The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has decided to allow the  Greek people to decide on the draconian ( in 621bc, Draco was asked by the "nobles" of Athens to codify the laws. The laws, he came up with were cruel, oppressive and inhumane, for he decided that most crimes will be punished. This was in order to drive fear into the ordinary citizens. Later Solon 594-614, repealed those laws to make more appropriate), demands of the creditors.
     They demanded that pensions be reduced and that taxes be further be increased. This would add more misery on an over-burdened people. Unemployment is over 25% and over 50% among youths.
     He also will close banks and stock exchanges and impose strict capital controls over the ext few days. People will be able to make small daily withdrawal from ATMs but pensions will be paid out at banks.
     Tsipras insists hat he does not want to pull Greece out of the Eurozone and polls have shown that as much as 70% of the people want to remain in. The only Greek industry ( people still flock to Greece to see its ancient ruins, like the Parthenon), that is still doing well is tourism but owners and workers in the industry fear that tourists would leave if violence broke out or if there is fuel shortages or if they are able to access payments made on credit cards.
     Political opinions are sharply divided, of course. There are those who blame Tsipras for not accepting Europe's terms, and others who praised him for not caving in. There are those who believe that Europe owes Greece more than Greece owes Europe and there are those who fear that Greece will be expelled from the Eurozone.
     There is no formal mechanism to evict any country. In 1999, when the common currency was adopted, no one contemplated that this would be necessary.
     There is to be a last-ditch talks on Monday, 29 June, between Greece and the creditors. 
     Greece may have a "white knight" in Russia. Tsipras spoke at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum and met with Putin afterwards. Russia can use this, to sow division in Europe. Putin is still smarting from the sanctions imposed on Russia by America and Europe over Ukraine and being kept out of the G7. He an offer financial relief to Greece and he also as oil and gas in abundance to lure, especially the East and North European countries.
     The next few days will be very interesting. July 5, 2015 will determine the fate of the  Eurozone, especially if the Greek voters overwhelmingly support Tsipras.
                                  VOX POPULI, VOX DEI.
     OXI, a resounding NO by the Greek people. They did not succumb to the fear-mongering, threats, blackmail and the postulations of gloom and doom by the toadies in the media and academia, as well as opposition leader Samaras, who touted the creditors line. It was 61% to the question " must the agreement plan submitted by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to the European Union of 25 June, 2015, and comprised of two parts which make up their joint proposal , be accepted?"
     IACTA ALIA EST. The ball is now in the creditors' court and Merkel, whose country benefitted the most from the austerity measures, and which is owed 89 billion of the 323 billion euros and who had taken a very hard line with the Greek PM Tsipras, lecturing and blaming him for allowing the situation to deteriorate, hurriedly called a meeting with Hollande of France. They have also called for a leaders' summit on Tuesday. Obviously they believed that the "yes" side would prevail and they were thus unprepared for the NO victory, especially its margin. The polls which once  again was wrong, had called the outcome a toss-up.
     Tsipras has a strong position to deal from and the Troika has to decide whether to offer some relief and re-structure the loan with a lower interest rate or as suggested by German finance minister Schauble, let Greece temporarily leave the euro zone and use another( drachma), until the economic problem eases. Time will tell.
     Portugal, Spain and Italy are following the events very closely. Their economy are also faltering under the austerity measures and the example of Greece's rejection of the latest terms by the creditors and their response will be a great interest.
     The Greek people (in the spirit of Leonidas), have decided that it is far better to suffer standing up, rather than living on their knees. They have weathered the Ottomans and the Nazis and now they have sent a strong message with this resounding vote of OXI.

     Twenty-five years ago, then prime minister Mulroney proposed the Meech Lake Accords, after being pressured by Quebec's premier Bourassa with his 5 demands. It ended in failure, mainly because Mulroney "rolled the dice" and declared that it ad to be passed in three years and must have the consent of all provinces (his grandstanding was to show that he could do what Trudeau could not and get Quebec to "sign on' to the 1982 Constitution 

     Federal Court Judge Luc Martineau has ordered the Harper government, through Safety Minister  Slaney and the RCMP commissioner, to immediately hand over the external hard drive containing a copy of all Quebec gun registry data. It has to be done by 10am, Tuesday. A clear case of no trust in the government's assurances that all remaining long-gun registry records would be preserved while court challenges continue. The challenge was brought by information commissioner Suzanne Legault, against the Harper government retroactive gun registry provisions buried in the recent omnibus budget bill.
     The lawyers for the federal government had argued that it was unnecessary to produce an actual physical copy of the records because the safety minister had issued " four separate understandings" to preserve the data. The judge rejected the government's arguments, after he was informed by the lawyers for the information minister, that previous assurances from the Harper government in 2012 were ignored as it pushed for speedy destruction of all gun registry records.
     It was the destruction of records in 2012, that led Legault to issue a report accusing the RCMP of breaking the Freedom of Information Act. The Ontario Provincial Police is investigating the allegation.
     The Harper government responded to the allegation by retroactively rewriting the law in order to grant amnesty to anyone involved in the destruction and backdating it to 2011 and then "hiding" it in this spring's 167-page omnibus budget bill ( C 59), which was passed by the Senate on Monday, thus adding urgency to the Federal Court hearing to seal the remaining records. The government lawyer did not give a direct answer, when asked by the judge whether the government would respect an order to preserve the data once C-59 was passed. Gregory Tzemenakis, for the government replied that " absent a constitutional challenge", the bill's new provisions will be the law.   
     This is a very dangerous move by the government. " Perilous precedent", Legault calls it and she is quite correct. This action on the part of the government of an alleged crime ( the destruction of the records), could be used to retroactively absolve and cover up electoral fraud, expense scandals or other serious crimes, she warned.
     Judge Martineau also mused aloud in court about retroactively absolving Nazis of war crimes and backdating the law to 1940. Clearly, the judge was most concerned at the government's anti-democratic action and his "musings", dismayed and alarmed the government lawyers. They should be more than dismayed and alarmed, because as officers of the court, they are guardians of the rule of law. The rule of law exist to protect all equally; to protect our Rights and Freedoms against an authoritarian government. The Magna Carta from which this principle is derived and which was passed 800 years ago, is presently on display in Parliament. Hopefully its presence will stir, strengthen and remind us of the centuries of struggle to against undemocratic governments. This slap-down of the Harper government follows on the many other instances when the Supreme Court has had to act against actions by this government.
     It is clearly evident that the Harper government will do whatever it deems necessary to carry out its agenda, even if it means breaking the law and then take retroactive action to cover itself and its "cohorts". That is "perilous". That is an attack on all our Rights and Freedoms. That is a pathway to irresponsible and autocratic governance. That is the death knell of our democracy.     
            The RCMP and the Public Safety minister have complied with the judge's order and handed over all Quebec gun registry data around 9.15 am, Tuesday. Also Legault's constitutional challenge to retroactive amnesty contained in omnibus budget bill has been transferred to 3-judge Divisional Court in Toronto.

     The St. Petersberg International Economic Forum will be held next week and the world's most powerful oil executives, from Total, Royal Dutch and BP will be attending. So too will the executives from the giant oil trading houses of Glencore, Trafigura and others. Western bankers and industrialists will stay because of the sanctions.
     Those sanctions pushed Russia to sign a $400 billion deal with China last year and these oil executives (who wanted to but could not invest in Siberia and Sakhalin, where they have big stakes, like Shell's $20 billion giant gas plant and BP's 20% in Rosnet), want to make sure that they do ot miss out again.
     These western oil executives have been influenced by a recent BP report that stated that Russia's oil and gas reserves have jumped to 103 billion barrels (from 93 billion in 2013).
     Their visit to Putin's hometown will definitely give him a boost, especially as they will meeting with him.
     Europe needs Russian oil and gas and Russia needs the money, and this will play well with the Russian people, with whom Putin enjoy an above 80% popularity. A recent lull in the fighting in Ukraine gave these executives the excuse to make sure they maintain good relations with Moscow and to further their oil ad gas investments for the future when political leaders in the West (eg. Obama) will no longer be in power. 
      

     It is the choicest plum in the patronage basket. It was to be the "old folks home" for retired, spent, defeated candidates, party loyalists and friends and bagmen of the governing party. A place where they could relax in the plush Red Chamber and dream of the past.     The Senate was created to be a check on the House of Commons; to be the chamber "of sober second thoughts" and in the beginning that was what it did as it acted as a bastion, protecting business, property and conservative values and institutions. The Senate share legislative power with the House of Commons. It has to agree before legislation become law and it usually rubber-stamp everything sent to it by the Commons. On rare occasions it may delay legislation or even refuse to pass it as was the  case with the Free Trade Agreement with the USA, which forced Mulroney to dissolve Parliament in 1988, in what became known as the Free Trade election. In the case of the Goods and Services Tax, Mulroney appointed 8 additional senators to overcome the Liberals, which had again used their majority in the Senate to stop the bill.It was all contained in the qualifications need to be a senator in 1867......owning property over $4000 in value; being above all debts and liabilities of over $4000; male of at least 30 years; and be a resident of the province from where he was chose. Furthermore, senators are required to attend at least once a year in order to remain in good standing and be paid ( back in the 90s, the issue came up as one senator had not attended a single session; he was living in Mexico).      Senators were selected to represent the four regions of Canada....24 from each, with Ontario getting 24; Quebec 24; 6 each for the 4 western provinces and 10 for N.B; 10 N.S and 4 for PEI ( Newfoundland got 6 when it joined the union and 1 each for Yukon. NWT and Nunavut). They were a privileged bunch and felt entitled ( in the Sky Shop scandal, Senator Giguiere, when asked why only certain people were appointed, replied "what do you want? Salvation Army types?").
     Some senators became very powerful and wealthy, by accepting directorships of companies ( at one point during the 90s, 24 senators collectively held on more than 100 directorships...the senate handled a lot of private bills that affected businesses). The line between their senate functions and their business responsibilities became very blurred and it is only now that these practices have come under scrutiny.
    The investigation into Duffy, Wallin,  Brazeau housing, travel and other expenses has opened up a Pandora's box and the entire senate membership ( even those who have retired) are being subjected to close scrutiny by the Auditor General and many are facing legal problems, so much so that the RCMP have been called in to check into the "expenses" of at least 9 with 30 more senators likely to be included. It a messy embarrassment.
     This was all brought about by the excessive housing and travel claims. At the heart of it is residency. Senators are expected to be resident of the province which they represent, but when Harper appointed Duffy ( who had been living and working in Ontario, specifically in Ottawa, since the 70's and this was well known) as a senator from PEI and he claimed that his principal residence was PEI which he rarely visited ( he did make some travel claims for funeral and birthday), the jig was up and was made worse when a cheque for $90,000 was given by one of Harper's chief adviser to Duffy. Other senators were drawn in, when the Auditor General was asked to investigate.
     There is now renewed call to abolish the Senate from many and especially the NDP (which has never had any senators and had always questioned the usefulness of the senate). This will be almost impossible to do as the consent of all the provinces would be needed. Quebec is on record as being totally opposed and others have shown no inclination to reopen a constitutional debate ( especially after the 1995 Charlottetown Accord was defeat.
     Reform is needed and this can be done with the consent of 7 provinces, representing at least 50% of the population. There have been many suggestions, including electing senators ( this is opposed because it may cause a US-type gridlock); then there is the Triple E idea of the former Reform Party....equal, elected and effective.....Quebec will not agree to this and neither will PEI but the other 8 may be willing but may have demands of their own); there is the German model, where the upper house...the Bundesrat is chosen by the landers/states, in proportion to their population.
     Will there still be interest after the present furor is over? What if there is a change of government?. The NDP is clear that it wants changes, even abolition and may be willing to talk to the provinces. The Liberals, like their leader is dithering and the REF/CONS are saying nothing.
     This is Canada and here , we usually set up a commission to study things and then shelve the reports.