The Dominion - Ben Sichel

Mi'kmaq to Obstruct Traffic to Fight Oil and Gas Exploration at Lake Ainslie

Moira Peters — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 14:14:51 +0000

First Nations call for a complete halt to drilling in Cape Breton

AULD'S COVE, NS—Mi’kmaq people from Cape Breton and the Nova Scotia mainland are preparing to set up a “partial blockade” of the Trans-Canada Highway in Auld’s Cove, on the mainland side of the Canso Causeway, the access point to Cape Breton.

By 1:30 yesterday afternoon, about 25 people had gathered, setting up flags and signs, and organizing a teepee and food for the warriors and their supporters.

The blockade is in opposition to exploratory oil and gas drilling by PetroWorth Resources, scheduled to begin later this year on the shore of Lake Ainslie in western Cape Breton.

"We’re going to be slowing the traffic down to a bare stop," said Ginny Marshall, pipefitter and mother of four from Potlotek (Chapel Island) on Cape Breton. "But we’ll be allowing people to go through," while handing out information and pamphlets, she explained. "We have to make it known why water is sacred."

Mi’kmaq communities—and many non-Indigenous residents around Lake Ainslie—have been clear in their opposition to exploratory drilling around the watershed, saying that no amount of money is worth risking the pristine water resources that Lake Ainslie supports.

"I’m a pipefitter and I would benefit from this type of job," said Marshall, referring to the development the province says is necessary to the economically depressed region. "But...I’ve seen all the damages that it does...I cannot tell my children, my child...I didn’t try. I let this go. I knew they were going to destroy the water...and money was too important."

Emmett Peters of Paq’tnkek (Afton) emphasized the importance of the action for future generations.

"I don’t know if you’re familiar with the 1752 treaty, [which was affirmed in the 1999] Marshall Decision, where we’re allowed to hunt and fish. So they thought about us 300 years previous. That’s how strong that treaty was," said Peters.

"So now what we’re trying to do is leave something for our children...maybe all it could be is fresh water."

A ceremony is planned for this morning at the blockade site, to which all people are invited.

"We’re going to put up a teepee and we’re going to have a fire, drummers are going come in and drum, sing the honour song and we’re going to have one of our elders say an opening prayer just so everything goes good," said Peters yesterday. "We’re leading, but it’s for all human beings."

Organizers of the action are expecting supporters from Paq’tnkek, Eskasoni, Waycobah, Membertou and Potlotek First Nations. They are also expecting non-Indigenous supporters from the Green Party, Protect Lake Ainslie and the Margaree Environmental Association.

Peter Bernard, a Chief of the Mi’kmaq Warrior Society from Waycobah, estimated this action will last two days.

"We’re trying to do this as peaceful as possible," said Marshall. But she, Peters and Bernard added that they will not give up if the partial blockade doesn’t affect the changes they are looking for: a complete halt on any oil and gas exploration or drilling at Lake Ainslie.

"If they do drill that [exploratory] well, what’s going to stop them from fracking?" said Paul. "It’s going to cost them millions of dollars to drill that one hole. And just leave it? I don’t think so."

Marshall said that if the traffic slowdown doesn’t succeed in stopping PetroWorth’s well, a full blockade will be organized.

"We will take your time...we understand your time is your money," said Marshall. "If no other way is gonna put a stop to this, this is our last resort."

"We’re so lucky to have a place so safe in the world compared to other places," said Marshall. "Blue gold is going to be the next commodity...just like oil, it’s gonna be our water, because water is a key element to life."

PetroWorth Resources could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.

Moira Peters lives and bikes in Halifax. Ben Sichel is a teacher and writer, and editor for the Halifax Media Co-op, where this article was originally published.

Ginny Marshall

Causeway Blockade

The Case for Permanent Free Public Transit

Miles — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:32:19 +0000

HALIFAX—Public transit will be running again in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) this week, and until the end of March transit users will enjoy unlimited free rides on buses and ferries.

Metro Transit says the free fares are a way to “welcome our customers back on board and thank everyone for their patience” during the 41-day strike. The Coast, Halifax's alt-weekly, also reports that free fares may be a way to protect drivers from angry riders.

While there’s been no shortage of criticism of city council and Metro Transit management recently, the city does deserve credit for this rather enlightened decision. Besides giving bus riders a break from searching for exact change or buying tickets or passes, the move creates space to discuss what might seem like an out-there idea—moving to a permanent zero-fare public transit system.

Of course, as HRM councillors are fond of reminding us, running a public transit system isn’t truly “free.” Fares account for 37 per cent of the cost of running Halifax’s buses and ferries, according to soon-to-be ex-mayor Peter Kelly; the rest comes from general tax revenue. Kevin Lacey of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation apparently opposes the current no-fare deal, tweeting that “there’s no free ride your [sic] paying for it anyway!”

Still, an impressive handful of small to mid-sized cities around the world have deemed it worthwhile to implement some degree of free transit for commuters.

Removing fares from public transit encourages more people to use it, and more people riding buses, ferries, and streetcars is undoubtedly a good thing. Transporting 40 people on a bus is much more efficient than transporting those people in private cars, meaning less traffic congestion, less air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and less public spending on road infrastructure and parking lots.

Presumably, Metro Transit is aiming to stem a decline in bus ridership, which is a typical consequence of a transit strike. Ridership declined four per cent after the last bus strike ended in Halifax 14 years ago, according to Metro Transit’s own figures.

Indeed, long-term zero-fare transit systems have been shown to increase ridership by up to 50 per cent, according to a 2002 study by the US Department of Transportation (DOT).

Of course, notes the study, removing fares on its own likely doesn’t result in fewer motorists on the road. Where public transit is slow, inconvenient, or unavailable, commuters stick to their cars—ridership increases in fare-free zones are partly due to people taking the bus when they otherwise might have walked or cycled. Transit consultant Jarrett Walker told Halifax Magazine recently that when Metro Transit increased the frequency of the number 1 bus, ridership increased 17 per cent.

“Frequency is freedom,” Walker said.

It’s important to note that going fare-free can also save money for public transit systems, who no longer have to pay for ticket printing; farebox collection, maintenance and personnel costs; and insurance.

The DOT study says that fare-free systems can work especially well in smaller transit systems, and lists several success stories from around the U.S.; other lists of cities can be found on Wikipedia and at http://freepublictransports.com (a list that includes Halifax for its summer FRED service).

Interestingly, the DOT study recommends against free fares for larger centres, noting that zero-fare experiments in the 1970s led to “dramatic rates of vandalism, graffiti, and rowdiness due to younger passengers who could ride the system for free,” and the “presence of vagrants on board buses [who] also discouraged choice riders and caused increased complaints from long-time passengers.”

Putting aside the offensive question of who the study considers a "choice rider," it’s true that a poorly implemented free-fare plan might be worse than none at all. (The study notes that some free-fare experiments caused a backlash from drivers experiencing more difficult working conditions, and ended up driving away customers.) That doesn’t mean it can’t, or shouldn’t, be done. There are movements toward free public transit in Toronto and New York (mayor Michael Bloomberg apparently supports the idea in principle), and just last week the idea was raised at a talk sponsored by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.

Should we be talking about it in Halifax too? Don’t forget that car travel is heavily subsidized as a matter of course, with governments across the country spending billions each year on highways, bridges, tax breaks for car companies and business that use vehicles, and the like. Construction of the Halifax Washmill Lake Underpass was approved by council last year even though it was $8 million over budget—$2.4 million more than the net increase to Metro Transit’s budget over the next five years, after the new contract negotiated with the transit workers’ union.

Let's keep free transit on the agenda after March 31.

Ben Sichel is a teacher and writer in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Burning transit ticket

Lighter Wallet? Low Wages, Not High Taxes, To Blame

stephlaw — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:46:03 +0000

Analysts say "bracket creep" much less of a concern than stagnant wages

HALIFAX—Nova Scotians are going to feel their belts get a little bit tighter this year. And according to some experts, stagnant wages—and not tax increases—are to blame.

“[P]eople can't make ends meet because wages are too low in this province,” said Christine Saulnier, the Nova Scotia director at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

Saulnier pointed to a recent study released by the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council that showed that Atlantic Canada created four times as many low-wage jobs (defined as jobs paying less than $40,000 a year) than high-wage jobs in the past decade.

Saulnier also noted that Canadians’ real purchasing power is down—average yearly wages increased by 2.7 per cent in the past year, which was slightly less than the inflation rate of three per cent.

The plunge in real purchasing power was worse for Nova Scotians than the average Canadian. Their wages increased by just 0.4 per cent, while inflation was four per cent—meaning that buying power actually fell 3.6 per cent, points out Larry Haiven, professor of management at St. Mary’s University.

“The average Canadian earned 15.8 per cent more than the average Bluenoser,” Haiven said.

Some groups, including the Nova Scotia Chambers of Commerce, have been calling for tax cuts to make the province "more competitive" for businesses.

But Saulnier disagrees.

“Cutting taxes by adjusting for inflation or raising the personal exemption or otherwise tinkering with the progressive tax system (making it less progressive), is not the answer,” she said.

Saulnier was responding to recent comments from anti-tax activists like Kevin Lacey of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation about “bracket creep,” the phenomenon whereby workers receive wage increases tied to inflation, but then enter a higher income tax bracket as a result.

“Any such initiatives that are across the board benefit the wealthiest the most,” Saulnier said. “Adjusting for inflation would not benefit those who are far under the bottom tax rate—the same people who need it the most and those who are the most likely to spend it, thus stimulating the economy.”

At a recent public lecture organized by the CCPA, tax specialist Neil Brooks of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto noted that Nova Scotia currently has the most progressive income tax system in Canada, meaning that the highest-income earners are taxed at a higher rate.

Low wages, and consequent low tax revenues, are also a reason why “the government struggles to pay for needed services” in Nova Scotia, Saulnier said.

“Plus, given how little workers have actually seen their wages increase, I am not sure who we are worried about moving into a higher tax bracket,” he added.

Professor Larry Haiven acknowledged that “as real earnings drop, a cut in taxes starts to look good.”

But tax reductions are a low-hanging fruit that fails to get to the crux of the problem, he said.

“[P]eople don’t immediately think ‘what services will I lose?’”

Haiven co-authored a 2008 study that suggests rising inequality should be of far greater concern than tax increases to Nova Scotians struggling to make ends meet.

Governments “have been cutting taxes frenetically, frantically, for the past 25 years. Governments across Canada are taking in about $250 billion less than they did 15 years ago,” Haiven told the Media Co-op in 2009.

And while Nova Scotia’s economy grew by 62 per cent between 1981 and 2006, according to the report, average weekly earnings actually declined five per cent.

“Where is that money going? It’s obviously going into the hands of a few,” Haiven said.

The CCPA’s national office recently released its annual report on compensation of the 100 richest CEOs in Canada, who last year saw a 27 per cent increase in their average earnings from the previous year. The report notes that this means Canada’s top CEOs made 189 times more than the average worker, and by noon on January 3 that year, had earned as much as the average worker’s annual salary.

This article was originally published by the Halifax Media Co-op.

Ben Sichel is a teacher and a writer and editor with the Halifax Media Co-op.

Empty wallet

Small Town Power

Tim McSorley — Fri, 13 May 2011 05:27:02 +0000

A community with energy to spare

HALIFAX—“I can get quite overwhelmed and pessimistic at the state of the world, and I get incredibly angry at our government, which seems to be intentionally ignoring its moral responsibility for the state of Canadian industry,” says Wilf Bean, a resident of Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia. “With [federal environment minister] Peter Kent saying that he’s not going to pass any legislation which restricts tar sands development...It’s absolutely irresponsible.”

Bean, a veteran social justice campaigner and adult educator with the Coady International Institute, explains his decision to become the secretary of Colchester Cumberland Wind Fields (CCWF), a small, community-owned company on Nova Scotia’s North Shore.

“Getting involved in something locally, with local people, and trying to build a community that is attempting to live out some alternative...It’s necessary to my own sanity,” says Bean.

With 125 local shareholders, CCWF has raised the capital to build its first 0.8-megawatt wind turbine, scheduled to be up and running by August of this year. It will produce “about the amount of power Tatamagouche [population 900] uses,” says Bean.

Through an arrangement with electricity provider Nova Scotia Power (which has a monopoly in the province), the wind energy produced by the turbine will feed into Tatamagouche’s substation, which provides electricity to the community. This means that once the turbine is functioning, the company’s “vision of community-owned renewable electricity generation” will be a reality, Bean says.

The community-based aspect makes the project distinct, explains David Stevenson, CCWF’s president. “It’s very rewarding for individuals to have a sense of connection to their own power, and I think we’ll value it more in the long term,” says Stevenson. “All of our power will stay within this area.”

Bean and Stevenson say the North Shore community, already close-knit, is being brought together on yet another level by the wind project.

“There is that pride, that sense of...being part of something,” says Stevenson. “We had a public meeting at the hall in September...There were people there from the Department of Energy, along with local people, and the expression that was given back to us [by the Department] was, ‘Boy, you sure had people on your side.’”

Stevenson and the directors of CCWF raised money through a CEDIF (Community Economic Development Investment Fund), a tax-incentive mechanism created by the provincial Department of Finance to promote investment in local business. As more than 90 per cent of Nova Scotians’ investments into RRSPs leave this province for the Toronto Stock Exchange, a CEDIF means people have better incentive to “[put] their retirement funds in our company,” says David Swan, engineer and manager of the turbine project.

The community-based structure and cleaner-than-coal energy are what led Renate Hempel, a local heritage interpreter, to invest in the wind turbine project. “I was very intrigued by the idea to support sustainable energy that at the same time wouldn’t be owned by a big corporation,” says Hempel.

Hempel admits to having some reservations about the project. For instance, the tax-credit mechanism that financed the project means that the incentive to invest is only there “for people who pay a certain amount of taxes,”—high-income earners, she says. “It’s community-owned, but for people who pay high taxes.

“For some of my neighbours in Tatamagouche, it wouldn’t make any sense for them to invest...their taxes are minuscule” because of their low incomes, says Hempel. “I’m having a little bit of a hard time with that…It’s not for everybody.”

Tracy Glynn, a lecturer in environmental studies at St. Thomas University who campaigns against the environmental and social effects of importing “blood coal” from Colombia to the Maritime provinces, sees the project as a positive step toward cleaner power in Nova Scotia.

But, she adds, it’s important to look beyond small-scale projects like this one and work toward “replac[ing] the capitalist system, which is inherently anti-environment.” Profit, she says, cannot be the only motive driving solutions to the climate crisis.

CCWF is a for-profit business, but one that bills itself on its website as part of a “response to the challenges of the centralized energy systems that resulted from neo-liberal philosophies”—that is, the philosophy that large-scale privatization is the most efficient (read: profitable) way to provide people with energy.

Many people in Tatamagouche glimpsed the impacts of that problematic system in 2008, when Jesus Brochero, a union leader representing workers from the Cerrejon mine in Colombia, visited the community. Cerrejon provides coal to the Maritime provinces via Nova Scotia Power.

Brochero spoke of the myriad hazards mineworkers in Colombia face. Earlier that year, a fellow union leader at the mine, Adolfo Gonzalez Montes, was “tortured and killed at his home,” says Glynn. He was one of 2,510 unionists murdered in Colombia in the last 10 years.

“In the Maritimes, we clearly see how capitalism has merely shifted ecological problems…through the sourcing of cheap, dirty, blood coal in Colombia for our energy consumption,” says Glynn.

David Swan is quick to note that those problems are catching up to us.

“It’s only in the last 200 years we’ve had this concept of ‘I will live better than my parents,’” says Swan. “We may have to go back to a more steady-state lifestyle, a mindset of ‘I won’t have more than my grandparents.’”

Despite her reservations, Hempel is quick to note that she believes the positive aspects of the wind turbine project far outweigh the negative.

“Overall, I think it’s great,” says Hempel. There are “open meetings with everyone, it’s very involved, very transparent.”

And, despite the small scale of the project, Wilf Bean emphasizes its place in the bigger picture.

“At least we’ll be using some clean power source,” Bean says, “and cut[ting] down a little bit on Colombian coal.”

Ben Sichel is a writer and teacher in Halifax.

The Coal In Our Veins

Nova Scotia’s addiction to dirty, bloody power

by ANGELA DAY

HALIFAX—Wind farms aside, Nova Scotia is coal country. Approximately three-quarters of the province’s electricity is derived from this fossil fuel and much of it is imported—but not without conflict.

“Indigenous peoples [in Colombia] have been displaced from their traditional lands for multinationals to access resources that are then exported to us for our energy needs,” according to Garry Leech, author and professor at the University of Cape Breton.

Cape Breton, a rugged island off the northeastern tip of Nova Scotia, used to be the home of coal mining in the province, and is where miners joined the first trade union in North America—the Provincial Workman’s Association (PWA). The PWA was incorporated in Springhill, NS, in 1881 by coal miners demanding better wages and living conditions.

Today, at the Sydney port not far from the union’s origins, coal is unloaded from Colombia.

Nova Scotia began importing coal from the US in the 1950s and 60s for reasons of quality, since the coal mined here was a dirty, low-grade fuel. “Then, taking advantage of...neoliberal economic policies in the late 1990s, the province began to import coal from Colombia instead,” said Leech.

He explains that over the past 20 years, globalization has had a huge impact on Colombia, “opening up Colombia’s resources to foreign investment, particularly in mining and oil.” Cerrejon, a coal mine in northern Colombia, is now the largest open-pit coal mine in the world, and is the reason many Nova Scotians (and New Brunswickers) can turn on their lights, heat their homes and eat toast. All of the coal mined at Cerrejon is exported to Canada, the US and Europe.

Leech dismisses the common argument that Cerrejon’s profit trickles down to Colombians. “While, on paper, this mine contributes to the country’s GDP, most of the wealth generated from the mine leaves the country as profit for foreign-owned multinationals. The people in the affected areas are often living in poverty, and their homes have been devastated.”

MiningWatch cites ongoing damage to homes and severe skin and respiratory diseases suffered by people in the area.

Alongside a deplorable track record of human rights protection and a decades-long civil war, these factors have led to Colombian coal being dubbed “blood coal.”

Nevertheless, Nova Scotia continues to source mass amounts of coal from Colombia, and Brennan Vogel, Energy Coordinator at the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax, says he doesn’t see the province moving away from coal anytime soon.

Nova Scotia’s electricity provider—Nova Scotia Power Incorporated (NSPI)—is a private company that is guaranteed a 10 per cent return on investment by the provincial government. Changing its infrastructure to an energy source other than coal would be an expensive process, says Vogel. Because of this, Vogel sees a need for a broader conversation about electricity.

“Is energy a commodity,” he asks, “or is it a right like water or food, that people need to be assured of?”

Leech says energy doesn’t need to be linked to human rights violations and can be more environmentally friendly. But, according to him, “this has never been the motive of NSPI. They have a monopoly in the province...So, as long as it’s profitable, they’ll keep doing what they’re doing.”

Angela Day is a writer, educator, urban gardener and community organizer with roots in Halifax. She currently coordinates programs for young women across HRM.

These articles were produced by the Halifax Media Co-op for A People's Forecast: The Climate Justice Issue, our 2011 special issue. Come launch the special issue in Halifax on Wednesday, May 18! To read more climate justice articles as they are published, click here.

Turbine Miner

Good Work Its Own Reward?

hillarybain — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 05:53:55 +0000

Report finds high turnover, low pay, and educated workforce in non-profit sector

HALIFAX—Workers in Nova Scotia’s non-profit sector are poorly paid, highly educated, and frequently leaving their jobs, according to a new study conducted for the Federation of Community Organizations and Phoenix Youth Programs.

Sixty per cent of non-profit workers – of whom eighty-seven per cent are women – earn less than $40,000 a year, and ninety-four per cent earn less than $60,000 “at all levels,” according to Miia Suokonautio, Director of Programming at Phoenix Youth Programs and Co-chair of the study.

As well, three quarters of non-profit employees in the province hold at least one university degree, compared to forty-five per cent nationally.

“Where there may be a public perception that…good will is enough” to work in the non-profit sector, says Suokonautio, “the complexity, and the level of service delivery and community involvement required from non-profits actually has more and more people having university degrees.”

While many do not think of the United Way, home care services for seniors, the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs and Environmental NGOs as an employment sector, non-profits actually employ more Nova Scotians than traditional sectors like manufacturing or construction, says the report.

As well, the non-profit sector is key to community health and vitality, says Suokonautio.

“When you think of the community without the little league team, or without the home support services for seniors, or without the programs for immigrants and newcomers to help them settle, without services for homeless adults, you start to see a significantly impoverished Nova Scotia,” she says.

“And in rural Nova Scotia, what we heard from our research is that in some communities it’s really the lifeblood.”

Low pay and instability of funding were directly related to another common problem in the non-profit sector: high employee turnover rates. Sixty per cent of current non-profit employees have been in their positions less than two years, according to the report.

This phenomenon has a highly unsettling effect on those receiving services, says Suokonautio.

“If every two years you had to change your family doctor…the impact is huge,” she says.

Suokonautio adds that Nova Scotians should be aware of the excellent value they get from investing in the non-profit sector. “We do things that the market would never do because there’s no financial incentive, and we do things cheaper than if the government were to do it,” she says.

“We know that the provincial government is facing cuts,” she says. However, “cuts to some places will actually mean more costs, so it doesn’t necessarily make sense to cut up front…if you cut some of the essential services…the cost for justice, the cost for health care, are likely to go up.”

Ben Sichel is a member of the Halifax Media Co-op, where this article was originally published

Non Profit

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation: A Myopic Watchdog?

Moira Peters — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:02:35 +0000

Anti-tax group setting up in Atlantic Canada, critics says it's all rhetoric

HALIFAX—A self-described “taxpayer watchdog” group with offices across Canada is poised to open an office in Halifax this fall, according to recent media reports. But critics say the organization is little more than a right-wing media mouthpiece.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) advocates for “lower taxes, less waste, and more accountable government,” according to Kevin Gaudet, the group’s federal director.

CTF’s website highlights the federal long-gun registry, the amount paid to elected officials, and “eco-taxes” as examples of wasted taxpayer money.

But Larry Haiven, a professor in the faculty of management at Saint Mary’s University, says most of CTF’s stances on issues—and particularly their relentless calls to lower taxes—are “the most simplistic garbage.”

“It assumes that nothing that is purchased with our taxes is of any use for us,” said Haiven.

Despite CTF’s anti-tax, spending-is-out-of-control rhetoric, said Haiven, taxes are lower now than they’ve been in decades, leaving governments struggling to provide essential services.

“Provinces and the [federal government] have been cutting taxes frenetically, frantically, for the past 25 years... Governments across Canada are taking in about $250 billion less than they did 15 years ago.

“You have to weigh that against everything the Taxpayers Federation says,” said Haiven.

Erin Weir, an economist with the United Steelworkers’ Union who has publicly debated and frequently published online commentary about CTF, said the organization “represents the right-wing fringe of Canadian politics” and most often chooses which issues to emphasize based on ideology and not their impact on taxpayers.

CTF “uses issues like gun control and politicians’ salaries—which have almost no effect on overall government expenditures or tax rates—to foment distrust of public institutions,” said Weir.

Gaudet said CTF stands up for taxpayers against “special interests,” which he defines as “anybody who’s taking money from government, to a certain extent.”

“We look at all issues, all political issues, all public policy issues through a lens of government spending,” he said.

However, some of the Harper government’s most expensive recent policy decisions barely figure on CTF’s radar.

Gaudet was reluctant to criticize the federal government’s package of "tough on crime" legislation, even though, by the government’s own admission, there is no data to indicate that the new laws will reduce crime in Canada—while the cost of building new prisons and increasing sentences is estimated at $10 billion.

“Legislation ought to have cost impacts put out with it,” stated Gaudet, stopping short of more specific criticism of the legislation.

In comparison, CTF led an extensive campaign against federal prisoners receiving old-age pensions; the group claims the costs associated with inmates’ pensions total $14 million per year.

Gaudet did not question the government’s decision to purchase new F-35 fighter jets from a US multinational, despite a $16-billion price tag; although he did post to his Facebook and Twitter accounts saying the contract should have gone to tender. Several analysts have criticized the purchase on such grounds as the Canadian military's lack of need for such jets.

“I find that type of question [of whether the fighter jets are needed] usually to be the type of refrain from those interests who generally...don’t like Harper, period,” said Gaudet. Opposition comes “from a bunch of people who like to pretend to think they’re experts on the unique service requirements of the Canadian Air Force, as if they had some unique perspective into the minds of the generals that run the show,” he said.

On most issues, CTF indeed camps out on the far right of the Canadian political spectrum. Along with the Fraser Institute and the National Citizens’ Coalition, CTF was one of the few prominent voices in Canada to support the decision to abolish the mandatory long-form census, even though the replacement voluntary household survey may well cost more.

On the issue of climate change, CTF justifies its opposition to all government initiatives to reduce carbon emissions with a straightforward argument: “We don’t believe there’s such thing as man-made climate change,” said Gaudet, adding that initiatives such as “cap-and-tax” are in no way proved to reduce CO₂ emissions.

When it was noted that 97 per cent of scientists support the theory that greenhouse gases emissions are changing the climate, Gaudet challenged the Media Co-op. “I think you’re probably very selective, and this is part of the problem with the movement,” he said. “You get a bunch of Kool-aid suckers who choose not to actually do much work, and mainly focus on that amount of stuff that gets published that suits their own interests. I disagree with the characterization that there’s consensus [among scientists about climate change].”

It is worth noting that some of CTF’s campaigns could be seen to align with the political left. The group’s website denounces “corporate welfare,” and Gaudet listed the aerospace and automobile industries among the “special interests” it accuses of begging at the public trough, noting the millions of dollars doled out in government subsidies.

The group is “fairly consistent” in this respect said Haiven. “They just don’t think government should be spending money on anything.”

The group's website claims 74,000 supporters—a phenomenon Haiven chalked up to the financial situation many Canadians find themselves in.

“Average earnings of Canadians...have not kept up with inflation,” noted Haiven. “[People are] looking for ways to save money, and one of the easy places to look is taxation. That’s part of what’s driving the anti-tax movement... The average person is earning less money...and so the appeal to somehow save some money is very attractive.”

But, he said, anti-tax advocates are barking up the wrong tree. He pointed to a study he co-authored in 2008 with economist Mathieu Dufour that shows that although Nova Scotia’s economy grew by 62 per cent over 20 years—11 percentage points more than the national average—and workers’ productivity increased, their paycheques still shrunk by five per cent.

“The province is getting richer [in terms of GDP]...but working people are not getting richer—they’re poorer. So where is that money going? It’s obviously going into the hands of a few,” said Haiven. His 2008 study noted that across Canada, the incomes of the top five per cent of Canadian families increased sharply between 1982 and 2004 while those of the bottom 70 per cent declined.

“The Taxpayers Federation will tell you that government is getting richer, but that’s not true,” Haiven added. “Government has shrunk...all across the country—the size of government, compared to GDP, has shrunk.

“Their pronouncements tend to be sensationalist, so the media gravitates to it. Media feeds the public perception that we’re somehow overtaxed and government’s too big,” he said.

Christine Saulnier of the Nova Scotia office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), challenged the notion that CTF’s anti-tax message resonates with very many Canadians.

The Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation at a Glance

Self-description: A citizen’s advocacy group dedicated to lower taxes, less waste, and accountable government.

Origins: Formed in 1990 through the merger of anti-tax groups in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Ideology: Though Federal Director Kevin Gaudet rejects ideological labels, finding them “not useful,” he says the best tag to attach to the group might be “libertarian.” Political scientist Brooke Jeffrey has written that CTF has a “neo-conservative approach to the role of government.”

Political partisanship: “All CTF staff and board directors are prohibited from holding a membership in any political party,” reads the organization’s website. Gaudet mentions that CTF is often accused of being a front for the federal Conservatives; however, he points to a “long list” of CTF’s criticisms of the Harper government. Some CTF staff have had ties to political parties – Gaudet himself worked for the Reform party, and Jason Kenney, current Conservative minister of Citizenship and Immigration, was president and CEO of CTF in the mid 1990’s.

Structure: Although CTF claims 74,000 “members,” critics charge CTF is not a member-run organization in the traditional sense of the word – Larry Haiven compares it to the Canadian Automobile Association, calling it a “franchise.”

Kevin Gaudet says CTF is run “the way Greenpeace is run.” The Media Co-op contacted Greenpeace Canada and found that like CTF, Greenpeace is a member-supported organization that accepts neither corporate nor political donations. Unlike CTF members, however, Greenpeace members can vote on resolutions at an Annual General Meeting, according to spokesperson Brian Blomme. Also unlike CTF, a summary of Greenpeace’s financial statement is available for download on its website.

Gaudet says CTF has a policy of not revealing its employees’ salaries, “like any private company.” (Though he did reveal his own annual salary when asked—$77,500.) As of press time, Greenpeace had not responded to a request for its top employees’ salaries, though a “campaigns coordinator” position on its website lists a salary of $50,297.

She pointed to a national poll commissioned by the CCPA in the fall of 2008, in which the overwhelming majority of respondents agreed that government should take concrete action to reduce poverty, raise minimum wages above the poverty line, and provide affordable housing—even if it meant “higher taxes or cuts in spending in other areas.” On nearly every question, Atlantic Canadians polled higher than the Canadian average.

“Yes [lowering taxes] resonates, but not with as many people as they say it does,” said Saulnier. “We’re not talking about the full implications of what it means to lower taxes. If we did, that would be a fairer debate. Then we’d see if it actually does resonate."

Saulnier is lukewarm about CTF’s pending arrival in Atlantic Canada.

“We’re about opening this debate,” she says. “We want to have a discussion about taxation.

“Having said that, I’m not sure it’s the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation that can have that debate. We can’t have a discussion on taxation without talking about public services,” she said.

Weir noted that unlike think tanks, “the CTF does not produce research or analysis. Instead, most of its employees are essentially full-time media spokespeople.”

Weir remarked that while “the CTF presents itself as a grassroots movement...individual Canadian taxpayers cannot become members of the CTF, vote on its policy positions or elect its leadership.”

Gaudet defended the organization’s structure and grassroots credentials. The CTF functions “the way Greenpeace is run,” said Gaudet. “We don’t take government money. We exist by virtue of cheques from 74,000 people, usually small cheques, in the $50 to $300 range... [from] small businesses, mom-and-pop shops, farmers, for example.”

Saulnier hopes media coverage of CTF’s stance on issues will be fair, and the group’s aims transparent.

“We’re more often than not presented in the media as left-wing,” she said. “We are open about what our mandate is and we’d like the same from the other side.”

“I think we agree with some of [their priorities], like accountable government,” she added. “But we’d like to talk about who’s holding government accountable, and for what.”

Ben Sichel is a member of the Halifax Media Co-op, where this article wasoriginally published originally published.

Tax Monopoly

Guatemalan Coffee a Complex Blend

Moira Peters — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:16:47 +0000

Threats, exile a bitter part of coffee farmers' work

HALIFAX—They call him “the Hurricane.”

Guatemalan coffee farmer Leocadio Juracan (his family name is close to the Spanish word for hurricane) has had a special relationship with many Nova Scotians—though most don’t even know it.

His coffee-farming co-operative—part of the Comite Campesino Del Altiplano (CCDA), or Highland Peasant Farmers’ Committee—has been delighting Nova Scotian palates with its fair trade, shade-grown organic coffee for close to nine years, through a partnership with Just Us! Coffee roasters in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

Juracan is touring Nova Scotia this weekend, speaking to audiences in Wolfville, Halifax, Tatamagouche and Antigonish. The agenda focuses on more than just light versus dark roasts.

According to Kathryn Anderson, Maritimes Co-ordinator of the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence (BTS) Solidarity Network—a long-time partner of the CCDA—the organization currently faces “perhaps the greatest threat to its existence since its founding” in 1982.

In May 2008, Juracan explained, after signing an agreement with Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom on a framework for rural development, the CCDA’s car was shot at six times while driving down a rural road. The car’s passengers thankfully escaped injury.

"CCDA coffee is about more than fair trade prices for local producers," said Jackie McVicar, Co-ordinator of BTS Guatemala and former BTS intern with the CCDA. McVicar believes the CCDA’s vehicle was targeted. "CCDA coffee implies political advocacy and ongoing work in the struggle for labour justice and access to land for thousands of Guatemalan peasants. This work is happening at both the grassroots and national level," she said.

Authorities chalked up the shooting to "common crime," an assessment that may seem reasonable in a country with one of the highest violent crime rates in Latin America. But since then, the organization has suffered through two robberies in which a total of $40,000 worth of coffee was stolen. Its leaders have received threats of murder and violence by letter and by phone. A “climate of terror” surrounds the CCDA, said Juracan.

“The robbery and threats the CCDA received reflect an attempt to destabilize the organization and delegitimize the work they are doing,” said McVicar. “CCDA coffee isn't just about better wages. It's about changing structures of oppression."

In February, the threats started to target Juracan’s children. He decided to leave Guatemala, at least until the danger subsided. With the help of Canadian allies, he discreetly left the country with his family, and they found their way to Vancouver.

“If [the threats] had been just toward me,” Juracan said, “I would have kept on.”

****

The coffee grown by the CCDA—known as “Café Justicia” and sold to roasters around the world—provides capital for development projects and a fair wage for the farmers, said Juracan.

He listed home construction, a rural hospital, health promotion, training for midwives, teacher pay supplements and educational scholarships as the CCDA’s ongoing projects.

But these “alternative” economic models are threatening to some, explained Juracan.

“Guatemala is not a poor country,” he said. “There is a sector of society that is extremely rich, that has appropriated the wealth of the country and excluded the majority of the population.”

This oligarchy has a vested interest in business as usual, said Juracan. He dismissed the theory that threats and attacks against the CCDA are the work of common criminals, noting they always take place immediately after the group takes a public political position: criticizing the government for lack of action on land reform, for example, an issue for which resolution is decades overdue; or condemning the murder of unionists. “We connect [the attacks against us] to political acts,” he said.

Residual violence from Guatemala’s 36-year civil war may exacerbate the current violence. The conflict, which divided communities and in which more than 250,000 were killed—most of them by military and government-backed paramilitary groups—left a legacy of violence that has been hard for the country to shake. It is perfectly plausible, according to Juracan, that his attackers would have connections to wartime paramilitary groups.

****

Juracan and his family planned to return to Guatemala after two or three months, hoping the security situation would improve. Unfortunately, in the few weeks since they arrived in Canada, there is no encouraging news.

"There is more news of harassment and intimidation, hooded men roaming the community, gunshots at night,” said the campesino.

During his time in Canada, Juracan said he would like to generate conditions for a return to his home country. Many CCDA members continue to work hard in Guatemala for political change, and Juracan plans to strengthen solidarity between the CCDA and concerned Canadians.

Still, said Juracan, he would rather his stay be as short as possible. Being forced out of his country for doing his work is a difficult pill to swallow.

Tomorrow, March 22 at 7pm, Jurican will speak at Immaculata Hall 202, Saint Francis Xavier University in Antigonish. CCDA coffee is available in Nova Scotia as Just Us! Coffee’s "Breaking the Silence Blend."

Ben Sichel is a writer and teacher in Halifax. He recently took a group of students on an educational trip to Guatemala. An original version of this article was published by the Halifax Media Co-op.

Leocadio Juracan

City Lights Not So Bright

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 15:34:36 +0000

Discussing the future of slums in the opulent setting of the World Urban Forum in Vancouver

The next Forum should be the World Urban Poor Forum" suggested Jockin Arputham, president of the National Slum Dwellers Federation in India, to a room full of people in business attire. photo: Dey Alexander

Thousands of people from over one hundred countries lined up around several city blocks to attend the Third World Urban Forum, UN-Habitat's biennial conference on urban issues, held in Vancouver from June 19 to 23. With a view of the upscale Coal Harbour skyline to the West, and the struggling streets of the Downtown Eastside mere blocks in the other direction, the Forum attempted to address the daunting challenges of urbanization. Bringing together a cross-section of government officials, NGOs, business people, media, and the general public, the spectrum of positions presented was so diverse that the eventual declarations were more about the urgency of building livable cities than about what urban sustainability might actually look like.

Cities will soon be home to the majority of the world's people, and as some delegates bluntly stated, most will live in slums, where finding water and toilets is a greater concern than designing city bike paths. UN-Habitat estimates that the urban population in the global South will double to four billion in the next thirty years. Already, a third of people in cities live in slum conditions. Looking back on a decade of international urban policy, South African Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu described the situation as "an indifference which dehumanizes."

Organizers of the forum seemed to make a concerted effort to encourage wide participation. Registration was free and open to anyone with access to the internet, and even those who showed up unregistered were rarely turned away. Grassroots civil-society organizations seemed to be well-represented, including a fair number from the Global South. And, initiatives such as the World Youth Forum (held prior to the WUF in order to prepare young people to participate – and the Habitat Jam) an on-line discussion where thousands of slumdwellers from around the world exchanged ideas – succeeded in bringing some marginalized voices to the Forum.

Lack of accessibility was still a problem for many, however. Translation services were spotty, and often unavailable in smaller presentations, leaving those without a good command of English wanting. Indigenous peoples in particular spoke out against under representation and tokenism at the Forum, with a declaration calling for an end to corporate "development aggression" in cities and the degradation and theft of ancestral land.

Amid the sea of suits, jargon and business cards, the Forum did feature some sobering, down-to-earth talk of urban issues. Delegates from marginalized communities made a clear demand to be included and not to be "represented" by government or NGO officials. At a rally of housing activists outside the Convention Centre, speakers from Canada and India reminded the Forum that government cutbacks in social housing funding and initiatives to "clean up" slum areas have pushed many vulnerable people further into poverty.

Mariama Sow of Senegal, speaking on behalf of "civil society" at the Forum's closing ceremony, caused some discomfort in the room when she blamed "rich countries," with their unfair trade practices and closed borders, as the "true culprits" for the underdevelopment of the majority world. Sow noted that, despite many inspiring stories presented at the Forum, social problems in urban areas are for the most part getting worse, not better. Even the Forum's own final report chastised governments around the world for not acting on their promises of poverty reduction.

Occasionally in smaller sessions, donors and local project staff asked questions of one another, and people working on common issues in distant countries shared experiences. Some speakers challenged the Forum to redefine notions such as "unemployment" and "participatory development" to fit the realities of the urban poor, who survive within the informal economy with no access to basic services.

With references to the idealism and unattained ambitions of the first UN-Habitat gathering in Vancouver in 1976, delegates made vague calls for "new partnerships" between sectors, while community activists spoke vividly of the miserable conditions of urban poverty. Donor agency officials and grassroots activists agreed that more political pressure is needed to make urban issues a priority, yet few discussions directly addressed the power structures that impede real progress.

Overall, there seemed to be a lack of presence of the people most affected by rampant urbanization, from both the global North and South. "The next Forum should be the World Urban Poor Forum" suggested Jockin Arputham, president of the National Slum Dwellers Federation in India, to a room full of people in business attire. "I want you all to come, but as observers. Then you will be frustrated because you can't participate."

Indeed, the idea of the next biennial gathering being held in an urban slum, perhaps in Africa, was floated around many conversations at the Forum (the 2008 World Urban Forum is actually being planned for Nanjing, China). The opulence of the setting and receptions at the Vancouver forum contrasted uncomfortably with talk of improving the lives of slumdwellers around the world.

Anna Lucy Bengochea of Honduras called for wider inclusion and participation of marginalized peoples as the solution for urban ills.

"If they pay attention to us and include [women and indigenous peoples] as equals" she said, "we will achieve the Millennium Development Goals and more!"

Ben Sichel and Jenny Peirce talk about poverty with people in suits at the World Urban Forum.

Zapatistas and Supporters Celebrate 10 Years of Colourful Resistance

Tue, 03 Feb 2004 19:22:35 +0000

OVENTIC, Chiapas--On a damp, foggy night in the tiny town of Oventic, way, way up in the mountains of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, about 1,500 people gathered to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 1994 Zapatista uprising.

A colourful mural in a Zapatista village. The text reads 'rebellion for humanity'. photo: Simon Helweg-Larsen

It was, coincidentally, New Year's Eve, and the diverse, multinational crowd enjoyed live music, dancing, theatre, games, fireworks, and revolutionary speeches in Spanish and Tzotzil, the local indigenous language. Celebrations went on all night and continued the following day.

The Zapatistas are the indigenous rebel group in Chiapas, Mexico, that shocked their country when they occupied several Chiapan towns on January 1, 1994, demanding autonomy, dignity, and basic necessities. Initially as surprised as everyone else, the Mexican army soon recovered and violently quelled the rebellion. But by the time the rebels retreated to the highlands, it was clear they had captured the imagination of sympathizers around the world. Public shows of support came from all over Mexico, as well as from labour and civil society groups from Nebraska to Rome.

photo: Simon Helweg-Larsen

Zapatista supporters came to the autonomously-run community of Oventic from all over Mexico, North America, and Europe this year, accounting for about 40 per cent of attendees. The rest were local indigenous Mayans, on average almost a foot shorter than their Northern visitors, and almost always covering their faces with bandanas or balaclavas. The men's plain jeans and T-shirts contrasted sharply with the colourful, traditional dress of the women.

"It's like a folk festival here" said Canadian writer Simon Helweg-Larsen. "A surreal, radical, political, Zapatista folk fest." Indeed, but for the masks worn by the local people, the festive atmosphere made it easy to forget that we were in a low-intensity war zone. Bright murals decorated outside walls everywhere, mostly full of slogans and symbols of life and hope. Outside Oventic, however, in several surrounding communities, conflict continues to rage. The Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Centre reported threats of "displacement" against residents of nine Zapatista communities shortly before the anniversary celebrations. This past week, Mexico City's La Jornada reported 23 homes burned in the town of Nuevo San Rafael.

photo: Simon Helweg-Larsen

Such intimidation tactics have been the norm in Chiapas for the past 10 years. Many come from paramilitary groups with ties to the PRI, or Institutionalized Revolutionary Party, who hold power in Chiapas's state government. Towns have been raided in this time, homes destroyed, Zapatistas and their sympathizers kidnapped or tortured. The worst single incident was the December 22, 1997 Acteal massacre, where 45 Christian pacifists, including pregnant women and children, were killed while hiding in a church.

As well, observers say that poverty and standards of living have worsened in Chiapas in the last 10 years. The Zapatista uprising was timed to coincide with enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and everything they said about NAFTA is proving to be true, said Peter Brown of Schools for Chiapas, a San Diego-based nonprofit organization. "There's more hunger. There's more people being forced off the land," he continued. With millions of tons of cheap, subsidized, American corn flooding the Mexican market and forcing down prices, smaller growers can't afford to keep farming.

Links:

Chiapas Indymedia

Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Centre

Schools for Chiapas

International Service for Peace, Chiapas

ChiapasLink

Students Taking Action in Chiapas, Montreal

The Zapatistas do seem to have gained one important thing through their rebellion: dignity. "Before, indigenous people walked around with their heads down," said Heike Kammer of SIPAZ, a peace organization based in San Cristobal de las Casas. "Now...they've taken on protagonist roles in social struggles." The word "dignity" indeed appeared perhaps more than any other in the slogans painted on the walls in Oventic.

It's anyone's guess as to what to expect in the future. The rebels have already voiced their opposition to the Free Trade Area of the Americas, the hemisphere-wide extension of NAFTA, and Plan Puebla Panama, a massive infrastructure project that would cut through thousands of acres of indigenous lands. Just before the anniversary, La Jornada published a speech by Zapatista Comandante David, entitled "The Time Has Come to Act." In it the commander urged indigenous people in Mexico to unite and claim their rights, because "it is clear that no government will give us the right and the liberty to live with dignity."

Ben Sichel visits Chiapas, Mexico for the tenth anniversary of the Zapatista uprising.