Slavery in Canada

Of course mon ami.

Slavery in Canada was first practised by some aboriginal nations, who routinely captured slaves from neighbouring tribes as part of their accepted laws of war. However, chattel slavery (where slaves were the private property of their owners and their children were born into slavery as well) started with the European settlements, appearing soon after the colonies were founded in the early 1600s. Most of their slaves were used as domestic house servants, although some performed agricultural labour. Some of the slaves held by Europeans in Canada were of African descent, while others were aboriginal (typically called "panis.")

In fact several of the Beatified Catholic Nuns from Quebec were slaveholders. This is not unusual since the Catholic Church in New France was a large land holder.

Canadians did not refer to the term "slave", as it was potentially controversial with the United States, and therefore referred to the term "servant." A popular impression that the first slaves in Canada were introduced into the Maritimes Provinces by the Loyalists, in 1783, is false. Historical records indicated that slavery was established in Quebec, by the French, through a royal mandate issued by Louis XIV in 1689. The history of SLAVERY

Our labour laws are based on the Master Servant Act of this era, and the term wage-slave reflects this still historical reality.

We are not free from the history of Slavery even if we did open up our doors to 'illegal immigrants' from the U.S. who came up here on the underground railroad in the 1850's.

The reason the British Loyalists wanted to leave the U.S. during the revolution had more to do with their ensuring their property rights, including their right to have slaves, as it was over any loyalty to the British Crown.

Black slaves lived in the British regions of Canada in the 17th and 18th centuries — 104 were listed in a 1767 census of Nova Scotia — but their numbers were small until the Loyalist influx after 1783. As white Loyalists fled the new American Republic, they took with them about 2000 black slaves: 1200 to the Maritimes (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island), 300 to Lower Canada (Quebec), and 500 to Upper Canada (Ontario). As in New France, Loyalist slaves were held in small numbers and were employed as domestic servants, farm hands, and skilled artisans.

Slaves were freed in Quebec, 1736, two years after this historic incident. Slaves in British/Tory controled Canada were not freed until 1799.

Slave honoured after 272 years

'The RACISM of today is an extension of the lingering racism of yesterday. If we forget this, then we risk perpetuating an unacceptable situation,' governor-general says

MARIE-JOSEPH ANGELIQUE, the slave of a wealthy Montreal merchant, de Francheville, carried out one of the most dramatic acts of resistance on April 17, 1734. After learning she was going to be sold, Marie-Joseph set fire to her owner's house in order to cover her escape. The fire engulfed and destroyed 46 buildings including the Hotel Dieu. In June of 1734 she was captured, tortured, paraded through the streets, then hanged and her body burned.

From: The Black Studies Centre; Montreal, Quebec

Story of execution evokes many tears

Sharing a podium with Governor-General Michaelle Jean, Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay was in tears yesterday after hearing a historian read an account of the execution of slave woman Marie-Josephe Angelique in 1734.

Struggling to contain himself, Tremblay told guests at the Maison Parent-Roback in Old Montreal that Angelique's story is something that should be better known to Montrealers and other Canadians.

"For too long, history has remained silent about women and men who contributed in a significant way to the development of our city," Tremblay told the dignitaries.

"From now on, we must reclaim this past as our past. This will allow us to express our gratitude to pioneers of the black community and honour the memory of individuals like Marie-Josephe Angelique."

Her history is shared by the almost 160,000 people of African heritage, mostly descended from slaves in the Caribbean, who now live in Montreal, Tremblay added.

"They are all major assets, because they help enrich Montreal's cultural diversity and ensure our city remains open to the world."

Provincial Immigration Minister Lise Theriault, her eyes also teary, said the government has declared its intention to adopt an official policy to combat racism, and to employ other measures to help blacks overcome discrimination and unemployment.

Angelique's life is a lesson for everyone, she added.

"I believe sincerely that it's time for us to fight so that all our citizens - from the black community but also the other communities - can have their place as well in our society," Theriault said.

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Bush Plans to Invade Quebec

Seymour Hersch has made news this weekend with his New Yorker article saying that the Bush administration has plans to nuke the Iranian nuke facitilites it turns out the Bush administration also has plans to invade....wait for it.....Quebec.

The rationale for regime change was articulated in early March by Patrick Clawson, an Iran expert who is the deputy director for research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and who has been a supporter of President Bush. “So long as Iran has an Islamic republic, it will have a nuclear-weapons program, at least clandestinely,” Clawson told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 2nd. “The key issue, therefore, is: How long will the present Iranian regime last?”When I spoke to Clawson, he emphasized that “this Administration is putting a lot of effort into diplomacy.” However, he added, Iran had no choice other than to accede to America’s demands or face a military attack. Clawson said that he fears that Ahmadinejad “sees the West as wimps and thinks we will eventually cave in. We have to be ready to deal with Iran if the crisis escalates.” Clawson said that he would prefer to rely on sabotage and other clandestine activities, such as “industrial accidents.” But, he said, it would be prudent to prepare for a wider war, “given the way the Iranians are acting. This is not like planning to invade Quebec.”

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A Lesson from the Past

Do not forget," they write, "that every people deserves the regime it is willing to endure." Sounds like good advice to the Volk of Alberta.

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Happy Birthday Hef

Speaking of Satan, that little ol devil Hugh Hefner is in the news again. Today is his birthday.

Yep Mr. PJ's Hugh Hefner is eighty years old today. He is the archtypical devil to those who mistakenly view nudity as exploitation, both prudes on the left and right. In fact a recent shoot at McGill University would have had some feminists up in arms in the past. Now its all passe.

The recent critique of Playboy and its icon the bunny influencing younger women and girls seems to be return to the main stream fear of sexuality. Prudishness in the disguise of concern about exploitation. If they actually read the magazine, yep we all read it for the articles, they would see that over these fifty years it published a libertarian perspective on sexuality and human relations.

Robert Anton Wilson was on the editorial board promoting a libertarian philosophy. But of course then came the reactionaries of both the church and womens movement, strange allies, who identified Playboy with exploitation of women.

It began with MS. magazine founder Gloria Stienem, and former flack for the CIA, with her expose of the exploitation of working in a Playboy Club in Chicago. But she failed to organize her sisters into a union. In fact interestingly MS still is not unionized. Anyways that's an aside.

By comparison to the growth of the real porn industry, and even the revival of the soft core industry in magazines like Maxim, Playboy stands out as practicing what it preaches. Hef gave over the business to his daughter who has spent the empires millions on womens and liberal causes, much to the grief of prudish feminists and the right wing.




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More Sunday Satanic News

Considering this is Palm Sunday, Satan sure is in the news this weekend, and this week. As I have blogged here and here. Now the Rolling Stones invoked a little of the old boy with some Sympathy for the Devil at their concert in China. Hopefully they changed the lyrics about riding a tank in Nazi Germany to Riding a Tank into Tiananmen Square...but I don't think even they would go that far.



Still nice to see the sixty year olds be bad boys of rock n roll like they were in the west forty years ago. Like when they released their concept album Their Majesties Satanic Request.



Rolling Stones push boundaries in China debut
The Rolling Stones rode roughshod over China's censors during their first show in the communist country on Saturday, serenading a largely foreign crowd with songs about Satan, sleaze bags and serial killers.



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And The Winner Is

Random House the publisher of both the Da Vinci Code and Holy Blood, Holy Grail. Random House may end up the biggest winner. Its legal costs are covered and, as publisher of "The Da Vinci Code" and "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail," it benefits from increasing sales for both books.

Loss in court but Holy Blood's sales soar
Of course all the authors are winners since their books have been in the news, in this little internecine battle. While the authors of Holy Blood / Holy Grail would have stood a better chance of winning had they admited their book was fiction.

"It would be quite wrong if fictional writers were to have their writings pored over in the way DVC ["The Da Vinci Code"] has been pored over in this case by authors of pretend historical books to make allegation of infringement of copyright," Smith wrote in his 71-page opinion.

And it is a great way to promote the new book by the HB/HG co author.

Michael Baigent’s The Jesus Papers tries to strip Jesus of his divinity by claiming that he wrote letters to a Jewish court denying that he was the son of God. The book was published in the United States last week on the same day as the first American paperback version of Brown’s novel.

Gee and what a coincidence the National Geographic Society will be showing its special on the gospel of Judas today on cable. Yep this is going to be one 'hell' of an Easter.





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Pat Robertson Anti-Christ

In good old liberal Vermont a local radio DJ has come up with a comic book that declares Evangelical preacher, founder of CBR and the 700 Club Pat Robertson is the Anti-Christ. Not the Great Beast, that was Crowley. Just the good old Anti-Christ. And just in time for Easter.

Of course like President Bush, Robertson says he talks to God and God talks to him. But we all know now as Jesus told Judas that God is Ialdabaoth , the lesser diety, the Satan of the world. And Pat Robertson is one of his messangers. Bush is the other.

My articles on Robertson

Also see my article: Bush the satanist

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Your Anti-Sealing Donation At Work

So round two of the anti-sealing fund raising campaign begins.

Newfoundland seal hunt starts April 12

The psuedo-boycotts called by Sea Sheperd and the Humane Society of the United States, and the fundraising calls of Stop the Hunt by the IFAW, are now in full swing. Sign up now and send us your money. As the famous American saying goes; There is a sucker born every minute.

The psuedo boycotts.

The Humane Society of the United States conttrary to its name is niether.It has nothing to do with local or regional Humane societies, but is a tax free charitable way for its owners to make money. They do not forward their funds to other 'Humane' Society's for animal welfare. They keep it to use for their various campaigns. In the United States it is extremely easy to form a charity or religious charity, its part of the Tax Avoidance culture of our southern neighbours. It is also not a society perse but a tax free corporation. One which has been charged with illicit use of funds. Red Cross, Humane Society Under Investigation

A True Multinational Corporation

HSUS is a multinational conglomerate with ten regional offices in the United States and a special Hollywood Office that promotes and monitors the media’s coverage of animal-rights issues. It includes a huge web of organizations, affiliates, and subsidiaries. Some are nonprofit, tax-exempt “charities,” while others are for-profit taxable corporations, which don’t have to divulge anything about their financial dealings.

This unusually complex structure means that HSUS can hide expenses where the public would never think to look. For instance, one HSUS-affiliated organization called the HSUS Wildlife Land Trust collected $21.1 million between 1998 and 2003. During the same period, it spent $15.7 million on fundraising expenses, most of which directly benefited HSUS. This arrangement allowed HSUS to bury millions in direct-mail and other fundraising costs in its affiliate’s budget, giving the public (and charity watchdog groups) the false impression that its own fundraising costs were relatively low.

Until 1995 HSUS also controlled the Humane Society of Canada (HSC), which Irwin had founded four years earlier. But Irwin, who claimed to live in Canada when he set up HSC, turned out to be ineligible to run a Canadian charity (He actually lived in Maryland). Irwin’s Canadian passport was ultimately revoked and he was replaced as HSC’s executive director.

The new leader later hauled HSUS into court to answer charges that Irwin had transferred over $1 million to HSUS from the Canadian group. HSUS claimed it was to pay for HSC’s fundraising, but didn’t provide the group with the required documentation to back up the expenses. In January 1997 a Canadian judge ordered HSUS to return the money, writing: “I cannot imagine a more glaring conflict of interest or a more egregious breach of fiduciary duty. It demonstrates an overweening arrogance of a type seldom seen.”

HSUS has called for a boycott of Canadian seafood by resteraunts and stores across North America. This is not a real boycott it is an orchestrated PR campaign, which is what their donations pay for. That and celebrity visits to the ice and their sign on to their campaign. So far the so called boycott of Canadian Sea Food has not been more than a clever paper campaign. It looks good on paper and in press releases but in reality it is a smoke screen to cover for HSUS using the seal hunt to raise money for administration and salaries. Boycott a sham
Humane Society of the United States' Canadian seafood boycott is a sham.

Not to be out done is Captain Paul Watson of Sea Sheperd Society, again a society in name only for this tax avoidance corporation whose sole purpose is to keep the good Captain in funds for his sea faring operations. His board members are names for the purpose of keeping a high profile in the green movement. They can and are replaced on a whim if required, as was done last year when one of his more controversial board members was found to have advocated the murder and assisination of medical researchers who used animals in their experiments.

Sea Sheperd of course made news again this year, with the Bardot and McCartney visits to Canada. In the case of Bardot they used the same old cute furry white coat image and her thirty year old movie about the seal hunt. As if nothing had changed. They too have called for a boycott of Costco if it didn't drop seal oil capsules from its stock. Prematurely calling a victory Sea Sheperd is now outraged when Costco under pressure from its consumers in Newfoundland, retracted its offer to Sea Sheperd.

Sea Shepherd readies Costco boycott
CBC - Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada - 6 Apr 2006
Costco's decision to restock seal oil capsules will spark an international backlash, an anti-sealing organization says. The Sea ...
Costco relists omega-3 seal oil capsules saying removal ... Canada East
COSTCO CANNOT BE TRUSTED - SEA SHEPHERD CALLS FOR AN INTERNATIONAL ... World-Wire (press release)

Again its not as if thousands of shoppers across North America will bother with boycotting Costco. What the money Sea Sheperd raises will be used to promote slick ad campaigns, and a media campaign, complete with celebrity endorsements calling for a boycott of Costco. Its impact on Costco or the Seal Hunt will be minimal. Its economic benefit will be strictly used to line the pockets of Captain Watson.

Stopping the Seal Hunt NOT

The International Fund for Animal Welfare, IFAW, has launched its annual seal hunt fund raiser in cyberspace, inundating Yahoo and other search engines with its Stop the Hunt ads. As if it could. The hunt will not be stopped by protests, as the past thirty years have proven.

The Government has no intention of stopping the hunt as Newfoundland fishers have had to rely on it more and more ,as they have lobster and shell fish, as a replacement for cod/turbo and other fishing which is on the decline. So the calls for donations by the IFAW to stop the hunt are disingeuous at best and a deceitful con otherwise.

Ottawa refuses $16M offer to end seal hunt
The businesswoman is a member of the International Fund for Animal Welfare and an adviser to the Humane Society of the United States. Both organizations are opposed to the seal hunt.


And when the seal hunt ends, these same groups will now move on to attacking fishers for lobster fishing, as their agenda is to end all forms of animal consumption. They have no concern for humans or animals they are only concerned with promoting their dietary morality. Paid for with donations to their psuedo seal hunt protests.

U.S. District Court Denies Humane Society of the United States' Request for Preliminary Injunction; Horse Owners Preserve Option of Humane Treatment Offered by Processing Plants
In the U.S., horses are slaughtered in the identical way to cattle, and are protected under USDA's humane slaughter regulations.

"The chief executive officer of the multi-million dollar Humane Society of the United States once stated that his personal goal was the abolition of all animal agriculture," said Charlie Stenholm, Senior Government Affairs Advisor, Olsson, Frank and Weeda and spokesperson for the three processing plants. "I'm happy to say, he's lost a very important battle today, and animal agriculture won."

"These radical groups are determined to stop the meat processing industry with whatever it takes -- full page ads in The New York Times, or filing frivolous lawsuits with no standing. In the mean time, I've not seen them put one penny of their money toward actually caring for unwanted horses. It's a problem they'd like to sweep away and pretend doesn't exist," said Stenholm.

In the end it is the economy of Newfoundland that is being affected directly and indirectly by these protests. Far more than it is by the hunt itself, which would be abandoned if large scale industrial trawler processing plants overfishing was halted off the Grand Banks. That is the real issue and one worth protesting.

B&B operator worries negative seal hunt publicity will hurt NL



My Seal Hunt articles


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Bush Leak Legal

Libby: Bush approved leaks

Remember that Georgie Porgie Puddin and Pie stated that only if leaking information was proven to be a 'criminal act ' would he punish those who leaked information exposing Valerie Plame as a CIA agent. He said it back in 2003,

In 2003, soon after the scandal broke, he told reporters: "I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it and we'll take the appropriate action."The Plame game

He said it again in 2004

"If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is," Bush told reporters at an impromptu news conference during a fund-raising stop in Chicago, Illinois. "If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of."CNN.com - Bush welcomes probe of CIA leak - Feb. 11, 2004

And now we know why, cause he leaked the information himself.Which of course is NOT a criminal act. Clever. Very Clever.

Waaay back in 2003 John McCrory speculated at that time that it was Bush who leaked the information. Congratulations Mr. McCrory you win the Light Under the Bush-el Award. "Did Bush blow Valerie Plame's CIA cover?," wrote John McCrory







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Rhetorical Question

This is a rhetorical question, right?

Is killing off big, bad wolves the best way to halt attacks?

Of course it is.

Killing wolves is stupid.

Killing wolves works -- briefly

And it is only done to appease stupid ranchers and farmers, who believe that they have the God Given Right to invade the wilderness, and their creation of private property, fenced in enclosures, justifies their wiping out predators.

For generations, ranchers have believed that the only good wolf is a dead wolf.

Predators that they cannot prove kill their cattle.Since wolves and other predators do not enter farms and ranches to kill, they kill the cattle, if they kill them at all on on public land. Land that borders the wilderness. Farmers and Ranchers who celebrate their inherent right to private land allow their Cattle to graze and wander across unenclosed public land. And since wolves don't recognize property rights they come in conflict with humans and their property (cattle).

Of course their stupidity is only matched by the Government of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (sic) Department;

"The wolves are the primary cause of mortality in the caribou," said Dave Ealey, a spokesman with Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, who also cites weather and human development as contributing factors.

Clever turn of phrase, the caribou population is NOT endagered by the wolves, who yes kill them. They are endangered by the expansion of tourism, oil and coal development. Which of course is not Sustainable developement at all, except in the Orwellian mind of the Alberta Government which uses the phrase sustainable to mean, long term development. To anyone else sustainable development means a balance between wilderness ecology and human development.

And while the government claims Wolves are not endangered, that is another bit of Orwellian logic. True in Alberta we have a large population however in B.C. and to the South of us the wolf population is declining. So geographically we are one of the last prairie sites in either the U.S. or Canadian Pacific North West and Prairies that contains a large wolf population.

I would define that as endangered. More endangered than cute furry seals.





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