It is now time for Member Statements, the Member from Eglinton, Lawrence. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Today is Yom Hatzma'ut, also known as Israeli Independence Day, a national holiday in Israel. Yom Hatzma'ut celebrates the country's declaration of independence on May 14th, 1948. The origin of Yom Hatzma'ut can be traced to the early 20th century when Jewish leaders advocated for the establishment of a Jewish homeland. Today, Israelis and members of the Jewish community in my riding of Eglinton, Lawrence and across Ontario celebrate Yom Hatzma'ut with various activities, including parades, barbecues, concerts and dancing. Some of these events include the Schwartz-Reitzmann Centre of JCC's Blue and White Party, which will feature delicious catering, cocktails and music performers. Families can also attend Betzetic Congregation, Israel's Creativity Fair to celebrate Israel's ingenuity and engage in hands-on family-friendly activities. For young adults, Hillel, Ontario and Stand With Us Canada are hosting Israel at 75 Club Night, complete with pizza and disco music. In 75 years since its founding, Israel has accomplished many notable achievements in science, technology, culture and other areas. It is home to a thriving technology sector and several innovative startups. As a leader in Jewish education, Israel has also strengthened Jewish identity and continues to improve Jewish connection to Israel throughout the world. On this day of celebration for the Jewish people in the State of Israel, I wish all Israeli Ontarians and members of the Jewish community joy, security and peace. Thank you Speaker. 28,000 members of ACTRA have been unlawfully locked out for a year now by the Institute of Canadian Agencies. Advertising agencies, who instead of bargaining in good faith under the National Commercial Agreement, made unacceptable demands such as a 60% cut to wages and an end to retirement contributions and benefits. The NCA used to represent a gold standard for gig workers. Now there are performers who have not worked for a year. They have lost tens of thousands of dollars in wages. Some cannot manage their health care needs because their health insurance is gone. Some have been forced to leave their fields altogether. At a time when precarious gig workers on the rise with limited, if any, employment protections, advertising agencies with the support of their corporate clients and this conservative government are undermining workers by using scab replacement workers. Using scab labour prolong strikes and lockouts instead of encouraging bargaining and allowing faster resolution of disputes. It pits workers against each other and we're seeing this happen across Ontario, such as with assault workers at Windsor Unifor Local 240, workers on strike being undermined through the use of scab labour. Speaker, workers have a constitutional right to a fair bargaining process, but that can't happen when scab replacement workers are hired. The NDP has tabled the Anti-Scab Labour Act to end the use of scab replacement workers. I call on this government to pass the bill. Member from Burlington. Thank you, Speaker. Recently in my writing of Burlington, I had the pleasure of attending Halton Industry Education Council's 19th annual Women as Career Coaches Mentorship event. This is an annual event that brings together young people and adult mentors for an impactful, inspiring and uplifting evening. Over dinner, youth have the opportunity to engage in informal conversations with mentors and career coaches, as well as listening to a lineup of inspiring speakers. This year's event featured a panel of successful women sharing their career journeys and advice. Coming from diverse industries, speakers included a film and TV event specialist, a deputy fire chief, a board certified lactation specialist, and one of the only female boiler makers in Ontario. As a career coach, mentors shared their experiences and advice with a group of young women who are contemplating their future careers and their next moves. These conversations help young people to think about their future differently. That evening, I met a young apprentice electrician named Ali, who had just landed an interview for her dream job. Over the next couple of days, Ali and I worked together to help her prepare. Ali informed me that the interview went very well, and thanked me for the help. Women as Career Coaches is a valuable resource for young women, providing them with the opportunity to make connections, ask questions, and learn from other women who helped to pave the way. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. Not once in my entire time in office has a resident called me up and said Toronto is in desperate need of an expensive and exclusive spa. Yet this government is moving ahead with signing a secret 95-year deal with an Austrian company to turn Ontario Place into an expensive mega spa with a massive underground car park that taxpayers are paying for. Now, I hear the Minister opposite say that no one is going there, I drive by it frequently and it's not enjoyed. The million people who visit Ontario Place do not see it that way, Minister. Ontario Place is a park where people can go outside, visit friends, feel the breeze of Lake Ontario, play with kids, walk out dogs, enjoy the sunset for free. In a part of the city where most people don't have a backyard, they live in condos and apartments, and Ontario Place has become their oasis. I see people being so angry about this issue because it touches this larger core, which is that this government is making sweetheart backroom deals with foreign companies that leave Ontarians worse off, and that is a real issue here. I believe Ontario Place should be a place for everyone to enjoy, a revitalized public park that families, young people, seniors and residents can enjoy. I want to say thank you to all the residents that are organising on this issue, including Ontario Place for all. We are on your side. Member from Brownton House. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, CalSA Aid is a non-profit humanitarian organisation that provides support for individuals in need all over the world. CalSA Aid is built on a strong belief in the sick principles, and their work is by no means restricted to the sick community. CalSA Aid became the first-ever cross-border international humanitarian aid organisation based on the sick principles. CalSA Aid has done amazing work within our communities to help those in need. Recently, CalSA Aid Canada held a food drive, and they were able to raise over 35,000 meals that were distributed to local food banks within GTA. Speaker, this is an immense contribution, and I would like to appreciate and recognise CalSA Aid Canada's sizable impact within the community.  Your commitment and devotion to helping those in need is truly inspiring. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Speaker, sometimes when MPPs talk about health care and long-term care, they miss the great work being done in the community support services sector. People want to age at home, and community support services helps meet that need. Caregivers risk burnout and financial burden with these services. Some may even feel pressure to quit their job to look after a loved one. No one should feel forced to make this choice. Community support services are cost-effective, personalised and help free up beds in hospitals and long-term care. Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with the Alzheimer's Society, Cheshire Independent Living Services, St. Joe's Hospice and many more. Users of these services see a 43% decrease in avoidable ER visits. In addition, when community support services are available, hospital stay lengths are decreased more than 30%. Care at home costs $42 a day, while long-term care is $126 in hospitals, at least $842. Saving $800 per day is pretty cost-effective, Speaker. It's literally 5% the cost. However, like other parts of our health care system, lack of funding means service reductions and staff are continually asked to do more with less. This sector, primarily made up of women, faces a variety of struggles, including the inability to hire and retain staff. Ontarians want to be supported at home. I call upon this government to make the necessary investments in community support services so that people can stay where their heart is, at home, with loved ones. Thank you, Speaker. The member for the Grand Ferry Cascade Russell. Thank you, Speaker. April is the month for autism awareness, and it's almost over. I would like to highlight a couple of people in my constituency who have helped to improve the lives of some of my residents. Thank you to Autisme Cascade Russell as well as their members for their incredible work. They organize incredible activities for young people. They also raise awareness and help us to learn more about people, about autistic people. I would also like to thank all TSA classes in my constituency. My partner has worked with them, and she's mentioned to me very often how much these people are making a difference in the lives of others. Marc-Antoine Garnier, 31 years old, is considered who has a public figure in my constituency. He is very well known in Ambron, a small town for being involved in literature, radio, and he was even a candidate. He was also a candidate in three different elections. He has his own talk show. It's called Gagnier M. Jaze. Gagnier likes to talk. I even gave him an interview. I would like to thank all of these people for their excellent work. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker, it is estimated that approximately 1.8 million Ontarians do not have a family doctor. That means 1.8 million Ontarians without access to a primary care physician who has built a relationship with them, understands their needs, and can provide the consistent care that helps catch illnesses early and avoid serious illnesses. This unacceptable situation leads to inadequate healthcare for all Ontarians. We need more family doctors, but attracting medical students to family medicine is becoming increasingly difficult. Family doctors are heavily overworked, burdened with way too many patients and out-of-date systems that result in mountains of paperwork. Dr. Alakin Abdullah is a local doctor in the Ottawa area. He works tirelessly to serve the thousands of patients he is responsible for. He says the administrative burden on him and his team is huge, occupying a third of his time. That's 33% fewer patients with access to care every day. By taking measures to reduce the administrative burden on our family physicians, this government can dramatically increase the time available for doctors to do what they were trained to do, provide care to patients. This would reduce the burden on family physicians, help attract and retain more family doctors, and allow more Ontarians to access the care they deserve. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Member statements? The Member for Peterborough, Cork. Thank you, Speaker. Today I'm bringing some bittersweet news from Peterborough. A good friend of mine has decided to hang up the laces, so to speak. She's been an exemplary public servant in Peterborough for close to 40 years. This Friday, April 28, will be the final day at City Hall for Peterborough's Chief Administrative Officer, Sandra Clancy. As a resident of the city, I had worked with Sandra on a number of different initiatives long before I was the MPP. And I suppose with almost 40 years devoted to Peterborough, there are a lot of people that she has worked with. Sandra was born and raised in Peterborough and started working for the city in 1985. And some might say she wasn't able to hang on to a job, because throughout her time, she's been the Chief Accountant, Financial Manager, Treasurer, Corporate Services Director, and CAO. She worked during a few challenging times, the great flood of 2004 and, of course, COVID-19.  Speaker for me, she's been a great resource all throughout my time as the MPP. I've been able to reach out and discuss whatever the issue of the day was and know that Sandra was working with me to resolve it. Sandra, I'm going to miss you, but I know that you're only a phone call away.  Thank you. Member statements? Member statements? The Member for Richmond Hill. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I believe the success of our local entrepreneurs is crucial to strengthening the competitiveness of Ontario's businesses in global market and will promote economic growth and prosperity for all Ontarians. That is why I rise to support the Association of Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurs, ACCE, and the mission in recognizing the successes and contributions of Chinese Canadian entrepreneurs. The 26th awards gala was held last week when nine businesses were recognized. Over the years, many Ontarians, celebrities including Adrian Clarkson, Vivian Poy, Michael Legion, and John Lume received awards for the Lifetime Achievement Awards. I have the honor to receive the Best Community Service Award in 2003. Speaker, I believe the community service is an essential part of being an entrepreneur, and I'm committed to working with ACCE to promote the community's social responsibility and encourage community and environmental stewardship among Ontario's business community. Once again, congratulations to all the award recipients and nominees, and thank you to ACCE for the important work. Thank you very much. That concludes our Member statements for this morning.


Mom sells jacket at yard sale, then remembers what she left in the pocket. Three roommates bought a cheap, smelly, old, second-hand couch from their student dorm room. But they had no idea that their new purchase was about to make headlines. When they got home with the outdated couch, the Pails noticed there was something hiding beneath the cushions. When they pulled the couch apart, they couldn't believe what they saw in front of them. Students at the State University of New York, Reese Workhoven, Laura Russo, and their friend Kelly Gousty took a trip to the Salvation Army in search of a couch for their accommodation. However, they were shocked to discover that the couch was hiding the surprise of a lifetime. With their strict student budget, the roommates weren't too fussy with what the couch they picked just as long as the dimensions fit their living room. They didn't just pick any ordinary couch though, unknown to them, they picked one with a very interesting past. Browsing through the thrift shop, the student stumbled upon an ugly, smelly couch. It wasn't the most attractive pick, but it was the only one the students could afford whose size would fit their apartment. The friends bought the aged piece of furniture for an impressive $20, but had no idea of the real bargain they were getting from buying the dusty old thing. They hauled the tired couch home, unaware of what else they were carrying back with them to their quaint student home. When the roommates finally settled the couch down in their living room and began using it, they noticed that although it was a beaten up old couch, it was a lot more uncomfortable than they expected. Taking into account the couch was worn out and not surprisingly uncomfortable, the students let it slide and settled in with their cheap and cheerful new bargain. The day came, however, when one of the roommates had enough of the lumpy bits along the couch. Reese Her- Reese Workoven was relaxing at home on his exhausted old couch when he became pestered by the bulges along the armrest. He found something like plastic bags underneath the embroidery and assumed the couch was pad with them because it came from a second hand store. Workoven decided to inspect the lumpy cushions under the fabric and was prepared to cut the couch open with a knife to have a look inside. To his delight, when he lifted up the armrest, he noticed there was a zipper. He pulled back the zipper, Workoven's curiosity heightened as he realized this couch was more interesting than he thought. By the armrest, he found a plastic envelope. He looked over at his roommates and began to open the mysterious plastic pouch. When Workoven opened the envelope, the lucky student had discovered a stash of $4,000 in the armrest of the couch. I almost peed. The most money I'd ever found in a couch was like 50 cents. Honestly, I'd be ecstatic just to find $5 in a couch, Workoven said in an interview. Filled with excitement and adrenaline, the three roommates began frantically ransacking the cushions in search for more money, ultimately pulling the pull-out couch apart. Digging their arms into every slit and crevice, the three pales were hitting jackpot after jackpot. In a room filled with banknotes, the students were busy counting when one of them discovered more money in another corner of the couch. One of the occupants of the apartment, Kelly Gousty, explained in an interview how she was on the phone with her mother when she had already counted $20,000, but as she stayed on the phone, the money count grew even higher and higher. Like a scene out of a movie, the students found two more cash-filled envelopes and soon found themselves on the floor rolling around in money. They eventually ended their search with $40,000 of cash in their hands. In an interview, Laura Russo explained how she was skeptical about the money. I was a little overwhelmed. I wanted to put it back in the couch and then re-find it in the morning when I could process it better. But what would the broke college students do with their riches? Would they splurge it on beer and food or track down the owner? The giddy trio were baffled by their find and wondered what to do about discovering this much money. They knew it didn't belong to them, but how would they even begin to find the owner? It wouldn't be long, however, before the name of the owner surfaced from the crevices in the couch. Not too long after they reached a total count of $40,000, the students discovered another envelope with a bank statement inside it and a woman's name printed on it. It was clear to them who the money belonged to, but the students were still cautious that cash might have been involved in criminal activities. We all agreed that we had to bring the money back to whoever it belonged to. We didn't earn it, Russo said. After debating the pros that it should be returned to its owner and the cons that it could be dirty money, the roommates came to a decision. The friends went in search of a phone number for the woman and when they dug one up, they gave her a call. When she answered, she was adamant that the money was hers. Oh, I left a lot of money in that couch, she announced. So the roommates hopped in their car and made a trip to the woman's house. Worrying that the couch's owner could be a criminal, the students drove 20 miles to Hudson Valley to return the $40,000 to its rightful owner and to ask her why she used her couch as a bank. When they pulled up to the address, the three friends were greeted by a very excited widow. The woman, who preferred not to be mentioned, invited the three inside her home to explain why she had tens of thousands of dollars hidden away beneath the cushions of her dusty old couch. Every week for years, the woman's husband, who suffered from heart problems, stashed money in their couch for his wife to use after his death. He accumulated quite an impressive amount over the years, but one day his hard-earned savings were gone in a flash, leaving his widow distraught. After her husband's death, the owner of the couch was recovering in a rehabilitation facility following serious heart surgery. During her stay at the rehab center, the woman's daughter sold the couch to make way for a recovery bed. When she got home, she was devastated to find that her and her husband's secret savings were now lost and presumably gone forever. The woman was dumbfounded by her luck that the couch ended up in possession of three ethical students. In an interview, Laura Russo explained that the couch almost didn't end up in their apartment. We almost didn't pick that couch. It's pretty ugly and it smells, but it was the only couch that fit in our living room. The woman, who is a former florist, rewarded the students with $1,000 to show her appreciation. The moral of the story is pretty clear from the ethical decision made by these three roommates. However, it may also be, don't give away your parents' old things without first consulting them. Now that the students are $1,000 richer, perhaps they can finally afford a brand new, nice smelling couch.


When people think fiber, they think constipation. And it's true, if we could get to Americans just to eat the minimum recommended daily intake of fiber-containing foods, we could save our country $80 billion, and that's just from the effects on constipation alone. Accumulating evidence indicates that greater dietary fiber intakes reduce risk for diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, weight gain, obesity, diverticular disease, as well as constipation. So we need to eat more fiber-rich foods, which means eating more whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and legumes, bean, split peas, chickpeas, and lentils. As fiber intake goes up, the risk of metabolic syndrome appears to go down. Less inflammation and an apparent stepwise drop in obesity risk. And so, no surprise, perhaps, that greater dietary fiber intake is associated with a lower risk of heart disease— 9% lower risk for every additional 7 grams a day of total fiber consumed. That's just like some rice and beans, or a few servings of fruits and vegetables. How does fiber do its magic? What are the mechanisms by which dietary fiber may extend our lifespan? Helps get rid of excess bile, feeds our good bacteria, changes our gut hormones, which collectively helps control our cholesterol and body weight, blood sugar, and blood pressure, which reduces the risk for cardiovascular disease. Reducing inflammation is another mechanism by which fiber may help prevent chronic disease. The accompanying editorial to the Fiber and Heart Disease meta-analysis implored doctors to enthusiastically and skillfully recommend that patients consume more dietary fiber. That means a lot of whole plant foods. If, however, we do buy something packaged, the first word in the ingredients list should be whole, but then the rest of the ingredients could be junk. So a second strategy is to look at the ratio of grams of carbohydrates to grams of dietary fiber. We're looking for about 5 to 1 or less. So, for example, whole wheat, Wonder Bread, passes the first test, first word is whole, but then it's like corn syrup in a chemistry set. Let's see if it passes the 5 to 1 rule. What you do is divide the carbohydrates by the dietary fiber. 20 divided by 2.7 is about 7. That's more than 5, so it goes back on the shelf. They're then white though, which clocks in at over 18. Now here's one that makes the cut. 15 divided by 3 equals 5. Can do the same thing with breakfast cereal. Multi-green Cheerio sounds healthy, but there's a ratio over 7, and then it just goes downhill from there. Here's an example of one that does make the cut, though, sliding in under 4. The editorial concluded, the recommendation to consume diets with adequate amounts of dietary fiber may turn out to be the most important nutritional recommendation of all.


It's June 25th, an important day in India's history, and like every year, we're back at news click to discuss a very disgraceful period of India's history. That's the internal emergency. It was imposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the year 1975, went up to 1977. A very difficult time for activists, for journalists, for people who wanted to build a better India. Many of them thrown into jail. Many forced to go underground, a lot of censorship, atrocities of all sorts against the poor. And the emergency is now especially relevant because we're talking about what many have called a different kind of emergency, an undeclared emergency perhaps. Many of those tendencies repeating again. Many of those institutions facing similar blows. And to talk more about this, we have with us Prabir Pukhaistha. Prabir, thank you for joining us. We often start these interviews by talking about how those times and these times are similar or what happened. But also, I know that you're writing about it. There's a personal element for you as well. You were detained around that time, I believe, for quite a number of months. But also, could you maybe start by taking us through for people who only read about it. What exactly were those times like as activists, as people who had been involved in protests for many years? Well, you know, of course, you talked about the personal angle to it. Yes, I was arrested, in fact, with other students asking Menaka Gandhi not to attend her class. And the consequence was that you had within an hour or so, the DIG range at the time, P.S. Binder, who came there, and literally abducted me from the campus. And that, of course, did become an issue in Shah Commission as well. And one of the things that Shah Commission had said is something which they should proceed against as an atrocity during the emergency. But that's a very small part of it. And to be honest, my health improved during the emergency because I never had such regular hours and regular food. And of course, you had nothing else to do except read and exercise. So both these things were good for me in that sense. So of course, at that stage, you didn't know. The indeterminacy was that when will the people get out? Because emergency did not specify a period in which people would be in jail. So it could continue for any length of time. And a lot of people were thinking that emergency would not be lifted and therefore, this would continue for a long, long time. And of course, Mrs. Gandhi did lift the emergency. In fact, declared elections, one selection were actually announced. The detainees had all been released by the time, if not within a week or so. And of course, the electoral process started. And almost all the various draconian measures which were being taken, though there were still existed of the books, had actually been in the last few months before the elections. Yeah, it started with December itself. This process had started by January when the elections are announced. This was quite, you know, there was a normalcy that took place. Now, I think the important part about the emergency was that what did the people do? That is, I think, the important question. And in this, of course, what did the activists do? What were their sense of what the struggle was all about? Let us face it. People did not know how long the emergency would last. There was a total uncertainty about it. And they also did not know how to react to a situation of emergency where the normal discourse, the political discourse was not there anymore. You could not approach the press to print what you were doing. You could not do protests in public without getting arrested, put under at least the defense of India rules, if nothing else. Three months is a minimum, if not longer. So all the normal processes had disappeared for all practical purposes. But, you know, the issue again was that if you look at the emergency then, though we had the Sanjay Gandhi-Goon squads which were becoming more and more active, we had the vasectomy drive, the family planning, which is a Sanjay Gandhi five point program loved by of course, a number of the rich, the wealthy sections, middle class who thought the poor be too much. This is something which the Americans had been propagating across the world. So all of this was also there. But at the end of it, the major part of it is that if you did not resist, in some form or the other, then as an activist, you felt depressed, demoralized, and that was also true for a number of people. They actually got, if you don't fight, you lose hope. If you lose hope, that is a political activist. You are either depressed or you become cynical. So this is also a process which took place for a number of people. Particularly those who are either arrested and therefore didn't know for how long they would be in jail. And for those who then had to make a choice, do they take risks, go to jail, risk of going to jail? Or do they then say, okay, I will then remain quiet and be cynical. And say, the people are bad, the state is bad, but the people are bad, they're not doing anything and so on. So I think those are the challenges we faced. Interestingly, those are the challenges we face today as well. So the challenges of today are also that, do you fight, do you give up? If you give up, what happens to you? As a human being, as a person, as an activist, whatever you want to call yourself. If you don't, then what are the repercussions? Of course, the repercussions are there for people like Siddiq Kappan, for people like Gotham, who was one of our colleagues. The repercussions are there that they are under draconian sections of law. They may get some relief from the court, but nevertheless, it is sparing. And it has really been available to very few people. A number, still languishing under various charges. And it's a continuous repressive regime that goes on different cases, different kinds of instruments being used. The old one of income tax, to the new one of enforcement directorate. Of course, the UPI is very much a part of this. So this refashioned draconian laws are also there. And very much confronting different sections of the people. The media in some ways, and also those who are willing to protest. And therefore, also seen to be people who are undesirable. And therefore, the government would like to take action against them. What action to take, how much to take, what should be, what is calibrated, what is not. These are all open questions. But there's no question that we have, I'm not going to say declared, undeclared emergency, I'll just say a different form of emergency. And these two forms of emergencies have the different dynamics. And different trajectory, that is something we still need to think about. What were the differences? What are the trajectories? And what are the similarities? Well, one of the unfortunate things about the emergency was actually how all those institutions that we were very proud of, we became a democracy in 1947. We built all these institutions. But when the time for the emergency happened and it is declared, suddenly it seemed like all those institutions were just crumbling, falling like nine pins, as they say. And at that point, and today, again, many activists, many journalists, many observers have raised very similar concerns that it does seem like all those much hallowed institutions are very hollow inside. So at that point, how did people like you, activists, people who are working in these sectors, how did you sort of respond to this crisis that basically, like you said, the press was censored, habeas corpus had been suspended, which means a key element of the legal system was under attack. The police, of course, were completely out of control. Laws like MISA were in place, which allowed almost anything. And the government at some level, and there was no mass uprising, which was what you would often in fiction, it seems like this is bad government and there's a mass uprising. So at that point, what was sort of response to that? Well, two parts to your question. One is what's the response of the people and what's the response of losing all those instruments which you take for granted. You know, I must I must tell you one thing about this, that I had only three months outside before I was arrested. So in some sense, I was in a place, but it was complete freedom of speech. We were in jail. OK, so I think those people who are outside, they are the ones who really had to fight that every day issue. How much do you speak? What do we do? How do you propagate our views? How do you take action in limited ways and so on? So I will say that the challenge that people faced for us, the challenge is already over. We are safely behind bars. OK, but for the rest of the people, the challenge was very much there. And I think there is always a kind of celebrating those who are in jail as the victor, as the ones who fought the emergency, but not those people who had to fight every day during emergency. I had to take an every day decision. How much will they do? What they will wear them? How far will they go? So I think that's an important element of it. Secondly, I would say that the people did throughout the emergency because if Mrs. Gandhi had won the election, then she hadn't lifted the emergency till the day she lost. So maybe she would have said, OK, all the measures I've taken have been already accepted by the people. They voted to be back to power. That means they endorse it. Therefore, this new normalcy is OK. There is also the maligned presence at that time of Sanjay Gandhi who led the Goon Squad within the Congress. And he was he had at least been able to get allies within the Congress in both Haryana, UP, Chief Ministers, more in the Northern other places to try his favorite instrument that he thought would help the country, according to him, Pasik to be. And that, of course, did lead to a huge impact on the North India, at least. South, it doesn't seem to have been used in the same way. So the Southern ministers, Chief Ministers, were a little more conscious about what to do and what not to do. Not it was widespread and it affected middle class employees, school teachers and everyone of them had caught us to produce. And in fact, it set back the India's family planning program by huge margin because what happened is even today men's vasectomies for family planning is very low. It's only the women who are actually getting operations done to stop from the reproduction. And the men have sort of abdicated their responsibilities for family planning. It was a reaction to the emergency and the vasectomy drive, which is Sanjay Gandhi's drive. So if we look at all of that, the ultimately it is the people who did react and it is they who voted Mrs. Gandhi out. I still remember when we came out of jail, the conversation was within the political circuit that we should boycott the election because if we participate, Mrs. Gandhi will win and this will therefore validate the emergency. Therefore, we should boycott. They had no idea about what the temperature of the people was. And as they hesitantly moved towards the people going and organising meetings, they found that there's an enormous response that was there. And very soon, within two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, it's clear that there was a ground sale opinion against Mrs. Gandhi. We still didn't expect the kind of results that at least that took place, I think, from West Bengal, right up to at least half of Maharashtra. So this is really, again, the people did come out. On the institutions, you know, the institutions, yes. The judiciary voted four to one on suspension of the habeas corpus. That is the famous Adyam Jabalpur judgment, which recently was officially said was a wrong judgment. But the point is that it was the bureaucracy, the judiciary, but it was also the middle class who thought that the emergency would be something which would make them more powerful. And this riffraff, the poor, you know, they would be disciplined. You know, that's the famous phrase, the middle class love, the disciplining of the nation. So that would be helpful. They didn't realize that anybody with a word in uniform, anybody with a government position held power over him. And as Niren, they put it succinctly, during his argument on the habeas corpus petition, it was that early general, that even if a police constable shoots anybody, there is no regress under emergency because all your rights, fundamental rights are there, but they're not just the same. So this is the position. And then they suddenly realized there are the mercy of the anybody in the government who can ask them to do anything and they have no recourse. This was what was very, I remember very succinct, again, very well put by a person, a villager. He said, you know, during emergency, the habildar wo hamara pradhan usse zyada taakhat rakhta tha, pehle wo pradhan ke paasata tha, he would come to the pradhan and, you know, really take advice from him. Now, wo joh hai, an order deta hai pradhan ko. Ye hamse badash nahi hota. This is, so the fundamental level of the what the people realized, the power of the vote, the power of democracy, the power that they have, at least to be heard, if the unite, those things, they understood the absence of it. So the Indian middle class was, the shock was that they were also a party to this repression. They thought they would be lauding it over the others.  If you give the state these powers, then anybody who identifies with the state can do this. And today you have the, you know, this, so the Goon Brigade, which you see in the name of Gaurakshya, they can do pretty much anything that they want. All love Jihad for that matter. All love Jihad for that matter. So all of this shows that arming the state in a way that they can arm anybody they want to exercise power over others is the danger that the democracy always will incur if you have an authoritarian bent in the government. What is different in this emergency from that emergency is the formal powers are there, but there is an erosion of the constitutional values that it enshrined. It's also important when you see Mr. Modi goes to the United States, he says that what we wrote in the constitution is something which is the democracy. Democracy is in our blood. It is in our genetic material, so to say. And this has only been clothed in the words of the constitution and therefore what in fact what they had denied in 47, 47 to 50 period when the constitution was being written, they had denied that India should have a constitution of this kind. It's about the RSS and RSS, RSS essentially. And they had at that time said that our constitution we should be based on Hindu values. Manusmriti should be the basis of our constitution. This constitution that Ambedkar is drafting, Nehru is pushing. These are basically borrowed from the West and they don't conform to our values. But Modi and this is what differentiates this version of the BJP from the earlier version of the BJP is that they believe that you don't have to change the constitution. You don't have to say we need a new constitution, but you can make tweaks here and there, remove the protection, introduce certain things within the so-called parameters of the constitution and therefore defeat the purpose of the constitution itself. So you can see a whole bunch of laws coming in, NRC being one identity, it apparently is only to say start identify certain problems and therefore citizenship. But we know what it means. It is to disenfranchise certain sections because proving that you are born in India and you have a birth certificate and all this can be verified. We have seen in North East what's happened is a consequence of this in Assam. So all these are essentially instruments that can be used to disenfranchise people. And then you have a whole list of other things, what you can eat, all those things that are coming in, in the name of protection of the cow. Love Jihad as you had said, essentially that anti-conversion, but in the process really attacking other organized religion of different varieties is being attacked in this. So all of this is interesting that the emergency which was formally declared and suspended certain rights, how you can have an encroachment of the same rights, but done in a different way by tweaking the constitution, that is currently, that is the project currently, they have realized that asking the constitution to be thrown out and the new constitution, that's not going to work. So therefore, how to make this change happen, that's a new project and let's face it, Modi has articulated this very clearly. It is answered to a press conference question. That was his 10, 12 minute answer that he gave over there. It's interesting, he's never held a press conference in India. And of course that is probably also why there's so much focus on controlling the media, on running it in a particular way. The IT cell, the focus on propaganda, all of that serves that purpose. Thank you so much Praveer for talking to us. You know, this has almost become some kind of an annual ritual as far as news click is concerned. I believe we will keep doing this and what hopefully circumstances also change in this context. Thank you so much. And that's all we have time for today. We have produced a number of other videos on the emergency as well, both this year and in the previous years, which talk about the concentration of power, the attack on institutions, the attack on media, how activists were forced to go to jail and the economic aspect of it, how the poor suffered and the rich kept getting richer. So do watch these videos and read these articles as well and also visit our website newsclick.in and follow us on all our social media accounts.


Hi folks, 4 o'clock, end of the day and as we turned to the bend the Dow was running to the high of the day and the S&P was catching up and the QQQs were trying to follow and the IWM was just right behind. Yep, we've got a very good Sachsen Basel champion here with the end of day 4 o'clock Tiger Financial News Network wrap up. We've got the Dow up 528 to 34,000 and 4 it was so important for me at least to look at the Dow as trying to get through the 33,900s. It just did that. Can it hold it is the big question but now the 33,700 area has to be really important support throughout the week. We're looking at the S&P and the S&P at this moment is closing at 3990.59 up 56 also nicely above the 9 period moving average. So neither of these crossed negative. That's really important. QQQ, Dady chart on the left. Dady on the left, the middle is the weekly on the right is the monthly. The Dady went above the 200 period moving average is up 3.01 and 285.03. It's really important that the QQQ which is up 1% not as good as the others starts to lead. It can't just be laggy. You can't have the general going on moving the troops when the troops aren't following. And you can see this inside track repellent zone of the weekly chart never went above it. So the gold contract is down 20 at 1791. Taking a bit of a breather after a really strong move up. Silver is also taking a bit of a breather but that chart is much better. Made that peak D in the Dady chart. 22.55 is the support is at 23.50 dollar higher down 0.21. Let's see if that 22.50 area holds. Looking at crude oil, crude oil is trading up a little bit up 2.43 at 73.45. Trying to get to the 76ers again. We'll see if it can do that this week. We're looking at the dollar. The dollar was up a few pennies. Now it's up 0.09 ticks at 105.05. Really struggling at the 200p moving average. We're looking at the TLT. That's bonds and bonds pull back a little bit. The yields have already pulled back sharply. So bonds can push into the 110s. That's going to help yields come down a little more. This is important to be for the Fed coming up because if the TLT spikes to the 110, 111 area, yields, we'll see yields come down. But what if the TLT drops to 104? So have a wonderful evening. A tumble be back tomorrow and check out the final hours of the Tiger sale. Huge sale creep, putting the cent off. Check out my webinar coming up on Thursday. See you tomorrow. Have a great day.