Monthly Archives: July 2021

Nine prominent opposition politicians including two former prime ministers have been arrested in Fiji for voicing concerns about a contentious land bill, leading to fears the Fijian government is using the police as a political weapon to intimidate and crack down on dissent.

Six members of parliament and three other high-profile politicians were taken into custody by the criminal investigations department on Sunday and Monday in relation to comments they had made regarding proposed amendments to a land bill, which is expected to be debated in parliament this week.

The nine were Viliame Gavoka, the leader of the opposition Social Democratic Liberal party (Sodelpa) party; the opposition whip Lynda Tabuya; the MPs Adi Litia Qionibaravi and Ro Filipe Tuisawau; Biman Prasad, the leader of the National Federation party; the NFP president, Pio Tikoduadua; the former prime ministers Sitiveni Rabuka and Mahendra Chaudhry; and the Unity Fiji leader, Savenaca Narube.

Eight were arrested on Sunday, while Chaudhry was taken in on Monday and is still in custody.

Prasad said arrests of opposition MPs were a common occurrence under the prime minister, Frank Bainimarama.

Now the police are being used as a political weapon by the FijiFirst party to intimidate opposition, he said. But we will not be intimidated by their thuggish behaviour.

However, Bainimarama said in parliament the political figures were super-spreaders of lies who were using an administrative amendment to a land bill to mislead and incite indigenous people.

The government has introduced a bill to amend legislation concerning the governing of native land, an amendment the opposition have said will remove power from landowners. The government maintains the changes are administrative and for the purpose of removing bureaucracy.

An assistant commissioner of police, Rusiate Tudravu, confirmed in a statement on Monday that the opposition members were questioned and released under the Public Order Act.

But investigations are continuing and more people are expected to be taken into custody for expressing their concerns regarding the iTaukei land trust (budget amendment) bill.

Not for the purpose of intimidation as claimed by some, said Tudravu, but as a proactive means to find the truth and not everyone who is brought in for questioning will be charged.

There were also concerns that local journalists were also rounded up and detained. Tudravu said those claims were untrue.

A local journalist who has spoken to the Guardian said he was concerned that journalists too will end up being questioned by the police for writing stories about the amendments to the land bill.

There are fears that tensions over the bill could lead to political protests and civil disobedience. Police have increased their presence in major towns and cities across Fiji, and the acting commissioner has warned they will come down hard on any person or group that tries to cause instability and civil unrest.

Gavoka, who was one of those arrested on Sunday, implored people to remain peaceful. The party is pleading that any scheme to cause disruption or instability throughout the country must cease immediately, he said in a statement.

It will bring us nothing but more suffering in an already dire situation due to Covid-19 and the failure of the government of the day in handling this pandemic. We do not want repetitions of past political turmoil; we have had enough of that.

The political tensions come as Fiji struggles to control a Covid outbreak across its main island, Viti Levu.

More than 270 people have died in Covid-related deaths since the second wave began in April and almost 17,000 active cases are in isolation. Health authorities have warned infections and deaths will continue to rise.

Prasad said the government was using the arrests as a distraction in dealing with the Covid situation. At a time when people are dying, not able to put food on the table or get medical care, this government arrests opposition leaders for doing their job, he said.

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Nine Fiji opposition MPs arrested over criticism of land bill - The Guardian

For the first time in more than 20 years, one of Nova Scotia's oldest and largest Black communities will be represented by a Black MLA regardless of which party wins.

All three declared candidates in the Preston riding are Black. It's believed to be the first time in the province's history any riding has had a slate of all-Black candidates.

"I think it really speaks to the fact that we are now at the table," said Liberal candidate Angela Simmonds.

"We're having more of a platform. We have the confidence to actually believe that we can run for these powerful positions."

Simmonds, along with Progessive Conservative candidate Archy Beals and NDP candidate Colter Simmonds,spent Saturday morning taking part in the annual North Preston Day parade.

All three candidates were born and raised in either North Preston or nearby Cherry Brook, and have spent their lives and careers giving back to their communitiesin various ways.

Bealsis the co-chair for the Preston Township Covid Response Team, which won the 2020 Nova Scotia Human Rights Award.

He was also the African Nova Scotian member of the former Halifax Regional School Board, and said heplans to focus on education and mental health supports for young people if elected.

"The community has given me so much over the years. I think it's time for me to give back," Beals said.

The NDP's Colter Simmondsis a community advocate and basketball coach, affectionately nicknamed CC, short for Coach Colter.

Colter Simmonds said he's passionate about bringing change for the community, especially for the area's young people,and he feels being "outside the bigger parties" is the best way to do that.

"I want to see the kids wake up in the morning believing that they have opportunities to be whatever their heart desires, whatever their interests are," he said.

Angela Simmondsof the Liberals is a lawyer, educator and the executive director of the Land Titles Initiative, leading the work to get people in North Preston legal title to their land.

Her move to politics is a way to "lend power to voice" for other people in her community, and would focus on issues likeeducation, justice and the environment if elected.

Angela Simmonds credits former MLAs Yvonne Atwell and Wayne Adams for "paving the way" for this year's candidates.

Atwell and Adams werethe first Black woman and Black Canadian, respectively, elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. Adams represented the district from 1993 to 1998, and Atwell from 1998 to 1999. Since then, the riding has been represented by white MLAs.

After beingabolished in 2012 and becoming part of the electoral district of Preston-Dartmouth, Preston is now backas a so-called protected district. It's intendedto help increase Black representation in the Nova Scotia legislature somethingColter Simmondscalls "long overdue."

"If you talk to the community members, youtalk about how we were put back here and forgotten, a forgotten people," he said.

"Now we have someone that's going to be in a place to represent the community's voice and the community's issues."

Beals said Prestonhas "unique" issues and the community needs to be represented by someone who understands them.

The three Black candidates guarantees at least one seat in the legislature for the Black community somethingboth Beals and Angela Simmonds call "historic."

"You know, I'm a competitor, so I want to win," she said. "But I think regardless, it's going to be a win for all of us."

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of.You can read more stories here.

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Preston riding has all-Black slate of candidates - CBC.ca

Small businesses affected by the current COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions are encouraged to seek free-of-charge advice from the NSW Governments business advisory service Business Connect.

Minister for Finance and Small Business Damien Tudehope said Business Connect had advisors across the state who were ready to help businesses navigate the current situation.

We know many small businesses across NSW and particularly in the Sydney metropolitan area are doing it tough at the moment, Mr Tudehope said.

While some businesses have had to shut their doors to comply with the Public Health Orders, others are experiencing reduced foot traffic and challenges with cashflow, paying rent and wages.

But Government support is available, including Business Connect. All of the advisors have previously owned small businesses and they can advise business owners on ways to make it through this health pandemic and plan for the future. All advice provided is free of charge if it relates to COVID-19.

Mr Tudehope said Business Connect had helped more than 40,000 businesses since the program started in 2017 and the service had more than 60 free-of-charge webinars available for small businesses coming up, through to September 2021.

There are new webinar topics addressing issues being faced by business owners during this difficult period, including dealing with disputes, starting your own online store, cash flow essentials and building a more resilient business, Mr Tudehope said.

The webinars are a great way for all small business owners to upskill and learn from experts, with other key day-to-day topics, from cyber security to social media marketing.

In addition to helping small businesses, Business Connect can also assist medium enterprises and in some circumstances, social enterprises and not-for-profit organisations, if eligible.

Mr Tudehope said other Government support measures that could benefit small businesses through the current COVID-19 lockdown include:

For more on Business Connect visit http://www.nsw.gov.au/businessconnect

For more information on the support measures for businesses visit https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/campaign/covid-19-help-businesses

Excerpt from:

Free of charge advice for businesses affected by lockdown - NSW Liberal Party

Why Justin Trudeau? Why? Why are you going to put us through another election, only two years after the last one?

Everyone now knows the writ will be dropping soon, likely in mid-August, for an end-of-September, very-early-October election, as Trudeau and his ministers have been exhibiting an abundance of writ-dropping behaviours lately.

Remember the old Hinterland Whos Who?

The red-capped Liberal displays its full vote-enticing colours as it struts through its territory, dropping funding announcements and promises.

Political pundit conventional wisdom says that the Liberals are likely to squeak out a majority, maybe, but oh those margins are slim. The theory is that Canadians are feeling fairly optimistic right now, as we finally can see the end of the pandemic, and things return normal. As the economy opens up and business picks up, people may well feel inclined to reward Trudeau and his Liberals with votes.

At least that appears to be what hes gambling on. But he could also very well end up with another minority.

Lets check in with our buddy Angus Reid. The polling organization has the Liberals with a very slim two point lead in the polls, 33 per cent to 31 for the Conservative Party of Canada. The NDP has 20 per cent support, the Bloc Quebecois 7 per cent, and other/independent 6 per cent. The Green Party has 3 per cent support and look for that to go down further as there is great unrest in Green land. A confidence vote to oust leader Annamie Paul was abruptly cancelled last week with no explanation, and the battle has now gone to the courts. Not a great position heading into a campaign.

A separate poll by Leger and the Association for Candian Studies has the Liberals at 34 per cent of decided voerrs adn the COC at 29 per cent. The NDP are at 22 per cent in that poll.

On the plus side for the Liberals, they continue to be more competitive in Ontario and Quebec, where like it or not, most Canadian elections are decided. Thats just a fact. The Liberals lead by four points in Ontario and lead the Bloc in Quebec by three points. And the CPC has only 16 per cent support in Quebec.

As for the leaders themselves, the report is negative. While the country continues to give Trudeau a decent score on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, he is falling short in other areas and his disapproval rating sits at 40 per cent. Far from the heady days of 2015, the sunny days of Trudeaus popularity, people are now a little more meh on the man. Most will say he has been somewhat of a disappointment. But on the other hand, those same people arent likely to vote Conservative.

And the CPC leader Erin OToole has his own problems with an unfavourable rating of 58 per cent. That number just wont budge for him. Canadians have now had a chance to get to know him and the majority still dont like what they see.

That plays to Trudeaus favour of course. What doesnt is the high ratings garnered by NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. His favourability ratings are positive, something only he and Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet can claim.

But all in all, the picture looks very similar to the 2019 election, and my bet is another Liberal minority.

Which again begs the question, why Justin? Why?

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A federal election most likely to produce the same results as two years ago - Kimberley Bulletin

About 50 years ago, before I became a property owner and resident in Vermont, my family and I, on a ski trip, got lost on a back road in one of those whiteout Vermont snowstorms. With the car skidding, snow swirling, maps spread out, I had no idea where we were.

A local Vermonter in a car better suited for this kind of snow, stopped to help us find our way.

"Too far to go back in this snow to the ski area," he advised. "safer to hole up nearby."

He described a place up the road and gave us explicit directions about how to go, what signs to look for and how best to navigate the snow drifts. As he was about to leave, I asked how far was this place he was sending us to?

"Oh, about a stone's throw down the road," he said, and disappeared.

After what seemed like hours of driving through the snow, we were not yet at our destination. I stopped the car and mused that a Howitzer couldn't fire a shell this far, let alone someone throwing a stone. Minutes later, up the road we could see the last sign and our destination.

Once tucked in, warm and fed, we were safe and content. The 'stone' had landed thanks to a Vermonter with a 'strong arm' and a sincere desire to help.

A few years later, I bought my house in Chittenden, forgot the stone story, and we came practically every weekend to do what families who visit in Vermont do we skied, snowmobiled, dirt biked, hiked, climbed, fished, grouse hunted, tubed, kayaked and sailed. When my friends from New Jersey asked me how could I tolerate going every weekend, I would answer, "it's the vacation you take once a year that I take every weekend."

In 2000, I moved permanently to Chittenden. Today, when people ask me why I live in Vermont, I tell them a variation of the stone story because it's an apt metaphor to help explain the reasons I live in Vermont.

It goes like this: I live in Vermont because everything worthwhile in life is just a stone's throw down the road.

In these tumultuous times wherein technology often confuses rather than advances; when insecurity prevails and traditions fail; when it seems all social norms give way to unknown comforts and difficult apps; where problems such as global warming, pollution and human survival overwhelm and color the simplest of decisions I feel lucky to live in Vermont. Because I am confident that life help and support from fellow Vermonters and governance is easily accessible, no matter my social or economic status, I always feel confident solutions are readily available.

Vermont is 80% wooded. Wherever I go, and always all around me, without special permission or traffic or payment, are forests, lakes, fields and rivers that add joy and satisfaction to my life. I am keenly aware of the science and spirit of the forest's ability to contribute to my health and feeling of contentment.

Then there are the people. Vermonters possess a sustaining belief they are social sharers who act and govern themselves accordingly. No one goes hungry, everyone deserves shelter; physical and mental needs are satisfied by numerous private and government organizations no matter where one lands on the social, economic or ethnic scale.

Some outsiders call Vermont liberal or leftist or socialistic or a welfare state. It is none of these. Vermont is a compassionate place; and everybody works to make it work.

Long before the environment was considered threatened by humans, Vermonters were protecting what they instinctively knew was a scarce resource sustaining life while protecting all that supports it. I am served by a health care facility, a regional medical center, that treats me as a customer, always exceeding my expectations. Our schools excel because our teachers possess the fundamental belief in supporting the success of students no matter the degree of academic ability. Our arts and entertainment venues are admired because creativity is a natural byproduct of living side by side in nature with its unmatched ability to inspire. Growing and distributing fresh food from our own land is a daily gift from whomever God you worship.

And enriching what's local is easy. Trains and planes to nearby cities and countries are readily accessible. Finally, there is so much personal opportunity here. Vermonters know things must change in a transformative way. Yankee ingenuity is quickly ramped up into innovation. Business incubators throughout the state freely support entrepreneurs with manufacturing and marketing expertise plus financial backing. And it's done with the barest of restrictions.

Vermont is small enough for you to make a difference and big enough to make it worthwhile. Live, work and play here because everything you want your life to be ... is just a stone's throw down the road.

Louis Scotellaro lives in Chittenden.

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Scotellaro: A stone's throw down the road | Commentary | rutlandherald.com - Rutland Herald

For the first time in Nova Scotia history, there is a riding in the upcoming provincial election where all of the candidates for MLA are Black.

In the riding of Preston, which encompasses Nova Scotias most predominantly Black community, Angela Simmonds (for the Liberals), Archy Beals (for the PCs), and Colter Simmonds (for the NDP) are all vying to replace Liberal MLA Keith Colwell, who has served four terms as the ridings MLA since 2003.

Colwell, who was the ridings sole white candidate in the last election, announced that he would not be reoffering earlier this month, just two days before it was announced that Angela Simmonds would be running for the Liberals instead.

Angela Simmonds is a lawyer from Cherrybrook, and served as vice chair on the commission that suggested switching the boundaries in the Preston riding and ridings with other communities of interest back to their original form despite decreasing population (that suggestion was adopted for this election). She also sits as the executive director of the Land Titles Initiative in the provinces office of equity and anti-racism.

Archy Beals is from North Preston. He serves as the Co-Chair of the Preston Township Emergency Response and Impact Team. Beals was the last African Nova Scotian representative on the Halifax school board before the McNeil Liberals replaced it with an unelected advisory council in 2018.

Colter Simmonds online bio says he is from all the communities that make up the Preston district. Simmonds is a basketball coach, nicknamed C.C. (short for Coach Colter), and is the founder of a community organization, We Will Win Youth Association, that focuses on educating and developing community youth.

Where Black people make up roughly only 3% of the provinces overall population, mathematically its hard to make the argument that there is a strong voting block of Black voters ie: a Black vote that has a significant impact on election issues in the province, let alone overall voting results.

It is unlikely that Black issues topics such as Afrocentric education, racism in the justice system, racism in healthcare, specific allegations of racism toward RCMP and municipal police forces, racism within municipal services, any specific correlation between racism and the hot topic of mental health and mental health services, or even racism in of itself beyond general talking points will take shape in the form of any major campaign issues in the upcoming election. They never do.

Simply put: Black issues are arguably of little-to-no interest to most Nova Scotians. They dont see them as applicable to them.

Sadly, the mere mention or suggestion of any sort of Black issue(s) annoys a lot of people. Many people find it offensive. Some, if not many, would argue their mere suggestion to be, in of itself, racist or indictive of reverse-racism. And then there are people who, themselves, are simply racist. An argument could be made that the racist people alone vastly outnumber the mere 3% of the provinces Black population. The stark reality is: were all eligible to vote.

However, unlike the other 54 ridings the vast majority of whom have a Black population much lower than 3% the community of Preston has the highest population density of Black people in all of Atlantic Canada. And though the riding itself encompasses additional surrounding communities that are mostly white, and whose voters are believed to still outnumber the Black vote in the riding, its not unlikely that Simmonds, Simmonds, and Beals will have more knowledge of, and freedom to openly and honestly discuss Black issues with voters on the campaign trail.

Highlighting and engaging in issues Black issues that could have the potential to cost other candidates votes could, in fact, be what is needed to get one of these three candidates past the post. A startling and sad irony when you stop to think about it.

As for the historic dynamic in the Preston riding this election, East Preston native, Marshall Williams Jr., finds reason to be optimistic about it. At least they cant really split the vote so that others can win, he said. I usually vote NDP but in this case, I may bend depending on who is running and how I feel about them and their ideas.

Nova Scotias 41st general election takes place on August 17. Of the three major political parties, there are a total of 11 candidates who are Black another historic first.

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For the first time in Nova Scotia election history, all the candidates in one riding are Black - Toronto Star

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

By David M. GreenwaldExecutive Editor

In many circles, just about everyone has been talking about the NY Times discussion between Ezra Klein and Jerusalem Demsas on housing and infrastructure. (Podcast here).

The left deserves a lot of blame here and if you are looking for a defense of left policies in cities, you will not get it from me.

As anyone has who has read the Vanguard knows, there is a clear divide on the left between homeowners and non-homeowners. There is a divide between progressivism and what you may call limousine liberal, or probably better described as upper middle class liberalism.

Some of these boundary lines are not as clear as we would like to make them. For example, establishment versus non-establishment may not accurately divide the line here.

There is some interesting stuff, but I also think some historical errors.

There is a stereotype of the cleavage in American politics, which is that Democrats want to use the government to do big things, and Republicans dont, and that is the fight, Klein says but he also points out theres a bit of a divided Democrat soul here.

But then he notes that was partially in response to these periods in the 50s and 60s when you had Robert Moses cutting up minority communities with highways in New York.

(Of course anyone who has read Robert Caros epic work, The Power Broker, knows that Moses was not only a Republican, but an elitist and rather conservative one at that. But I digress).

Jerusalem Demsas rightly points out that theres very little reckoning of the fact that there are large swaths of the community that makes up progressives that have also engaged in regulatory capture. And that things like homeownership, and things like blocking housing, and transit, and infrastructure in their communities is something thats not being done by developers or some kind of nefarious other force.

As UC Davis law professor Chris Elmendorf tweeted this weekend, I wish theyd paid more attention to organized groups that oppose prohousing reforms at state level and in liberal cities, and the rhetoric in which they couch their opposition.

As anyone who has read my work on this subject, thats a big problem and its not neatly pigeonholed into a progressive-conservative dichotomy or even a progressive-liberal one.

Demsas continues, saying that participatory democracy does not actually solve this problem.

In fact, you can argue the opposite.

You have structural issues with the fact that people who are willing to engage in these kinds of local politics are systematically older, systematically whiter, and systematically theyre more likely to be homeowners and have a preference towards stability rather than growth and change, he writes.

As Elmendorf: Its become an item of faith among significant segments of the Left that new housing is bad for poor people unless its deed-restricted affordable despite mountains of evidence to the contrary.

Klein points out, if you look at San Franciscoone of the most liberal and at the same time least affordable cities, the people who are organizing to stop this stuff.

I dont want to say its not rational behavior, because it is, Klein continued. I mean, you can be doing amazingly well and still want your house to go up in value. You can be doing amazingly well and not want your life to be inconvenienced. Im not even saying that it is on a local level cruel behavior.

He goes further, pointing out that even if I give you all kinds of economic data showing you itd be better for people if you made it more dense, they dont want that to happen. And thats actually a legitimate human interest.

Jerusalem Demsas responds, saying certainly its not the case that all of NIMBYism or all of opposition to housing development, or transit development, or helping progressive policy at local level can be explained by these incentives. But theres clearly racism and classism. You can hear it when you go to public meetings. You can hear the way people talk about it.

He adds that all these people can also have classist views, and of course have xenophobic views, or whatever it is. But it is clearly the case that the tenor of these conversations is so heightened because there are real financial stakes for a lot of people.

He notes: [I]ts different for someone who is a wealthy tech worker in San Francisco who bought a house in 1970, and has locked in a really low property tax rate thats just saving them tons of money.

On the other hand, that doesnt explain whats happening at every other level, where homeowners are also opposing these policies, despite being essentially identical to the types of people who benefit from them.

I think this debate sets up the next great battle in land use in California.

As Elmendorf points out: The next front for such politics is reform of single-family zoning. Witness debate in SF about how many units in resulting 4-plex must be deed-restricted affordable in order for a SFH conversion to be allowed.

Bottom line then, I think this conversation shows that it is really self-interest rather than ideology driving this debate. I think we saw this very clearly in Davis a month ago when the dividing line over the Housing Element was clearly defined first by age and second by homeownership.

Those who are homeowners bought their houses in the 70s and 80s and clearly see the world very differently then those who are not homeowners.

So what we are really seeing is not necessarily ideological. Or it is ideological, it is what Ezra Klein referred to as symbolically liberal, operationally conservative.

In February he wrote: There is an old finding in political science that Americans are symbolically conservative but operationally liberal. Americans talk like conservatives but want to be governed like liberals. In California, the same split political personality exists, but in reverse: Were often symbolically liberal, but operationally conservative.

In other words, they use the language of progressives but in ways that preserve the status quo. Thats the housing battle in a nutshell.

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Monday Morning Thoughts: So Why Are Blue Cities So Unaffordable? - The Peoples Vanguard of Davis

Administrativeproblems should have anadministrative solution,not a legal one, says SocialDemocratic Liberal Partyleader Viliame Gavoka.

He made the comment inrelation to Governmentsplan to amend the iTaukeiLand Trust Act of 1940.

During debate on the2021-2022 AppropriationBill in Parliament yesterday,he said Bill No. 17 destroyed a fundamentalprinciple of ownership inorder to solve an administrativeproblem.

Administrative problemshould have an administrativesolution, you dontgo and change the basicfundamentals of law toprovide an administrativesolution, Mr Gavoka said.

The Bill removes thefundamental rights ofownership and discretionin relation to onesproperty, and attempts tojustify it, based on the administrativeshortcomingof a third party.

He said there weremany ways to improve theiTaukei Land Trust Board.If we take this approach,the administrativeproblem solving, we end upin anarchy.

If we use the same logicas proposed under this Bill,then every time a governmentdepartment or statutoryauthority delays inhis administrative process,we should solve this bymaking away the need toapply for any consent at all. Thats what youre sayinghere.

The logic behind theBill is an absurdity and itcan only lead to chaos, andit is not the logic on whicha modern society shouldbe built.

The Bill is legallyflawed and it is tragic thatthe landowners, a peopleknown for their generosity,are victims of this flaw.

They should not betreated in this manner, amanner that is disrespectfuland not the Fijian way.

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The Fiji Times 'Logic behind Bill absurd' - Fiji Times