Happy Canada Day, July 1, 2017 (or not if you like) + BC democracy, London squatting, & great Warren Buffet

Jul 1st, 2017 | By | Category: In Brief

For those who do feel inclined to celebrate the occasion, Happy Canada Day, July 1, 2017 – also the 150th anniversary of the northern North American confederation of 1867, established just after the American Civil War (1861—65) and just before the 1868 “Meiji Restoration” in Japan.

(Other notable events of  1867 include the Second Reform Act in the United Kingdom, publication of the first book-length edition of Walter Bagehot’s classic on The English Constitution, and publication of the first volume of Karl Marx’s classic Das Kapital – in German : an English edition did not appear until 1887!)

There are of course many reports on the 150th anniversary of the 1867 confederation in Canada currently extant. Our favourite is Randall White’s “Happy 150th Birthday To Ontario, Canada’s Most Populous Province,” on Susanna Kelley’s excellent Ontario News Watch site.

We also like “Canada Named ‘Most Reputable Country’ In Time For 150th Birthday” (Huffington Post Canada) and “PM Trudeau visits Parliament Hill protest teepee” (CTV News).

Meanwhile, the most interesting Canadian political action of the past week has featured the current adventures of Democracy in Canada’s Pacific Province.

This Republic Now billboard is up for a month in Toronto on Danforth Avenue east of Playter. A second is also in Toronto, on the Gardiner Expressway west of Sherbourne. A third is in Ottawa at St. Laurent Blvd. and Montreal Road.

You can follow these adventures in, eg : “Vaughn Palmer: Clark schemes, dreams NDP-Green alliance is a flop-in-waiting” ; “Judgment Day: BC Liberal tactics set up difficult decision for lieutenant-governor” ; “BC NDP asked to form government after Liberal defeat” ; and “Showdown at Government House: the meeting that ended 16 years of BC Liberal rule.”

For high commentary on the recent BC adventures in democracy we especially like Charlie Smith’s piece on The Georgia Straight website : “Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon’s unelected power should raise questions about dumping the monarchy.”

(And we’re guessing Mr. Smith would also like Republic Now’s Canada Day 2017 billboards in Ottawa and Toronto : “We don’t need a king : Our next head of state should be Canadian.”)

Former London, England town house of eminent anthropologist and archaeologist Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers at 4 Grosvenor Gardens, occupied by squatters from Autonomous Nation of Anarchist Libertarians earlier this year.

Meanwhile, back in Canada’s old imperial metropolis of London, England, we’ve been struck by a report from earlier this year that we’ve just stumbled across : “Squatters ejected from oligarch’s £15m mansion move into new base yards away.”

The new base into which the squatters moved was a seven-storey town house at 4 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0DH. And it turns out that during the late 19th century this place – in posh Belgravia, not far from Buckingham Palace – belonged to the eminent anthropologist and archaeologist Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt- Rivers.

(Btw during an earlier military career Fox Pitt- Rivers was briefly stationed in Canada, in 1861.)

We haven’t been able to discover online whether 4 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0DH is still being occupied by squatters (apparently from the Autonomous Nation of Anarchist Libertarians). But the mere fact that such things happen in London today may have something to do with Brexit etc (well, maybe … somehow, in one way or another).

Finally, as evidence that Canada’s great geographic neighbour in the USA today is not entirely bereft of common sense right now – and that the capitalism Karl Marx criticized long ago continues to have its redeeming sides – see “WARREN BUFFETT: The Republican healthcare bill should be called the ‘Relief for the Rich Act’.”

Warren Buffet and friends break into song.

As evidence that Mr. Buffett has some appreciation for the USA’s northern neighbour as well, this article wisely concludes with :

“Buffett also reiterated his call for a single-payer system for healthcare, which he said would be ‘more effective.’” (As we have been illustrating in Canada since the late 1960s.)

So again, Happy Canada Day, July 1, 2017 – for those who do feel inclined to celebrate, with some form of inspirational refreshment, or whatever else might seem appropriate.

“O Canada! / Terre de nos aïeux, / Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux. / Car ton bras sait porter l’épée, / Il sait porter la croix. / Ton histoire est une épopée, / Des plus brillants exploits. / Et ta valeur, de foi trempée, / Protégera nos foyers et nos droits. / Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.”
Tags: , , , , ,


Leave Comment