Canada Goes to Hell

Here is the bullshit, talking-points, form email I received from my MP, the honourable Harold Albrecht, in response to an email (I also sent the same via snail mail) I sent him regarding Bill C-61, An Act to Amend the Canadian Copyright Act:

Dear Mr. [redacted],

Thank you for your e-mail of June 16th regarding changes to Canadian copyright law. I always appreciate hearing from constituents. I hope the following information will help to alleviate your concerns on this issue.

As you are aware, today our Government introduced Bill C-61, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act. I believe that the copyright reform our Government has proposed is much needed and long overdue. It has been ten years since the last major reform of this important legislation, and in that time we have seen nothing short of an Internet revolution and major advancements in technology.

This is a balanced, made-in-Canada approach to copyright reform that will help ensure fair access by Canadian consumers to copyright material and protection of the rights of Canadians who create material that is copyrighted.

The proposed amendments would implement:

* New exceptions for Canadian consumers, so they can record TV shows for later viewing; copy legally acquired music onto other devices, such as MP3 players or cell phones; and make backup copies of legally acquired books, newspapers, videocassettes and photographs onto devices they own;
* New rights and protections for copyright owners, tailored to the Internet, to encourage participation in the online economy, as well as stronger legal means to address Internet piracy;
* Exceptions for some educational and research purposes to promote innovation and enrich the educational experience;
* Clarity for Internet service providers on their roles and responsibilities in relation to copyright, in order to support the growth of Internet services in Canada; and
* Rights for photographers equal to those of other creators.

I believe this copyright reform promotes innovation and competition in a digital, knowledge-based economy.

If you would like more information, please visit the Copyright Reform Process website at www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/crp-prda.nsf/en/home.

Thank you again for taking the time to write on this important issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me regarding any other issues of importance to you.


Sincerely,

Harold Albrecht, MP
Kitchener-Conestoga

Considering I've already read this email elsewhere on the internet, this is rather insulting. I guess my MP doesn't really care about being representative of or considerate of his constituents and would rather be a giant tool.

So please contact your MP about this issue. Hopefully he is as cool as the honourable member from Timmins-James Bay, Charlie Angus. That guy always rocks on CPAC.

Book Review: The Double Hook

The Double Hook by Sheila Watson

The Double Hook is a masterpiece of modernist Canadian fiction. Ostensibly set in 1930s British Columbia interior, it transcends those spatial and temporal limitations. The back cover describes it thusly as "men and women are caught upon the double hook of existence, unaware that the flight from danger and the search for glory are both part of the same journey. In Watson's compelling novel, cruelty and kindness, betrayal and faith, shape a pattern of enduring human significance.

In his afterword, F.T. Flahiff quotes Watson's mentor Frederick M. Salter as describing it as a book that will confound most readers (and reviewers) who gallop rather than read and whose pace courts bewilderment and frustration for readers confronted by its simultaneously spare and dense prose. As one of those readers who gallops (literally a gallop as I tend to walk while I read), I still recognize that there is something pure and perfect and so seminally Canadian about her work. Its characters are never truly defined as either native or European of ancestry yet somehow succeed at being applicable to both and the succinct appearances of Coyote adds both mythical and thematic resonance.

Still one reading keeps it pedestaled as something to be admired rather than loved. Rather it requires absolute attention and future readings over the quick clip of simple consumption. Absolutely recommended.

What I Bought Today

The Double Hook by Sheila Watson

Used. $2.50.

I get credit (i.e. bonus points) for seeking out Canadian Literature for once.


Cover may appear similar, but different in person. Uncanny.