Hi All,

Hamilton Conference held its 90th Annual General Meeting in Port Elgin this past weekend for the third time we were are the CAW Family Education Centre (now known as the Unifor Family Education Centre).

As is usual we paid respects to retirees and jubilands, ordained and commissioned several to various ministries within the United Church and accepted into our denomination a transfer from the Presbyterian Church in Canada.

Given the number of threads about the debate and therefore focussing on the leaders, I thought it might be interesting to hear what's happening in different parts of the country on the ground; in the local ridings.

I live in the riding of Welland in the Niagara Peninsula, consisting of the cities of Welland, Port Colborne and Thorold and the Township of Wainfleet and the southern part of the City of St. Catharines.

The 2011 election will have an enormous impact on our lives. Now more than ever, all faith voices need to be heard in the political process. To help you consider important issues and get involved in this process of decision-making, the United Church has created the 2011 Federal Election Kit.

http://www.united-church.ca/getinvolved/takeaction/election

Well, the latest from our fair province is that our government, led by Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals, are considering granting corporations the right to vote in municipal elections. If this was granted, we would be the only jurisdiction in Canada to allow such a thing. Here's a clip from a  Policy Note from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives on what's to come if this is permitted (click for the full article) :

I was watching the news on TV tonight - CBC, I think - when I heard a statement that was so ordinary, it almost blew by me. It was propaganda delivered as news. And I'm sure it was not deliberate. I'm sure it was just an example of how our perceptions get in the way of understanding what it really going on.