On the DEWLine 2.0: Dwight Williams

"Petition to the Government of Canada
Whereas:

Passenger rail is a safe, efficient, sustainable, affordable, and accessible mode of public transportation;
Due to federal cutbacks and underinvestment over many years, Canada’s current passenger rail services lag far behind those available in other countries;
Since its creation in 1978, VIA Rail has lacked both the legislative mandate and stable budget necessary to maintain and expand passenger rail service in Canada;
While VIA Rail's on-time performance on tracks it owns is over 90 percent, it is only 60 percent on tracks it shares with other railways;
Rail privatization and outsourcing schemes in other countries have led to higher fares, reduced service, deteriorating safety performance, and lower salaries for workers;
Unlike other public passenger rail providers around the world, VIA Rail lacks representation from passengers and workers on its board of directors; and
In its Corporate Plan, VIA has warned that its long-distance fleet, built in the 1950s, is overdue for replacement, without which it will soon be unable to provide services in Atlantic and Western Canada.

We, the undersigned, Residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:
1. Incorporate the contents of Bills C-371, the Rail Passenger Priority Act, and C-236/C-640 (41-2) the VIA Rail Canada Act, in a Government Bill and prioritize its passage through the legislative process;
2. Commit, in the 2024 federal budget, the funds necessary to renew VIA Rail’s long-distance fleet;
3. Provide passenger and worker representation on VIA Rail’s board of directors; and
4. Revise the High Frequency Rail project to protect VIA Rail’s role in delivering public passenger rail service along the Windsor to Quebec City corridor."

https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4754

If you're a Canadian and you want the provinces to remain accountable for what they spend on health care...

https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4113&s=04

Noting this entry today re: the push to get vaccine production ramped up as fast as possible, and the need to seek patent waivers to that end...

https://deepad.dreamwidth.org/89948.html

I've done a search on this website:

https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Home/Index

You can see for yourselves using the latter website's search function - as of 26 April 2021 - that Canada does not have a petition before our Parliament to that same end. There are such petitions on record addressing the legislatures of the US, UK, and EU and I'd like to discuss how to phrase such to best effect WRT the Canadian government with whoever's interested and willing.

Note: if such a petition is on record and unknown to me, please correct me ASAP!

The story as reported so far is here:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/indigenous-official-languages-petition-1.5494939

I've said it before, and admitting that I'm descended from European immigrants up front alongside that fact, that if I had my way, every Canadian would be fluent in - at mimimum! - four languages: English, French, one Indigenous language, and one more from anywhere else on the planet. Partly as a matter of beefing up our brain-skill-set in general and partly as a matter of ethics.

Jenna Robar's proposal strikes me as perfectly in line with my thoughts, and I am inclined to see it as one more in a set of potential job-creation engines for Canada to power its future with.

And if you want a look at the petition itself?

https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-2453&fbclid=IwAR0Drp6vAcTQeDNQWkQ_XqUzjIHubSfkgEayElQKL4a5dO9A6h58sAUjq2w

Yes, I'm signing the petition.

I signed this earlier tonight. Seems like a good idea. We have Section 2 of the Charter for our speech protections, but there are such things as reasonable limits. The Charter itself admits to such things as possible. (Yes, we have to make sure this doesn't get abused, perverted against the people it's meant to protect...such as we saw Doug Ford threaten to do with the Notwithstanding Clause in recent months.)

https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-2019

As you may recall, Canadian content on Canadian TV is something of a personal cause. We've got a few in circulation on the web at the moment related to that subject.

For the preservation of This is Wonderland.

For the preservation of Da Vinci's City Hall.

For the sale of CODCO, a variety show of some note for its comedic quality from Newfoundland and Labrador, on DVD format.

FYI Notice: I watched the first two almost religiously, so I'm definitely biased. The latter, I've heard good things about from friends and neighbours.