Month: May 2008

The monarchy and Canada’s citizenship oath

Sign at a bookstore, Toronto

When my mother became a citizen of Canada, I remember noting the absurdity of the citizenship oath:

I swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful
and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada,
Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully
observe the laws of Canada
and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.

The monarchy is a sad reminder of Canada’s imperial past, not something that should be at the heart of becoming a Canadian citizen. It would be far better to have those who are becoming citizens assert their support for the Constitution, democracy, and the rule of law only, rather than giving such prominent treatment to an irrelevant legal hangover. To paraphrase Monty Python: supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical tradition of bloodline descent.

It is certainly an excellent thing that the monarchy has been pushed to the symbolic edge of Canadian law and society, represented by mere remnants like a titular governor general, the queen on currency, and legal conventions like Regina v. Whoever for legal cases. That being said, it makes sense in this day and age to finally eliminate the trappings of family-line rule and become a proper republic. Of course, there are those who disagree.

Delicious pike

Ontario pike

The Smoky Lake canoe trip provided a delicious opportunity to deviate from my ordinary shunning of meat-eating. There are three major reasons for which I do not normally eat animal flesh: it is generally produced in a way that is not environmentally sustainable, the animals generally live in very poor conditions, and a number of unhygienic practices are endemic in factory farms. I maintain that when most people choose to eat meat, they do so in either honest or wilful ignorance about the consequences of that choice.

Happily, the trip provided an exception to all those objections in the form of lake-caught pike. I saw the lake they came from, the way they were caught and cleaned, and the way they were cooked. Two fish among eleven people probably isn’t causing damage to the ecosystem, particularly since it is a once a year trip. Furthermore, it is fair to say that a pike living in an attractive lake in Ontario is living an existence true to its nature: a statement that surely cannot be made truthfully about most animals people eat.

In any case, our pan fried pike was exceedingly delicious: as the result of its character, freshness, and the fundamentally food-improving qualities of camping. The experience of seeing it delivered from lake to plate has also made me somewhat rethink my view of sports hunters and fishers. While it is certainly true that ecosystems can be damaged by such activities, it is also fair to say that those who especially enjoy such activities might be passionate, knowledgeable, long-term advocates of conservation. It should be further asserted that – environmental considerations aside – those with such skills can make a most satisfying contribution to an expedition outdoors.

Harper on gas prices and carbon taxes

One thing for which you need to give Stephen Harper some credit: unlike the American presidential candidates, he is willing to admit that the government cannot do much to reduce gasoline prices. Unfortunately, he is also using those high prices to oppose carbon taxes, probably the most economically efficient economy-wide mechanism for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Brief Smoky Lake recap

Smoky Lake canoe trip group shot

After four days in the Ontario wilderness, Emily and I are safely back in Ottawa. All told, the trip was successful and a lot of fun. We spent two days traveling and two hanging around our serene camping area, largely while others fished (more on that later). Wildlife sightings were fairly limited – though we did manage to inadvertently terrify a Canada goose and her greenish goslings – though it was nonetheless refreshing to be immersed in nature. While the weekend did include some serious rain, thankfully none of it fell during times when we had to decamp or travel. The smell of campfire smoke will doubtless linger on our clothes and selves for some time yet.

Getting out into the wilderness was certainly a most welcome break from city life. Similarly, the time spent in Toronto was a nice break from relatively parochial Ottawa.

For the visually inclined, some photos are on Facebook.

Hofmann’s ‘problem child’

Pink flowers

As an additional offering to see readers through my canoe-induced absence, here is an interesting article from The New York Times about lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) – the ‘problem child’ of Albert Hofmann. It includes a description of his remarkable first experiences, when experimenting with the medical potential of ergot derivatives, as well as his later observations and reflections upon the molecule he introduced to the world.

Hofmann, who died last week, has an obituary in The Economist. It takes a somewhat interesting position: essentially, that LSD was a promising chemical that ended up universally banned because of the excesses of Timothy Leary and company.

Other things to read

Fire escape ladder

Once again, canoe-based absence will serve as an excuse for a low-content post. This time, you get a list of websites that you may find informative: not to mention, useful for procrastinating / educating yourself during the period of my internet absence.

Those should be enough to hold people for a while. If not, there are always Metafilter, Slashdot, Boing Boing, Engadget, and BBC News.

10^5 visits

Red snowplow

Recently, this blog got its 100,000th visitor since August 2005. While such numbers don’t have much meaning in and of themselves, they do provide an opportunity to take stock and consider what has happened so far and where things are going.

Between August 2005 and July 2007, the major purpose of the site was to document the Oxford experience and stay in touch with friends and family while off in England. Since returning to Canada, it has had less of a defined purpose. There has also been a conscious decision to make it significantly less personal overall. As a result, it now mostly consists of either personal musings on impersonal topics or responses to books or news items. This is not wholly without value. It fosters interesting discussions and provides a mechanism for keeping in touch with some friends. It may also help to inform some people a bit about topics of interest or importance, such as climate change.

At the same time, there are some things that concern me. I don’t really see enormously much value in providing links to information available elsewhere, along with minimal commentary. Additionally, I worry a bit that writing drips and drabs every day could sap energy that might otherwise be put into longer-term and more ambitious projects.

With Emily here, I also have less time to spend on random musings. As such, writing a daily post is more often than not an exercise in frantically scanning the news for something that I can comment upon without overly much thought or research. One solution is to dial things back and only write when I actually have something I want to say. That removes the impetus to come up with something daily – which has advantages as well as disadvantages – but should help to keep me from boring people with items of only limited interest or creativity.

Gone paddling

This weekend, Emily and I will be canoeing on Kawigamog, Noganosh, and Lost Lakes – near Sudbury. It should be a good opportunity to explore the Ontario wilderness, in the general area of Algonquin Park.

This will be my first big canoe trip since the second Bowron Lakes expedition in August 2004. Canoe-camping is an especially enjoyable sort. You can bring lots of gear, which means more comfort and better food. You also cover quite a bit of ground, which allows for variety and real expeditions.

We should get back to Ottawa on Tuesday.