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What's Going On in Canada?
Jack Action writes "Up in Canada, the Privacy Commissioner of the province of British Columbia is recommending an immediate freeze on all outsourcing of public data to US-connected firms, Reuters and the CBC are reporting. After extensive consultations, the Privacy Commissioner has found that the USA Patriot Act threatens the private data of citizens even if they don't live in the USA (repeat: non-Americans are at risk). You can visit the Commissioners website, and download a summary or the full report." And reader digity writes "The long-standing Canadian battle on grey-market satellite dishes took a surprising turn in a Quebec courtroom yesterday. The grounds: freedom of expression. Yet another reason to come to the Great White North!"
Let me be the first to congratulate Canada on now being able to watch free DirecTV again. While us americans get sued for buying card programmers.
Let freedom ring.
The grass is always greener...
I found out that my Bank Visa card is vulnerable to this sort of crap because they've outsourced data management to an american firm. Guess what card just got the scissor treatment?
If enough Canadians who value their privacy take similar action we might see some amendments to the patriot act introduced. Fighting terrorism, etc. has been, and always will, be of secondary importance to the american government. It's business that really matters to them, and we're one of the few nations on Earth that do enough trade with the U.S. to place an effective ammount of pressure on them to do away with laws that compromise the privacy of citizens from other countries. At the very least we can pressure them into modifying the patriot act so that it only effects U.S. citizens. After all, did we elect Bush?
Okay okay... We don't really know who or *if* Bush was elected, but we damned well know it wasn't us who did it!
The US is no longer considered the ideal place for many types of businesses, and anti-american sentiments are definitely growing in europe and asia.
With more and more privacy-invading legislation being installed, the US will rapidly become unusable to any business that has trade secrets to protect, or deals with private customer data.
Canada has put in a nice document with recommendations what most of the world already knows and acts on.
This is not entirely true. According to the EU Data Protection Directive, in order for data to be transferred out of the EU/EEA to third countries, the country in question has to have "adequate level of protection," cf article 25. Adequacy is determined by various factors such as existing data protection legislation and professional rules and security measures in relation to the type and sensitivity of the data being transferred.
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
you know there's something wrong in America when Bin Laden starts taunting Americans about the country's PATRIOT Act:
Bin Laden also said the Bush administration was like repressive Arab regimes "in that half of them are ruled by the military and the other half are ruled by the sons of kings and presidents."
He said the resemblance became clear when Bush's father was president and visited Arab countries.
"He wound up being impressed by the royal and military regimes and envied them for staying decades in their positions and embezzling the nation's money with no supervision," bin Laden said.
"He passed on tyranny and oppression to his son, and they called it the Patriot Act, under the pretext of fighting terror. Bush the father did well in placing his sons as governors and did not forget to pass on the expertise in fraud from the leaders of the (Mideast) region to Florida to use it in critical moments."
Obvious disclaimer: I in no way support terrorism, or even the use of force in conflicts unless there is no other alternative. I also consider Bin Laden a piece of shit, but that doesn't mean he hasn't got a point above.
-- james
This is something we should all, in Canada, fight to prevent. In the case of US firms or US citizens, Canadians shouldnt have a right to tell the US how to dictact its policy, but when it comes to Canadian citizens, the US should keep its nose out of where its not wanted. Another thing that irks me, is that this sort of information sharing between countries has been going on for a long long time. Most countries do not have a 'patriot act' to allow blantant civil rights abuses [ie: No privacy for John and Jane Doe .. irregarless if they bear reason for investigation or not.] Counrties frequently monitor other countries information transactions, and then sell them back to the country of origin. Its a way for them to circumnavigate around privacy laws and legislation.
If you are outraged about this, then do something about it. But remember, this is WAY deeper than what you think, and I can bet that if you have ever had a phone conversation where your speaking about a game that includes the words bomb, kill, or president, your name has come up in a database and your calls monitored ... just long enough to verify if your a legitimate threat, or just some gamer with an over-active imagination.
sure, it means they can do this stuff more in the open, but that doesn't mean that they weren't doing it before anyway
Ohhhhhhh, they were doing it before _anyway_. That makes it ok then right? So see that is the purpose of dissent and citizen action. You oppose it when its illegal and you oppose it when its legal. Just because it IS legal, doesnt make it right. Which is becoming the ways of many many laws in the US.
...and it should be known by now
Since the UK has stricter rules than the US (the Data Protection Act), US firms handling data from the UK have to agree to follow them. (A "safe harbour agreement"). If the Patriot Act means they can't guarantee to follow the rules... then no UK company can legally send data to America.
This would extend to any data at all in which a person is uniquely identifiable...
From the summary: All levels of government in Canada must ensure that their laws are consistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that their policies and actions do not off end Charter protections. Several submissions suggested that putting British Columbians' personal information at risk of seizure under the USA Patriot Act might confl ict with privacy protection under the Charter. While we do not analyze this question, we acknowledge that Canadian courts require Charter values and rights to be considered in interpreting legislation such as BC's FOIPPA.
So I decided to look up this charter, and I found it. Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which goes to unusual lengths to tell the world that French and English are it's official languages.
Then I decided to look for the US Bill of Rights, which is located not on a website with the words "law" and "justice" in the URL, but rather on "archives.gov" and what I'm reading is a Transcript of the Bill of Rights, as if it's chronicling an event and not informing me of my rights.
And I noticed the transcript of the Fifth Amendment: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger , and I contrasted it with Canada's charter: 9. Everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned. 10. Everyone has the right on arrest or detention a) to be informed promptly of the reasons therefor; b) to retain and instruct counsel without delay and to be informed of that right; and c) to have the validity of the detention determined by way of habeas corpus and to be released if the detention is not lawful. Period, end of sentance, no "except."
Is America more interested in the history of it's laws than in the current reality? Are we, under the Patriot Act, in a constant state of "public danger" and therefore subject to being held, as I've heard people have been, without being told the crime they're being held for, with no court date, and no trial. What a strange, and convoluted time we live in that we are in a constant state of being the exception and not the rule.
I am currently involved in a startup in Dubai of all places. When orginally planning where to set up things, quite many places were considered, but in the end this place won.
The reasons for coming here were:
-Low regulations, but still holding contracts.
-Very low extra costs for labor above wages.
-Good availability to labor, with pragmatic immigration policy for getting emplyees from abroard.
-Working infrastructure.
-Low taxes
-Easy incorporation
-Low crime rate
In the end it basically came down to having a reasonable place with not too much bullshit and a place where we can concentrate on the thing we do... unlike Europe or US...
The best parts of it are the strip bars. Don't know what it's like now but 20 years ago we used to go up there just to spend the evening at Jason's or the Latin Quarter because the women were incredibly naked and incredibly beautiful and the exchage rate made it cheaper per dance or drink than going to an american bar right across the border. Walk down the street at 2AM and you could find old people out strolling or eating at a sidewalk cafe. And they have that great healthcare system and a penal system that seems to genuinely be about reform rather than revenge.
Don't want to leave canada? Just wait until a couple more generations get raised on that violent american TV you're so eager to import. Detroit is right across the river and, unlike the beer sellers at tiger stadium, the people who sell black market guns don't give a shit where you're from.
I do think making it illegal for someone to "import" american tv into their own home is absurd. Nice to see one government is figuring out prohibition never works. But no matter how stupid the law it's easy to see the motivation for it.
Better legalize that profitable black market drug trade before the culture shift moves in. The gunsellers are waiting...
When will the world realise that it does not have to take shit from the US?
When we realize we don't need shit from the US.
You didn't expect the American News Agencies to actually show the version that was screened with English subtitles now did you??? They show the plain Arabic version which then means that those who watch the showing have to rely on the "translation" provided over it by the news Agencies... which also means that to the average American, also appears to be just another Arabic nutter warbling along in an incomprehensible language...
Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
While it's surely a good thing that people will soon have the option of receiving foreign (i.e. States) programming, we need to look at the big picture.
m l#1097586698
:-D But free speech is rapidly becoming more and more restricted. I believe that despite what's going on in the States, they have more liberties in this regard and quite frankly, I'm jealous!
What a lot of people don't realize is the gradual demise of free speach in Canada.
Want to be fined for calling someone a queer? Maybe you deserve a bloody lip, but does 1000$ from your pocket sound better? An excellent summary of what's going on can be found on the Volokh Conspiracy (I stumbled upon it by chance): http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2004_10_07.sht
Moreover, the recent controversy surrounding the refusal of the federal communication commission (CRTC) to renew the licence of a Québec-based private radio station on the grounds that its content was inacceptable. This link, in French, provides a good résumé: http://www.quebecoislibre.org/04/040915-15.htm (Other articles include a history of the Canadian government censorship of private broadcasters.) If the libertarian blog "Le Québécois Libre" isn't to your taste, you can surely find the story on the CBC's or Radio Canada's web site.
Canada is a great place. Québec even better.
This is an example of why the US citizenry has the strange experience of people from all over the globe pitching in on their election. The empire (that they don't have) consists of surveillance, business interests, and >700 military bases installed in foreign countries.
Yes, who wins your election will have hegemony (well, dominating power) over us. It IS our business.
Damn those pesky terrorists
I also don't support violence and terrorism, but Bin Laden really described my own view of the USA's current state (which is beginning to look like the old USSR if you ask me).
And when a terrorist shares the same view as a Canadian, you should really start to think about where the problem REALLY is... (you really think terrorists are attacking the USA for no good reasons? How about "the USA should stop invading/attacking/trying to rule other countries", is that a good enough reason for ya?)
The fact that a Canadian firm has a US parent doesn't excuse that company from giving away data entrusted to it by any Canadian government to any other firm or government not authorized to receive it by the same Canadian government
It's not just a US parent that's a risk, but even Canadian companies (such as the major banks) that own subsidiaries in the US - Royal Bank owns Liberty Insurance and several bank chains, TD owns an investment arm and some bank chains, BMO owns some bank chains. The US government can technically use the subsidiaries to weasle through to obtain information on the whole enterprise.
You still have to pay for the sat service, not doing so is theft.
However; gettting CA tv in the US also requires some
subterfuge. Yes some people like CA tv!
Two examples; Royal Ca Air Farce, 22 minutes, the National, french language programing, Le Porte des Attoilles (star gate). (so I can't count).
So what colour of propaganda was Bin Laden's speech? Was it white (truth), black (lies) or grey (you don't know)?
"Oh God help us. We're in the hands of engineers."
What exactly are you talking about in terms of innovation?
I live in the West End here in Vancouver. Think of it as San Francisco, but Canadian. Once again, this repressiveness that you speak of is not due to any law, but the people that you surround yourself with. That my friends is Middle Canada (coining term), and every nation has one, irrespective of the laws of the country.The only meaningful statistic in that is 13% visible minorities (I checked the Census, and it is true; I doubted it because my university is around 40% white), but the true utter idiocy is to equate diversity with equality. Yeah, the US has a large percentage minorities, but you, on the whole, hate each other. Yeah, there are bigots here, and even the occasional police racial profiling scandal, but they're not anywhere near as common as in the US, and they're certainly not the norm, as they seem to be there. There's far less hate, and not just superficial acceptence, like in America, but actual.
Yes, there are grouped ethnic neighborhoods in most of our cities, but everyone goes everywhere freely and happily; we intermingle and we fully embrace what diversity we have. And these neighborhoods are usually the result of a wave of immigration, and the inhabitants spread out among the general populace, again without a "there goes the neighborhood" sentiment. It's a 1- or 2-generation immigrant thing, not a racial thing. Also, no one gives interracial couples a second glance; hell, I wouldn't even know this was an issue if I hadn't seen people (trying badly to hide their) staring at an Asian guy with a white girl, while on vacation in LA.
Yeah, the Quebec Language Gestapo is a problem. I didn't say we were perfect, and it's only a problem in our "deep south" in the east centre. Frankly, I suck at French and don't much like having had to learn it, but it makes us unique. I've heard some pretty convincing arguments for the policy, but they've only temporarily swayed me. Again, we're not perfect, but I'd certainly rather have to learn French than Doublespeak. (burn!)
But the dumbest thing I think I've ever read (and, after due consideration, I really believe that) is your 2nd last paragraph. Paraphrased and annotated:
Canada's population is dying off because of your acceptence of gay people, who wouldn't be gay if you denied them basic human rights, and who don't constitute the same percentage of the population as in the US, destroying our birth rate and forcing us to accept filthy stinking immigrants (who we let in only if they'll be going straight on welfare and staying there forever, to their children's childeren's children, and couldn't possibly contribute to our society in any way), leading to *shudder* diversity (which, as I said in my 1st paragraph, is a bad thing) all of whom are gay. Furthermore, I have absolutely no clue that many of Canada's major cities' anti-smoking laws are actually a point of shame as being among the most fascist on the books, and smoking is at an all-time low and falling. Worst of all, everybody's always overdosing on The Mary-jewanna, raising healthcare costs (note: medical-grade Doritos, maybe?), which costs much more than imprisoning a tenth of our population for such a horribly harmful and victim-ridden crime.
Not much more to say, really. Canadians are much more socially liberal and accepting than Americans, on the whole, and if you think that's a bad thing, I'll very intolerantly and unliberally tell you to fuck off until your mind opens a pinprick (hey, I'm not that patient; I like to help people further open their minds (ie, learn), but it's beyond me to breach it in the first place). You knew you were wrong, which is why you posted AC. Again, I'm always a sucker for trolls.
Except, what you say in your point one is not true.
Try reading the criminal code if you are concerned about it. The hate crimes laws are fairly specific. You can hate people all you want. It becomes a crime when you are inciting violence (in several forms, including illegal public disturbances) against an identifiable group of people. The wording is sometimes claimed to have some looseness, but the intent is fairly clear in actual case histories.
To put it into context, this section of the criminal code starts out addressing specifically the promotion of genocide. This is extreme. But all of the related sections follow this similar theme.
You conclude: "the full truth deserves to be out there so people can make informed decisions". I won't address your other points, because they are as misinformed as your first... over blown, out of context, based on uninformed opinions, etc.
No offence.
Yeah, cause Fox does such a better job.
If you think the Canadian government dictates what the CBC can say, you've obviously never listened to the CBC. The same goes for the BBC.
Canadians are very much aware that a government owned news service could be tampered with, so the slightest move to do so is enough to sink a government. It's pure political poison. Nobody fucks with the CBC--not the government, not the courts, not CSIS, not the RCMP, not even the big corporations. They always lose. Ask Monsanto, who had Fox dancing like a trained bear, but who CBC had bent over counting shower tiles and squealing like a pig. This is the 900 lb gorilla that will eat your ass like pate on a cracker. The only thing that matters is good journalism. If the CBC gets the story wrong, it makes the government looks bad.
Want to commit political suicide in Canada? Try to censor the CBC. Wait one hour for the story to break nationwide. Canadians take this very personally. Have your letter of resignation handy. And make sure you have your resumes circulating in the private sector, because you will NEVER work in the public sector again.