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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Obesity and technology

Obesity kills more Canadians (more than 8,000) every year than motor vehicle accidents, suicide, homicide and HIV infection combined. That’s not nearly as many as tobacco-related illnesses (47,000), but it’s very significant. Obesity also greatly increases levels of disability and lowers quality of life and morbidity.
The study found that men and women were equally likely to be obese overall, but among those aged 75 and older, women were significantly more likely than men to be obese (26.5% to 19.3%). Obesity rates were lowest among young people 18-24 and highest among those aged 45 to 64. Where you live also has an impact on obesity rates, which are relatively high among residents of Newfoundland (34%), Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, and significantly lower in British Columbia.

A project manager has demonstrated a tiny spy plane with flapping wings like a hummingbird.
Matt Keennon of AeroVironment showed off the high-tech device Friday to journalists at company facilities in Simi Valley, Calif.
Developers say it can perch on a window ledge and gather intelligence unbeknownst to an enemy.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Black History - Facts and Personalities

This is like an encyclopedia. Check out the link



Book Review - Black History in Canada

Did you know there was a black hockey league? Well it's about time you learn Canadian history, don't  you think and Black History is very much a part of it. There was a Coloured Hockey League in Nova Scotia during the segregation era.  Bringing history off the ice - check out the links and find out more for yourself.



Saturday, February 19, 2011

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

More dollars for FASD Programs in Manitoba


Healthy Living, Youth and Seniors Minister Jim Rondeau with Bronwen Bugden and three of her six adopted children who were prenatally exposed to alcohol, at the announcement for support programs for families affected by FASD


February 8, 2011

PROVINCE ADDS NEW SUPPORTS FOR CHILDREN, FAMILIES LIVING WITH FASD


Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) programming in Manitoba will receive $47,300 for new support services for families coping with the disorder, Healthy Living, Youth and Seniors Minister Jim Rondeau announced today.
“These programs will make a difference in the lives of families affected by FASD by providing them with information and the opportunity to draw on the support of other parents and program experts,” said Rondeau.  “Including these family-support funds, this year’s FASD investment is $11.5 million.”
Of the total, $35,000 will be going toward the development and management of three family-support services by the Rehabilitation Centre for Children and the Manitoba FASD Centre.  A parent-advisory and support network, facilitated family support groups and recreation programs for children and youth living with FASD will be established.
The parent-advisory and support network will provide input and advice on FASD program activities and will create a forum for information exchange and social connections.  Network meetings will occur four to six times per year.  A series of family-support groups will be run for specific populations such as the caregivers of adolescents, birth parents or others identified by the parent network.  Each session will be focused on particular issues of concern to the specific group.
The details of the enhanced recreational programming will be developed based on input from the parent network but will likely include activities for the children while their parents are participating in the network meetings or support groups, the minister noted.  These would be activities such as art, music and cooking.  Family outings with activities like sleigh rides, fall festivals or bowling will also be considered.  The recreational programs will be offered in Winnipeg as well as some northern and rural sites.
The Building Circles of Support program offered by the Manitoba FASD Centre will receive $12,300 for its eight-week information series for parents and caregivers.  Each session consists of an educational component as well as time for participants to share or ask questions.  Topics include concerns such as sensory and communication issues, medical issues and medication, managing behaviour and how to talk to a child about their disability.  As well as being offered in Winnipeg, sessions will be held for rural and northern communities via Telehealth at least once per year.
“From working with families, we know that they would welcome additional support and education opportunities”, said Mary Cox-Millar, manager of the Manitoba FASD Centre.  “We look forward to establishing the parent network and working with parents on the development of support groups, recreational activities and educational events.”
“These initiatives have been designed to complement existing FASD programming,” said Rondeau. “In the past year, we’ve announced support for programs such as Project Choices which works to reduce the incidence of FASD, as well as programs like Stepping Out on Saturdays which provide caregivers with respite while helping children with FASD to develop social skills.  We are ensuring that a full continuum of services is in place.”
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ATTACHED


 

Monday, February 07, 2011

MANITOBA FINANCE SEIZES 240,000 CONTRABAND CIGARETTES

February 4, 2011

 

Manitoba Finance reports, as the result of an investigation into tobacco smuggling, the Manitoba Finance Special Investigations Unit recently seized 240,000 contraband cigarettes contained in unmarked plastic bags, each holding a carton equivalent of 200 cigarettes.  In addition, cash of just over $11,000 was seized.
The investigation led to a search warrant being obtained and executed at a self-storage unit in the city of Winnipeg on Feb. 1.  Winnipeg Police Service East District general patrol uniformed members assisted at the search scene which was also attended by the RCMP Customs and Excise Unit.   
Two adult males, one from Portage La Prairie and the other from Oakville were arrested and subsequently released on Tobacco Tax Act charges of possession of the cigarettes.  They are to appear in court on March 24.
The two individuals face charges under the Manitoba Tobacco Tax Act and the Excise Act (2001).  The potential Manitoba tobacco taxes avoided would be $49,000.  If convicted, the two would face fines of up to $5,000, imprisonment for as long as three months or both.  A tax penalty of $147,600 could also be assessed.  Additional penalties could apply under the Excise Act (2001). 
If anyone has information on contraband tobacco, they are urged to contact their local police department, the Manitoba Finance Special Investigations Unit at 204-945-1137 or Manitoba Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
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Sunday, February 06, 2011

MANITOBA SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH SAGKEENG FIRST NATION HOUSING AUTHORITY TO MANAGE TWO MANITOBA HOUSING COMPLEXES IN WINNIPEG

 
 
 
Minister of Housing and Community Development Kerri Irvin-Ross and Sagkeeng First Nation Chief Donavan Fontaine sign over property management of two Manitoba Housing complexes to the Sagkeeng First Nation Housing Authority
 
February 4, 2011
 
The province is transferring property management of two provincially managed housing complexes in Winnipeg to the Sagkeeng First Nation Housing Authority in recognition of the importance of establishing and building the capacity of Aboriginal housing organizations to deliver and manage housing for First Nations individuals and families who choose to live off-reserve, Housing and Community Development Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross announced today.
“Today marks another milestone as we continue to build strong working relationships with First Nations leadership,” said Irvin-Ross.  “Supporting housing options for First Nations people is one of the priorities identified in HOMEWorks!, Manitoba’s long-term housing strategy.
The two complexes are located at 25 Gaylene Pl. and 2339 Pembina Hwy. in Winnipeg.  Manitoba Housing remains the owner of the properties but Sagkeeng First Nation Housing Authority will provide property management services for the tenants living in the units.
“This is a proud day for the people of Sagkeeng,” said Chief Donavan Fontaine of Sagkeeng First Nation.  “With this partnership we can begin to immediately provide affordable housing to our people, particularly those who have come to Winnipeg to complete higher education at the nearby University of Manitoba.”
The two projects consist of 15 one-bedroom units, 51 two-bedroom units, 31 three-bedroom units, five four-bedroom units and two five-bedroom units.
The minister noted all existing tenancies will be respected and Sagkeeng First Nation Housing Authority will establish a waiting list of eligible applicants for vacancies as they occur.
A transition plan is presently being developed and it is anticipated that full property management services will be provided by Sagkeeng First Nation Housing Authority by spring 2011.
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Saturday, February 05, 2011

Black History Month - Toussaint Louverture

Black History Month is a time for us to reflect on the past but think about our present situation. The past has many ghosts which are frightening. We do not ignore them, we face them and ask them what they need. All the ghost of the past generally need is recognition and a promise that we will not forget them. The saying that unless you know your past you cannot go anywhere with confidence. That's true to a point. It's helpful to know what Blacks in the past did, how they lived, what were there strengths and weaknesses and what parts of that do we recognize in ourselves today.  Like genetic markers, our ancestors memes can be traced back to the people even today. Memes are like viruses of the mind.  These come in the  form of oral history, customs and behaviours that we express today, some of which do not make sense, but yet we do them because it was done by generations before. We have to know what to take with us and what to leave.
   One of the memes that would be valuable for Blacks and Whites to take is the appreciation of human dignity that Toussaint L'Ouverture, embraced and what he fought for to his dying day. He believed in the equality of men and wrote in Haiti's first constitution people's right not to be discriminated based on skin colour.
On 29 August 1793 , Toussaint launched his proclamation in which he presents himself as the black leader: Brothers and friends. my name was perhaps made known to you I undertook the revenge of my race. . I want the freedom and equality reign in San Domingo.  Work to make them exist. Unite, brothers, and fight with me for the same cause.. Uproot the tree with me in slavery.  Your most humble and obedient servant, Toussaint L'Ouverture, General of the King's army, for the public good. » "(Wikipedia)
Haiti, regardless of its position in the world today represents a beacon of hope and pride for Black Africans all over the world.  The accomplishment of this tiny Caribbean island of slaves and illiterate men and women, oppressed and dehumanized rose up like men and women and reclaimed their honour which is their humanity without fear for their lives. They won.  What happened to Haiti then and continues to happen is a systematic strategy designed to ensure that this nation who fought the French, British and Spanish people and won would never succeed. Haiti has endured a lot and live to tell.  It is time for her to rise from the ashes and take her place in our hearts and minds as a nation people with guts and balls, who are not afraid to stand up for what is theirs for what is right. Forever we will remember Toussaint L'Ouverture

 http://toussaintlouverturehs.org/HistoryUnsungHero.htm

Constitution of 1801
The representatives of the colony of Saint-Domingue, gathered in Central Assembly, have arrested and established the constitutional bases of the regime of the French colony of Saint-Domingue as follows:
TITLE I OF THE TERRITORY
ART. 1. – Saint-Domingue in its entire expanse, and Samana, La Tortue, La Gonave, Les Cayemites, L’Ile-a-Vache, La Saone and other adjacent islans form the territory of a single colony, which is part of the French Empire, but ruled under particular laws.
ART. 2. – The territory of this colony is divided in departments, arrondissment (districts) and parishes.
TITLE II OF THE INHABITANTS
ART. 3. – There cannot exist slaves on this territory, servitude is therein forever abolished. All men are born, live and die free and French.
ART. 4. – All men, regardless of color, are eligible to all employment.
ART. 5. – There shall exist no distinction other than that those based on virtue and talent, and other superiority afforded by law in the exercise of a public function.
The law is the same for all whether in punishment or in protection.
TITLE III OF THE RELIGION
ART. 6. – The catholic, apostolic, roman faith shall be the only publicly professed faith.
ART. 7. – Each parish shall provide the maintaining of religious cult and of its ministers. The wealth of the factories shall be especially allocated to this expense, and the presbyteries to the housing of ministers.
ART. 8. – The governor of the colony shall assign to each minister of the religion the extent of his spiritual administration, and said ministers can never, under any circumstances, form a corps in the colony.
TITLE IV OF THE MORES
ART. 9. – Marriage, by its civic and religious institution, tend to the purity of mores; spouse who will practice the virtues required by their condition shall always by distinguished and especially protected by the government.
ART. 10. – Divorce shall not take place in the colony.
ART. 11. – Laws that will tend to expand and maintain social virtues, and to encourage and cement family bonding shall fix condition and rights of children born in wedlock.
TITLE V OF MEN IN SOCIETY
ART. 12. – The Constitution guarantees freedom and individual security. No one shall be arrested unless a formally expressed mandate, issued from a functionary to whom the law grants the right to order arrest and detention in a publicly designated location.
ART. 13. – Property is sacred and inviolable. All person, either by himself, or by his representatives, has the free right to dispose and to administer property that is recognized as belonging to him. Anyone who attempts to deny this right shall become guilty of crime towards society and responsible towards the person troubled in his property.
TITLE VI OF CULTURES AND COMMERCE
ART. 14. – The colony being essentially agricultural cannot suffer the least disruption in the works of its cultivation.
ART. 15. – Each habitation shall constitute a manufacture that requires the gathering of cultivators and workers; it shall represent the quiet haven of an active and constant family, of which the owner of the land or his representative shall be the father.
ART. 16. – Each cultivator and each worker is a member of the family and shares in parts of the revenues.
Every change in domicile on the part of the cultivator carries the ruin of the cultivation.
In order to repress a vice as disruptive to the colony as it is to public order, the governor issues all policy requirements necessary in the circumstances and in conformance with the bases of rules of police of 20 Vendémiaire, year IX, and of the proclamation of the following 19th Pluviose of the Chief General Toussaint-Louverture.
ART. 17. – The introduction of cultivators indispensable to the reestablishment and to the growth of agriculture shall take place in Saint-Domingue. The Constitution charges the Governor to take convenient measures to encourage and favor the increase in manpower, to stipulate and balance the diverse interests, to ensure and guarantee the execution of respective engagements resulting from this introduction.
ART 18. – Commerce in the colony consists uniquely of exchange goods produced on its territory; consequently, the introduction of goods similar in nature is and shall remains prohibited.
TITLE VII OF THE LEGISLATION AND LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY
ART. 19. – The colonial regime is determined by laws proposed by the Governor and rendered by a gathering of inhabitants, who shall meet at fixed periods at the central seat of the colony under the title Central Assembly of Saint-Domingue.
ART. 20. - No law relative to the internal administration of the colony shall be promulgated unless it contain the following formula:
The Central Assembly of Saint-Domingue, upon the proposition of the Governor, renders the following law:
ART. 21. – No law shall be obligatory to the citizen until the day it is promulgated in the chief town of departments.
The promulgation of law shall take place as follows: In the mane of the French colony of Saint-Domingue, the Governor orders that the subsequent law be sealed, promulgated and executed in all of the colony.
ART. 22. – The Central Assembly of Saint-Domingue shall be composed of two representatives of department, whom, to be eligible, shall be at least 30 years of age and have resided for 5 years in the colony.
ART. 23. – The assembly shall be renewed every two years by half; no one shall be a member for six consecutive years. The election shall proceed as follows: municipal administrations nominate every two years, on the 10th Ventose (March 1st) each of the deputies, whom shall meet ten days thereafter at the chief town of their respective departments, where they shall form as many departmental electoral assemblies that will nominate, each, one representative to the Central Assembly.
The next election shall take place on the 10th Ventose of the eleventh year of the French Republic (March 1st, 1803). In case of death, resignation or other vacancy of one or several members of the Assembly, the Governor shall provide a replacement.
He shall equally designate the members of the actual Central Assembly who, at the time of first renewal, shall remain members of the Assembly for two additional years.
ART. 24. – The Central Assembly shall vote the adoption or the rejection of laws that are proposed to it by the Governor, it shall express its vote on rules made and on the application of laws already made, on abuses to correct, on improvements to undertake in all parts of service of the colony.
ART. 25. - The session shall begin each year on the 1st Germinal (March 22) and shall not exceed three months in duration. The Governor can convoke the Assembly in extraordinary meeting; the hearings shall not be public.
ART. 26. – On the state of revenues and spending that are proposed to the Assembly by the Governor, the Central Assembly shall determine, when appropriate, establishment of rates, quotas, the duration and mode of tax collection, its increase or decrease; these conditions shall be summarily printed.
TITLE VIII OF THE GOVERNMENT
ART. 27. – The administrative direction of the government shall be entrusted to a Governor who corresponds directly with the government of the Metropole, on all matters relative to the interests of the colony.
ART. 28. – The constitution nominates the citizen Toussaint-Louverture, Chief General of the army of Saint-Domingue, and , in consideration for important services rendered to the colony, in the most critical circumstances of the revolution, and upon the wishes of the grateful inhabitants, he is entrusted the direction thereof for the remainder of his glorious life.
ART. 29. – In the future, each governor shall be nominated for five years, and shall continue every five years for reasons of his good administration.
ART. 30. – In order to strengthen the tranquility that the colony owes to steadfastness, activity, indefatigable zeal and rare virtues of the General Toussaint-Louverture, and in sign of the unlimited trust of the inhabitants of Saint-Domingue, the Constitution attribute exclusively to this general the right to designate the citizen who, in the unfortunate event of the general’s death, shall immediately replace him. This choice shall remain secret; it shall be cosigned under sealed envelope and to be opened only by the Central Assembly, in presence of all active generals and chief commanders of departments of the army of Saint-Domingue.
The Governor Toussaint-Louverture shall take all necessary precautionary measures to let the Central Assembly know the depository of this important envelope.
ART. 31. – The Citizen that shall be chosen by the Governor Toussaint Louverture to take the direction of the government upon his death, shall be swear in front of the Central Assembly to execute the Constitution of Saint-Domingue and to remain attached to the French government, and shall be immediately installed in his functions; all shall be in presence of active generals and chief commanders of departments of the army of Saint-Domingue, who all, individually and without delay, shall swear obedience to the orders of the new Governors Saint-Domingue.
ART. 32. – At least one month before the expiration of the five years fixed for the administration of each General, the one in central function, jointly with the active-duty Generals and Chief Commander of Departments, shall meet at the ordinary place of hearing of the Central Assembly. To the effect of nominating, concurrently with the members of this A., the new Governor or continue the administration of the one who is in function.
ART. 33. – Failure on the part of a Governor in function to convoke constitutes a manifest infraction to the Constitution. In such circumstances, the highest ranked General or the senior General of equal rank, who is in active service in the colony, shall take, of right, if provisionally, the control the government.
This General shall convoke immediately the other General in active duty, the chief Commanders of Departments and the members of the Central Assembly, who shall all
obey the convocation, to the effect of proceeding concurrently to the nomination of a new Governor.
In the event of death, resignation or other vacancy by a Governor before the expiration of his mandate, the Government passes as well provisionally to the highest ranked General, or the senior General of equal rank who shall convoke, to the same ends as above, the members of the Central Assembly, the active-duty Generals and Chief Commanders of Departments.
ART. 34. – The Governor shall seal and promulgate the laws, he nominates to all civilian and military employment. He is the chief commander of the armed forces and is charged with is organization; State vessels in station at the shores of the colony receive orders from him.
He shall determine the divisions of the territory in manners most conform to internal relations. He watches and provides, according to the law, for internal and external security of the colony, and given that the state of war is a state of abandonment, malaise and nullity for the colony, the Governor is charged to take in those circumstances measures he deems necessary to ensure the subsistence and the supply of goods of all sorts to the colony.
ART. 35. – He shall exercise the general police of inhabitants and of the factories, and enforces the obligations of owners, farmers and of their representatives towards cultivators and workers, and the duty of cultivators towards owners, farmers or their representatives.
ART. 36. – He shall propose laws to the Central Assembly, as well as changes to the C. that experience may necessitate.
ART. 37. – He shall direct, supervise collection, payments and the use of finances of the colony, and shall give, to this effect, any and all orders.
ART. 38. – He shall present, every two years, to the Central Assembly the conditions of receipts and disbursements of each department, year by year.
ART. 39. – He shall supervise and censor by the authority of his commissaries, all writings designed for printing on the island; he shall cause to be suppressed all those coming from abroad that would tend to corrupt mores or trouble the new colony; he shall punish the authors or colporteurs, according to the severity of the situations.
ART. 40. – If the Governor is informed of some plot against the tranquility of the colony, he shall immediately proceed to the arrest of the presumed authors, instigators or accomplices; after having them undergo extra-judiciary questioning, he shall cite them in front of a competent tribunal.
ART. 41. – The salary of the Governor is fixed at the present time at 300,000 Francs. His honor guard shall be charged to the colony.
TITLE IX OF THE COURTS
ART. 42. – Citizen Shall have an alienable right to be judged by arbiters at their choice.
ART. 43. - No authority shall suspend nor impeach the execution of judgments rendered by the Courts.
ART. 44. – Justice shall be administered in the colony by Courts of first instance and by Courts of appeal. The law determines their organization, their number, their competence and the territory of each Court’s jurisdiction.
These tribunals, according to their degree of jurisdiction, shall recognize all civil and criminal affairs.
ART. 45. – There shall exist for the colony a Court of Cassation that shall pronounce on demands of annulments against judgments rendered by Appeal Courts, and issue opinions against an entire tribunal. This court does not hear the facts of the cases, but overturn judgments rendered on procedures in which the forms have been violated, or that contain some express contravention [infringement] to the law, and shall return the facts of the process to the tribunal in question.
ART. 46. – Judges of divers Courts conserve their function for life, unless they are condemned for forfeiture. Commissaries of the G. can be revoked.
ART. 47. – Military misdemeanors shall be submitted to special tribunals and subject to special judgments.
These special Courts also hear cases of theft, abduction, domicile violation, murder, assassination, arson, rape, plotting and mutiny.
The organization of these Courts pertains to the Governor of the colony.
TITLE X OF MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION
ART. 48. – There shall be in each parish of the colony a municipal administration; where there is a Court of first instance, the administration body shall be composed of a mayor and four administrators.
The commissary of the G. near the tribunal shall hold gratuitously the functions of commissary near the municipal administration.
In other parishes, municipal administration shall be composed of a mayor and two administrators; a substitute commissary of the responsible tribunal shall hold the function of commissary near the municipality gratuitously.
ART. 49. – Members of these municipal administration shall be nominated for two years, they may always continue beyond that time. Their nomination devolves to the Governor, who, on a list of at least sixteen individuals, presented by each municipal administration, chooses the persons most appropriate to manage the affairs of each parish.
ART. 50. – The function of municipal administrators consists in the exercise of simple police of cities and towns, in the administration of taxes originating from revenues of factories and additional impositions of the parishes.
They are, in addition, especially charged with the record keeping of births, marriages and deaths.
ART. 51. – The mayors exert particular function that the law determines.
TITLE XI OF THE ARMED FORCES
ART 52. – The Armed Forces are essentially obedient, they can never deliberate; they are at the disposition of the Governor who can mobilize them only to maintain public order, protection due to all citizens, and the defense of the colony.
ART 53. – They are divided in paid colonial guard and unpaid colonial guard.
ART 54. – The unpaid colonial guard shall not go out of the limits of its parish unless there is a case of imminent danger, and upon the order and the responsibility of the local military commander.
Outside of its parish it shall be compensated, and shall be submitted, in this case, to the military discipline, and in all other case, is only subject to the law.
ART 55. – The state police force of the colony shall be part of the Armed Forces; it shall be divided in a mounted force and a pedestrian force. The mounted force is instituted for the high police of security of the countryside; it has the charge of the wealth of the colony.
The pedestrian forceinstituted for the police of cities and towns; it shall be at the charge of the city or town for which it performs services.
ART 56. – The army is recruited upon the proposition the Governor makes to the Central Assembly, according to the mode established by law.
TITLE XII OF FINANCES, OF SEQUESTERED AND VACANT ESTATES
ART 57. – The finances of the colony shall be composed of: 1) duties on imports, weights and measures; 2) duties on the rental value of city and town houses, and duties on manufactured goods, other than agriculture and salt marshes; 3) revenues from ferries and postal services; 4) fines and confiscated wrecks; 5) duties on rescue of wrecked ships; revenue of colonial domains.
ART 58. – The product of closing from sequestered properties of absentee and represented owners becomes provisionally part of the public revenue of the colony and shall be applied to expenses of administration.
The circumstances shall determine the laws that should be made relative to outstanding public debt, and to farming of sequestered property collected by the administration prior to the promulgation of the present law.
ART 59. – Funds originating from the sales of personal estate and from the price of closing of vacant inheritance opened in the colony under the French government since 1789, shall be placed in a particular coffer, shall not be available as well as real estate gathered under colonial domains until two years after the publication of peace in the island between France and the maritime powers; let be understood, that this deadline is only relative to successions whose five years deadline fixed by the edict of 1781 should expire; and concerning those opened on or around the peace period, they shall not become available and gathered until after seven years.
ART 60. – Foreign successors of parents French or foreign parents in France shall succeed them also in Saint-Domingue; they shall be allowed to enter contract, acquire and receive properties situated in the colony, and dispose as well as the French by all means authorized by laws.
ART 61. – Laws shall determine the mode of collection of the administration of finances and sequestered vacant estates.
ART 62. – A temporary commission of accounting shall regulate and verify the revenue and disbursement accounts of the colony; this commission shall consist of three members, chose and nominated by the Governor.
TITLE XIII GENERAL DISPOSITIONS
ART 63. – The residence of any person shall constitute an inviolable abode. During nighttime, no one shall have the right to enter therein unless in case of fire, flooding or upon request from within. During the day, one shall have access for a special determined object or, by a law, or by order issued from a public authority.
ART. 64. – For a lawful arrest to be executed, it must 1) formally express the motive of the arrest and the law in virtue of which it is ordered; 2) be issued from a functionary whom the law formally empowers to do so; 3) presented to the person in form of copy of the warrant.
ART 65. – Anyone who, without authority of the law to make an arrest, gives, signs, executes or causes to be executed the arrest of a person, shall be guilty of the crime of arbitrary detention.
ART 66. – Any person shall have the right to address individual petitions to all constitutional authority and especially to the Governor.
ART 67. – There cannot exist in the colony corporations or associations that are contrary to public order.
No citizen association shall be qualified as popular society. All seditious gathering shall be dissipated immediately, first by way of verbal order and, if nessary, by development of armed force.
ART 68. – Any person shall have the faculty to form particular establishments of education and instruction for the youth under the authorization and the supervision of municipal administrations.
ART 69. – The law supervises especially all professions dealing with public mores, public safety, health and fortune of citizens.
ART 70. – The law provides for awards to inventors of rural machines, or for the preservation of the exclusive ownership of their discoveries.
ART 71. – There shall exist in the colony uniformity of weights and measures.
ART 72. – It shall be given, by the Governor, in the name of the colony, awards to warriors who will have rendered exceptional services while fighting for the common defense.
ART 73. – Absentee owners, for whatever reason, conserve all their rights to properties belonging to them and situated in the colony; it suffices, to remove any sequestration that might have been imposed, to reintroduce their titles of ownership and, in default of title thereof, supplementary acts whose formula is determined by law. Exempt of this disposition are, nevertheless, those who might been inscribed and maintained on the general list of emigrants of France; their properties shall continue, in this case, to be administered as colonial domains until their removal from the list.
ART 74. – The colony proclaims, as guarantee of public law, that all leases (beaux ? as spelled in original) of legally leased properties by the administration shall have their full effect, if the contracting parties prefer not to compromise with owners of their representatives who would obtain the return of their sequestered goods.
ART 75. – It proclaims that it is on the respect of the citizen (personne) and of the properties that rest agriculture, all productions, all means of employment and all social order.
ART 76. – It proclaims that any citizen owes services to the land that nourishes him or that guarantees his rights, and in regard to those (services) that shall have been collected, at a later time, they shall be exactable and reimbursed in the year that follows the lifting of sequestration of goods.
ART 77. – The Chief General Toussaint-Louverture is and shall remain charged with sending the present Constitution to be sanctioned by the French government; nevertheless, and given the absence of laws, the urgency to exit from this condition of peril, the necessity to promptly reestablish agriculture and the unanimous wishes pronounced by the inhabitants of Saint-Domingue, the Chief G. is and remains invited, in
the name of public good, to proceed with is execution in all areas of the territory of the colony.
Made at Port-Republican, this 19th Floréal [en] year IX of the French Republic, one and indivisible.
Signed: Borgella, President
Raymond Collet Gaston Nogérée
Lacour,
Roxas,
Munos,
Mancebo,
E. Viert, secretary
After having taken knowledge of the Constitution, I give it my approval. The invitation of the Central Assembly is for me an order; consequently, I shall pass it to the French government in order to obtain its sanction; as for its execution in the colony, the wish expressed by the Central Assembly shall be fulfilled as well and executed.
Given at Cap Français, this 14 Messidor, year IX of the French Republic, one and indivisible.
The Chief General:
Signed: Toussaint-Louverture
Glossary of Terms:

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Minister Nancy Allan Reads to Children

February 2, 2011

EDUCATION LEADERS READ TO STUDENTS -- WITH 21ST CENTURY TWIST

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Minister of Education, Teachers' Society president and Winnipeg SD board chair put new spin on I Love to Read Month event
Education leaders launched I Love to Read Month today at Earl Grey School in Winnipeg, but it was no ordinary guest reading. Education Minister Nancy Allan, The Manitoba Teachers’ Society President Pat Isaak and Winnipeg School Division Board Chair Suzanne Hrynyk read to students from a book loaded onto the classroom’s SmartBoard.
When they were done, it was the students’ turn.  The entire class split into three groups and the Grades 1, 2 and 3 students read to their guests.
“Teaching young children to read gives parents the opportunity to spend quality time with their children.  Reading opens the door to a pastime filled with learning and fun.  It allows children to let their imagination grow and gives them the tools they need for their future,” said Minister of Education Nancy Allan.
“Reading is about engaging children’s minds and imaginations,” says Pat Isaak, president of The Manitoba Teachers’ Society.  “Teachers work very hard at instilling a love for reading in students when they’re young.  And we know that parents across the province want their children to enjoy the life-long benefits that come with the love of reading.”
“How do today’s students read?” asks Suzanne Hrynyk, chair of the Winnipeg School Board.  “In addition to paper books, they use devices never dreamed of by previous generations:  SmartBoards, e-book readers and other technologies.  Regardless of the tools they use, our schools strive to help students develop strong literacy skills and the joy of reading.”
For more information on how to engage young readers, Google “Manitoba Reading Association booklet” and click the first result.
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The Province of Manitoba is distributing this release on behalf of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society, Winnipeg School Division and Province of Manitoba.
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Plans for Monarch's Diamond Jubilee begins

February 3, 2011

MANITOBA TO JOIN NATIONAL CELEBRATIONS TO COMMEMORATE MONARCH'S DIAMOND JUBILEE IN 2012

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Events to Recognize and Honour 60 Years of Service as Queen of Canada
Lt.-Gov. Philip Lee and Premier Greg Selinger today announced Manitoba will actively support provincial and national celebrations in 2012 to commemorate Queen Elizabeth’s 60 years of service to Canada and the Commonwealth.
“Manitoba was honored to have Her Majesty and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh tour Manitoba last year and the affection Manitobans young and old have for Her Majesty was never more evident than during her public walkabouts,” said Lee.
In making today’s announcement, Selinger said he has asked Phyllis Fraser, chief of staff and private secretary to the lieutenant-governor, and Dwight MacAulay, provincial chief of protocol and a member of the National Diamond Jubilee Advisory Committee, to co-chair a committee to promote Manitoba’s active participation in jubilee celebrations.
“Over the course of the next several months we will be posting progress and developments on the Manitoba government website as well as soliciting ideas and initiatives from all parts of the province as we mark this historic milestone,” said Selinger.
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Contact:
Phyllis Fraser, 204-945-2752
Dwight MacAulay, 204-945-3939

WESTERN MINISTERS FOCUS ON KEY JUSTICE ISSUES

February 2, 2011

Manitoba Justice Minister Andrew Swan welcomes ministers responsible for justice from the western provinces to a meeting in Manitoba. (Barry Penner, British Columbia Attorney General; Andrew Swan, Manitoba Justice Minister; Yogi Huyghebaert, Saskatchewan Minister of Corrections, Public Safety and Policing; Frank Oberle, Alberta Solicitor General and Minister of Public Security
 

 The Province of Manitoba is distributing this on behalf of the Western Ministers Responsible for Justice.
WINNIPEG, Man. – Western ministers responsible for justice today concluded a two-day meeting by agreeing to continue to focus on protecting the public from serious high-risk offenders and ensuring funding allows for appropriate levels of federal services to support the effective functioning of the justice system, Manitoba Minister of Justice Andrew Swan said on behalf of his colleagues.
Manitoba hosted the Feb. 1 to 2 Winnipeg meeting of western attorneys general and solicitors general with representation from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and B.C.  The ministers discussed gangs and organized crime, the Youth Criminal Justice Act, measures to reduce impaired driving, funding for DNA analysis services, toxicology and forensic services to support criminal prosecutions, and criminal intelligence information systems.
Ministers were updated on legislation dealing with complex gang and organized crime cases, the use of correctional intelligence in threat assessment and risk management of gang-involved offenders, and provincial change of name legislation to prevent offenders from hiding their identities.
“For the proper functioning of the justice system, it is important that we continue to work with the federal government to achieve needed legislative reforms, but also devote attention to the programs and services that support the system,” Swan said.  “We have made our views known to the federal minister of justice about legislative issues such as reforming the Youth Criminal Justice Act.  We are now moving forward to addressing our concerns to the federal government about the need to ensure an appropriate level of funding and service for the RCMP’s National Police Services.”
The Canadian Centre for Child Protection informed ministers about its programs and plans for future initiatives.  Ministers also discussed provincial initiatives to combat sexual exploitation of children and youth.
“Children and youth are our future, but they are, at the same time, the most vulnerable members of our society,” Swan said.  “We must strive to do whatever we can to protect them from sexual exploitation.  Our partnership with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection is a key element of our strategy to protect children.”

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Numbers that count

  • $6.6 million

    The average compensation of Canada’s best-paid 100 CEOs in 2009. (Source)
  • $42,988

    The average wage for Canadians working full-time, year-round. (Source)
  • 155 times

    How much the best-paid 100 CEOs earn more than average wage. (Source)
  • 0

    The number of women among the best-paid 100 CEOs in Canada in 2009. (Source)
  • 20th

    Canada ranks 20th, behind the U.S., in a global ranking of women’s equality. (Source)
  • Canada’s richest 1%

    Doubled their income share between the late-1970s and 2007. (Source)
  • Canada’s richest 0.01%

    Quintupled their share of income during that same period. (Source)
  • Shrinking middle

    The share of income for the bottom 80% of Canadian families with children is smaller today than it was a generation ago. (Source)
  • Teetering

    6 out of 10 Canadians could be in trouble if their paycheque gets delayed. (Source)
  • Debt nation

    Canadian consumer debt to financial assets ratio worst of 20 OECD nations. (Source)
  • $1.41 trillion

    Canadian household debt. (Source)
  • 17th

    Canada ranks 17 out of 24 OECD nations on children’s material well-being. (Source)
  • 1 in 10

    Canadian children live in poverty. 1 in 4 Aboriginal children live in poverty. (Source)
  • A solution

    Shifting 1% of Canadians’ collective after-tax income to the 1 in 10 Canadians living in low income would eliminate poverty in Canada. (Source)
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/hennessys-index-number-never-just-number