Could Lower GST Mean Lower Standards?

I am on the PMO's (Prime Ministers Office's) mailing list for news releases. Early this morning I got a email from the PMO saying that Stephen Harper is planning to fulfil his promise to lower GST again this year to 5%. Many people may think this is good because they don't have to pay as much when you're buying something such as a book. For instance, if you're buying a book it might say it's $12.00, with 5% GST it would only be an extra $0.60 extra so the total would be $12.60. If Canada had 25% GST a $12 book would cost $15, 3 dollars extra. So that could be the good side of less GST.

Some studies show though that lower GST could mean worse health care, worse education, higher poverty rates, more drug use etc. But if you have higher GST it's exactly the opposite. With higher GST it could mean better health, better education, lower poverty rates and less drug use. This is a section of a study by the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives that explains higher standards in the Nordic Countries:

According to the study, tax cuts are disastrous for the well-being of a nation’s citizens. For example, the high-tax Nordic countries have:
lower rates of poverty, more equal income distribution, and more economic security for their workers;
- higher GDP per capita;
- higher rates of household saving and net national saving;
- greater innovation, including a higher percentage of GDP spent on research and development;
a higher ranking on their growth competitiveness by the World Economic Forum;
- higher rates of secondary school and university completion; and
- less drug use, more leisure time, and higher life satisfaction.

To see the study click here.

So I think that it would be a lot better if they started raising the money for GST so that we could all have a higher quality of life. I think that if we have to pay more for GST it's worth it if we will all have better health care, education, lower poverty and less drug use.

Gas guzzlers favoured by Harper's Tories

This was one of the headlines for the Winnipeg Free Press on December 27. Apparently Stephen Harper has purchased 844 SUV's. They defended their purchase by saying that one third of them are hybrids. Personally I don't think that's good enough. I think that a least three quarters of them should be hybrids but I'd rather have all of them be hybrids. Actually, I'd rather them have a whole different vehicle that doesn't guzzle as much gas. This paragraph from the article shows how much the government's purchase of SUV's has increased in the past years -

Even as the government offers rebates to encourage Canadians to drive more fuel-efficient cars, its own spending on SUV's rose 88 per cent over the previous year. The Public Works Department ordered 844 new SUV's last year, a large leap from the 500 purchased the year before and the 366 in 2004-05, the last full-fiscal year under a Liberal government.

This section shows that other domestic departments are also purchasing SUV's -


Some domestic departments also made large SUV purchases, including the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which is responsible for ensuring the safety of Canada's food supply. The CFIA spent more than $3 million on SUV's last year, compared to $32,236 the year before, to replace an aging fleet of vehicles.
All but two of the SUV's purchased were hybrid engines.


So unlike the SUV's that Stephen Harper purchased, the CFIA's SUV's were almost all hybrids.

To see the original article in the Winnipeg Free Press visit the Gas guzzlers favoured by Harper's Tories article.

Newspaper Delay

Lots of people who receive my newspaper are probably wondering why they haven't got it yet. Well, I'm working hard, that's for sure! It will hopefully come out very early in the new year. I am very sorry about the delay.

On a different note - I have come across a great blog written by a kid around my age. It's called Ollie's Book Blog. A recent post talks about how the Windsor city council is planning to cut the amount of money that the libraries receive. As a matter of fact the person who writes this blog is the daughter of the person who writes Scale Down Windsor. (See post from December 13) So this is a very cool blog and I suggest you check it out.

Merry Christmas!

Now the reason I have not been posting for a long time is because, of course, it's Christmas. I have been celebrating Christmas with my family and I have not had any opportunities to blog. So please keep visiting this site becasue I assure you that tomorrow I will get right back on blogging.

I hope that everyon has had a wonderful Christmas filled with hapiness and joy. So Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Suprising Votes

First of all, I know, I know, I haven't written here for a long time. I've been very busy. My poll about what people do to make their lifestyles more environmentally friendly closed a long time ago and now I need to report on it. The votes are as follows:

What do people do at home to make their lifestyles more environmentally friendly?
Recycle: 31 people with 96%
Compost: 18 people with 56%
Florescent Light bulbs: 26 people with 81%
Environmentally Friendly Power Sources: 14 people with 43%
Hybrid Car: 4 people with 12%

I'm quite surprised at how many people use environmentally friendly power sources. I expected their to be only about five. I'm also surprised that so many people use florescent light bulbs. This is very good. Even though only 4 people have a hybrid car. I didn't expect there to be a lot.

I will be putting another poll on the side soon.

"A Killer Blog"

Now which blog are you talking about? It could be the blog of some famous celebrity, or a newspaper columnist but one person thinks that my blog falls under that category. On the blog Scale Down Windsor, one of the three writers on the blog wrote a post about my blog. He had first heard of me from the Windsor Star, I guess the article just keeps spreading! He even called my blog "a killer blog." His blog seems pretty "killer" too!

One of the latest posts on the blog talked about The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. Here's a link to his blog www.scaledownwindsor.blogspot.com

Human Rights Day

I said that I would update you on how my human rights day thing went at my school so here it is.

In all, we wrote 29 letters of three different kinds. Most people wrote one, some wrote two, and some even wrote all three! Here are the three different letters that we wrote.

One to the Minister of Justice in China. It was about a journalist in China named Shi Tao who was imprisoned for sending an email. He was writing up on the anniversary of Tiannemun Square. The government had told all the journalists that this was what he had to write for the article. He then emailed the article that he was supposed to write to a correspondent in the USA saying look, this is what we have to write. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Another one to President Putin in Russia. This was about a "disappeared" student named Artur Akhmatkhanov had disappeared from his home. Artur volunteered for the Russian - Chechen Friendship Society which monitors human rights and promotes a peaceful end to conflict. Soldiers wearing masks took him from his home.

The last type of letter that we wrote was to General Than Shwe of Myanmar. It was about Aung San Suu Kyi who is the leader of the National League for Democracy which was voted for in the 1990 election. The authorities would not hand over power though. She was under house arrest for many years. In 2003, right after she was released from house arrest, she was one her way to the capital and she was attacked and arrested. She was put in jail with no charge and no trial.

I think that these were all very important topics and I'm glad that we wrote 29 letters. Visit the Write for Rights website to show were I created an account for my class and see what other people wrote about. Mine might be near the bottom. Anyway, it's a great cause and I will definitely be doing this again next year!

Write, write, write!

For those of you who don't know, tomorrow is human rights day. It is a world wide event where people write letters to the leaders of countries where people have been injustly prisoned. For instance there was a man in China who was imprisoned for 10 years for writing an email. I think that this is a big problem and I encourage everyone who reads my blog and people you know to write to leaders of countries to try to solve this problem. Here is a link to the website that has all the information: http://www.amnesty.ca/writeathon/index.php.

Tomorrow I will report on how my day went of writing letters!

Garneau 2007 Winter Concert

Last night was the 2007 Garneau Winter Concert. It was alot different from past years becasue usually we do a play or something and each class does a scene. This year the Calgary School of Samba came for the whole week to teach us Samba dancing. Samba dancing is a type of dance in Brazil that they dance most in the carnival season. Each grade did a different style of dance. The grade 5/6's theme was freedom and we danced to the Makulele which is a warrior dance. The dance incorporated parts of working in sugar cane fields and war dances. It was very hard for everyone to get the dance memorized though as we only had one week. I only had 3 days because I was in Coquiltam the other 2. The practices started off rocky but in the end I think the performance was as good as we could have made it.

Also part of the Calgary School of Samba coming meant that a drumming teacer would come and teach us drumming. We each got to choose our percussion instrument but because I was 2 days late I didn't get my choice. I was stuck with the mighty - mighty triangle. Each section of instruments got a different part during the Funky Samba Groove and my part, along with two of my other friends, was to go cha - cha - cha cha cha cha cha. Others with humougous bass drums and me with the triangle, I felt smaller I guess - but it was still fun! We all did the drumming part after our dance of freedom!

Before the drumming and the dancing though the choir sang. Last year I wasn't in the choir but this year I decided I would. We sang three songs at the very beginning of the concert. Sleep Little One, Winter Troika Ride and Winter Fantasy. I think the choir was very fun and I enjoyed all the songs. My mom afterwards said that she though we just got better and better. She also though that the last song sounded the hardest though even though it was the easiest:)

So all in all it was a very fun night. Unfortunately though my mom only took one picture of the choir! And that's all! But anyway we might try to gather some pictures from other parents so there will (hopefully) be pictures to come!

Vancouver Olympic Mascots Released

The mascots for the 2010 Olympic mascots were released last week. There are three of them - all very interesting but I still have some questions about the mascots and the Olympic games but first lets see what the mascots are.

Quatchi - is a Sasquatch who comes from the mysterious forests of Canada. He really likes hockey and wants to be a world famous goalie. Quatchi is shy and clumsy but loves to go to new places and meet new friends.

Miga - is a sea bear who lives in the ocean out past Vancouver Island near Tofino, British Columbia. Sea bears are part killer whale and part bear. Miga is part Kermode bear, a rare white bear that only lives in British Columbia.

Sumi - is a animal spirit. He lives in the mountains and like many Canadians he is drawn from many different backgrounds. He has the hat of an orca whale, the wings of a thunder bird and the legs of a black bear. He is also the mascot for the Paralympic games.

Now I have a stuffed version of each of these mascots and what suprised me was that first of all the 2010 Olympic mascots came out in 2007. Kind of strange. Also the stuffies were made in China. I know them being made in China would be cheaper but if it's fro the Olympic games in Canada why would they be made in China. Also there has been some controversy over the whole Olympic games. Someone said in response to my "Send a Letter to Your City Council Today!" post that "The problem with "anti idling" bylaws, is that they become a way for local official to legally harass homeless people.It is a bad idea.You'll see a lot more ideas as we get closer to the Olympics." I don't understand the part about how anti - idling bylaws can become away for local official to legally harrass homeless people. I do understand though how it can become a problem around the Olympics and I don't agree wuth that. The part of the local officials legally harassing homeless people. I heard that in Vancouver they are kicking some of the homeless people out of downtown to "clean up the place." I also think that we will start to be seeing a lot more downsides to the Olympics in the coming years.

I guess we'll just have to find out. As for the mascots being made in China I think that something like this has to be a uniquely Canadian item that isn't made in China and possibly in a sweatshop where people are being treated poorly. That's just my opinion.

Ridin' the Pineapple Express

The pineapple express could be a very large freight train that carries pineapples that goes from one place to the next without stopping. Or it could be a passenger train that you'd have to pay with a pineapple for addmisions that went from one place to the next without stopping. But it's neither of those. The pineapple express that I'm talking aobut is a type of weather system. The name is called pineapple express becasue it's a weather system that is carried from places like Hawaii where they grow pineapples. The weather that is in the pineapple express is very warm weather but has lots of rain. The pineapple express came through Vancouver today and we got tons of rain! Right now it's 13 degrees outside and still raining!

I took Wilma for a walk today and we got soaked. It wasn't raining at first but when it started raining Wilma wanted to go right back! But of course I made her walk another 10 minutes!

So obviously we have no snow anymore. Between the rain and the warmth the only thing left of my grand snow chair is a measly island of snow amid bright green grass. Yes - it's still green! I bet in Edmonton it's still brown. I also heard that Edmonton got snow today and it was cold. Lucky BCians!

Snow - In Coquitlam?

For the past two days in Coquitlam it's been snow, snow and more snow. What more amazing is that this aprt of BC hardly ever gets any snow. I talked to our neighbour and he said that there hasn't been this much snow since he moved here three years ago. Big, fluffy flakes of the snow pounded down. I have never seen such big snow flakes.

The first day it snowed - December first there was still a lot but only a couple inches. Right away in the morning we went in to the hot tub. Fun, fun, fun! We went on wintry walks through the forest right outside our door. Today ever MORE snow came over night and it's still coming! There is now almost a foot of snow! We tried to shovel our driveway and sidewalk but the snow was coming too fast. But more snow means more fun. We first made a gigantic snow ball which was big than me if I were to crouch in to a ball. I then carved it into a snow chair! Brrrrrrrrrrr. It was cold. And cold calls for... hot chocolate! Now we are just hanging around the house watching the snow fall down. Right now we are getting ready to set up the Christmas tree. I know you might be thinking - set up the Christmas tree? It's only December. But I really wanted to set up the Christmas tree while I was here so we are!

All in all a very fun weekend! Stay tuned for pictures of my snowy weekend! I gotta go set up the tree now!