Local CEP1133 News

Papermaking

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:10:00 +0000

The Diamond Sutra of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, the oldest dated printed book in the world, found at Dunhuang, from 868 CE.

Papermaking is the process of making paper, a substance which is used universally today for writing and packaging.

In papermaking a dilute suspension of fibres in water is drained through a screen, so that a mat of randomly interwoven fibres is laid down. Water is removed from this mat of fibres by pressing and drying to make paper. Since the invention of the Fourdrinier machine in the 19th century, most paper has been made from wood pulp because of cost. But other fibre sources such as cotton and textiles are used for high-quality papers. One common measure of a paper's quality is its non-woodpulp content, e.g., 25% cotton, 50% rag, etc.

History

Main article: History of paper

Hemp wrapping paper, China, circa 100 BCE.

Papermaking is known to have been traced back to China about 105 CE, when Cai Lun, an official attached to the Imperial court during the Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE), created a sheet of paper using mulberry and other bast fibres along with fishnets, old rags, and hemp waste.^[1] However a recent archaeological discovery has been reported from Gansu province of paper with legible Chinese writings on it dating from 8 BCE,^[2] while paper had been used in China for wrapping and padding since the 2nd century BCE.^[3] Paper used as a writing medium became widespread by the 3rd century,^[4] and by the 6th century toilet paper was starting to be used in China as well.^[5] During the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) paper was folded and sewn into square bags to preserve the flavor of tea,^[3] while the later Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) was the first government on Earth to issue paper-printed money.

In the 8th century, paper spread to the Islamic world, where the rudimentary and laborious process of papermaking was refined and machinery was designed for bulk manufacturing of paper. Production began in Baghdad under the supervision of the Grand Vizier Ja'far ibn Yahya, they invented a method to make a thicker sheet of paper. This helped transform papermaking from an art into a major industry.^[6] The earliest use of water-powered mills in paper production, specifically the use of pulp mills for preparing the pulp for papermaking, dates back to Samarkand in the 8th century.^[7] The earliest references to paper mills also come from the medieval Islamic world, where they were first noted in the 9th century by Arabic geographers in Damascus.^[8] Papermaking was diffused across the Islamic world, from where it was diffused further west into Europe.^[9]

Paper is recorded as being manufactured in Italy by 1220 and Germany by 1400, just about the time when the woodcut printmaking technique was transferred from fabric to paper in the old master print and popular prints.^[10] Modern papermaking began in the early 19th century in Europe with the development of the Fourdrinier machine, which produces a continuous roll of paper rather than individual sheets. These machines have become very large, up to 500 feet (~150 m) in length, producing a sheet 400 inches (~10 m) wide, and operating at speeds of over 60 mph (100 km/h).^[11] In 1844, both Canadian inventor Charles Fenerty and German inventor F.G. Keller had invented the machine and process for pulping wood for the use in papermaking.^[12] This would end the nearly 2000-year use of pulped rags and start a new era for the production of newsprint and eventually almost all paper was made out of pulped wood.

Manual papermaking

Papermaking, regardless of the scale on which it is done, involves making a dilute suspension of fibres in water and allowing this suspension to drain through a screen so that a mat of randomly interwoven fibres is laid down. Water is removed from this mat of fibres by pressing and drying to make paper.

An illustration from 105 AD depicting the papermaking process as designed by Cai Lun.

First the fibres are suspended in water to form a slurry in a large vat. The mold is a wire screen in a wooden frame (somewhat similar to an old window screen), which is used to scoop some of the slurry out of the vat. The slurry in the screen mold is sloshed around the mold until it forms a uniform thin coating. The fibres are allowed to settle and the water to drain. When the fibres have stabilized in place but are still damp, they are turned out onto a felt sheet which was generally made of an animal product such as wool or rabbit fur, and the screen mold immediately reused. Layers of paper and felt build up in a pile (called a 'post') then a weight is placed on top to press out excess water and keep the paper fibres flat and tight. The sheets are then removed from the post and hung or laid out to dry. A step-by-step procedure for making paper with readily available materials can be found online.^[13]

When the paper pages are dry, they are frequently run between rollers (calendered) to produce a harder writing surface. Papers may be sized with gelatin or similar to bind the fibres into the sheet. Papers can be made with different surfaces depending on their intended purpose. Paper intended for printing or writing with ink is fairly hard, while paper to be used for water color, for instance, is heavily sized, and can be fairly soft.

The wooden frame is called a "deckle". The deckle leaves the edges of the paper slightly irregular and wavy, called "deckle edges", one of the indications that the paper was made by hand. Deckle-edged paper is occasionally mechanically imitated today to create the impression of old-fashioned luxury. The impressions in paper caused by the wires in the screen that run sideways are called "laid lines" and the impressions made, usually from top to bottom, by the wires holding the sideways wires together are called "chain lines". Watermarks are created by weaving a design into the wires in the mold. This is essentially true of Oriental molds made of other substances, such as bamboo. Hand-made paper generally folds and tears more evenly along the laid lines.

Hand-made paper is also prepared in laboratories to study papermaking and to check in paper mills the quality of the production process. The "handsheets" made according to TAPPI Standard T 205^[14] are circular sheets 15.9 cm (6.25 in) in diameter and are tested on paper characteristics as paper brightness, strength, degree of sizing.^[15]

Industrial papermaking

Main article: Papermachine

See also: Paper mill and Pulp and paper industry

A modern paper mill is divided into several sections, roughly corresponding to the processes involved in making hand-made paper. Pulp is refined and mixed in water with other additives to make a pulp slurry, the headbox of the papermachine (Fourdrinier machine) distributes the slurry onto a moving continuous screen, water drains from the slurry (by gravity or under vacuum), the wet paper sheet goes through presses and dries and is finally rolled into large rolls, often weighing several tons.

Another type of papermachine makes use of a cylinder mold that rotates while partially immersed in a vat of dilute pulp. The pulp is picked up by the wire and covers the mold as it rises out of the vat. A couch roller is pressed against the mold to smooth out the pulp, and picks the wet sheet off of the mold.

History of paper sheet production

Main article: Paper sizes

Folio

Main article: Folio (printing)

In the beginning of Western papermaking, paper size was fairly standard. A page of paper is referred to as a leaf. When a leaf was printed on without being folded, the size was referred to as folio (meaning leaf). It was roughly equal to the size of a small newspaper sheet. ("Folio" can also refer to other sizes - see paper sizes.)

Quarto

Main article: Quarto

A Folio folded once produces two leaves (or four pages), and the size of these leaves was referred to as quarto (4to) (about 230 x 280 mm).

Octavo

Main article: Octavo

If the original sheet was folded in half again, the result was eight pages, referred to as octavo (8vo), which is roughly the size of an average modern novel. An octavo folding produces four leaves; the first two and the second two will be joined at the top by the first fold. The top edge is usually trimmed to make it possible to look freely at each side of the leaf. Sometimes books are found that have not been trimmed on the top, and these pages are referred to as unopened.

An octavo book produces a printing puzzle. The paper is first printed before folding and thus pages 8 and 1 are printed right-side-up on the bottom of the sheet, and pages 4 and 5 are printed upside-down on the top of the same side of the paper. On the opposite side, pages 2 and 7 are printed right-side-up on the bottom of the sheet, and pages 6 and 3 are printed upside-down on the top of the sheet. When the paper is folded twice and the folds trim, the pages fall into proper order.

Sixteen-mo

Smaller books are produced by folding the leaves again to produce 16 pages, known as a sixteen-mo (16mo) (originally sextodecimo). Other folding arrangements produce yet smaller books such as the thirty-two-mo (32mo) (duo et tricensimo).

Octavo bookbinding

When a standard-sized octavo book is produced by twice folding a large leaf, two leaves joined at the top will be contained in the resulting fold (which ends up in the gulley between the pages). This group of eight numberable pages is called a signature or a gathering. Traditionally, printed signatures were stacked on top of each other in a sewing frame and each signature was sewn through the inner fold to the signature on top of it. The sewing ran around leather bands or fabric tapes along the backs of the signatures to stabilize the pile of signatures. The leather bands originally used in the West to stabilize the backs of sewn books appear as a number of ridges under the leather on the spine of leather books. The ends of the leather strips or fabric bands were sewn or glued onto the cover boards and reinforced the hinging of the book in its covers.

Standardisation ISO sizes

While opinions and speculation abound on exact reasons for standardized paper sizes, the most revealing feature of popular sizes (such as Letter and ISO 216 sizes) is that they conform not to some arbitrary device dimension, but that the length of the paper is chosen to be the width of the page times the square root of two (≈1.414). This feature allowed for a large page to be cut in half and the resulting two pages to have the same aspect ratio as the original piece (just with half the size). Repeated cuts can be made to reduce the entire sheet to one size of pages without wasted paper. This format was formalized by ISO 216 however such logic dictated efficient paper sizes long before the ISO was created. For example, traditional 8.5"x11" Letter paper is within a few millimeters of A4 paper (ISO 216) dimensions. While paper sizes "may" have been chosen based on the size of original frames, the frames themselves were chosen to make page reduction efficient without distorting the aspect ratio of the pages regardless of final size chosen. That said, there are paper sizes that do not conform to this idea when specific applications are needed.

Vatmen paper

Vatmen Paper was a type of paper made in the Netherlands that was 17 inches (430 mm) wide and 44 inches (1,100 mm) long. 44 inches was (reputedly) chosen because that is how far the papermaker could stretch his arm.^{[citation needed]} A single vatman can generally handle a mold and deckle which produce up to a 25 inches (640 mm) wide sheet.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ papermaking. (2007). In: Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 9, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online
^ World Archaeological Congress eNewsletter 11 August 2006
^ ^a ^b Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Part 1. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd. Volume 5, 122.
^ Needham, Volume 5, 1.
^ Needham, Volume 5, 123.
^ Mahdavi, Farid (2003). "Review: Paper Before Print: The History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic World by Jonathan M. Bloom". Journal of Interdisciplinary History (MIT Press) 34 (1): 129–30. doi:10.1162/002219503322645899
^ Lucas, Adam (2006). Wind, Water, Work: Ancient and Medieval Milling Technology. Brill Publishers. pp. 65 & 84. ISBN 9004146490
^ Jonathan M. Bloom (February 12, 2010). Paper in the Medieval Mediterranean World. Early Paper: Techniques and Transmission - A workshop at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Retrieved 2010-03-19^{[dead link]}
^ Mahdavi, Farid (2003). "Review: Paper Before Print: The History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic World by Jonathan M. Bloom". Journal of Interdisciplinary History (MIT Press) 34 (1): 129–30. doi:10.1162/002219503322645899.
^ Burns, Robert I. (1996). "Paper comes to the West, 800−1400". In Lindgren, Uta. Europäische Technik im Mittelalter. 800 bis 1400. Tradition und Innovation (4th ed.). Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag. ISBN 3-7861-1748-9
^ "Metso supplied SC paper machine line sets a new world speed record at Stora Enso Kvarnsveden". Retrieved 2008-04-12.
^ Burger, Peter. Charles Fenerty and his Paper Invention. Toronto: Peter Burger, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9783318-1-8 pp.25-30
^ "Making Paper By Hand". TAPPI. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
^ "Forming Handsheets for Physical Tests of Pulp, Test Method". TAPPI. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
^ Biermann, Christopher J. (1993). Handbook of Pulping and Papermaking. San Diego: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-097360-X.

Pulp(paper)

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:33:00 +0000

Fibres in wood pulp

Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper. Wood pulp is the most common raw material in papermaking.

History

Using wood to make paper is a fairly recent innovation. In the 1800s, fibre crops such as linen fibres were the primary material source, and paper was a relatively expensive commodity. The use of wood to make pulp for paper began with the development of mechanical pulping in Germany by F.G. Keller in the 1840s,^[1] and by the Canadian inventor Charles Fenerty in Nova Scotia.^[2] Chemical processes quickly followed, first with J. Roth's use of sulfurous acid to treat wood, followed by B. Tilghman's U.S. patent on the use of calcium bisulfite, Ca(HSO₃)₂, to pulp wood in 1867.^[3] Almost a decade later the first commercial sulfite pulp mill was built in Sweden. It used magnesium as the counter ion and was based on work by Carl Daniel Ekman. By 1900, sulfite pulping had become the dominant means of producing wood pulp, surpassing mechanical pulping methods. The competing chemical pulping process, the sulfate or kraft process was developed by Carl F. Dahl in 1879 and the first kraft mill started (in Sweden) in 1890.^[3] The invention of the recovery boiler by G. H. Tomlinson in the early 1930s^[1] allowed kraft mills to recycle almost all of their pulping chemicals. This, along with the ability of the kraft process to accept a wider variety of types of wood and produce stronger fibres^[4] made the kraft process the dominant pulping process starting in the 1940s.^[3]

Global production of wood pulp in 2006 was 160 million tonnes (175 million tons).^[5] In the previous year, 57 million tonnes (63 million tons) of market pulp (not made into paper in the same facility) was sold, with Canada being the largest source at 21% of the total, followed by the United States at 16%. Chemical pulp made up 93% of market pulp.^[6]

Manufacture of wood pulp

The timber resources used to make wood pulp are referred to as pulpwood. Wood pulp comes from softwood trees such as spruce, pine, fir, larch and hemlock, and hardwoods such as eucalyptus, aspen and birch.

A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fibre source into a thick fibre board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical or fully chemical methods (kraft and sulfite processes). The finished product may be either bleached or non-bleached, depending on the customer requirements.

Wood and other plant materials used to make pulp contain three main components (apart from water): cellulose fibres (desired for papermaking), lignin (a three-dimensional polymer that binds the cellulose fibres together) and hemicelluloses, (shorter branched carbohydrate polymers). The aim of pulping is to break down the bulk structure of the fibre source, be it chips, stems or other plant parts, into the constituent fibres.
Chemical pulping achieves this by degrading the lignin and hemicellulose into small, water-soluble molecules which can be washed away from the cellulose fibers without depolymerizing the cellulose fibres (chemically depolymerizing the cellulose weakens the fibres). The various mechanical pulping methods, such as groundwood (GW) and refiner mechanical (RMP) pulping, physically tear the cellulose fibres one from another. Much of the lignin remains adhering to the fibres. Strength is impaired because the fibres may be cut.

There are a number of related hybrid pulping methods that use a combination of chemical and thermal treatment to begin an abbreviated chemical pulping process, followed immediately by a mechanical treatment to separate the fibres. These hybrid methods include thermomechanical pulping, also known as TMP, and chemithermomechanical pulping, also known as CTMP. The chemical and thermal treatments reduce the amount of energy subsequently required by the mechanical treatment, and also reduce the amount of strength loss suffered by the fibres.

Harvesting trees

Main article: Logging

All kinds of paper are made out of 100% wood with nothing else mixed into them (with some exceptions, like fancy resume paper, which may include cotton). This includes newspaper, magazines and even toilet paper. Most pulp mills use good forest management practices in harvesting trees to ensure that they have a sustainable source of raw materials. One of the major complaints about harvesting wood for pulp mills is that it reduces the biodiversity of the harvested forest. Trees raised specifically for pulp production account for 16 percent of world pulp production, old growth forests account for 9 percent, and second- and third- and more generation forests account for the rest.^[7] Reforestation is practiced in most areas, so trees are a renewable resource. The FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certifies paper made from trees harvested according to guidelines meant to ensure good forestry practices.^[8]

The number of trees consumed depends whether mechanical processes or chemical processes are used. It has been estimated that based on a mixture of softwoods and hardwoods 12 metres (40 ft) tall and 15-20 centimetres (6–8 in) in diameter, it would take an average of 24 trees to produce 0.9 tonne (1 ton) of printing and writing paper, using the kraft process (chemical pulping). Mechanical pulping is about twice as efficient in using trees since almost all of the wood is used to make fibre therefore it takes about 12 trees to make 0.9 tonne (1 ton) of mechanical pulp or newsprint.^[9]

There are roughly 2 short tons in a cord of wood.^[10]

Preparation for pulping

Main article: Woodchipping

Woodchipping is the act and industry of chipping wood for pulp, but also for other processed wood products and mulch. Only the heartwood and sapwood are useful for making pulp. Bark contains relatively few useful fibres and is removed and used as fuel to provide steam for use in the pulp mill. Most pulping processes require that the wood be chipped and screened to provide uniform sized chips.

Pulping

There are a number of different processes which can be used to separate the wood fibres:

Mechanical pulp

Manufactured grindstones with embedded silicon carbide or aluminum oxide can be used to grind small wood logs called "bolts" to make stone groundwood pulp (SGW). If the wood is steamed prior to grinding it is known as pressure groundwood pulp (PGW). Most modern mills use chips rather than logs and ridged metal discs called refiner plates instead of grindstones. If the chips are just ground up with the plates, the pulp is called refiner mechanical pulp (RMP) and if the chips are steamed while being refined the pulp is called thermomechanical pulp (TMP). Steam treatment significantly reduces the total energy needed to make the pulp and decreases the damage (cutting) to fibres. Mechanical pulps are used for products that require less strength, such as newsprint and paperboards.

Thermomechanical pulp

Mechanical pulping process.^[11]

Thermomechanical pulp is pulp produced by processing wood chips using heat (thus thermo) and a mechanical refining movement (thus mechanical). It is a two stage process where the logs are first stripped of their bark and converted into small chips. These chips have a moisture content of around 25-30% and a mechanical force is applied to the wood chips in a crushing or grinding action which generates heat and water vapour and softens the lignin thus separating the individual fibres. The pulp is then screened and cleaned, any clumps of fibre are reprocessed. This process gives a high yield of fibre from the timber (around 95%) and as the lignin has not been removed, the fibres are hard and rigid.^[11]

Chemithermomechanical pulp

Wood chips can be pretreated with sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, sodium sulfite and other chemicals prior to refining with equipment similar to a mechanical mill. The conditions of the chemical treatment are much less vigorous (lower temperature, shorter time, less extreme pH) than in a chemical pulping process since the goal is to make the fibres easier to refine, not to remove lignin as in a fully chemical process. Pulps made using these hybrid processes are known as chemithermomechanical pulps (CTMP).

Chemical pulp

International Paper Company. Pulp mill that makes fluff pulp for use in absorbent products with the kraft process.

Main articles: Kraft process, Sulfite process, and Soda pulping

See also: Dissolving pulp, Fluff pulp, NBSK, and SBSK (pulp)

Chemical pulp is produced by combining wood chips and chemicals in large vessels known as digesters where heat and the chemicals break down the lignin, which binds the cellulose fibres together, without seriously degrading the cellulose fibres. Chemical pulp is used for materials that need to be stronger or combined with mechanical pulps to give a product different characteristics. The kraft process is the dominant chemical pulping method, with sulfite process being second. Historically soda pulping was the first successful chemical pulping method.

Recycled pulp

Main articles: Paper recycling and Deinking

Recycled pulp is also called deinked pulp (DIP). DIP is recycled paper which has been processed by chemicals, thus removing printing inks and other unwanted elements and freed the paper fibres. The process is called deinking.

DIP is used as raw material in papermaking. Many newsprint, toilet paper and facial tissue grades commonly contain 100% deinked pulp and in many other grades, such as lightweight coated for offset and printing and writing papers for office and home use, DIP makes up a substantial proportion of the furnish.

Organosolv pulping

Main article: organosolv

Organosolv pulping uses organic solvents at temperatures above 140 °C to break down lignin and hemicellulose into soluble fragments. The pulping liquor is easily recovered by distillation.

Alternative pulping methods

Research is under way to develop biological pulping, similar to chemical pulping but using certain species of fungi that are able to break down the unwanted lignin, but not the cellulose fibres. This could have major environmental benefits in reducing the pollution associated with chemical pulping. The pulp is bleached using chlorine dioxide stage followed by neutralization and calcium hypochlorite.The oxidizing agent in either case oxidizes and destroys the dyes formed from the tannins of the wood and accentuated (reinforced) by sulfides present in it.

Bleaching

Main article: Bleaching of wood pulp

The pulp produced up to this point in the process can be bleached to produce a white paper product. The chemicals used to bleach pulp have been a source of environmental concern, and recently the pulp industry has been using alternatives to chlorine, such as chlorine dioxide, oxygen, ozone and hydrogen peroxide.

Alternatives to wood pulp

Today, some people and groups advocate using field crop fibre or agricultural residues instead of wood fibre as being more sustainable.^{[citation needed]} However, wood is also a renewable resource, with about 90% of pulp coming from plantations or reforested areas.^[7] Non-wood fibre sources account for about 5-10% of global pulp production, for a variety of reasons, including seasonal availability, problems with chemical recovery, brightness of the pulp etc.^[6]^[12] Non-wood pulp processing requires a high use of water and energy.^[13]

Nonwovens are in some applications alternatives to paper made from wood pulp, like filter paper or tea bags.

**Comparison of typical feedstocks used in pulping^[14]**
Component	Wood	Nonwood
Carbohydrates	65-80 %	50-80 %
Cellulose	40-45 %	30-45 %
Hemicellulose	23-35 %	20-35 %
Lignin	20-30 %	10-25 %
Extractives	2-5 %	5-15 %
Proteins	< 0.5 %	5-10 %
Inorganics	0.1-1 %	0.5-10 %
SiO₂	< 0.1 %	0.5-7 %

Market pulp

Market pulp is any variety of pulp that is produced in one location, dried and shipped to another location for further processing.^[15] Important quality parameters for pulp not directly related to the fibres are brightness, dirt levels, viscosity and ash content. In 2004 about it was produced about 55 milion metric tons of market pulp.^[16]

Air dry pulp

Air dry pulp is the most common form to sell pulp. This is pulp dried to about 10 % moisture content. It is normally delivered as sheeted bales of 250 kg. The reason to leave 10 % moisture in the pulp is that this minimizes the fibre to fibre bonding and makes it easier to disperse the pulp in water for further processing to paper.^[15]

Roll pulp

Roll pulp or reel pulp is the most common delivery form of pulp to non tradtitional pulp markets. Fluff pulp is normally shipped on rolls (reels). This pulp is dried to 5 - 6 % moisture content. At the customer this is going to a comminution process to prepare for further processing.^[15]

Flash dried pulp

Some pulps are flash dried. This is done by pressing the pulp to about 50 % moisture content and then let it fall trough silos that are 15 -17 m high. Gas fired hot air is the normal heat source. The temperature is well above the char point of cellulose, but large amount of moisture in the fibre wall and lumen prevents the fibres from being incinerated. It is often not dried down to 10 % moisture (air dry). The bales are not as densely packed as air dry pulp.^[15]

Environmental concerns

Main article: Environmental issues with paper

The major environmental impacts of producing wood pulp come from its impact on forest sources and from its waste products.

Forest resources

Main article: Forest management

The impact of logging to provide the raw material for wood pulp is an area of intense debate. Modern logging practices, using forest management seek to provide a reliable, renewable source of raw materials for pulp mills. The practice of clear cutting is a particularly sensitive issue since it is a very visible effect of logging. Reforestation, the planting of tree seedlings on logged areas, has also been criticized for decreasing biodiversity because reforested areas are monocultures. Logging of old growth forests accounts for less than 10% of wood pulp,^[7] but is one of the most controversial issues.

Effluents from pulp mills

Main articles: Kraft process, Sulfite process, and Bleaching of wood pulp

The process effluents are treated in a biological effluent treatment plant, which guarantees that the effluents are not toxic in the recipient.

Mechanical pulp is not a major cause for environmental concern since most of the organic material is retained in the pulp, and the chemicals used (hydrogen peroxide and sodium dithionite) produce benign byproducts (water and sodium sulfate (finally), respectively).

Chemical pulp mills, especially kraft mills, are energy self-sufficient and very nearly closed cycle with respect to inorganic chemicals.

Bleaching with chlorine produces large amounts of organochlorine compounds, including dioxins.^[17]

Odor problems

The kraft pulping reaction in particular releases foul-smelling compounds. The hydrogen sulfide reagent that degrades lignin structure also causes some demethylation to produce methanethiol, dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide. These compounds have extremely low odor thresholds and disagreeable smells. The same compounds are released in microbial decay, or into e.g. Camembert cheese, although the kraft process is a chemical one and does not involve any microbial degradation.

Paper production

Main article: Fourdrinier machine

The Fourdrinier Machine is the basis for most modern papermaking, and it has been used in some variation since its conception. It accomplishes all the steps needed to transform a source of wood pulp into a final paper product.

Economics

In 2009, NBSK pulp sold for $650 /ton in the United States. The market had experienced a drop in price due to falling demand when newspapers reduced their size, in part, as a result of the recession.^[18]

References

^ ^a ^b E. Sjöström (1993). Wood Chemistry: Fundamentals and Applications. Academic Press.
^ Burger, Peter. Charles Fenerty and his Paper Invention. Toronto: Peter Burger, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9783318-1-8 pp.25-30
^ ^a ^b ^c Biermann, Christopher J. (1993). Handbook of Pulping and Papermaking. San Diego: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-097360-X.
^ "History of Paper". Retrieved 2007-10-08.
^ "Pulp production growing in new areas (Global production)". Metso Corporation. September 5, 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-10-23. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
^ ^a ^b "Overview of the Wood Pulp Industry". Market Pulp Association. 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
^ ^a ^b ^c Martin, Sam (2004). "Paper Chase". Ecology Communications, Inc.. Archived from the original on 2007-06-19. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
^ "Certification Tracking products from the forest to the shelf". Retrieved 2007-09-21.
^ Conservatree.com
^ DOA.state.wi.us
^ ^a ^b Iggesund Paperboard AB (2008). Paperboard the Iggesund Way. p. 15.
^ Judt, Manfred (Oct-Dec 2001). "Nonwoody Plant Fibre Pulps". Inpaper International. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
^ News.southcn.com
^ Stenius, Per (2000) "1" PForest Products Chemistry Papermaking Science and Technology 3 Finland: Fapet Oy ISBN 952-5216-03-9 page 29
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Nanko, Hirko; Button, Allan; Hillman, Dave (2005). The World of Market Pulp. Appleton, WI, USA: WOMP, LLC. pp. 2–3. ISBN 0-615-13013-5.
^ Nanko, Hirko; Button, Allan; Hillman, Dave (2005). The World of Market Pulp. Appleton, WI, USA: WOMP, LLC. p. 4. ISBN 0-615-13013-5.
^ "Effluents from Pulp Mills using Bleaching - PSL1". ISBN 0-662-18734-2 DSS. Health Canada. 1991. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
^ Lefebrvre, Paul (February 4, 2009). Wood products market looks soft. the Chronicle.

Remembrance Day

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Facts on Remembrance Day

* Remembrance Day commemorates Canadians who died in the First and Second World Wars, and the Korean War. It is held every November 11.

* The first Remembrance Day was conducted in 1919 throughout the Commonwealth. Originally called Armistice Day, it commemorated the end of the First World War on Monday, November 11, 1918, at 11 a.m.: the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

* From 1923 to 1931, Armistice Day was held on the Monday of the week in which November 11 fell. Thanksgiving was also celebrated on this day.

* In 1931, MP Allan Neill introduced a bill to hold Armistice Day on a fixed day - November 11. During the bill's introduction, it was decided the word "Remembrance" would be used instead of "Armistice." The bill passed and Remembrance Day was first conducted on November 11, 1931. Thanksgiving Day was moved to October 12 that year.

* The poppy is the symbol of Remembrance Day. Replica poppies are sold by the Royal Canadian Legion to raise money for Veterans.

A small portion of In Flanders Fields appeared alongside McCrae's portrait on a Canadian stamp of 1968, issued to commemorate a half-century since his death.

In Flanders Fields

   In Flanders fields the poppies blow
   Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
   Scarce heard amid the guns below.

   We are the dead. Short days ago
   We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
   In Flanders fields.

   Take up our quarrel with the foe:
   To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
   We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
   In Flanders fields.
   — Lt.-Col. John McCrae

Launch of Victims of Brookfield Association

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:06:00 +0000

THURSO, QC. – Workers of the former Fraser Papers plant are holding a news conference today to officially launch the Victims of Brookfield Association as part of an awareness-raising campaign.

'The aim is to unite retired and active employees affected by the bankruptcy of Fraser Papers,' said Maurice Lalonde, president of the Thurso retirees association. 'The Edmundston Association of Retirees and the Retirees Association of Thurso, Québec, have joined forces to form the Victims of Brookfield Association.' Lalonde continued by saying: 'The campaign kick-off was already done in New Brunswick, now it's time to launch the campaign in Quebec.'

Since Fraser Papers went under the protection of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), retired and active employees have suffered a loss of over 40% of their pension plan.

“We support the work of our retirees in this fight, which affects not only the victims of Brookfield but also the victims of current Canadian corporate bankruptcy laws,” said Renaud Gagné, CEP Vice-President, Quebec region. “We will continue our work until Brookfield is brought to justice.” “Our pension system is sick” adds Gagné, 'if the economy falls back into recession or economic growth remains anemic as seems likely, private pension plans will continue to fail and more and more workers won’t receive the pensions they have been promised throughout their working lives,” he says.

Other guests such as Edmundston retirees, secretary-treasurer of the Federation of union retirees of Quebec, Yvon Rivard and NDP MP for Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel, Mylène Freeman, will be on site to bring their support to the campaign.

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) is the largest union in several key sectors of Canada’s economy, including forestry, energy, telecommunications, and media.
- 30 -

Date and time: Tuesday, November 8, 2011, 11 a.m.

Place: Hall, James MacLaren, 125 Bourget St., Thurso

Fraser Papers retirees launch Victims of Brookfield Association

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:04:00 +0000

THURSO, QC – On November 8th, workers of the former Fraser Papers plant will hold a news conference to officially launch the Victims of Brookfield Association as part of an awareness-raising campaign.

“The aim is to unite retired and active employees affected by the bankruptcy protection proceedings of Fraser Papers,” said Maurice Lalonde, president of the Thurso retirees association. 'The Edmundston Association of Retirees and the Retirees Association of Thurso, Québec, have joined forces to form the Victims of Brookfield Association.' Lalonde continued by saying: “The campaign kick-off was already done in New Brunswick, now it's time to launch the campaign in Quebec.”

Since Fraser Papers went bankrupt, retired and active employees have suffered a loss of over 40% of their pension plan.

“We support the work of our retirees in this fight, which affects not only the Victims of Brookfield but also the victims of current Canadian corporate bankruptcy laws,” said Renaud Gagné, CEP Vice-President, Quebec region. “We will continue our work until Brookfield is brought to justice.”

Other guests such as Edmundston retirees, secretary-treasurer of the Federation of union retirees of Quebec, Yvon Rivard and NDP MP for Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel, Mylène Freeman, will be on site to bring their support to the campaign.

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) is the largest union in several key sectors of Canada’s economy, including forestry, energy, telecommunications, and media.
-30 –

Date and time: Tuesday, November 8, 2011, 11 a.m.

Place: James MacLaren Community Hall, 125 Bourget St., Thurso

Ad Busters and Occupy Wall Street

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:07:00 +0000

Obtained from The Media Foundation

The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based not-for-profit, anti-consumerist, pro-environment^[1] organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. The foundation describes itself as "a global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age."^[2]

Characterized by some as anti-capitalist or opposed to capitalism^[3], it publishes the reader-supported, advertising-free Adbusters, an activist magazine with an international circulation of 120,000^[4] devoted to challenging consumerism. Past and present contributors to the magazine include Christopher Hedges, Matt Taibbi, Bill McKibben, Jim Munroe, Douglas Rushkoff, Jonathan Barnbrook, David Graeber, Simon Critchley, Slavoj Zizek, Michael Hardt and others.

Adbusters has launched numerous international campaigns, including Buy Nothing Day, TV Turnoff Week and Occupy Wall Street, and is known for their "subvertisements" that spoof popular advertisements. In English, Adbusters has bi-monthly American, Canadian, Australian, UK and International editions of each issue. Adbusters's sister organizations include Résistance à l'Aggression Publicitaire^[5] and Casseurs de Pub^[6] in France, Adbusters Norge in Norway, Adbusters Sverige in Sweden and Culture Jammers in Japan.^[7]^[8]

***

Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is an ongoing series of demonstrations in New York City based in Zuccotti Park in the Wall Street financial district. The protests were initiated by the Canadian activist group Adbusters.^[5] They are mainly protesting social and economic inequality, corporate greed, corruption and influence over government—particularly from the financial services sector—and lobbyists. The protesters' slogan, "We are the 99%", refers to the difference in wealth between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population.

The original protest began on September 17, 2011, and by October 9, similar demonstrations were either ongoing or had been held in 70 major cities and over 600 communities in the U.S. Internationally, other "Occupy" protests have modeled themselves after Occupy Wall Street, in over 900 cities worldwide.

See Also:

RECLAIMING THE COMMONS

Justin Hall-Tipping: Freeing energy from the grid

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:54:00 +0000

The grid of tomorrow is no grid, and energy, clean efficient energy, will one day be free. If you do this, you get the last puzzle piece, which is water. Each of us, every day, need just eight glasses of this, because we're human. When we run out of water, as we are in some parts of the world and soon to be in other parts of the world, we're going to have to get this from the sea, and that's going to require us to build desalination plants. 19 trillion dollars is what we're going to have to spend. These also require tremendous amounts of energy. In fact, it's going to require twice the world's supply of oil to run the pumps to generate the water. We're simply not going to do that. But in a world where energy is freed and transmittable easily and cheaply, we can take any water wherever we are and turn it into whatever we need.

RECLAIMING THE COMMONS

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:54:00 +0000

What is ‘the anti-globalization movement’? [1] I put the phrase in quote-marks because I immediately have two doubts about it. Is it really a movement? If it is a movement, is it anti-globalization? Let me start with the first issue. We can easily convince ourselves it is a movement by talking it into existence at a forum like this—I spend far too much time at them—acting as if we can see it, hold it in our hands. Of course, we have seen it—and we know it’s come back in Quebec, and on the US–Mexican border during the Summit of the Americas and the discussion for a hemispheric Free Trade Area. But then we leave rooms like this, go home, watch some TV, do a little shopping and any sense that it exists disappears, and we feel like maybe we’re going nuts. Seattle—was that a movement or a collective hallucination? To most of us here, Seattle meant a kind of coming-out party for a global resistance movement, or the ‘globalization of hope’, as someone described it during the World Social Forum at Porto Alegre. But to everyone else Seattle still means limitless frothy coffee, Asian-fusion cuisine, e-commerce billionaires and sappy Meg Ryan movies. Or perhaps it is both, and one Seattle bred the other Seattle—and now they awkwardly coexist.RECLAIMING THE COMMONS

NEB’s “incredible” Keystone XL ruling highlights Canada’s inferior regulations

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 02:38:00 +0000

10/28/2011
OTTAWA -- Canada’s largest energy workers’ union says yesterday’s National Energy Board ruling to deny a hearing on the construction permit for the Keystone XL pipeline is “incredible” and “a blatant cover up” for the pipeline company, TransCanada Pipeline.

“The construction of this pipeline is two years behind schedule and nothing has been done that would meet any ordinary definition of construction, yet the NEB has declared it is proceeding in a timely manner,” said CEP President Dave Coles. “It is an incredible decision and a blatant cover up for TCPL.”

CEP filed an application earlier this month on the expiry of an Order in Council requiring that construction begin prior to March 11, 2011. The Board denied CEP’s request to hold a new hearing into the project, despite affidavits from an investigative team that went to Hardisty, Alberta, which disputed the company’s claims of a start to construction.

The NEB ruling also highlights the glaring discrepancies between the Canadian regulatory process and that of the US, says Coles, whose union opposes the pipeline because it will cost the Canadian economy an estimated 40,500 potential direct and indirect jobs.

“These jobs are literally going down the pipe with the 900,000 barrels per day of unrefined bitumen to the US, while we are importing our crude oil for Eastern Canada.

“Whereas the US regime requires an account of the impacts the pipeline will have on jobs, Canada's does not,” says Coles. “The US process also requires an assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from upstream and downstream facilities; but the NEB has completely ignored the impact of greenhouse gasses.”

“Our NEB is a cheerleader for this pipeline, but the XL is still in big trouble because the Americans are taking their regulatory responsibilities seriously,” said Coles.

Coles said he will travel to Washington DC on November 6 to join a large march and rally at the White House in opposition to the XL.

The 130,000-member CEP represents more than 35,000 workers in the oil, gas and chemical industry in Ontario, Alberta and several other provinces.

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:33:00 +0000

Managing Conflict

Old Views, in a Modern World?

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:27:00 +0000


Overtime Information Kit

See Also: Shorter Worktime Campaign

NEGOTIATING SHORTER HOURS

This manual has been prepared as an aid to collective bargaining on overtime, hours of work and schedules. Each section gives a brief background discussion, followed by examples of clauses from collective agreements. Occasionally appropriate language from CEP agreements was not available or not known, but most of the clauses cited are from existing CEP contracts. For this information we relied upon a survey of national representatives, who made time in their busy schedules to give detailed answers to questions about working time for each of their bargaining units. Without their knowledge and help this document would not have been possible. In the future, this document may be updated periodically as our information and the situation move ahead. We would be grateful to hear from locals and representatives about other clauses and schedules that are negotiated and that would be useful to include in later revisions.

Private Member Bill on Union Financial Disclosure

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 10:02:00 +0000

Why focus the demand for transparency against unions, who are clearly the David in these conflicts with uber-secretive Goliaths?(Canadian subsidiaries of foreign firms) Jim Stanford

Article has been reprint from Progressive Economics Forum in full, with bold italicize added by myself for emphasis. While visiting a local restaurant a flyer distributed basically voiced right wing efforts by Conservatives and Corporations to undermine with incomplete information. I thought this would help inform the public better.

Conservative MP Russ Hiebert tabled his private member bill in the Commons yesterday, calling for changes to the Income Tax Act to require unions (which are income-tax-exempt under the Act … duh! since they are, after all, non-profit organizations) to publicly disclose their financial statements.
Here are a few quick points that came to mind in thinking about this odd item. (See also the CLC’s news release responding to the bill.)

Under Prime Minister Harper’s top-down rule, private members’ bills (at least from his side of the Commons) are clearly no longer what they were intended to be: an opportunity for parliamentarians to table hobby-horse issues of long-standing personal interest before the whole body. Now it is a tool for practicing “dog-whistle” politics: addressing hot-button issues that help to motivate the Conservatives’ red-meat base, but in a way that allows Harper himself to maintain some distance and appear “statesmanlike.” [A dog whistle, of course, is a way to get your dogs to come running, but without everyone else hearing you!] It’s inconceivable that this bill does not reflect a decision by the PMO to elevate the attack on unions that is already a defining feature of this government. Same is true for the other hot-button issues also being pursued via Conservative private members’ bills, including genuinely dangerous ideas like eliminating the laws against hate speech or dismantling the gun registry. If you google “Russ Hiebert” and “union finances” or “union financial statements,” you get precisely zero hits that predate this week … suggesting that this is truly a topic that has only recently caught his personal interest.

The actual issue contemplated by the bill (requiring unions to publicize their financial statements) is an invented non-problem. The CAW, like other unions, discloses its audited financial statements regularly to its elected board of directors, to all union locals, and to delegates to its conventions. Annual audited statements must be filed with government labour boards, both provincially and federally. Individual members can request the statements from their local, from the national union, or (if they are “frightened” by the big bad union bosses) directly from the labour boards. The whole process of auditing and disclosure, and even the pay received by the union’s president and staff, is specified right there on-line in the CAW’s constitution.

How ironic that the Conservative government should launch a phony crusade for financial disclosure by unions, at the moment in time when Conservative luminaries (like Tony Clement and Peter Mackay) are facing financial disclosure problems of their own. Mere coincidence, you say? I think not.

It is interesting to compare what unions disclose through their internal democratic processes, reinforced by the requirements of the labour boards, with what corporations must disclose. Publicly-traded companies, of course, are required to disclose financial statements (some of them audited, not all), executive compensation (top 5 execs), and other details to their own shareholders (and potential shareholders), by virtue of securities regulations (not tax law). Private companies, however, don’t have to disclose a thing. This includes most Canadian subsidiaries of foreign firms — which are some of the most important businesses operating in Canada. A ruthless multinational like U.S. Steel, for example, in the process of trying to starve out its workers in Hamilton, doesn’t have to divulge one line of its Canadian financial statements to the Canadians who depend on its activity and presence. Why focus the demand for transparency against unions, who are clearly the David in these conflicts with uber-secretive Goliaths?

Mr. Hiebert’s justification for using the Income Tax Act as his angle for attacking unions is because, he claimed in a media scrum yesterday, unions get “hundreds of millions of dollars of benefits” from the Canadian government, and hence owe taxpayers this kind of transparency. That’s incredible nonsense. Unions receive almost no government subsidy or assistance whatsoever (maybe a few government-subsidized interns working in some union office somewhere? support for a few union-sponsored training programs?). Unions don’t pay income tax, because they aren’t profit-making entities (and are thus treated just like any other non-profit organizations). Union dues are tax-deductible for individual union members, on the reasonable assumption that you pay union dues in order to get higher wages; when you spend money to make money, you always get to deduct what you spent when you pay tax on what you make. (That’s equally true for businesses, financial investors, and other tax entitites.) Tax payments by union members are still higher, because their wages (even after union dues) are higher. There’s no credible way in which Mr. Hiebert can reasonably claim that unions are significantly subsidized by Canadian governments or taxpayers.

The most ominous aspect of this charade was the very quick, orchestrated way in which Mr. Hiebert’s initiative was ringingly endorsed by a whole community of anti-union and right-to-work lobby groups — including Merit Canada (the union-free construction association), the Canadian Centre for Policy Studies (tiny anti-union think tank in Ottawa), and the Fraser Institute. They all highlighted this measure as being a first needed step toward bringing unions in line. And they all highlighted the problem of “forced dues collection” as being one of the many nefarious aspects of unions’ tawdry existence. This is code language for an attack on the Rand formula model of union security which underpins the Canadian industrial relations system. I suspect that these lobbyists, working quietly with Conservatives, are planning a long-term assault on the right to collective bargaining in Canada — a right which would be effectively abolished by the implementation of Mississippi-style right-to-work laws, as they propose. The majority Harper government has already indicated its contempt for the right to strike (which, lest we forget, is supposed to be a fundamental human right, according to the UN, the ILO, and other august bodies). I suspect that a frontal attack on the right to unionize period is their ultimate goal, and the theatrics around this bill are just an opening preview.

See: Private Member Bill on Union Financial Disclosure

HST, Smart Meter, BC Gas, BC Tel....Get Ready.

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:38:00 +0000

Mayors and councillors from across British Columbia have passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on mandatory installation of smart meters.

The vote took place today, the last day of the Union of B.C. Municipalities' annual convention in Vancouver. The motion for a moratorium reportedly passed by a vote of 55.1 to 44.9 per cent.

The move was applauded by COPE 378, the union that represents BC Hydro's 400 meter readers who will lose their jobs as a result of the shift from conventional to smart meters. Smart meters eliminate the need for meter readers because they automatically send data on electricity use to BC Hydro through wireless networks.
COPE 378 had been approaching mayors and councillors at various receptions throughout the week, said its communications officer Sage Aaron.See: Municipalities vote in favour of smart meter moratorium

The Liberals want to jam it down your throat. Just like the HST? It is all about contracting out/job losses to furthering an agenda for eventual sale of what belongs to BCers and force them onto the open market for a resource that already belongs to them. Stand up and be counted as an opposition to the letters you are currently receiving or will be coming in the mail.

Labour Unions

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:02:00 +0000

Shortcut: P:UNION

The purpose of organized labour is for workers to form "a continuous association of wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment."

Painting by Pablo Picasso on the occasion of 10th anniversary of WFTU in 1955

This is primarily achieved by use of the technique of collective bargaining, where labour organizations negotiate wages and working conditions with employers. Closely related is the concept of industrial action, in which an organization will call strikes and resist lockouts. Another characteristic of labour organizations are the provision of benefits for members, such as unemployment insurance, health insurance, pensions, funeral expenses, job training, and legal services. Organizations also often carry out political campaigns, lobbying, and support political candidates or parties. Operating costs are covered by the payment of dues and fees by members, with the expectation that the money be spent to benefit the membership.

Of course we should be concerned about the ulterior motives of the Conservative Government means to undercut the effectiveness of workers who unite. Let us not forget our reactionary CEP leadership in face of the TAR SandS and the Keystone Pipeline either. The Progressive Conservatives Federal government sees where it is failing and wants to stop an oppositional government from progressing any further. Why not cut off it's support by "degrading our choice" with tax dollars on workers further?:)

"History is a great teacher. Now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it. By raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed of levels of production. Those who attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them."

Martin Luther King Jr., Speaking to the AFL-CIO on December 11, 1961.

Official speech at the keystone XL rally in Ottawa.

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 02:38:00 +0000

Eben Moglen - The Freedom Box

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:19:00 +0000

CEP news conference on the Keystone XL pipeline

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 07:00:00 +0000

Stop Online Spying Scheme

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 07:00:00 +0000

OpenMedia takes on Provencher, MA

KeyStone XL PipeLine

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 02:53:00 +0000

CEP-Keystone Presentation

Published 09/22/2011

OTTAWA – Canada’s largest energy workers’ union is on Parliament Hill today to tell Members of Parliament why the Keystone XL pipeline approval should be re-opened and reversed.

Media release: Why oil workers oppose Keystone XL

Published 09/20/2011

OTTAWA – Following a briefing for Members of Parliament, Canada’s largest energy workers’ union will hold a news conference on the Keystone XL pipeline:

***

Labour leaders call on MPs to help stop “job-killing” Keystone XL pipeline: Approving Keystone XL is not in the interests of Albertans and Canadians

History Repeating Itself?

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 05:53:00 +0000

The historical record, as I’ve also argued, is also quite unequivocal on the folly of allowing those who own the medium to control the message See: The Vertical Integration Elephant in the Room

For differing points of view some might have a take on the process unfolding in our society today as a sign of the way things have always gone? Do you feel the same?


A Thomas Nast cartoon shortly after the Supreme Court affirmed Alexander Graham Bell's patents (library of congress)

Strike!

At least seven major cities adopted measured service in the 1880s: Boston; San Francisco; Buffalo; Pittsburgh; Indianapolis; Washington, DC; and Rochester, New York. The policy had a pro-consumer aspect; it expanded the market of any local exchange carrier to people who didn't want to pay a big monthly service fee, thus extending the circle of individuals any rate payer could call.

But while measured service initially succeeded in San Francisco and Buffalo, it failed everywhere else throughout the decade. Consumers could not shake the suspicion that its real purpose was to get them to pay more money to the telephone company. And so they resorted to what we would call boycotts and they called "strikes" to make their dissatisfaction known.

"The term 'strike' has come to be associated primarily with a work stoppage," John notes, but "in the 1880s its meaning was broader. A corporation could be struck not only by workers, but also by consumers and even lawmakers."

As early as 1881, for example, Washington, DC's "Telephone Subscribers Protective Association" launched a boycott of its exchange when the company adopted measured billing. It wasn't very long affair, just twelve days. But 300 out of the city's 700 phone subscribers participated. That was all it took for the firm to surrender and bring back flat rates. See: Mad about metered billing? They were in 1886, too

***

See Also:

Recognizing Equative Measure with Regard to the Geometry of Social Change

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 13:33:00 +0000

My complete dissection of the 13 graphs might not be the most thrilling reading (unless, like me, you are a true numbers nerd). But it casts major questions on the numerical credibility of the Tory platform. Here's the link to the full study, called Graphs for Dummies, that was released Tuesday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative's Ontario office:

http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/graphs-dummies See Also:Tim Hudak's troubled geometry

Sometimes it's important to recognize what facts are presented in order to discern what actions by government have been misleading. Misleading, as to agendas/platforms with which they portray the necessity for social change by choosing elected Governments? The reason for.

I think Jim Stanford gets it, as does Erin Weir.

The following is a quote from Dr. Roger Penrose's closing remarks.
"One particular thing that struck me... [LAUGHTER]...is the fact that he found it
necessary to translate all the results that he had achieved with such methods into
algebraic notation. It struck me particularly, because remember I am told of
Newton, when he wrote up his work, it was always exactly the opposite, in that he
obtained so much of his results, so many of his results using analytical
techniques and because of the general way in which things at that time had to be
explained to people, he found it necessary to translate his results into the
language of geometry, so his contemporaries could understand him. Well, I guess
geometry… [INAUDIBLE] not quite the same topic as to whether one thinks
theoretically or analytically, algebraically perhaps. This rule is perhaps touched
upon at the beginning of Professor Dirac's talk, and I think it is a very interesting
topic."

There is little known history(Feynmen diagrams with Dirac underpinnings need for visualization) with which such changes need to be recognize in our attempts to mathematical produce information for public consumption. That at it's basis as explained, we might have never known, had Jim not taken the time to investigate the graphs and the Truth.

Labour Day

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 07:00:00 +0000

Labour Day parade in Toronto, Canada in 1900

Labour Day has been celebrated on the first Monday in September in Canada since the 1880s. The origins of Labour Day in Canada can be traced back to April 14, 1872 when a parade was staged in support of the Toronto Typographical Union's strike for a 58-hour work-week.^[1] The Toronto Trades Assembly (TTA) called its 27 unions to demonstrate in support of the Typographical Union who had been on strike since March 25.^[1] George Brown, Canadian politician and editor of the Toronto Globe hit back at his striking employees, pressing police to charge the Typographical Union with "conspiracy."^[1] Although the laws criminalising union activity were outdated and had already been abolished in Great Britain, they were still on books in Canada and police arrested 24 leaders of the Typographical Union. Labour leaders decided to call another similar demonstration on September 3 to protest the arrests. Seven unions marched in Ottawa, prompting a promise by Canadian Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald to repeal the "barbarous" anti-union laws.^[1] Parliament passed the Trade Union Act on June 14 the following year, and soon all unions were demanding a 54-hour work-week.

The Toronto Trades and Labour Council (successor to the TTA) held similar celebrations every spring. American Peter J. McGuire, co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was asked to speak at a labour festival in Toronto, Canada on July 22, 1882. Returning to the United States, McGuire and the Knights of Labor organised a similar parade based on the Canadian event on September 5, 1882 in New York City, USA. On July 23, 1894, Canadian Prime Minister John Thompson and his government made Labour Day, to be held in September, an official holiday. In the United States, the New York parade became an annual event that year, and in 1894 was adopted by American president Grover Cleveland to compete with International Workers' Day (May Day).

While Labour Day parades and picnics are organised by unions, many Canadians regard Labour Day as the Monday of the last long weekend of summer. Non-union celebrations include picnics, fireworks displays, water activities, and public art events. Since the new school year generally starts right after Labour Day, families with school-age children take it as the last chance to travel before the end of summer.
An old custom prohibits the wearing of white after Labour Day. The explanations for this tradition range from the fact that white clothes are worse protection against cold weather in the winter to the fact that the rule was intended as a status symbol for new members of the middle class in the late 19th century and early 20th century.^[1]^[2]
A Labour Day tradition in Atlantic Canada would be the Wharf Rat Rally, while the rest of Canada is watching Labour Day Classic, Canadian Football League event where rivals like Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts, and Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers play on Labour Day weekend. Before the demise of the Ottawa Renegades after the 2005 season, that team played the nearby Montreal Alouettes on Labour Day weekend. Since then, the Alouettes have played the remaining team in the league, the BC Lions.
Labour Day parade in Grand Falls-Windsor Newfoundland started in 1910 and still continues today, 100 years later. The celebrations go on for three days with the parade on Labour Day Monday.

Update:

Labour Day Video

Tribute to Jack Layton

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:24:00 +0000

The body of NDP Leader Jack Layton lies in state in Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2011. Layton died of cancer on Monday

Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press

***

Jack Layton

The Honourable Jack Layton PC

Leader of the Opposition
In office May 2, 2011 – August 22, 2011
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Michael Ignatieff
Succeeded by	Nycole Turmel (Acting)
Leader of the New Democratic Party
In office January 25, 2003 – August 22, 2011 (Leave of absence from July 28, 2011)
Preceded by	Alexa McDonough
Succeeded by	Nycole Turmel (Interim)
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Toronto—Danforth
In office June 28, 2004 – August 22, 2011
Preceded by	Dennis Mills
Succeeded by	TBD
Personal details
Born	John Gilbert Layton July 18, 1950 Montreal, Quebec
Died	August 22, 2011 (aged 61) Toronto, Ontario
Political party	New Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Sally Halford (1969–1983) Olivia Chow (1988–2011; his death)
Relations	Robert Layton (Father) Beatrice Dora Campbell granddaughter
Children	Mike Sarah Campbell
Alma mater	McGill University York University
Profession	Professor
Religion	United Church of Canada
Signature

John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian social democratic politician and the Leader of the Official Opposition. He was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, serving at times during that period as acting mayor and deputy mayor of Toronto.^[1] He was the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Toronto—Danforth from 2004 until his death.

The son of a Progressive Conservative cabinet minister, Layton was raised in Hudson, Quebec. He rose to prominence in Toronto municipal politics where he was one of the most prominent left-wing voices on city and Metropolitan Toronto councils, and was also a Board member for the Toronto Port Authority. In 1991, he ran for mayor, but lost to June Rowlands. Remaining on council he rose to become head of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. In 2003, he was elected head of the NDP on the first ballot of the convention. Under his leadership, the NDP considerably increased their support, almost doubling the party's popular vote in the 2004 election, though vote splitting with the Liberals limited their gain in seats. Layton's NDP held balance of power in Paul Martin's minority government, where in May 2005 the NDP supported the Liberal budget in exchange for major amendments, in what was promoted as Canada's "First NDP budget".^[2] In November of that year, Layton worked with other opposition parties in bringing down the Liberal government over the findings of the Gomery Commission.

The NDP saw further gains in the 2006 and 2008 elections, in which the party won more seats than it had since its 1980s peak. The NDP's tally of 37 MPs under Layton in the 2008 election was just six seats short of the party's previous all-time high under Ed Broadbent. In the 2011 election, Layton led the NDP to a historic total of 103 seats and formed the Official Opposition. The success of the NDP in the election was unprecedented, making Layton the most successful leader electorally in the party's history in terms of seats won.^[3]

Layton died on August 22, 2011, aged 61, after suffering from an undisclosed type of cancer. He was married to fellow MP Olivia Chow.

Early life and education

John Gilbert "Jack" Layton was born in Montreal and raised in nearby Hudson, Quebec, a comfortable and largely Anglophone community.^[4] His parents were Doris Elizabeth Steeves, a grand-niece of William Steeves, a Father of Confederation,^[5] and Progressive Conservative MP Robert Layton. He was elected student council president of his high school, Hudson High School, and his yearbook predicted that he would become a politician.^[6] He studied political science at McGill University, where he became a Brother of the Sigma Chi fraternity. In 1969–70 he was the Prime Minister of the Quebec Youth Parliament.^{[citation needed]}
In 1970, the family moved to Toronto where Layton went to York University to obtain his PhD in political science. Layton then became a professor at Ryerson University.^[7] He also became a prominent activist for a variety of causes. He wrote several books, including Homelessness: The Making and Unmaking of a Crisis and, more recently, a book on general public policy, Speaking Out.

Family and personal life

Jack Layton and Olivia Chow going to vote, May 2, 2011

Layton's great-granduncle, William Steeves, was a Father of Confederation. His great-grandfather Philip Layton was a blind activist who founded the Montreal Association for the Blind^[8] in 1908^[9] and led a campaign for disability pensions in the 1930s. Philip Layton was the senior partner in the family business, Layton Bros. Pianos. Layton Pianos had been made in London, England since 1837, and Philip Layton had emigrated to Montreal at the age of 19.^[10]

Jack Layton's grandfather, Gilbert Layton, was a cabinet minister in the Union Nationale government of Maurice Duplessis in Quebec, and resigned due to the provincial government's lack of support for Canadian participation in World War II. His father, Robert Layton, was a Liberal Party activist in the 1960s and 1970s, and served as a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) and Cabinet minister in the 1980s under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.^[11]

In 1969, at age 19, he married his high school sweetheart Sally Halford, with whom he had two children, Mike (who is currently a Toronto City Councillor), and Sarah.^[12] Layton and Halford's marriage ultimately ended in 1983 after 14 years.

Layton first met Olivia Chow in 1985, during an auction at Village by the Grange, in which Jack was the auctioneer and Olivia was the translator for the Cantonese language observers. They had been previously acquainted, however, they realized that they were both candidates in the upcoming election and decided to have lunch together to talk about the campaign. Three weeks after the auction, they went on their first date. Chow went on a pre-arranged canoeing trip, with three other men, and spent a weekend at a cottage then moved in together. Olivia's Mother did not approve of Jack, at first, because of his race as well as his not being a lawyer or doctor. Jack was invited to dinner at the home of Olivia's Mother, where they also played mahjongg. After the dinner, Jack attempted to thank Olivia's Mother, in Cantonese, however, Jack's incorrect tone had him inadvertently saying, "Thank you for the good sex."^[13]

Layton was known for playing music and singing songs at party gatherings. Alberta NDP Leader Brian Mason remembered during the three-day board meetings when Layton was running for the president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities:“He would gather people together in his hotel room and play the guitar and get everybody singing old folk songs from the ’60s. He just got people involved, just with his personality, not politics.”^[14]

At the 2005 Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner (typically a satirical event), Layton sent up himself and his party, playing guitar and singing three songs; "Party For Sale Or Rent" (to the tune of "King Of The Road"),a re-worked version of "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out" with different humorous lyrics, and "If I Had Another $48.6 billion".^[15]^[16]

Layton and Chow were keen Trekkies, having custom Starfleet uniforms made by a tailor. Layton was famously photographed wearing his uniform at a Star Trek convention in 1991.^[17]

Toronto City Council

At York and Ryerson, Layton developed close links with a number of Toronto figures including John Sewell and David Crombie. He was first elected to Toronto City Council in 1982, in a surprise upset against incumbent Gordon Chong. He quickly became one of the most outspoken members of council, and a leader of the left wing.^[18] He was one of the most vocal opponents of the massive SkyDome project,^[19] and an early advocate for rights for AIDS patients.^[20] In 1984, he was fined for trespassing when he handed out leaflets at the Toronto Eaton Centre during a strike by Eaton's staff, but the charge was later thrown out on freedom of speech grounds.^[21] Layton was also one of the few opponents to Toronto's bid for the 1996 Summer Olympics.^[22] In 1985, he moved to the Metropolitan Toronto council, in the first direct elections for members of that body.^[23]^[24] In the 1988 municipal elections, Layton traded places with City Council ally Dale Martin, with Martin going to Metro and Layton returning to Toronto City Council. Layton was easily elected in a contest with former high school teacher Lois MacMillan-Walker. The election was a major victory for Layton as the reformist coalition of which he was the de facto head gained control of City Council, the first time in city history a coalition of New Democrats and independents controlled council.^[25]

On July 9, 1988, he married Hong Kong-born Toronto District School Board trustee Olivia Chow in a ceremony on Algonquin Island.^[26]^[27] Their whitewater rafting honeymoon plans had to be abandoned, however, when days before the wedding Layton collided with a newspaper box while bicycling.^[28] Chow later joined Layton on the Toronto City Council. She has been a candidate for the federal New Democrats five times, first winning her seat the third time in a close race against Tony Ianno in the 2006 Canadian election, and re-elected in 2008 and 2011.

Layton and Chow were also the subject of some dispute when a June 14, 1990, Toronto Star article by Tom Kerr accused them of unfairly living in a housing co-operative subsidized by the federal government, despite their high income.^[29] Layton and Chow had both lived in the Hazelburn co-op since 1985, and lived together in an $800 per month three-bedroom apartment after their marriage in 1988. By 1990, their combined annual income was $120,000, and in March of that year they began voluntarily paying an additional $325 per month to offset their share of the co-op's Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation subsidy, the only members of the co-op to do so. In response to the article, the co-op's board argued that having mixed-income tenants was crucial to the success of co-ops, and that the laws deliberately set aside apartments for those willing to pay market rates, such as Layton and Chow.^[30] During the late 1980s and early 1990s they maintained approximately 30% of their units as low income units and provided the rest at what they considered market rent. In June 1990, the city's solicitor cleared the couple of any wrong-doing,^[31] and later that month, Layton and Chow left the co-op and bought a house in Toronto's Chinatown together with Chow's mother, a move they said had been planned for some time.^[32] Former Toronto mayor John Sewell later wrote in NOW that rival Toronto city councillor Tom Jakobek had given the story to Tom Kerr.^[33]

Originally known for coming to council meetings in blue jeans with unkempt hair, Layton worked to change his image to run for mayor in the 1991 civic election. He also started wearing contact lenses, abandoning his glasses, and traded in his blue jeans for suits.^[34] In February 1991, Layton became the first official NDP candidate for the mayoralty, pitting him against centrist incumbent Art Eggleton.^[35] In a move that surprised many, Eggleton elected not to run again.^[36]

Layton was opposed by three right-of-centre candidates: Susan Fish, June Rowlands, and Betty Disero. Right-wing support soon coalesced around former city councillor Rowlands, preventing the internal divisions Layton needed to win office.^[37] Layton was also hurt by the growing unpopularity of the provincial NDP government of Bob Rae,^[38] and by his earlier opposition to Toronto's Olympic bid. Bid organizer Paul Henderson accused Layton and his allies of costing Toronto the event.^[39] Despite this, October polls showed Layton only four points behind Rowlands, with 36% support.^[40] However on October 17, Fish, a former provincial Tory cabinet minister who had only 19% support, pulled out of the race, and many of her supporters moved to Rowlands. Layton lost the November 12 election by a considerable margin.^[41] However, in the same election Olivia Chow easily won a seat on City Council.

Layton returned to academia and founded the Green Catalyst Group Inc., an environmental consulting business.^[42] In 1993, he ran for the Canadian House of Commons in the riding of Rosedale for the NDP, but finished fourth in the generally Liberal riding. In 1994, he returned to Metropolitan Toronto Council, and he resumed his high profile role in local politics. He also came to national attention as the leader of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.^[43] Federally, he ran again in the 1997 election, but lost to incumbent Dennis Mills by a wide margin. In June 1999, as chair of Toronto's environmental task force, the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, he was instrumental in the preliminary phases of the WindShare wind power cooperative in Toronto through the Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative.^[44]

Leader of the NDP

Jack Layton addresses the 2003 NDP convention in Toronto, where he was elected leader

Layton was elected leader of the NDP at the party's leadership convention in Toronto, on January 25, 2003. Layton won on the first ballot with 53.5% of the vote, defeating Bill Blaikie, Lorne Nystrom, Joe Comartin and Pierre Ducasse.^[45] His campaign was focused on the need to reinvigorate the party, and was prominently endorsed by former NDP leader Ed Broadbent.^[46]

Layton did not seek election to the House of Commons by running in a by-election, as is the tradition among new party leaders without a seat. Instead, he waited until the 2004 federal election to contest the riding of Toronto—Danforth against Liberal Dennis Mills. With no seat in the House of Commons, he appointed the runner-up, longtime Winnipeg-area MP Bill Blaikie, as parliamentary leader.^[47] Although he had no parliamentary seat, Layton was noted for drawing considerable attention from the Canadian mass media.^[48]^[49] Much of his rhetoric has involved attacking the policies of Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin as conservative, and arguing the ideology of the Liberal Party of Canada has shifted in a more right wing direction. Another focus of Layton's leadership has been to focus the party's efforts on Quebec, one of the party's weaker provinces.^[50] One of his opponents in the leadership race, Pierre Ducasse, was the first Québécois to run for leader of the NDP. After the race, Layton appointed Ducasse as his Quebec lieutenant and party spokesperson.^[51]

The result of Layton's efforts was a strong increase in the party's support. By the end of 2003, the party was polling higher than both the Canadian Alliance or the Progressive Conservatives^[52] and it was even suggested that the next election could see the NDP in place as official opposition.^[53]

2004 election

Liberal minority government

With the ruling Liberal Party being reduced to a minority government, revelations of the sponsorship scandal damaging its popularity to the point where both the Conservative Party and the Bloc Québécois were pressing their advantage for a snap election, the Prime Minister approached the NDP for its support. Layton demanded the cancellation of proposed corporate tax cuts and called for an increase in social spending. The ensuing compromise in the NDP's favour was protested by the other opposition parties who used it as a pretext to force a non-confidence vote. On May 19, two such votes were defeated and Layton's amendments went on to be passed on its final reading vote on June 23. As a result of this political coup and his apparent civil behaviour in a spitefully raucous parliament, many political analysts have noted that Layton has gained increased credibility as an effective leader of an important party, becoming the major second choice leader in many political polls – for example, polling second in Quebec after Gilles Duceppe, despite the low polls for his party as a whole in the province.^{[citation needed]}

In mid-November 2005, when Liberal support dropped after the Gomery Commission delivered its first report, Layton offered the Prime Minister several conditions in return for the NDP's continued support, most notably a ban on private health care in Canada. When the Liberals turned him down, Layton announced he would introduce a motion requesting a February election. However, the Martin government refused to allow the election date to be decided by the opposition. A motion of non-confidence followed, moved by Stephen Harper and seconded by Layton, triggering the 2006 federal election.^{[citation needed]}

Coalition attempt with the BQ and the Conservatives

On March 26, 2011, in response to Harper's allegations that a coalition is not a legitimate or principled way to form government, Duceppe stated that Harper had once tried to form a coalition government with the Bloc and NDP.^[60] In 2004 Stephen Harper privately met with Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe and New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton in a Montreal hotel. The meeting that took place between the three party leaders happened 2 months before the federal election.^[61] On September 9, 2004, the three signed a letter addressed to then-Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, stating,

We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for dissolution arise, this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority.^[61]

On the same day the letter was written, the three party leaders held a joint press conference at which they expressed their intent to co-operate on changing parliamentary rules, and to request that the Governor General consult with them before deciding to call an election.^[62] At the news conference, Harper said "It is the Parliament that's supposed to run the country, not just the largest party and the single leader of that party. That's a criticism I've had and that we've had and that most Canadians have had for a long, long time now so this is an opportunity to start to change that." However, at the time, Harper and the two other opposition leaders denied trying to form a coalition government.^[61] Harper said, "This is not a coalition, but this is a co-operative effort."^[62]

One month later, on October 4, Mike Duffy, now a Conservative senator (appointed by Harper), said "It is possible that you could change prime minister without having an election," and that some Conservatives wanted Harper as prime minister. The next day Layton walked out on talks with Harper and Duceppe, accusing them of trying to replace Paul Martin with Harper as prime minister. Both Bloc and Conservative officials denied Layton's accusations.^[61]

2006 campaign

In a media scrum during the 2006 winter election campaign.

With a vote scheduled for January 23, 2006, many New Democrats expected Layton to deliver substantially more seats than he did in 2004. They hoped the NDP would hold the balance of power in a new minority parliament, so that they could carry additional leverage in negotiating with the governing party. Mike Klander, the executive vice-president of the federal Liberals' Ontario wing, resigned after making posts on his blog comparing Chow to a Chow Chow dog and calling her husband an "asshole".^[63]

Through the course of the campaign, Layton attempted to cast himself as the sole remaining champion of universal health care. Some opinion polls showed that Canadians found Layton the most appealing and charismatic of the leaders. Layton repeatedly insisted that "Canadians have a third choice", and urged Liberals to "lend us your vote". Some commentators and pundits mocked Mr. Layton for over-using these catchphrases instead of explaining the NDP platform. The rarely aired Jack Talk Conservative ad pasted Layton's moustache on the faces of "ordinary Canadians" to suggest that he did not speak for the average citizen, using phrases like "Raise my taxes" and "I like to pay higher gas prices".^{[citation needed]}

The NDP's strategy had changed in that they were focusing their attacks on the Liberals rather than in 2004 where they criticized both the Liberals and Conservatives in equal measure prompting some criticism from Paul Martin.^[64] Andrew Coyne suggested that the NDP not only wanted to disassociate themselves from the scandal-ridden Liberals, but also because the Liberals were likely to receive credit for legislation achieved under the Liberal-NDP partnership. The NDP had also lost close races in the 2004 election due to the Liberals' strategic voting. Early in the campaign, NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis had asked the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to launch a criminal investigation into the leaking of the income trust announcement.^[65] The criminal probe seriously damaged the Liberal campaign and preventing them from making their key policy announcements, as well as bringing alleged Liberal corruption back into the spotlight.
Layton's campaign direction also caused a break between him and Canadian Auto Workers union head Buzz Hargrove over the issue of strategic voting. Hargrove preferred a Liberal minority government supported by the NDP and he had earlier criticized Layton for participating in the motion of non-confidence that brought down the Liberal government. Hargrove allied with the Liberals and publicly stated that he "did not like the campaign that Jack Layton was running", criticizing Layton for "spending too much time attacking the Liberals". During the final week of the campaign, Hargrove and Martin urged all progressive voters to unite behind the Liberal banner to stop a Conservative government. Knowing that last-minute strategic voting had cost the NDP seats in several close ridings during the 2004 election,^[66]

Layton intensified his attacks on the Liberal scandals, pledging to use his minority clout to keep the Conservatives in check. Shortly after the election, the Ontario provincial branch of the NDP revoked Mr. Hargrove's party membership because he had violated the party's constitution by campaigning for other parties during an election campaign, though Layton disagreed with this. Hargrove retaliated by severing ties with the NDP at the annual CAW convention. The election increasing the NDP's total seats to 29 seats, up from 18 MP before dissolution. Among the new NDP candidates elected was Olivia Chow, making the two only the second husband and wife team in Canadian Parliament history. (Gurmant Grewal and Nina Grewal were the first husband and wife team in Canadian Parliament after the 2004 federal election). In the end, the NDP succeeded in increasing their seats to 29, though they had far fewer seats than the Bloc Québécois (51) or the Opposition Liberals (103).^{[citation needed]}

Conservative minority government

Jack Layton giving a speech on the 5th anniversary of his leadership of the NDP.

At the NDP's 22nd Convention, held on September 10, 2006, in Quebec City, Layton received a 92% approval rating in a leadership vote, tying former Reform Party leader Preston Manning's record for this kind of voting.^[67] At the same convention, the NDP passed a motion calling for the return of Canadian Forces from Afghanistan. On September 24, 2006, he met with Afghan president Hamid Karzai to discuss the NDP position. After the meeting Layton stated that Canada's role should be focused on traditional peacekeeping and reconstruction rather than in a front line combat role currently taking place.^[68]

Layton and his caucus voted to support the new proposed rules for income trusts introduced by the Conservatives October 31, 2006.^[69] The short-term result of the tax policy announcement was a loss to Canadian investors of $20 billion, the largest ever loss attributed to a change in government policy.^[70] According to the Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors^[71] some 2.5 million Canadian investors were affected by the change in income trust policy.^[72]

Layton threatened to move a motion of non-confidence against the government over the "Clean Air Act" unless action was taken to improve the bill and its approach to environmental policy.^[73] Prime Minister Harper agreed to put an end to the Parliamentary logjam by sending the bill to a special legislative committee before second reading. He released his proposed changes to the "Clean Air Act" on November 19, 2006.^[74]

On June 3, 2008, Layton voted to implement a program which would "allow conscientious objectors...to a war not sanctioned by the United Nations...to...remain in Canada..."^[75]^[76]^[77] Layton led the NDP to be instrumental in taking action on the peace issue of Canada and Iraq War Resisters.

On June 11, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made it known that he had received private counsel from Layton on the matter of Indian residential schools and the apology to former students of the schools. Before delivering the apology, Harper thanked Layton.^[78]

2008 campaign

Broadbent and Jack Layton at a 2008 election rally in Toronto

Layton started off the 2008 federal election campaign with a speech similar to that of US presidential nominee Barack Obama. Layton denied he was trying to draw comparisons with Obama, saying "I mean, I am a lot shorter than he is. He is a brilliant orator. I'm never going to claim to be that. But what I have noticed is that the key issues faced by the American middle class, the working people of the U.S. and their concerns about their families' futures, are awfully similar to the issues that I hear in Canada." Layton said that he has also written to Obama and Hillary Clinton saying that the North American Free Trade Agreement had hurt working people in both countries "and those stories have to be told."

Layton, along with Prime Minister Harper and Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe, initially opposed the inclusion of Green Party leader Elizabeth May in the leaders' televised debates.^[79]^[80] Layton initially said that he was following the rules of the broadcast consortium, while NDP spokesman Brad Lavigne confirmed that Layton had refused to attend if May was present, noting that May had endorsed Liberal leader Stéphane Dion for prime minister, and arguing that her inclusion would in effect give the Liberals two representatives at the debate. Rod Love, former chief of staff to Ralph Klein, suggested that the Greens could potentially cut into the NDP's support.^[81] Layton's stance drew criticism from the YWCA,^[82] Judy Rebick, and members of his own party.^[83] Layton dropped his opposition to May's inclusion on September 10, 2008. "This whole issue of debating about the debate has become a distraction to the real debate that needs to happen", Layton said. "I have only one condition for this debate and that is that the prime minister is there."^[84]

In October 2008, Layton posted an online video message speaking out in favour of net neutrality, torrent sites, video-sharing sites, and social-networking sites.^[85] In a separate interview he said that increasing corporate control "is very, very dangerous and we have put the whole issue of net neutrality right into the heart of our campaign platform," and that the Internet is "a public tool for exchanging ideas and I particularly want to say that if we don’t fight to preserve it, we could lose it." In the end, the NDP gained 8 new seats, taking its tally to 37. This result still left the NDP as Canada's fourth party, behind the Bloc Québécois with 50. The NDP managed to retain Outremont, held by Thomas Mulcair, its only seat in the province.^{[citation needed]}

Continued Conservative minority government

Main article: 2008–2009 Canadian parliamentary dispute

Layton, at the NDP transit announcement, September 2008

The 40th session of parliament began on November 27, 2008, with a fiscal update by the Conservatives that outlined their agenda for the upcoming term. This included a temporary suspension of Federal employees' right to strike and a removal of monetary subsidies for political parties.^[86] All three opposition parties including the NDP stated that they could not support this position. Layton along with Liberal leader Stéphane Dion and Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe began negotiations to form a coalition that would replace the Conservatives as the government. The three opposition parties planned to table a motion of non-confidence in the House of Commons, and counted on the likelihood that the Governor General, Michaëlle Jean, would invite the coalition to govern instead of dissolving parliament and calling an election so soon after the last election.^{[citation needed]}

On December 1, 2008, the three opposition leaders signed an accord that laid down the basis for an agreement on a coalition government. The proposed structure would be a coalition between the Liberals and the NDP, with the New Democrats getting six Cabinet positions. Both parties agreed to continue the coalition until June 30, 2011. The Bloc Québécois would not be formally part of the government but would provide support on confidence motions for 18 months.^[87]

Opposition to the proposed coalition developed in all provinces except Quebec.^[88] On December 4, 2008, the Governor General granted Prime Minister Harper's request to suspend parliament until January 26, 2009, at which time Harper had planned to introduce the budget. Dion had since been ousted from the leadership of the Liberals and his successor, Michael Ignatieff, had distanced himself from the coalition.

Layton remained committed to ousting the Harper government,^[89]^[90] pledging that the NDP would vote against the Conservative budget regardless of what it contained.^[91] Layton urged Ignatieff's Liberal Party to topple to Conservatives before the shelf life of the coalition expired; constitutional experts said that four months after the last election, if the government fell, the Governor General would likely grant the Prime Minister's request to dissolve parliament instead of inviting the coalition.^[92]

On January 28, 2009, the Liberals agreed to support the Conservative budget with an amendment, ending the possibility of the coalition, so Layton said "Today we have learned that you can't trust Mr. Ignatieff to oppose Mr. Harper. If you oppose Mr. Harper and you want a new government, I urge you to support the NDP."^[93]

In March 2009, the NDP, under Layton's leadership, re-introduced a motion (first passed June 3, 2008) which, if implemented, would allow conscientious objectors to the Iraq War to remain in Canada. The motion again passed March 30, 2009, by 129–125, but it was non-binding.^[94]^[95] In a leadership review vote held at the NDP's August 2009 federal policy convention, 89.25% of delegates voted against holding a leadership convention to replace Layton.^[96] In October 2009, Layton paired up with the Stephen Lewis Foundation to raise money for HIV/AIDS affected families in Africa. As part of the foundation's A Dare to Remember campaign, Layton busked on a busy street corner.^[97]

Jack Layton making an appearance in Toronto's Pride Parade in 2009

Layton's son, Mike was elected to Toronto City Council in the 2010 city council election.^[98]

The Conservative government was defeated in a no-confidence vote on March 25, 2011, with the motion gaining full support of all opposition parties including the New Democrats, after the government was found in contempt of parliament.^[99] This was the first occurrence in Commonwealth history of a government in the Westminster parliamentary tradition losing the confidence of the House of Commons on the grounds of contempt of parliament. The no-confidence motion was carried with a vote of 156 in favour of the motion, and 145 against,^[100] thus resulting in the Prime Minister advising a dissolution of parliament and a federal election.

2011 campaign

Layton with his chief of staff, Anne McGrath, campaigning in Quebec City

The day after the successful passing of the motion, Layton started the NDP election campaign, first with a speech in Ottawa followed later in the day by an event in Edmonton, Alberta.^[101] Questions about Layton's health due to a recent hip surgery were often directed to him during the campaign, with Layton insisting that he is healthy enough to lead.^[102]^[103] On March 29, 2011, the New Democrats presented their first real campaign promise, a proposal to cap credit card rates in order to reduce credit card debt.^[104]

Unlike the previous election, Layton stated he was in favour of Green Party leader Elizabeth May speaking at the leaders debates, despite the fact that she was once again being discouraged by the Canadian media networks.^[105] The NDP also embarked upon the largest advertising campaign in its history, focusing on the Government's health care record.^[106] He also dedicated the federal election campaign to former Saskatchewan Premier Allan Blakeney, who died about halfway through the campaign.^[107]

Despite entering the campaign with relatively low poll numbers,^[108]^[109] the NDP recovered and increased their support significantly after Layton's performance in the leaders debates.^[110]^[111]^[112] The NDP surge began in Quebec, with the NDP surprising many observers by surpassing the previously front-running Bloc in Quebec.

In the entirety of Canada, the NDP surged past the Liberals to take the second place behind the Conservatives; in Quebec, the NDP took first place.^[113]^[114] The NDP surge became the dominant narrative of the last week of the campaign, as other parties turned their attacks on the party and Layton.^[115]

On April 29, 2011, a retired police officer told the Sun News Network and the Toronto Sun newspaper that in 1996, Layton had been found naked in a massage parlour when police, looking for underage Asian hookers, raided the establishment. The police informed Layton of the potentially questionable use of the business and recommended that he avoid it in the future. No charges were filed.^[116]^[117]^[118] The Sun later ran a follow-up piece, in which Toronto city councillor Giorgio Mammoliti criticized Layton.^[119] Layton has said there was no wrongdoing in the matter, saying that he simply "went for a massage at a community clinic" and did not return after the police advised him not to.^[120] He also referred to the release of the police report as a smear campaign against him.^[121]^[122]^[123]^[124] Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe has also dismissed the claim.^[125]

A subsequent Toronto Star column stated that most contributors to online discussions agreed there was a smear campaign against Layton.^[126] As for political damage from this story, that same day's update of the Nanos Leadership Index, which assesses public opinion on the Canadian federal leaders' trustworthiness, competence and vision for Canada, Layton rose from 80% to 97%, surpassing Harper at 88% and Ignatieff at 39%. The polling company speculated this improvement is due to strong sympathy by the public for a political candidate they judged as being unfairly maligned.^[127] The Toronto police launched an investigation into how official police notes were leaked to Sun Media. Police notebooks are closely guarded and may contain unfounded and unproven allegations.^[124] On May 5, 2011, it was announced that no charges would be laid with regards to the leaked information.^[128]

Layton appeared on the Radio-Canada talk show Tout le monde en parle on April 3, an appearance that was credited for improving his party's standing among Francophone voters. The show is the most popular program in Quebec.^[129] He was also perceived to have performed well in the televised French-language party leaders' debate on April 13.

In the May 2, 2011, election, Layton led the NDP to 103 seats, more than double its previous high. This was also enough to make the NDP the Official Opposition in the Commons for the first time ever. The NDP gains were mainly due to a major surge in Quebec as the party won 59 of the province's 75 seats, dominating Montreal and sweeping Quebec City and the Outaouais. The NDP had gone into the election with only one seat in Quebec, that of Mulcair, and had only held one other seat in the province in its entire history. Many of these gains came at the expense of the Bloc, which was reduced to a four-seat rump without official party status in Parliament.

Illness and death

An impromptu memorial emerged on Parliament Hill after news of Jack Layton's death

Main article: Death and state funeral of Jack Layton

On February 5, 2010, Layton announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He noted that his father Robert Layton had suffered from the same type of cancer 17 years before and recovered from it. His wife, Olivia Chow, had also battled thyroid cancer a few years before. He vowed to beat the cancer and said it would not interrupt his duties as member of Parliament or as leader of the NDP.^[130]

Following the 2011 federal election, Layton announced on July 25, 2011, that he would be taking a temporary leave from his post to fight an unspecified, newly diagnosed cancer. He was hoping to return as leader of the NDP upon the resumption of the House of Commons on September 19, 2011. Layton recommended that NDP caucus chair Nycole Turmel serve as interim leader during his leave of absence.^[131]
Jack Layton died at 4:45 am ET on August 22, 2011, at his home in Toronto.^[132]^[133]^[134]

Upon hearing the news, NDP deputy leader Libby Davies said, "He was a great Canadian. He gave his life to this country. His commitment to social justice and equality and a better Canada in the world and at home. I think that’s how people saw him, they saw the courage that he had. He faced cancer and he kept on working, doing his job, because he felt so strongly about what he believed in."^[135]

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said, "On behalf of all Canadians, I salute Jack's contribution to public life, a contribution that will be sorely missed. I know one thing: Jack gave his fight against cancer everything he had. Indeed, Jack never backed down from any fight." The United States Ambassador to Canada David Jacobson said, "I just received the sad news that Jack Layton has passed away. On behalf of my family as well as the American people I want to express our sorrow to Jack's wife Olivia Chow, his family, and his friends and supporters across Canada. I will never forget the image of Jack campaigning as the happy warrior. His energy, enthusiasm and passion for politics and for the Canadian people were undeniable. Something I will never forget. A standard for all of us."^[136]

Following Layton's death, his family released an open letter, written by Layton two days before his death. In the letter, he expressed his wishes regarding the NDP's leadership in the event of his death, and addressed various segments of the Canadian population.^[137]

“	My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world.	”

A state funeral is planned for August 27, 2011, at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, an honour offered to his widow Olivia Chow by Stephen Harper.^[138]

Selected works

Canadian politics portal

Layton, Jack (2000). Homelessness: The Making and Unmaking of a Crisis. Toronto: Penguin. ISBN 9780140288889. OCLC 45045233.
(2004). Speaking Out: Ideas that Work For Canadians. Toronto: Key Porter Books. ISBN 9781552635773. OCLC 53963558.
(2006). Speaking Out Louder: Ideas that Work For Canadians. Toronto: Key Porter Books. ISBN 9781552636886. OCLC 62346602. (revised and expanded edition of Speaking Out: Ideas that Work For Canadians)

References

^ City of Toronto. "Former City Councillor Jack Layton". Retrieved March 24, 2011.
^ Campion-Smith, Bruce (May 20, 2005). "Good for Canada, Layton declares; Commons backs 'first NDP budget'". Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario. p. A6.
^ The Canadian Press (2011). "How NDP won the Canadians' hearts and votes and broke the Liberals and Bloc". Yahoo! News Network. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
^ Wallace, James. "Man of the people: Jack Layton is a pragmatist waiting to be given a chance." Sudbury Star. January 9, 2006, p. A8.
^ "William Henry Steeves". ancestry.com. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
^ Taber, Jane. "Outside House, Layton learns pecking order." The Globe and Mail. February 1, 2003, p. A5.
^ "Grading the candidates: What are the educational qualifications of the candidates for mayor of Toronto?" Toronto Star September 29, 1991, p. A3.
^ "History – MAB-MACKAY Rehabilitation Centre". Mabmackay.ca. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
^ Gazette, The (September 26, 2008). "A tale of two anglos". Canada.com. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
^ "(1900) Layton Brothers Pianos, Organs & Players: Wholesale and Retail". Scribd.com. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
^ "Behind the Scenes: A Look at the Party Leaders' Family Trees." The Globe and Mail. December 21, 2005, p. A7.
^ Geddes, John. "Jack Layton." Maclean's. December 5, 2005.
^ . Toronto Star. 1999-01-03. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1043197--jack-and-olivia-their-love-story#article. Retrieved 2011-08-23.
^ [http://www.edmontonjournal.com Tributes+indicate+Jack+Layton+legacy+transcends+party+lines/5289309/story.html]
^ Fitzpatrick, Meagan. "OBITUARY: Jack Layton's legacy as a fighter". CBC News, Aug 22, 2011. CBC. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
^ "Jack Layton- Party For Sale or Rent". Youtube. Youtube, LLC. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
^ Delacourt, Susan. "Where no NDP leader has gone before". Toronto Star, May 06, 2009. Toronto Star 1996-2010. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
^ Hayes, David R. "A new star rising over left field." The Globe and Mail. January 8, 1983, p. F3.
^ MacLeod, Robert. "Layton urges SkyDome inquiry." The Globe and Mail. September 12, 1991, p. A11.
^ Monsebraaten, Laurie. "Alderman proposes $2.1 million AIDS team." Toronto Star. May 6, 1987, p. A6.
^ Spears, Tom. "Alderman wins appeal for handing out leaflets at Eaton's during strike." Toronto Star. May 27, 1986, p. A18.
^ James, Royson. "Failure pinned on Jack Layton, poverty group." Toronto Star. September 19, 1990, p. A3.
^ Smith, Michael. "Toronto Aldermen gearing up for first direct Metro election." Toronto Star. July 16, 1985, p. A6.
^ "Layton proved right." The Globe and Mail. November 13, 1985, p. A17.
^ Monsebraaten, Laurie. "Reformers on council seek Toronto's 'rebirth.'" Toronto Star. November 19, 1988, p. D1.
^ Spears, Tom. "Busy trustee keeps to a hectic schedule." Toronto Star. July 10, 1988, p. A10.
^ "The biggest fight of their marriage – Post City Magazines". Postcity.com. July 9, 1988. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
^ "Layton Sues for Bike Mishap that 'Ruined' his Honeymoon". Toronto Star. July 5, 1988, p. A7.
^ Kerr, Tom. "Well-to-do Layton lives in 'affordable co-op'". Toronto Star. June 14, 1990, p. A1.
^ Kerr, Tom. "Co-op residents answer critics". Toronto Star. July 19, 1990, p. A21.
^ Polanyi, Margaret. "Layton cleared of wrongdoing Police say councillor committed no impropriety by living in co-op." The Globe and Mail. August 17, 1990, p. A8.
^ Duffy, Andrew. "Layton says he's moving from co-op." Toronto Star. June 24, 1990, p. A3.
^ Wolfe, Morris. "Sensational tabloids are enticing a suspicious public." The Globe and Mail. February 4, 1992, p. D1.
^ Byers, Jim. "Jack Layton's trim new look triggers rumor mill at city hall." Toronto Star. February 5, 1987, p. A6.
^ Lewis, David Stein. "Councillor Jack Layton's campaign to become mayor of Toronto is ..." Toronto Star. February 6, 1991, p. A25.
^ Kerr, Tom. "Eggleton out of race for mayor." Toronto Star. May 2, 1991, p. A1.
^ Byers, Jim. "Rowlands leads by 2–1 margin But 55% want more choice for mayor, Star poll shows" Toronto Star November 9, 1991, p. A1.
^ MacLeod, Robert. "Rae's misfortunes called drag on Layton Toronto mayoral candidate running under NDP banner." The Globe and Mail. June 15, 1991, p. A7.
^ Byers, Jim. "Guide to the real winners, losers Apparent victories are defeats in topsy-turvy world of politics." Toronto Star. November 15, 1991, p. A12.
^ Byers, Jim. "Rowlands just ahead of Layton, Star poll finds." Toronto Star. October 10, 1991, p. A1.
^ Byers, Jim. "Layton beaten by Rowlands in all but one of 16 wards." Toronto Star. November 21, 1991, p. A7.
^ Lakey, Jack. "The mellowing of Jack Layton." Toronto Star. January 4, 1999, p. 1.
^ "Layton launches bid to lead NDP: Outspoken T.O. city councillor." The Province. July 23, 2002, p. A22.
^ Brian McAndrew (July 1, 1999). "Hydro backs waterfront windmill plan". Toronto Star.
^ Haight, Lana. "Layton surprises locals: Supporters 'blown away' by win over Blaikie, Nystrom; Lana Haight." Star – Phoenix. January 27, 2003, p. A1.
^ "Broadbent backs Toronto city councillor as NDP chief." Times – Colonist. November 28, 2002, p. A7.
^ Paraskevas, Joe. "NDP leader goes after Grits on Day One." Sudbury Star. January 28, 2003, p. A8.
^ Goar, Carol. "He makes it look too effortless." Toronto Star. November 5, 2003, p. A26.
^ Curry, Bill. "NDP's Layton accused of hogging the microphones." National Post. February 25, 2003, p. A11.
^ Chung, Andrew. "Quebec a difficult hill for NDP to climb." Toronto Star. April 26, 2003, p. E02.
^ Curry, Bill. "NDP counting on Ducasse: Popular quebecer to run in manicouagan" The Gazette. January 5, 2004, p. A10.
^ Lunman, Kim. "NDP inching past conservatives, poll indicates." The Globe and Mail. December 5, 2003, p. A4.
^ Canton, Maria. "NDP official opposition possible, predicts prof." Calgary Herald. November 16, 2003, p. A8.
^ Aubry, Jack. "Layton's line starts a storm." Times – Colonist. May 28, 2004, p. A4.
^ Murphy, Barbara. On the street: how we created the homeless. Winnipeg: J. Gordon Shillingford, c2000.
^ Coyne, Andrew. "Layton's charge is out of order." National Post. May 29, 2004, p. A22.
^ Curry, Bill. "Layton drops from radar during Week 2." Star – Phoenix. June 5, 2004, p. A13.
^ Chase, Steven. "Layton would axe Clarity Act" The Globe and Mail. May 29, 2004, p. A1.
^ Layton reverses course on Clarity Act CTV News. December 7, 2005.
^ Payton, Laura (March 26, 2011). "Harper wanted 2004 coalition: Duceppe". CBC News. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Harper, Layton, Duceppe sought 'co-opposition' in 2004 letter to GG". Montreal Gazette. March 27, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Chung, Andrew (March 26, 2011). "Bloc leader accuses Harper of lying about coalition". Toronto Star. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
^ Liberal exec quits over his blog remarks about NDPers CBC.ca. December 27, 2005.
^ Martin attacks Layton for not attacking Harper January 17, 2006.
^ Income trust a major campaign turning point CTV News. January 22, 2006.
^ "Dead link". Toronto Star (Toronto). Retrieved June 5, 2010.
^ Panetta, Alexander. "Layton gets strong backing". London Free Press. September 11, 2006.
^ "Karzai, Layton find common ground CBC.ca. September 24, 2006". Canada: CBC. September 24, 2006. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
^ Coalition of Canadian Energy Trusts. Vote Breakdown November 7, 2006.
^ "Flaherty received death threats". Global National TV. February 1, 2007.
^ "Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors". Caiti.info. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
^ Income Trusts: Just Another Special Interest Group? Fullard, Brent. Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors. January 5, 2007.
^ NDP threaten confidence vote over environmental measures De Souza, Mike. CanWest News Service. October 31, 2006.
^ Jack Layton wants Tories to commit to Kyoto target CTV News. November 19, 2006.
^ Smith, Joanna (June 3, 2008). "MPs vote to give asylum to U.S. military deserters". The Toronto Star. Retrieved July 19, 2008.
^ "Report: Iraq War Resisters/Rapport–Opposants à la guerre en Irak". House of Commons/Chambre des Communes, Ottawa, Canada. Retrieved June 9, 2008.
^ "Official Report * Table of Contents * Number 104 (Official Version)". House of Commons/Chambre des Communes, Ottawa, Canada. Retrieved June 9, 2008.
^ Apology to Former Students of Indian Residential Schools Harper, Stephen J., House of Commons Debates, Official Reports (Hansard) 39th Parl., 2nd Sess. (June 11, 2008) (online).
^ "Greens can't participate in leaders debates, networks rule". Canada: CBC. September 8, 2008. Retrieved June 5, 2010.^{[dead link]}
^ "Elizabeth May torpedoes the Green Party... again". Network.nationalpost.com. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
^ Canada (September 8, 2008). "A debate without the Greens". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). Retrieved June 5, 2010.
^ ""Who's Afraid of Elizabeth May?" YWCA Canada calls for a woman’s voice in election debate", YWCA press release, September 9, 2008.
^ "May gets green light with a push from the people". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). Retrieved June 5, 2010.
^ "May says democracy wins as Green leader lands debate slot". Canada.com. September 10, 2008. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
^ "Message to P2PNET readers". Youtube. April 12, 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
^ Opposition threatens to topple Tories over update Richard Brennan. Toronto Star. November 27, 2008.
^ Liberals, NDP, Bloc sign deal on proposed coalition CBC News. December 1, 2008.
^ Gagnon, Lysiane (December 15, 2008). "Buying time and saving the Liberals". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). Retrieved December 25, 2008.
^ Canada (January 14, 2009). "NDP 'unlikely' to support budget, favours coalition". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). Retrieved June 5, 2010.
^ Dead link^{[dead link]}
^ "NDP's budget position may be senseless, but at least it's consistent". Network.nationalpost.com. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
^ Harris, Kathleen (January 26, 2009). "Clock ticking on coalition's chances". Toronto Sun. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
^ Canada (January 28, 2009). "Ignatieff okays budget, with conditions". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). Retrieved June 5, 2010.
^ "40th PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION, EDITED HANSARD • NUMBER 036, CONTENTS, Monday, March 30, 2009". parl.gc.ca. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
^ Cooper, Alex (April 21, 2009). "Federal court to hear American war resister's appeal". Toronto Star. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
^ "This page is available to GlobePlus subscribers". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). Retrieved June 5, 2010.
^ Wiebe, Lindsey. "Raise money for AIDS by going out on a limb". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
^ "Mike Layton joins parents in victory". National Post, October 25, 2010.
^ Government's defeat sets up election call. CBC News, March 25, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
^ "Business of Supply (Division 204)". 40th Parliament, 3rd Session – Edited Hansard, No. 149, March 25, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011. The motion presented by the Leader of the Opposition was "That the House agree with the finding of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs that the government is in contempt of Parliament, which is unprecedented in Canadian parliamentary history, and consequently, the House has lost confidence in the government,"
^ Jack Layton's campaign opener in Edmonton suggests NDP strategy to come rabble.ca, March 27, 2011. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
^ Layton opens up about his health CBC News, March 29, 2011.
^ Jack Layton: The fighter CBC News, March 25, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
^ Layton promises to cap credit card rates CBC News, March 29, 2011.
^ Debate over May diverts campaign CBC News, March 30, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
^ NDP seeks to shape health debate with ads CBC News, March 30, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
^ Former Sask. Premier Allan Blakeney dies of cancer, Opposition leader says The Canadian Press, April 16, 2011. Retrieved April 16, 2011.
^ Richard J. Brennan National Affairs Writer (April 9, 2011). "NDP fortunes falling fast in latest poll". Toronto Star. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
^ Gloria Galloway (April 8, 2011). "Layton remains game despite polls showing he's the odd man out". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
^ Joanna Smith Ottawa Bureau (April 13, 2011). "NDP moves into tie with Liberals: Poll". Toronto Star (Toronto). Retrieved April 18, 2011.
^ Palmer, Randall (February 14, 2011). "Canada's NDP pushes for bigger place in election sun". Reuters. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
^ "Layton sees growing Quebec support, targets Liberals". Canada: CBC. April 18, 2011. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
^ "NDP surges to strong second place in poll". Reuters. April 25, 2011. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
^ EKOS (April 2011). "NDP Breakout Contunues As Everyone Else Spins Wheels". Retrieved April 23, 2011.
^ "NDP surge dominates talk on federal campaign trail". Vancouver Sun. April 27, 2011. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
^ Pazzano, Sam (April 29, 2011). "Sun News Exclusive". Sun News Network. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
^ Pizzano, Sam (April 29, 2011). "Layton found in bawdy house: Ex-cop". Toronto Sun. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
^ Chow, Olivia (April 29, 2011). "Layton slams 'smear campaign' over massage-parlour allegations". National Post. Postmedia News. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
^ Yuen, Jenny. "T.O. councillor skeptical of Layton story". canoe.ca. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
^ "Layton confident voters will dismiss massage parlour 'smear campaign'". The Globe and Mail. April 30, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
^ Smith, Joanna (April 29, 2011). "Layton camp in damage control over massage parlour allegations". The Star. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
^ "NDP responds to Layton massage-visit allegations". Postmedia News. April 29, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
^ "Layton denies Sun Media's massage parlour allegations". CTV News. April 30, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Leak of police notes in Layton report probed". CBC News. April 29, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
^ Dougherty, Kevin (April 30, 2011). "Gilles Duceppe dismisses Jack Layton massage story". The Gazette. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
^ Gordon, Andrea (April 30, 2011). "Online debate more about ‘smear job’ than Layton". Toronto Star. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
^ Galloway, Gloria (May 1, 2011). "Gap between Tories, NDP narrows to 6 points in 11th-hour polling". Globe & Mail. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
^ "No charges in Layton massage parlour leak: Police". The Vancouver Sun. May 5, 2011. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
^ François Lauzon (May 7, 2011). "Sovereignist Lepage opened door for Layton". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
^ "Statement by Jack Layton, delivered to the media today". New Democratic Party. February 5, 2010. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
^ LeBlanc, Daniel (July 25, 2011). "Layton picks Nycole Turmel as interim leader". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
^ Associated Press (2011-08-22). "Canada opposition leader Jack Layton dies after second cancer battle". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
^ "Reaction to Jack Layton's death". Toronto Star. August 22, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
^ Ward, John; The Canadian Press (08-22-2011). "Jack Layton Dead: NDP Leader, 61, Succumbs To Cancer". The Huffington Post. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
^ "Reaction to Jack Layton’s death: 'Canadian hearts are breaking'". Toronto Star. August 22, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
^ Fitzpatrick, Meagan (August 22, 2011). "Canada mourns 'courageous' Jack Layton". CBC News. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
^ Layton, Jack (August 20, 2011), Letter to Canadians From Jack Layton, retrieved August 22, 2011.
^ Taber, Jane (August 22, 2011). "State funeral for Jack Layton to be held Saturday". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 22, 2011. Only two opposition leaders have passed away while in office; the first, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, had been a former Prime Minister and so a state funeral was consistent with protocol. Layton is only the first opposition leader to die for whom a state funeral would not otherwise have been afforded.

New Democratic Party – NDP official website
Jack Layton - Parliament of Canada biography
Jack Layton on Twitter

Enabling private conversations online

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 08:03:00 +0000

The Freedom Box

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 07:13:00 +0000

FreedomBox v Facebook - Eben Moglen from Nick B-T on Vimeo.

Freedom Box Project

Inspired by Eben Moglen's vision of a small, cheap and simple computer that serves freedom in the home. We are building a Debian based platform for distributed applications.

Freedom Box is about:

privacy

control

ease of use

dehierarchicalization

Vision Statement
We live in a world where our use of the network is mediated by organizations that often do not have our best interests at heart. By building software that does not rely on a central service, we can regain control and privacy. By keeping our data in our homes, we gain useful legal protections over it. By giving back power to the users over their networks and machines, we are returning the Internet to its intended peer-to-peer architecture.

In order to bring about the new network order, it is paramount that it is easy to convert to it. The hardware it runs on must be cheap. The software it runs on must be easy to install and administrate by anybody. It must be easy to transition from existing services.

There are a number of projects working to realize a future of distributed services; we aim to bring them all together in a convenient package.
See: FreedomBox

***

FreedomBox

TalksAndPresentations

Contents

Talks and presentations

Local CEP1133 News

Papermaking

Contents

History

Manual papermaking

Industrial papermaking

History of paper sheet production

Folio

Quarto

Octavo

Sixteen-mo

Octavo bookbinding

Standardisation ISO sizes

Vatmen paper

See also

References

Further reading

Pulp(paper)

Contents

History

Manufacture of wood pulp

Harvesting trees

Preparation for pulping

Pulping

Mechanical pulp

Thermomechanical pulp

Chemithermomechanical pulp

Chemical pulp

Recycled pulp

Organosolv pulping

Alternative pulping methods

Bleaching

Alternatives to wood pulp

Market pulp

Air dry pulp

Roll pulp

Flash dried pulp

Environmental concerns

Forest resources

Effluents from pulp mills

Odor problems

Paper production

Economics

See also

References

Remembrance Day

Launch of Victims of Brookfield Association

Fraser Papers retirees launch Victims of Brookfield Association

Ad Busters and Occupy Wall Street

Justin Hall-Tipping: Freeing energy from the grid

RECLAIMING THE COMMONS

NEB’s “incredible” Keystone XL ruling highlights Canada’s inferior regulations

Old Views, in a Modern World?

Private Member Bill on Union Financial Disclosure

HST, Smart Meter, BC Gas, BC Tel....Get Ready.

Labour Unions

Official speech at the keystone XL rally in Ottawa.

Eben Moglen - The Freedom Box

CEP news conference on the Keystone XL pipeline

Stop Online Spying Scheme

OpenMedia takes on Provencher, MA

KeyStone XL PipeLine

Labour leaders call on MPs to help stop “job-killing” Keystone XL pipeline: Approving Keystone XL is not in the interests of Albertans and Canadians

History Repeating Itself?

Strike!

Recognizing Equative Measure with Regard to the Geometry of Social Change

Labour Day

Tribute to Jack Layton

Jack Layton

Contents

Early life and education

Family and personal life

Toronto City Council

Leader of the NDP

2004 election

Liberal minority government

Coalition attempt with the BQ and the Conservatives

2006 campaign

Conservative minority government

2008 campaign

FreedomBox

TalksAndPresentations