God Bless the Bridgestone Tyre Corporation

I ride my motorcycle any chance I get. Some mornings in rush hour traffic it is like Road Warrior out there with the traffic so heavy and ev

eryone rushing to get to work. I’ve been in three motorcycle accidents in my life and my parents and friends always question why I continue to take the risk. I always tell them it is the meditative benefits of the ride that make the whole experience worthwhile.

My motorcycle is the one place where I am always in a totally relaxed meditative state. The more hectic the traffic, the more in the moment I remain. No matter how many close calls there are on the way to my destination, I always arrive feeling calm and refreshed. Thus is the power of meditation.

I have never been someone who has consistently taken the initiative to specifically set a time to relax and just meditate. I find the constant buzz around me while I juggle the responsibilities of my healthcare career, my school, my business, and my personal life tend to prevent me from consistently following up on my best laid plans. Yet meditation is a major part of my daily routine and one of the most beneficial byproducts of my training. It is in the unplanned moments where the opportunity to return to the here and now present themselves that I take the initiative to meditate. Whether it is a ride on my motorcycle or the weight of my cat purring on my chest, I make the most of those precious moments.

“Wait until you see God, then brake.” - Kevin Schwantz (b. 1964)

Someday

"we reforest what we clear
because we believe in generations beyond our own
knowing now that so many of us
have grown past what used to be
we can stand here today
filled with all the hope people have
when they say things like “someday”
someday we’ll be great
someday we’ll be this
or that
someday we’ll be at a point
when someday was yesterday
and all of our aspirations will pay the way
for those who on that day
look towards tomorrow
and still they say someday"

Shane Koyczan (b.1976)
Excerpt from “We Are More”

152

I met with my Member of Parliament on Friday. Even though it was ridiculously easy to secure the appointment, it was something I have always had in the back of my mind to do but have never gotten around to do it. Everyday we have opportunity to have our voice heard and impose our opinions on the world but sometimes it seems that we are too busy complaining and dealing with the frustration of feeling impotent with our situation rather than taking action. I’ve noticed that it is infinitely easier to wallow in self pity than to step out of my comfort zone.

I knew ahead of time that my meeting would only last thirty minutes so I really had to prioritize my goals beforehand. The list of topics I wished to address was quite large but I managed to narrow it down to: lack of representation due to party leader autocratic power, the war in Afghanistan, Mike Duffy’s Senate appointment, the long form census, and broken promises in the form of Bill C-16’s fixed election date law. I ended up using most of my time on the war in Afghanistan.

My MP is also the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence and ex-military. I knew going in that he would have strong opinions on Canada’s role in Afghanistan. I definitely struck a nerve when I brought up the topic and he immediately got his back arched. His belief in the role we serve and the people we are helping is so absolute that it is impossible to not respect the man’s passion for the mission. What really impressed me was that despite his vested interest in his opinion and his extremely busy schedule, he listened to my concerns patiently with an open mind.



I have always understood why we are in Afghanistan and the good that can come out from the mission. I may not agree with Canada's Afghan strategy as making the world safer in the long run, but I can understand the logic behind our actions. What I can’t accept is what seems to be our blind acceptance to the fact that 152 Canadians have died there while at home our government is actively suppressing the rights of the citizens that our soldiers are dying to protect.



Canadian citizen, Abousfian Andelrazik, was stranded in the Sudan for years because the Canadian Government refused to issue him travel documents and threatened to arrest anyone who helped him. This was despite the fact that Andelrazik was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Sudanese Government, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It took a Federal Court Order to force the Canadian Government to respect his rights as a Canadian citizen and allow him to come home to Canada.



Omar Khadr, a child soldier, is the youngest prisoner held in Guantanamo Bay. A Canadian, he is the only Western citizen remaining in Guantanamo but he is unique in that Canada has refused to seek extradition or repatriation. This is despite the urgings of Amnesty International, UNICEF, and the Canadian Bar Association, and despite the ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada that Kahdr’s constitutional rights had clearly been violated. After eight years in custody, Omar Khadr has not even stood trial let alone been convicted of any crime.



My plea to my MP was to consider the effect our government’s actions were having on the morale of our troops in Afghanistan, their citizens at home, and how these actions are furthering the cause of the Islamic extremist minority. What possible security risk could it be to Canada to have us do the right thing and protect the rights of all our citizens no matter their race or religion? Having Abousfian Andlrazik or Omar Khadr sit in a Canadian detention centre as opposed to trapping them in a foreign land while their predicaments are worked out does not put any of us at greater risk and it reinforces the ideal that as a Canadian, we all have rights and the protection of those rights are guaranteed by our citizenship.

I want to thank my MP, Laurie Hawn, for listening to my concerns with an open mind and allowing me to have my voice heard. I have a much better understanding and appreciation for the challenges you face as an elected official and you have my absolute respect for your honesty and your ability to communicate your viewpoints concisely and directly. If all our elected officials have the integrity I sense that you possess, our country is in good hands.

“Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. When our community is in a state of peace, it can share that peace with neighboring communities, and so on.” - The Dalai Lama (b. 1935)

Da-Da-Da, Da-Di-Da, Da-Di-Da

I have never been a big fan of politics nor have I ever belonged to a political party. In my experience, political parties seem more interested in serving their own agendas than they are in representing the people who they were elected to serve. Government policy tends to be more about securing the next election than it is about securing the future of the country.

As I mature I am slowly realizing that if I want my voice as a social and environmental activist heard, I have to become more politically savvy and active. With government policy being dictated by election strategy, we as individuals hold great power in determining the future of our country. If enough individuals are speaking up and holding our government representatives accountable for representing our views, we are going to be heard.

This Friday I have been granted a thirty minute meeting with my member of parliament. I was pretty surprised and impressed at how accessible he is. It will be a challenge to keep my thoughts and words concise enough to get my concerns across without letting things get so bogged down that I do not accomplish my goal. I have to remind myself that I need to plant the seeds of change, not expect instant results from a single thirty minute meeting.

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” - Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968)

Activism

George Galloway is now permitted to enter Canada. His access was denied because he was considered a terrorist supporter by the Canadian Government. No, he did not detonate any bombs or launch an attack on innocent people. George Galloway organized a shipment of humanitarian aid to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. It is hard not to agree with the Federal Court’s decision to rule the Government’s ban of George Galloway as inappropriate and politically self serving when the Canadian Government itself also sent aid to Gaza.

What was really at play here was an attempt by the Canadian Government to prevent an outspoken critic of the war on Afghanistan from keeping his Canadian speaking engagements. There have been 152 Canadians killed in Afghanistan fighting for the rights and values our government is avidly trying to suppress. When I see people actively encouraging everyone to “Support Our Troops”, I wonder exactly what they are asking. The best possible support we can give to our troops in Afghanistan is to hold our elected representatives accountable for protecting the rights of ALL Canadian citizens and abiding by the laws of the land. If lives are going to be lost, they should be lost in support of our values as Canadians, not the political ambitions of our elected officials.

Entire political agendas and strategies are based upon our population’s general apathy and willingness to allow our naivete to rule our decisions and accept politically motivated propaganda. Activism is the key to reform and education is the key to activism.

“First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.” - Martin Niemˆller (1892 - 1984)