The Dominion - Dominion contributors

August in Review

Sandra — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 15:27:08 +0000

An epic paddle, grocery protests, Baird quiet on Pussy Riot, and don't drink and drive (your picnic table)

Over 150 people participated in a third annual action camp against oil and gas pipelines in northern BC. The Unis'tot'en, a clan of the Wet'suwet'en Nation, and the grassroots Lhe Lin Liyin have built a protection camp to block the Pacific Trails Pipeline, a natural gas transport project planned along a route parallel to the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway oil pipeline.

A pipeline spill sent nearly three hundred thousand litres of contaminated water from the tar sands extraction process into a canola field east of Red Deer, Alberta. The pipeline is owned by Penn West Exploration. Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board refers to the liquid as "produced water."

On August 24th, a team of paddlers from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) Indigenous Nation began to paddle an ancient trade route from KI village to Hudson's Bay. Their journey brings attention to the KI struggle for the government of Ontario to recognize their right to protect their entire 13,025km watershed from mining activity.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper officially announced the establishment of the Naats'ihch'oh National Park Reserve in the Northwest Territories. Mining industry interests in the area played a role in determining the boundaries and size of the 4,850 square kilometre park, which includes less of the upper watershed of the South Nahanni River than was envisioned in other proposals.

The town of Florence, AZ continues to battle against Vancouver-based Curtis Resources Ltd. and its proposed copper mining ventures. Having already denied zoning and permit requests, town councillors recently voted to criminalize the mining process planned for the Florence Copper Project.

A Nova Scotia Supreme Court decision has granted PetroWorth Resources a one year extension in exploratory oil well drilling on the shores of Lake Ainslie, in Cape Breton. Despite the presence of a brook near the exploratory well site—a situation that should halt exploration under the provincial Environmental Act—Judge MacAdam determined that the environment minister has discretion in interpreting the Act.

Some 3,000 projects will no longer be subject to a federal environmental assessment, due to revisions to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. The federal government argues that the so-called low-risk projects are still subject to federal and provincial regulations and pose little to no risk to the environment. "That's bullshit, really," said retired federal fisheries official Otto Langer. "It's death by a thousand cuts. All these little projects are destroying habitat and Ottawa is ignoring that."

Canada's proposal to accept genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in imported foods up to one tenth of one per cent in any test batch—a "redefinition of zero"— was met with concerns from various sectors, according to internal records obtained by Postmedia News.

Nunavut residents hit the streets in communities throughout the territory once again to protest the high cost of food in the north. Stephen Harper spent a week up north on his annual trip, but did not deal with what many see as one of the most pressing current issues.

Three quarters of this year's HIV/AIDS NGO funding applications were turned down by Health Canada on the basis of it being unclear whether or not the resources might be used for advocacy work. "It creates a chill for civil society organizations, basically to steer clear of anything that might be controversial or that might in some way put you offside with government policy directions because your funding may be at risk if you raise those concerns," said Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network executive director Richard Elliott.

Toronto surgeon Dr. David Wong operated on Colombian refugee Daniel Garcia Rodriguez despite the termination of interim federal health coverage for refugees. Garcia Rodriguez suffered from chronic retinal detachment and would have likely gone blind without the surgery. "Our allegiance is to the patient," said Wong.

The Canadian government denied visas to 35 Haitian women who were going to participate in an art exhibit organized by Women for Action in Haiti. The Montreal event was cancelled. Canada also refused visas for the Moroccan national beach soccer team slated to participate in the Beach Soccer Montreal tournament.

An internal Canada Border Services Agency report addressing Roma refugee applicants from Europe was obtained by The Canadian Press. "Other deterrent measures being examined include detention for mass arrivals of individuals seeking refugee protection," says the report.

In France, police evicted hundreds of Roma from their homes and camps in a series of raids around the country. United Nations officials criticized the forced eviction and expulsion of Roma migrant communities from France, noting that collective expulsion contravenes international law.

Three members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison for their anti-Putin punk prayer action in a Moscow cathedral. Solidarity demonstrations took place in Toronto, Ottawa and around the world. While UK, US and other officials were quick to condemn the sentences as disproportionate, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird offered only vague comments on the sentencing: "Obviously, there's, I think, widespread concern that this was perhaps too much and that were perhaps political considerations. We support around the world independent judiciaries, and we certainly take note of what's happened."

The membership of the United Church of Canada approved a comprehensive policy on Israel/Palestine, including a boycott of products produced in Israeli settlements.

Queers Against Israeli Apartheid held an information picket outside the Vancouver Queer Film Festival. The group said the Israeli film Invisible Men is an example of pinkwashing, an attempt to portray Israel as an inclusive liberal state to obscure the illegal occupation and settlement of Palestinian lands.

A vigil was held in Montreal on the fourth anniversary of Fredy Villanueva's fatal shooting by police. "Jean-Loup Lapointe, the guy that shot [Villanueva] and two other friends, never expressed any remorse, has a bad reputation in Montréal-Nord and still patrols to this day," MC Emrical, who made a film about Villanueva, told Art Threat.

The resident-led Clean Train Coalition announced that it will take Metrolinx to court again regarding its use of diesel trains along the Georgetown GO rail corridor in the Greater Toronto Area.

A different kind of transportation initiative took off in London, Ontario. A group of friends attached a lawnmower motor and custom wheels to a picnic table and drove around on city streets. One man was later charged by police for having an open container of alcohol in public. The picnic table was parked at the time of police intervention.

Action Camp

QAIA picket

July in Review

Sandra — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 09:42:18 +0000

Refugee justice, prison news, neighbourhood action and 2,000 pounds of honey leaking from the ceiling

After a fatal shooting in Scarborough, Danzig Street and Morningside community residents held a solidarity march on July 18 to take back the streets, pledging to work together to make the community safer.

The Health Justice Collective, together with allies like No One is Illegal and Health for All, launched a national non-cooperation campaign, urging health care professionals to declare their commitment to continue to treat refugee patients now ineligible for coverage after recent cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney showed that he can't take a good grilling. Armed with only a video camera and a list of questions, 17-year-old Bashir Mohamed was arrested for interrupting Kenney's speech at a BBQ with questions about cuts to refugee healthcare. "The most I could say is, 'Minister Kenney, my name is Bashir and I'm a refugee,'" he told the CBC, after his release without charges. Mohamed wasn't the only person to confront Kenney about the cuts. Toronto family physician Dr. Sheila Wijayasinghe questioned the Minister about the cuts at a Chamber of Commerce event in Leduc, Alberta.

Vancouver lawyer Peter Edelmann challenged the constitutionality of the "human smuggling" charges, representing Tamil individuals facing trial for their undocumented arrivals to the west coast in 2009 and 2010. Section 117 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act criminalizes any assistance for the entry of undocumented people into Canada, a description so vague Edelmann argues it can apply to most refugees.

Toronto-based Bird Construction Inc. was awarded a $38.5 million contract to build a new prison in Priestville, Nova Scotia. The contract is for one of many new jails expected in the wake of Bill C-10, the Omnibus Crime Bill. Construction company trustee Paul Bird is an Enbridge executive with a laundry list of corporate and government connections.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews "may consider" private partnerships for limited prison services, as a result of budget cuts to Corrections Services Canada.

The federal government cut 20 per cent of youth justice program funding, which is transferred to the provinces and territories for the supervision and rehabilitation of young offenders. Although not explicitly announced or documented, the cuts represent over half of the $60 million slashed from the Justice Department in the federal budget.

Ontario-based anarchist, writer and community organizer Kelly Pflug-Back was sentenced to 15 months in prison stemming from resistance to the G-20 in Toronto in 2010.

G20 prisoner Alex Hundert continued his activism behind bars. When an open letter he wrote about the denial of reading materials in the Toronto East Detention Centre was picked up as a mainstream media story, the John Howard Society committed to finding a volunteer librarian.

Julian Fantino was appointed Minister of International Co-operation. Before overseeing repression during the G-20, the former head of the Ontario Provincial Police achieved notoriety for his threats to Tyendinaga Mohawk spokesperson Shawn Brant, recorded via illegal wiretaps of phone conversations during blockade actions in 2007.

Relying on footage from a mystery CCTV camera that it will not make public, Ontario's Special Investigative Unit cleared Toronto Police Constable Rhoel Ong of misconduct in the arrest of Angela Turvey. Despite Youtube footage to the contrary, the SIU's report says that the CCTV footage shows Turvey "swinging her arms twice" at officers, thus perhaps justifying the broken nose and lacerations that Turvey suffered after Ong tackled her.

The RCMP announced that they are considering using a fleet of unmanned helicopters to help "probe crimes and assist with search and rescue." The cops claim the aircraft will not be used for general surveillance of people.

In Ottawa, Centretown residents disrupted a launch party hosted by condominium developers. A fire alarm was pulled, a developer was glitter-bombed, and promotional materials were liberated during the protest organized by anti-poverty group Under Pressure.

Residents of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside gathered at the demolition site of the Pantages Theater to denounce the city's inaction on its promise to deal with the rats and rubble. Neighbourhood groups are demanding the property be used for 100 per cent social housing for low-income neighbourhood residents.

A community memorial was held in Toronto to celebrate and remember Kyle Scanlon, a longtime trans activist, researcher and front-line community worker.

Seventeen magazine committed to not alter the body size of the girls and models in the magazine after the executive editor was presented with 84,000 signatures supporting 8th grade student Julia Bluhm's campaign, which calls on the publication to feature one photoshop-free image per issue.

During the 19th International AIDS Conference, more than 1,000 sex workers, drug users and activists marched to the White House, demanding the decriminalization of drug use and sex work.

A rally against the halt of federal funding to Cultural Connections for Aboriginal Youth was held in Halifax, where the termination of the Mi'kmaq Native Friendship Centre's Kitpu youth program sparked a national day of action.

Around 200 people rallied in Montreal against unsanctioned logging on unceded Algonquin land.

Hundreds of scientists and supporters wearing white lab coats and dressed in black participated in a mock funeral on Parliament Hill to mourn the "death of evidence." Federal cuts to science research and legislative changes has resulted in the muzzling of scientists.

Fierce opposition to mining continues in the "Ring of Fire" in northern Ontario. First Nations have issued a moratorium, begun a legal challenge and recently received the support of the Assembly of First Nations to proceed with eviction notices to mining companies in the region.

A local state of emergency was declared in BC's Central Kootenay Regional District when flooding caused "toxic seepage" from an abandoned mine pit.

In Peru, a state of emergency was declared in relation to protests against Newmont's proposed Conga mine in Cajamarca. An estimated five protesters were killed and dozens injured by security forces in government crackdowns over the past two months.

After a series of actions and rising tensions, the Government of Bolivia announced the nationalization of a mining project owned by Vancouver-based South American Silver Corporation.

Canada signed a trade pact for increased uranium exports to China. Saskatchewan-based Cameco Corporation's top boss Tim Gitzel stated the obvious: "The ability to export Canadian-sourced uranium to China is incredibly important to our company."

A couple in Varney, Ontario may soon have the ability to export honey from their home. After honey started leaking from the ceiling, a beekeeper was called in to assess the situation, estimating there to be two colonies of 180,000 honey bees, a nest of yellow jacket wasps and some 2,000 pounds of honey between the two floors of the house.

Danzig march

Centretown protest

May in Review

Tim McSorley — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:40:38 +0000

Red square uprising in Quebec, RCMP impunity, Fukushima a ticking time bomb

Negotiations between Quebec student representatives and the provincial government resumed at the end of May, following a tumultuous month featuring a chaotic protest at the provincial Liberal convention in Victoriaville (resulting in over a hundred arrests and at least three protesters and a police officer being seriously injured), and the resignation of the provincial education minister. There have been 33 consecutive night demonstrations in Montreal, ranging from 1,000 to 30,000 people protesting the passage of controversial Law 78, as well as a gigantic march of between 300,000 and 400,000 in Montreal on May 22. Montreal has also been the epicenter for rapid spreading “pot and pan" demonstrations, which have taken off across the province and the rest of Canada.

The Liberal government passed Law 78 to try and quell student protests against tuition fee increases, instead pushing protests to new heights. The emergency law suspended semesters at striking schools until August, and established fines of between $1,000 and $125,000 for protesting within 50 metres of any campus or participating in a protest without submitting details to police for approval at least eight hours in advance. Criticism of the law has been widespread, from the Quebec League for Rights and Freedoms to the provincial bar association. Student federations and unions, backed by nearly 200,000 people, filed a court challenge to have the law thrown out. Montreal city council also passed a by-law requring protesters to submit their route to police in advance and banning protesting with faces covered. The combined use of both law 78 and the municipal by-laws led to 650 people being arrested in one night across the province; 500 in Montreal alone - one of the largest mass arrests in Canadian history.

Meanwhile, in Toronto, Ontario’s Office of the Independent Police Review Director released a report reviewing police actions during the G20 summit there almost two years ago. The watchdog group said police referred to protesters as terrorists and used excessive force. There is unlikely to be reprimands against police known to be involved in abuses.

Instead of being dismissed or punished, RCMP seargent Don Ray, who admitted to sexually abusing a colleague among other offenses while on duty in Edmonton, was docked two weeks pay and transferred from Alberta to BC. Krista Carle, who served for 20 years in the RCMP, had this advice for women considering joining the Mounties: “You know what I would tell female officers or female recruits? I would quote Catherine Galliford: Run like your hair is on fire."

Byron Sonne was cleared of all charges in a packed Toronto courtroom after having spent 330 days in jail. The crown failed to build a convincing case against Sonne, who was picked up and targeted as the state’s primary security threat during the G-20. “It’s more important than ever that we fight against the slippery slope of what’s being done with our rights, against our ability to participate how we see fit," he said after his release.

Gatherings were held in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver to protest against Bill C-31, dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act. “This Act is racist. It creates a two-tier system of refugee protection, increases incarceration, denies and revokes legal status, and violently targets and expels refugees and migrants from Canada," reads a statement by No One Is Illegal.

Thousands of protesters, including nurses and climate activists, showed up for a protest against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Chicago. Before protests got underway, police broke down the door of an apartment and raided activists without a warrant. Over the weekend at least 45 people were arrested. Protests also took place at Boeing headquarters, the aerospace company being a major war profiteer. “There’s absolutely nothing that could happen in the streets at a protest that holds a candle to the death and destruction caused by Nato to families and communities all around the world," Rachel Perrotta of Occupy Chicago told Reuters.

On Memorial Day, almost fifty United States veterans from campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan symbolically threw their medals in the direction of the NATO conference. “I want to tell the folks behind us, in these enclosed walls, where they build more policies based on lies and fear, that we no longer stand for them," said Marine Corps veteran Iris Feliciano, just prior to tossing her medals. “We no longer stand for their lies, their failed policies and these unjust wars. Bring our troops home and end the war now. They can have these back."

Just before the Chicago summit, Nato head Anders Fogh Rasmussen suggested Canada should keep troops in Afghanistan until after 2014. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the federal government remains open to the idea.
The Canadian Army honoured a U.S. Batallion based out of Fort Bragg, Texas, marking the first time a U.S. unit has received official military honours in Canada. The two groups tag teamed the occupation of Afghanistan, fighting side-by-side in 2006.

Uniformed U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officers took part in a shoot-out from a helicopter in the Mosquitia region of Honduras, killing four Indigenous people.

Protests against Newmont’s proposed Conga mine in Peru took centre stage at a mining conference in Lima. In Toronto, the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network held a weekend event bringing together anti-mining activists from Canada and around the world.

In Japan, the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima site were monitored by engineers concerned that one earthquake in the region could unleash a nuclear disaster more severe than anything yet experienced on earth. One engineer spoke to CTV, saying “Japan is sitting on a ticking time bomb."

A series of a dozen paintings by Toronto artist George McIntyre celebrating the city’s gay history were displayed at the 519 Community Centre.

Casseroles MTL!

Rally against C-31

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

March in Review

Tim McSorley — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:14:12 +0000

Occupy Toronto brutalized, federal budget disrupted and criticized, immigration activists demonized

Toronto police were accused of brutality when they arrested four members of Occupy Toronto on March 30; two of the protesters ended up in the hospital. Police say they intervened at an Occupy Toronto camp behind Osgoode Hall to serve an eviction notice, but none of the accused face trespassing charges. Video of the incident shows one person having a video camera knocked from her hands before she is shoved to the ground, resulting in a fractured eye socket and a broken nose. A protest to denounce the police actions has been called for Friday, April 6.

Canadian parliament passed Bill C-10, commonly known as the Omnibus Crime Bill. The controversial bill has been criticized for bringing in harsh new penalties, including mandatory minimum sentences that have proven ineffective in the United States. Ottawa activist Obert Madondo initiated a hunger strike on March 14 to protest the bill.

A newly disclosed policy memo from CSIS, Canada’s spy agency, says that paying surprise work visits is a “legitimate investigative strategy,” that works to intimidate the individual. The memo was revealed as part of a legal court battle against CSIS launched by an Ottawa woman.

The 2012-13 federal budget was greeted with a protest in the House of Commons and criticism from a wide swath of society, including environmentalists, students, teachers, health care workers, Indigenous people, journalists and housing advocates. The budget announced the elimination of 19,200 public sector jobs; reforms to the immigration system, moving it further towards wealth and economic based immigration; fast-tracked environmental assessments on large-scale projects like the Northern Gateway pipeline; and 10 per cent budget cuts to the National Film Board, Telefilm and the CBC. The government also formally announced the increase of Old Age Security admission from 65 to 67 years of age and the elimination of the one-cent coin. "This budget fails to address the pressures of a middle class losing ground and young people struggling to find work," said a member of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. "The books will be balanced, but we'll all pay the price."

Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, which would carry tar sands crude from the Alberta tar sands to port in Kitimat, BC, faced further protest, as hundreds marched through downtown Vancouver. The pipeline is currently undergoing evaluation at public hearings held by the National Energy Board.

More than 600 scientists signed an open letter opposing changes to the federal Fisheries Act, which would allow for the destruction of waterways so long as it does not "result in an adverse effect on a fish of economic, cultural or ecological value." One scientist told The Tyee: "It's a stupid idea. What do they think all these commercially important fish eat?” The changes were made official in the 2012-13 federal budget.

Despite organized opposition, and an outbreak of the potentially deadly, and highly-transmittable “infectious salmon anemia” (ISA) at one of its pens, Cooke Aquaculture said it has no plans to stop a $150 million expansion of its Nova Scotia farmed-salmon operations.

Over 250,000 people marched in Montreal against tuition fee increases. The march was part of an ongoing student campaign that has seen more than 300,000 students go on strike, some for going on six weeks. Students have promised ongoing protests until the government renounces its $1,625 tuition fee hike.

The Ontario government bought out gold mining company God's Lake Resources’ stake in land placed under a moratorium against mining by Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation. KI First Nation says it never granted consent to the company’s mining on its traditional land. KI Chief Donny Morris called the victory "bittersweet," however, since the company was still able to walk away with $3.5 million from the Ontario government.

Mexican anti-mining activist Bernardo Vasquez Sanchez was shot and killed in San José Progreso, Oaxaca. Sanchez was an outspoken advocate against the development of a gold mine owned by Vancouver-based Fortuna Silver. While no one has been arrested, it was a targeted attack that follows years of intimidation and violence towards anti-mining activists in the region.

The BC government denied a three week extension request for the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, scheduled to conclude in April. Commissioner Wally Oppal asked for the extension in order to find a replacement for lawyer Robyn Gervais. Gervais resigned as the representative of Aboriginal peoples' interests, in protest over the proceedings' focus on police rather than Aboriginal women.

A landmark ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeal to decriminalize sex work has generated mixed reactions from sex workers and their advocates. Some advocates are happy with the ruling, but others denounced it, arguing that it does not protect the most vulnerable groups and it legitimizes “pimps into businessmen.”

On March 11, at 3:18am, a precipitator at the Trenton Generating Station broke, causing fly ash to rain down over the local community of Trenton, NS. The Nova Scotia Power-owned generating station, which burns 0.8 million tons of coal per year, and causes approximately 10 per cent of the province's air pollution, imports much of its fuel from Columbia, where serious questions have been raised in regards to workers' rights. “The government and Nova Scotia Power talk green, green, green,” said Pictou County Councillor Allister MacDonald, one of those on-hand at a demonstration outside the coal plant. "They’re talking out of both sides of their face, and the people of Pictou County are paying for it.”

The Conservative Party called migrant and refugee rights group No One is Illegal “hard-line anti-Canadian extremists,” and accused the New Democratic Party of supporting them. "It seems as if everyone who is a dissident and stands up for equality and social and environmental justice is an extremist in Harper's corporate Canada," responded one NOII member.

A community march against racism in Vancouver brought out hundreds to the city’s streets. Organized by No One Is Illegal, the demonstration came in the wake of court hearings for members of neo-Nazi group Blood and Honor, in relation to several attacks on people of colour in the city. In Edmonton and London, ON, counter-protests were organized against Blood and Honor rallies, resulting in the rallies being disrupted and cancelled.

Queen’s Park in Toronto saw hundreds come out for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty’s Fight Poverty Rally in the lead-up to the 2012 Ontario budget. A few days later, OCAP’s concerns materialized in a budget described by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives as ignoring the province’s child-care crisis, cutting education funding and setting the stage for labor unrest.

The Musqueam First Nation won a three-week delay in condo developments on top of an ancient burial site on their territory, now within the city limits of Vancouver. A three-day blockade of the site by Musqueam members and supporters resulted in the condo-developer agreeing to a temporary halt to construction while they negotiate a deal.

The city council of Antigonish, NS, voted down a proposal to ban outdoor smoking on Main Street. While the by-law was originally proposed for health reasons, opponents argued that it would instead lead to the exclusion of, “the town’s poorest, most vulnerable citizens, many of whom enjoy a cigarette...on public benches,” as well as infringing on individuals’ rights.

Police brutality at Occupy Toronto

Not Our Budget

February in Review

stephlaw — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 06:59:25 +0000

Vikileaks tweeted, robocalls investigated and students strike out against fees

The federal Conservatives came under fire for allegedly making ‘robocalls,’ or automated calls, to Liberal voters in up to 18 ridings to falsely advise them of a change in location of their polling station. An investigation has been launched by Elections Canada and the RCMP to examine reports of these calls. The Liberal Party and New Democrats have both been blaming the Conservative party for the scandal. Liberal interim leader Bob Rae likened Prime Minister Harper to impeached former US president Richard Nixon: “We are entering into a kind of Nixonian moment in our political culture, where all kinds of dirty tricks seem to be possible, all kinds of dirty tricks seem to be encouraged.”

Nearly 100,000 university and CEGEP students in Quebec went on strike against the provincial government's increase of university tuition fees. The movement may well continue to grow as more student associations vote on their respective strike mandates throughout March. The Provincial Liberal government has implemented a tuition fee increase of $1625 over five years, which would nearly double the current fees.

Across Canada, thousands of students took part in a national day of action against rising tuition fees and decreased Education funding, with 1,000 coming out in Halifax alone.

Twitter account Vikileaks sparked huge controversy across Canada. The account, which was created by a Liberal party staffer, exposed private and embarrassing details of Public Safety Minister Vic Toew’s divorce. The staffer considered it part of a campaign against the online surveillance Bill C-30.

Email evidence has surfaced to suggest Defense Minister Peter MacKay enlisted military personnel in order to dig dirt on opposition MPs. These instructions allegedly came about after MacKay was found to have used a search-and-rescue helicopter during a fishing trip in 2010. MacKay dodged questions on the incident, saying he “would not comment on whether military personnel had been inappropriately used for political purposes or whether an investigation would be launched.”

Defence Minister MacKay’s announcement that a small military base was to be built at Germany’s Cologne-Bonn Airport backfired when German politicians and members of the public rejected the plan. They said MacKay never consulted them about the small base. "The airport of a major city is not the right location for additional military air traffic," Cologne Lord Mayor Jurgen Roters said.

Newly released data revealed that Canadian arms companies sold $4 billion worth of military weapons and ammunition to Saudi Arabia, which is believed to have been used to quash anti-government protests in Bahrain during the Arab Spring. The 2011 sales were more than 100 times higher than the 2010 amount of $35 million. During the protests in Bahrain, more than 30 protesters were killed, hundreds were wounded and nearly 3,000 were arrested.

New information surfaced suggesting the federal government has been instructing CSIS, Canada’s spy agency, to use information obtained through torture. These instructions are contrary to the government’s policy which says CSIS would discard any information that could be tainted, for instance, through torture. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has been quietly telling CSIS to use any information obtained in whatever way if public safety is at stake. "Information obtained by torture is always discounted. But the problem is, can one safely ignore it when Canadian lives and property are at stake?" Toews said in question period on February 7.

A new report released on February 28 by the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated that the controversial omnibus crime bill, Bill C-10, would cost $8 million for the federal government and $137 million dollars for provinces and territories to implement. The report, "The Fiscal Impact of Changes to Eligibility got Conditional Sentences of Imprisonment in Canada,” based its estimates on data from 2009-2009.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s department was accused of misusing personal information of hundreds of new Canadians in order to organize a staged citizenship ceremony for Sun News during with ministry workers posed as recent immigrants.

Kenney also re-introduced immigration reform proposals that failed to pass before the 2011 federal election. Opposition MPs and immigrant rights advocates decried the package of policies, including the establishment of two-tracks for asylum-seekers that would categorize some countries as 'safe.' Critics claim this leaves the refugee application process open to political interference. It will also allow for refugees to be stripped of their residency status should their country become 'safe' in the future.

New figures released by the Immigration and Refugee Board showed that, nearly two years after their arrival on the ship the MV Sun Sea, only three Sri Lankan refugee claimants out of 600 have had their requests for refugee status accepted. Another 13 claims were withdrawn and five were abandoned. The hundreds of refugee claimants have been detained since their arrival in 2010.

The 21st annual Women’s Memorial March drew hundreds of people on to the streets of Vancouver. In addition to remembering women who have gone missing or lost their lives in the Downtown Eastside community, on the Highway of Tears and across Canada, this year’s march also protested the ongoing Missing Women Commission of Inquiry that has excluded the voices of many indigenous and women’s groups.

First Nations in Canada sent an open letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao, and to the Chinese media, urging China to criticize human rights issues related to the treatment of Indigenous peoples in Canada.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada released its interim report. The commission made 20 recommendations, including a call for residential school education material to be included in public school curriculum. The commission was set up to help First Nations heal from their abusive and traumatic experiences at residential schools.

A new study revealed that Canadian police agencies have been actively suppressing and hiding racial data from their annual crime reports to Ottawa. The study, published in the Canadian Journal of Law and Society, said that the deliberate concealment of racial data makes it impossible for researchers to determine whether police forces have been dealing with racial and ethnic minority groups in an equitable manner.

More than 600 Huichol Indians, an Indigenous group of western central Mexico, trekked to their sacred ground, the Cerro del Quemado—or the Burned Mountain—to pray to the gods and ask for help in fighting against Canada-based First Majestic Silver Corp.’s $100-million mining project. This mining project is earmarked to start this year in the area after the Mexican government granted a mining concession to the Canadian company. The reserve is one of UNESCO's World Network of Natural Sacred Sites.

Hacker group Anonymous launched attacks on the Mexican mining industry in solidarity with Indigenous groups whose sacred lands are being threatened by mining developments. Of the many sites targeted by the hacking campaign, one is a site developed by Canadian-based mining company First Majestic Silver Mine.

The Harper government successfully derailed an environmental lobbying effort to make refiners worldwide pay financial penalties for using the carbon-intensive crude from Alberta’s tar sands. An EU vote on a proposed regulation to label oil sands as being more carbon-intensive than other crude sources, which would effectively ban oil sands crude, failed after France and Netherlands abstained in a February 23 vote in Brussels.

A Quebec court slowed down a pipeline project that would allow crude to come from the Alberta tar sands. Based on findings of the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec, the court has requested that Pipe-Lines Montreal needs to justify its proposed pumping station in the Eastern Township town of Dunham before it could be permitted to develop.

An economic report commissioned by the Ontario government proposed sweeping cuts to public services. The report was issued by Don Drummond, a former assistant deputy minister for the federal department of finance in the 1990's and the former chief economist for the Toronto-Dominion Bank. Opponents of the proposal claim the report is a set of "1% solutions, that benefit the 1%."

Palestinian political prisoner Khader Adnan ended his 66-day hunger strike on February 21. Adnan was arrested without charge by the Israel military and he was protesting this inhumane practice against political prisoners. But while his strike was going on, there was little to no mention of it in Canadian media.

Mohamed Harkat, a Montreal resident who has been charged under Canada's security certificate laws as being a member of a terrorist organization, launched the first challenge of the Canadian government's new security laws since they were introduced in 2008. In 2007, the Supreme Court overruled the previous version of the laws, saying they were too secretive to allow for a proper defense. Harkat's lawyers are arguing that a 2010 judgement against their client shows the new laws do not go far enough in remedying the situation.

The Spirit Lives On 1

Bloquon la hausse

January in Review

Miles — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:44:26 +0000

"Radicals" surged, gold mine suspended, CSIS rejected

Members of the Pictou Landing First Nation voted 119 to 20 to reject Nova Scotia's offer of $3 million in exchange for icing their lawsuit against the province for a minimum of 2 years. The band, in serious financial difficulties, has turned to the court system after the province repeatedly reneged on promises to stop allowing pulp and paper effluent dumping in Boat Harbour, and to begin cleaning up the environmental disaster.

The Canadian Auto Workers union continued strike action against employer Caterpillar at Canada's only locomotive plant, in London, ON. Caterpillar has offered workers a drastic cut in salaries and a gutting of their pension funds. ""Its frustrating that this government keeps giving handouts to corporations and in return these corporations just slam workers [...] and shut the doors and lock out workers when they have made them so profitable." said Nancy Hutchinson, from the Ontario Federation of Labour.

The Argentinian province of La Rioja suspended Vancouver-based mining company Osisko's license for the Famatina gold mine project following protests by thousands of residents in the area. “There’ll be no further activity ... as long as people oppose [the project]", said the provincial governor.

Protestors in Toronto clashed with riot squads in front of city hall. With cuts to core services looming in the proposed municipal budget, hundreds gathered inside, and outside, city hall, as part of the Stop the Cuts campaign. Aiden Hennings from Stop the Cuts described the scene: “I was at the front, trying to get into City Hall. [The police] started grabbing people outside the barricades. I was grabbed by my hair and they tried to drag me through their lines, but other people took me back. About five minutes later I was pepper sprayed from a foot away – the officer smiled while he did it, and my two little sisters were punched in the face by police as well.”

American pharmaceutical giant Merck announced it has earmarked between $21 and $36.8 million in compensation for Canadians involved in legal action against the company over harm caused by taking Vioxx. Vioxx, once considered a "super aspirin," was taken off the market in 2004 after it was found to cause cardiac problems, and death.

Nova Scotia power monopoly Emera announced it is once again delaying the massive Muskrat Falls project, estimated to cost $6.2 billion. The feasibility of the project, which stands to bring hydroelectric power from Labrador, via undersea cable to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the Eastern seabord of the United States, has of late been brought into doubt. This is the third delay for the multi-thousand megawatt project. Many wonder whether the project is necessary, since Hydro Quebec is willing to sell energy for cheap and the link up between Quebec and the Canadian Maritimes would be significantly cheaper.

As of noon on Jan. 2, the 100 richest CEOs in Canada had already made the salary of an average Canadian worker, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The same report showed that in 2010, the top CEOs in Canada made 189 times more than the average Canadian worker, raking in an $8.38-million versus $44,366.

Consultations into Enbridge Inc.'s Northern Gateway oil pipeline began in northern British Columbia. Over 4,000 people have signed up to intervene at the consultations, which are now expected to last two full years. Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver released an open letter the day before the consultation process began, warning against the influence of foreign money and radicals in the process. Prime Minister Stephen Harper repeated that the pipeline, which would transport oil from the Alberta tar sands to a port in BC for export to Asian markets, is in Canada's national interest.

Since Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver's statement, environmental organizations opposing the pipeline have reported tens of thousands of dollars in new donations and an equal surge in people signing onto campaigns and petitions against the pipeline.

Newly uncovered documents revealed that the Canadian government sees environmental and Indigenous groups as adversaries in the development of the tar sands industry, and the department of Aboriginal Affairs and the National Energy Board, which is overseeing the consultation, as allies.

The First Nations alliance against the Gateway pipeline grew to over 100 nations when Indigenous communities from Alberta and the Northwest Territories signed on to the Save The Fraser declaration in January.

Nova Scotians rallied in Halifax and Cape Breton against hydraulic fraction to extract natural gas in the province. Opponents to fracking, as the process is commonly known, point to its link to incidents of well-water and soil contamination as reasons the provincial government should put a stop to the controversial practice. One speaker said that in an area of Nova Scotia, up to 60 homes had lost their well water following the start of seismic testing for natural gas.

Mexican journalist and government whistleblower Karla Berenice García Ramírez filed a final request for refugee status in Canada. The writer and her family have faced death threats after she leaked thousands of pages documenting corruption and graft at Mexico's National Council for Culture and Arts. In rejecting her previous requests for refugee status, the Canadian government stated that Mexico is safe and democratic, reducing the need to grant refugee status to their citizens.

“Crackdown was the word of the year in 2011," said Reporters Without Borders as it released its 2011/12 Press Freedom Index, pointing to 12 months that saw journalists pitted against government and police forces throughout the uprisings in the Middle East and protest camps in Europe and North America. The report singled out Honduras, Mexico, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq for violence against journalists, and impunity for perpetrators.

Montreal police shot and killed Iranian-Kurdish refugee Farshad Mohammadi following an altercation with police. Mohammadi, who was homeless, allegedly cut a police officer with a utility knife. He had put the knife in his pocket and was walking away when police shot him from behind. It was the second time the police have shot and killed a homeless man in Montreal in the past seven months, leading to renewed calls for better services for the city's street-involved population and for an independent review commission to investigate police violence. Currently, such investigations are assigned to other police forces.

Lawyers for the Ontario Provincial Police filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada over a ruling that officers, in the event of a fatal shooting of a suspect, cannot have their notes vetted by a lawyer before they are turned over to investigators . The OPP's lawyers claim the ruling, which was made in a legal battle led by the mother of Levi Shaffer, who was killed by OPP officers, violates officers' fundamental legal rights.

Mining company Vale suspended activity at its five mines in the Sudbury region of Northern Ontario following the death of mine worker Stephen Perry, 47. Perry died in a mine while loading a rock face with explosives, and investigations are ongoing. This is the fourth fatality of a Canadian Vale employee in the past seven months.

Diamond mining company De Beers lobbied government officials to allow them to drain a lake in the Northwest Territories, decimating local fish habitat, in order to move forward with its Gahcho Kue diamond mine.

The chief of the First Nation community of Attawapiskat, which is facing a severe housing crisis, called for revenue sharing from the nearby De Beers diamond mine, near James Bay in Ontario. While the community does receive fixed payments from the company, "Great riches are being taken from our land for the benefit of a few... Our lands have been stripped from us and yet development on our land area in timber, hydro and mining have created unlimited wealth for non-native people and their governments," said Chief Theresa Spence.

About 50 anti-racist protesters rallied outside of a Vancouver court house during the hearing of neo-Nazi Shawn MacDonald, a member of the Blood and Honour white supremacist organization. MacDonald is facing charges for attacks between 2008 and 2010 on an aboriginal woman, an Hispanic man and a black man. Other members of Blood and Honor are also being charged with the 2009 assault of a Filipino man who was set on fire while he was sleeping outside on a couch.

US President Barack Obama blocked the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have transported tar sands oil from northern Alberta through the US to refineries in Texas. Obama said that the decision was not based on the environmental impact of the pipeline but rather due to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives forcing the government, in late December, to produce a decision on the pipeline within 60 days.

Newly released documents revealed that then-industry minister Tony Clement played a role in selecting which projects were granted money via the 2010 G8 Legacy Fund. The fund provided money for construction projects to be built in the lead up to the G8 meetings held in the Muskoka region. Clement, who is the MP for the region and now Secretary of the Treasury Board, claims his office had nothing to do with the decisions, but critics have accused his office of using the money to gain political favor among constituents.

Mandy Hiscocks and Leah Henderson, two of the six co-accused who accepted plea deals in November to end the so-called G20 Conspiracy trial, were sentenced to 16 months and 10 months of prison, respectively. None of the six people who accepted plea deals were convicted on conspiracy charges, and their 11 other co-accused saw all charges dropped. "I want to tell you that I was arrested because I am seen as a threat. I want to tell you that you might be too," wrote Henderson in an open letter before being sentenced.

In Montreal, the People's Commission Network announced that 68 organizations across Canada have signed on to a campaign of non-co-operation with CSIS, Canada's federal spy agency. “[CSIS' actions] creates a climate of fear and insecurity, so people stop wanting to get involved in community organizing of any kind because they feel it will attract unnecessary attention,” said a representative of the South Asian Women's Community Centre, which has joined the coalition.

Notice of Termination

December in Review

Miles — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:44:18 +0000

Climate fossil awarded, Canadian weapons built, Manning on trial

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) announced that it will launch a formal inquiry into the conduct of the Canadian government and federal and provincial agencies concerning the murders and disappearances of more than 600 women across Canada in the past several decades. A disproportionately high number of the victims are of Indigenous heritage. The only other formal, in-country investigation undertaken by CEDAW since its creation in 1982 occurred in Mexico in 2003-2004, in response to the murders of women in the state of Chihuahua. The Union of BC Indian Chiefs and the BC Civil Liberties Association applauded the decision, but no official response has been issued by the federal government.

The Harper government added more hardware to its trophy case, earning its fifth consecutive Fossil of the Year award for its prehistoric performance at the Durban climate conference. “The Canadian Government’s inaction has led to it being constantly singled out as a laggard and even a pariah in these negotiations,” said Chris Bisson, Canadian Youth Delegate to the Durban negotiations.

The Harper Government appointed a third-party manager to oversee finances for the community of Attawapiskat. The Attawapiskat First Nation was meant to pay upwards of $1,300 per day for this service. The Cree community of about 1,800 people made international headlines and attracted the attention of the United Nations after a YouTube video showed families living in tents and shacks with no running water or insulation. Aboriginal People's Television Network (APTN) obtained documents, including an engineering report, that validate years-old claims by residents that sewage backups caused by international diamond company DeBeers are at least partly responsible for the history of housing crises in Attawapiskat. Manitoba Treaty Relations Comissioner James Wilson of Opaskwayak Cree Nation said the situation in Attawapiskat is "symbolic of mistrust and trouble in the relationship between First Nations and the Crown" where "government on the top, First Nations on the bottom dependency is...based on the Indian Act" and "First Nations communities...can't do anything without the approval of the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada."

Amidst the holiday spending frenzy, and the sobering days thereafter, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation issued a report noting that Canadians took on record debt, and currently owe about $1.50 for every dollar they earn.

L-3 Electronic Systems, with 170 employees in Nova Scotia, has teamed up with Elbit Systems Land on a bid to bring two military contracts to Nova Scotia. The first bid is for the weapons system for Canada's new design of armoured land attack vehicles. Elbit is Israel's top weapons manufacturer, responsible for such atrocities as the Palestinian Separation Wall and the Hermes 450 drone, which is responsible for much of the carnage of the 2008-09 siege on Gaza.

Sales of Canadian-made surveillance drones to Libyan rebel forces may have violated UN arms embargoes. The government has called on the RCMP to look into the matter, although it is not clear what the RCMP is being asked to investigate.

More than 5,600 people were arrested across North America in relation to the Occupy movement, and physical occupation spaces were wiped out of major cities. On the West Coast, a powerful “Occupy the Ports” movement blocked port traffic on December 12 in Oakland, Los Angeles, Tacoma, Seattle, San Diego and Vancouver. Elsewhere, an “Occupy Foreclosed Homes” movement emerged in major American cities, where occupiers assisted former home owners in at least temporarily reclaiming their living spaces.

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Russia as independent monitors roundly criticized the national elections—which saw Vladmir Putin re-elected as President—as being rigged. Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union, called for the election results to be declared void. Alexei Navalny, the anti-corruption blogger who spent most of early December in a Russian jail, is being proclaimed one of Russia's promising new potential leaders.

Nine million dollars was slated to be spent on permanent barricades at Parliament Hill in 2012.

The pre-trial of Bradley Manning, the man suspected of leaking the US diplomatic cables and the Iraq war logs released by Wikileaks, wrapped up in a makeshift military court at Fort Meade army base in Maryland. Manning has been held in solitary confinement since July 2010. The US Army's legal team argued that Manning's behaviour has damaged American national security, that he should face a court martial, and that there is enough evidence to now force the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. David Coombs, Manning's lawyer, argued that the US government is greatly overreacting in trying his client, and that Manning has brought no harm to national security. "The sky has not fallen, is not falling, and will not fall," said Coombs during the trial.

The state of Pennsylvania announced that it will not pursue the death penalty against Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of the 1981 murder of police officer James Faulkner. Instead, Abu-Jamal will receive a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Three-quarters of voters within the Tunisian Parliament opted to elect as president formerly-exiled activist Moncef Marzouki. Among parliamentarians, a strong minority left their ballots blank in protest. “We wanted a strong president—not laws that overly favor the prime minister and give the position tremendous powers. We refuse to vote for a president without a limited mandate,” said Samir Bettaib, one of several members of the assembly who were skeptical of how temporary the interim government really is.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report concluding that natural gas wells controlled by Calgary-based natural gas giant Encana were responsible for contaminating drinking water in Wyoming. Encana, a major player in hydraulic fracturing, publicly denouncing the EPA's findings, and the methods by which they were reached. The EPA refused to back away from its findings. Encana's stocks tumbled throughout the course of the month.

December 2011 saw the US finally “withdraw” its forces from Iraq. Some see this as a sign of American weakness. Others read this as a precursor to further Middle East power moves. The eight-year war has cost billions of dollars, tens of thousands of lives, and has contributed to crippling the American economy.

American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Myanmar, also known as Burma. It was the first visit to Burma by such a high-ranking member of the American cabinet in over 50 years. In mid-October, more than 200 Burmese political prisoners were freed, which has led to a “flicker of hope” that the US might relax sanctions against Myanmar. Amnesty International notes that Myanmar still holds 1-2,000 political prisoners, who should be released immediately, according to the international human rights watchdog organization, and not as part of a "process."

North Korea's “Great Leader,” Kim Jong-Il, died. American food aid to the country was put on hold, despite pleas from North Korean officials, as the exact make-up of a successor regime was solidified. Kim Jong-Un, Jong-Il's youngest son, was later proclaimed Supreme Leader of North Korea. The country's New Year's resolution was to become a "powerful and prosperous" nation in 2012.

Bradley Manning

Tar Sands Suits

November in Review

dawn — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:52:56 +0000

Freedom for prisoners, NATO killers, #occupy

Three comrades and many others are still in jail, under house arrest or facing charges relating to the G20 in Toronto, including Ryan Rainville, Kelly Pflug-Back, and Byron Sonne. Six of the 17 people facing conspiracy charges stemming from the G20 have pled guilty, and the other 11 had their charges withdrawn. Sentences for the six charged are expected to range between six months and two years. "There is no victory in the courts. The legal system is and always has been a political tool used against groups deemed undesirable or who refuse to co-operate with the state. It exists to protect Canada’s colonial and capitalist social structure. It is also deeply individualistic and expensive," reads a statement put out by the 17 so-called conspirators when they announced the plea bargain. New documents showed that the infiltration in activist communities in the lead-up to the G20 constituted the largest police spying operation in Canadian history.

Folks participating in Occupy actions in London, Halifax, Regina, Victoria, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, Ottawa and Montreal were forced out of the spaces they were holding, while Occupy camps remain in Calgary and Winnipeg. In many cities where permanent camps are no longer being held, regular General Assemblies continue.

In Canada, a group of Mexican farmworkers filed a suit against the federal government seeking damages after their contracts were broken.

Canada's chief of defence staff travelled to Qatar to discuss the continuing occupation of Libya. Though the NATO military operation has ended, the oil has begun to flow again, and companies including Alberta-based Suncor are reported to be planning their return to Libya.

The Department of National Defence posted a document online seeking a private US security company to train Canadian soldiers who will remain in Afghanistan. The contract "tests the Conservative government’s assurance that the more than 900 soldiers involved in the 2011-2014 training mission would be operating largely out of harm’s way," according to the Toronto Star.

Meanwhile, Afghan officials said six children were among seven civilians killed by a NATO bombing in the country's south. In Pakistan, an attack attributed to NATO killed 24 soldiers at a checkpoint.

Ontario's Royal Military College (RMC), Kingston, offered an honorary Doctorate to hockey commentator and war-mongerer Don Cherry. “On many occasions he publicly expressed his contempt for many groups of the Canadian population, notably for the French-speaking Canadians, for the [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered] community and for the immigrants,” said RMC professor Catherine Lord. Cherry later declined the offer.

Defence Minister Peter McKay met with Ehud Barak, Israel's Minister of Defence in Ottawa, and hyped up increasingly strong Canada-Israel relations. “Canada and Israel have enjoyed close bilateral defence relations for some time and our special relationship with Israel has grown stronger in recent years,” said Minister MacKay. In addition, over the past month Canada moved even closer to Israel in several United Nations votes.

An Irish organization began recruiting 10,000 people to participate in mortgage strikes, or in a refusal to pay mortgages with unfair conditions. "It is radical but it is where we are going if things don't change," said Ross Maguire of New Beginning, a kind of trade union for Irish mortgage holders.

In occupied British Columbia, folks from the Wet'swet'en and the Tsilhqot'in nations mobilized to keep oil and gas and mining companies off their territory. "We will fight what is happening in the Alberta tar sands and what is happening to their aquifers and we will also fight plans to destroy the aquifers on our side of the Rocky Mountains," Toghestiy, hereditary chief of the Likhts'amisyu clan of the Wet'swet'en, told the Vancouver Media Co-op via email. Supporters and Indigenous land defenders held a protest in Vancouver, and did court support alongside the Tsilhqot'in.

A decision from the US government that would allow the Keystone XL pipeline to proceed was delayed. The reprieve is a temporary victory for environmental activists, who mobilized en masse against the pipeline this summer.

Presenters at an oil and gas conference in Houston, Texas, were recorded recommending that their colleagues learn about counterinsurgency as a means to fend off protests against industry. "...[H]aving that understanding of psy ops in the Army and in the Middle East has applied very helpfully here for us in Pennsylvania,” said Matt Pitzarella, director of Range Resources corporate communications.

Otto Perez Molina, a retired army general, was elected President of Guatemala in a run-off election. He promptly named an ex-Kaibil (member of Guatemalan special forces accused of the atrocities during the country's 36-year internal conflict) as Minister of Defence, and announced that he would use the Kaibiles to fight the Zetas, an organized crime group that originated along the US-Mexico border. Meanwhile, Quattro Resources, a Calgary-based oil company, announced it has acquired an 80 per cent stake in a 554,000 hectare exploration project in Guatemala's northern Peten province.

Violence continued to spread throughout Mexico, as 26 bodies were discovered in Guadalajara, the country's second biggest city. The killings follow the arrival of 11,000 police and soldiers to the city for the Pan American Games.

In Brazil, military police staged invasions into the Favelas (shanty towns) surrounding Rio de Janeiro as part of a campaign to "pacify" the poor areas of the city before the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

A group of athletes in India pressured the Indian Olympic Committee to boycott the London 2012 Olympics because Dow Chemical is a prominent sponsor. "We feel that it will be against the basic principles of the Olympics charter to partner with Dow Chemical, which is responsible for the ongoing disaster in Bhopal," reads a letter from the athletes, obtained by the Guardian.

Anti-nuclear activists in France fought with police after blocking a shipment of recycled uranium headed for Germany.

Friends, Allies, Co-conspirators

P2P blockade

October in Review

dawn — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:56:04 +0000

Occupy everything, decolonize everywhere, get your freak on!

People participating in Occupy movements took over public parks and plazas across Canada, the United States and more than 80 other countries. In Vancouver, participants made a "run on the banks," disrupting business as usual and shutting down their accounts. In Halifax, people occupied the Halifax-Dartmouth ferry to provide information to passengers about the Occupy movement. In Oakland occupiers were violently dispersed by police only to regroup and call a general strike for November 2. Almost 3,000 people participating in the Occupy movement around the world have been arrested thus far.

Grassroots women's groups in Vancouver walked away from the BC Missing Women's Commission of Inquiry, calling instead for a "new fair, just, and inclusive inquiry that centres the voices and experiences and leadership of women, particularly Indigenous women, in the [Downtown East Side]."

The Assembly of First Nations denounced the Department of National Defense for gathering intelligence on Indigenous protests. “The fact that Canada would expend national defence resources to monitor our activities amounts to a false and highly offensive insinuation that First Nation advocacy is akin to terrorism or threats to national security,” said AFN Chief Shawn Atleo.

A fire in Nunavut's only jail brought attention to the cramped conditions in the prison, which will likely worsen with Bill C-10, the federal omnibus crime bill. "We have no treatment facility for counseling and addictions, and that is the driving force behind much of the criminal activity in this territory—the alcoholism and mental illness and domestic violence," said Janet Slaughter, Nunavut's Deputy Minister of Justice.

In Santiago, Chile, 10,000 people marched against Columbus Day and to demand the release of Mapuche political prisoners. "[October 12] signifies the arrival of the Spanish usurpers and all they brought with them, colonialism and imperialism," Manuel Diaz, a Mapuche leader, told news agency EFE.

Authorities issued arrest warrants for Guatemala's former President Oscar Humberto Mejía Víctores, and former military intelligence officials José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez and Luis Enrique Mendoza García. The Public Prosecutor is seeking to press charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for massacres that occurred between 1982 and 1983 in the Ixil region, during which time all three were members of ex-general Efraín Ríos Montt's military high command. Mendoza Garcia is also a graduate of the School of the Americas.

The Canadian Centre for International Justice filed a private prosecution in a Surrey provincial court to have George W. Bush arrested for torture. It failed.

Talks continued between Ottawa and the government of Jamaica regarding the possible construction of a Canadian military base on the island.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird visited Tripoli, Libya, where he announced Canada would spend $10 million disarming rebel groups. Canada's ambassador to Libya highlighted that the embassy plans to assist oil company Suncor and SNC Lavalin, which is building a jail, as they resume operations there. Meanwhile, the number of NATO drone strikes between April 21 and October 20 was 145.

People in Afghanistan protested the ten year anniversary of the NATO occupation of their country, which took place on the heels of September 11, 2001. "After a decade, Afghanistan still remains the most uncivil, most corrupt, and most war torn country in the world. The consequences of the so-called war on terror has only been more bloodshed, crimes, barbarism, human rights, and women’s rights violations, which has doubled the miseries and sorrows of our people," wrote Afghan activist Malalai Joya.

US President Barack Obama announced the "full withdrawal" of American troops from Iraq, though 4,000 to 5,000 defense contractors will remain in the country. The Pentagon is seeking to station more combat troops to another location in the Gulf, possibly in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Private Members Bill C-354, the Act to amend the Federal Courts Act (international promotion and protection of human rights), was retabled as Bill C-323, a more in-depth corporate responsibility bill for Canadian companies operating abroad.

The first round of talks for a free trade agreement between Canada and Morocco concluded in Ottawa.

In the US, Congress passed controversial free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

A second mass killing in the Northeast Mexican state of Veracruz marked the emergence of a new paramilitary group known as the Mata Zetas. Almost 1,000 Veracruz police were fired following the massacre, for failing "reliability tests."

In Toronto, Gary McCullough was acquitted on a weapons charge stemming from possession of a crossbow and chain saw during the G20 last summer. McCollough was jailed for over five months before being released on bail last December.

A new study showed that the Yukon River has much higher levels of mercury as compared to other rivers of a similar size. "We have several hypotheses about [the cause] and one of them is the thawing permafrost... which is in direct response to a warming climate," Paul Schuster, a hydrologist with the US Geological Survey national research program, told the Vancouver Sun.

The town of Hampton, New Brunswick, blocked shale gas testing after 70 residents protested outside a council meeting. Residents of Cornhill, NB, set up a roadblock to protest shale gas extraction.

A woman traveling from the US to Ireland arrived to find a Transportation Security Administration inspection ticket with the words "get your freak on girl" scrawled along the side packed into her luggage. The reason: she packed a $15 vibrator.

Occupy the Banks!

OP Jaguar in Jamaica

September in Review

dawn — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 10:54:21 +0000

Troops in Libya and Afghanistan, the people take Wall Street, KI refuses mining

In Libya, NATO announced a three-month extension of its bombing campaign. Canada will continue to participate in the mission after what the Globe and Mail called a "symbolic debate" in the House of Commons. Six hundred Canadian troops have been deployed as part of the NATO mission in Libya, which has cost Canadian taxpayers at least $60 million thus far.

A bomb exploded outside of a US military base in Afghanistan, killing five Afghans and wounding 77 American soldiers. "The Afghans have an endless stamina for a long war...Through a country-wide uprising, the Afghans will send the Americans to the dustbin of history like they sent other empires of the past,” read a statement released after the bombing and attributed to the Taliban. The following week, it was revealed that Canadian troops actively defended a NATO compound in Kabul after another attack killed 16 Afghans. Six hundred military trainers and 1,300 Canadian troops are serving in Afghanistan.

Stephen Harper told the CBC that his government plans to bring back parts of the Anti-Terrorism Act that expired in 2007. The anti-terror law increased police powers, giving them a right to hold people captive for up to 72 hours under "preventative detentions" and to make arrests without warrants.

In addition, Harper's government re-tabled Human Smuggling Bill C-4, which proposes 12-month mandatory detention for asylum seekers and other regressive measures against migrants and refugees. The reintroduction of the bill "is despite previous Bill C-49 being rejected by all opposition parties and hundreds of community, legal, health, human rights and migrant justice groups," according to No One Is Illegal-Vancouver.

The Conservatives also announced plans to advance legislation to make it more difficult to "ban, limit or otherwise disrespect the Canadian flag," according to a report in the Toronto Star.

US border police indicated that they would consider building fences along sections of the US-Canada border to deal with "trouble spots where passage of cross-border violators is difficult to control."

A federal judge in Alabama upheld provisions that make the state's legislation against immigrants the most regressive in the United States. In Alabama, it is now a state crime to be an undocumented migrant, and schools are required to collect information on the immigration status of students.

Thousands of people occupied Wall Street in New York City and in other cities across the United States. "On September 17, 2011, people from all across the United States of America and the world came to protest the blatant injustices of our times perpetuated by the economic and political elites," reads the New York General Assembly's draft Principles of Solidarity. At least 80 people were arrested for participating in the action, and many others, including journalists, faced indiscriminate police violence. On Saturday, October 1, 700 people were arrested on Brooklyn Bridge, though some organizers accused the police of drawing them onto the road in order to be able to arrest them. Calls for similar occupation actions in various Canadian cities were issued, with a national day of action planned for October 15.

Three people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded as demonstrators stormed the Israeli embassy in Cairo, Egypt. Demonstrators continued to gather in Tahrir Square to try to maintain the revolution's momentum and to protest the military-led post-Mubarak transition.

Israeli Foreign Minister and notorious racist Avigdor Lieberman visited Canada, proclaiming, “Canada is our best, most reliable friend in the world." Protesters sent a message that Lieberman was not welcome in Vancouver. “People in Canada have the right to know that Avigdor Lieberman is a racist, far-right-wing Israeli minister who should not be welcome in Canada—it is Lieberman's government who makes peace impossible,” said Khaled Barakat, a Palestinian community activist in Vancouver.

In northern Ontario, members of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) nation called on the provincial government to force God's Lake Resources out of their territory. “Ontario has failed in its duty to recognize our rights to express our spirituality and protect our sacred sites and burials under international, Canadian and KI law,” said Chief Donny Morris in a press release. “Premier McGuinty must intervene immediately to right this wrong or he will be personally responsible.”

Hundreds of people converged on Parliament Hill for a protest against the the Conservative government's climate policies, the expansion of the tar sands and TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline, the construction of which Prime Minister Harper described as a "no-brainer." 200 people crossed a police fence and most were detained and given trespassing tickets. The Conservative government and oil companies have been mounting a global promotions strategy to beat-back escalating pressure from the environmental movement.

In Guatemala, former army general Otto Pérez Molina won the first round of presidential elections. The vote will go to a second round on November 6.

The government of Evo Morales drew criticism following police violence against Indigenous people protesting highway expansion in Bolivia. "I do not agree with the intervention in the march and I cannot justify the measure when other alternatives existed," wrote Defense Minister Cecilia Chacon in a letter of resignation following the police crackdown, which left many wounded.

Thirty-five bodies were dumped near a hotel in the Mexican port city of Veracruz, sparking outrage about the country's increasingly violent war. "It's lamentable about the assassination of 35 people, but it's more so that these people had chosen to dedicate themselves to extortion, kidnapping and murder," wrote the Governor of Veracruz State on his Twitter feed, continuing the state strategy of blaming the victims of violence for their own demise.

Six thousand prisoners in California resumed a hunger strike against the inhumane conditions in the state's prisons.

In the state of Georgia, Troy Anthony Davis was murdered by the state as thousands gathered outside the prison to protest his execution.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird spent tax-payer dollars on gold-embossed business cards that also left out the word "Canada," which is against government rules. "Why is he giving taxpayers the gold finger?" asked Liberal MP Scott Brison.

Canadian Soldier in Libya

Lieberman Not Welcome

August in Review, Part II

dawn — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:23:51 +0000

Protests against pipelines, bombs over Libya, Mexico under attack

People from around North America converged in Washington, DC, as part of a two-week series of sit-ins outside the White House to denounce the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would run from Alberta to Texas. Nearly 1,000 activists have been arrested. Nine people were arrested for blocking the transport of tar sands extraction equipment through northern Idaho. Residents of the Greater Vancouver area took to the streets in support of the actions in Washington, marching to the Kinder Morgan terminal in Burnaby to speak out against pipeline expansions, tankers and tar sands.

Members of the Unist'hot'en clan of the Wet'suwet'en Nation held their second annual gathering to oppose the expansion of pipelines proposed to traverse their territories. The event was hosted at the Unist'hot'en Camp in central BC, which sits directly in the path of the proposed Pacific Trails gas and the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipelines.

The Grassy Narrows First Nation declared a major victory in its 11-year court case to halt industrial logging on its land. Ontario Superior Court Justice Mary-Anne Sandersen called on the federal government to respect its duty to uphold aboriginal treaty rights.

City officials in New York came under fire for refusing to evacuate 12,000 people held prisoner at Rikers Island jail before Tropical Storm Irene. Irene killed at least 42 people in the eastern US, caused massive flooding damage and left millions of people without electrical power.

Canadian fighter jets played a disproportionately large role in the NATO bombing of Libya. “I must say that Canada in particular, being the smaller of the three air forces, once again punched well above its weight,” said a NATO source quoted anonymously in the National Post. The Wall Street Journal reported that the US Central Intelligence Agency was assisting the anti-government forces. According to anthropologist Mahmood Mamdani, "The most likely outcome of a military resolution in Libya will be an Afghanistan-type civil war."

Fifty-two people were killed when a casino in Monterrey, Mexico, was firebombed by half-a-dozen assailants linked to organized crime. Mexican President Felipe Calderon called the attack an "act of terror and barbarism." In the same week, casinos in Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa in the embattled border state of Tamaulipas were also bombed.

A mass grave containing 12 bodies was found near Ciudad Juarez, in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. The latest find brings the number of bodies found in mass graves since last summer to at least 500.

Right wing General Otto Perez Molina polled ahead in pre-election Guatemala, prompting fears of increasing repression in the Central American country. "Perez's political team includes a significant number of generals and colonels with backgrounds in the intelligence service and military operations, who participated actively in the design of genocidal policies during the armed internal conflict," said activist Claudia Samayoa. Elections will take place in Guatemala on September 11.

Protests against the killing of a man by transit police in San Francisco continued throughout the month, leading to dozens of arrests. Anonymous, a group of politicized hackers, repeatedly hacked the Bay Area Rapid Transit website in retaliation for BART's decision to shut down cell phone service at their stations during one of the protests.

RCMP raided the offices of Calgary's Blackfire Exploration Ltd, a private mining company accused of corrupting local officials in Chiapas, Mexico. Blackfire is being investigated under Canada's Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act.

The Nova Scotia Citizens Health Care Network launched a campaign to "protect, strengthen and extend public health care" in Canada. The group warns that Nova Scotians might lose affordable access to vital services if Canada's health care system is not reformed before the current funding agreement between the federal and provincial governments expires in 2014.

Concordians for a Safer University Community in Montreal propelled their campaign for a sexual assault centre on Concordia University's campus into full speed to prepare for the start of classes. The group is looking to provide support for sexual assault victims and educate the university community in order to improve the institution's policies and procedures around sexual assault.

A news conference in Halifax organized by people with disabilities and their advocates criticized the provincial NDP government for cutting special needs assistance for drugs and treatments not covered by Nova Scotia's health insurance.

ASSE and the Federation etudiante universitaire du Quebec, representing 45,000 and 125,000 students respectively, announced they are organizing to resist tuition increases proposed by Jean Charest’s government last March.

Activists in New York held a rally to express their solidarity with Nafissatou Diallo, who brought charges of rape against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former head of the International Monetary Fund. The charges were dropped by a Manhattan attorney. "Regardless of Diallo’s past and any changed versions of stories she may have made about what she did after the alleged assault, it does not mean she wasn’t raped," reads a piece by Feministing Magazine.

People accused of looting during the recent riots in England continued to be harshly sentenced. A mother of two was sentenced to five months in jail for taking a pair of shorts, and a 23-year-old was sentenced to six months for taking a bottle of water. Lawyers at the Magistrates' Court described the hearings as "a complete shit fight."

Wired.com reported that Canada's Department of Defense spent $500,000 on a prototype of a hybrid snowmobile. "Any invaders on the sacred tundra of Canada will be routed before they even know Canada’s valiant sons have zoomed up on them," wrote Wired in a sarcastic jab.

Protest KxL Solidarity Vancouver

Bombs on CF-18

July in Review, Part II

Tim McSorley — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 09:46:45 +0000

Cops Watched, Extractives Ejected, Pride Re-Claimed

In her speech to open the Winnipeg International Copwatching Conference, Indigenous leader Leslie Spillett critiqued the idea that police misconduct in cases dealing with First Nations is the result of 'a few bad apples,' and noted that a "culture of oppression" plaguing police since colonial times has caused a disproportionate use of lethal force against indigenous peoples.

The Native Courtworker and Counselling Association of BC withdrew from the province's Missing Women inquiry, due to an inability to cover the associated legal fees. The commission is set to investigate police failings in apprehending serial killer William Pickton. Commission head Wally Oppal has called on the provincial government to provide additional funding to cover the legal costs of several Native and women's groups in order to allow them to participate. The province has steadfastly refused to allocate the funding, which Oppal estimates at less than $2 million.

Video footage of Ottawa police treatment of Roxanne Carr was released at the behest of a number of media outlets. The video is evidence in a suit by Carr against Ottawa police for $975,000 and shows police pushing her to the floor, tying her up and leaving her in her cell after stripping her naked. Carr claims to have been left naked and suffered injuries, including a broken arm.

Two Montreal activist groups filed complaints with the Quebec Human Rights Commission against a police unit they say discriminates against their political beliefs. The GAMMA squad, which roughly translates to "surveilling the activities of marginal and anarchist groups," took credit for arresting four members of these groups in July, on charges related to altercations with police at an anti-capitalist May Day march.

Newly released documents revealed the RCMP spied on reknowned Canadian literary scholar Northrop Frye in the 1970s, particularly due to his criticism of Canada's complicity in the Vietnam War and participation in a teach-in about China at the University of Toronto.

A new study found that the cost of the federal prison system has increased 86 per cent under the Conservative government, rising from $1.6 billion in 2005-06 to a projected $2.98 billion in 2012. The rise is attributed to the Conservatives new "Truth in Sentencing" policy and other tough on crime measures, which put more people in jail for longer terms, increasing costs for everything from inmate living conditions to more prison guards.

New federal crime legislation is poised to increase the number of incarcerated youth across the country. Canada already locks up more convicted youth than almost any similarly industrialized country.

Health care workers, legal workers and police denounced the lack of mental health facilities in Ontario. The calls came after a woman who was arrested on minor charges and found unfit to stand trial due to mental health problems was locked up for two weeks, rather than receiving the psychiatric care ordered by the courts.

The new logo of the Winnipeg Jets hockey team was criticised for conflating sport and and militarism. Defense Minister Peter McKay loves the new logo and the teams new owners have announced they will be donating $1 million to military linked charities.

US environmental activist Tim DeChristopher was sentenced to two years in prison for his disruption of a 2008 auction-off of lands in Utah to oil and gas companies.

Mining company Cartier Resources suspended all mining exploration on the territory of the Algoquin of Barriere Lake, in Quebec. Community member have campaigned against the company's activities, including a visit to the company's annual general meeting and an occupation of the company's proposed drilling site. The company had not sought 'free, prior and informed consent' before operating on their land. Cartier's mineral claims in the area are suspended until summer 2013, as per the company's request.

Fears of water contamination in Yellowknife increased, as a sink hole near a former gold mine continued to grow in size. Environmental officials were worried that water from Baker Creek, which flows into Great Slave Lake, could end up in nearby underground chambers. The chambers contain arsenic, a by-product of gold-mining left behind after the closing of the mine.

Barrick Gold, the Toronto-based mining company, was accused by Greenpeace of causing three small glaciers to lose nearly half their ice cover, due to the firm's operation of gold and silver mines on the border between Argentina and Chile. The region is populated by towns which rely on the glaciers as their only source of potable water.

The National Assessment of First Nations Water and Wastewater Systems revealed 1,800 reserve homes are without water or sewage service and nearly 40 per cent of all water systems on native reserves pose high levels of risk. The study looked at water systems in 97 per cent of First Nation communities in Canada.

Queer women, trans people, and their allies, gathered in Halifax for the first annual Dyke and Trans March, which took place a day before the city's Pride Parade. "There's no political analysis in Pride," said Shay, one of the march's organizers. "Pride primarily gives space and represents very white, middle class, cis, gay male representations of queer sexuality, and I think a lot of people get left out of that."

A loose band of internet hackers ramped up attacks this month. LulzSec claims to have gotten its hands on a cache of emails from embattled news organization News Corp. Anonymous says it has obtained a gigabyte in secret info from NATO. They also got confidential documents from Italy. Police moved in, however, and arrested the alleged founder of LulzSec. It was also revealed that PayPal is helping the FBI catch the hackers, resulting in a call to boycott the online payment service.

A new poll found Toronto residents overwhelmingly opposed to Mayor Rob Ford's plans to either close or privatize Toronto's libraries. Canadian literary icon Margaret Atwood entered the fray via Twitter, lambasting the mayor's decision. The mayor's brother, Doug Ford, stated he hadn't heard of the celebrated author.

Hundreds of people turned out at Toronto City Hall for the city's longest council session ever, which lasted more than 22 hours. Over 300 people signed up as to speak; all but three criticized Rob Ford's plans to cut social services in the city.

The federal government cut funding to the Montreal-based Wapikoni Mobile film school, which brought film production training and equipment to remote Indigenous communities across Quebec.

A town hall meeting that took place where Africville—a Black Nova Scotian community which was destroyed in the 1960s—once stood drew attention to the international economic crisis and its effects on peoples of African descent in Nova Scotia and internationally. "We (the Diaspora) have received an invitation to be a part of the African Union, a central body that represents all except one of the 54 nations of Africa," said Dr. David L. Horne, international facilitator of the Sixth Regional Dispora Conference and a keynote speaker at the Town Hall.

Quebec saw the largest influx of migrant farm workers to the province ever: around 7,000, mostly from Mexico, Guatemala and the West Indies. Their work is often hazardous, involving exposure to extreme heat, pesticides, risk of repetitive strain from picking crops. Minimum wage for migrant workers in Quebec is $9.65 per hour.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced that 1,800 new Canadians will have their citizenship revoked. Only 63 Canadians have had their citizenship revoked since 1977. Thirty of those who lost their citizenship are being sought in connections with "war crimes," yet none of the three dozen on the "most wanted" list have been charged in connection with any crimes.

Bureaucrats in Ottawa prevented fisheries scientist Kristi Miller from talking about her new discovery which could help explain why salmon stocks have been crashing off Canada's West Coast. Her finding has been called one of the most significant discoveries to come out of a federal fisheries lab in years.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Indigenous people in Alberta cannot be simultaneously registered under the provincial Metis Settlements Act and the federal Indian Act, following a family's complaint that the restriction violated the Charter rights of freedom of association and freedom of liberty. Individuals who fall into both categories must now choose between the benefits of their ancestry.

A new analysis of Afghan detainee documents confirmed that a lack of communication, ineptitude and diplomatic secrecy at the highest levels of Canadian government played a role in prisoners being tortured after transfer to Afghan custody.

Jack Layton revealed he has a new form of cancer and stepped down as leader of the New Democratic Party. In response to Layton's recommendation, the NDP caucus has appointed former labour leader Nycole Turmel as interim party leader.

US President Barack Obama formally ended the ban on gays in the military. As of September 20, service members will be allowed to be open about their sexual orientation. Those previously discharged under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy will have the opportunity to enlist again.

Alykhan Velshi, former communications director for Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, launched an Ethical Oil ad campaign contrasting the "cruel crude" from conflict areas (mostly the Middle East) and "dictatorships" that fuel "terrorism" and even result in "women [being] stoned to death," with the Canadian oil that generates taxable revenues that are used to help fund "democracy."

Dyke and Trans March Halifax 2011

Winnipeg Jets Logo

July in Review, Part I

Moira Peters — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:26:24 +0000

Canada not disarming, Israel not boycotting, prisoners not eating, ships not sailing (nor flying)

St. Mary's Bay residents and wild salmon groups filed an appeal to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to oppose the creation of one of the province’s largest fish farms. St. Mary's Bay, one of the richest lobster fishing grounds in the world, is being considered by Parks Canada as part of a new national marine conservation area. Salmon farms in Nova Scotia are drawing ire from wild salmon associations and lobster fishermen, as salmon farms produce toxins and disease that threaten the wild runs and lobster nurseries.

BC's Provincial Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure set plans to demolish the Glenrose Cannery as part of the Gateway freeway expansion program. The cannery, a historic property, was built in 1896. The provincial government originally claimed that no heritage properties would be affected by the development.

Six environmental activists in Montana occupied the office of the state governor while about 100 others protested inside the Capitol building. The action was taken to oppose the controversial Keystone XL pipeline that would bring tar sands oil from northern Alberta through the state, as well as the large shipments of heavy machinery being shipped to Alberta, known as "megaloads." Five protesters were arrested. Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has been vocal in his support for the pipeline.

Residents of Durham, NB, tore up stakes marking areas set for shale gas exploration, saying they have not been consulted by companies or government. "We want to slow them down, we want to stop them. We don't want them here," one person told GlobalTV. SWN Resources, the exploration company, has been opposed by Maliseet and Mi'kmaq people, who also cite lack of consultation.

French senators voted 176 to 151 to ban the controversial process to extract natural gas from shale known as fracking, making France the first country to do so.

A prominent Honduran environmental activist was arrested along with two others for his participation in an action that blocked loggers from accessing a watershed near the municipality of El Porvenir in his home country. The watershed is owned by a group with ties to Canadian mining company Goldcorp, and it is widely speculated that the logging of the land is a preliminary step towards Goldcorp gaining permission to mine in the area.

Roger LeBlanc, a former worker at the Brunswick Mine in Bathurst, NB, appeared in court to continue what is being called a groundbreaking workplace health and safety case. Leblanc is seeking compensation from WorkSafeNB for the heavy metal poisoning treatments he has undergone since 2006, which he says came about from unsafe working conditions at the Brunswick mine.

Ten thousand Koreans marched to Hanjin Heavy Industries shipyard in the Philippines to protest the mass-dismissal of members of the Korean Metal Worker Federation, which has been demanding safer working conditions at the Hanjin Shipyard. Five thousand accidents were reported in the yard's first year of operations and 31 work-related deaths have occurred. Police responded to the protesters with tear gas and water canons. Fifty unionists were arrested and released. One worker at the shipyard has been protesting from a crane since January.

The Simon Fraser University Student Union locked out 20 of its employees, all members of CUPE Local 3338, ending two years of pay negotiations. The next day, the Simon Fraser Student Spacing (SFSS) Committee issued a surprise termination of Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group's lease. Supporters of the locked-out staff and organizations rallied at the university. A poster by the SFSS student board claims that $748,911 paid out to SFSS staff is inflated compared to the $115,908 transferred to clubs and student union funding. Last year, the SFSS spent $831,000 renovating a campus pub.

National Football League (NFL) union legend John Mackey died of frontotemporal dementia. NFL football players, whose average careers last three-and-a-half years and who live an average of twenty years less than the average American male, were locked out of their current season by NFL owners over issues including post-career health benefits.

Canadian civil society expressed outrage over Environment Canada’s proposed budget cuts that will eliminate more than 1,200 full-time positions over the next three years. The main focus of the cuts are climate change and clean air programs.

California prison officials agreed to negotiate with inmates at Pelican Bay Prison as hundreds of prisoners entered the third week of a hunger strike. Thousands of prisoners across at least 13 other California prisons joined the strike. Prisoners were protesting the slow implementation of correctional reforms, including the elimination of long-term solitary confinement.

Solidarity protests across North America included actions in Montreal, where demonstrators gathered twice outside the US consulate and anti-prison activists sent an open letter to California officials in support of the prison strikers' demands. Actions were also held in Toronto, Kingston, Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Las Vegas.

Halifax mayor Peter Kelly was accused of bribing high profile concert promoters: since 2008 the mayor signed a series of contracts that advanced promoters amounts exceeding $300,000. Kelly has refused several requests to resign since the scandal emerged.

Charity workers across Canada receive upwards of six-figure salaries, according to an analysis of Canada Revenue Agency tax filings by The Canadian Press. As organizations are only required to report the wages of their top ten earners, even more donations may be going into workers' bank accounts.

Fifty to sixty Quebec families remained homeless after the province's July 1 moving day, reported the Front d'action populaire en reamenagement urbain. The housing rights group denounced higher rent, a lack of social and affordable housing and insufficient provincial aid strategies.

Social justice organization Kairos led a news conference calling on the Conservative government to act on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which Canada has endorsed with qualifications but has not yet implemented.

Eight hundred women marched on Parliament to draw attention to the high number of murdered and missing Aboriginal women in Canada.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo called for the abolishment of the Aboriginal Affairs department and Indian Act, replacing them with a new agreement between First Nations and the Crown that would create a new way to deliver services to Indigenous peoples. Atleo also suggested the AFN may try to develop alternative funding sources in order to break its financial dependence on the federal government, which he says has prevented the organization from fully advocating for the rights of First Nations.

Three thousand Canadian soldiers packed up and prepared to leave Afghanistan, as Canada's $11 billion combat mission in the country draws to a close, almost a decade after it began. Nearly 1,000 soldiers will remain in the country to conduct training, though. The departure comes amid questions surrounding the government's handling of detainees captured by the Canadian Forces.

Canada jumped from fifteenth to twelfth largest exporter of military hardware in the world. The country exports to several governments engaged in human rights violations, like the Philippines, Israel, Saudi Arabia, China, Libya and Tunisia.

The military geared up for 1,000-personnel show of force in the Arctic.

The Canadian military secured a new base in Kuwait.

Canada announced it would boycott the United Nations Conference on Disarmament because North Korea has taken on the rotating presidency of the conference, a move critics called "grandstanding" that would have no measurable effect on negotiations. No other countries followed Canada's example.

Canada opposed Palestinian efforts to be recognized as an independent state at the United Nations. Palestinians are reported to have the support of 100 countries, but will need two-thirds support in the assembly before the matter is considered by the Security Council.

Boats in the Freedom Flotilla II were sabotaged, threatened and falsely accused of homophobia and planning to kill Israeli soldiers. The mission was grounded in Greece at the bequest of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. After one last-ditch, failed attempt by the Tahrir, the Canadian boat, to escape Greek authorities by using kayaks as deterrents, many of those hoping to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza returned to Canada. Some Canadians decided to continue to Gaza by land.

In Canada, supporters of the flotilla protested Greece's illegal prevention of the Tahrir from leaving Greek port.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry provided airlines heading to Israel with lists of people they were not to allow on planes in order to stymy what activists were calling a "fly-in." Hundreds were denied entry to Israel, interrogated and jailed. Four people listed were finally allowed entry to Palestine.

Israeli warships that had been firing water cannons on fishing boats two miles off the coast of Gaza fired on the Olivia, a Civil Peace Service Gaza boat which monitors human rights violations in Palestinian waters. Israel claims to allow fishing boats to work within three miles off the coast of Gaza.

The Israeli parliament passed a law allowing any individual or institution claiming that it could be damaged by calls for boycotts to sue for compensation, in effect banning citizens from calling for academic, consumer or cultural boycotts of Israel.

Some tax payers were not happy about paying for Will and Kate's royal honeymoon. Heritage Canada spent over $1.2 million in preparation for the nine-day visit of the Duke and Dutchesse of Cambridge. Meanwhile, it pulled the plug on funding to independent theatre festival SummerWorks.

The first Purple Thistle Institute, an educational experiment where manual labour and intellectual labour are equally valued, was launched in Vancouver.

The first Halifax Queer and Rebel Days offered an anti-capitalist alternative to July's Pride parade. Built on community-building, education and empowerment—not partying—the celebrations were further justified by comments by the co-chair of the Halifax Pride Festival. Dan Savage, the long-time organizer, said that he strives to make the Halifax parade "less promiscuous" than others. The Halifax queer community's outrage prompted the festival's board to apologize.

CTV’s Quebec City bureau chief quit his job due to dissatisfaction with TV news in Canada. In an open letter he outlined his reasoning behind the move and went on to describe the kind of news Canadian mainstream media should be covering, but isn't.

Eska Water announced it was pulling an ad campaign after First Nations groups called for a boycott of Eska Water, one of Montreal Pride Week's official sponsors. The ads depicted stereotypical images of Native people protecting the purity of water with spears. Indigenous people say the ad campaign reinforces the stereotype that Natives use violence to resolve conflict, while their ancestors were in fact peacemakers. Eska's water is piped from Algonquin territory. One-hundred-eighteen First Nations communities are under a drinking water advisory.

An audit of forestry practices in North-West Ontario's Whiskey Jack Forest confirmed what Native groups in the region have been saying for years: industry is not conforming to the laws around lumber extraction. In an effort to halt the destruction, the Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation (Grassy Narrows) has been engaged in the longest running road blockade in Canadian history.

Open-locked

Boat to Gaza.Break for it