Alexis Portnoy Arrested and Turned Over to the Canadian Border Services for Deportaion

Newfoundland and Labrador breaking news:

December 22, 2005

Early this morning an RCMP spokesperson announced the arrest of Alexis Portnoy, an Israeli immigrant who has been the center of a province wide effort to save him and his family from deportation.

Mr. Pornoy and his family have been receiving asylum in a church basement in Marystown, Newfoundland since October when he along with his pregnant wife and 4 children were ordered out of the country.

The family, which has been living in Newfoundland for more than 10 years and by all accounts have been welcome and productive members of the local community. In the past few months the unprecedented outcry of people across the province, including many local municipal leaders, has gone largely unheeded by federal officials and ministers, including requests by citizens groups for a stay of deportation.

The Portnoy case has touched the hearts and minds of most people in the province largely due to the fact that two of the family’s four children suffer from medical conditions, including one who has cystic fibrosis. In addition to this, the two younger children were born in the province and are by birthright Canadian citizens. The only response from government on the issue of the Canadian children was that they were welcome to stay but both parents and both older siblings would be forced to leave.

This case which has touched and angered so many people took an unexpected turn early this morning with the announcement of Mr. Portnoy’s arrest in the Burin Peninsula area.

According to early reports, Alexis Portnoy had sneaked out of the church around 10pm last evening intent on emptying clothing collection bins belonging to the Canadian Diabetes Association. Prior to his moving into the church he and an associate had been under contract with the charity to collect donated clothing from the drop off locations and deliver it to the collection center. With Christmas just a couple of days away and a feeling of generosity in the air, bins in the area were overflowing and it appears Mr. Portnoy was intent on ensuring that they reached their destination.

RCMP spokesperson Sergeant Chris Fitzgerald informed the media this morning that Mr. Portnoy had been stopped on a routine traffic violation and upon running his license the outstanding deportation order was identified. Mr. Portnoy was immediately arrested and turned over to the Canada Border Services agency. At this point his exact whereabouts are unknown.

The family had been working with an immigration lawyer to prepare an application for citizenship on humanitarian grounds which they hoped to present to government in the new year. As of this morning the remainder of the Portnoy family was still inside the basement of the Sacred Heart church in Marystown. The major concern of many in the province, and more especially his wife and children, is that Alexis Portnoy may already have been taken out of the province and perhaps even be on a flight back to Israel before the end of the day.

New Party Politics in Canada

Hi folks,

With the federal election starting to cool off for Christmas (if it ever really heated up), I thought this might be a good time to look at options to the current parties and system of government in this Country.

It seems like most people have reached a point where they plan to vote for the party or leader they feel will do the least harm as opposed to the one they really want elected. That's a sad statement on the Canadian condition, but I believe an accurate one.

Over the past few months I, along with others have been listening to what people have been saying about the various issues and we have decided to begin drafting a platform document for a possible future party tentatively named the People First Party (PFP).

Over the coming days I will be posting portions of that platform for your review and comments. We hope that through your feedback we can develop a platform that is truly representative of what the public wants.

This represents the first installment of that document, Political Reform. Take some time, digest it and let us know what you think about it. Give us your feedback, suggestions and ideas. It is through your input that we will design the final draft.

Thanks,
Patriot

The complete contents of this discussion draft can be found at: www.peoplefirstparty.blogspot.com/

Mission Statement:

The People’s Voice Party (PFP) a voice for all Canadians.

A voice for sweeping political and social reforms, PFP is dedicated to the principle of open and equal government through increasing power to provinces & territories while protecting our Nation’s social & economic values.


Political Reform:

The PFP is fully dedicated to the creation of a triple E Senate. This will allow each of the Country’s provincial partners to have a more equal say in policy and legislation regardless of their population base. We believe that the archaic practice of appointing senators is one that provides no real value to Canadians but instead serves to reward longtime supporters of individual political parties. In comparison, an elected senate will ensure that the public receives the sort of regional representation they deserve.

Although the details of a specific senate structure and processes will require much planning and development, the PFP vision is to implement a triple E senate that has the powers necessary to ensure that the needs of all province’s and territories are met. One option the PFP is currently considering is a mechanism by which legislation would require the agreement by a minimum of 60% of the senate, plus the agreement of a majority of the senators from at least seven provinces and/or territories, in order to be enacted.

In addition to the creation of a triple E senate, the PFP will undertake a review of the current system of parliamentary election. We are in favor of fully reviewing the current “first past the post” system that allows a party to form the government even though that party may have captured less than half of the popular vote. We believe that electoral reform must be undertaken on two fronts, a senate that provides regional representation and a Parliament that provides proportional representation. It is in this way that the voice of the people will truly be heard.

As a party, the PFP intends to work with the provinces and territories to ensure they have the freedom and powers they need in order to prosper. We believe that while a federal presence is a necessity for all Canadians it should not impede the development and growth of the provinces on an individual basis. The PFP believes that Canada is much more than simply the sum of its parts. We believe that by loosening Ottawa’s centralized grip on the nation, the individual parts will begin to flourish and in turn lead to an even stronger nation.

The PFP believes that much of the pomp and circumstance that currently exists within government is antiquated, unnecessary and overly expensive. A clear example of this is the current practice of maintaining a Queen’s representative in Ottawa and in each province (Governor General/Lieutenant Governor). This is an outdated custom that has no real value in the twenty-first century. We believe that while the office may provide a comfortable reminder of our history, its does not warrant the cost of maintaining it going forward and should be done away with.

The PFP vision of government is one that is open and responsive to the needs of the nation. In an effort to ensure accountability and sound financial practices the PFP would greatly increase the powers of the Auditor General by allowing the office to fully investigate spending in all areas of government. All members of parliament including cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister would be subject to the Auditor’s review. The office of the Auditor General would report directly to parliament in an open forum available to all, in essence making it accountable to the general public.

Although we understand that the plans outlined above will take time to implement, we believe they are a major first step in creating a more even handed government that will better serve all Canadians. Other changes will need to occur over time, but we believe that these steps will significantly improve how this country is governed.

Canada's Colonial Rule in Newfoundland and Labrador

I recently wrote an commentary in which I speculated on whether Ottawa viewed Newfoundland and Labrador as an occupied colony than as a true province. The idea was mentioned in reference to the fact that the federal presence in the province has dropped by around 30% in the past couple of decades resulting in very few federal employees or services existing here. The comments were also spurred on by the fact that even though nearly all of Canada's eastern coastline, 17,500 kms of it anyway, is contained in the province yet there is no military presence to speak of.

Since writing that piece I’ve decided to look back into history a little bit in order to see just how the province really does compare to the colonies of old. To take a look at our own history and see just where we fit inside the great Canadian family or if indeed we do.

As you may or may not be aware, Newfoundland entered confederation on March 31, 1949 after years of heated debate that pitted religion against religion and family against family. Although Newfoundland had once been an independent nation, just prior to joining Canada it was a British Colony, under the rule of the King so to speak and was in essence a colonial outpost of the British Empire.

In the late 1940s, with WWII having just ended, Britain was in grave financial difficulty due to a massive rebuilding effort that was underway. As a cost saving measure the British government decided to divest itself of many of its costly colonies in places like India, Africa and yes, Newfoundland. These activities basically signaled the end of British colonial rule which had been in a decline around the world for many decades.

While most colonized lands were returned to the people who had historically ruled them, this was not a part of the master plan for Newfoundland. When a delegation from the island visited England and requested an opportunity to work out specific terms for a return to sovereignty they were met with a very cold and unfriendly reception. In essence they were led to understand that this was not a topic that would be discussed.

What the delegation didn’t know was that secret plans were already underway behind the scenes, in partnership with the Canadian government, to annex Newfoundland. Any other course of action was simply brushed aside by the leadership of the day and treated with utter contempt.

By the time Joey Smallwood was identified as the man who could successfully lead the confederation movement forward, the outcome was already a foregone conclusion in some circles. As a result of quiet, yet substantial, political and financial backing from both England and Canada, the movement to promote confederation found its wings and in a very heated and closely fought public referendum Newfoundland was brought kicking and screaming into the dominion.

With barely better than 50% public support, it was at that point in history that Newfoundland signed on as a Canadian province, at least on paper. Official records and political rhetoric identify the province as an equal partner in Canada, but did Newfoundland really become a province in the true sense of the word, or is it still nothing more than a colony being governed from afar?

A quick scan of several dictionaries leads one to the following commonly accepted definition of Colonialism:

a policy in which a country rules other nations and develops trade for its own benefit; a country or area controlled politically by a more powerful country; belief in and support for the system of one country controlling another

Does any of this sound even vaguely familiar to anyone in Newfoundland and Labrador, a land that was once an independent nation, but is now controlled by a much larger country? A land that has little, if any, real political power within the ruling government and a land where resources have been utilized and traded for the greater good of the nation, sometimes to the detriment of Newfoundland and Labrador itself.

Newfoundlanders often question why they were considered less important to Canada than Quebec was when it came to permitting the province to sell billions of dollars worth of Upper Churchill power to the nation? Why did it take years of fighting and maneuvering to change a situation were resources located under ground, such as in Alberta’s oil fields, are considered the domain of the province while those under water, on this province’s continental shelf, were considered to be in the federal domain? People often ask themselves, why foreign fishing fleets have been given quotas off this province’s shores? Quotas that were denied to local fishermen but were issued to foriegn nations in an effort to improve international trade for the benefit of Ontario textile mills.

These issues are of great importance to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. So to are the words often spoken by federal politicians who tell the public that by joining Canada Newfoundland gained many benefits it would otherwise never have had. Benefits such as roads, hospitals, improved education and so on. “Where would you be today if it weren’t for Canada?” they often say.

What follows is a quote from the “History of the Indian Sub-Continent”. Does this sound familiar to anyone in Newfoundland and Labrador today?

“While few educated South Asians would deny that British Colonial rule was detrimental to the interests of the common people of the sub-continent - several harbor an illusion that the British weren't all bad. Didn't they, perhaps, educate us - build us modern cities, build us irrigation canals - protect our ancient monuments - etc. etc.”

The document goes on to describe how, although still a developing nation, the reality of the situation was that as an independent Country, the people of the land ended up much better off than they had been under Colonial rule and in fact, after 50 years of freedom they have improved their lot in life well beyond where they were when colonial rule ended in the late 1940s.

In Newfoundland and Labrador today, we indeed have hospitals, schools, roads, etc, but at what cost and to what benefit? Our hospitals are seriously under funded, our province’s literacy rate is still one of the lowest in Canada and anyone who has traveled the roads of this province, including the TCH, will attest to the fact that they are in deplorable shape and worsening every year.

The province once had a railway from one end of the island to the other. This is gone.

The province’s fisheries have been destroyed while under a federal watch.

Newfoundland and Labrador has practically no representation in the nation's centralized government.

The province is physically cut off from the Country that governs it by a province that continually vacillates between nationalism and separation. As a result of the federal government not wanting to tip the balance by ruling against the larger province, Newfoundland and Labrador can’t even move its resources across Quebec’s borders.

After more than 50 years under Canadian rule, Newfoundland and Labrador continues to be the butt of countless Canadian jokes half the time and the grease that turns the wheels of the foreign affairs department the other half.

Is Newfoundland and Labrador a province or a colony? I’ll let you make up your own mind on that. As for me, all I have to say is welcome to my old colonial home.