March Just Posts

Welcome to the March Just Posts, the parenting blogosphere's roundup of posts on social justice pulled together by me and my charming life-partner, Jen of One Plus Two. The Just Posts are also featured on the Whole Mom Webzine.



Before I unleash you on this month's varied and insightful reading, I'd like to talk about a topic that is weighing heavily with me today. I live in Atlantic Canada, though I am not from this place. I spent the majority of my life in Ontario and Alberta, Canada's two richest provinces. Atlantic Canada, while being a twee tourist haven in the minds of many Canadians, is what we call a "have not" region. The great Atlantic fishery is in decline what with cod stocks facing extinction from decades of over-fishing, lobster populations dropping off, and farmed salmon coming under negative scrutiny for high PCB levels. The seal hunt has been brow-beaten by powerful but perhaps not wise critics (see Alpha Dogma's post below). Our forests are not what they once were. Even the growth industry of information technology that was touted as our saving grace a decade or so has fallen short of its promised potential, creating nothing but McCall Centre jobs for minimum wage and little hope for advancement. Much of the work out here is seasonal. Increasingly, the young pull up stakes for a better life elsewhere. Many flee to Alberta's rich and labour-hungry oil patch.

There are a lot of people in Canada who look at the East Coast and see everything that is wrong with social democracy. They see a welfare state, a culture of dependency. Our own Prime Minister, before he became leader of the Conservative Party, condemned the "culture of defeatism" out here. The year I moved east from Alberta, then Premier Ralph Klein in an effort to defend his province's oil riches ressurected a popular slogan from the anti-NEP (National Energy program) movement of the late 70s: "let those Eastern bastards freeze in the dark." Ouch. Now, he didn't just mean Atlantic Canada when he said it but imagine how easily I, a displaced Albertan, made friends upon my arrival.

Two days ago, on Easter Sunday, on the day preceding the 90th anniversary of Canada's victory at Vimy Ridge, a light armoured vehicle carrying Canadian soldiers hit an explosive device in Afghanistan. Six soldiers were killed. Five of them were from Atlantic Canada. Since Canada began its mission in Afghanistan, 52 soldiers have been killed. About a third of them have been from this region. The province where I live has a combined population that is slightly less than Edmonton, the city where I used to live. Atlantic Canada's population is roughly 7% of Canada's total population; and yet, the number of combat dead is 1 in 3 when it should be fewer than 1 in 10. Such arguments about race, class, and regional representation in the armed forces are often made in the US. They don't really get much media play here, north of the border.

The next time some politician starts spouting off about how Atlantic Canada does not contribute its fair share to this nation, I ask you to claw the dollar signs from that person's eyes. When you are a have-not region, it would seem that your best option is to raise your sons and daughters to be canon fodder. And if that isn't a social justice issue, I don't know what is.

Those who gave the gift in March are:
Alejna at Collecting Tokens with Finding My Voice
Alice at And She Wrote with Simple Justice and Small Change
Alpha Dogma with Seal Deal
Andrea at Little Bald Doctors with A Blogger of Substance
The Atavist with Walking Talk
Blog Antagonist with No Hablas Engles
Bon at Crib Chronicles with Real Moms
Chani at Thailand Gal with Wear Your Love Like Heaven
Gwen at Woman on the Verge with Ours Goes to Eleven
Jen at One Plus Two with Circle Game, Do We Ever Really Know What Time it Is and Boy in a Box
Jess at Oh the Joys with Warmth
Jill at Not so Sage Wisdom with Engendered
Julie at The Ravin' Picture Maven with Must Read Posts related to the HPV Vaccine, Normalizing Disabilities: Is it Right and Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones
KC at Where's My Cape with Blind or Need Blind and Thin parts 1, 2, 3, 4
Kyla at The Journey with Zen Shmen
Little Monkies with Insanity on Treadmill 29
Liv at Madness, Madness I Say with D-I-V-O-R-C-E
Mad Marriage with Is there No Justice and Lack of Justice in the College Admissions Process Magpie at Magpie Musing with Kristof Led Donations
Mary G at Them's My Sentiments with Blowin' in the Wind
Mary Murtz at Eleven with Part 3
Mother-Woman with Unsolicited Book Advice
Mouse at the Mouse's Nest with Global Warming Wednesday: Is it (Im)material?, BYOB (Bag that is), Bagging Plastic Bags, Cars
QT at Can we Kick the Bar Here with Any Soldier
Sandra at MommyBlogsToronto with Stop the "Eggs Stinking"
Slouching Mom with With Freinds Like These Who Needs Enemies
Susanne at Creative Mother Thinking with March Just Post
Urban Urchin with Let Love Rule

Those who saw the worth in others:
Alejna at Collecting Tokens
Bon at Crib Chronicles
BubandPie
Carrie at Third Time's a Charm
Flutter at Fluttercrafts
Hel at Truth Cycles
Jen at One Plus Two
Jess at Oh the Joys
Jill at Not So Sage Wisdom
KC at Where's My Cape?
Mad Hatter
Sandra at Sunshine Scribe
Susanne at Creative Mother Thinking

And, as always, don't forget to hop over to Jen's to find out what cause is scratching at her soul these days.