Agent orange is, from what I know about it, a real horror. It has affected millions of people in terrible ways, often deadly. The governments of the world have – either deliberately or through neglect – exposed people to it should really be held accountable.

I hope this thread continues, since the story is still relevant. We should make a renewed effort to collect stories related to this and post them. It is a humble contribution, but hopefully it will raise some awareness.

Although it still is not called representative, since it derives its power from the federal and provincial governments and is subject to their whims, the only level which can arguably be called representative (since it lacks party machinery) is at the municipal level. However, the ‘first past the post’ system ensures that almost never is the ‘representative’ even representative of the majority, and the structure of councils means that even in such cases a single councillors vote is next to meaningless in a multiple ward system.

That’s nitpicking, but far too often people call Canada representative or democratic when it is neither. China has some bureaucrats elected at local levels, but we’d laugh if somebody called it democratic. Just because a state uses a democratic tool, doesn’t make it democracy. And just because a single member makes the decisions for everyone in a riding, doesn’t make it ‘representative’. At the very least these people represent parties, not constituents, which is far different than what most people brought up on american television think of when they hear ‘representative’. Other than that, excellent article.

I think I can speak on behalf of all of us at Leftnews.org and The Citizens’ Press when I repeat Dana’s condolences for your loss. If there is anything that we can do to put light on your struggles then do not hesitate to contact us.

Also, if you would like to write something more formal, yourself or with assistance, we can publish that on both The Citizens’ Press and Leftnews.

Any closure of comments is not intentional and all are free to comment about anything on any of the articles.

We will put some focus on the issue by posting articles regularly again (I see that Dana has already started this). I do apologize for not putting more focus on the issue. It is something that has fallen through the cracks in the major news media (and the independent press) but it is something that deserves to be and needs to be focused on. There is no excuse for the government’s inactions in this and they need to be held to account.

Again, please accept our sincere condolences and let us know if there is anything within our power that we can do to help.

Graham H. Cox
Leftnews.org Editor

I am very sorry for your loss. I am pretty sure the comments section closses after a certain time of inactivity. I can assure you no one intentionally shut down the post.
What I will do, Patrice, is post another agent orange article and help stimulate some more conversation on the issue. We need to keep this one in the limelight and keep people informed.