LOVE, LOVE, LOVE: short life of Eva Markvoort

By DOUGLAS TODD
Filed under: cystic fibrosis, CBC, B.C. Transplant, 65 Red Roses, Eva Markvoort, Vancouver Film Festival, Bill Markvoort, Janet Brine, Poland
For a young Metro Vancouver woman who often struggled for air, Eva Markvoort breathed an incredible volume of love and life into tens of thousands of people."Love, Love, Love."That was Eva's signature line, which was recited several times in front of more than 2,000 people at a poignant, stylish, music-drenched and laughter-filled memorial service Friday afternoon at the Massey Theatre in New Westminster. Eva, who died last month at age 25, suffered virtually all her passionate, colourful and committed life from cystic fibrosis. Her double-lung transplant two years ago became the subject of a gritty and acclaimed documentary film, 65 Red Roses. That's when many began falling in love with Eva.In Friday's memorial service, hosted by CBC broadcaster Gloria Macarenko and live-streamed for the benefit of the hundreds of thousands of people who had logged onto Eva's blog, also titled 65 Red Roses, Eva's friends and family offered eloquent testimonies to her spirit, which they believe lives on.In their tributes to Eva, a trained actress who had often performed on stage at Massey Theatre before studying the craft at the University of Victoria, loved ones spoke, sang, recited poetry, played music, showed photos and videos and even performed theatrical presentations in her honour.They described how, with Eva, "Every time is adventure time." Any time, as Eva used to say, was an excuse for a party, a moment for dancing.Eva, as some said, was "a force."Her father, Bill, read from some of the tens of thousands of letters that had been sent to Eva at the family home in New Westminster, where Eva is evolving into an icon, a legend.One of the most remarkable things about Eva's short life was the phenomenal popularity of her blog, on which she spared no honesty in describing the ecstasty and terror of battling against cystic fibrosis.In the past year, she detailed her body's tragic rejection of her donated lungs. And in the past few months, viewers almost literally watched her die, give her final words to the world. Surrounded by friends and family in her hospital room at Vancouver General Hospital.People logged into 65 Red Roses from around the world. The family registered more than one million page views on her blog. As the comments and letters flooded in, the family realized that people who never met Eva, almost perfect strangers, were making a connection, feeling a bond, being healed. The love that poured into Eva's blog was almost as strong as the love she gave out.Eva's legacy will not only be for the cystic fibrosis community, of which she has been an incredible educator. It is also for countless others captivated by the strength of her, her family and incredibly loyal friends.If Friday's memorial service made anything clear, it is that there was a universal spirit running through Eva. It's not going to die easily.As Eva often said: "My love is fierce."

Eva Dien Brine Markvoort story lives on.!

This story appeared in the Vancouver Sun this morning unbeknown to me. It honours the relationship between Justin and Eva, a beautiful story.Eva's story lives on through 65 Red Roses documentaryShe lost her battle with cystic fibrosis. Now friends and family want to keep her dream of organ donation aliveBy Miro Cernetig, Vancouver SunApril 29, 2010It's hard to say who has the more courage in this love story, a modern-day Romeo and Juliet where it's the cruelty of genetics, not class snobbery, that deals the fatal blow.But let's start with Eva Markvoort. She's the star of 65 Red Roses, a 2009 documentary made in Vancouver that's becoming an international sensation.It's a gritty but uplifting film that follows Eva's quest for a double-lung transplant, necessitated by the ravages of the cystic fibrosis that leaves her gasping for breath. The film's 65 Red Roses title is how a child once pronounced the disease, a mashing of the words that delighted Eva and she appropriated.In the film, Eva eventually gets her lung transplant. Her life's dream of being an actress seems within reach. She is radiant. She's literally been given the gift of life.That touching story has been a hit at film festivals, where 65 Red Roses has won top honours at the Vancouver Film Festival, Hot Docs and the Arizona International Film festival. It's now nominated for a best documentary award at the Banff International Film Festival.But a film is only a snapshot of a person. Life continues after the credits. Eva's battle with cystic fibrosis wasn't over, alas. Within two years her body began to reject those lungs. She was put on the list for another organ transplant, getting thinner and thinner, yet staying impossibly optimistic, as once again it became harder and harder to breathe.On the morning of March 25, in her hospital, she wrote this poem for her blog, on the www.65redroses.comwebsite, where she chronicles her life with cystic fibrosis:i'm at that point now i'm done with the poetics asking for helpmy sister is helping me write actually helping me writethe medications have been piling upthey are taking their tolli am supersaturated with medicationsi've been medically missingin action for two daysthe docs started taking me off some of them to see how i would manage and i am not managing not managing at alli'm drowning in the medicationsi can't breathe every hour once an hour i can't breathesomething has to changeTwo days later, her parents posted this:Our beautiful girl died thismorning at 9:30. She is at peace.... Eva was 25.Living through this with her friends and family was a young man named Justin Cousineau. He was the film's editor.Inside the editing suite at Force Four Entertainment, the Vancouver production house that made the film, he spent months screening hours and hours of footage of Eva, stitching the film together. The 25-year-old had never met Eva. That wouldn't happen for six months, when she came into Force Four's office. But as he sat in that dark room -- being a film editor is a sort of self-imposed solitary confinement -- Cousineau slowly realized he was falling in love with the woman on the screen."We needed to have the audience fall in love with Eva," he says. "I guess in the process I did, too."When he eventually met her, they initially started off as friends. "She was a little weirded out I knew everything about her."Eventually she fell for him, too."We were in love," says Cousineau. "Eva had two years of a new life."It was Eva's hope her story would encourage people of all ages to donate their organs when they die. Only about 15 per cent of people now do. Now Cousineau, along with Eva's friends and family, are on a quest to keep her dream alive."Now," he said, "it's our job to carry on Eva's legacy."This Friday in New Westminster's 2,000-seat Massey Theatre, where Eva performed in plays and concerts, her friends are gathering for a memorial. They're calling it The Celebration of Love. It will be streamed out live at 4 p.m. Pacific Time april 30 on the 65 Red Roses website for the hundreds of thousands of people in Canada and around the world who have been following Eva's blog for years.It seems they fell in love with Eva Markvoort, too.mcernetig@vancouversun.com

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Afghan records release has legal limits: PM : not so fast PMO!

Afghan records release has legal limits: PM

CBC News
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he is open to "any reasonable suggestion" to end the impasse over the release of documents related to Afghan detainees, but stressed that his government must also meet its own legal obligations.
"We look forward to both complying with the ruling and with the legal obligations that have been established by statutes, passed by this Parliament," Harper told the House of Commons on Wednesday when asked if he would fully comply with the Speaker's ruling a day earlier.
"Of course the fact of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, the government cannot break the law and cannot order public servants to break the law, nor can it do anything that would unnecessarily jeopardize the safety of Canadian troops."
Harper said his government wants to proceed in a way that would respect both the Speaker's ruling and its legal obligations and "will be open to any reasonable suggestion to achieve those two objectives."
Dimitri Soudas, spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said that senior government ministers will meet opposition party officials Thursday in a preliminary bid to find a compromise.
Soudas said Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and government House leader Jay Hill will be at the meeting to demonstrate the government's "spirit of openness" on the matter.
Earlier, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said he's willing to work with Harper's government over the issue — if the "extremely secretive" prime minister changes how he does business.Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff called the Speaker of the House's privilege ruling a 'clear defence of democracy.' (Pawel Dwulit/Canadian Press)
Speaking to reporters, Ignatieff said his party will work in good faith toward a process that can determine what in the material can be made public without endangering the operational security of Canada's military mission in Afghanistan.
"I don't think it's difficult to find a solution, but there needs to be good faith on the other side, and there is that good faith on this side," he said after his party's weekly caucus meeting in Ottawa.
On Tuesday, House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken ruled the government breached parliamentary privilege with its refusal to produce uncensored documents and called on all parties to find a solution within two weeks that would balance Parliament's right to access the material with concerns over national security.
Ignatieff called Milliken's ruling a "clear defence of democracy," saying it reinforces that the federal government must respect the will of Parliament and the will of the people.
Parliamentarians, he said, have been dealing successfully with similar disputes for centuries.
"Let's not make this more complicated than it need be," he said.
Expanding Iacobucci's mandate a 'possible solution'
The government has so far refused to hand over uncensored documents to MPs examining allegations that detainees transferred by Canadian soldiers into Afghan custody were tortured.
Under pressure from opposition parties, it appointed retired Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci to review the material to determine what can be released.
Opposition parties have said his appointment only slows the process and the government is under no obligation to make his findings public.
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Tuesday the government welcomed the "possibility of a compromise while respecting our legal obligations," but will not compromise Canada's national security or "jeopardize the lives of our men and women in uniform."
Ignatieff said he would consider a possible solution that would see Iacobucci's mandate changed to have him report directly to Parliament. But under Iacobucci's current mandate, he said, the former judge was "essentially operating as the government's lawyer."
If no agreement is reached on the matter, the government could make it a non-confidence vote in the House, which could trigger a snap election if all three opposition parties vote against the government.
The Conservatives could also attempt to challenge Milliken's ruling in the Supreme Court, but legal observers have cast doubts whether the court would agree to hear such a case. Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/04/28/afghan-documents-ruling-ignatieff.html#ixzz0mYfxJb37

Bill C-440 moves to second reading

URGENT ACTION: As Bill C-440 moves to second reading, email your Member of Parliament and urge them to support the bill.
Background
Bill C-440, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (war resisters), was introduced by MP Gerard Kennedy (L – Parkdale-High Park) and seconded by MP Bill Siksay (NDP – Burnaby-Douglas) in September 2009. Second reading for the bill will begin on May 25th 2010. If passed, Bill C-440 will allow US Iraq War resisters to apply for permanent resident status in Canada.
Bill C-440 follows on two concurrence motions passed in the House of Commons calling on the government to cease deportation proceedings against war resisters. It reflects the fact that the majority of Canadians do not want soldiers who reject participation in the illegal and immoral Iraq war to be sent back to face punishment.

War Resisters speak about why they came to Canada. Toronto, May 2008
The government of Stephen Harper has ignored these motions and has deported war resisters Robin Long and Cliff Cornell. Robin was sentenced to 15 months in the brig, and received a dishonorable discharge. This is the military equivalent of a felony conviction – meaning that he it will be impossible for him to get a decent job, loans for school or for education, and he is not eligible to return to Canada where he has a young son.
Cliff received and is currently serving a 12 month sentence and received a bad conduct discharge.
There are more war resisters facing deportation by the Harper government. It is time for this to stop. Canadians overwhelmingly oppose the war in Iraq, and they oppose sending young men and women back to jail for coming to the same conclusion. An Angus Reid poll found that 64% of Canadians, including a majority in all provinces, want U.S. Iraq war resisters to be allowed to stay.

I am Very happy!! : Paralysed woman has right to die: Swedish health board.

Paralysed woman has right to die: health board
Published: 26 Apr 10 12:36 CETOnline: http://www.thelocal.se/26290/20100426/
Dictionary tool Double click on a word to get a translation
The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) has advised that a 32-year-old woman who is completely paralysed and has been on a respirator since she was six has the right to decide to terminate her treatment.
Terminally ill man takes his own life (24 Mar 10)
Paralysed woman demands right to die (18 Mar 10)
Welfare board to investigate baby's death (7 Mar 09)"It is always the individual patient who decides, together with their doctor, over treatment and care. While the board does not make decisions in individual cases, we can describe the legal framework that applies and we have now done so," said Anders Printz in a welfare board statement on Monday.In a letter to the 32-year-old woman, sent also to other patients who had submitted similar requests, the board concluded that "health care legislation emphasizes respect for patient autonomy and integrity and that care should as much as possible be designed and implemented in consultation with the patient".The 32-year-old, who was was born with a neurological illness that has led to a continuous deterioration of her condition, was upbeat on Monday after being told of the welfare board's findings."I am very happy and my soul is at ease," she told the Expressen daily.The board clarified that according to existing legislation, "if the patient does not want a life support treatment to be initiated or continued, the physician should respect the patient's wishes".The advisory ruling extends beyond the terminally ill and covers the seriously ill that are being kept alive with medical efforts and thus addresses the controversial issue of euthanasia.The board advises that, in order to discontinue life support treatment, the responsible physicians must have provided a definitive diagnosis to assess disease prognosis and the treatment options that are available.The only exception to the constitutional principle that every citizen should be protected from forced care is when the law allows it, for example the provision allowing for compulsory psychiatric care.The board has also advised that healthcare givers have a responsibility to provide a dying patient with pain killers and treatment for anxiety, for example to issue morphine or soporifics after the suspension of respiratory treatment. "The point of departure is that it is the patient who decides what treatment he or she receives and when it should be stopped," Anders Printz concluded.

infidelity Swedish Royal wedding off.!

Swedish Royal wedding called off over infidelity with Bournemouth student


A Bournemouth student emerged this weekend as the unlikely wedge that drove apart a princess and her playboy fiancé, ending one of Europe’s most glamorous royal romances.
The wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Jonas Bergstrom, a lawyer, was called off on Saturday after Tora Uppstrom Berg, a 21-year-old photography student at Arts University College Bournemouth, claimed that she had had an affair with the prince-to-be.
“They have decided that the best for them is to go their separate ways,” the palace said in a statement, bringing to an end an engagement that reportedly began with a proposal in front of most of the Swedish Royal Family at their summer home.
Ms Uppstrom Berg, who was a Norwegian handball star before coming to Britain, told a magazine that she had slept with Mr Bergstrom, 31, while on holiday at an exclusive Swedish ski resort in February last year, six months before his engagement to the princess was announced.
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“I had an affair with Maddie’s boyfriend. We were intimate. He followed me home in a taxi at four o’clock in the morning ... He was extremely nice and a gentleman all night long,” she told a Norwegian magazine.
She was paid only 12,500 Norwegian kroner (£1,380) for her story, not a large amount for a scandal that has rocked Sweden’s relatively stable royal establishment.
Ms Uppstrom Berg said that Mr Bergstrom, who has a high profile in Scandinavia because of his eight-year relationship with the Princess, concealed his identity when he met her, at the age of 20. It was only when she called his mobile and listened to his voicemail that she realised who he was and his connection to the third-in-line to the Swedish throne.
“Had I known that he had a woman I would never have done anything like this,” she said. “I feel sorry for Madeleine who has an unfaithful man. She deserves better.”
The interview sent the Scandinavian press scrambling to get a glimpse of the woman responsible for derailing the much anticipated royal wedding and reporters and photographers have descended on Bournemouth. So far Ms Uppstrom Berg has eluded the eager press pack, and successfully disappeared, said one classmate. “I have not seen her for a while now.”
“Perhaps she is spending the money [from the interview],” said another.
Back in Sweden, she has been vilified by some. In other quarters, however, she has been hailed as having done the country a service by exposing Mr Bergstrom’s infidelity before the marriage.
Within 24 hours of the break-up being announced, a Facebook group called “Tora Uppstrom Berg, thanks for the taxpayer’s money you saved us” attracted nearly 100 members

Tories' poll number stable .

New evidence emerged Friday that former MP Rahim Jaffer engaged in what some MPs say was illegal lobbying of his former Conservative caucus colleagues.
In fact, it is those former caucus colleagues who are blowing the whistle on Jaffer. On Friday, it was Environment Minister Jim Prentice who told the House of Commons that Jaffer met last April with one of Prentice's staff to talk about a business idea.
The Conservative strategy "to throw Rahim under the bus," as an NDP MP described it, appears to have helped mitigate any political damage for the federal Conservatives.
Results of a poll, provided exclusively to Canwest News Service and Global National, show that while the gap between the Conservatives and the Liberals has narrowed somewhat over the last two weeks, the Conservatives are maintaining a healthy lead.
The poll finds that the Conservatives enjoy the support of 35 per cent of voters; Liberals are the pick of 29 per cent; and the NDP is at 16 per cent. In Quebec, the Bloc Quebecois is on top with 35 per cent, followed by the Liberals at 24 per cent, Conservatives at 20 per cent and NDP at 11 per cent.
Pollster Ipsos Reid surveyed 1,000 Canadians by phone between Tuesday and Thursday, after Canadians had begun to digest many of the scandalous elements of the allegations involving Jaffer and his wife MP Helena Guergis.
On April 9, Prime Minister Stephen Harper fired Guergis from cabinet, kicked her out of caucus and called in the RCMP and ethics commissioner for unspecified allegations about her conduct. Since then, allegations have surfaced that Guergis and Jaffer were photographed in the presence of cocaine users and prostitutes — allegations which Guergis denies — while multiple complaints about the pair, separate from Harper's, have been laid before Parliament's lobbying commissioner and Parliament's ethics commissioner.
"There's a corrosive effect if it lasts for long enough because if it looks like the government is not in control of the agenda and isn't managing the country," said Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Reid. "It hasn't started yet."
Two weeks ago, Ipsos Reid found that 37 per cent of Canadians supported the Conservatives and 27 per cent supported the Liberals — a 10-point gap. The gap this week narrowed to six points but Bricker said that movement is small and attributed it largely to the poll's margin of error of three percentage points 19 times out of 20.
"Everything we've seen is within the margin of error but it's a bit of a test when you see the gap reduced by that much," Bricker said. "It's something that's a bit of a watching brief."
Prentice was the second cabinet minister in as many days to release information that seems to contradict testimony Jaffer and his business partner Patrick Glemaud, a former Conservative candidate, gave to the House of Commons government operations and estimates committee earlier this week.
On Thursday, Infrastructure Minister John Baird released a series of documents which showed that Jaffer and Glemaud's company, Green Power Generation, sought up to $135 million in federal funding for three projects.
Baird provided his documents to the committee investigating the activities of Jaffer, Glemaud and Green Power Generation.
But Prentice went further. He said Friday that he has sent his information to Parliament's lobbying commissioner and Parliament's ethics commissioner, in addition to the government operations committee.
It amounts to more bad news for Jaffer, who may now be called back to the House of Commons committee to explain statements he gave there in which he said neither he nor his company engaged in any lobbying and that they "by no means" sought federal financing for their projects.
"You can't come to a parliamentary committee with a boldfaced lie and expect there to be no consequences. We won't accept that," said the NDP's Pat Martin.
The proactive disclosures by Baird and Prentice — neither minister was asked by any official body to disclose any documents or information — reinforced the view of their political opponents that the Conservatives were giving Jaffer special treatment because of his political connections.
"You can't say that Rahim Jaffer is an ordinary citizen," Bloc Quebecois MP Pierre Paquette said. "He's the former chair of the Conservative caucus and the husband of the dismissed minister."
Liberal MP Bonnie Crombie said it doesn't matter that Jaffer never received any funding for his plans — he got special access, she said, to ministers, their aides and government MPs.
The opposition has been calling on the government for a full accounting of all the meetings with Jaffer and Glemaud.
"I think all of the ministers are scouring their calendars to see if there's any record of Rahim Jaffer coming to them," said Martin. "Now that they've made up their mind to throw Rahim under the bus . . . they're going to go to great lengths to distance themselves from any record of contact.
"Minister Prentice has done the honourable thing and come forward, but it does beg the question — why did they wait nine or 10 months?"