Happy Dominion Day

Happy Dominion Day,
That's how it once was known,
Celebrating being free of England,
Still loyal to the Crown,

But autonomous in every way,
Well, 'least the country is,
Those inside it, well depends who you are,
All countries judge you by your origins,

Now we all celebrate Canada day,
Well, the government does,
Those inside it respond in diff'ring ways,
Often depending on their origins,

We have a lot to be proud of, you know,
Universal healthcare,
Basic respect for individuals,
Regardless of from where,

Or what they think,
In both those things I'm proud,
Rather grateful, it should be a given,
But life's made up of silence versus loud.

Not As Bad As Some

I look out my window,
See the fence around me,
Owned by someone else I pay for the right,,
To call it 'property',

For what was a high price ten years ago,
Now's basically a steal,
Until he decides he'd like his fence back,
Then there's nowhere in this town I could deal,

But this is not just where my house is found,
It is also my home,
I'm tied to it by offspring living here,
Not facts you need to know,

It's not so bad,
I'm not living through drought,
Persecuted, or under oppression,
With freedom to decide my own way out.

What Else Is There To Talk About?

I am Canadian,
That is where I was born,
So why do I focus so much outside?
We are not virtue porn,

Once a colony of the great U.K.,
Yes, France, you had some, too,
Indigenous peoples often cheated,
To give a horrid history nice hues,

The world's longest unprotected border,
Shared with the U.S.,
Like leaving the door unlocked in good faith,
In truth, under duress,

For, whatya think,
If they need anything,
From our house, do you think that they will knock,
When, really, they don't even need the key?

In Arctic News

Canada's last ice shelf,
Collapsed without fanfare,
An area larger than Manhattan,
Went poof, into thin air,

Into open water and high heat, too,
What a contribution,
For sixty years, temps risen faster there,
THey call it arctic amplification,

So now all that fresh water is ocean,
It took about three days,
The irony is that more open seas,
Increases the sun's rays,

Something like that,
I doubt you care, do ya?
Maybe the ocean levels will rise up,
To put out wildfires in California.

We're Back, Baby

It is time to relax,
It's all under control,
High fives and hugs spread all over the place,
Let's let the good times roll!

Or is it that we know that if we don't,
There's other aftermaths,
Like the sixteen weeks of CERB running out?
For poverty, as of yet, there's no masks,

So, we try to get back to our normal,
Which is one of many.
Don't think capitalist economy,
Is what we're meant to be.

But I digress,
The point's we're back on track!
We can all return to the ideal life,
We all lived before the SARS 2 attack.

The Duty Of Leaders

Some people are asking,
How our prime minister,
Can kneel in the middle of a protest,
Against George Floyd's murder,

When he hasn't solved racism right here.
How dare he claim the right?
Before I answer, let me reminisce,
With wisdom of twenty-twenty hindsight,

When a president responded with ire,
To citizen unrest,
With proclamations of indignation,
Spouting force, deadliest.

What if, instead,
He had expressed remorse,
Acknowledged the injustice systemic,
Encouraging all join him on that course?

Medicine Unbundled

The Indian Problem,
Canada called it that,
There was a suppressed people still living,
An inconvenient fact,

So it stifled data about abuse,
Across all departments,
Over-administration of vaccines,
Causing cancer in most of the patients,

Removal of lungs as a TB cure,
Death a common outcome,
Sterilization without one's consent,
Official reg'lation,

It is all true,
It hasn't ended yet,
The survivors of these and much more,
Are still a problem for this government.

Indian Horse

There are things that are wrong,
That's what his body knew,
Without his family to tell him so,
His mind hid it, in lieu,

Pushed him instead to the happy actions,
Hockey distracted pain,
But then even that was taken from him,
The prejudice of the whites was insane,

He was forced fight instead of playing,
His only freedom lost,
They told him that he had a chance at life,
But left out at what cost.

What would you do?
Numb the pain with drinking?
Try to escape from this world of abuse,
That called you names as it watched you sinking?

Women's March on Washington: Toronto

White's End of Protest,
Says marches just don't work,
A new kind of resistance must be found,
To the tyrant that lurks,

There's value in thinking outside the box,
That's where true vision's found,
Micah says activism can't rely,
On public demonstrations in downtown,

We must move to the fringes of cities,
Slowly work our way in,
'Fore the powers that be know what hit them,
We've got revolution!

I hear his words,
Let's also not dismiss,
The unifying power of the scene,
Of thousands marching against unfairness.

A Liberal Nudge

The honeymoon's over,
The excitement's waning,
There is a short period of time now,
'Fore the flames need fanning,

Not that intentions weren't sincere,
But it is how things go,
All your good plans become a house of cards,
If you do not deliver them, Trudeau,

Not saying any of it is easy,
That's how you captured hearts,
But, bigger the promise, the more you hurt,
When they are all missed darts,

Good luck to you,
You may pull it out, yet,
If the world cooperates with your plans,
And you figure how to minimize debt.

Buy Target

So Target is leaving,
Not a long run, fellers,
Seventeen thousand jobs gone just like that,
Should have stuck with Zellers,

Man, they had a niche no one was touching,
'Tween Goodwill and Targé,
Now all their former stores will be empty,
But Target sure isn't going away,

There's still th'executives who made this move,
Down south of the border,
While the unskilled and newly unemployed,
Are a little older.

Is this step one,
To the revolution?
The more people that learn what poor's about,
The more this system will seem perversion.

Gomeshi Turns Himself In

So he's turned himself in,
Not guilty is his plea,
One hundred grand of bail in his pocket,
He can pay to be free,

Though he's missing the two for one bargain,
For time spent on remand,
If he's jailed for the hitting and choking,
He'll serve full time and lose the hundred grand!

He must have some confidence with Henein,
"Good as they get," I've scanned,
Defending a man by now convicted,
By public opinion.

If he's set free,
Will that prove everything?
Do the courts hold sway over the people's mind,
Like Ferguson and Michael Brown's shooting?

Oil Sands Battle

Is it really worth it,
To be worried about,
Something like the affect of the Oil Sands,
On Canada's devout,

Desire to protect Mother Nature?
Probably I'd say, 'yes',
But there's another reason to fight them,
That tends to generate more true duress,

It is the chance that the economy,
Is being affected,
That the high dollar's killing worker's jobs,
Like Mulcair predicted.

It's the fear that,
The people might just rise,
Tree-huggers, unions and the struggling class.
The blues need more prop'ganda I surmise!

Back on Smack - I Mean Track

Now that engrossment's gone,
Like Mandela's demise,
Ukraine and Thailand protests, Jung-on's unk,
Have been moved down the line,

We'll return to Rob Ford,
The police have released more evidence,
By order of a judge,
And everyone's suspense,

So now we know that he's done heroine,
Not really a big shock,
He offered five kay and a car for him,
On film while smoking rock.

He's still all smiles,
Nor will police arrest,
Begging the biggest, ultimate question,
Is he forgiven by the elect'rate?

Good Luck for Ford

It's no surprise the polls,
Have remained high for Ford,
Much to the chagrin of so-called thinkers,
Who think voters want more,

But in fact they just want less for themselves,
Mostly want less taxes,
And while Rob gets paid, but can't change a thing,
What they see's that council now relaxes,

Free of the tether Ford put on the train,
Property tax goes up,
Yes, partly to pay for the Scarb'rough subway,
Which is the mayor's luck,

'Cause there's no plan,
He never worked with one,
The budget was in surplus when he won.
Now the city's cash-strapped with dwindling funds.

Sorry, Can't Ignore Ford

Don't need the BBC,
To catch up on Rob Ford,
Just wait five minutes in a crowded room,
The topic's in full force,

This time he said 'pussy',
He said 'PUSSY' to a room of news hounds,
Other than stunned gaffaws,
The 'ffect was to dumbfound.

Now when he speaks in the council chamber,
The councilors turn their back,
He's threatening to sue is former staff,
For what the police asked.

If there's no crime,
He's managed to create,
A new tone at Toronto City Hall,
Which, if he's re-ellected's, here to stay

Ford's Beyond Reproach - Far Beyond

It's all come to a head,
Mayor Ford's been called out,
By council after a police report,
Revealed sev'ral more counts,

Information gleaned from former staffers,
I should just make a list:
He drank on the job, they'd go buy him more,
Too, they got called names like, "liberal bitch",

One night he was seen with a prostitute,
Racial slurs were common,
One staffer refused a drive home from him,
After he chugged, like, rum.

Well, 'twas Vodka,
I changed it for the rhyme,
'Cause there's not much else I can add to this,
It's gone past something I can criticize.

The New WWF - World Wrestling Ford

It's purely fantastic!
Enough to enthrall,
The wrestling sideshow taking place o'er at,
Toronto City Hall,

First up's the Iron Sheik,
Who visits the office of Mayor Ford,
Decrying his crack use,
Which the Sheik's used before,

Then there's the footage of Rob's wrestler rant,
Who shows up the same day?
Brutus the Barber Beefcake with advice,
'Bout Rob changing his ways!

It's just surreal,
I'm really hoping then,
That the Honky Tonk Man enters the ring,
A once rival of Ford's ally Hogan.

Step One of Twelve for Ford

I guess I can't ignore,
The latest from Rob Ford,
He stood in front of the world yesterday,
And he gave this report:

“Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine,” the man said,
Embarrassing, but smug,
He said, "I kept this from my family,"
But more, "Especially from my brother Doug,"

But he won't step down as T.O.'s mayor,
"The past is the past", yo,
"I was elected to do a job" and,
There's a lot more to go.

He might be right,
Act'lly may be his goal,
There's so much to distract from his record,
Voters may not see'ee's not fulfilled his role.

I Don't Think Ford's Done

It's hard not to report,
As if the world don't know,
That the footage of Mayor Ford's been found,
Of him smoking crack, yo,

It's been the linchpin that's never been there,
Though, 'spite what the news gleaned,
Rob never said that it didn't exist,
He said it's one "that I have never seen..."

Now you have to wonder if it matters,
I know we care downtown,
We pinkos who listen to those maggots,
But those living around,

Everyone else,
They think he's a great guy,
Nothing's come out but that he may smoke drugs,
Which you could argue's his personal life.