Its not all Idyllic & Rosy

I live out in the country side for a reason, I love the ability to stroll my nature trail any time I feel like it, I love watching the birds and flowers come and go with the seasons, I love the quiet that allows me to hear those first birds of spring long before I see them. It is indeed an idyllic existence in some ways and at some times, but it is not always so. Being on good terms with ones neighbor is particularly important for most of us who live in rural areas, whist the property lines may be further apart than in urban areas the guy next door, be it 300ft away or 3km away, is your best friend in the case of need. Thus it is hard to infringe upon the neighbours use of his property or the daily activities that take place up the road, we tend to be tolerant of chain saws running, of noisy farm machinery taking in crops and even of tractors or 4wheelers running around gathering wood or checking the cattle fences. These things are necessary operations and rarely can be heard for more than an hour or so, we make our fair share of noise here at times, cutting the acre or so of grass, getting our own and customers equipment running correctly, cussing the weedeater that wont start and so on. BUT the last couple of years I have been increasingly intolerant of my nearest neighbors activities, or to be more precise his sons activities.

The lad across the road, now about 10 or so, saw another neighbors kids who only visit their next door Canadian property a few times a year (fortunately), on their dirt bikes and 4wheelers and with the help of his dad got hooked!

Now I don’t want to spoil any kids 'fun' but listening to dirt bikes and 4wheelers roar around 300 feet away for hours is not my favorite way of spending an afternoon relaxing outside in this exceptional warm March weather. Fortunately his wheels of choice have (or had) a reasonable muffler on it which if he didn’t persist in roaring around in the front yard (rather than the back 20 acres where it would be audible but not so annoying) would be bearable. However it seems that after a couple of years of this he now has 'friends' with similar toys, one of which is a dirt bike of the 'if its has no muffler it must go faster' type. Today rather than sit outside and listen to the birds I was forced to listen to the new motocross venue 300 or 400 feet away for almost 3 hours, to say I was not impressed would be putting it mildly!

My neighbour and I get along fairly well, he keeps an eye on my property whist I am away and I keep an eye on his, we each respect each other privacy and help each other out when needed...... and thats the way I want to keep it. So its going to be a difficult conversation when next we meet, how to point out that had I wanted to live next to a race track I could have purchased a property down the road in Varney next to one, how I don’t want to spoil the kids fun but that such activity (replete with noisy or non existent mufflers) is intolerable for me, how perhaps limiting the activity to the back 40 rather than closer to our residence would help, and how quiet rural neighbourhood are not the place for motocross bikes with straight through exhausts.

Its a conversation that it was good NOT to have this afternoon because after several hours of screaming exhaust noise I was ready to kill, and the conversation would have included a number of explicit descriptions of my thoughts about kids, dirt bikes, noisy neighbours and respect or the lack thereof.

At this point I can only hope that this motocross afternoon was a one off, I am not holding my breath at this point but if it occurs again then that difficult conversation will become a high priority....... if I don’t totally loose it first at tell them exactly where to stick their dirt bike!

Its not all sun and roses out here.

GPC Launches Robogate.ca

During the 2011 federal election, Canadians in many targeted ridings across the country were contacted by automated calls (robocalls) and individuals providing false and misleading information.

These offensive tactics were deliberately used to weaken Canada's electoral process, discourage people from participating in our democratic system, and in some cases preventing people from voting.. These actions are crimes, under the Elections Act.  The extent of the black ops political interference may rise to the level of election fraud.  

The existence of a well-orchestrated, complex and extensive scheme to interfere with the right of Canadians to vote is far more serious than the sponsorship scandal.  

Since this story broke on February 23^rd we have received over 12,000 emails from concerned Canadians on this issue.  This attack upon our cherished democratic institutions demands an immediate response. 

Last May, Elizabeth submitted a formal complaint to the Commissioner of Canada Elections regarding the numerous complaints she received in regards to fraudulent robo-calls.

On Monday, Elizabeth May rose in the House to request an emergency debate on this issue. Though this request was denied Elizabeth remains a vocal and informed voice on this issue in the media calling for a formal independent inquiry and changes to our electoral system.

March 3rd, Elizabeth joined Toronto-Danforth by-election candidate Adriana Mugnatto-Hamu for a press conference to outline the Green Cleaning Solutions for Dirty Politics. 

As part of this plan the Green Party suggests that the resources and powers of investigation for Elections Canada be expanded and rules added to the Elections Act to specifically prohibit impersonation of any government body or political party in phoning or communicating by any means with voters. In addition, Elections Canada investigations must be completed in a speedier fashion.

Today we launch our own campaign to allow the voice of Canadians to be heard on this critical issue.

Robogate.ca will help Elizabeth May turn up the heat on the Conservatives to call an independent inquiry into this scandal.

Here’s how you can help:

• Report your experience with Robocalls.
• Sign the petition calling for a full independent public inquiry.
• Share the page on your social networks.

Here’s what Robogate.ca will do:

• Engage Canadians to speak out on this issue and demand a public inquiry;
• Keep people informed about the investigation and provide all the latest developments;
• Provide evidence of the election fraud as the investigation unfolds;
• Enable Elizabeth May, Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands and Leader of the Green Party of Canada to demand a public inquiry in the House of Commons by tabling petitions. 

Tune in to hear the latest from the Hill, as well as media from around the country.

...........................................

Further information and ongoing insight into this Election Fraud can be found at Democracy Under Fire, The Sixth Estate, and many other news and blog sites on-line.

Lying Cheats or Cheating Liars?

Despite all the efforts to deflect the allegations of electoral manipulation it is now pretty clear that thousands of phone calls were made, both automated and from 'call centers' during the last election specifically designed to piss folks off enough that they would fail to vote. Whether they misdirected voters to a non existent poll location by pretending to be from Elections Canada or harassed folks late at night pretending to be an obnoxious Liberal or NDP caller it also seems pretty clear that said calls were aimed at anyone but Conservative supporters. The spin emerging from that party, who lets face it are the masters of spin and have an ever increasing department dedicated to producing it, is starting to fall apart, the lies are floating to the surface of the scum that passes for accountability these days.

I will not here even try and detail all the revelations over the last week or so, you may have seen SOME references to them in the MSM but for the most part that is only part of the picture, our on line community are gathering vast amounts of information yet to hit the evening news. Whilst you may have heard about the 31,000 complaints that EC has received (a massive increase over any previous volume) you may not have seen all the riding where citizens and opposition partys have come forward with allegations of wrongdoing, that currently being 77 riding and climbing daily. See the Sixth Estate list for an up to date list with links.

Over on my other blog at Democracy Under Fire I have added a permanent page where I will try and keep up with the major developments in this affront to our democracy. Only public pressure will get to the bottom of this, the Harper Regime has to date shown no willingness to commission a full public inquiry (hardy surprising given their distaste for ANY factual information on anything) and Elections Canada do not seem to to have the resources or the urgency needed having taken till now to reveal that they were 'investigating' complaints from just one riding (Guelph) and still have no real 'evidence' as to the perpetrators.

If you received such a call or are aware of any other interference with the election process it is not to late to make a complaint to Elections Canada or simply add to the Sixth Estate's database of fraudulent calls. This is Canada not one of those countries where a dictator fixes the election to suit his own needs...... or then again, maybe it is!

RVN Survey now online.

This is just a heads up to inform my readers that the 'Let Your Voice Be Heard' Public Survey sponsored by the Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario via their project titled the 'Rural Voices Network' is now available online. The survey is the culmination of a one year project which included a series of forums to identify what questions to ask and what issues were important to rural citizens. Having just completed the survey I can say that it looks like they are asking all the right questions, the question then becomes what will become of the report to be issued in late June.

I originality became involved in this project in that part of the outcome desired was to establish a “Web portal designed to foster a living ‘Rural Voices Network’ to “facilitate community engagement and collaboration through online forums.”. As far as I know at this point in time this development of a major online forum is dependent upon both the result of the survey and receiving funding for the project to extend beyond the first year. This is something that is being pursued but has not yet, as far as I know, materialized. Whilst the results of the survey and the ensuing report will no doubt be very interesting, unless it leads to some PRACTICAL ways of enhancing rural communications and collaboration it is in danger of becoming just another report gathering dust on the shelf, and there is quite a pile of those there already!

One of the best of those is the Senate report Beyond Freefall: Halting Rural Poverty. Here is a summary of parts of the report:-

http://ruralcanadian.blogspot.com/2008/10/senate-report-on-rural-canada.html

Full report (2.4 Mb PDF)

http://www.parl.gc.ca/39/2/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/agri-e/rep-e/rep09jun08-e.htm

Of particular interest in these discussions may be their recommendation to have more government services available from rural post offices (how about some of those Service Canada 'services') and their commentary on the need (indeed necessity) for rural residents to own and operate a vehicle.

Here are some posts regarding the governments dismal response, with links:-

http://ruralcanadian.blogspot.com/2009/12/response-to-beyond-freefall-report.html

http://ruralcanadian.blogspot.com/2009/12/response-to-beyond-freefall-report-part_26.html

http://ruralcanadian.blogspot.com/2009/12/response-to-beyond-freefall-report-part.html

Also of interest may be the National Symposium on How to Build a Sustainable Rural Canada entitled One Vision, Many Voices held in Edmonton, Alberta in July of 2008

My synopsis and comments

http://ruralcanadian.blogspot.com/2009/05/one-vision-many-voices.html

The report can be found here (36 pages - 3.9Mb PDF)

http://www.ruralmatters.ca/content/view/47/3

The net result of these reports and meetings of which I have only mentioned a small proportion has been basically ZERO! So whilst I encourage my fellow rural residents to fill in the survey (which can be found here) , I also encourage those who may wish to sponsor a comprehensive online forum or those who may have particular expertise in that area to contact The Rural Voices Network and offer funds or support in this regard. In these days of government austerity we may not get much help from that direction, but with a comprehensive on line forum at least we could coordinate our response to changes, share ideas for community development and perhaps save a village or two from disappearing into obscurity. You may comment upon the RVN project or add to the discussions at the online forum which may be viewed here, you will need to register however to post to the forum.

(a note for dial up users, have patience the survey site is a little slow to respond and comprised of about 6 pages totaling about 1.5mb – but prizes can be won upon completion!)

Mennonites show how its done!

A recent trip to the Elmira area made me aware of The Elmira Produce Auction Co-operative, an auction center for local produce that has met with enormous success and has spawned an increase in market garden operations in the area as well as providing existing farmers with an outlet for their produce. It seem like we have a lot to learn from this Mennonite community, this is a model that should be followed across the country to provide LOCAL fresh food in large quantities to local retailers as well as supporting our struggling produce growers.

Below are a couple of clips from an information PDF, for more Google “mennonite+produce+auction “

The Elmira Produce Auction Co-operative is Canada’s first wholesale produce auction and it is an important part of the closely-knit Mennonite community north of Kitchener-Waterloo. As a result of the BSE crisis Mennonite beef farmers began to explore other avenues of agricultural production. They started growing more vegetables and fruits but needed a way to sell their products if they chose not to market directly to the public. ......

The auction occurs three times a week during the summer season and once a week in the spring and fall in the co-op’s 8,000 square foot building in Elmira. Preference is given to produce grown within a 75 kilometre radius; however, if there is space the management will give the approval for producers that have traveled greater distances to sell at the auction..........

Both small- scale and larger producer members sell at the produce auction. This creates a variety of different vegetables and fruits as well as varying quantities of pro- duce which helps the buyers who come from a range of backgrounds. The largest group of buyers tend to be farmers’ market vendors or farmers with farm gate businesses. Grocery stores and universities also regularly partake in the auction to source the locally-grown produce. The co-operative has experienced a 600 percent increase in sales since it began in 2004. The auction doubled in sales every year for the first three years of operation and increased 30 percent in 2008. Because the auction is gaining in popularity, the co-operative decided to expand the building and parking lot for the 2009 season.............

In 2008, the auction sold 210,000 pounds of tomatoes, 160,000 pounds of potatoes, 14,000 cases of lettuce, 4,100 bins of watermelons, 100,000 pounds of carrots, 269 boxes of asparagus and a long list of other products.

http://www.coopscanada.coop/public_html/assets/firefly/files/files/Coop_Profiles/Elmira_Produce_Auction_Co-operative.pdf

Mothers fur coat?

Out here in the country we like to keep a few chickens to provide us with fresh eggs and a couple of months ago we found one of our flock with the neck tore out laying on the floor of the pen, obviously a weasel had set up shop nearby and decided that our chickens looked like an easy meal. After loosing a couple more to the same predator we caged them up at night in a cage with small enough mesh to stop said carnivore, that being about ¾” as it seems that they can squeeze through 1' holes as our lack of success in trapping them in the following weeks with a large live trap proved.

After a few weeks we again let the chickens out at night, it being a major hassle to cage them each night and the heated water supply not being suited for the smaller cage, and thought for a while that he had buggered off. But no, it was not to be within a week he was back reducing our flock again and even killing our Pea hen. At that point I gave up, opened the pen to the yard and let the remainder (2 hens and a Peacock) roam hoping that they could escape execution, but that move also was in vain as we now just have Mr P remaining, he having abandoned the pen entirely and making his home on the edge of the bush by out garden shed.

At this point none of us had actually seen the rotten little killer but a couple of days ago my son was getting some wood from the woodshed attached to the bird pen and saw a long white skinny animal with a black tip to his furry tail, yep, we have an Ermine.........

I don’t really care how nice a fur coat he has, he is still dead meat if I can ever catch him, and my efforts in that regard continue. Over the years I have had, and dealt with, foxes & racoons taking domestic birds but this guy so far has out smarted me being able to get into, and out of, just about anywhere or anything. Back in the bush I have great tolerance for our wild animals and in fact encourage them with brush piles and minimal disturbance but when they migrate up to the house, sorry but they have to go!

Its always a tough balance between the wild and human habitat but having provided and maintained a bush area for our wild critters I feel no compunction to put up with their invading my space even though I know I have invaded theirs. Each of us must find their own level of tolerance but when wild life starts endangering health, domestic flocks, pets or even children, as has happened recently in some cities then perhaps one has to 'bite the bullet' so to speak and take action.

And that’s the way it looks here in these wooded hills as the hunt continues.

Gathering Rural Voices.

Regular readers, the few that I have, will know that I have been encouraging rural folks to become involved in the Ontario Womens Institute Rural Voices initiative, unfortunately whilst they did get a great response at their recent public forum in Ridgetown the on line participation can only be described as disappointing. I suspect that this is in part due to the fact that it often takes months or even years for users to 'find' a new web page, blog or forum of interest to them given the enormous volume of 'stuff' on the internet. (There are just over 100 mentions in the last 3 months according to a Google search and 3 or 4 % of those are MY posts!) I will even go further and say that even the WIs own members seem to be avoiding getting involved, at least in the on line comments and survey questions. Very discouraging!

I am aware only too well of the challenges faced by many rural citizens to get connected to the internet and that only a small portion of those that are will seek such information or involvement, but given the rural population of Ontario is around 1.8 million you would think a few would find it and use it.

As I said above part of the problem may well be finding such sites of interest to rural folks and in that regard I have a proposal, some of you may be aware of a number of 'Aggregators ' on line which collect posts from blogs, news sites, or other on line sources and post a short clip of each new article along with a link to the full post as and when they appear. Such sites are usually directed to a specific subject like the CanadianGreens or ProgressiveBloggers for example.

My proposal is to create a Rural Aggregator that would collect feeds from rural bloggers, rural support and advocacy groups and similar on line posting related to rural things not only across Ontario but across Canada. Unfortunately Feedcluster is not accepting new accounts at this time but I imagine there are other such sites out there, if not independent software certainly is. The problem of getting the rural folks to be aware of such a one stop resource is still there but given time this could become a major resource to bring together the 6 million Canadians that live outside of urban areas. Perhaps such a site already exists but if so I have not found it!

We also wonder if the RVN should consider such a thing for their project. What do you think, calling all rural bloggers and organizations if you think this is a good idea let me know either by commenting here or by email (link in side bar) and if I get six or more bloggers or other who want to participate I will 'give it a go' and try creating such a site. Perhaps it could even be called 'Rural Voices' and promote the WIs other efforts in the main header?

As I say on my other Blog 'Democracy requires Dialog' but so does the sustainability of rural Canada – TALK TO US rural Canada!

UPDATE: I have been made aware of two sites that provide links to various web sites concerned with rural matters. They are not exactly what I have in mind but may be of interest to some of you, particularly researchers.

http://www.netvibes.com/ruralontarioreader#News_%26_Views
http://rural-research-network.blogspot.com/