The Dominion - month in review

April in Review

Tim McSorley — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:18:30 +0000

LGBTQ activist mourned, Missing Women commission scorned, foreign workers' salaries shorn

Opposition to tankers, oil and gas pipelines on Canada’s West coast continued. Hundreds of people gathered at the BC provincial legislature in Victoria, for the Rally Against Enbridge. Enbridge is the company behind the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline that would carry tar sands crude from northern Alberta to port in BC, leading to a rise in tanker traffic. Critics say that both the pipeline and the tanker traffic pose a significant risk of oil spills and environmental contamination.

The US Justice Department filed the first criminal charges connected to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. A former BP Engineer, Kurt Mix, was arrested on charges of deleting hundreds of text messages between himself and his supervisor that were related to the failed attempts at plugging the BP well, which continues to leak crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Police and protesters clashed for two days in Montreal during a forum and job fair for the Quebec government's Plan Nord northern development plan. On the second day, 80 protesters—many of whom witnesses said were peacefully demonstrating—were placed under mass arrest while participating in a rally organized by the RRQ coalition (Réseau de Resistance du Québécois) and InnuPower.

Dutch-born, Albertan environmentalist and activist Wiebo Ludwig died at the age of 70. Ludwig was perhaps best known as having been convicted of five charges related to a pipeline bombing and vandalism that occurred in 2000. Ludwig’s farm, near Hythe, Alberta, is in the veritable eye of the Peace Region gas fields, where not everyone is happy with the gas-fueled boom.

The province-wide student strike in Quebec entered it's twelfth week, with 180,000 students still not attending class in protest of rising tuition fees. Nightly protests in Montreal have been taking place for a week straight (with up to 25,000 people participating) following the government's abrupt expulsion of the leading strike association, CLASSE, from negotiations due to a protest which featured some property damage being listed on an open calendar on their website. The other four student associations taking part in the negotiations walked out as well. While both sides have made proposals since, negotiations are now at a standstill.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission ruled that the province’s requirement that trans- people can only change the sex on their birth certificate after sexual re-assignment surgery is “substantively discriminatory” and ordered the government to change its regulation. The decision could have impacts in jurisdictions across Canada.

Well-known and respected Halifax LGBTQ activist and organizer Raymond Taavel died from injuries incurred while defending a friend during a physical attack outside Menz and Mollyz Bar. Taavel was involved in a wide range of organizations, from co-chairing Halifax Pride events to being a lead organizer with Fair Vote Nova Scotia. Three hundred people attended a memorial rally only a few hours after he died. Witnesses said that Taavel’s attacker used homophobic slurs during the fight; he is being charged with second-degree murder.

The Department of National Defence was harshly criticized by Auditor-General Michael Ferguson for withholding information from political decision makers about the purchase of F-35 fighter jets. An “unknown bureaucrat” is being blamed for the typographical error categorizing the F-35 deal as being in the “definition” project phase, meaning it had received preliminary approval from the Treasury Board, which it never actually had.

There appeared to be confusion as to who exactly is legally-bound to clean up Boat Harbour, the natural estuary lagoon that has for years been an effluent dumping site for the Abercrombie Point pulp and paper mill in Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotia government has demanded a report outlining the intended clean up procedure from current mill owners Northern Pulp. This is contradictory to the indemnity agreement that the province signed with the mill in 1998, stating that the clean up is the province's responsibility if the mill should ever close.

Alleged Wikileaks whistleblower Breanna Manning will be going to trial on September 21, 2012, on the charge of "aiding the enemy," after a military judge rejected the argument that all charges against Manning be dropped due to “prosecutorial misconduct."*

Refugee rights activists in seven cities across the country took action against Bill C-31, dubbed the Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act by the Conservative government. The activists, who refer to the bill as the Refugee Exclusion Act, occupied Conservative MP offices and dropped banners to draw attention to the new regulations.

A wide range of organizations issued an open letter explaining why they are boycotting the Missing Women Inquiry in British Colombia, and rejecting Commissioner Wally Oppal's invitation to resume their participation. The 15 groups range from Battered Women's Support Services, to the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, to Downtown Eastside Sex Workers United Against Violence. "The Inquiry was dead at the point—and was completely strangled—when Premier Christy Clark denied funding" for the legal representation of Indigenous and women's organizations, UBCIC Grand Chief Stewart Phillip told reporters. "Oppal is beating a dead horse."

Demonstrators from across Ontario marched to mark the sixth anniversary of the Douglas Creek Estates development occupation in Caledonia. The occupation was carried out in 2006 by members of Six Nations in order, they said, to reclaim their traditional territory of Kanonhstaton. The land dispute is still unresolved. Earlier in the month, the mayor of Caledonia had called for the cancellaton of the march, calling the land claim dispute a “quagmire.”

In response to Chilean student protests for more accessible university education and lower tuition fees, President Sebastian Pinera announced his government would establish new taxes to raise $700 million to cover ballooning tuition fees. Chileans pay some of the highest university fees in the world, and students have vowed to continue their protests&mdahs;which have been ongoing for the past year— saying the government’s reforms do not go far enough.

The federal government announced it was introducing two-tiered wages for temporary foreign workers, who employers will be allowed to pay 15 per cent less than the average hourly wage in their sector of work. The government had previously said it would not institute a two-tier wage system; labor and immigrant rights activists denounced the change as introducing second class workers and provoking wage depression, as local workers would be forced to compete with lower-paid foreign workers. For the first time ever, there are more temporary foreign workers than permanent immigrants migrating to Canada.

Israel legalized the three settlement outposts of Bruchin, Rechalim and Sansan in the occupied West Bank. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has also been involved in preventing the demolition of another illegal settlement, Ulpana, after a court found it was built on private Palestinian land. In reaction, US State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland stated, "We are obviously concerned, we don't think this is helpful to the process, and we don't accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity,” while UN Chief Ban Ki-moon released a statement that he was “deeply troubled” by this “provocation.”

The nation-wide internal uprising in Syria against President Bashir Al-Assad has entered its 14th month, resulting in a UN-estimated death toll of 9,000 civilians. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights accused the Ba’ath Party regime of war crimes during a two-week offensive in the northern province of Idlib as the UN attempted to broker a ceasefire.

Tens of thousands of people across the country enjoyed 4/20, the unofficial holiday for all things cannabis. While revellers self-medicated without police interference in Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto, tickets were handed out and arrests were made in London, Ontario, and Regina.

*We originally referred to Breanna Manning as Bradley Manning, perpetrating mainstream media practices of mis-naming and mis-gendering her. We have since corrected the text, and we apologize for the error.

Six Nations Caledonia anniversary march

Montreal Night March

January In Review, Part II

Cameron Fenton — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:04:15 +0000

Haiti comes to Canada, the world loses two literary legends, and Bin Laden becomes a climate change activist

Delegates, including Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and representatives from the World Bank and IMF, met in Montreal to discuss a long-term reconstruction strategy for Haiti on January 25. Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned that reconstruction could take "at least 10 years of hard work." The meeting was met by demonstrations calling for "aid not guns" and drawing attention to Canada and the US's history of military and economic intervention in Haiti. Meanwhile a mass exodus of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince is underway, as some of the hundreds of thousands of homeless search for food, water and shelter elsewhere.

The IMF has given an interest-free loan of $100 million to Haiti with a long grace period. These emergency funds are a means to provide services and obtain essential imports needed by the country after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake.

The UK and France urged Taiwan and Venezuela to cancel their debt claims on Haiti. Last July, the Paris Club —a group of 19 creditor governments, including France and the UK—agreed to cancel $214 million. Haiti owed $167 million to Venezuela and $91 million to Taiwan. Venezuela President Hugo Chavez subsequently wrote off Haiti's debt, saying, "Haiti has no debt with Venezuela—on the contrary, it is Venezuela that has a historic debt with Haiti." Taiwan is still considering.

Members of the Toronto 18—a group of Muslim Toronto youth accused of ties to terrorist activities—faced sentencing hearings in mid January. Amin Mohamed Durrani, 23, pleaded guilty on January 20 to involvement with known terrorists. He was sentenced to 7 1/2 years and credited with time served. So-called "mastermind" Zakaria Amara was sentenced to life in prison on January 14. After sentencing he read an open letter to Canadians stating how "how regretful and sorry I feel."

A New York PETA activist is facing assault charges after shoving a tofu cream pie in the face of Fisheries Minister Gail Shea in protest of the federal government's support for the commercial seal hunt. Liberal MP Gerry Byrne told reporters that the incident, and PETA, "meet the test of a terrorist organization" and called for a federal investigation.

The Harper government quietly announced that after decades of support, Canada was ceasing aid to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The announcements were made by Victor Toews, the president of Canada's Treasury Board, as he was traveling in the Middle East.

The New Brunswick and Quebec governments have reached a new agreement that will sell the majority of NB Power's power generating assets to Hydro-Quebec. NB Power will remain a crown corporation and will retain control of its transmission system while granting Hydro-Quebec transmission rights, giving the Quebec utility company access to the US market.

Bolivian President Evo Morales was sworn in for his second term. In his inauguration speech, Morales promised to develop state-run paper, cement, dairy, and drug companies. Morales also called on foreign investors to help Boliva develop its iron and lithium industries.

Called to testify against Mohammed Harkat at a review hearing of his seven-year-old security certificate in Montreal, a Canadian intelligence official admitted he did not review classified documents about Harkat for fear of divulging information to the public.

Renowned historian and dissident Howard Zinn died of a heart attack at the age of 87. Best known for penning A People's History of the United States, Zinn will be remembered as a prominent intellectual and tireless advocate for global social justice.

Author J.D. Salinger, famous for writing The Catcher in the Rye, passed away the following day. He was 91.

Osama Bin Laden joined the climate debate, placing blame for global climate change on US and other industrialized economies.

Police on Jeju Island in South Korea were called in to break up a blockade protesting the construction of a United States Missile Defense Base. The police of have been accused of using excessive violence—placing a 70-year-old man in a coma—in the process of arresting and detaining over 50 activists. To date no charges have been laid and Koreans are calling for international solidarity in their struggle to keep US military installations off Korean soil.

Statistics Canada released economic data that display a slight increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) last November. Economists claim the increase was driven by natural resource extraction and wholesale trade, and are cautious that economic recovery driven by these sectors could see GDP increase without substantial job creation.

Israel has been accused of fast-tracking the immigration of 7,000 members of a "Lost Jewish tribe" living in India, known as Bnei Menashe, in order to subvert a settlement freeze in the West Bank.

The Olympic Torch relay continues to be disrupted and confronted as it makes its way to Vancouver. One protester was arrested in Golden. The Native Youth Movement confronted the torch in Secwepemc Nation, with with the messages, "Secwepemc Say No Olympics," and "Olympic Torch Not Welcome in Secwepemc Nation."

In Uganda, a controversial piece of anti-homosexuality legislation has been returned to cabinet to be debated and amended. Despite domestic support, the bill has caused a flood of international condemnation, citing that it violates basic universal human rights. When questioned about Cabinet's position on clauses proposing the death penalty, Ethics Minister James Nsaba Buturo answered: "I can only speak in general that there are some clauses or provisions which can be modified."

Barak Obama delivered the State of the Union address in the US, where he announced a massize spending freeze and pushed, but did not openly call, for a repeal of the US military's "don't ask don't tell" policy toward homosexuality in the army.

In Burma, mining companies moved into a "sacrifice" zone and began round-the-clock operations to strip gold from the area soon to be flooded by the Irrawaddy Myistone dam project. "In effect, the company [Asia World] is trying to get as much as they possibly can from the region before they help to bury it," according to Intercontinental Cry. Flooding is expected to displace roughly 15,000 people from 60 villages, although many residents have openly refused to leave.

At least nine civilians were killed in Somalia when anti-government fighters clashed with African Union peacekeepers and government troops in southeastern Mogadishu.

BC coast First Nations have published a report entitled, "Staying the Course, Staying Alive Coastal First Nations Fundamental Truths: Biodiversity, Stewardship and Sustainability." The report is a response to the the United Nations call to action for 2010, International Year of Biodiversity.

Seven BC-based environmental groups have released a report calling for the protection of 50 per cent of BC forests. The report has come under criticism from other environmental and Indigenous activists for handing half of BC's forests to the forestry industry. Many of the same groups behind the report were also involved in negotiating the heavily criticized Great Bear Rainforest Deal and were presented with the BC Fossil of the Decade Award at the end of 2009.

A new study has found that Vancouver's housing market is the least affordable not only in Canada, but also the United States, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Haiti conference in Montreal

Howard Zinn