The former long serving and long suffering former Chief Clerk of the Privy Council of Canada Alex Himelfarb speaks out about the resignation of Munir Sheikh as a brave and admirable act.
Here is an excerpt from his post:
In Canada, our professional, non-partisan public service has traditionally been guided by the principle of "fearless advice and loyal implementation." This is based on the belief that governments work best when they have access to the best possible information, options, and advice – including what they may not wish to hear – and, in the end, democracy demands that the public service implement loyally whatever lawful decision the elected government of the day makes – whether the public servants agree or not. That's how it works when it works. I know Munir to be a man of great integrity, committed to the value and values of a professional, non-partisan public service.
Read more...
Friday, July 23, 2010
CTV Interview on UN Censorship of The Gun Sculpture
I did a short interview on the CTV national news on the Gun Sculpture. Here is the link http://videos.apnicommunity.com/Video,Item,684381932.html
Thanks to www.apnicommunity.com for promoting the link and helping to get the message out about the Gun Sculpture censorship.
Thanks to www.apnicommunity.com for promoting the link and helping to get the message out about the Gun Sculpture censorship.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Vue Weekly Talks About Progressive Politics
Ricardo Acuna from the Parkland Institute has an interesting piece in Vue Weekly. It is on his perceptions of who is "progressive" in the Alberta political firmament. He seems to settle on the NDP as the only party close to being what he sees as a progressive. Fair enough but progressives Albertans are mostly not in political parties.
I would recommend reading the piece but also suggest people go to the Reboot Alberta site and click on the What's a Progressive link and read the thoughts of what is a progressive many non-partisan citizen participants in the Reboot Alberta movement. It will add to the sense of what we are missing in Alberta political culture - even from the current progressively aspiring political parties.
If you red something at the Reboot Alberta site that resonates with you, consider registering on the site and become part of the broader progressive citizen's engagement movement in Alberta.
I would recommend reading the piece but also suggest people go to the Reboot Alberta site and click on the What's a Progressive link and read the thoughts of what is a progressive many non-partisan citizen participants in the Reboot Alberta movement. It will add to the sense of what we are missing in Alberta political culture - even from the current progressively aspiring political parties.
If you red something at the Reboot Alberta site that resonates with you, consider registering on the site and become part of the broader progressive citizen's engagement movement in Alberta.
Shame on UN for Censoring Gun Sculpture.
I am most amazed that the United Nations, of all the institutions in the world, would succumb to pressure to censor art about the “Art of Peacemaking: the Gun Sculpture” by Edmonton artists Sandra Bromley and Wallis Kendal. It is even more ironic when you consider the nature of the UN event in Vienna where the Gun Sculpture was displayed. The UN Academic Council was meeting on "New Security Challenges" and
having speakers on the UN and the Media. (sic).
Sheila Pratt of the Edmonton Journal broke the story on the front page yesterday. Congratulations to the Edmonton Journal for giving this important but not conventional story such prominent display. Others have picked it up including the Montreal Gazette and the CBC, amongst others, with more interest being shown all the time.
I am very attached to this piece of art and have helped promote it in my own way for the past few years. I have helped bring it out of storage and brought it back from Europe for a display at The Works festival in Edmonton a few years ago. I am mostly interested in finding a permanent home for it...even considered the UN headquarters in New York, but with this development by the UN – you have to think twice.
The Gun Sculpture is one of the best examples I know of art doing its job. In no small part this piece tells us something about the human condition, ourselves and provokes strong reflecting reactions. By doing so, it becomes effectively controversial in a number of ways...all of them positive from my point of view.
The Chinese delegation at the Vienna International Centre was offended because a couple of the Gun Sculpture related photographs showed Tibetan victims, but did not reference any direct Chinese involvement with the victims. The Chinese delegation to the UN event objected to officials and insisted the Gun Sculpture be removed. The fact that the UN partially capitulated to such political pressure and removed the photographs of victims that forms an integral part of the exhibit is absolutely alarming. It makes you wonder what they were thinking especially since China was not singled out and this artwork has been displayed all over the world without similar incident.
The message of the Gun Sculpture is critically important. It is in the form of a prison cell and made up of 7000 thousand of decommissioned weapons from handguns, to AK- 47s, to ammunition and landmines. It challenges “accepted ways of thinking” about violence and “acts as a catalyst that makes (people) respond to the suffering” these small arms weapons cause for so many people in the world.
We need more artists like Bromley and Kendal and artwork like the Gun Sculpture to provoke our thinking and to make us reflect on our values, beliefs, perceptions and attitudes. I hope the artists get a formal apology from the officials at the UN, including those who made this decision to censor the Gun Sculpture.
Free speech is not free and if we are not aggressive in using it and vigilant in protecting it – we will lose it. The UN censoring of the Gun Sculpture is a shameful example of the erosion of free speech.
I hope this story has legs and others start to help to ensure this story travels around the world. We need to get the Gun Sculpture message out and deplore the kind of violence and suffering these weapons are causing in so many places, in so many ways to so many people.
We also need to get the message out about the place of art in illuminating this kind of core message about violence, suffering and aggression in the world. You would expect more support from the United Nations for endorsing that kind of core message and more respect for art as a way to communicate it, at least one would like to think so! This shameful example of capitulation and censorship is not the kind of action we would or should accept from the United Nations. They need to be more accountable and thoughtful about their role and responsibility on these core issues too.
Please forward this blog post around. Share it with as many people as you can who care about free speech, the role of art in our society and who decry institutionalized censorship.
having speakers on the UN and the Media. (sic).
I am very attached to this piece of art and have helped promote it in my own way for the past few years. I have helped bring it out of storage and brought it back from Europe for a display at The Works festival in Edmonton a few years ago. I am mostly interested in finding a permanent home for it...even considered the UN headquarters in New York, but with this development by the UN – you have to think twice.
The Gun Sculpture is one of the best examples I know of art doing its job. In no small part this piece tells us something about the human condition, ourselves and provokes strong reflecting reactions. By doing so, it becomes effectively controversial in a number of ways...all of them positive from my point of view.
The Chinese delegation at the Vienna International Centre was offended because a couple of the Gun Sculpture related photographs showed Tibetan victims, but did not reference any direct Chinese involvement with the victims. The Chinese delegation to the UN event objected to officials and insisted the Gun Sculpture be removed. The fact that the UN partially capitulated to such political pressure and removed the photographs of victims that forms an integral part of the exhibit is absolutely alarming. It makes you wonder what they were thinking especially since China was not singled out and this artwork has been displayed all over the world without similar incident.
The message of the Gun Sculpture is critically important. It is in the form of a prison cell and made up of 7000 thousand of decommissioned weapons from handguns, to AK- 47s, to ammunition and landmines. It challenges “accepted ways of thinking” about violence and “acts as a catalyst that makes (people) respond to the suffering” these small arms weapons cause for so many people in the world.
We need more artists like Bromley and Kendal and artwork like the Gun Sculpture to provoke our thinking and to make us reflect on our values, beliefs, perceptions and attitudes. I hope the artists get a formal apology from the officials at the UN, including those who made this decision to censor the Gun Sculpture.
Free speech is not free and if we are not aggressive in using it and vigilant in protecting it – we will lose it. The UN censoring of the Gun Sculpture is a shameful example of the erosion of free speech.
I hope this story has legs and others start to help to ensure this story travels around the world. We need to get the Gun Sculpture message out and deplore the kind of violence and suffering these weapons are causing in so many places, in so many ways to so many people.
We also need to get the message out about the place of art in illuminating this kind of core message about violence, suffering and aggression in the world. You would expect more support from the United Nations for endorsing that kind of core message and more respect for art as a way to communicate it, at least one would like to think so! This shameful example of capitulation and censorship is not the kind of action we would or should accept from the United Nations. They need to be more accountable and thoughtful about their role and responsibility on these core issues too.
Please forward this blog post around. Share it with as many people as you can who care about free speech, the role of art in our society and who decry institutionalized censorship.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Alberta Needs to Design a New Future for Itself
Nice to see the op-ed in yesterday's Edmonton Journal written by economist Todd Hirsch. Todd is turning into a first rate public intellectual with his op-ed writing. Now he and Rob Roach of the Canada West Foundation are planning a new book on the creative economy entitled Re-writing the Code: Changing Canada's Economic DNA. I am looking forward to it.
With all the changes happening in the world it is imperative for Canada - and Alberta especially - to shift from a virtually sole focus on a resource extraction economy into a more right-brained economy and society. The Dave Hancock Inspiring Education initiative as Minister of Education has been a step in the right direction. The new Literacy Policy and framework for Alberta is now established and needs life breathed into it as a key part of this shift in consciousness.
I have been involved with others in a new initiative that addresses this overarching concern about the future of Alberta in a series of public dialogues entitled Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta. I encourage you to visit the site and see what we are up to in this effort to influence the future direction of Alberta.
The Premier's Council for Economic Strategy has a discussion paper out that starts to reshape the thinking around Alberta's future too. The Council is focused on six key questions:
With all the changes happening in the world it is imperative for Canada - and Alberta especially - to shift from a virtually sole focus on a resource extraction economy into a more right-brained economy and society. The Dave Hancock Inspiring Education initiative as Minister of Education has been a step in the right direction. The new Literacy Policy and framework for Alberta is now established and needs life breathed into it as a key part of this shift in consciousness.
I have been involved with others in a new initiative that addresses this overarching concern about the future of Alberta in a series of public dialogues entitled Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta. I encourage you to visit the site and see what we are up to in this effort to influence the future direction of Alberta.
The Premier's Council for Economic Strategy has a discussion paper out that starts to reshape the thinking around Alberta's future too. The Council is focused on six key questions:
- What must Alberta do to earn a global reputation as a responsible energy producer and natural resource steward?
- How can we ensure the Alberta of the future has a robust, stable economy and fiscal position?
- What steps can Alberta take to create new wealth through knowledge and innovation?
- How do we ensure we have the healthy skilled and engaged citizens needed to drive innovation and sustain prosperity?
- How do we ensure Alberta's urban and rural communities are vibrant, supportive and inclusive?
- How can we engage more strategically with the rest of Canada and the world?
All of these question integrate into each other - which is a good thing, We need a robust and vibrant discussion amongst Albertans on each and every one of them. There is a place to share your thoughts on these and other concerns with the Premier's Council here. I strongly recommend you engage and exert some influence on the future of Alberta in this way. I will be engaging on these questions over the next weeks through this blog and my public speaking opportunities.
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