Quebec songwriter Gilles Vigneault's heart 'broken' by PQ loss

"Mon pays," the refrain goes, "ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver." In English: My country is not a country, it is winter.

Penned almost 50 years ago by Gilles Vigneault, Mon pays is a song of love and longing that became the anthem of the movement for Québec independence.

Also on The Sunday Edition this week:

Michael's Essay - The Shop That Ties Built: Reflections on the era of haberdashery.

Murray Sinclair: The chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission talks about what happened to seven generations of aboriginal children who attended residential schools and the impact he hopes his report will have on Canadians.

Michael Bryant on Rob Ford: The former attorney general of Ontario, who is a recovering alcoholic, on the toxic mix of politics and addiction, and a very public fall from grace.

Life Lines - Rita Chiarelli: Canada's "Queen of the Blues" found a book of poetry someone had thrown away and discovered a poem that had an impact on her life. This segment is part of the show's ongoing series "Life Lines."

The Evils of Sugar: In the world according to science journalist Gary Taubes, there is nothing good about sugar and even less about the industry that promotes it.

Whither the NFB: Zoe Druick of Simon Fraser University has studied the history of the National Film Board. As the NFB celebrates its 75th anniversary, she talks about its challenges and prospects.

Now, in the wake of the stunning electoral defeat of the Parti Québécois a few weeks ago, the words take on new meaning.

Longtime devotees of sovereignty — Vigneault among them — are still grappling with the scope of it.

"It was a traitement de shock," he acknowledges. But Vigneault remains determined. "Shock treatment can hurt, but it will not kill the intention of being a country."

Vigneault was born in 1928 in the remote fishing village of Natashquan on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River. His first record came out in 1962, at the dawn of Quebec's Quiet Revolution. Since then, there have been 50 more albums, plus dozens of books of fables, short stories and poems.

Vigneault is now 85. He has won multiple honours and is a household name in Québec, and his latest album, Vivre debout (Stand Tall), is flying off the shelves.

Rare interview opportunity

The singer rarely gives interviews in English, but he welcomed me into his studio in Ste-Placide, a small town on the Ottawa River where he has lived for more than 40 years.

His studio is in a former restaurant in the middle of town, on rue René Lévesque, next door to a parking lot for tractors. When I open the unlocked door and step inside, Vigneault is standing by the counter, instantly recognizable with his prominent nose, unruly white hair and quick, toothy smile.

He waves me over and pours some green tea.

And then he takes me back to 1965, to the birth of Mon pays, the song that shaped his career and catapulted him into the role of Québec's national troubadour.

At the time, Vigneault was acting in La neige a fondu sur la Manicouagan, a film in northern Quebec directed by Arthur Lamothe. He told Vigneault he needed a song.

Vigneault's signature song, Mon pays, was released in 1965, and made him a star in Quebec. (Ronald Labelle)

As a joke, Vigneault sat right down and "began to write for fun: 'Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver.'" Lamothe loved it.

Vigneault worked on it overnight, and by morning he was able to sing it for the director. Over the last half century, he has sung it thousands of times.

"It is still new for me," he says.

"Back then, I had plenty of dreams about that country that should logically be independent. We are not against Canada. We try to be for us - separate [but] stay friends."

Lyrical preoccupations

One of the songs on Vigneault's new album is called L'isoloire, the voting booth.

Dans mon isoloire

J'ai quelques secondes

Pour changer le monde

Je prends le pouvoir

De me faire un nid

Au coeur de l'histoire

Et de ma croix noire

Me faire un pays…

"In the voting booth," the lyrics go, "I have a couple of seconds to change the world. I have the power to make a nest in the heart of history, and with my black X to build a country."

On April 7, Québecers did use their power, putting black Xs on their ballots. The PQ and the sovereignty movement were handed a stinging, overwhelming defeat that resulted in Liberal Philippe Couillard, a strong federalist, becoming the new Québec Premier.

"My heart was broken. I am not the Oracle after all," says Vigneault. "The Parti Québécois had become an old party and had forgotten youth."

Gilles Vigneault's latest album is called Vivre debout. (Tandem.mu)

Still, Vigneault says he is convinced the French language can only be protected in an independent Québec.

"A friend of mine lived in Dunrea [Manitoba]," he says, "and when he was young, the proportion was that 70 per cent would speak French. He returned some years ago, and the proportion is inverted, 20 per cent speak French and 80 per cent speak English. The culture and the language in the province of Manitoba has almost disappeared in 50 years."

Vigneault the pamphleteer

At 85, Vigneault is still asking provocative questions about Canadian and world affairs.

"Why are we not all more compassionate?" he wonders.

Vivre debout is classic Vigneault. His voice is still scratchy but heartfelt, his lyrics rich with metaphor, where love, nature and politics are all entangled.

The song Uranium is a protest against plans for a mine near Natashquan, Vigneault's birthplace. In six verses, Vigneault packs in the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Geiger counters, solar power and rural development. He rhymes uranium with geranium, and wonders how the First Nations people are ever going to explain radiation to the caribou.

Mine promoters take a predictable beating. "Some people came to Natashquan," Vigneault says, "to explain to [citizens] that they were sitting on a fortune and there would be jobs and jobs and fortunes and development."

He says, "The people of Natashquan said no. I was so proud of this."

But while he continues to speak out passionately on the issues that move him, he is feeling his eight and a half decades. Last year, there was a health scare, and from now on, Vigneault will be giving fewer concerts.

That suits him fine, as he will spend more time at home in Ste-Placide with his wife, Alison Foy. This spring, he collected sap from his own maple trees and made syrup.

The last cut on Vivre debout is a poem, Petit bilan provisoire. A little look back, a little review.

J'apprends lentement qu'à me taire

Je ne me fais plus d'ennemis

Le monde ressemble à la terre

On récolte autant qu'on a mis.

Gilles Vigneault says he's learned over the years that sometimes it is better to be quiet and that there is no use in making enemies. People are like the earth, he says. You reap what you sow.

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Pro-Russian activists attack police station in Ukraine's Odesa

Pro-Russian activists surrounded a police station during a rally Sunday in Ukraine's southern Black Sea port city of Odesa as Ukrainian interior ministry security forces members tried to hold them back.

A woman reacts on Saturday as she stands near flowers and lit candles placed in memory of people killed in recent street battles between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian supporters, outside a trade union building in the Black Sea port of Odessa. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

Reuters reports hundreds of people, calling for the release of their detained comrades, forced their way through a gate and broke windows.

In a separate development, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk accused Russia of engineering clashes in Odesa that led to the deaths of more than 40 pro-Russian activists in a blazing building on Friday.

Yatseniuk, speaking in Odesa on Sunday, criticized police forces in the Black Sea port city, suggesting they were more interested in the fruits of corruption than maintaining order. Had they done their job, he said, "these terrorist organizations would have been foiled."

Friday's clashes pushed the country closer to civil war and were the most deadly since Moscow-oriented president Viktor Yanukovich was forced to flee in February and pro-Russian militants launched uprisings in the industrial east. They also marked the first serious disorder outside eastern areas since Yanukovich fell, heralding possible future trouble for Kyiv.

"There were dozens of casualties resulting from a well-prepared and organized action against people, against Ukraine and against Odesa," Yatseniuk told representatives of social organizations.

He dismissed Russian accusations that his government was provoking bloodshed in the east with an operation to restore Kyiv's authority in a series of cities under rebel control.

"The process of dialogue had begun, only it was drowned out by the sound of shooting from automatic rifles of Russian production," he said.

The former Soviet republic of Ukraine is divided between a largely Russian-speaking population in the industrial east and Ukrainian-speaking west, where more pro-European Union views prevail. Moscow says Russian-speakers face threats from Ukrainian nationalist militants, an accusation Kyiv denies.

On Sunday, authorities in Ukraine said government forces reclaimed a television tower during a security operation to quell pro-Russian rebel activity in the town of Kramatorsk.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a statement on his Facebook page that a new assault to reclaim control over Kramatorsk by the National Guard and armed forces began at dawn.

People pass by the burned-out trade union building, the site of recent street battles between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian supporters, in the Black Sea port of Odesa, on Sunday. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

The city saw a standoff Saturday that culminated in insurgents setting buses alight to ward off attacks. Russian state television has reported 10 deaths, including two among government forces, during clashes in Kramatorsk so far. Those figures could not be independently confirmed.

At least 12 government armoured personnel carriers were spotted driving through the town Saturday, although they appeared to have returned to their base at a military airfield on the edge of the city by day's end.

Efforts to counteract the insurgency have focused mostly on the nearby town of Slovyansk; authorities are currently seeking to form a security cordon around that city.

The blockade has already resulted in a spate of panic-buying in the city with long lines forming outside grocery stores.

A woman argues with members from the Ukrainian Interior Ministry security forces during a rally outside a trade union building in Odesa on Saturday. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly claimed victories in capturing checkpoints surrounding the city, although such boasts have often proven overstated.

Government buildings have been seized by pro-Russian forces in more than a dozen or so cities and town across eastern Ukraine.

Andriy Parubiy, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, said an "anti-terrorist operation" will be carried out in towns beyond Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, according to Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

Traffic around the Donetsk region, where the insurgency is strongest, has been impeded by a proliferation barricades manned by men armed variously with sticks, automatic rifles and handguns.

The goals of the insurgency are ostensibly geared toward pushing for broad powers of autonomy. Russia, which the international community has accused of promoting the unrest, has vociferously condemned recent Ukrainian security operations in the east.

Tensions soared Friday when dozens of anti-government protesters died while trapped in a fire in the city of Odesa.

The self-styled Donetsk People's Republic says it plans to hold a referendum on autonomy by May 11, but with less than a week remaining, little visible effort has been to make that vote happen.

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Obama jokes about Putin, politics at annual correspondents' dinner

U.S. President Barack Obama joked about Russian President Vladimir Putin and issues much closer to home as he headlined the White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday night.

The annual tradition has the president mocking others and himself as celebrities mingle with journalists and politicians.

Obama made fun of conservative television hosts' talk about Putin's bare chest and one's comment last year about Putin being headed for a Nobel Peace Prize. "To be fair, they give those to just about anybody these days," said Obama, a laureate himself.

The president also joked about opposition claims that he had been born overseas instead of the United States.

Looking ahead to a possible successor in office, Obama said it will be a lot harder for Republicans to prove that Hillary Rodham Clinton was born in Kenya.

The president poked fun at CNN's extensive coverage of the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane. He said he was still jet-lagged from his visit in recent days to Malaysia and added, "The lengths we have to go to get CNN coverage these days!"

Actor and comedian Joel McHale, star of the NBC series Community, speaks with first lady Michelle Obama during the correspondents' association dinner. (Jacquelyn Martin/The Associated Press)

Obama also turned the humour on himself and his difficult 2013, including the deeply troubled rollout of the website for his health care overhaul.

First Lady Michelle Obama accompanied him to the black tie event, and Joel McHale, star of the NBC series Community, was the dinner's featured entertainer.

Rob Ford jokes

A few of McHale's jabs took aim at Toronto's Mayor Ford as the comedian said he was thrilled to be in Washington "the city that started the whole crack-smoking mayor craze."

Former D.C. mayor Marion Barry was videotaped smoking crack cocaine and subsequently arrested in 1990.

"People say Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is a clumsy mess but he can't help it, he's a big guy," McHale said. "He's like a bull in a crack pipe shop."

Celebrities attending included Sofia Vergara and the stars of Washington-centric shows like Veep and Scandal.

The dinner has often come at key moments of Obama's presidency. In 2011, Obama showed up the day before special operations troops killed Osama bin Laden. Last year's dinner came nearly two weeks after the deadly Boston Marathon.

This time, the U.S. and Europe are anxiously watching Ukraine and Russia's role in the turbulence in the eastern region of the former Soviet state.

Journalists honoured

The correspondent's association, which represents the White House press corps, is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Several journalists were awarded prizes for their coverage of the presidency and national issues.

Glenn Thrush of Politico and Brianna Keilar of CNN won the Aldo Beckman Award, which recognizes excellence in the coverage of the presidency.

Peter Baker of The New York Times and Peter Maer of CBS News won the Merriman Smith Award for deadline coverage.

Megan Twohey of Reuters and a partnership between The Center for Public Integrity's Chris Hamby and ABC News' Matthew Mosk and Brian Ross won the Edgar A. Poe Award for coverage of issues of national significance.

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Montreal on alert as Habs-Bruins series comes home for Game 3

With tensions already running high between the hometown Canadiens and their arch rival Boston Bruins, city officials say they're staying vigilant to ensure the passion doesn't morph into mayhem on Montreal streets.

The city has garnered a reputation during recent NHL playoff runs for its jubilant, spontaneous celebrations that occasionally deteriorate into rampages highlighted by vandalism, looting and violence.

In the only Canadian city hosting playoff hockey this year and with the team's biggest rivals in town, authorities say they're ready for anything with the series tied 1-1 heading back to Montreal.

Anie Samson, a member of the city's executive committee, said the administration is prepared ahead of Tuesday's Game 3 at the Bell Centre.

"We are concerned about (potential problems), but we are working with the police and we have a plan," said the city councillor in charge of public security. "We are ready and we hope it's going to work."

The city is expected to decide whether it will limit traffic on Ste-Catherine Street on game nights. The downtown core is always ground zero for both the celebration and the carnage.

History of hooliganism

A burned-out police cruiser sits in downtown Montreal as violence erupted following the Montreal Canadiens' elimination of the Boston Bruins in game 7 of the first round of Stanley Cup playoffs in Montreal, Monday, April 21, 2008. At least five police cars were torched and many others were vandalized long after the bulk of a massive crowd had dispersed after celebrating the Canadiens playoff victory. (Peter McCabe/CP)

Montreal's history of Stanley Cup riots is well-documented, with the Canadiens' most recent Stanley Cup triumphs in 1986 and 1993 marred by hooliganism. What's more alarming is that in recent years, an early-round victory has been enough to set off rioting.

The worst came in April 2008 after the Canadiens' seventh-game playoff win against the Bruins. It culminated with police cars being burned and downtown businesses being looted.

At least 16 people were arrested and damages to police property was evaluated at $500,000.

The looting played out again in May 2010, with windows smashed amid clashes between rioters and police on Ste-Catherine Street following a defeat of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round. There were more than 25 arrests and police were able to track down other vandals and looters using images and videos that were widely circulated on social media. Some citizens even sent police their own images, angry at the acts of mischief.

Montreal police Sgt. Laurent Gingras said he could not go into specific tactics on dealing with potential trouble.

"The message we're sending is that it's OK for you to celebrate, but we're here and we'll keep an eye out," Gingras said in an interview.

Those smashed windows and images of looting are still fresh for some downtown business owners. An association that represents them says there is always some trepidation.

"There's a certain level of worry because we've felt the negative effects during the playoffs," said André Poulin, who heads Destination Centre-Ville. "But at the same time, we're confident the police will deploy necessary resources to protect our businesses."

Police on their toes

Watch the raw video at the top of this story for a dust-up between rival fans in Boston after Game 2, c/o Andie Bennett.

Police are a lot better versed in dealing with massive crowds this time around. Student protests that were a near-nightly occurrence in 2012 allowed many officers to get hands-on experience as well as for the brain trust to put tactical theory into practice.

"We've improved the way certain (tactical) groups work (because of 2012) and the officers have all gained a tremendous amount of experience on the ground," said Gingras.

Gingras notes there is better communication — both with the public through Twitter and with businesses through a variety of tools to ensure everyone is prepared. There is also increased efficiency in moving around town, with bicycle units and horse cavalry having been added since 2008.

The plan is evolving, game-by-game, Gingras said.

"We're keeping a close eye, we know when the games are on and we change the plan accordingly," said Gingras. "That will obviously change if the team goes deeper into the playoffs."

Police were on the ready after the Canadiens engineered a four-game first round sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning. No one was arrested, although one person was cited for excessive use of a car horn.

But the Bruins series brings a different level of intensity. It was in Montreal in March 2011 when a hit to Max Pacioretty by Bruins captain Zdeno Chara led to the city's 911 service being inundated with criminal complaints.

The Canadiens hockey club will keep its focus on the ice.

Team spokesman Donald Beauchamp said the Habs will leave it to the city to follow the situation. During previous incidents, police have said it wasn't Habs fans involved, rather people using the cover of tens of thousands of revellers to cause damage.

"It's not where the problem arises from, it's not people inside the Bell Centre," Beauchamp said from Boston. "It's more of a public situation and in this case, the authorities have taken the matter into their own hands, and very properly."

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How a trendy French economist could help Ontario's Wynne win: Don Pittis

Capital in the Twenty-First Century, a book by French elite scholar Thomas Piketty, has become an unlikely bestseller.

Less than a month after its English edition appeared in the United States, the book has lit a fire amongst the world's scribbling classes. Print copies of the book have sold out, while the digital edition has gone to number one on Amazon.

Here in Ontario, just about the last thing Premier Kathleen Wynne did before calling a provincial election for June 12 was release a Piketty-esque budget, which opposition parties rejected.

Now, in a real-world test, the people of Ontario will have a chance to prove whether the popularity of the Piketty principles extend beyond the ivory towers.

Piketty's book is a reasoned argument that economic inequality is not only bad for capitalism but is a natural outgrowth of unrestrained capitalism. It claims to prove that the only way to get the global economy back on track is through intervention by governments. As such, it is a rabbit punch to the belly of traditional free-market thinking.

Premier Wynne has not officially aligned herself with Piketty. But with the policies laid out in the Liberal budget — higher taxes on the rich; a pension for people threatened with poverty in old age; a higher minimum wage; higher payroll taxes on the private sector — Wynne seems to be positioning herself as the Piketty Premier.

"The book's success has a lot to do with being about the right subject at the right time," says The Economist magazine in an article this week. Certainly the media, left and right, is flooded with reviews and commentary on Piketty and his thoughts. Those who agree call his ideas revolutionary. Critics call him a dangerous ideologue.

At the time of the Occupy movement, commentators like yours truly were critical of the economic status quo, but Piketty gives such feelings the credibility and heft of a Grande école economist.

Picketty is not the only credible voice warning of the growing rich-poor split. The International Monetary Fund took a similar line. And just this week, the rich countries' think tank, the OECD, pointed to Canada as one of those countries where the greatest proportion of wealth goes to the richest.

After releasing a budget that was rejected by both opposition parties, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne called an election for June 12. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

​

The OECD's recommendations — higher taxes on those with the most money — could have been written by Picketty.

If voters all agreed with the OECD and Picketty, you might think Premier Wynne would be a shoo-in to win the upcoming spring election. But despite all the ivory-tower advice, raising taxes, even on the rich, has not proven itself to be a political winner.

The poorest don't typically vote. Neither do they donate to political campaigns. Besides, no matter how far the Wynne government goes in taxing the rich or raising the minimum wage, many voters on the left will say it is merely window-dressing.

While Wynne may hope to grab votes from the New Democratic Party, saying they should have accepted an NDP-friendly budget, there will always be those on the left who say her policies do not go far enough.

Finally, the competing ideology that low taxes and free enterprise are the ultimate engine of economic success is an idea that is far from dead. Piketty and others compare our current era with that of the Gilded Age, that great period of inequality at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. But that age of mansions and hovels, masters and servants, did not end easily.

It took the shock of two world wars and the Great Depression to bring in a government willing to shake off the power and influence of the richest and redistribute wealth more evenly. We have certainly not yet reached a crisis of those proportions.

While pessimists say we are on the inevitable road to ruin, many of those who vote continue to put their faith in a business-led recovery. It appears those who disagree are not worried enough to put their differences aside. It may well be that the time has not yet come for a Piketty Premier.

Don Pittis is on Twitter @don_pittis

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A Canadian mystery: Why was pot criminalized in 1923?

Pot activists in Canada and elsewhere will be taking part today in what's being billed as a "Global Marijuana March." In this country, they will be calling for the decriminalization of marijuana.

They might also ask why it became illegal in the first place.

That happened in 1923, and if there was any kind of parliamentary debate historians have been unable to find a record of it.

When Parliament decided to add marijuana to the schedule of proscribed drugs that year, Canada became one of the first countries to making smoking pot illegal. The U.S. didn't accomplish that until 14 years later, in the midst of the Great Depression.

In 1923, then prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberal government introduced an Act to Prohibit the Improper Use of Opium and other Drugs. The federal health minister at the time, Henri Beland, said the bill was a consolidation of other legislation that had been passed over the previous few years, with some changes.

At the time, the only drugs on the schedule were opium, morphine, cocaine and eucaine (a local anesthetic first introduced as a substitute for cocaine).

The new bill added three drugs to the proscribed list: heroin, codeine and "cannabis indica (Indian hemp) or hasheesh."

The only mention of the proposed changes to the schedule recorded in Hansard was on April 23, when Beland told the House of Commons, "There is a new drug in the schedule."

In fact, there were actually three new drugs. Historian Catherine Carstairs says Beland was likely referring to cannabis when he said there was "a new drug," because in the government's view, "the other two are extensions of other products that had already been added to the schedule."

Carstairs is the author of Jailed for Possession: Illegal Drug Use, Regulation and Power in Canada, 1920-1961 and chair of the University of Guelph's history department.

Police estimated 2,000 people gathered on the lawns of Parliament Hill for the marijuana rally in Ottawa on April 20. (Justin Tang/Canadian Press)

The next month, on May 3, when it was the Senate's turn to review the legislation, Raoul Dandurand, the Liberal government's leader in the Senate, told his colleagues, "There is only one addition to the schedule: Cannabis Indica (Indian Hemp) or hasheesh."

And, in what may be the most detailed account of these 1923 events, the authors of the 1991 book Panic and Indifference: The Politics of Canada's Drug Laws, state that the health department's narcotic division's files contain a draft of the bill that does not include cannabis. There are also several carbon copies, and to one of them was added, "Cannabis Indica (Indian Hemp) or hasheesh."

It seems no one knows who added that phrase, or ordered it added. But both the House and the Senate agreed to the additions without any discussion.

Heroin and codeine also proscribed

One reason that no one in Parliament asked about or challenged the addition of marijuana to the schedule may be because little was known about the drug in Canada at the time, and very few people were using it.

We could find no references to marijuana in either the Toronto Star or the Globe and Mail in 1923. And there were no police seizures of marijuana until 1932.

Looking back, it may seem odd that a decision that has in one way or another seriously affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of Canadians took place without debate.

There was also no debate in Parliament then about adding the better-known heroin and codeine to the schedule of proscribed drugs either.

Heroin had been on the market since 1898, courtesy of the Bayer pharmaceutical company.

Heroin is the brand name for a semi-synthetic compound derived from morphine, so authorities had probably considered it as a proscribed drug since the first schedule was passed in 1911, which included "morphine, its salts and compounds."

Proscribing codeine was more controversial, although after it was added doctors, druggists and the pharmaceutical industry successfully lobbied to have codeine decriminalized.

It was removed from the schedule in 1925, though the U.S. government and the Canadian government's own narcotic division criticized the decision.

Emily Murphy's 'new menace'

A statue of Emily Murphy, one of the "Famous Five" feminists, was unveiled in Calgary in 1999. She is also remembered for her anti-narcotic campaigning in the 1920s. (Canadian Press)

A 1922 book, The Black Candle, by Emily Murphy, is frequently given as the explanation for the King government's move against marijuana. However, no evidence beyond coincidence has been put forward that the book, or Murphy, influenced the government's decision.

The book is based on a series of articles Murphy, then a judge, wrote for Maclean's magazine in 1920. The series did not mention marijuana but her book has a seven-page chapter called, her spelling, "Marahuana -- a new menace."

Murphy starts out by noting "the drug is not really new" and "comparatively unknown in the United States and Canada."

But, today, that is arguably the best-known chapter in the book, even though historians have not uncovered evidence that this chapter attracted much public attention in its early years.

Murphy herself is best remembered as one of the Famous Five, from the celebrated "persons case" — that women qualify as persons for the purpose of being appointed to the Senate — a suit that eventually won the day in the British Privy Council.

With no parliamentary debate, no evidence of public debate or discussion, and no paper trail about why marijuana was criminalized in 1923, it's understandable why people would later link the decision to The Black Candle. But Carstairs says it's probably just happenstance.

She also told CBC News, "There were insinuations in the records that the bureaucrats at the division of narcotic control did not think very highly of Emily Murphy and did not pay attention to what she was writing about, and they didn't consider her a particularly accurate or valuable source."

A marijuana mystery

Unlike the other drugs on the government's proscribed list, the book Panic and Indifference observes that marijuana was criminalized in Canada long before it could be defined as a social problem. "Why this was so remains a mystery."

William Lyon Mackenzie King was prime minister in 1923. He had been a driving force for criminalizing opium in 1908. (CBC)

However, this was an era of prohibition and control, and before he became prime minister, Mackenzie King had been a strong advocate for prohibiting opium, which happened in 1908.

Carstairs says that there's no record King was then keeping a close eye on the drug file and she has found no reference to marijuana in his diaries.

There's also no reason to think there was any science behind the decision. The major report of the era, and it was seven volumes in length, was Britain's Indian Hemp Drugs Commission report, published in 1894.

"Moderate use practically produces no ill effects," according to the report, and the evidence the commission heard "shows most clearly how little injury society has hitherto sustained from hemp drugs."

An alternative theory for the marijuana ban was put forward in 1974 by Alexander Morrison, an assistant deputy minister at Health Canada. "Col. Sharman, then Director of the Federal Division of Narcotic Control, returned from meetings of the League of Nations convinced that cannabis would soon fall under international control. In anticipation of such action, he moved to have it added to the list of drugs controlled under Canadian law."

However, Sharman did not become the director of the division until 1927, and before that he was at the department of agriculture, so that explanation goes up in smoke.

Historian Catherine Carstairs say the 1923 decision to add marijuana to the list of proscribed drugs had almost no impact in the years immediately following, because almost no one was smoking pot in Canada at the time, "but the fact that it was added has certainly had long-term consequences." (Univ. of Guelph)

Nevertheless, Carstairs argues, "There would have been significant international pressures to do so. Canada liked to see itself as a leader in the drive for international drug control. We were actively involved in all of the international discussions."

Despite this, she says there was "no international sentiment against smoking marijuana" at the time.

Criminalizing marijuana "had almost no impact in the years immediately after it was added but the fact that it was added has certainly had long-term consequences," Carstairs says.

Today, when protesters demand decriminalization, the federal government may be able to come up with reasons not to do so, but it would be hard-pressed to explain why it was criminalized in the first place.

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Shawn Atleo the pragmatist couldn't reconcile opposing First Nations styles

Shawn Atleo's surprise resignation Friday appears to be rooted in a kind of political battle fatigue that saw the national chief waging a near constant rearguard action against rivals to his leadership of the Assembly of First Nations.

The origins of the fight predate Atleo's own 2009 ascension to the leadership of the nation's most important First Nations organization.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper shakes hands with Shawn Atleo during the closing ceremonies of the Crown First Nations Gathering in 2012. Atleo's willingness to deal with the government may have aided his downfall and leaves Harper looking for a new First Nations partner. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Atleo was the hereditary chief of the Ahousaht First Nation part of the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation on Vancouver Island.

Atleo's cultural heritage — and his family lineage — suggests leadership was a burden he was born to carry.

But the style of political fight practised among B.C.'s First Nations, and learned by Atleo, is pragmatic and incrementalist.

It's not rooted in the literalist Treaty tradition of the Prairie First Nations and in Northern Ontario. As one source suggested: In B.C., First Nations negotiate to claim rights. On the Prairies, they fight to take them.

Shawn Atleo announced his resignation at a news conference in Ottawa Friday. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

These different approaches appear to be at the heart of the dispute surrounding Atleo's leadership and may be the root of his downfall.

'Smash the status quo'

Atleo's view of the national chief's role differed sometimes starkly from the view held by many of his critics.

"I have said it is our time as indigenous peoples, that we must smash the status quo, and that my job is as an advocate to open doors for First Nations to drive change," Atleo told reporters in his resignation speech.

Over the years — and despite his majority re-election — Atleo has had to contend with rivals who don't just want the chief to negotiate his way to open doors, but want him to smash through them.

That disagreement plagued the AFN's efforts in Ottawa during the #Idlenomore protests in January 2013, even though Atleo managed to secure a historic First Nation's meeting with the prime minister and some of his key cabinet ministers.

As Atleo and others were preparing to enter the Langevin Bloc for those discussions, outside hundreds of First Nations protesters choked the streets.

They had been led to Parliament Hill, in part, by hunger strikers who had joined Attawapiskat First Nations Chief Theresa Spence in her protest.

But there were other groups led by dissatisfied chiefs such as Manitoba Grand Chief Derek Nepinak. And for a time, Ottawa was a hotbed of aboriginal leadership politics.

There were questions and debates about a possible overthrow that Atleo survived.

Relationship with the Crown

But the optics of going to see the prime minister on his territory and on his terms was offensive to some protesters and aboriginal leaders who were demanding a meeting with the Crown to be held on their terms.

There were those who said "the PM had to come see us," and that the Governor General had to be in the room in order to open a meeting to discuss an agenda decided by First Nations, one insider said.

These demands were rooted in an insistence that First Nations had to be recognized as nations, who were negotiating not with the leader of the government, but with the head of state. 

It's a small point, in practical terms, but in aboriginal treaty politics it's hugely significant. The historic treaties were negotiated with the Crown, and the Crown, through its representative, should be at the table.

Atleo's willingness to meet with the government without the GG in the room was considered a betrayal of this nation-to-nation principle, despite the fact it was impossible for David Johnston to offer anything but warm words.

Atleo's pragmatism and incrementalism, in that case was a problem — forget about the fact it got a meeting with the man who could actually make change: Stephen Harper.

Control of education

This debate over style simmered before rising up again this spring in response to the Conservative government's First Nations' education reforms.

The roughly $1.9-billion value of the deal is significant and the plan proposed to bridge the gap between what First Nations' children receive in federal government funding for schooling and what other children receive from their provincial governments.

But the First Nations control of First Nations education act also allows the federal government to retain the final say about much of how that education would be managed — a proposition that angered many chiefs.

The problem for many critics was that the government, in negotiating the plan with AFN, allegedly failed in its constitutional duty to consult nation-to-nation with affected aboriginal communities across the land.

The AFN, after all, is not a national government. Atleo is not a prime minister. And no matter how easy it might be for the feds to hold talks with just one chief, First Nations' reject that as the basis of consultation. 

The failure of the government to recognize this early on and work to avoid the problem was the final set-up to Atleo's downfall.

And Atleo became, in the view of critics, Harper's man when he appeared alongside the prime minister to promote the new deal at the Kainai High School on the Blood Tribe reserve north of Cardston, Alta.

But managing the politics of that was also Atleo's failure.

He was the politician who should have been able to predict the widespread negative response to the bill and was in a position to withhold his support should the Harper government fail in its consultations.

He didn't.

It appears the pragmatic incrementalist was too excited about the deal, and the cash and change it promised, to wait to gain consensus, if that was even possible.

The activists' fight now has turned from the government to the AFN leader for supporting the feds, and Atleo himself was likely to have his autonomy — if not his power — usurped at an upcoming Confederacy council of chiefs from across the country.

It was that threat, and shame, perhaps, that Atleo was trying to avoid with his resignation Friday.

Missed opportunity?

The real shame, according to one observer, is that Atleo has unfairly won the reputation of a man who was bought.

"People who try to dismiss him as a sell-out and Harper's puppet are not speaking the truth," the observer said.

In taking down Harper's man, Atleo's critics may have done their communities a disservice.

First Nations have now lost an advocate with whom Harper was at least willing to meet and listen.

And the government, by refusing to broaden its discussions beyond just the AFN, has lost its own chance to move quietly, and meaningfully, forward the relationship with Canada's First Nations.

Whoever succeeds Atleo, expect a fresh round of conflict in the relationship between Canada's government and the governments of its first peoples.

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RCMP confirm report of more than 1,000 murdered aboriginal women

The RCMP confirmed the shocking details Friday that show the number of missing and murdered aboriginal women over the past three decades is much higher than what was originally thought. 

In a statement, the RCMP said there are 1,186 police recorded incidents of aboriginal homicides and unresolved missing women investigations. 

That figure includes 1,017 murdered aboriginal women between the years of 1980 and 2012, as well as 169 missing women dating back to 1952. 

These numbers are included in a national RCMP report on missing and murdered aboriginal women, which is expected to be released in the coming weeks.

"The RCMP has taken on this initiative on behalf of the Canadian law enforcement community because we are concerned about the high incidence of missing and murdered aboriginal women," the statement read.

"We remain committed to resolve outstanding cases, and seeking closure and justice for families."

The force also said that solutions to the "societal concern" of violence against aboriginal women must come not only from the law enforcement community, but all levels of government.

'There would be an outcry'

NDP status of women critic Niki Ashton said the newly confirmed number is "shocking."

"If you put it into context, it means that over the last 30 years, 40 aboriginal women and girls didn't — every year — did not come home to see their families," she said to Rosemary Barton on CBC News Network's Power & Politics."

On the same program, Liberal health critic Hedy Fry added that it isn't about how many women there are at all.

"The fact is, at that rate, if there were other kinds of women, other than aboriginal women, missing or murdered in this country, there would be an outcry. There would be an inquiry, there would be something," Fry said. 

The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network first broke the story that there may be more than 1,000 cases of missing or murdered women on Wednesday, which immediately renewed calls to the government for a national public inquiry.

The government, for its part, has refused, referring instead to other initiatives carried out over past years.

"There are some 40 studies dealing with that issue. The RCMP is conducting a further study on its own," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday afternoon.

"Our government from the very outset has said, as one of its priorities — one of its most important priorities — tackling crime including violence against women and girls."

'Now is not the time for another study'

The parliamentary secretary to the public safety minister, Roxanne James, echoed Harper's response on Power & Politics.

"Let me be clear, now is not the time for another study," she said, adding that now is "the time to take real action" and move forward with concrete measures to end violence.

James said the government has taken over 30 measures since coming into office, citing two separate $25-million initiatives from the 2010 and 2014 budgets, one of them being a DNA-based missing persons index.

According to the RCMP statement, the newly confirmed data was compiled with the assistance of Statistics Canada from close to 300 individual police jurisdictions in Canada and shows an over-representation of missing and murdered aboriginal women in police databases.

It also included the point that while aboriginal women make up four per cent of Canada's population, they represent 16 per cent of all murdered females between 1980 and 2012, as well as 12 per cent of all missing females on record.

"This research has done more than just provide numbers. It has identified key vulnerability factors for the victims as well as information on the perpetrators," the statement read.

In 2010, the Native Women's Association of Canada estimated that there were 582 missing or murdered aboriginal women across the country. 

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Feds swipe at Kathleen Wynne as Ontario campaign kicks off

Just hours into the Ontario election, senior federal Conservatives leaped into the fight, delivering unvarnished scorn for some of Ontario Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne's signature policies.

In an interview on CBC Radio's The House, Finance Minister Joe Oliver broke with the convention of keeping out of provincial elections and delivered a nasty assessment of the newly released Liberal budget.

"This is the route to economic decline, not the route to economic growth or job creation," Oliver said. He went on to challenge the Ontario Liberal promise to erase the deficit by 2017- 2018.

"It doesn't look like [Finance Minister Charles Sousa's] plan to balance the books in a few years is all that likely," Oliver said. When asked about the Ontario plan to use deficit spending to stimulate, Oliver said that will "compound the problem" of slow growth facing Ontario.

Oliver then went further, taking aim at another key plank in the Liberal campaign platform: the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan, an idea meant to supplement the Canada Pension Plan.

"This $3½-billion tax on workers and businesses would disadvantage Ontario and kill jobs," Oliver said. "This isn't the time to do it."

Federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver says 'now is not the time' for Ontario's attempt to create a supplemental pension plan. (Darryll Dyck/Canadian Press)

Oliver's comments echoed a statement made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Friday, who dismissed the Liberal idea as an unnecessary "tax hike."

Wynne has long complained that the federal government will not expand the Canada Pension Plan to help retirees, calling the issue "offensive."

Her government's made-in-Ontario solution relies on contributions from workers and employers.

In an interview also airing on CBC Radio's The House, Wynne said she does not believe Ontario has a partner in the federal government.

"There are actions that the federal government has taken and is taking that are harming Ontario," Wynne said. "If we have a federal partner that was stepping up to work with we would be in a better position." 

Wynne told CBC that attacking the federal government over issues like the pensions is part of her election strategy, something she made clear the day she launched the campaign.  

"We need a premier who is willing to stand up to Stephen Harper," Wynne said as she announced the June 12 election date. She also clearly sees resource development in Northern Ontario's so-called Ring of Fire area as a wedge issue. 

"The federal government pours billions of dollars into the oilsands, but when it comes to the Ring of Fire, Stephen Harper has not acted."

The new federal minister of natural resources, Greg Rickford, hit back, calling Wynne's statement about the Ring of Fire "nonsense."

Not content to fight a two-front battle with the provincial Progressive Conservatives and NDP, Wynne believes picking a fight with the federal government is a winning strategy.

The Harper government appears happy to oblige.

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'Mom, I'm at my end': Transcript of video from inside sinking South Korean ferry

The teenage students from Danwon High School laughed nervously on-board the South Korean ferry as it began to tilt into the waters. 

In video clips from the cellphone of a victim of a disaster that has shaken South Korea, the teenagers talk of taking selfies, wonder if they'll make the news and discuss posting about the excitement later on Facebook.

The shaky video was on the cellphone of a 17-year-old student, Park Su-hyeon, when rescuers recovered his body. The boy's father, Park Jong-dae, provided it Thursday to select media outlets, saying he wanted to show the world the ship's condition as it sank.

The group of teens in the video alternate between bluster, attempts at humour and unmistakable fear.

CBC News has translated the roughly 17 minute video posted on News Tapa's YouTube page. This is the transcript:

Passenger: "Oh, it's tilted. Hey, will you help me out?"

[One of the passengers makes a request by cellphone for rescue.]

Coast guard: "What is the name of the ship? Name of the ship?"

Student: "Sewol. Sewol."

Coast guard: "Sewol, is this a merchant ship? What is this?"

Student: "What?"

Coast guard: "What is the type of the ship? Is it a ferry? Is it a fishing ship?"

Student: "This is a ferry."

---

At this point in the video, the students talk among themselves. Their conversations are interrupted by on-board announcements. 

ON-BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT: Please don't move from your current spot, and be prepared for safety instructions [regarding the] accident.

"Will the water leak in really? The shaking is getting serious."

ON-BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT: Please stand by.

"It's tilting this way. Can't move."

ON-BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT: …. dangerous. Please be prepared for safety instructions [regarding the] accident.

"[Expletive] This is ridiculous."

"Oh I want to get off. I really do."

"Hey, would you like to shoot me [with your cellphone camera]?"

'Am I really going to die?' 

"Hey, how is it, the situation?"

"[Expletive] Hey, why did you get out?"

"Hey, hey, look at this. It's not going down any further is it?"

"Is it shifting even more? The shifting is getting serious. If I relax myself, I just move right this way [shows how the ship is leaning]."

"Lend me your support."

"Wait a second. Wait a second."

"Quiet. Quiet."

ON-BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT: …do not move from your current position, please…

"Open the door."

"It can only be opened from the inside."

"It was really [expletive] difficult for me a second ago."

A photo from the mobile phone of deceased South Korean high school student Park Su-hyeon and released by his father Park Jong-dae, showing the inside of the Sewol ferry. (Park Su-hyeon, courtesy of the Park Family/The Associated Press)

"This cannot be opened from the outside at all."

(Yelling) "What is this? Hurry, rescue us!"

"Yay, this is fun."

"Am I really going to die?"

"If we were outside the window, we'd already be dead, [expletive]."

"What are the chances of this happening, [expletive]?"

"Of course, even when I was living in [location deleted] nothing was even close to this."

"Hey, my arms are shaking."

"It's tilting even more."

"Hey, pass my shoes up."

"It's tilting even more? Are you kidding?"

"Hey, all the shoes are sliding away here."

"[Expletive] What are you doing?"

Looking for life vests

"This isn't an emergency situation. This is reality."

"Someone bring the life vests out."

"Come on, bring what out? Why?"

"Because we don't know how the situation will turn out. This is really happening."

ON-BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT: Once again, dear passengers, this is the guidance announcement. [Difficult to hear, possibly 'Do not move'] ... from where you are.

"We don't know what's going to happen, so bring them [the life vests] out."

"[Expletive] No, no, we can't go."

"[Expletive] camera, camera. This is not shooting well with this camera."

(Student yelling) "Let me live!"

"You never know, so keep this [life vest]."

"No, no, I'm fine, I'm fine."

[Another rescue call is made from Sewol to Jeju Vessel Traffic Services Centre]

Sewol: Our ship is in danger. The ship is rolled over now.

Jeju VTS: Yes, where is your ship?

"We don't want to die."

"Is the water even leaking in?"

"I couldn't even imagine it could roll over like this."

"We took our life vests."

"The ship is slowly tilting over."

'Should I call my mom? Mom, I'm at my end.' 

"This is no joke."

"School class trip. [lengthy expletives] School class trip."

"Here's a life vest."

"The ship is still settling. It's slowly going to the left."

"It feels like it's better than just moments ago. But why did the ship roll over suddenly?"

"Something smells strange."

"[Expletive] Is the gas leaking?"

ON-BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT: Once again, dear passengers, guidance announcement. Those of you who are inside the ship, please do not move. …a pole you can hold onto.

"Isn't this going to be in the news?"

"Hey, [friend's name], let's stay together."

"Something smells like boiled egg. Something smells like boiled egg."

"Adjusted. Adjustment complete."

"Hey, can you catch me if I fall?"

"Don't you fall."

"I really want to get down. It's scary here."

"I'd recommend that you don't get down."

"You hold onto this. You hold onto this, too."

"Leave them on the floor."

"No, I'll hold onto this."

"Why are you pulling out the life vests?"

"We don't want to die, don't want to die."

[Phone call between a passenger and the police service.]

Police: The ship is about to sink, you say?

Passenger: Yes. Yes. Sewol. Sewol. The one that's coming in from Incheon to Jeju. Hurry.

[indiscernible noise]

Passenger: We are not supposed to move.

Police: Hello?

Passenger: Yes. Yes. The ship is sinking.

"Even if you die, I don't want to die."

"[Expletive] Is it over?"

"No, no."

"It's rolling over. That's the situation now."

"This one would be fun to post on Facebook."

"Dad, I don't want to die."

"Oh, this is going to be fun once the water leaks in."

"Really, once the water leaks in, we really got to get out."

"Should I call my mom? Mom, I'm at my end."

ON-BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT: Please do not ever move.

"Says do not ever move."

'The Man Who Defied Gravity'

Two minutes and 25 seconds later.

"So, hey, they're all saying everything is going to be fine?"

"Sure, that's why I'm saying I got to get out of here now."

"Me, too. Me, too."

"Bye."

The students look for life vests once they realize what's happening with the ferry is an emergency situation, but they are unable to find enough for everyone. (Park Su-hyeon, courtesy of the Park Family/The Associated Press)

"Getting ready to jump in."

"I'm going to wear the life vest."

"I gotta wear, too."

"Really gotta wear."

"I must wear it, too."

"Hey, you wear it, too."

"Are you going to wear it, too?"

"[Expletive deleted]"

"Things like this should be photographed."

"Shoot things like this as the last souvenir. Shoot it like this. Call it The Man who Defied Gravity."

"Shooting it down."

"Hurry, hurry, hurry."

"Mom, I love you. Mom, I love you. I love you."

"School trip, class."

"Mom, the ship is now…"

"Don't fall on me when the ship suddenly shakes."

"Are we really all going to fall?"

"Wear clothes now."

"Now, we must try to live."

"Give me one of those. Where is it? Pull down the life vest there."

"Here it is."

"Hey, hey, hey. Watch out here. The wind, kids, all….."

"Throw all the life vests."

(yells) "Life vest!"

"[Expletive, expletive, expletive]"

"Throw."

"Got to eat and live."

"What is this?"

"Really, really scared."

"Time for a selfie."

"Me, too. Me, too. Take me one."

"Screaming. [makes a facial expression of screaming]"

"It's no longer here."

"What is really going on?"

No more life vests

"Is it really sinking? What, they give life vests, too."

"Hey, you, too, wear the life vest."

"Ah, I'm hurt."

"Guys, wear the life vests."

"No more now? The life vests?"

"Yeah."

"[Name hidden] hey, what about you?"

"The zippers aren't locking."

"My zippers are broken, too."

"We don't have one life vest here."

"Wear that kid-sized one. The kid-sized one."

"It seems like I have to be like this."

"We don't have [name hidden]'s life vest. Must go and receive it."

"[Name hidden]'s? Yours?"

"No."

"Go receive them."

"Wear mine."

"What about you?"

"Me? I'm going to go get it."

'Please don't go on the school field trip. At least, you mustn't if you don't want to end up like your older brother. Please let me live, let me live, let me live.' 

"Go receive it."

"I have lots of cartoons I haven't seen. I have lots of cartoons I haven't seen. The season isn't over yet."

"I hate the sinking. I haven't even found my cash yet."

"Give me five more."

"No more? Not even one? Look at that end. That end. Life vest."

"This is fun."

"Throw them all. Why no more? There must be."

"Put your feet here."

"Are they wearing, outside?"

"Kids outside are not wearing. They aren't wearing."

"But the situation outside now, we can tell the situation of the kids at the balcony."

"Bring it out. Bring it out."

"What do we do?"

"What is the captain doing?"

"No, like, something got stuck."

"Like it became the Titanic. [hums the soundtrack tune to The Titanic]"

"The phone is not working?"

"No, not working."

Final words

"Ahh, we're doomed. Like, I should die without having a chance to say my last words."

"Well, leave them now. [Expletive]"

"Record them."

"Recording. This is a video now."

"Please if I can survive, Mom, Dad, I love you."

"Well, you next."

"He's reading the text messages. Poor thing."

"Hey [name hidden]."

"Don't shoot."

"Mom, Dad, Dad, Dad, my younger sibling, what should I do? I must say that my younger sibling must not go to the school trip ever."

"Hey, you've got to give it to that guy, him."

"Can't give them to those guys, probably."

"Search in there. Search there."

"All done? Are you guys all done? Why aren't you wearing it? Well, you do take care of your belongings in this situation."

'Ahh, we will have to jump into the sea.' 

Teacher/adult: "Are you all wearing? Confirm if that side is all wearing."

"Yes, ma'am, all wearing."

"How do you lock this?"

"This doesn't fit."

"Ahh, I feel like motion sickness."

"Hurry, wear it."

"Look, come to think of it, I haven't done many bad things.  [Expletive]"

"Hey, this is going to be in the news, I guarantee. This is going to be in the news."

"No, it won't with something like this unless it sinks."

"Sink? It is sinking now?"

"It will not sink. It must not."

"Ah, my cellphone. One network can't be got. [no reception available]"

"What is he doing now with that mind?"

"Mom, I love you. Dad, I love you. I love you both. The son of Mr. [name hidden] confessing, because it seems like I might die with this event."

"Mom, Dad, I love you. [younger sister's name hidden, repeated] please don't go on the school field trip, at least you mustn't if you don't want to end up like your older brother. Please let me live, let me live, let me live. This is the end. Can you see me tilted? Thanks. Really, though, what's happening to the kids that were on the deck?"

[Call between Sewol and Jindo Coastal VTS]

Coastal VTS: Sewol, Sewol, Jindo Coastal VTS. Sewol, Sewol, Jindo Coastal VTS. Sewol, is your ship sinking?

Sewol: Yes, it is. Hurry the coastal guard, please.

"So, there's a high possibility they have fallen off. And earlier, from the deck, the deck doesn't have windows. So I'm saying it's more dangerous."

"What you are looking at right now…"

ON-BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT: Students of Danwon High School and their passengers, this is the guidance announcement. Never move from the second floor, but please stand by.

"Yes."

"Right now, the ship is rolled over. I feel like vomiting. Now my legs are shaky. I'm feeling nauseous too. I'm in front of that Korean calmly touching his cell phone."

ON-BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT: This is a guidance announcement once again. The passengers who are able to put on the lifejackets, please put on the lifejackets.

"I don't understand this situation. Them telling us to wear the life vests, doesn't that mean it is sinking?"

"Ahh, we will have to jump into the sea."

"Ahh, this is a real situation. [expletive] Don't hold it."

"I'm not holding it, I'm not holding it. It's just touching."

"No, don't hold onto that. You might fall off trying to hold onto that."

"Hey, we're playing with smart phones in the midst of this situation."

"Audacious Koreans, we are."

"Hey [hidden name], look at the real, last audacity."

"Me, too. We're going to swim out to the sea like this and we're going to be like that."

"Why are you holding it up?"

"I feel like vomiting now."

ON-BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT: Those of you who can reach the lifejackets, please pass on, pass on. So make it possible to be worn, never move from the current position, please stand by. Once again, this is the guidance announcement. Never move from the current position.

"I wonder how [hidden name] is doing? [Hidden name] and who else? [Hidden name], [hidden name] and who else, too, is missing?"

"I thought we were going as scheduled. What is this? They said we were leaving at 12."

"It's hot, it's scary."

"You scared? Oh, the baby's crying. It's OK, it's OK."

"What, there's a baby? There's a baby. This is driving me crazy. This is a real situation."

"Give us more life vests."

"I get to see this kind of telephone – those are hard to spot."

"No more?"

"No more, no more."

"Anymore in your rear?"

"No more."

"Why is no one being sent to the women's room there?"

"I feel dizzy, I feel dizzy."

"Huh? Dizzy?"

"Where's the teacher?"

"I want to know, too."

"Is the teacher alright too?"

"I received a text message from the teacher."

"What is it?"

"'Are the kids OK?'"

"Ask the teacher, too."

"The teacher is not checking the messages, for now."

"Ahh…"

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