Put Food in the Budget videos produced by the Sisters of Providence available here. Part 1 follows ‘Dollton’ on his visit to Kingston. Part 2 focuses on John Gerretsen’s poverty challenge as he spends a day in the shoes of the poor of Kingston.

Part 1: For the ‘Dollton’ video click HERE.

Part 2: For the John Gerretsen poverty challenge tour video click HERE

UPDATE: Completed “Dear Mr Premier” video available at the Put Food in the Budget web site. To view the video in three parts click HERE
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On a steamy hot July day, Kingston’s representative at Queen’s park followed through on an earlier promise to spend a day living like a person on social assistance. John Gerretsen’s commitment resulted from the campaign Put Food in the Budget, a provincial organization calling for the immediate introduction of a $100 monthly supplement to the basic needs allowance for all adults receiving social assistance. Conditions were not perfect for this experiment, it did mimic what Kingston’s poor face each and every day. While John Gerretsen spend just one day living the experience, it was enough for him to make a promise to organizers, that change is coming. He’s invited organizers, including Tara Kainer of the JPIC office of the Sisters of Providence, to Queen’s Park to speak with MPP’s.

Additional Coverage:
The Whig – MPP gets a close-up look at poverty
The Catholic Register – Kingston MPP John Gerretsen walks a mile in poor’s shoes
Put Food in the Budget – A 2 minute preview of the final video taken during the across Ontario campaign. Full video release date is September 28.

Excerpt of a review of Warrior Nation

by Merilyn Simonds

In Warrior Nation,  Ian McKay and Jamie Swift write:

Many liberal-minded Canadians have grown up thinking that their country is characterized by certain continuing traits or values — multiculturalism, global peacekeeping and global citizenship, regionalism, commitment to a strong social safety net, and a consensual, collaborative, community-oriented approach to shared problems.

The new warrior Canada is, by contrast, a crusading kingdom founded upon specific British and Christian traditions, militantly committed to the spread of specific notions of  the market, and prioritizing military might over the peaceful resolution of disputes.

In Warrior Nation, Jamie and Ian tell stories from Canada’s past, tracing the evolution of our relationship to things military. In the second chapter we meet swashbuckling marauder William Stairs, the Royal Military College graduate who helped make the Congo safe for European pillage. A chapter called War to War to War profiles Vimy Ridge veteran and Second World War general Tommy Burns, leader of the UN’s first big peacekeeping operation, a soldier who came to call imperialism “the monster of the age.”

For the full review of Warrior Nation by Merilyn Simonds  (Kingston Whig Standard, May 19, 2012),  go to: http://www.thewhig.com/2012/05/21/taking-aim-at-canadas-military