Good Sunday Morning!
Monday’s events will cast a pall as Donald J Trump takes the oath of office. I wonder how many will note the deep irony that the polar vortex climate event has forced the inauguration indoors. Unfortunately, I think he will swear a false oath as he did at his first inauguration.
He swore then, as he will tomorrow, “will …, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Yet he has flagrantly violated the principles of the US Founding Fathers (there were no mothers) over and over again. His contempt for the Constitution, his incitement on January 6, 2021 to riot and disrupt the peaceful transfer of powers as he condemned his own Vice President for following the Constitutionally enshrined process for confirming the vote. Evidence from those in the room with him at the time alleged that when chants of “Hang Mike Pence” broke out on January 6, Trump seemed in agreement.
That testimony could still be untrue, but his public tweet is solid evidence of his contempt for democracy.
Trump publicly expressed outrage at Pence during the riot via a 2:24 p.m. tweet. “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.”
For most Canadians, the inauguration of a felon convicted of sexual assault, a con artist and reality television star for a second term, is disturbing. Now we also face a provocateur who has expressed a clear intention to attack our economy. It is rare that I agree with Stephen Harper, in fact, this may be the first time, but in a podcast reported by the Globe and Mail, he was right on.
“Mr. Trump last week also disparaged Canada’s military and said Canadians rely on the U.S. for defence: “They don’t essentially have a military. They have a very small military. They rely on our military. It’s all fine, but they’ve got to pay for that.”
“Mr. Harper challenged that position: “When we talk about subsidizing Canadian defence, I don’t know what he’s talking about. We have a shared defence of North America, and the United States does that because it’s in the vital interest of the United States.”
He also rejected Mr. Trump’s characterization of illegal migration into the U.S. from Canada as a major problem. “There is no migrant flow happening from Canada to the United States of any significant numbers. And I’m going to tell you right now, drugs, guns, crime – most of those things flow north, not south,” he said.
“I have a real problem with some of the things Donald Trump is saying,” adding that ”it doesn’t sound to me like the pronouncements of somebody who’s a friend, a partner and an ally, which is what I’ve always thought the United States is for our country.”
On our shared defence, I think of Norad on September 11, 2001, when it was a Canadian, in fact a local resident, Mike Jellinek who was in command of the “Mountain” and made key decisions. Mike is a friend of mine through Rotary. I have a much clearer sense of how we share defence from his firsthand accounts of that horrific day.
BC Premier David Eby has gone to war-like rhetoric, describing Canada’s relationship with Trump’s incoming administration as being an “economic war.” I am not sure I want to use that analogy, but I will do all I can to solidify our bonds of friendship and the clear ties of peoples. The Coast Salish people are divided by the international border. It really matters to local Indigenous families to get the Anacortes ferry back up and running again.
In additional to the familial connections of indigenous peoples, our Gulf Islands are essentially the same ecosystem as Washington State’s San Juan islands. Former president Obama protected them with an executive order designating them as a national Monument. Washington State does a much better job than British Columbia or Canada in protecting our southern resident killer whales and these connected ecosystems. So while my call for Cascadia was really a bit of fun, there are serious and real opportunities for an international biosphere reserve, for increased cooperation to protect our coastal ecosystems from Gulf Islands National Park to San Juan National Historic Park. Local governments on both sides of the border are discussing ways we can better collaborate.
During Covid, my former MLA and dear friend Adam Olsen, himself Tsartlip First Nation, had the inspiration to break down jurisdictional silos by creating a Southern Gulf Islands Forum. At first we only met by zoom, initially focused on the immediate pandemic related threats. We shared updates on new Covid programmes, news and updates about where help was needed, and where help could be found. Over the years our issues changed and we kept meeting, sometimes in person. Islands Trust offered some funding help and my office and Adam’s took turns funding our gatherings. We have been meeting monthly ever since – Trustees from Islands Trust, CRD, Indigenous nations, occasional stakeholder groups and me from the federal order of government. After a break due to the provincial election we are now back to regular meetings, with new Green MLA Robert Botterell enthusiastic to continue. At our last session, January 14th, I learned that Islands Trustees had been in recent meetings with Washington State local governments. So while my expansionist ambitions to absorb coastal US into Canada is fanciful, cross border international cooperation from the grassroots up, is a real possibility!
In more good news this Sunday morning, peace may be breaking out in Gaza and the occupied territories.
The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was unveiled thanks to US, Egypt and Qatar negotiations. It appears that there was meaningful cooperation from the incoming Trump administration working with President Biden’s administration. Hamas and Israel will both release prisoners and hostages in exchanges. The ceasefire is to start just after noon today (Sunday!). Despite initial opposition from right-wing hard-liners, Israeli parties even more unreasonable than Netanyahu, finally all agreed to the ceasefire, massive increase in humanitarian aid, and exchange of hostages. It is unknown how many of the released hostages and prisoners will be alive, but praying for families, Israeli and Palestinian, to be reunited. The trauma suffered for hostages and their families is unimaginable. Still, the death and destruction that rained down on Palestinians amounted to war crime upon war crime into the tens of thousands of deaths. This ceasefire deal is a ray of hope, but there is such a long road ahead…. I just got this email from the Green leader in Palestine, whom I met in Ramallah in 2018. He is a dear man, quiet and kind. He is also a scientist and works on water policy…
”Dear Elizabeth. Thanks for your email and your noble and humane sentiments. The situation here is difficult and sad, and people are living without hope. We hope that a day will come when Palestinians, Israelis, and all people can live in peace and safety. Prof. Dr Abdelrahman Tamimi”
And so on this Sunday we pray for peace and rejoice that there may be a rebirth of hope.
If you pray, please send those good intentions that we stop the deportation of a young committed climate activist. Zain Haq participated in a number of acts of civil disobedience for climate action as his home country of Pakistan was hard hit by floods. Last year his planned deportation was halted by Immigration minister Marc Miller (one of my favourite people) but now the deportation order has been revived. And Zain has been told he will be deported on Saturday January 25. It makes no sense. The nightmare feels like a bureaucratic error. Tomorrow I will hold a press conference in Vancouver with Zain and his Canadian wife Sophie to raise awareness and beg the government to do the right thing!
Have a great week, despite Trump’s inauguration. Fingers crossed he does not fulfill his threats for first day actions – attacks on immigrants and on Canada, and God only knows what fresh hell he will unleash. We are all, unfortunately, unwilling and involuntary contestants on his new reality television show. If only the world could tell him “You’re fired!”
Be well and stay safe.
Love
Elizabeth
P.S. – forwarded from a wonderful constituent:
Dear friends of the earth,
Here’s an easy-to-do survey that I hope you will complete and share with your contacts. It involves rating your support for a series of statements on a 5-point scale. It comes from the Coastal Douglas-Fir Conservation Partnership and pertains to support for conservation projects on private land in CRD. The deadline is Feb. 2. The key question is:
“Would you support the creation of a publicly funded conservation fund that would financially support projects on private land that create and enhance natural areas and the ecosystem services they provide?”
Survey: Financing Conservation on Private Land in the Capital Region
The purpose of this survey is to gauge the level of community interest for the establishment of a conservation fund that would enable not-for-profit organisations, First Nations and local governments to undertake conservation actions on private property. This funding would assist in supporting community priorities for the maintenance and restoration of forests, wetlands, streams, grasslands and the marine foreshore on private land, thus providing communities with resilience to climate change
Click on the green box that says, “Complete the survey.” It’s found in the first section, Year 4 Project.
https://www.cdfcp.ca/nature-smart-project/
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