verbena-19

How much of Earth's atmosphere must we contaminate? How much of our lands and waters must we pollute? How much of our resources must we plunder, deplete? How many species must we ravage, despoil, extinguish? How many people must we degrade, deprive, destroy with toxic wastes and wars, before we learn to respect one another, to live in harmony on this planet, our Home? "All living beings are brothers and sisters, nourished from the same source of life.." -- Thich Nhat Hanh

: Name: Annamarie; Location: Brampton, Ontario, Canada

I was born in Eastern Europe during the height of the Stalinist regime's reign of terror. Thus, I know what it is like to live under a repressive, dictatorial regime. The fear and terror -- as dissident friends and family members were tortured, imprisoned and some were executed -- is indelibly etched in my memory. That is the reason I have always been an ardent advocate of freedom, social justice, civil liberties, human rights and a voice of peace. The way I see it, war is morally wrong, regardless of who wages it, for whatever reason. No piece of land or commodity is worth the sacrifice of one human life. We are all members of the same race - the "human race" - and must learn to coexist peacefully. Our planet cannot sustain us much longer if we do not stop our wars, nukes, polluting, deforestation, and the wasteful, gluttonous consumption and depletion of our natural resources.

View my complete profile

Site Design & Affiliation:

Dale @ The Digital Memoirs Chris Floyd @ Empire Burlesque
Progressive Bloggers
My Ecosystem Details
Powered by Blogger

Use this site's RSS Feed

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Hamilton East MPP wants compensation for Firefighters

STANDING UP FOR FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS - FOR FAIRNESS

Ontario should lead not trail others in the campaign to ensure firefighters receive compensation for their occupational diseases, says New Democrat Andrea Horwath.

The Hamilton East MPP has the support of firefighters and their families for her private member's bill, to recognize and compensate firefighters without question for diseases attributed to their job. The bill is named in memory of Hamilton firefighter Bob Shaw, who died after developing cancer of the esophagus from fighting the deadly toxic Plastimet Fire.

"I made a promise to the Shaw family that I would bring forward the necessary legislation to ensure occupational diseases related to firefighting are appropriately recognized and compensated. The McGuinty government has been slow to move on this life and death file. My bill may finally spur some long overdue action. And this can pave the way for other workers who are seeking similar provisions," Horwath said.

Compensate firefighters for job-related diseases