Where is Richard Canning hiding?

[Static]

Actually, I did not know who he was. I no longer live in the valley.

[Drip_Torch]

It has been a while since we have heard from old Dick. He kept saying there was no threats re: Terorrists. What are his views on that subject now that the election is over. All you heard from him during the election was that there was no such threat, blah blah blah. I guess he has fallen silent like the sheep that followed him??

Okay, I’ve had my chuckle and enjoyed the delightful irony your thread presented, but I’d also like to bleat out a semi-serious reply.

It turns out the Right Honourable Richard Cannings, MP for the South Okanagan - West Kootenay, was exactly where I’d expect him to be, doing the things I would expect him to do. I’m not a hardened partisan, I’m the type of voter that political tacticians work night and day to try and swing. Frankly, I’m happy that this riding changed in boundaries and I didn’t have to make the tough choice between a very capable and promising candidate that I really do respect, and a party, with a leader and an apparent dogma that I simply could no longer support.

But, I do digress, so I’ll get back to the topic – my MP and his views on terrorism and terrorists.

A somewhat braindead view of terrorism is something along the lines of “anyone that doesn’t see things the way I do.” An example; “they should be convicted of terrorism” – people that subscribe to this view can insert any group into the “they” category that their little self-centered heart desires.

The Merriam Webster “simple definition”: “the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political goal.”

The Merriam Webster “full definition”: “the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.”

It follows that in Canada, the Criminal Code defines terrorism, in section 83.01 as an act committed "in whole or in part for a political, religious or ideological purpose, objective or cause" with the intention of intimidating the public "…

Ross and Gurr (1989) established that there were roughly 500 politically motivated terrorist events that occurred in Canada between 1960 and 1985. (Oh how we long for those good ole days – eh?) The one you probably remember was the Air India bombing that took the lives of 389 people, 280 of whom were Canadian citizens. At one point in the mid 90’s the federal government, of the day, decided that chapter was closed and that we had learned everything we could possible learn from that incident. Myself, I wrote the justice minister and the PM’s office to share my view that we needed to do more, - and apparently I wasn’t alone – we did quite a bit more, and CPAC’s ratings shot through the roof while Justice Major picked thru the evidence and testimony that culminated in the 11 volumes published as a result of his inquiry. (and yeah, I’ve read them all)

There is still work to be done, no doubt about it, but a number of times over the last decade I’ve found myself wondering how fine the line is, between the war on terrorism, and actually becoming a party to it? The last thing I would want to see in this riding is a bunch of people tossing and turning, in the night, contributing to the already staggering amount of broken hips. And, while that may seem to make light of the situation, I prefer to think of it as adding a touch of reality.

My MP, my representative in Ottawa, that I have no hesitation in tell you that I support, took what I see as very real concerns forward and expressed them in his opening reply to the throne speech. https://www.facebook.com/richardjcannin ... 737095789/ If you forward to about the 2 minute mark you’ll hear them expressed quite succinctly.

Yes, in 2014, Corporal Nathen Cirillo, was gunned down while standing on ceremonial sentry duty by a drug addicted habitual offender, with mental health problems. That incident has been classified as a terrorist act and that offender, whose name I care not to remember and whose cause I couldn’t contemplate, was shot 31 times by six officers. The investigation may be ongoing, but that threat definitely is not.

Meanwhile in 2015, John Phare died in an accident near Sechelt fighting a wildfire. Just south of us, Richard Wheeler, 31; Andrew Zajac, 26; and Tom Zbyszewski, 20 died on another wildfire while trying to navigate an escape route in an engine during a dramatic blow-up of a relatively small wildfire. 30 homes were lost in Rock Creek and at least one home in Oliver. Over 304,484 hectares burned, in 1835 wildfires with the total estimated firefighting cost of 282 million dollars. The actual economic costs – who knows?

A study by the World Bank has recently determined the economic impact of the wildfires in Indonesia this year, was double that of the 2004 tsunami. Imagine that, who could forget those destructive images of the tsunami, and who even knew there were wildfires burning intensely in Indonesia this year?

Wait a minute, could I possibly be suggesting that we should be more concerned with wildfires than we are with terrorism? 130 people were just killed in Paris and people are being beheaded on youtube. The short answer is yes, in fact, I’d say as Canadians we should be far more concerned with lightening than we are with the Daesh. We have the machinery, the agencies, the experience and the legislation in place to deal with any threats they, or any other loosely affiliated group of malcontents, could possibly manufacture in this country, and I have every confidence in our authority’s ability to both detect and contain any threats going forward.

Wildfires on the other hand, we’re in for challenges over the next few decades, if not the next couple of years. One report, by the journal of Environmental Health Perspectives, introduced a number of years ago, in Vancouver, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, suggested the annual death rate worldwide associated with wildfires may be 339,000/year. That’s hard to imagine – true, but it’s also true that someone passing quietly in a hut in Asia due to emphysema just doesn’t offer the sensational visuals that carefully staged ocean side acts of barbarism do.

We have a pluralistic approach to both the detection and containment of acts of terror. We have a mono-cultural approach to the detection and containment of wildfires. In my opinion we don’t have a lot of time to come to the realization that we’re not seeing acts of god here, we’re seeing manmade disasters. Fire is a vulnerability (one that could be exploited by a group with nefarious intentions) and we’re going to have to introduce broader risk management and disaster mitigation measures to get ahead of the new realities we’re facing. It might be hard for you to imagine living in an environment where our airtankers are rendered ineffective, but for me, I realize we are already dealing with an increasing number of days per year, in which, we’re already there.

I work backstage, I peak behind the curtain from time to time, and I’m not terrified by the naked truth. I prefer the unfiltered… A number of years ago, long before it was trendy to know everything there is to know about Syria, I spent a couple of days in a livestream chat room with a gentle soul riding out the latest shelling of Homs in Syria. It was awkward, google translate doesn’t work quite as good as I wished it would, and I don’t understand the situation in the middle east the way most people profess to, but in the moments before @syriapioneer was disintegrated by a well-placed government artillery shell, it was obvious that he was a desperate man of deep faith. God is great, he kept reminding us, as he urged us to tell the world what was going on there.

In a planet of 7 billion people, 224 of us shared his final moment. God is great, yeah, no doubt, but mankind has a certain amount of power too. We’re capable of extreme acts of violence and extreme acts of compassion and empathy. Frankly, I’m happy to have an MP that would see us use our power in what I would identify with, as a more Canadian way. I’m happy to see an MP that speaks to real issues and one that doesn’t give undeserved attention to a cause that no matter how I look at it - simply isn’t worthy.

Perhaps you really do believe; there were good old days when mankind didn’t do barbaric things to each other; a bomb from a Canadian F-18 is going to put an abrupt end to a conflict that’s been raging for over 200 years; or perhaps you believe two jet loads of refugees, a day, is going to present some sort of risk that our authorities can’t handle.

Me, I believe in Santa Claus, the system and that two plane loads a day is a good start.

We all get to choose what we believe and judging by the way the lights are going up and the ballots went down – I’m not alone.

Hey, is it too early to say Season Greetings and Best Wishes – anyways?

[twobits]

Thanks for that heartfelt post Drip. By the end of it however, your point was not clear. It was more of a diatribe actually.
And in case people yawned and moved on before they got to your link of the Honorable Richard Canning's 8 1/2 minute speech in the House, I will repost your link in hopes that everyone will watch it and realize what an amateur is representing this riding. Take note of his important assignments as third party opposition critic. In his next four years as our MP, I would be surprised if he got another 8 1/2 minutes speaking to the Chair. Even the guy in frame sitting behind him spent more time pulling his earlobes, scratching his nose, and hand cradling his chin in boredom than I did. And at about the 6 minute mark he has had enough and takes out his earpiece. And he is an NDP supporter! This is what we elected as an MP.

https://www.facebook.com/richardjcannin ... 737095789/

Edit to ad- And while I may statistically be more likely to be killed by a wildfire than a terrorist, I would much prefer to be taken from this earth by an act of god rather than some racialist's interpretation of god's will.

[Drip_Torch]

… And if your analysis of our MP proves to be correct, we won’t have to organize demonstrations in the street, we won’t see those demonstrations turn violent, and there is no chance that we will see our city bombed and shelled into oblivion. We’ll simply vote for a different candidate.

Canada remains part of the solution and I’d hate to see us engage fully in a war against IS, simply because there is no real end play there. If we move towards engaging in an operation towards stabilizing that region, we’re going to have to better our understanding of what’s really going on there. I would suggest to you that IS, is a social construct exploited by both the Daesh, as a recruitment tool, and those with a short sighted view in their response to them. I’d further suggest that we’re beginning to see the situation get a little more complicated, as a result of it.

Refugees; I understand the UN lost the capacity to count at around 1.7 million and the current estimates place that number somewhere between 2 and 4 million, of which we hope to bring over 35,000 by the end of next year.

While I’ve never imagined a final analysis, quite the way you do, if I do get the opportunity it will probably matter not to me if I am taken out by someone’s irrationally exuberant pursuit of profit, or a radicalized extremist – I believe I would prefer to concentrate on how I lived my life.

Comparison of Annual Fatality Risks;
Cancer 1 in 540
Traffic accidents 1 in 13,500
Homicide 1 in 55,000
Structure fire 1 in 99,000
Bathtub drowning 1 in 800,000
Accidents with deer 1 in 2,000,000
Struck by lightening 1 in 5,500,000
Terrorism 1 in 20,000,000
The current chance of being directly impacted by wildfires in Canada: 0.79/100,000.

Statistically speaking twobits, you have about the same chance of being taken out by an extremist, as you do by being taken out with a car while crossing at a rainbow crosswalk in Penticton. Now, I’m not going to suggest to you that those numbers are solid and there is no need for vigilance. We both know that we’re living in a dynamic world, in which, things evolve quickly – so, we have to be mindful, keep our heads up and be careful out there. You never know, the city might go ahead and paint one here.

(Wow, could you imagine... Oh, how I would pity the deity that had to listen to that righteous post mortem rant of I told you so’s.)

PS: Merry Christmas to you and yours, my far too pragmatic, right-leaning, free enterprise at any expense - friend.

[Rwede]

^^ NDPers make up "statistics" every day.

Terrorists killed 26 Canadians on 9/11.

Terrorists killed 158 Canadians in Afghanistan.

That 1 in 20 million stat is as bogus as Dick Canning's credentials to be an MP.

[Drip_Torch]

To be completely honest with you Rwede, I'm not much of a numbers person, or an NDP'er, per say, so I didn't spend anytime, making up any numbers, at all.

So tell me, when you view transnational acts of terror, do you give any consideration to the 7.3 billion people that inhabit this planet, or do you just create a subset of 35 million?

Canadian non military deaths in Afghanistan:
Glyn Berry, Senior Foreign Affairs officer, from the United Kingdom.
Mike Frastacky, Civilian carpenter, from Vancouver, BC
Jacqueline Kirk, Civilian Aid Worker, from Montreal, Quebec
Shirley Case, Civilian Aid Worker, from Williams Lake, BC
Michelle Lang, Journalist for the Calgary Herald, from Vancouver, BC

Canadian military deaths in Afghanistan: Total number 158
123 due to hostile circumstances.
22 died in accidents or other non combat circumstances, including 7 in friendly fire incidents.
1 suicide
2 unspecified non combat related deaths.

(More than 2000 soldiers were injured)

In my opinion, bogus, is your self aggrandizing attitude that very well could create a whole new set of statistics.

[Donald G]

To Drip-Torch ...

Are you fully aware that you may be right and you may be wrong in your view of Terrorism as it relates to Canada ??

Or are you suggesting that everyone who disagrees with you and Richard Canning is completely wrong ??

[Drip_Torch]

Hi Donald G,
I can only speak to my own views on this matter and you would have to contact Richard Cannings to hear his views. I understand you can do so at: [email protected]

At the end of the day, (and, as someone that chooses to believe in both Santa, and “the system”, this is coming to the end of the day for me on this topic) I believe that our local politicians’ role is to scrutinize and consider the positions of the various agencies that endeavour to keep us safe. I understand that I’m probably not going to be leaving this planet alive, and that many Canadians, over the years, have sacrificed a great deal, including themselves, so that I can enjoy the relative safety and security that I honestly believe I do enjoy.

I believe that it’s somewhat incumbent on me, to extend my trust to those agencies, as well as, the men and women that do that work, and stand prepared to answer that call. I also trust that our politicians and Privy Council members share my interest in safety and security, regardless of their political stripe; and, that they will endeavour to maintain the balance necessary to keep us safe, secure and free. I expect they’ll let me know if things change, but I understand we currently live in an uncertain world and have a number of systems to protect us against bad actors, with bad intentions, that are capable of bad acts.

I don’t need my MP to tell me that terrorism is real, I grew up in Duncan BC in the 80’s and know many of the names contained in the 11 volumes of the Air India Commission Inquiry. I’ve noticed the subtle changes, taken note of the roles of various agencies, and saw the brief light cast into some of the shadows. I do feel that our government is responsive and has stepped up to face the challenges that we face in this decade.

Above all else, I feel fortunate to live in a country where caffeinated, red meat eating adults can exchange our differing points of view and not just small pieces of lead. We truly are the fortunate ones and while some might maintain this is purely an act of luck, or solely the result of one party’s efforts and insights, - I know it as something completely different than that.

The bottom line: I believe our good fortune is manufactured and not simply a finite supply of a kind providence granted to us. We can share it – without giving it up.

I might be right, I might be wrong - that's the thing about beliefs, isn't it?

So, with that said, I sincerely extend to you and yours, my Best Wishes for this Holiday Season, regardless of the beliefs you hold to be true.

[twobits]

At the end of the day, (and, as someone that chooses to believe in both Santa, and “the system”, this is coming to the end of the day for me on this topic) I believe that our local politicians’ role is to scrutinize and consider the positions of the various agencies that endeavour to keep us safe. I understand that I’m probably not going to be leaving this planet alive, and that many Canadians, over the years, have sacrificed a great deal, including themselves, so that I can enjoy the relative safety and security that I honestly believe I do enjoy.

I believe that it’s somewhat incumbent on me, to extend my trust to those agencies, as well as, the men and women that do that work, and stand prepared to answer that call. I also trust that our politicians and Privy Council members share my interest in safety and security, regardless of their political stripe; and, that they will endeavour to maintain the balance necessary to keep us safe, secure and free. I expect they’ll let me know if things change, but I understand we currently live in an uncertain world and have a number of systems to protect us against bad actors, with bad intentions, that are capable of bad acts.

All I can say is wow. I cannot recall ever seeing a 50/50 split between coherent and incoherent, logical and illogical, and truth and krap within two paragraphs.

[Drip_Torch]

I see you opened your present early, hmm… oh well, I wanted to give you something that you could get some instant enjoyment from, but would remain useful to you for the whole year.

I cannot recall ever seeing a 50/50 split between coherent and incoherent, logical and illogical, and truth and krap within two paragraphs.

That’s sort of the other thing about beliefs – isn’t it?

Anyways, considering the amount of experience that I have with creating and maintaining positions based solely on my beliefs – I’m going to take your comment as a bit of a backhanded compliment. If I really did hit the 50/50 split, I’m doing better than most.

Perhaps, you were suggesting that I march to the beat of a different drummer, and that might be true, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good AC/DC cover like the rest of you.

(I'll throw up a bonus track for you, in case you want to get wild tonight and do the sociology on the divergence between pop culture and the one expressed on the first two pages of this thread.)

Cheers and Happy New Year to you!

[Anonymous123]

Where is Richard Canning hiding?

Here he is.

http://www.castanet.net/news/Penticton/155354/New-offices-for-Cannings