With the all too predictable absurdity of the G8 and G20 Circus’ behind us, and life returning to normal — for both the privileged minority and, sadly, a disadvantaged majority — it’s business as usual, as they say. Nothing productive has or ever will result for the masses from these meetings. In fact the opposite is more likely the case (see Naomi Klein’s piece, Sticking the public with the bill…, published in the Globe and Mail, today).
However I think it’s much more productive — more than getting into a low stakes pissing contest with disgruntled city citizens who have little to no understanding of what’s being protested — to highlight an issue that is most definitely related to the policies that were discussed, over the weekend, and have largely been forgotten by mainstream media. That being Haiti. The aftermath of the January 12th earthquake. And the reality facing Haitians, nearly 6 month’s later…
I’d simply like to point you towards a piece Yves Engler wrote for Rabble.ca on June 10, called, Haitians See Canada as ‘The Occupiers’;
“Despite the crying need for housing, schooling and basic sanitation, since the earthquake Ottawa has ramped up spending on prisons and police. In the past two months they’ve announced $44 million in new spending on a police and prison system that has been massively expanded and militarized since the Feb. 2004 U.S./France/Canada coup. This $44 million is on top of $15 million put up a month before the quake and more than $50 million in the previous five years. Much to the delight of Haiti’s über class-conscious elite, Ottawa has taken the lead in strengthening the repressive arm of the Haitian state. Moral implications be damned…”
Read it!