A War Zone For Sale – Canada’s New Global Image?

This week, Canada plays host to the most economically potent, politically powerful world leaders, as the country hosts both the G8 Summit in Huntsville, Ontario, and the larger G20 Summit in Toronto, Ontario.

Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper says this is a time for the country to shine, to show us off on the world stage.

That may be true, as media from around the world will be following the antics of world leaders during both summits.

However, consider this, in order to host both these events, security measures so stringent have been put in place, the image these international media-types are getting isn’t the Canada that we’ve come to know and love – or the rest of the world for that matter.

Internationally, Canadians are thought of as being a peaceful lot. Overly polite, friendly, beer drinking hockey fans – that’s us.

Thousands of riot police on horseback, foot and in armoured vehicles, waving batons, armed with fully automatic weapons, while military helicopters hover overhead. Huge concrete barricades, and solid steel fences surround designated “security zones,” as supposedly peaceful Canadian citizens are thoroughly questioned by heavily armed police prior to entering or leaving these “security zones.”

That’s the image the media are seeing now – today – right this very moment, because all the above is going on right now in Huntsville and Toronto.

Statues and historic buildings have been boarded up to protect them from battle. Mailboxes, newspaper stands, even some trees have been removed, because the lame-ass security company – which isn’t even licensed to practice security in Ontario (they are from British Columbia) – says they can be used as weapons against police.

Peel and stick Plexiglas – I didn’t even know they made that stuff – has been applied to the first three stories of all windows on all buildings within specific security zones. Other buildings have been boarded up with planks of wood.

These are the images the media from around the world are getting of peaceful Canada.

Famous tourist attractions are being shut down. Toronto’s most internationally recognizable symbol – the CN Tower has been ordered closed by the police, for fear it could draw protesters or even terrorists.

Toronto’s Major League Baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays were scheduled to play a game here in Toronto this weekend – that’s been moved, again for security concerns.

Family-run mom and pop shops and restaurants – which really give Toronto it’s peaceful, multicultural spice – are allowed to be open, but as the concrete barricades separate them from the rest of the city, they won’t have any customers and stand to lose thousands of dollars.

Tourists are being warned not to come to Canada during the summits – the American State Department even issued a travel advisory for Toronto, advising American’s not to come here.

The international media is being shown a Canada which resembles a country in the midst of a civil war, where the totalitarian government dictates where its citizens can and can’t be by use of military law.

That’s not really Canada – honest. Unfortunately seeing is believing.

What’s to come?

If history repeats itself – as it unfortunately often does – thousands of angry people will rattle the cages setup around the security zone, throwing things, challenging the police, military and security persons on site.

Then the media will see a war zone, as riot police go in with their water cannons, tanks, and weapons, to quash the riot, all under the guise of protecting the peace.

Funny, how whenever the world’s most powerful leaders get together, the issues they came to discuss are always overshadowed in the media by the violent protests.

But then, everyone loves to see someone get shot by a water cannon – those images attract more readers and watchers, which in turn brings in more advertising dollars, which is why the media from around the world will be wined and dined, but still focus on the violence on the street, rather than the stuffy suits and ties in the boardrooms.

Yes Prime Minister Stephen Harper, by playing host to the G8 and G20 Summits, the world will see Canada front and center. But it isn’t the Canada you wanted them to see now, is it?

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CN Tower Closed, Work Downtown, Watch Out For . . .Who Cares? It Is May Two-Four

Canada’s largest city – Toronto – will be closed for business during the G20 Summit in June.

Security has scooted out the city’s Major League Baseball team, three games between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies which were supposed to be in Toronto, will now take place in Philadelphia. No word yet about refunds or exchanges for ticket holders of that match.

Federal police – the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) – have advised professionals working in the heart of the country’s financial district on Bay Street not to wear their usual suits and ties, as they could easily become targets of protesters.

The country’s largest financial institutions, along with some other major corporations which have offices right next to the G20 designated areas are stockpiling supplies, in case their buildings are locked down.

And perhaps the most ironic security measure, one of the most recognized symbols of Canada’s peaceful freedom worldwide, the CN Tower will be shut down during the G20 Summit. Guess security-types are afraid some protester will break through the impenetrable Plexiglas floor and drop water balloons on the world leaders during one of their many photo-ops.

When Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper boasted about the great honor it is to host the most politically powerful 20 nations, he failed to mention at what cost that honor would come.

Granted, world security has been beefed up since the horrible events on Sept. 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center, and the Pentagon in the United States were attacked by terrorists.

But do we really have to tell people they can’t wear suits and ties to work for their own protection?

Sheesh!

What a world we live in.

But I don’t care – at least for the next few days.

Here in Canada, we’re gearing up for what most consider the first long weekend of the summer, the May 24 weekend, or May “Two-Four” – in Canadian-speak.

The last Monday on or before May 24 is always a holiday here, to honor Queen Victoria’s birthday – hence it is officially called the Victoria Day Weekend. But it also celebrates the reigning sovereign’s birthday (the Queen), so many just call it the May 24 weekend.

Or maybe it became known as May 24 because of the many 24-packs of beer which will be consumed this weekend, as we launch fireworks from our canoes and kayaks – a really challenging feat even on calm water.

WHAT!?!?

Never mind -- cheers, to long weekends.

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The Disgraced World of America’s Favorite Past Time

Earlier this week, the world of professional sport was rocked by Mark McGwire’s public confession that he was on the juice.

The former Major League Baseball player, who’s professional career included the awe inspiring 70-home run recording breaking summer in 1998, announced that he was in fact on anabolic steroids, for that glorious summer, and during much of the later part of his baseball career.

McGwire retired from the sport and from public life in 2001, but suddenly this week, he pops out of nowhere to unload his great big secret.

Was it a sense of guilt that prompted McGwire to come out of hiding and tell the world he cheated?

NO.

He accepted a job offer to coach one of his former teams, the St. Louis Cardinals which led to his public confession. Although he will no longer be whacking balls out of the park, as a coach on a Major League Baseball team, he will no doubt be once again in the public eye.

And it was that fear of coming back into the public spotlight which prompted McGwire to come out with his confession.

I remember during that fateful summer of 1998, as he and fellow teammate Jose Canseco, under the guidance and leadership of the Oakland Athletics manager Tony La Russa were having a slug-fest. Both McGwire and Canseco were in a tight home run race, each with a dedicated smattering of fans cheering their respective players on, as they both edged ever nearer the all-time home run record set originally by the Babe himself, Babe Ruth.

During this home run derby, just as many theories about how the two ballplayers were able to hit so many home runs surfaced, as fans were drawn to the stands to watch the balls fly.

Some said it was because of the hot and dry summer, claiming baseballs fly further when hit in warm atmospheric conditions than colder ones (which actually has been proved true). More fanatical fans claimed the two baseball players were under the influence of the ghost of the Babe.

A more likely reason the home run record had never been broken since Babe Ruth’s time, was because the game of baseball had changed so much. Back in the Babe’s day, ballparks were smaller, so it was easier to hit home runs.

Also, back in the days of the Babe, professional athletes weren’t managed and trained in the same intense manner. The players back in the old days often just showed up at the ballpark, got into uniform, and played ball. These days, the players go through rigorous individual and team fitness programs, led by some of the best and most sought after professional trainers. By the time you are in your hard uncomfortable seat at the ballpark with your hotdog dripping mustard on your neighbors lap, the players have usually just wrapped up their second or third-hour of training.

That said, and despite the questionable behavior of using performance enhancing drugs, just as McGwire said – sometimes while he was on those drugs he had bad days, and sometimes while he was on those drugs he had good days. There’s no question Mark McGwire is a very talented ballplayer, with the lightening quick reflexes, sharp eye for pitches, and all the other skills and attributes he needed to make it in the big leagues.

The use of the juice just gave him an edge – albeit an unfair edge over the other players.

Although in the end, the choice whether to take or not to take performance enhancing drugs is a decision which McGwire and other athletes must make on their own, part of the blame does come from you and me.

When we cheer on the monstrous players as they grow bigger, stronger, and run, jump, pitch and hit faster and further, we are driving them closer to taking those drugs.

We aren’t so much yelling at them to take the drugs directly, but there must come a point in time where they know they just can’t physically do any better on their own. The human body is an incredibly agile machine, but all machines have their limits.

When an athlete reaches that limit, he or she must be under enormous pressure to find a way to pass his or her own physical limitations.

With steroids and other illegal substances constantly hovering off in the distance, it doesn’t take much to push someone over the edge, to do the wrong thing.

Taking performance enhancing drugs is wrong – just ask Ben Johnson. He was the fastest man in the world for the briefest of times. As soon as it was discovered that he had taken performance enhancing drugs, they took away the famed Canadian’s Olympic sprinter’s medal, and he – and his country – were disgraced.

Mark McGwire shouldn’t be allowed to coach, or do anything else in any professional sport – now that he’s confessed his sin. As soon as he spoke out, he disgraced himself, his sport and his country, because he’s not just admitting he took these performance enhancing drugs, indirectly, he’s admitting there was and most likely still is a drug problem in his sport, and his country.

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Holiday Could Teach Woods Many Life Lessons

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Ex-Toronto Blue Jay Roy Holiday could teach professionally embarrassed golfer Tiger Woods a thing or two about life.

Recently traded to another team – and one of the best pitchers in major league baseball – Roy Holiday took out a full-page newspaper ad in Toronto, thanking his fans for all the years he spent as a Toronto player.

In the ad, he says he was blessed for having the opportunity to play for Toronto’s ball club since 1995, and that the city will always have a special place in his heart.

Tiger Woods on the other hand, has led the media on quite the merry-go-round, with mistresses popping up like discarded plates at a banquet. However the banquet Tiger Woods had can talk.

Not to say that all Toronto Blue Jays were the best mannered. Back in the 1980’s Roberto Alomar spit on an umpire – he later apologized – and then there were the constant temper tantrums of legendary outfielder George Bell. Bell once threw a water cooler at then manager Jimmy Williams, barely missing the man by mere inches.

But if Tiger Woods was less interested in taking out his “woods” with women other than his wife, he wouldn’t be in all the trouble he currently is in – with his fans, his sponsors and most importantly of all – his family.

Although cheating on a significant other is never a good idea, to cheat on that person 15-times with women – some very high-profile ones too – all over the world shows a lack of respect, and personal integrity.

And that’s exactly what Roy Holiday can teach the Tiger – respect and personal integrity. Players get traded from Toronto teams all the time, yet Holiday is the first one to take out a full-page ad in a major daily newspaper thanking his fans for their loyal support. No one asked him to do it, he’s a good, honest and respectful person, chock full of something Tiger Woods lacks.

And what is it that Tiger Woods lacks? What could anyone worth over a billion dollars possibly not have?

The one thing which makes even the richest men in the world the poorest – personal integrity.

It’s War in Canada’s Television Industry – Thanks to the Government

War has been declared between Canada’s local private broadcasters and the cable and satellite providers over who should pay for Canadian content.

Many Canadians are more than familiar with “funded in part by a grant from the Canadian Film and Tax Fund” tagged at the end of most Canadian-made productions. This fund was setup by the federal Canadian government many years ago, to ensure Canadian broadcasters had an incentive to produce their own Canadian-grown content, rather than relying solely on American-made productions.

Recently, the federal government decided to change where that money comes from, and as is typical of governments looking for more money, they imple

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mented a new tax to cover Canadian-made content.

The federal government passed this tax onto the cable and satellite providers, as a fee equal to about $10 per subscriber. Naturally, the cable and satellite providers have passed this new tax onto their subscribers. And this is where the battle cries began.

In tough economic times as we’ve been in, we’re all trying to save money. And for most of us, if that means cutting back on our entertainment expenses, say cancelling some of the channels we don’t watch to save a handful of dollars, for the most part we’ll do just that.

Research has shown that for every price increase in cable and satellite services, over 40 percent of those subscribers will adjust their subscriptions to counter the increased fee. According to the same study, about five percent of cable television subscribers hit

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with an increase of $10 or more on their monthly bill will actually cancel their cable services completely.

So, just ahead of the addition of this new tax on their customer’s bills, the cable and satellite companies informed their customers of the new fee, and in a not quite objective letter, blamed the local broadcasters for the cash grab. They even included contact information so their customers could complain directly to their local federal Members of Parliament (MPs) – how nice of them.

The local television stations retaliated claiming they would go off the air, if they didn’t have this funding to produce quality, Canadian programming. Their news crews did “investigative” pieces on how the money is used, and what will happen if the government seed money stops coming. They ran – and continue to run – ads saying they will go out of business if they don’t get the money to produce Canadian content.

The cable and satellite companies continued the battle, with their own ads, more letters and emails to their customers, and claims that Canada’s private broadcasters made a combined total of over $4 billion in profits – hardly penny-poor in need of a handout.

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Although these very same service providers aren’t exactly desperate for cash either, making mega-huge profits off their subscribers. One of the biggest cable companies in Canada – Rogers Cable -- has made so much over the years, they have bought professional sports teams and stadiums. Currently, Rogers owns Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays, and their home stadium, formerly “The SkyDome,” renaming it “The Rogers Centre.”

SO what is the truth in amidst all this propaganda from the local Canadian private broadcasters, and the cable and satellite companies?

The truth is the federal government continues to demand Canadian content produced and aired by our local broadcasters, but has decided they just don’t want to fund it anymore. So they mandated – through the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) that all television service providers pay this fee, else they would block the signals of the major American networks – ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX.

This whole war started because some select members of our federal government were looking for a new revenue stream and they realized the government had been subsidizing Canadian content for years. Back in the mid to late 1990’s, they changed the rules governing local Canadian channels and television service providers.

They began retooling the Canadian Film and Television Tax Credit, and a

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t the same time ended the mandate that all television providers had to provide a community access channel. For years, the law of the land was quite clear – if you wanted to be a cable or satellite company, you had to provide a free, public access channel which was open to the local community for their news, information and access to locally produced content.

As more diverse as the television dial became, the government realized it was impossible for the television service providers to cater to the many needs of their subscribers with one channel, and they removed that mandate for a local community channel from the rule book – with some lobbying from the television providers themselves – naturally.

This unfortunately also opened up the possibility, to the federal government, that they no longer needed to pump as much money into funding local Canadian content. But they always put pressure on the television broadcasters to continue to create this home-made content.

And rather than face the wrath of the Canadian population as a whole, for cutting this subsidized funding for Canadian-made productions, they decided it would be an easier political pill to swallow for the television service providers. They never thought for a second, that the television service providers would in turn, pass this new tax onto their customers – though that just makes sense.

And now we have a war of words being aired very publicly on televisions across the country, as the big cable and satellite companies go head-to-head fighting for what each believes is in their best interests.

While us lone consumers who subscribe to these services are stuck in the middle of it all – all while watching are cable and satellite bills increase.

What should be done, is to go back to the original model, where television service providers, local private broadcasters, and the federal government each contribute a fair share of money to a fund for local, Canadian content – without charging anything directly back to us subscribers.

This was how it was for much of the 1970’s until the late 1990’s, when the federal government introduced laws to deregulate the cable and satellite industry. They had hoped that these changes would open the market, which in turn would lower the cost for subscribers via good old fashioned competition.

That plan fell through the ice like a barrel full of bricks, as many of the smaller, local cable companies were bought up and swallowed by the already mega-large cable and satellite providers.

And now it has come full circle, as the government’s plans to increase competition have failed, but they continue to act as if they were successful, by implementing this new tax. But because deregulation has failed, there isn’t a broader, more competitive customer-base to draw additional funds from.

Yet the government – never all that quick on the uptake – is still bargin

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g ahead with their plans to increase funding for Canadian content, by adding this new tax.
And we haven’t even scratched the surface when we toss the end of analogue signals into the mix. This year, American stations stopped broadcasting on what was called “over-the-air” via the good old fashioned Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band. Remember when you were able to just plug in a TV anywhere there was an electrical outlet, and watch fuzzy stations using “rabbit ears?”

Not anymore in the States – and soon not anymore in Canada either. As digital signals, with their high definition digitally crisp and clear pictures dominate the landscapes, both Canadian and American federal governments have decided to acquire those UHF frequencies used by television broadcasters for emergency signals and lower-band cell phones. So if you don’t already subscribe to cable, eventually you will have too – otherwise all you will see on your TV is your own reflection.

Maybe we all should write our local MPs and tell them to wake up, look around, and work with what is, rather than what they thought would have been?

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The Elitism of Pro Sport

It’s said the higher up the corporate ladder one travels, the easier life becomes. So a president and CEO of a large corporation has an easier working life than say, the receptionist answering calls at the front desk.

It appears this holds truest for professional athletes - only difference, they get paid big bucks to play kids games.

I was at the Rogers Cup this past weekend, and saw first-hand just how spoiled professional athletes are. The Rogers Cup is one of the biggest professional tennis tournaments in the Canada, and the world. It isn’t Wimbledon, or the French Open, but it still draws the big name tennis players from all over the world.

The Rogers Cup runs all week, but began on the weekend. Tennis is a very demanding sport, causing you to have to run, jump and swing. But if y

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ou’re a pro athlete, you can sit in the shade, no matter where you are - they have people that open up big umbrellas during sets, just you. Need a towel to wipe off the sweat - no problem, they have people that will toss you a towel whenever you want - they’ll probably even sponge you off if you asked them too. Hit a ball past the line? Don’t worry, they have people that will pick those up for you, so you don’t have too. Just about the only thing they don’t have for you is someone to actually play the game - you still have to do that for yourself, even at the pro level.

This elitism holds true in many professional sports. In the major leagues of baseball, when the umpire calls for more balls, he doesn’t have to go to his gym bag to get them, a ball boy will come running out with a handful of freshly minted ones.

When a ball player breaks his bat, that same ball boy - now called the batboy - will bring out a brand new bat.

Must be nice to have those perks at the professional level. I’ve played the odd tennis match a while back, and although it was a long time ago, no one ever brought out an umbrella to cover my head from the sun, and there certainly wasn’t anyone offering me a towel.

I remember many years ago, when professional baseball players walked out and went on strike, complaining about pay, job security, the usual suspects in a labour dispute. As the strike went on, and forced the cancellation of

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the All Star Game, many fans lost interest - and rightly so.

Baseball is just as much a sport as any - it involves quick reflexes, strength and endurance. But it is also a fun and enjoyable game - one that even kids play. So when some older kids stop playing, because the millions they make to play this kids game just weren’t enough - understandably many fans will disappear in disgust.

When that strike first happened, that was my thought process - that they were overpaid spoiled brats. Now I see the world differently - thanks to the elitism of sport.

Oh they are still way overpaid to play that kids game, but it is the professional sport industry which breeds that attitude and fuels the fire wanting more.

By constantly doting on professional athletes like Gods, we’ve created monsters that expect to be treated like royalty, or else they throw a temper tantrum like a spoiled kid. And that is what they really are - just overpaid spoiled children.

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