The Dominion - Original Reports

Food Sovereignty on the Menu at Traditional Foods Conference

Sandra — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 12:41:13 +0000

TSESHAHT FIRST NATION—Traditional diet, harvesting rights, seafood contaminants and community health were all on the menu at the 5th Annual Traditional Foods Conference on Vancouver Island. Jointly hosted in Port Alberni on September 28 and 29 by the Tseshaht First Nation and the Nuu chah nulth Tribal Council, the free conference was themed "Feeding Our Future Generations." A space to promote and encourage traditional foods and food practices, the annual event has always focused on four pillars: nutrition, healing, safety and community. This year, sustainability was added as a fifth pillar.

This video was originally published by the Vancouver Media Co-op. Isaac K. Oommen is a freelance journalist and academic researcher based in the Unceded Coast Salish Territories.

Action Camp Blocks Pipeline

Sandra — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:08:50 +0000

Pacific Trails line would help clear the path for Northern Gateway line from the tar sands

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UNIS'TOT'EN TERRITORY—Indigenous resistance to oil and gas pipelines rages on in northern BC. The Unis'tot'en, a clan of the Wet'suet'en Nation, have built a protection camp to block the Pacific Trails Pipeline. For the third time, they called for a convergence in their unceded territories.

This year's camp attracted over 150 people who came from as far east as Montreal and as far south as Florida. The camp organizers reached out to grassroots, community based allies, opting not to tap large environmental NGO's for material support.

Out of the proposed pipeline projects that would cross through Unis'tot'en land, Pacific Trails is the first one slated to begin construction and poses an immediate threat. The natural gas transport project is owned by a partnership between Apache Canada, EOG Resources—formerly Enron Oil and Gas—and Encana. The 463 kilometre PTP pipeline would connect the Spectra Energy Westcoast Pipeline in northeastern BC to a liquified natural gas port on the Pacific Coast, with the aim of transporting gas extracted through hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to overseas markets.

The much talked about Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline proposed for the transportation of tar sands oil to the west coast would be built side-by-side the PTP.

Alex Hundert Sentenced to 13.5 Months in Prison

Tim McSorley — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 12:51:41 +0000

Last person to be sentenced in the "G20 Conspiracy" trial

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Video by Zach Ruiter with text by Megan Kinch, Toronto Media Co-op. Read the full story here.

On June 26, 2012, Alex Hundert was sentenced to 13-and-a-half months in jail. It was the last court date from the G20 ‘conspiracy’ case, a political case that involved long term undercover cops, 17 (21 at one point) people dragged into one lumped-together court case, unprecedentedly strict bail conditions and finally a reluctant plea bargain. I’m trying to write dispassionately to some extent, like a journalist, but I’m remembering last year, on the G20 anniversary: Alex and I were working together editing the last issue of The Spoke, the TMC broadsheet founded to cover the G20 protests. He helped write and edit the issue, but couldn’t help distribute it as he wasn’t allowed anywhere near the protest due to his bail conditions. Now his bail is over and he’s serving over a year a jail, mainly, in my opinion, for being an effective organizer who helped bridge the divide between the radical settler left and indigenous struggles, especially at Six Nations and Grassy Narrows... [more: http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/node/11534]

OFL and CAW Visit Locked Out Workers in London Ontario

Tim McSorley — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:40:19 +0000

650 workers on the picket line

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In this video from the Occupy London Ontario Media Team, they continue their coverage of the lockout of 650 workers at the local Caterpillar plant. On December 30, the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), which represents the production and skilled workers at Canada's only locomotive plant, voted to strike if necessary, as attempts to reach a collective agreement had stagnated.

The CAW notes that Caterpillar is trying to slash workers' wages (by 50 per cent), significantly reduce benefits to workers, and eliminate workers' pension plan. It's an offer, in effect, that Caterpillar knows can never be accepted by the workers. With the recent purchase of three plants in Mexico, the US, and Brazil, Caterpillar seems to be planning to outsource the London plant to take advantage of non-unionized workers abroad. A major rally is planned in London for January 21.

In this video Tim Carry from Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and Nancy Hutchison from Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) visit the lines outside the Caterpillar plant.

"It's frustrating that this government keeps giving handouts to corporations and in return these corporations just slam workers one by one by one and shut the doors and lock-out workers when they have made them so profitable," says Hutchison

Camp Dismantled, But Occupy Nova Scotia Continues

Tim McSorley — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:34:53 +0000

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HALIFAX—As has been happening at Occupy sites across North America, police moved in on Occupy Nova Scotia on October 11, seizing tents, supplies and protesters.

By the end of the day, 14 people had been arrested for peacefully trying to defend the site.

This video tracks the progress of Occupy Nova Scotia, from when it began on October 15, to its relocation out of respect for veterans on Remembrance Day, to the eviction, and beyond. The video also explores how day to day operations worked on the site, from consensus decision-making, to keeping safe, to feeding a hungry crowd.

Occupy Nova Scotia is currently not occupying a site in Halifax, but General Assemblies are continuing, and participants say the movement is far from over.

For more on the recent police actions against Occupy Nova Scotia, watch, Mini-Doc: The Eviction of Occupy Nova Scotia.

This video was produced by Glen Canning, a contributor to the Halifax Media Co-op. For more coverage of the Occupy movement across Canada and worldwide, visit http://mediacoop.ca/occupy.

Run on the Banks in Vancouver

dawn — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:19:28 +0000

VANCOUVER-On Saturday, October 24, the people at Occupy Vancouver moved from the eternal process of the general assembly to the exciting world of direct action.

The "Run on the Banks" action marks an escalation on an occupation that's been busy building infrastructure. This was not an official Occupy Vancouver action but an offshoot, as stated on occupy Vancouver's twitter account.

About a thousand trouble makers made their way through the streets of Downtown Vancouver with the intention to occupy corporate banks and encourage folks to close their accounts.

And that they did. This Royal Bank of Canada was the first target, with about 50 people jamming the lobby while some withdraw their cash.

At the Bank of Montreal people shut down their account and moved to other options.

But the cherry on top was the Occupation of TD, or Toronto Dominion Bank, right next to the Occupy Vancouver camp at the Art Gallery. A home stereo was cranked to the max and the people rocked out on top of teller desks and furniture.

An idea was floated around to continue occupying through the night, but the group could not reach consensus, and the process ultimately disrupted the party.

The police quietly moved in and occupied the spots where tellers once stood to protect their corporate masters. Finally the group decided to move out en-masse and avoid arrest.

This piece was originally produced for the Vancouver Media Co-op. Franklin López is a Vancouver based filmmaker and creator of Submedia.tv.

Run on the Banks in Vancouver

dawn — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:26:50 +0000

Occupy Vancouver participants up the ante

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VANCOUVER—On Saturday, October 24, the people at Occupy Vancouver moved from the eternal process of the general assembly to the exciting world of direct action.

The "Run on the Banks" action marked an escalation on an occupation that's been busy building infrastructure. This was not an official Occupy Vancouver action but an offshoot, as stated on Occupy Vancouver's twitter account.

About 1,000 trouble-makers made their way through the streets of downtown Vancouver with the intention to occupy corporate banks and encourage folks to close their accounts.

And that they did. A Royal Bank of Canada branch was the first target, with about 50 people jamming the lobby while some withdrew their cash.

At the Bank of Montreal people shut down their account and moved to other options.

But the cherry on top was the occupation of TD, or Toronto Dominion Bank, right next to the Occupy Vancouver camp at the Art Gallery. A home stereo was cranked to the max and the people rocked out on top of teller desks and furniture.

An idea was floated around to continue occupying through the night, but the group could not reach consensus, and the process ultimately disrupted the party.

The police quietly moved in and occupied the spots where tellers once stood to protect their corporate masters. Finally the group decided to move out en masse and avoid arrest.

Vancouver Stands Against Child Apprehensions

dawn — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:00:58 +0000

FAIL (the browser should render some flash content, not this).

On Tuesday August 3rd, dozens of Vancouverites, led by the DTES Power of Women Group, held a protest outside the office of the Ministry of Child and Family Development. Members of the Vancouver Media Co-op filed this report.

Camera: Juliet Belmas, Susan Neeves.

Editing: Dawn Paley.

Canada's Private Sector Eyes Haiti Reconstruction

Van Ferrier — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 17:39:23 +0000

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On March 31, 2010, the United Nations hosts a major conference in New York to plan and coordinate reconstruction in Haiti. It is still unclear what role Canada played in the ouster of democratically elected President Jean Bertrand Aristide in 2004—an act that paved the way for foreign multinationals to take up shop in Haiti, including Canadian sweatshops and mining companies.

Van Ferrier is a Montreal-based journalist.

Ten-Year-Old Blockade on Redtop Road

Moira Peters — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 05:29:34 +0000

"We're here on my mother's traditional territory..."

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A two-person logging road blockade in Wet'suwet'en territory at Babine Lake, near Smithers, BC, aims to protect "this piece of wood," the last stand of intact forest on Wet'suwet'en traditional territory. Its transfer to the province—following 10 years of Indigenous opposition and government inaction—has put the property in the hands of Canfor, a lumber and pulp company.

Featuring Richard Sam.

Amy Mileer is a Montreal-based organizer and film-maker. She is member of the editorial collective of The Dominion. Rémy Huberdeau is a Montreal based film-maker. His film 'Au pays des esprits/Home of the Buffalo' is currently in the RCI 'Racines' contest.

The Dominion - Halifax Media Co-op

Van Ferrier — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:56:10 +0000

In February 2009, editors of the Dominion newspaper established Canada's first democratically-run news media co-operative in Halifax, Nova Scotia. New chapters will be sprouting up across the country to offer a progressive and community-based alternative to the corporate news model.