.

- PM Stephen Harper announced $40 million in aid for Darfur.

Last week, the UN's Security Council voted unanimously yesterday to begin the process of establishing a UN peacekeeping force to end the slaughter of civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan. Mr. Harper has said previously that Canadian troops wouldn't be required but that Canada would send logistical support along with Western allies.

Because Harper's government has recently extended Canada's committment to the war in Afghanistan, we don't have any troops to send on a peacekeeping mission to Darfur. That is a national shame.

Some two million children face starvation and disease in Darfur, according the the CEO of UNICEF. A paltry contribution of $40 million without the presence of an adequate number of peacekeeping forces in the region to ensure the aid will actually be delivered to the people is nothing but a crass political move by Harper.