Next up: Police can now search your unlocked car without a warrant

Friend: yeah encryption gives people a reasonable expectation of privacy :|a which means if your stuff is encrypted then it's private. but passwords don't afford the same security.
and that's super nifty that apple can't do it themselves actually.
I'M ALL FOR MORE PRIVACY IN OUR ELECTRONICS \o/;
Mirth: Wonder if the law's the same on that in Canada. I'd assume so but.
Friend: idk you guys might be better.
our laws just haven't caught up with technology.
it's actually super frustrating.
Mirth: Considering the general state of technology in our government I am going to guess that no we are not even remotely better.
They can't even figure out websites.
Friend: sob
Mirth: Canada
Canada implements key disclosure by broad interpretation of "existing interception, search and seizure and assistance procedures";[8] in a 1998 statement, Cabinet Minister John Manley explained, "warrants and assistance orders also apply to situations where encryption is encountered — to obtain the decrypted material or decryption keys."[9]
Friend: ...... cry
Mirth: /sigh
Friend: :'(
MORE PRIVACY IN OUR ELECTRONICS PLZ
Mirth: "The Court of Appeal for Ontario has ruled that if a cellphone is not password-protected, police making an arrest can search it without a warrant."
Friend: ............
man even our cops can't do that
Mirth: Welcome to canada \o/

RIP Stompin’ Tom Connors.

(Source: harkavagrant.com)

Hacker Tourism: Democracy is hard.

peteforde:

I’m currently sitting on a train in Ottawa on my way home to Toronto.

Literally sitting; the train hasn’t moved in four hours. There’s a blockade of the tracks which is part of a much larger solidarity protest across Canada. Native Canadians are demanding action in the form of access to the basic needs of life such as shelter, food, education and health care in Attawapiskat, an extremely remote First Nation in Northern Ontario.

There’s no question that #idlenomore is a reaction to complex, nuanced issues. The problems are compounded not just by racist ignorance but a general lack of awareness amongst non-Native Canadians. Until these past few weeks and the #idlenomore movement’s mobilization, Native issues were simply not on the minds of most Canadians. It’s no Arab Spring (yet?) but it’s a level of activism that we don’t see often in Canada.

And our Federal leaders? They are being real dicks about it. Our Prime Minister is refusing to meet with Chief Theresa Spence, who is 19 days into a hunger strike.

As for me, I am still holding out hope that my train rolls tonight. In my gut, I think it will. Right now I couldn’t be more comfortable, since I somehow managed to social engineer the VIA Rail folks into letting me into 1st class. There’s one table on this train, and I told them that I didn’t mind the wait but I’d really appreciate using the table to get some work done on my laptop. I’ve been fed and there’s as much wine as I can stomach.

There’s wifi on my train, in addition to things like heat, running water, power outlets and fucking servants. The people blocking my train are standing in sub-zero temperatures in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in Attawapiskat.

Not only am I completely fine waiting as long as it takes, I am ashamed to be crossing what is essentially a picket line. What’s going on dishonours my country, and until these people get the support we promised them I consider myself personally on the hook for this “misunderstanding”. It’s not guilt that I feel — I didn’t choose this outcome. What I feel is disgust at how this could have happened just hours from where I live, while I enjoy the full privilege of my Colonial lineage.

Democracy is hard, and I hope it’s there for us all when we’re the ones standing in the cold.

(Source: peteforde)

“The life expectancy of an aboriginal is a decade less than a non-aboriginal in Canada. The rate of infant mortality is three times higher. The suicide rate is six times higher. Aboriginal people have a rate of diabetes and heart disease three times the national average, and dramatically higher rates of infectious diseases like tuberculosis, HIV-AIDS and H1N1 influenza.”

-

Globe & Mail

I am so ashamed of this country sometimes.

(Source: The Globe and Mail)

A Seriously Drunk Pony: mirthalia: The Following Canadian Communities Are Still Under States...

The Following Canadian Communities Are Still Under States of Emergencies

pewpewlasernipples:

Feel free to add where I have missed:

Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Ontario: Also referred to as the “Ring of Fire”. Nishnawbe Aski Nation has an outstanding state of emergency in all 49 of it’s Northern Ontario communities because of an OxyCotin epidemic.

Wawa, Michipicoten First Nations and surrounding area, Ontario: Declared October 24th during Hurricane Sandy when roads collapsed leaving many stranded on a nearby First Nations reserve

Kashechewan Reserve nearby to Attiwapiskat, Ontario: Multiple states of emergencies were declared between November 23rd and December 2nd. Prior to that declaration, the federal government was approached several times when it became apparent that no fuel could get on the reserve without assistance. The federal government choose to ignore the oncoming emergency at Kashechewan.

Fort Albany Reserve, Ontario: Close to Kashechewan, Fort Albany reserve flooded on October 25th 2005. 300 people were removed from the reserve and relocated to Wawa. Since then many more State of Emergencies have been declared there.

13 States of Emergency have been declared this year alone in James Bay. All of the communities in the James Bay area has declared a state of emergency at least once within the last 3 years.

Pikangikum First Nation, Ontario: Declared April 2012 after water born illnesses broke out from lack of safe water. Dealt with by AFN, Pikangikum is still under water boiling advisory; an advisory shared by 116 other reserves. That’s 116 communities who have not declared states of emergencies without safe drinking water.

Little Saskatchewan and Lake St. Martin, Manitoba: Originally three communities declared states of emergencies after flooding in Manitoba during April 2011. The one on Peguis was lifted later in 2012 (if you don’t know aboutPeguis, they are amazing), but we’re heading into 2013 and Lake St. Martin residents are being pressured to move onto Little Saskatchewan reserve which is still under state of emergency, where recurring floods is a constant problem.

Little Buffalo and Lubicon, Alberta: After an oil spill in 2011, Little Buffalo and Lubicon Cree Nation in the Peace River Region,  were forced to declare a state of emergency. The provincial government nor the oil company never came to clean it up. State of Emergency still stands in Lubicon.

Rainbow Lake, Alberta: A State of Emergency was not declared, but urgent action was called after 22,000 were leaked. The leak also may potentially affect communities in NWT and Northern BC.

Daylu Dena along Laird River, BC: Daylu Dena called a State of Emergency after massive floods forced people out of their homes in June. The State of Emergency was never lifted.

Yikes. Is there anything we can do for aid? Is the Red Cross involved at all?

unleashthemeesh:

This.

Do ya’ll even know what happened yesterday in Canada?

Shit is getting real.

March on parliament hill yesterday

This is parts of what was said while they were there…sorry no time to write the whole dialogue out but you get the idea of the greatness of yesterday. This happened in the hall way.

“What is being deemed by the federal government as consultation with afn or any other political organizations is not what we stand for, we are here for our people…we are here to pose objection of any bill that is continuing to violate our inherent right as a people of Turtle Island…no longer will government tell our people what to do, this has got to stop, and this is what we’re here for. Two, three people across the land is not consolation, I represent almost 6000 people in treaty six territory  nobody has come and asked me and my people for our opinion of what is being proposed today. We are here to serve notice to government enough is enough we will not tolerate  we will not put up with it any more.”

~shitty response by government official~ “my colleague John Duncan blah blah blah”

“We are people we are human beings too cotrary to what legislation initially [the indian act]…it is an inherent right to land…why is government policy and legislation always wanting us to surrender land?~gets interrupted by government person~ WE WOULDN’T BE HERE IF YOU WERE FOLLOWING THE CONTITUTION…your legislation don’t mean a dam thing to us.”

the government officiall walks away

the police stop them from entering a meeting they were invited to

Shit’s getting real, y’all.

A protest like this from the general population should have also happened en masse with C-38, though this bill is at least as terrible if not moreso. The Conservatives have been allowed to get away with this crap for too long.

Also, “forcing their way in” and “scuffling”? Methinks HP reeks of some bias or other.

And Baird’s a blustering, skeevy ball of privilege but I’m pretty sure that’s common knowledge by now.

Andy Everson was born in Comox, BC in 1972 and named Na̱gedzi after his grandfather, the late Chief Andy Frank of the K’ómoks First Nation. Andy has also had the honour of being seated with the ‘Na̱mg̱is T̓sit̓sa̱ł’walag̱a̱me’ name of Ḵ̓wa̱mxa̱laga̱lis I’nis. Influenced heavily by his grandmother, he has always been driven to uphold the traditions of both the K’ómoks and Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw First Nations. In this regard, Andy has pursued avenues where he can sing traditional songs and perform ceremonial dances at potlatches and in a number of different dance groups, most notably the Le-La-La Dancers, the Gwa’wina Dancers and the K’umugwe Dancers.

Pursuing other areas of traditional culture has also led Andy to complete a Master’s degree in anthropology. Because the K’ómoks First Nation lies on the border between the larger Salish and Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw realms, his thesis focused on notions and expressions of contemporary Comox identity. His work in anthropology provided him with a background in linguistics which subsequently inspired him to create a company, Copper Canoe, Inc, that specialized in the creation of Aboriginal language media.

More reblogging of old entries. You can buy Andy’s awesome prints through his website.

Aiming to shed light on the dark, hidden history that Canada continues to harbour towards its Aboriginal people, Sonny Assu’s work is conceptually and aesthetically designed to challenge the authenticity of Aboriginal art while simultaneously reflecting upon our western civilization’s consumption culture.

His work is a richly layered introspection of our consumer driven monolithic society. He infuses his work with wry humour to open the dialogue towards the use of consumerism, branding and technology as totemic representation. Within this, his work deals with the loss of language, loss of cultural resources and the effects of colonization on the indigenous people of North America.

Reblogging an old entry with better image handling and a few new pieces that Sonny has released online. Check out his gallery, it’s stunning.

University of Alberta fraternity plans on racist "Western Bros, Nava-hoes" themed party.

apihtawikosisan:

allstarsalign:

tsaucey:

apihtawikosisan:

The Delta Kappa Epsilons are already on the U of A shit list, having been suspended for 5 years because of hazing:

The incidents, which included forcing individuals to eat their own vomit, depriving them of sleep and confining them to a plywood box, were captured on video.

An eagle eye noticed that the Ranch Roadhouse, an Edmonton club, was hosting an event called, “Western Bros, Nava-hoes”. You can read their response to being questioned about this, in the link above.  They later deleted that exchange completely.  So I asked some people back home to take a look at the posters and find out who exactly was having this party…lo and behold, it’s the Dekes.  Cue my utter lack of surprise.

They have a contact page here.

I think perhaps they need to hear from you.

Why do people think it’s okay to use my tribes name in a derogatory manner. It’s not cute, it’s not funny, it’s plain disrespectful. We are not “Nava-hoes”, we are not “Nava-HOS”, we are the Dine’. Maybe I should write to them..

It’s beyond disrespectful, it’s disgusting and sickening racism.

I am hearing that they ‘can’t change the name because the tickets are already printed’, although apparently they will ‘discuss it’.  I’m trying to get some photographic proof of a poster, or the tickets. But yes.  If they are going to discuss it, having people tell them it’s unacceptable will certainly help stop this shit from happening this time.

Bull. If the tickets have the location on them, changing the event name won’t make a rat’s ass of difference. In fact, if they change it prominently and then explainwhy it was wrong in the first placeto people who ask questions about why it changed, that could quite possibly be one of the best way to recant — through apology and education.

They haven’t provided either. The utter lack of sincerity in their Facebook response is disgusting.