Working Hard to Safeguard Paddling Assets for All Canadians

All about Whitewater

All about Whitewater
A Blog about River Preservation and the need to protect our free flowing whitewater resources

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Communications Security Establishment Canada


To justify its expenditure of $133 million  a year on CSE's New Building:

2000 employees had outgrown their current CSE campus and retrofitting and expanding the current campus was found to be cost-prohibitive.  CSEC has an annual budget of about $422 million, according to CSEC spokesperson Ryan Foreman.

The business cases examined Crown Construction and Public-Private Partnership models independently validated by Deloitte.  It wa determined that P3 transfered all risks around construction and maintenance to the private sector. P3 Canada estimates that over the life-cycle of the contract, the P3 Method will save taxpayers $176 million. Also, as a P3, the facility will be ready 3 years sooner than a more traditional procurement.

The life-cycle cost of $4.1 billion includes all financing, facilities management, most IT equipment and maintenance, and physical security operations for 30 years. No taxpayer dollars are spent until the facility is fully constructed and delivered according to the contract.
Its an open-concept to ensure employees collaborate and work together.  Its agreen facility, being built to LEED Gold standards with filtered water available for employees to help them respond to the Government of Canada's security and intelligence priorities.

Omnibus bill C-36, the Anti-terrorism Act recognized CSEC's three-part mandate:
    1.    provide foreign intelligence
    2.    protect electronic information and information infrastructures
    3.    provide technical and operational assistance to federal law enforcement and security agency
    4.     engage in the war on terrorism

also CSEC provides communications security research and development on behalf of the Government of Canada in fields

CSEC employs code-makers and code-breakers to provide information technology security and foreign signals intelligence services and operational assistance to federal law enforcement and security agencies.
CSEC collects foreign communications signals which originate and terminate abroad.

Decrypts communications such as email, electronic emissions, communications systems, Information Technology systems and networks, and the data and technical information on or related to those systems.

All the above information is called Metadata about CSEC which is data that describes CSEC or  information about CSEC not what CSEC does as a matter of routine, for example, we do know that
CSEC collects data about phone numbers, length and time of calls, email addresses and internet routing information but not the extent or substance of the communications monitored.  CSEC looks at 'patterns' of communication. Which phone numbers are calling other phone numbers, which IP addresses are accessing other IP addresses to find 'frequent contacts' and then determinine if any of those are persons 'of interest' and thereby developing a 'web' of contacts/associates.

However recently we learned that CSEC had been hacking computers in Brazil's Ministry of Industry.

Its appears to ostensibly be about corporate espionage: ie, not playing nice.

The Deputy Head and Chief of the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) effective January 30, 2012, Mr. Forster,  has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto and a Master of Business Administration from York University. He completed studies in environmental economics at Harvard.  His boss is Robert Nicholson MP, Minister of National Defence
was a practising lawyer before entering politics with a law degree from the University of Windsor.

All this may be well and good but Brazil currently takes a dim view of the operations of CSEC under the guidance of Mr. Forster.

They want to know specifically what information Canada collected about the ministry, what the objective of the spying was specifically, what exact methods were used to collect this information and evade the system, stating that  it is now Canada's turn to come to Brazil to explain exactly what it has done against Brazil and what kind of espionage it conducted. from CBC

Glen Greenwald admonishes Canadians to ask fundamental questions about CSEC like the following:

 Greenwald's clarity of expression seems without comparison in media. He said that Canadians should ask to understand exactly why the Government of Canada would target a Brazilian Ministry with no real responsibility beyond industry and in which Candian industry has a great interest.

My guess is that the matter being discussed is merely the tip of a large iceberg which is comprised of the intelligence agencies of many countries ie:
The significance of this is that by Charter CSIS and CSEC are not to "spy" on Canadians, yet CSEC belongs to an association of spy agencies who have no such restriction, the result? The Canadian Government says they do not spy on Canadians but there are 4 other countries, that can do it for them. All the while, Government officals can plausibly state "we don't spy on Canadians."

Consider Mahar Arar who was sent to Syria, that bastion of democracy, with the knowledge and acquiescence of Canada, to be tortured.

There is nothing really wrong with the government know about its citizens. Its the preferred situation in my opinion. Some of this data is available widely to all Canadians. See data.gc.ca for more information.

So what is the real problem? 


Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Your Ontario Government At Work - Auditor Says Cancelling Gas Plant Cost Ontarians $675M to $815M



Its hard to grasp the insanity of this news. Essentially the reigning Liberal Ontario Government spent almost a billion dollars to cancel gas plants that were targeted for installation in certain liberal ridings ostensibly to ensure that certain Liberal MPP's were returned to the Ontario Legislature. The amount is so large as to perplex the simple voter: What The Fuck? Auditor Says Cancelling Gas Plan Cost Ontarians $675M to $815M.

The Wynne/McGuinty Liberal government of the time (2011) actually voluntarily chose to pay the companies the cancellation fees based on the local dissent. Its about $1000 added to the debt of every man, woman and child in Ontario.

Municipal, healthcare and education administrators are under pressure to do more with less.These cancellation expenditures are indefensible.  The environment, a poor cousin loses out by default.  It is sad that there will never be any accountability for this waste of hard earned tax dollars.









Canadian Rivers

Canadian Rivers
I speak for river users too!

The Queen is not amused!

The Queen is not amused!
http://www.ispeakforcanadianrivers.ca/

The Damned Dam - 2005 -

The Damned Dam - 2005 -
22nd Annual Kipaw Rally has modest turnout. - 23rd does better

The Ashlu river: it could happen to you

The Ashlu river: it could happen to you

Whitewater Ontario

Whitewater Ontario
Working Hard to Protect Canada's Paddling Resources

Whitewater Ontario - Mission Statement

It is Whitewater Ontario’s mission to support the whitewater paddling community through the promotion, development and growth of the sport in its various disciplines. We accomplish this through the development of events, resources, clubs, and programs for personal and athletic development, regardless of skill level or focus, to ensure a high standard of safety and competency; We advocate safe and environmentally responsible access and use of Ontario’s rivers. Whitewater Ontario is the sport governing body in the province, and represents provincial interests within the national body Whitewater Canada and the Canadian Canoe Association http://www.whitewaterontario.ca/page/mission.asp

Kipawa, Tabaret, and Opemican

Kipawa, Tabaret, and Opemican
If Hydro Quebec is not actively pursuing Tabaret what is that bite out of Opemican for?

Kipawa Dam: After

Kipawa Dam: After
Laniel Dam at 2006 Rally

Where is the Kipawa

Where is the Kipawa
Kipawa flows into lake Temiskamingue, running from Kipawa Lake, under hwy 101 in Quebec

Kipawa Dam

Kipawa Dam
laniel dam at 2004 River Rally

Tabaret is a Bad Idea

About the Kipawa



The best thing paddlers can do to help the cause of the Kipawa:

1. attend the rally and bring others including non paddlers to attend and buy beer and have fun

2. write your MP /MNA and raise the issue and post your objections -1 letter = 200 who didn't write

3. Write Thierry Vandal the CEO of Hydro Quebec strongly opposing the 132 MW standard decrying the use of "diversion" as the most environmentally inappropriate method of power production

4. Write Jean Charest, Premier of Quebec protesting that either the algonquin or the tabaret project will eliminate all other values on the Kipawa River by turning it into a dry gulch.

5. See if you can get other allied groups interested by showing your own interest, ie the Sierra Defense Fund, Earthwild, MEC, and so on.

6. Demand further consultation

7. Currently we are at the point where we need to sway public opinion and raise awareness.

However, if all else fails, don't get mad, simply disrupt, foment, and protest . The Monkey Wrench Gang.

Have you read Edward Abbey?

Important Addresses
CEO,Hydro Québec, 75 boul René Levesque, Montreal, P.Q., H2Z 1A4Caille.andre@hydro.qc.ca



Tabaret is a Bad Idea (Part Two)

Les Amis de la Riviere Kipawa is poised to use an application to the Federal Court to issue a Writ of Mandamus to ensure the Minster does what he is supposed to do, protect the public's right to navigate the water control structure at Laniel, Quebec using the Navigable Waters Protection Act. (see http://www.kipawariver.ca/)

In the now gutted Navigable Waters Protection Act lay the means by which the Minister of Transport could keep the public right of passage down our great Canadian Heritage, our rivers and streams which are threatened especially by resource corporations and power brokers such as Hydro Quebec.

These powerful entities continue to petition that 'this' river or 'that' stream is not navigable and therefore not protectable.
I don't say that dams and bridges should not be built, only that if they are, historical navigation rights should be considered and preserved by making reasonable accommodations for recreational boaters.

It is the Minister of Transport, in exercising the right to allow or disallow work on or over a navigable waterway is what keeps boats and recreational boaters plying our waterways.

To many recent cases launched in the Federal Court concerning the Navigable Waters Protection Act, most recently the case of the Humber Environment Group of Cornerbrook Newfoundland versus the Cornerbrook Pulp and Paper Company indicates that the important oversight is not being faithfully performed. Have we really come to the point now where we must say "such and such a stream is one foot deep, possessing so many cubic feet per second flow and so on?" The answer to this is... YES!

The honourable Mr. Justice John A. O'Keefe, ruled that it had not been shown that the river was navigable. How convenient was that to the Minister? But either the Minister of Transport acts to protect our rivers and streams as a public right or he does not and that means rivers and streams currently enjoyed by kayakers and canoists.

Enough of the cheating, and double-talk. Canadians! our rivers and streams are our own, lets urge the Minister of Transport and the our government to protect them.

Peter Karwacki

Tabaret is a Bad Idea (Part Three)

10 Reasons WhyTabaret is a Bad Idea1) Tabaret is too big. The station is designed to useevery drop of water available in the Kipawawatershed, but will run at only 44 percent capacity.We believe the Tabaret station is designed to usewater diverted from the Dumoine River into theKipawa watershed in the future. 2) The Tabaret project will eliminate the aquaticecosystem of the Kipawa River.The Tabaret project plan involves the diversion of a16-km section of the Kipawa River from its naturalstreambed into a new man-made outflow from LakeKipawa. 3) Tabaret will leave a large industrial footprint on thelandscape that will impact existing tourismoperations and eliminate future tourism potential. 4) The Tabaret project is an aggressive single-purposedevelopment, designed to maximize powergeneration at the expense of all other uses. 5) River-diversion, such as the Tabaret project, takinglarge amounts of water out of a river’s naturalstreambed and moving it to another place, is verydestructive to the natural environment. 6) The Kipawa River has been designated a protectedgreenspace in the region with severe limitations ondevelopment. This designation recognizes theecological, historical and natural heritage value ofthe river and the importance of protecting it.Tabaret will eliminate that value. 7) If necessary, there are other, smarter and morereasonable options for producing hydro power onthe Kipawa watershed. It is possible to build a lowimpactgenerating station on the Kipawa river, andmanage it as a “run-of-the-river” station, makinguse of natural flows while maintaining other values,with minimal impact on the environment. 8) The Kipawa watershed is a rich natural resource forthe Temiscaming Region, resonably close to largeurban areas, with huge untapped potential fortourism and recreation development in the future.Tabaret will severely reduce this potential. 9) Tabaret provides zero long-term economic benefitfor the region through employment. The plan is forthe station to be completely automated andremotely operated. 10) The Kipawa River is 12,000 years old. The riverwas here thousands of years before any peoplecame to the region. The Tabaret project will change all that.

Problems on a local River?

  • There is more to do as well but you have to do your research and above all, don't give up.
  • IN the meantime prepared a document itemizing the history of navigation of this spot and its recreational value. Use the Kipawa river history of navigation as a guide: see www.kipawariver.ca
  • Under the Ministry of Environment guidelines you have a set period of time to petition the change under the environmental bill of rights, you may have limited time to take this action. But it involves going to court for a judicial review of the decision.
  • 4. contact the ministry of natural resources officials and do the same thing.
  • 3. contact the ministry of the environment and determine if they approved the project
  • 2. determine if the dam was a legal dam, approved under the navigable waters protection act.
  • 1. research the decision and timing of it to determine if an environmental assessment was done.

Minden Ontario

Minden Ontario
Gull River Water control at Horseshoe lake

A History of Navigation on the Kipawa River

Prior to the environmental assessment there was no signage at the Laniel Dam

T-Shirts Area: These are available now!

T-Shirts Area: These are available now!
Send $25 and a stamped self addressed envelop for the Tshirt, and for the bumper sticker, a stamped and self addressed envelope with $5.00 for the bumper sticker to Les Amis de la rivière Kipawa, 80 Ontario St., Ottawa, Ontario, K1K 1K9 or click the link To purchase a Les Amis "T" contact Doug with the following information: Number of shirts:Sizes: Ship to Address: Method of Payment: cash, cheque and paypal, Shipto address:

Bumper Stickers Now Available

Bumper Stickers Now Available
Get your bumper sticker and show your support for the Kipawa Legal Fund ! - send $5.00 in a Stamped, self addressed envelope to: Peter Karwacki Box 39111, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1H 7X0