Little more than 150 years after being commissioned by Queen Victoria, the Commonwealth’s highest award for valour has been remade in a Canadian version. The Victoria Cross is for the most conspicuous acts of valour by those in Her Majesty’s service of all ranks.

Queen Victoria is reported to have insisted on the term ‘valour’ rather than bravery when setting the criteria as she believed that all men who went into combat were brave. She was as right then as her sentiments are today, only it is men and women who go into combat today.

Commissioned in 1856, the first Canadian born recipient, Lieutenant Alexander Roberts Dunn, received the Victoria Cross (VC) for his actions which took place two years before during the Crimean War. Dunn was part of the ill fated Charge of the Light Brigade immortalized in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem. The original VC was cast using metal from a Crimean War cannon. Read the rest of this entry »

The RCMP have concluded there is no evidence in order to lay criminal charges in the alleged attempt to bribe the late Chuck Cadman to rejoin the Conservative caucus. Some would consider that to be the end of the matter. That would be a pretty naive concept in my opinion.

Cadman’s widow as well as his daughter and son-in-law all have stated that Cadman told them of the attempt to bribe him into helping to topple the government of Paul Martin. In the end, on that particular vote, Cadman was the lone vote that kept the government alive. Harper is on tape as stating to a writer, who has recently published a book on Cadman, that offers of ‘financial considerations’ were made. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday, police in Peterborough, Ontario received a complaint about a 17 year old youth urinating on the Cenotaph in Centennial Park. The cenotaph like those throughout the country represents memorials to Canadians who fought and died for this country. On the same day this young person was being charged for his disgusting act, a world away, another young Canadian died serving Canada.

Now, the most common reaction to disgusting behaviour by teenagers is to lump them all into one group tarred with the brush of the perpetrator’s actions. I’ve made that mistake myself a few times. It was interesting to read a followup piece in the Peterborough Examiner of responses to the vandalism.  Read the rest of this entry »

They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them

In memory of our fallen Canadian:

Cpl Micheal Starker – Afghanistan May 6, 2008

Always Caring — Always Canadian — Never Defeated

Support Our Troops — Wear Red on Fridays

In 2004 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against Enbridge Gas in a class action suit brought against them over their excessive (and illegal) application of late fees on customers accounts. Enbridge agreed to pay $22million as a settlement after the ruling. Now that seems like the appropriate and responsible move. They likely collected a lot more than that before they were challenged but at least they had to surrender some of that cost.

Now you’d think that would be the end of it, lesson learned, they (and other over charging utilities) would adjust their late fees and get on with life. The shareholders would have to eat some dividends and life would go on. No, that wasn’t the end of the story. Read the rest of this entry »