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So much hangs in the balance here in Canada and we have a whole weekend plus most of Monday to get through. Hold your nerve, Canadians, and for those who haven't voted yet, support whoever can beat the Cons in your riding. Keep authoritarians out of power.

If you're not sure who stands the best chance to block the Conservative Party in your area, you can use .Ìý

At this point, Pierre Poilievre is well known for ' and vowing to . The broadcaster has long been an integral component of our nation, reflecting Canada's evolving identity back to us. Thanks to Stephen Harper (whoÌý fundamentally changed the media landscape by allowing the foreign takeover of Postmedia) far too many of Canada's outlets are rightwing media hedge fund owned and that bias increasingly shows, making the CBC's survival, in both English and French, even more crucial.Ìý

During Poilievre's federal election campaign he's restricted media access, limiting access at campaign stops by only allowing handpicked reporters to pose questions. Unlike Canada's other major political parties, the Conservative Party of Canada to travel with Poilievre on his campaign bus and plane, "ending a decades-old tradition of reporters embedding with a prospective candidate to lead the country." Poilievre's demonizing of the press and his disturbing restricting ofÌý reporter access is . His ongoing war on journalism demonstrates a marked lack of respect for a cornerstone of democracy. This should concern all Canadians.Ìý

There's a reason why Poilievre's Elon Musk's choice for Prime Minister and as well as . Given the chance, Poilievre intends to make Canada over in the U.S.'s image from the inside. A slew of regressive changes delivered with a sneer. He's continually courted the far right, playing fast and loose with the truth while fermenting rage that he's hoped to ride to power. His own record and recent campaign promises starkly demonstrate his malicious intentions. Tax cuts at the expense of keeping our healthcare system and social safety net strong, scapegoating rather than nation building.

Poilievre was a leading defender of the â€�,â€� a voter suppression BillÌý that "impaired voting rights, reduced political participation, injected partisan bias in election administration, increased the influence of money in elections, diminished transparency and accountability, and seriously undermined the integrity and fairness of the electoral process." Here are some other highlights of his voting record as an MP.

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Let's not forget that soon after securing his own government pension, Poilievre voted to raise the retirement age for others to 67. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, when asked about the CERB benefits that kept many Canadian afloat, Poilievre admitted "We're Conservatives we don't believe in that."

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Unconcerned about everyday Canadians, unsurprisingly Poilievre also shares Donald Trump’s cruel indifference toward the rest of the world's welfare. The Conservative leader's costed platform, released Tuesday, reveals the almost complete gutting of foreign aid. A reduction of $9.5 billion over four years (that's a whopping 85%). This " A humanitarian disaster in the making. "Poilievre’s Conservative Party ." In his is twenty years as a Conservative politician, he's voted against environmental protection 400 times, and a mere thirteen times in favour.

If you'd like to read more about why Poilievre is perceived as an authoritarian threat that would destroy Canada as we know it if given free reign, here's some further reading material for you.

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We've seen where voting for Populist politicians who vociferously feign being a friend of the common man while actually representing a select few elite and disenfranchising and impoverishing everyone else gets you. That's not democracy. That's not the kind of Canada most of us want.Ìý

So much hangs in the balance here in Canada and we have a whole weekend plus most of Monday to get through. Hold your nerve, Canadians, and for those who haven't voted yet, support whoever can beat the Cons in your riding. Keep authoritarians out of power.

If you're not sure who stands the best chance to block the Conservative Party in your area, you can use .Ìý

At this point, Pierre Poilievre is well known for ' and vowing to . The broadcaster has long been an integral component of our nation, reflecting Canada's evolving identity back to us. Thanks to Stephen Harper (whoÌý fundamentally changed the media landscape by allowing the foreign takeover of Postmedia) far too many of Canada's outlets are rightwing media hedge fund owned and that bias increasingly shows, making the CBC's survival, in both English and French, even more crucial.Ìý

During Poilievre's federal election campaign he's restricted media access, limiting access at campaign stops by only allowing handpicked reporters to pose questions. Unlike Canada's other political parties, the Conservative Party of Canada to travel with Poilievre on his campaign bus and plane, "ending a decades-old tradition of reporters embedding with a prospective candidate to lead the country." Poilievre's demonizing and disturbing restricting ofÌý reporter access is . His ongoing war on journalism demonstrates a marked lack of respect for a cornerstone of democracy. This should concern all Canadians.Ìý

There's a reason why Poilievre's Elon Musk's choice for Prime Minister and as well as . Given the chance, Poilievre intends to make Canada over in the U.S.'s image from the inside. A slew of regressive changes delivered with a sneer. He's continually courted the far right, playing fast and loose with the truth while fermenting rage that he's hoped to ride to power. His own record and recent campaign promises starkly demonstrate his malicious intentions. Tax cuts at the expense of keeping our healthcare system and social safety net strong, scapegoating rather than nation building.

Poilievre was a leading defender of the â€�,â€� a voter suppression BillÌý that "impaired voting rights, reduced political participation, injected partisan bias in election administration, increased the influence of money in elections, diminished transparency and accountability, and seriously undermined the integrity and fairness of the electoral process." Here are some other highlights of his voting record as an MP.

If you'd like to read more about why Poilievre is perceived as an authoritarian threat that would destroy Canada as we know it if given free reign, here's some further reading material for you.

We've seen where voting for Populist politicians who vociferously feign being a friend of the common man while actually representing a select few elite and disenfranchising and impoverishing everyone else gets you. That's not democracy. That's not the kind of Canada most of us want.Ìý

If there's anything more Canadian than a Canadian band (Our Lady Peace) covering another Canadian band (The Tragically Hip) in an arena called the Canadian Tire Centre in the nation's capital it's starting a singalong of the national anthem, which happened last night too!

A clip from OLP's cover ofÌý Locked in the Trunk of a Car last night:

ÌýÌýAnyone who has lived in this country awhile is these days no doubt experiencing much the same thing as I am, which is a unity and demonstrative pride in Canada unlike any I've ever seen outside of Canada Day, the Olympics or hockey games. Much as Canadians love this nation, we're not ordinarily showy about it. With few exceptions Canadians are traditionally not flag-wavers, and when we sing the national anthem aloud (which is not often) it's generally underneath our breath.ÌýÌýAn antagonistic United States, making threats to our sovereignty and repeatedly disrespecting our Prime Minister, has unleashed something inside us that won't be put back in the bottle anytime soon. We're shopping Canadian, avoiding U.S. products and travel, and wearing our hearts on our sleeves.

I don't know how well you can make the sound out on the below video but OLP's Raine Maida had the CTC audience singing the national anthem late in their show in Ottawa last night. I've never seen anything like this at a rock concert before. The emotion in the arena was incredible.

Here are a couple of other clips from Our Lady Peace's amazing show in Ottawa last night. I always find myself thinking of Finn, from , during Clumsy in particular. She was fifteen when the book was released in 2009 which would make her around thirty-one now, but I know she'd still be hitting Our Lady Peace concerts.

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Happy Read an Ebook Week! You can find most of my C. K. Kelly Martin books at half price at this week to help you celebrate.Ìý

It's also a good time to pick up my latest sci-fi, RISE, TOMORROW GIRL, on sale. Set in 2050, in many ways RISE is a love letter to Canada.Ìý Healed of plague after years in cryogenic storage, a seventeen-year-old Canadian struggles to integrate into a world that's moved on without her and then must fight to stay alive, fleeing an American invasion.

Russian Mathematician Sofia Kovalevskaya wrote these words in 1888, and the message holds true across miles and years. Stay true. And in this case also, elbows up, Canada. I know Canadians will do what they can to support their neighbours and countrymen during this difficult time. We will never again feel the same way about the United States, a once valued friend and ally, no matter what happens from here on out. We will, however, do what we must for our national sovereignty. Because Canada is not the United States. We value different things, and we will control our own destiny, no matter what that costs in dollars and cents.

Like The Tragically Hip's Gord Downie sang in Wheat Kings,Ìý "You can't be fond of living in the past, 'Cause if you are, then there's no way that you're gonna last." Together we will move forward from where we currently stand, mindful of what matters, and we will weather the storm.

This country isn't perfect, but it has never stopped striving to be better. Canada is beautiful, strong, and free. And it's ours.

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With the same moderation changes that resulted in now set to roll out on Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Threads) it was time to pull up stakes and spend time places that respect facts and people instead. As for what you can expect at Meta moving forward:

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ÌýI've already left Facebook (and Twitter/X before that) and am currently in the process of packing up my Instagram account. Many of my favourite photographs from 2007 to the present have moved to . My final day on Instagram will be January 19th.ÌýÌýHere are some other places you can continue to find me:
� Bluesky:
� Spoutible:
� Mastodon:
� Tumblr:
� Flickr:
âœ� Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ: C. K. Kelly Martin
ÌýÌýOnce is available I'll post photos there too. And of course there are always my websites:





You can find up to date links to the social media networks I appear on at each website.Ìý

ÌýI’ve never doubted that Justin Trudeau loves this country and am gravely disappointed that he’s leaving under such fraught circumstances. We’ll never know what his fate might've been if Canada still had a free mainstream media (not owned by a foreign extreme right constantly in attack mode) and a hardcore social media disinformation campaign hadn’t been waged against Trudeau, in particular, and progressive movements in general. As one BlueSky user aptly described the mainstream media and social media onslaught: "2 years of character assassination."Ìý

A politician’s political life doesn’t last forever, but it shouldn’t have ended this way. Trudeau had a bright, optimistic and inclusive vision of Canada and at this point the party ahead in the polls stands for the polar opposite.

In happier days, at the Montreal Pride Parade, August 2016

In 2015 Trudeau ushered in Canada’s first gender-balanced cabinet, evenly split between men and women. He helped see Canadians through the early days of the COVID pandemic with the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) which was instrumental in keeping Canadian COVID fatalities markedly lower than those of the United States. In recent years Trudeau increased Old Age Security (OAS) benefits for seniors seventy-five and older by ten percent, launched a national $10-a-day child care program, and a dental care program for seniors and under 18s with an annual family income of less than $90,00.

The new social programs are unlikely to survive under a Conservative government and cuts to others, including healthcare funding, would . Poilievre voted to stop the dental care program, and a pharmacare program providing free diabetes and birth control, and in 2023 he voted to cut funding for surgery and emergency room wait times by $196.1 billion. Under a Conservative federal government pensions would be slashed too. Poilievre has already voted to increase eligibility for Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement eligibility from sixty-five to sixty-seven. In 2021 he also voted against the ten percent increase to OAS for seniors seventy-five and older. (Read more about Pierre Poilievre's record on pensions .)

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Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte and Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz.

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Thirty-five years ago today the fourteen young women pictured above were fatally shot at École Polytechnique in Montréal because of their gender. The pain of this day never ends. I was attending university in Toronto on the day of the massacre and will never forget it. Your boundless hopes, dreams, ambitions and adventures, some men—having internalized to greater degree than others the patriarchal values and toxic masculinity that still course through our society—don't want you to have these things and would cut you down rather than watch you thrive.Ìý

As a nation we haven't really begun to deal with the misogyny behind this massacre decades later. Femicide should have been added to Canada's Criminal Code many years ago. I hope it will happen now. Recently when they used the term to describe the murder of Jennifer Zabarylo at the hands of her husband.

Misogyny and violence against women should have no place in Canadian society and yet women in Canada are still assaulted or killed daily simply because they are female. Women are more likely than men to report experiencing violent crime at some point since age fifteen. Women are five times more likely than men to experience sexual assault. Women are more likely to experience elder abuse from a family member and account for 58% of senior survivors of family violence. For girls and young women in the north, the rate of violence against them is exceptionally—four times higher than in Canada’s overall population. (See these stats and more at )

You can read more about each of the young women killed in École Polytechnique 35 years ago on the CBC feature, .

On Saturday I dropped off a couple of my books at the Little Library on Perth's Gore Street, and spent some time in their heavenly Stewart Park. The perfect way to see out summer!

ÌýToday my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ contest is live.ÌýIf you're in Canada or the U.S. you can enter to win a signed copy of Rise, Tomorrow Girl plus my first sci-fi, Yesterday. Click on the below image to be taken to the giveaway.
ÌýÌýÌýThe giveaway books arrived early this afternoon and are waiting for good homes to go to! If you like sci-fi set in the not distant future and enjoy Canadian settings then these might be your jam. They're housebroken and require no food or water.




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ÌýYou can now pre-order e-copies of my upcoming sci-fi RISE, TOMORROW GIRL at Amazon and Google. On June 21st e-copies will also be available at Apple, Barnes & Noble and Kobo, and paperbacks via Amazon. More info available and read chapter one on the , the home of my speculative fiction.

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