Canadians across the country have responded with outrage following the October 14th death of Robert Dziekanski. This Saturday, November 24th, a group of Torontonians are planning on having their collective voices heard. The protest is organized to start at 12:00 noon in Queen's Park. The aim of the event is to continue to provide media awareness to the issue at hand as well as to offer a moment of silence and a candlelight vigil for Dziekanski. Similar protests will be held on Saturday in Vancouver and Victoria.

Numerous speakers are scheduled to attend including the NDP justice critic, Liberal critic, and representatives from the Canadian Civil Liberties Coalition and the Polish Consulate.

For more information visit http://nototasers.pbwiki.com, http://www.abcradio.ca, or the Facebook group for the event.

Image: Screen capture from video hosted on Canoe.ca.

Halloween is one week away! But there's so much to do before the big day!
You need to get a costume, get some candy, and then figure out exactly what you're going to do that night.
Whether you're planning a big night on the town, a party at home, or a night of handing out candy to trick-or-treaters, this guide should give you some ideas.

Today, Monday October 22nd, is decision day. In July Toronto city council narrowly voted to delay the decision on two controversial new taxes until after the October provincial election. Well, the election has come and gone, with no political party paying much interest to the issue (it seemed to have gotten lost somewhere in the whole faith-based schools saga.) The vote is apparently scheduled for around 9:30 - 10:00 in the morning. Though the "yes" vote seems to be gaining momentum amongst council members, no one is really sure which side will come out on top and reportedly many councilors are still not sure how they will be voting.

But what exactly are they voting on?

It was unseasonably warm today. As I write this it's already gotten dark out, and it's 17 degrees in Toronto. The average temperature for October is typically around 9 degrees.

But that's not the only strange thing about today's Environment Canada weather map. Looking above the map of the country I saw a banner ad.

A banner ad? On a government website? Yes. And not only is it a banner ad but it reads "Speech from the Throne - Strong Leadership. A Better Canada." Okay, if the government is going to put ads on the weather website the Speech from the Throne is a good thing to advertise about. More Canadians should be knowledgeable about what is announced in the Speech from the Throne. But look closer at it. It's blue. And white. And that slogan seems familiar. Of course, that's the slogan of the Conservatives' "election campaign before there's an election" campaign.

A partisan banner ad on a government website?

Ontario voters have elected a second straight Liberal majority. The province was painted red yet again as Dalton McGuinty lead his party to its first consecutive majority in 70 years. PC leader John Tory not only lost his bid to become Premier, he also lost his seat in parliament. Kathleen Wynne, the current education minister, defeated Tory in the riding of Don Valley West. John Tory is the first party leader to lose his or her seat in 17 years. It appeared, however, that Tory is planning on remaining leader of the party despite the loss.

Toronto voters did not change their allegiances in the last four years. Out of the 24 Toronto ridings, 19 ridings went to the Liberals, four went to the NDP, and the PC only managed one, as Julia Munro was victorious in York-Simcoe. The 905 region elected 15 Liberals and 5 Conservatives.

Today is election day. It is also referendum day. Some of you have probably already voted. Some of you are planning on voting later today. Some of you are likely undecided. And some of you have already decided that you're not going to vote.

The main reason that people do not vote is because they feel their vote does not matter. Proponents of the Mixed Member Proportional system believe that instituting their system of choice will cause more votes to matter. "Every vote counts and no party gets more or less than it earned at the ballot box" claims the main page of VoteForMMP.ca.

Of course, not everyone agrees. NoMMP.ca counters that "the proposed MMP system shifts power from the local voter in ridings across Ontario to the power brokers at Queen's Park."