Canadian children in poverty

Moccasin Musings
The measurement of a society is how they treat its weakest citizens. How do Canadians measure up?

The shocking news arrived today that more than 1 in 7 Canadian children live in poverty. Canada ranks 13 out of 17 industrial nations and ranks a "C" grade.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the latest statistics indicate that Canadian child poverty has been gradually increasing since 1989.
 The Conference Board of Canada in its report states that there is a clear link made between joblessness and poverty. "In Canada, relative poverty rates are highest among single parents and even more pronounced among non-working single parents. According to the OECD, non-employed families are the most economically disadvantaged, which means job creation strategies are an integral part of tackling poverty."

Countries such as Denmark are spending more of their gross domestic product to insure that families live above the poverty line. In fact, poverty rates are lowest among OECD countries where social spending is the highest.
 In Canada, the government is following a national, long-term anti-poverty strategy. However, despite a thought-out plan, child poverty continues to increase.

Dominique Fleury, in his research on poverty in Canada, has indicated that children who experience poverty are at higher risk of suffering health problems, developmental delays, and behaviour disorders. They tend to attain lower levels of education and are more likely to live in poverty as adults. This places a weight on Canada's capacity to sustain economic growth in years to come. Click below for more info.
   Moccasins and mukluks stomp for better care for Canadian children.

Gene Sanderson is owner, with his wife, Shirley, of Marie Shoes.com. Marie Shoes.com has been selling quality moccasins, mukluks and slippers around the world since 2006. 

Mocassin Musings question: Is "Fracking: a danger to our health?...

Moccasin Musings

Fracking is a method of removing natural gas that is trapped inside shale rock. The current controversial process used, fracking, is to inject millions of litres of sand, water, and thousands of litres of toxic chemicals into the ground at high pressure, creating cracks that allow pockets of natural gas to be released.

Fracking  is rapidly expanding in almost every province across Canada.  Many people  oppose fracking because of its high water use, its high carbon emissions, its impacts on human health, the disruption it causes to wildlife, and the danger it poses to groundwater and local drinking water by the toxins. 

Widespread opposition has already led to a number of places such as Quebec and France instituting a moratorium and banning the practice.  

There are proponents of fracking.  They state that fracking provides a reliable, affordable, cleaner and responsibly produced energy: natural gas. Chevron states that developing these natural gas resources can "help enhance the country's energy security, strengthen the economy, and fuel job growth." An efficient energy source, natural gas is the "cleanest-burning conventional fuel", producing lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions than heavier hydrocarbon fuels such as coal and oil. Natural gas resources developed from shale rock have resulted in lower-priced natural gas for consumers, making it less expensive for people to heat their homes and generate electricity from natural gas.

However, what is the true cost of fracking and its production of natural gas? 

It has been documented that the chemicals used (formaldehyde, boric acid, ethylene glycol, methanol, isopropanol, and diesel) form residues that leach into water supplies ( CBC documentary, "Burning Water").  Recovered chemicals are often stored in open pits and provide an additional hazard to people, live stock and local wildlife. Chemicals found in these open pits have been linked to health problems such as cancer and developmental disorders.

It takes millions of litres of water to  recover natural gas from shale rocks. This demand depletes local water supplies. People and wildlife suffer beyond what is considered normal.

Moccasin Musings say "frack no more", the process presents a real danger to our health!

Gene Sanderson is owner, with his wife, Shirley, of Marie Shoes.com. Marie Shoes.com has been selling quality moccasins, mukluks and slippers around the world since 2006.





 

Mocassins stomp and drums drum sadness over the loss of life during war . . .

Moccasin Musings

On November 11, 2102, and every year, at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month the world stops to remember the day the Great War ended, in 1918.  The Great War, now called World War I (WWI) was a global war centered in Europe that began on July 28^th, 1914 and lasted until November 11^th, 1918. It was then called the World War or the Great War; it changed to World War I after the start of World War II in 1939.

But, on the 11th hour on the 11^th day of the 11^th month, 1918, at 5:00 in the morning, Germany, bereft of manpower and supplies and faced with imminent invasion, signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiégne, France. This First World War left nine million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded. In addition, at least five million civilians died from disease, starvation, or exposure.

Canada, for the first time in its history, fought as a distinct unit under a Canadian-born commander, General Arthur W. Currie, and fought in battles such as Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, and the Battle of the Somme.  Canadians as part of Canada’s heritage and identity remember the soldiers that fought.

620,000 Canadian men and women participated in the war.  In general, non-whites were not welcomed into the military. When "blacks" from Sydney, Nova Scotia, volunteered their services they were told, "This is not for you fellows, this is a "white man's" war."  In the end however, some segregated "black" units were formed. In 1915, Aboriginal Canadians, were allowed to enlist. In total, about 3,500 Aboriginal Canadians served with the Canadian Forces in this war.  The Canadian Japanese Association in British Columbia put forward a volunteer reserve force of 227 men, some of whom were later admitted into the military.   Blacks crossed over the United States  border in order to enlist.  They, and the Canadian blacks, were segregated during their tour, both on ships and in camps. Canada's total casualties stood at the end of the war at 67,000 killed and 173,000 wounded, out of the 620,000 mobilized to fight.

World War I was known as the "war to end all wars" because of the great slaughter and destruction it caused. 

Gene Sanderson is owner, with his wife, Shirley, of Marie Shoes.com. Marie Shoes.com has been selling quality moccasins, mukluks and slippers around the world since 2006.

Mukluks and Canada's New $20 Bill

Moccasin Musings 
When purchasing mukluks from now on, the cash payment will be in polymer bills rather than the old linen form.  In order to save money and to keep money in circulation longer, the Royal Canadian Mint has introduced a new $20 bill made from high-tech polymer. The new $20 bill is green and has an updated picture of Queen Elizabeth II on the front. The back of the bill pays tribute to Canada’s veterans and displays the Canadian National Vimy Memorial located in France.

The $20 bills have already turned some heads. Focus groups commissioned by the Bank of Canada to gauge public opinion on the design found some people mistook the Vimy Memorial for New York’s Twin Towers, while some commented that images of the memorial’s sculptures were “too pornographic.” As well, poppies are displayed on the back.

The polymer notes have more security features and are harder to counterfeit than the current paper bills, while the new $20 bills are expected to last 2.5-times longer than today’s banknotes.

The polymer notes have more security features and are harder to counterfeit than the current paper bills, while the new $20 bills are expected to last 2.5-times longer than today’s banknotes.

Read more: http://www.canada.com/banknote+costs+Bank+Canada+pretty+penny/7399026/story.html#ixzz2BnN9XDOx

Gene Sanderson is owner, with his wife, Shirley, of Marie Shoes.com. Marie Shoes.com has been selling quality moccasins, mukluks and slippers around the world since 2006.

THE RED POPPY

Moccasin Musings

In Canada, the poppy is worn to commemorate those members of their armed forces fallen in the line of duty to their country. One of the troubling things about wearing a poppy is the problem of keeping it pined to your clothing. Those darn pins don’t seem to do their duty. You soon find out that you lost the poppy somewhere on your journey. You replace it but again that poppy is gone too. (By the way, it is a sign of respect to pick up a fallen poppy.) To solve the problem, a Canadian flag pin attached through the middle of the poppy does the trick.  However, here’s the rub. I found out recently that the Royal Canadian official position states “(the poppy) is a sacred symbol and should not be defaced in anyway. No pin, therefore, should be used to attached it to clothing.”  Well, shut the front door. I guess if the veterans want us to wear the poppy a certain way, we should accommodate them. After all Remembrance Day is all about remembering.

Gene Sanderson is owner, with his wife, Shirley, of Marie Shoes.com. Marie Shoes.com has been selling quality moccasins, mukluks and slippers around the world since 2006.

Moccasins drum in 2nd term for American President Obama

Moccasin Musings

On November 6, 2012, the American people elected as president, Barack Obama.  It was just two days later…November 8^th, 1932, another Democrat was elected as president of the United States: Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Roosevelt came to the White House with a promise to lead America out of the Great Depression.  Aided by a Democratic Congress, Roosevelt took prompt action, and most of his proposals, such as the Agricultural Adjustment Act, National Industrial Recovery Act, and creation of the Public Works Administration were approved within his first 100 days in office. Although criticized by many in the business community, Roosevelt's progressive legislation improved America's economic climate, and in 1936 he easily won reelection.

In 1940, with World War II raging in Europe and the Pacific, Roosevelt agreed to run for an unprecedented third term and was reelected.  He led Americans during World War II and their entrance to that war in December 1941. In 1944, with the war not yet won, he was reelected to a fourth term.

Three months after his inauguration, while resting at his retreat at Warm Springs, Georgia, Roosevelt died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 63.  Millions of Americans mourned the death of the man who had led the United States through two of the greatest crises of the 20th century: the Great Depression and World War II. Roosevelt's unparalleled 13 years as president led to the passing of an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which limits future presidents to a maximum of two consecutive terms in office.

The reelection of Barack Obama represents his second and last term in office.  Like Roosevelt, he has great problems such as a depressed economy, high unemployment, and a hostile Congress. If Barack succeeds, it will be said that he led Americans through a dire economic crisis period of the 21^st century.

Gene Sanderson is owner, with his wife, Shirley, of Marie Shoes.com. Marie Shoes.com has been selling quality moccasins, mukluks and slippers around the world since 2006.

A Great Day

Moccasin Musings

November 6^th, 1962,  South Africa’s Apartheid was condemned by the United Nations General Assembly.  Though it took another 30 years for black South Africans to achieve equality with the whites, the condemnation spoke of the world’s abhorrence of the practice of apartheid. 

In brief: from 1948 to 1993, apartheid, which comes from the Afrikaans word for "apartness," was government-sanctioned racial segregation and political and economic discrimination against South Africa's non-white majority. Among many injustices, blacks were forced to live in segregated areas and couldn’t enter whites-only neighborhoods unless they had a special pass. Does this scenario ring any bells?  Whites represented only a small fraction of the population but held the vast majority of the country's land and wealth.

The international movement to end apartheid gained momentum after a 1960 massacre of unarmed demonstrators near Johannesburg. While Western powers did not fully favour the economic or military embargo opposition to apartheid grew and in 1973 a U.N. resolution labeled apartheid a "crime against humanity."

Decades of strikes, sanctions and increasingly violent demonstrations, were catalyst to many apartheid laws being repealed by 1990. Finally, in 1991, under President F.W. de Klerk, the South African government repealed all remaining apartheid laws and committed to writing a new constitution. 

Moccasin memories empathize with this sordid past and today celebrate a beginning November 6, 1962.

Gene Sanderson is owner, with his wife, Shirley, of Marie Shoes.com. Marie Shoes.com has been selling quality moccasins, mukluks and slippers around the world since 2006.