The Dominion - 67

Red Panda

Cameron Fenton — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 04:09:11 +0000

The real life firefox

Living among the trees of temperate Himalayan forests from Nepal to western China, Red Pandas (Ailurus fulgens) spend most of their adult lives alone but live their first year under the protection of their watchful mothers.

These small mammals are primarily nocturnal, but have also been described as crepuscular—most active at dawn and dusk. Daytime hours are spent sleeping, lazing among high branches in the heat and covering themselves with their bushy tails in cooler weather. Their tails, with six yellowish rings, also serve as effective camouflage in the trees.

Like their distant relative the Great Panda, Red Pandas lack the enzymes necessary to digest cellulose and primarily subsist on a diet of bamboo, although they have also been known to consume small animals, eggs, fruit and other plant materials.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List—considered one of the most reliable systems for determining the extinction risk of wildlife populations—the Red Panda is categorized as a vulnerable species.

Not a major prey animal, population threats are primarily man-made. Deforestation due to industrial and agricultural expansion is one of the largest, fragmenting habitats and destroying food sources. Red Pandas are also hunted for their fur—especially their ringed tails, thought to be a good luck charm—used for making hats, and in local ceremonies across their endemic habitat.

More of a curse than a blessing, Red Pandas adapt extremely well to captivity and can be found in zoos around the globe, with over 150 in North America alone. This created a strong live animal trade for both public and private zoological collection. Today, thanks to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), live trade is now illegal. Unfortunately, with little enforcement locally or internationally and a sizable private market still in existence, poaching remains a widespread problem.

Red Panda

The PO

Moira Peters — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 06:00:38 +0000

Heather Meek.The_PO.jpg

Dire Prospects

Tim McSorley — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:53:11 +0000

Expanding uranium exploration sparks concern, protests in Quebec

SEPT-ILES, QC—There is a region in northeastern Quebec that is renowned as a moose hunter's paradise: a country of blackflies, where outcroppings of billion-year-old granite poke through the veneer of trees and pristine rivers originating in the Labrador highlands tumble over escarpments to empty into the widening St. Lawrence. In small, blue-collar urban centres such as Port-Cartier and Sept-Iles, it seems locals spend every free moment on the land. Ski-Doo travel is a preferred recreational activity in winter and on the shores of mountain-ringed Lake Kachiwiss, located 15km from downtown Sept-Iles, families on day trips stop to drink hot tea from thermoses.

But despite, or perhaps in light of, this popularity, Lake Kachiwiss has also become known as a point of interest for reasons other than Ski-Doo expeditions.

It is here that Vancouver-based mineral prospecting company Terra Ventures has been drilling the granite bedrock of the Saint Lawrence North Shore for uranium since 2008. The procedure includes boring a 300-metre hole into the ground at a location previously identified by aerial survey as having uranium potential. The contents of each hole are then hauled to the surface and cut laterally into two hemispheres, the way one would slice a carrot. One hemisphere from each core sample—which are typically radioactive—is trucked to a lab, while the other half is left on site for classification.

According to Sept-Iles residents, the prospecting site is not fenced in, the drill holes, as of June last year, were uncapped, and the company has neglected to post signs to warn the population about potential radioactivity. The core samples are stored on open-air racks, exposed to the elements.

Marc Fafard, a logger and local activist, describes the result of leaving such unusual objects unattended, and essentially unmarked, in a frequented area.

“You've got these lovely core samples, soft, beautiful as fossils, nice to touch,” he explains. Samples "were showing up in people's living rooms”.

Fafard, who was a recent mayoral candidate, helped found the citizens' group Sept-Iles sans uranium (Sept-Iles without uranium; SISUR) after reading about the prospecting activity in the news. According to Fafard, this anecdote of souvenir hunting gone badly wrong illustrates the degree to which the initial flurry of uranium prospecting caught Sept-Iles residents by surprise.

“Most folks don't know what radioactivity is,” he says. “We're asking for a moratorium while we inform people.”

Terra Ventures representatives did not respond to interview requests before deadline.

One of SISUR's first goals was to purchase a Geiger counter and visit a majority of the uranium prospecting sites in the North Shore region. But it turned out to be a tall order. Since 2005, a plethora of companies have obtained permits from the Quebec government to drill in approximately 20 locations, and have extracted up to 250 core samples per site along an axis extending 800km from Tadoussac through Sept-Iles to the eastern terminus of Highway 138 at Natashquan.

Over the same period, the number of active permits across the province has jumped from four to 86. Starting in 2005, a buzz of speculation driven by the mining industry and the US government's efforts to promote nuclear reactors as a “carbon neutral” and “clean” energy source propelled uranium prices to record highs. The metal's value rose from around $10US a pound, to peak at close to $140 in 2007, before settling to $42 in February this year.

Saskatchewan is currently the only jurisdiction in Canada to operate commercial uranium mines, supplying 22 per cent of the world market from its underground, seamed deposits. But with prices high, the extraction of far lower-density uranium deposits contained in the granite of the Canadian Shield, which have been known since the 1970s, suddenly appear financially viable. In addition to Quebec, active prospecting is now also underway in Labrador and Nunavut.

This trend can pit a provincial or territorial government, eager for royalties or investment, against remote communities that will have to live with the environmental consequences in their backyard. In January 2009, the Sept-Iles City Council responded to popular pressure and passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on uranium prospecting. But even though the Lake Kachiwiss site is located within Sept-Iles city limits, the resolution carries no legal weight because it is the Ministry of Natural Resources in Quebec City that holds exclusive authority to issue or regulate permits.

Mining industry representatives point out prospecting is not the same as mining, and that typically only a fraction of prospect sites will turn into a commercial venture. But whistleblowers like Fafard counter that the amount of radioactive material extracted from prospect sites across Quebec cumulatively equals the output of a small commercial mine.

Environmental concerns related to the prospecting and potential mining of uranium tend to centre on the dispersal of radioactive residues into the air and water. The Lake Kachiwiss site lies just three kilometres from the banks of one of the North Shore's most important salmon streams. Also, Lake Kachiwiss has been shown to flow into Rapid Lake, which provides drinking water to Sept-Iles. Activists fear the radioactive contaminants will follow these main watercourses and accumulate in the Gulf of St. Lawrence posing unacceptable, long-term, cancer-related health risks to residents of Quebec and the Atlantic provinces.

Moreover, the low density of most deposits in Eastern Canada means commercial mining would likely include an open-pit operation, with vast quantities of granite crystal being ground up to free trace amounts of uranium. The pulverized stone, containing unrecovered uranium and derived substances would remain on site.

Marc Fafard sums up the fears of many. “We're afraid we'll be held hostage to mountains of radioactive residue that we'll have to manage ourselves once the companies are gone,” he says.

Many observers of the mining industry point to the policy of “free entry” as an obstacle to democratic sovereignty in resource-related issues. Devised in the 19th century, and still in force in every Canadian province except Alberta, free entry grants prospectors unlimited access to the minerals beneath the surface in any part of a province or jurisdiction not previously claimed for mining purposes. This means the rights of mining firms trump other interests, including the proprietary rights of individuals or municipalities, which apply only from the ground up. Granting an exploitation permit is also expected to be “non-discretionary,” that is, based only on technical factors, unrelated to issues of social acceptability.

“It becomes more and more difficult to stop [mining companies] as you let the door open,” says activist Ugo Lapointe on the question of whether a company that already has a permit to prospect for uranium could be denied a mining licence. “It may not be impossible, but we know of no case where that has happened.”

Lapointe is a spokesperson for the provincial watchdog group Pour que le Quebec ait meilleure mine (a play on words, but literally, "For a Quebec with Better Mines") which is critical of the cozy relationship said to exist between the Quebec government and the mining industry. Unlike the royalty regime applied to forestry, where a “stump fee” is based directly on the volume of wood extracted, the 12 per cent royalty applied to mining companies is calculated as a percentage of net profit, an amorphous figure which Lapointe says amounts to no more than two to four per cent of real profits due to inventive accounting by the corporations.

One further focus for criticism is the province's much-hyped development strategy, known as the “Plan Nord,” which involves targeting government money at selected infrastructure projects favouring principally the resource extraction sector in northern Quebec. According to research conducted by The Dominion, last year's provincial budget earmarked $130 million for extending Highway 167 by 268km into the Otish Mountains, northeast of the James Bay Cree town of Mistissini. It is in an area without residential communities, but where Vancouver-based Strateco Resources has discovered some of Quebec's most concentrated uranium deposits.

On first impression, the City of Sept-Iles resembles any other medium-sized frontier town. Aluminum refining, forestry and fishing are the mainstays of the economy. A majority of businesses are clustered along the main drag. The houses have a prefab look. There is no vegetarian restaurant and few residents would self-identify as environmentalists.

But facing what many feel to be a clear and present danger, the townsfolk have banded together with a force and an originality of tactics that are startling. Beginning in 2009, SISUR made several inspections of the Lake Kachiwiss prospect site. They found Terra Ventures to be in violation of specific provisions of the environmental code and filmed and posted the evidence on the Internet. As a result, the provincial Environment Ministry temporarily shut down Terra Ventures' operations on several occasions as recurring violations were brought to light. Activists also periodically blockaded the prospect site.

Then, last December, a group of 24 Sept-Iles doctors signed a statement warning they would leave the North Shore if prospecting work was not halted. Though some media outlets criticized the doctors for their tactics, an anti-prospecting demo held in Sept-Iles on December 13 attracted 3,000 people out of a total population of 26,000.

The doctors' letter mentioned their specific concern about radon, a radioactive gas linked to lung cancer which is trapped in the bedrock and is released by prospecting. The issue grabbed headlines and was broached in Quebec's National Assembly.

“There's a whole debate that needs to happen,” says Loraine Richard, the Parti Quebecois Member of the National Assembly [MNA] for Sept-Iles. “When there are almost 20 doctors who want to leave my region, I stand up and take notice.” On February 17, Richard presented a citizens' petition to the National Assembly calling for a province-wide moratorium on uranium exploration, a concept supported by MNAs from the Parti Québécois and Québec Solidaire, but rejected by the majority Liberals.

Many activists now see the Sept-Iles experience as a template for successful organizing because it has mobilized citizens and politicians and made prospecting a public issue in a way it has never previously been in Quebec.

Nevertheless, the ultimate outcome for the Lake Kachiwiss site remains uncertain. For the moment, the provincial Liberals' strategy seems to be to deal with Sept-Iles as an isolated case that can be dealt with without addressing any broader issues of mining policy.

However, speaking in the National Assembly on December 4, Serge Simard, the Liberal minister responsible for mining, promised that a uranium mine at Lake Kachiwiss would not go forward without local endorsement. Also, in recent weeks Terra Ventures has suspended its prospecting in what looks to be a gentleman's agreement with the government.

But as Sept-Iles' MNA Richard points out: “If they [Terra Ventures] wanted to dig tomorrow morning, legally speaking, they could do it.”

And as long as the policy of free-entry mining remains unchallenged, it is difficult to see how either municipal legislators or MNAs like Simard can make promises to their constituents with any degree of conviction.

Chris Scott is a community radio host, activist and writer with experience reporting from northern Quebec.

SISUR demonstration

Quebec uranium exploration map

Co-operative Banking Bulks Up

Tim McSorley — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:18:05 +0000

Ontario credit unions weather the economic crisis

TORONTO—Two months ago, members of the Hamilton-based Nasco Employees' Credit Union stopped being members of the Nasco Employees' CU.

On January 6, Nasco Employees' CU was purchased by another Hamilton-based credit union: Prime Financial Savings.

It was a fate that a number of credit unions in Toronto and across Ontario have suffered since 2007 thanks to the global economic crisis. Although business pages in Canada mostly focus on the Big Five banks—Toronto-Dominion, Royal Bank, CIBC, Bank of Montreal and the Bank of Nova Scotia—credit unions have faced their own series of challenges and adjustments.

In August of 2009, I went to close my account at a small, local credit union on Bloor St. But something had happened to St. Mary’s Credit Union since the last time I used the branch: it was no longer St. Mary’s. St. Mary’s had been purchased by Ottawa-based Buduchnist Credit Union two months earlier.

Sources inside the credit union suggested that it had withstood a series of shocks due to the financial crisis. Fearing one more shock could have put them out of business, the bank began talks about being purchased by Buduchnist Credit Union.

When asked if this was the case, Buduchnist Credit Union CEO Oksana Prociuk said she did not wish to comment.

Statistics from the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario website paint a rough picture of how credit unions in the province have fared during the credit crisis. Ontario currently has slightly under 200 credit unions and/or caisse-populaires. Nine Ontario credit unions were liquidated in 2006 (liquidation also includes dissolved, purchased or amalgamated credit unions). In 2007 and 2008, when the credit crisis was in full swing, that figure jumped to 17 per year before falling to eight in 2009.

Statistics from Credit Union Central of Canada’s third quarter results show a similar pattern: while credit union membership is up 0.5 per cent Canada-wide since the end of 2008, Ontario has seen a 1.4 per cent drop over the same period. The number of credit unions and their branches has also gone down more than the national average.

Art Chamberlain, Media Relations Manager for Central 1 Credit Union, said the downturn hit a variety of Ontario credit unions in a much different way than Canada’s major banks. Employment and growth have gone down sharply in Ontario, so instead of losing money on derivatives and bad investments, some credit unions lost money on the major casualty of the recession: people.

“The core of our business is straightforward: taking in deposits and putting out mortgages and personal lending (and a growing amount of small business lending). When there was a downturn, people lost their jobs and the low interest rate environment has not been very great for a number of years, so the spread on lending money has not been great. It’s been a challenging time for small credit units. Our operating costs have been a lot higher (than banks) and our fees have been a lot lower,” he said.

Ron Hodges, Vice President of Finance for the Toronto-based Italian Canadian Savings and Credit Union Ltd., said small-town credit unions suffered considerably because of their members' job losses. “Some of the credit unions are small and are set up to be a credit union for a specific plant. [When] that plant closes, it makes it difficult for the credit union not to close down,” he said.

Hodges' credit union, Italian Canadian Savings, took over some staff, deposits and the lease of the Portuguese Canadian Credit Union (PCCU), which was liquidated in 2009. According to Hodges, “The PCCU ran into financial difficulties; we tried to ensure that the Portuguese community continued to be served.”

Sources from St. Mary’s suggested the PCCU ran into trouble from the credit crisis, but Hodges was unaware of the reason for the PCCU liquidation, and the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario said they could not comment because the matter was before the courts.

Credit unions in Toronto face a number of challenges trying to compete with Canada’s dominating financial institutions.

“We don’t have a huge visual presence,” lamented Chamberlain. “Market penetration is not great. We’re stronger in smaller towns around Ontario. The big banks are located here. The other challenge we face is trying to get our message around in an expensive media market.”

In addition to the slew of ads, Chamberlain said banks also generate advertising through branches and ATMs in full view around Toronto. While credit unions do have access to a number of ATM machines, they are not necessarily branded as such. “We don’t get the subliminal advertising around branches on street corners.”

The relationship with suffering Ontario workers may have hurt deposits, but it also forms the backbone of credit union lending.

“Our decisions around how we treat people and the loans we give are based on a relationship basis. A lot of credit unions are aware and active on community economic development, helping community groups, etc,” said Chamberlain. “We didn’t get caught up in the huge issues that caused problems with the US and big banks here because we weren’t involved in sub-prime mortgages here. Credit unions are a stabilizing force in the economy. There’s a committee working together; we’ve had a media campaign. Behind the scenes there’s been a network of credit unions to help out small businesses. Especially when times are tough."

By focusing on so-called boring, community-based lending, credit unions have managed to avoid the worst of the economic crisis that affected thousands of financial institutions worldwide. “They are less exposed than the banks. They are not international, which is both protective and risky in a more difficult area,” said Jim Maxwell, Chief Administrator and Financial Officer for the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario (DICO).

According to Maxwell, overall, credit unions have been able to turn to methods such as amalgamation, fusing and buying each other out to protect themselves.  

“If you look at the system as a whole there is a consolidation of the system and growth. The system has grown at 5 per cent over the last 5 years. You can't look at the number of institutions; because of mergers branches are staying the same.”

Statistics from Credit Union Central of Canada show that the number of credit unions and branches has decreased Canada-wide since 2007. Ontario has seen both unions and branches decrease since the end of 2008, although assets, savings and loans have increased in both Ontario and Canada.

Several Ontario credit unions have fused together in the last few years. Amalgamation also produced Central 1 Credit Union in 2008. Central 1 was the fusion between Ontario and BC "central" credit unions. Central credit unions act as umbrella organizations for their regions, promoting the interests of their member Credit Unions and offering overall services and liquidity (cash to maintain operations). Similar fusions are planned for central credit unions in the Maritime Provinces.

Meanwhile, however, Prime Financial Savings, the Hamilton credit union that purchased Nasco Employees' CU, has already experienced the difficulties of amalgamation and the credit crisis first-hand.

In their 2008 annual report, CEO William Clark explained why Prime Financial Savings suffered a major loss: “This is attributable to costs associated with the merger of Credit Union Central of Ontario and British Columbia Central into a new organization called Central 1. This merger is the culmination of years of effort to rationalize the internal structures of the Credit Union System across the country.

“To facilitate this merger, Ontario Credit Unions purchased certain investments from Credit Union Central of Ontario. These investments have been impacted by the general deterioration of markets across North America,” he wrote.

According to Jim Maxwell, the trend toward larger institutions increases the ability to hire good staff and use more efficient and cheaper systems. At the same time Maxwell acknowledges that bigger unions face the challenge of maintaining their base in the communities they serve.

Gwalgen Geordie Dent is a journalist with the Toronto Media Co-op. This piece was originally published by the Toronto Media Co-op.

Buduchnist Credit Union

Issue #67

dru — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:00:00 +0000

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March 2010

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Frustration, Suffocation and Crisis

Moira Peters — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:03:08 +0000

Strife, siege on Gaza continue one year after Israeli bombardment

GAZA—The Gaza Strip was already spiraling under years of siege long before the F-16 fighter planes, Apache helicopters, tanks, warships, unmanned aerial vehicles and armed soldiers waged a 23-day war on the Strip in winter 2008-2009.

The agricultural sector, which used to provide 50 per cent of Gaza’s food needs, had been steadily failing as a result of the siege and Israel’s policy of aggression in border regions. The Israeli-led, internationally-complicit siege bans all but roughly 40 items from entering Gaza.

In 2008 the Agricultural Development Association (PARC) reported a desperate need for nylon used in hothouses, irrigation piping, fertilizers, seeds, seedlings and pesticides. In March 2009, the United Nations’ Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reiterated the call, adding animal feed, livestock, olive and fruit tree saplings, saying the need was "urgent" and "very urgent."

The Israeli war on Gaza destroyed between 35 and 60 per cent of agricultural sector, tearing up irrigation networks, destroying hundreds of wells, water pumps, and cisterns, farm buildings and machinery, and killing over 35,000 cattle and sheep, and over 1 million chickens and birds.

The most fertile areas of the impossibly small Strip lie in Gaza’s border regions—inhabited but largely undeveloped. Of the 175,000 dunams of cultivable land, 60-75,000 dunams have been destroyed by Israeli invasions and operations.

The Israeli-imposed “buffer zone” in theory renders 300 metres flanking the borders off-limits. Israeli authorities say anyone within that zone risks being shot by Israeli soldiers. In reality, Israeli soldiers shoot and shell up to two kilometres from the border, rendering more than one-third of Gaza’s farmland inaccessible.

Since the end of Israel’s war on Gaza on January 18, 2009, at least 13 Palestinian civilians have been killed and 39 injured in and outside of the “buffer zone” by Israeli soldiers’ shooting and shelling. Children are among the casualites.

Despite the danger, farmers continue planting and farming. The inability to regularly access their land has meant many farmers sow low-maintenance crops instead of the diverse array of vegetables, grains and fruits that once flourished in Gaza.

Before Israeli bulldozers razed the fruit and olive trees that abounded along Gaza’s borders, bee-keepers were able to produce high-quality honey two or three times per year. Many bees have died out from Israeli bulldozing and during the last Israeli war on Gaza. In the absence of trees, most of the remaining bee-keepers substitute sugar-water for flowers.

The Palestinian fishing industry, employing more than 3,500, has been devastated by Israeli attacks on fishing boats, confiscation of boats and equipment, and the abduction of Palestinian fishermen.

Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, Palestinian fishermen have the right to fish 20 nautical miles off Gaza’s coast. Israeli authorities have steadily down-sized fishing zone limits. In 2008, fishermen were warned not to go beyond six miles. Currently, Israeli gunboats prevent fishermen from passing three miles.

Fishermen report being attacked by machine gun shooting, water cannons and shelling from Israeli gunboats within three miles of the coast. Israeli naval soldiers routinely force Palestinian fishermen in large vessels, or small hassakas just 2-300 metres off the coast, to motor or row out beyond the Israeli-imposed limit, whereupon the fishermen are abducted and arrested.

Abducted fishermen report being forced at gunpoint to strip, jump into the water (frigid in winter) and swim tens of metres to a retreating Israeli gunboat where they are hauled aboard, blindfolded and handcuffed, sometimes beaten, interrogated and taken to Israeli detention for one or more days.

The interrogations often include coercion, via threat and financial enticement, to work with Israeli intelligence.

Their fishing boats are frequently confiscated for months, often returned damaged or with equipment and parts missing.

Fishermen say the bounty of fish lie beyond the six mile limit. Reduced to fishing along the coast, the sparse catch comes from waters contaminated by 80 million litres of raw or partially-treated sewage pumped daily into the sea for want of proper sewage maintenance plants.

While Egypt is building a steel wall intended to cut off the hundreds of tunnels running between Gaza and Egypt, tunnelers say they will dig deeper. Palestinians in Gaza say they need the tunnels: they are a lifeline, bringing the imaginable—chocolates, cigarettes, medicines, appliances—to the unimaginable—livestock, cars, people.

Unemployment remains rife at near 50 per cent, with food aid dependence and poverty at over 80 per cent. Educated youths with university degrees languish without work, or take jobs driving taxis for a paltry salary. Students craving higher education, and with scholarships abroad, remain imprisoned by Gaza’s siege-closed borders, losing study and scholarship opportunities.

One year later, virtually nothing has changed, except the frustration, suffocation, and manufactured crises have worsened.

A complete schedule of Israeli Apartheid Week with speaker biographies is available on the website.

Eva Bartlett is a Canadian human rights advocate and freelancer living in Gaza.

Trauma

Fishing Group

Beit Hanoun

Gravel & Sand Dad & Kid

Buffer Zone

Fishing Steam

Sheep

Funding Axe Sharpened by Foreign Policy

Moira Peters — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:49:54 +0000

Cuts to NGOs in line with Canada’s stance on Palestine

TORONTO—An internal struggle over funding human rights groups that are critical of Israel was waged behind closed doors at the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, commonly known as Rights and Democracy (R&D).

After a January 7 board meeting, that battle was thrust into the public eye.

A newly appointed member of the board, David Matas, who is also legal counsel for right-wing B'nai B'rith Canada, brought forward a motion to repudiate the funding to one Israeli and two Palestinian human rights groups.

“These organizations were all on the same side: critical of Israel,” he told The Dominion.

Remy Beauregard, President of R&D, had previously supported these grants, but at the meeting he switched his position and the vote passed unanimously, with one abstention.

That night Beauregard died of a heart attack. His widow would blame his death on stress and the “harassment” he suffered at the hands of the board. Four days after his death, nearly the entire staff of the organization wrote a letter demanding that three members of the board resign.

“Your complete misunderstanding of your role as directors of Rights and Democracy makes you unfit to remain on the board of directors," they said. The letter was addressed to the same members of the board who were pushing to have Beauregard removed as president of R&D, and who had written an unfavourable performance review of Beauregard in the Spring of 2009.

While R&D is often perceived as a non-governmental organization (NGO), the federal government funds the group and makes appointments to the Board of Directors. In November, the feds appointed Matas and Michael Van Pelt to the board. This shifted the composition of the board, weighting it in opposition of R&D’s funding to groups in Israel and Palestine.

Warren Allmand, a former president of R&D, believes the Conservatives were stacking the board.

“If you want to effect that kind of change at a place like Rights and Democracy, you look for people who have that point of view. You don't give them instructions; you know what they stand for already,” he said.

The January 7 board meeting was the first since the new government appointments. Different versions of what happened at the meeting emerged: Canadian Press called the meeting “vitriolic,” while Matas, who was at the meeting, called it “calm, polite [and] orderly,” noting the only thing that was “unusual was that two [board members] quit and walked out. ”

Matas said he believes when Beauregard voted in favour of repudiating the grants to the three human rights groups he had genuinely changed his mind.

“When Beauregard went to bed the night, he died with the realization that those three grants which he had spent so much time and effort defending...were wrongly made.” He also suggested a more cynical explanation might be that “Beauregard changed his views because of the shifting composition and majority in the board.”

R&D received over $11 million from the federal government in 2009, and spends millions of dollars on grants and overseas charitable programs. The three grants at the centre of the controversy were for $10,000 each to B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group with programs in Occupied Palestinian Terriories, and to Palestinian human rights groups Al Haq, based in the West Bank, and Al Mezan, based in Gaza. These groups all write reports on human rights abuses in Israel and Palestine. B'Tselem recently won an award for its program to facilitate citizen journalism by providing video cameras for Palestinians to document rights abuses and post those videos on YouTube.

All three groups have been criticized by NGO Monitor, an organization whose purpose is to expose the “anti-Israel agendas” of other NGOs. It was originally a joint project of B’nai B'rith International and the Institute for Contemporary Affairs, but Monitor is now an independent NGO.

The repudiation of the three grants took place in the context of a series of events since the Gaza War, a conflict which began in December 2008 and lasted three weeks. During that time, over 1,000 rockets were fired into Israel and numerous airstrikes, missiles and ground troops attacked the Gaza Strip. All sides agree that 13 Israelis and over 1,000 Palestinians died.

After a ceasefire, many groups believed Gaza was suffering a humanitarian crisis. In February 2009, R&D approved the grants to B'Tselem, Al Haq, and Al Mezan. Allmand claims that before dispersing these funds the staff at R&D checked and found the groups “had also received money over the last few years from CIDA [the Canadian International Development Agency] and the Department of Foreign Affairs.”

The United Nations launched a fact-finding mission on the conflict in Gaza in April 2009, and in September it released the Goldstone Report. Human rights groups had contributed much testimony to the report, which accused Israel of war crimes.

NGO Monitor was one of many groups that criticized the report for relying on the testimony from NGOs they consider biased against Israel. Im Tirtzu, an Israeli ultra-nationalist group, recently placed a controversial ad in the Jerusalem Post which targeted the New Israel Fund (NIF), a group that fundraises in the West for human rights groups operating inside Israel, including B'Tselem.

The Israeli government is also cracking down on human rights groups. The Israeli newspaper Haartz reported in January that the Interior Ministry has stopped issuing work visas to foreign nationals who work in NGOs.

In an August 2009 story in US magazine Counterpunch, Jonathan Cook wrote, “Israel's foreign ministry...has issued instructions to all its embassies abroad to question their host governments about whether they fund such activities.”

The Israeli Embassy in Canada refused to comment on this statement.

Other shifts in the funding of Canadian NGOs have taken place. Alternatives—a left-leaning NGO based in Montreal—and KAIROS—a church-based NGO that promotes social justice—have not had their CIDA funding renewed. While Minister of International Cooperation Bev Oda claimed the groups did not meet CIDA's new priorities, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney had a different explanation.

On a trip to Israel in December he explained how the Canadian government was combating anti-Semitism.

“We have defunded organizations, most recently KAIROS, who have been taking a leading role in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [BDS] Campaign.”

Mary Corkery, Executive Director of KAIROS, said KAIROS is not a leader of the BDS Campaign, and that the group's stance supports some ideas behind the campaign and not others.

“It needs to be taken back,” she said, referring to Kenney's remarks. “The real issue for us is that he said the way he is combating anti-Semitism is by cutting our funding.” KAIROS has asked Kenney for a retraction of his statements. So far none has been made.

“In conversations that we have had with other NGOs it has of course created a chill,” said Corkery. “There is fear of being in support of Palestinian people and groups, who essentially are struggling for land and livelihood.”

Asked which groups were feeling this pressure, she responded, “The chill is such that people don't want to be named.”

“The policy of the Canadian government in terms of Israel and Palestine has changed but there hasn't been a public discussion about that,” said Corkery, referring to the strong pro-Israel stances the Harper government has taken since being elected.

“That has definitely affected [R&D],” she said.

While the controversy at R&D swirls around funding to groups in the Middle East, it remains unclear if this signals an attempt by the Canadian government to align all international NGO funding with government policy.

“I think they are quite open about that; my understanding is that the government wants to align volunteer sector aid ... [with] defence and trade,” said Corkery.

Solidarity activists in Haiti have already seen R&D as advancing Canadian foreign policy agendas. R&D supported and legitimized the 2004 coup that overthrew Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. However, activists in solidarity with Colombia have noted R&D supports groups that denounce both President Uribe and the proposed Canada–Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

Matas said he believes the dispute at R&D is specifically about the group's role in the Middle East. “Elsewhere in the world I can't see any change as a result of this controversy. ”

However, with respect to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine and the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon—which were led by foreign-funded NGOs—he acknowledged the political objectives of R&D.

“The notion that Canada might be seen to be independent of NGOs it finances through an arm's length organization has become illusory in light of the heightened suspicion of that sort of funding. The political objective of appearance of non-interference intended by the arm's length relationship is no longer attainable through a structure like Rights and Democracy,” he said.

Allmand sees the dispute at R&D as part of the Conservative Government's broader approach.

“Either by refusing or cutting funding, stacking boards, or refusing to cooperate, they’re cutting back on organizations that are supposed to be arm's length,” he said. “They're using these oganizations in partisan ways.”

Tim Groves is an investigative researcher and journalist based in Toronto.

Carmelle Wolfson provided files for this story. Wolfson is a Canadian journalist based in Israel/Palestine and an editor at The Daily Nuisance.

Funding Axe

Writing Off Sovereignty

dru — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:24:58 +0000

Quebec media on Haiti since the earthquake

In the five weeks following the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, Quebec’s mainstream French-language media focused a considerable amount of attention on the devastated nation. What follows is a critical look at the opinions expressed by columnists during this time. Their ideas on three themes are examined: (1) The Reconstruction Process; (2) Haiti’s poverty; and (3) Attitudes towards former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his party, Fanmi Lavalas.

Looking ahead: the reconstruction process

When opinion writers look to the future, Haiti is depicted as a clean slate, a country bereft of capable people. Hope for the future and leadership in the reconstruction process are to be found not within the Haitian majority population but in the diaspora, the Haitian business elite and the international community. Journalists’ ideas and the ideas of the people they quote or interview are distinctly colonial and there is virtually no diversity of opinion. Haitian sovereignty and the building of a strong Haitian state are seen as unimportant, and the extraordinary ability of the Haitian population to mobilize and create progressive political programs is overlooked. A new Haiti is to be imposed, it would appear, by the few on the many.

Vincent Marissal is a columnist for La Presse in Montreal and a prominent figure on the Quebec media landscape. One month after the earthquake, he called for the international community to "impose the required decisions.” Responding to an urgent plea by the World Bank to strengthen the Government of Haiti, Marissal said: “How do we say cut the crap in Creole?...The word is strongly displeasing to Haitians, and this is understandable, but the solution starts with trusteeship, or protectorate if this word is less troubling to sensitive types.” More concretely, Marissal suggests ignoring democratic procedures and imposing an elite government: “...[W]e must install, for the next five years, an emergency government composed of several respected Haitian personalities, including members of the diaspora and representatives of the international community, whose mandate would be to restore order and security, save and give security to the victims, establish and supervise the reconstruction plan and follow the money carefully.”

Marissal suggests that “respected industrialist” Charles Henry Baker could be one of the “respected personalities” on the new political scene. Marissal’s colleague at La Presse, Philippe Mercure, later ran a puff piece on Baker entitled “The big-hearted entrepreneur.” Mercure did not mention that “big-hearted” Baker is a key member of the reviled Haitian business elite whose millions dodge government coffers; that in 2009 he opposed paying his sweatshop employees more than US$2 per day; that his pro-coup d’état organization, the Group of 184, promoted armed UN attacks on heavily populated slums following the 2004 coup d’etat; and that he was supported by 8.2 per cent of the Haitian population in the 2006 Presidential election.

Writing in Actualite, Quebec’s largest selling news magazine, editor-in-chief Carole Beaulieu continues themes she developed in 2004 when she suggested annexing Haiti and turning it into Canada’s 11th province. In 2010, she writes: “The Haitian government is an empty shell...Let’s speak frankly. When the cadavers are piling up, when people are being amputated by saws with no anesthesia, when hundreds of thousands of people are hungry, Haitian pride, which is outraged at attacks on sovereignty, is inappropriate...Reconstruction needs a leader in which Haitians can have confidence and who can rally foreign powers, someone who knows that decentralizing the economy and building roads to allow peasants to sell their products in cities is more important than rebuilding the national palace...Why not [Canadian Governor-General] Michaelle Jean? She is on good terms with Barak Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy and knows the language and culture of the country. What’s more, her mandate as Governor-General ends soon.”

Little matter that since the earthquake thousands of people regularly take to the streets in Port-au-Prince carrying signs showing the face of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, not Michaelle Jean. For Beaulieu, the wishes of Haitians seem to matter little, but she assures us that her ideas are not colonial in nature: “No foreign country wants to take over Haiti! Who would want a miserable country with no resources other than the sun and the smiles on the faces of her inhabitants?”

Disrespect for Haitian sovereignty continues. Also writing in Actualite, journalist Michel Arseneault introduces his article on the reconstruction of Haiti by quoting his interview subject, Haitian geographer Jean-Marie Theodat: “The international community must now do everything to help a population with no other options, even if it means taking a chip out of Haitian sovereignty. A state unable to coordinate foreign aid must let others take on the responsibility.”

Actualite’s Jonathan Trudel interviews Haitian-born Quebec sociologist Franklin Midy about solutions for the future. Midy proposes 16 solutions for Haiti. Number 11 is called, “Supporting the State.” We learn that in Haiti’s current government, “competent people remain; they’re not all dead, and it is important to give them work and responsibility. To avoid the collapse of the state, the international community must ensure that the salaries of nurses, teachers, police officers and bureaucrats are paid.” Other than this, the Haitian state is absent from Midy’s reconstruction effort. The only initiative in which the state appears to be involved (in conjunction with the UN) is in encouraging people to move to the countryside from Port-au-Prince.

Actualite’s interview choices mirror those of 2004 when “specialists” were telling Haitians to make room for an international trusteeship. In 2010, Jean-Frederic Legare-Tremblay interviews former Quebec Liberal politician Gerard Latulippe, current director of the National Democratic Institute in Haiti. After resurrecting old lies by criminalizing Aristide and his followers (the majority of Haitians), Latulippe states: “...I see no other way than by imposing a trusteeship run by the international community... This means that during the reconstruction of the political institutions, decisions will be made by a group of people appointed by the Security Council of the United Nations who would run the country.” Latulippe and Actualite seem to have forgotten the murderous legacy of the 2004 trusteeship.

In Quebec City’s Journal de Quebec, columnist Jean-Jacques Samson reminds us of the incompetence of Haitians living in Haiti: “Since they can’t do it alone, Haitians will have to count on international aid for many years. The brilliant Haitian minds that emigrated to developed countries will have to return to their country of origin to show leadership. They must be the first to believe in a future for Haiti so that the citizens of donor countries believe.”

Francois Brousseau, writing for Le Devoir, states: “...A profound awakening is necessary—by foreign countries and Haitian elites—as to the inadequacy of everything that has been attempted until now.” For aid to work, he states that a sort of “cultural revolution” is needed in Haiti. Brousseau neglects to mention that ordinary Haitians already had their cultural revolution long ago, without any help from foreigners or elites, and created a progressive democratic movement. Not only that, but what they achieved was hardly inadequate. On the contrary, the program of the Lavalas movement, had it been supported and not crushed by violence, could have solved many of the problems created by colonialism.

Looking back: reasons for Haiti’s poverty

Journalists used the earthquake as an opportunity to discuss the history of Haiti’s misery. French and American colonial practices are explained with varying degrees of detail, but Canada’s role in the 2004 coup d’etat is unexplained. In fact, five weeks of copious journalistic output in Quebec produced one sentence mentioning (not explaining) that Canada was involved in a coup d’etat in 2004, validating the thesis of Noam Chomsky’s propaganda model—whereby mainstream media toes the line of existing power structures and points the finger elsewhere.

One week after the earthquake, Quebec journalist Chantal Hebert recommends in her blog with La Presse that Michael Ignatieff and Denis Coderre patch up their differences so Coderre could handle the Haiti dossier. During the last trusteeship in Haiti, Coderre was special advisor to Haiti and skilfully ensured that blame for Canada’s role in the coup be deflected. Hebert’s suggestion, if realized, would guarantee more of the same.

Shockingly, several high-profile journalists look to Haitian cultural “defects” to explain Haiti’s economic woes. There is no corresponding inquiry into US, French or Canadian cultural flaws that would induce these nations to sack Haiti. Richard Hetu, for example, a New York correspondent for La Presse explored the reasons for Haiti’s poverty in his blog. He relates uncritically the ideas of New York columnist David Brooks who notes that even though over 10,000 NGOs in Haiti “are doing the Lord’s work...even a blizzard of these efforts does not seem to add up to comprehensive change.” For Brooks, the “thorny issue of culture" is the root of Haiti’s poverty. Quoting Lawrence E. Harrison’s book, The Central Liberal Truth, Brooks points out that “Haiti, like most of the world’s poorest nations, suffers from a complex web of progress-resistant cultural influences,” such as “the voodoo religion” and “high levels of social mistrust...difficulty internalizing responsibility, and faulty child-rearing practices”.

Patrick Lagace is a prominent columnist with La Presse in Montréal. In no uncertain terms, he attributes Haitian misery to passivity: “...Sorry, but Haitians collectively are horribly, depressingly and dangerously passive...I believe I’ve described the urgency with enough compassion to have the right, just once, to say that by their passivity, Haitians actively contribute to their misery.” Twisting historical fact in new ways, Lagace claims Haitians were too passive to oust their own elected president (Aristide), whom he describes as a dictator: “No one is ever brutal with Haiti for fear of being called insensitive or racist. Haitians don’t need it anyway. They’re already brutal amongst themselves, tolerating dictators and putchistes. And when an elected president screws them, it’s the US marines who kick him out, not Haitians.”

Francois Brousseau, like Lagace, also muses as to the cultural roots of Haiti’s poverty. “Perhaps there is something in the local culture...something that blocks things such as economic development, an enterprising spirit, construction and projects.” He wonders also if voodoo and superstitions do not "stuff Haitian minds with a dreadful fatalism.”

Attitudes toward Jean-Bertrand Aristide and Fanmi Lavalas

Quebec mainstream media attitudes toward former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide—despite voluminous and widely published research dispelling the lies about his second presidency—have not changed since prior to the 2004 coup. He is consistently depicted as a megalomaniac, a dictator, a last-ditch hope for desperate Haitians, and a danger to Haiti. The real story of his ouster is apparently not worth sharing with the Quebec public, perhaps because it involves Quebec political figures and NGOs.

Furthermore, the tendency to focus only on Aristide and not on the grassroots movement that brought him to power (or the corrupt opposition that undermined him) has the added benefit of keeping the Quebec public unaware that there is a coherent democratic force in Haiti. We are not told, for example, that in 2009, the party Aristide created, Fanmi Lavalas, the largest political organization in Haiti, was banned from elections. Nor are we told that 90 per cent of the voters boycotted the election. Why is this dynamic democratic political force not being discussed or supported by Quebec mainstream commentators?

Evoking old disinformation, Vincent Marissal likens public demands for the return of Aristide to the pleas of desperate people clinging to a former dictator for help. “It’s not for nothing that we see banners and graffiti demanding the return of Aristide. People are looking for a glimmer of hope, even if it means looking into the darkest corners of their recent past.”

Michel Arseneault did not challenge his interview subject, Jean-Marie Theodat, after his absurd reply to Arseneault’s inquiry as to whether Aristide should return to Haiti: “If he returned, it would be like adding another layer to the destruction already caused by the earthquake.”

Brousseau portrays Aristide as a sort of madman: “...The dark episode of February 2004...when the US of George Bush, together with Canada and France as sidekicks, apprehended the elected president in his home and sent him into exile, a Jean-Bertrand Aristide with all his very real errors, prey to his visions.”

Finally, Quebec caricaturists expressed themselves when after the earthquake Aristide requested to return to Haiti from an illegal US-imposed exile. Serge Chapleau, caricaturist for La Presse, portrays a feeble Aristide waving a feeble Haitian flag. The caption reads: “When it rains, it pours.” (A similar translation would be, “Bad things come in twos.”) In Sherbrooke’s La Tribune, caricaturist Herve Philippe portrays Aristide holding a halo above his head and we read the following: “The former Haitian president in exile, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, capitalizes on the chaos in Haiti to stage a comeback by posing as the Messiah.” In Gatineau’s Le Droit, caricaturist Bado shows us Baby Doc riding a wooden horse yelling: “If Aristide can do it, so can I!”

Conclusion

If the function of media in a democratic society is to provide its citizens with the information and ideas they need to take meaningful action in their democracy, then Quebec’s opinion writers have failed dramatically. Quebec, home to one of the world’s largest Haitian diaspora populations, is being told that Haiti should once again be controlled by everything but the will of its own majority population; that Canadian crimes in Haiti are not worth mentioning; that Haitians possess cultural flaws that perpetuate their suffering; and that Haiti’s most popular political figure and the party he led—the most popular in the country—have no place in Haiti’s future. It is clear that unless Quebeckers read outside the mainstream media they will support ideas destined to perpetuate the errors of the past and prolong the suffering of the people of Haiti.

This article originally appeared in Haiti Analysis.

Sources

Arseneault, Michel. "Il faut rebâtir par le bas!" Actualité. March 1, 2010, pp 18-21.

Beaulieu, Carole. Et si on anexait Haïti?. Actualité. April 1, 2004.

Beaulieu, Carole. "Haïti: parlons franchement!" Actualité. March 1, 2010, p. 9.

Brousseau, François. « Les conditions de la renaissance. » January 18, 2010.

Brousseau, François. “Commentaire – les damnés de la terre.” Le Devoir, January 14, 2010.

Brousseau, François. « Reconstruire. » Le Devoir. January 25, 2010.

Cyberpresse.ca. “Caricatures du 10 au 16 janvier, 2010.”

Facal, Joseph. Les sept plaies d'Haïti. Le Journal de Montréal. January 18, 2010.

Hébert, Chantal. Sortir Denis Coderre des boules à mites? Actualité.com. January 18, 2010.

Hétu, Richard. "Pourquoi Haïti est-il si pauvre?" La Presse Blog. Januay 15, 2010.

Lagacé, Patrick. "Haïti, malade de ses charades." La Presse. January 30, 2010.

Légaré-Tremblay, Jean-Frédéric. «Urgent ! Vide politique à combler» Actualité. January 28, 2010.

Marissal, Vincent. "En attendant la secousse politique." La Presse. February 6, 2010.

Marissal, Vincent. "Le temps d’agir." La Presse. February 12, 2010.

Mercure, Philippe. "Charles-Henri Baker: l'entrepreneur au grand-coeur." La Presse. February 17, 2010, p. A18.

Samson, Jean-Jacques. Un nouvel Haïti. Le Journal de Québec. January 19, 2010.

Trudel, Jonathan. "16 solutions pour l'avenir." Actualité. March 1, 2010. p. 22-24.

Boy in Cite Soleil

More Northern BC Schools Set to Close as Olympic Budget Balloons

dru — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:50:44 +0000

Billions spent on Games recuperated from rural education system

LONDON, UK—As British Columbia begins to contemplate the effects of a $6-billion Olympic spending spree, 14 schools have been slated to close this year in the Prince George School District, situated in the Central Interior of the province. In January, hundreds of residents gathered to hear the Board of Education announce the planned closures, as well as increased class sizes, which trustees say will be necessary to close a gaping $7-million budget deficit in the district. The blow comes at a time when local communities are already reeling from 15 school closures since 2002. Residents of BC's Central Interior continue to grapple with serious economic problems, including an unemployment rate of nearly 13 per cent in the city of Prince George.

Widespread opposition has taken hold among local teachers, administrators, parents and residents, who fear for the fate of their schools and communities. “It's unprecedented when you have the BC School Trustees Association, the BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils, BC CUPE [Canadian Union of Public Employees], as well as the BCTF [Teachers’ Federation], all submitting a joint letter to the Minister,” said Don Sabo, Chairperson of the Prince George and District Parent Advisory Council. “It's pretty big stuff that's happening here.”

Hundreds of parents and community members have flocked to public meetings held at each school slated for closure and late last month dozens braved the cold outside school district offices to demonstrate against the cuts. Another demonstration in opposition to the Olympics greeted the torch relay with placards bearing slogans such as "$6 billion could fund social housing, healthcare and education.”

The BC Government has responded to the criticism of the planned school closures by denying its own culpability and faulting declines in student enrolment.

Officials have suggested that the government, despite its funding responsibilities, cannot be held responsible for school closures. “I would urge people to present their concerns to the locally elected school board,” MLA Pat Bell told the Prince George Free Press, "because that’s where school closure decisions are made.”

Local stakeholders are unconvinced, however, not least because the provincial government is the sole funder of school districts in BC, which are prohibited by law from running deficits. “School boards are put in a very unfortunate situation,” said Matt Pearce, Vice-President of the Prince George and District Teachers’ Association. “They get the unenviable task of making the cuts and they don't control the revenue.”

“I think a lot of the blame, and rightly so, has been directed at the provincial government, particularly with the [cost] downloads they’ve made, often with little or no notice to school boards.”

“Downloads” refer to new responsibilities and expenses shifted to a lower level of government without accompanying funding to meet the costs.

An abrupt shift in the funding formula for schools brought mass closures to the district in 2002 and 2003. Many believe that the model fails to properly account for the extra costs of operating schools in northern and rural areas. A recent school district report noted: “The Ministry of Education changed its method of funding school districts from one that recognized a variety of unique factors to one where the prime driver for funding became simply the number of students enrolled.”

For their parts, the Education Minister and local MLAs have instead suggested that falling enrolment, not funding shortfalls, are behind the closures. The school district "lost nearly 4,500 students in the last 10 years," Prince George MLA Shirley Bond explained in a local newspaper.

However, community members argue that the 25 per cent drop since 2001 has already been met with 15 school closures. The 14 more slated to be shuttered this year would bring the total closures to nearly half of the schools in the district in just eight years, a toll obviously disproportionate to the enrolment decline, Don Sabo notes.

As well as the unfavourable funding formula already in place, the district faces unfunded new costs and programs downloaded by the provincial government this year. These include cuts to an annual capital and maintenance costs grant, an unfunded kindergarten program, hikes to provincial health premium for employees and non-rebated costs of BC's new Harmonized Sales Tax and carbon tax.

Perhaps the greatest concern is reserved for the fate of the seven rural schools slated to close. "Because they are small communities, when you shut down the school, you're shutting down the community," Sabo said. "It's a complete disruption of the social fabric."

The closures would also mean up to three or even four hours a day spent on the bus for many kids. Teachers and parents alike are concerned about the long rides and the time that commuting children will lose, including missed chances to participate in extracurricular activities.

Their concerns are corroborated by researchers like Mount Allison University Professor Michael Fox, whose study of rural communities in Quebec found that "[kids] with large average times on a bus report lower grades and poorer levels of fitness, fewer social activities and poor study habits."

For many, it is difficult to understand why school closures and larger class sizes to save a few million dollars are considered a belt-tightening necessity, while billions are readily spent on the Olympics, along with a $500-million new roof for BC Place Stadium in Vancouver. "Bills are coming in for the Olympics and [the provincial government has] to find money to pay for it from somewhere," Sabo said. "They're taking it from our kids' education and our kids' future."

For local community activist and columnist Peter Ewart, all of this raises a broader set of questions about the economy and government policy in the region. "First of all, talk about declining enrolment begs the question: why is this taking place? A big contributor has been the damage done by job cuts and mill closures in the forest industry," which, in turn, forces families to relocate.

"People have been saying for years that there needs to be a program to diversify forestry and other resource industries in the Interior of BC. Government should be putting demands on companies, for example by requiring that resources be processed in the province and near the communities they are extracted from."

"In other words," Ewart added, "we should be adding value to our own natural resources, thus creating jobs and sustaining communities."

As the Olympics draw to a close, not only parents and students, but whole neighbourhoods and communities in this region are waiting anxiously for the final budget numbers to be released from BC's Ministry of Education in mid-March; the budget will finalize the school district's deficit level and just how many more schools will be forced shut this year.

Alex Hemingway is a UK-based graduate student from Prince George, BC. He is currently studying Social Policy and Planning at the London School of Economics, where he also received a master's degree in Global Politics.

School Bus

BC school closures

This is Where the Revolution Starts

Maya Rolbin-Ghanie — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:42:21 +0000

19th annual Memorial March honours 3,000 missing and murdered women

VANCOUVER—"This is where the injustice starts."

On Valentine's Day in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES), and in memory of Canada's 3,000 missing and murdered women, Dalannah Bowen addressed 5,000 people from the steps of the Vancouver Police Department.

"This is where it starts for missing and murdered women," said the African-Canadian/Cherokee director of the Interurban Gallery in Vancouver.

Women with stories of friends and relatives gone missing or found dead—and of police inaction and disrespect—followed Bowen to the microphone. February 14 marked the 19th time Vancouver marched for missing and murdered women, and the first time they would march for women in the DTES while the city was otherwise preoccupied with the Olympics. It was day three of the Games.

"Each and every single person is part of this human family. We deserve to be treated like human beings," Bowen said.

Earlier in the morning at the Carnegie Centre, the DTES' "living room" on Main Street, every person gathered for the march witnessed a painful aspect of family: loss.

At 11:30am, 400 people were gathered on the steps of the Carnegie, around the corner, and along the sidewalk on both sides of the building. Most were women. By 12:20, the crowd had quadrupled and extended to all four corners. Buses made it through the intersection with difficulty. By 1pm, the entire intersection was blocked off, and "Carnegie hosts" in yellow vests linked hands, creating a corridor for the families of missing and murdered women to pass into the centre of the crowd. Most were women. Most were Native.

Drummers were invited into the centre, where they created an open space. A cry rose. Hands pointed skyward. Pigeons flapped around the rooftops and seagulls circled. Higher, with unmistakeable white heads and majestic wingspans, two eagles soared.

A woman with black hair in a loose pink shirt stood on the steps of the Carnegie, an eagle feather in her hand and a square of paper pressed to her breast. She raised the feather into the air and began a low wail: a song, a heartbreak. She concentrated on the sky, pleaded with the sky, and cried, her feather trembling.

The drums began and the crowd sang, for half-an-hour, while families filed out of the Carnegie patio and toward the centre of the intersection, holding banners. Some were dressed in Native regalia. Most were women.

The people marched.

"A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground. Then it's lost; it's down. No matter what. No matter how strong its warriors; no matter how powerful its weapons," said Mabel Nipshank, a Metis woman of Cree and French descent. She exposed the original intent in the violence directed against Native women as she spoke from the steps of the police station. The priority for Europeans at first contact with Aboriginals, she said, was the disenfranchisement of women.

"They were afraid of the power of the First Nations women because when First Nations women spoke it echoed like thunder," she said.

Nipshank challenged two groups to collaborate in the demand for justice for killed and disappeared Indigenous women: First Nations leaders and non-Native feminists.

"I don't have a whole lot of trust in our Aboriginal leaders. They are pushing women off our territories and this"—she pointed to a placard with photos of hundreds of young women lost—"is what is happening to us. We need our leaders to challenge the colonial structures that have put us in poverty."

Nipshank called on feminists to quit talking the talk when they cannot walk the walk.

"Sometimes we don't fall into the white feminist ideology. [They] can't comprehend our oppression because [they] don't live it the way we do."

She asked the crowd to consider that the next case of a murdered or disappeared woman could be anyone's daughter, sister, or aunt. "That is why we need to address this collectively. This is our problem as a whole people."

Sirens wailed.

Author Maggie de Vries told marchers about her sister Sarah who had been murdered in Port Coquitlam at Robert Pickton's pig farm.

"The investigation [into Sarah's disappearance and murder] did not have the full support of the province of British Columbia, of the Vancouver Police or of the RCMP. There was a resistance to admit there was anything wrong," she said.

"My sister was picked up, driven along a direct route: down Hastings Street to Boundary Road to the Lougheed Highway and onto Dominion Road. She was driven through a gate, and she never came out."

De Vries said that in order to keep women safe the public needs an independent inquiry into the investigation of Vancouver's missing women. Currently, 38 cases of women missing from the Downtown Eastside remain unsolved.

Cee Jai Julian described the last time she saw her big sister. It was December 14, 1998, and her sister, who was on her way to work, asked Cee Jai to get off the streets.

"Go home, baby girl."

Ann-Marie Monks read a poem, which she wrote for her best friend who disappeared.

"My sister, my friend. Where are you? What happened to you?"

The drums beat, the people marched. The sun shone. It was Valentine's Day.

Moira Peters is an editor at The Dominion. This article was originally published by the Vancouver Media Co-op.

Pink shirt woman march

crowdmarch

Seeding Divestment

Moira Peters — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:40:30 +0000

Carleton's Yafa Jarrar discusses BDS campaign

The divestment report urging Carleton University to divest from companies implicated in Israel's occupation and grave violations of human rights is a true gem for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The report's research, argumentation, corroboration and writing style are impeccable and deeply impressive. In making the case for divestment from Israel, the report from Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) combines the best of both worlds: the commitment to truth and justice of the most sincere and far-sighted human rights defenders and the piercing logic of the most able lawyers. SAIA's time-honoured commitment to just peace and international law, distinguished professionalism and creativity are truly inspiring. They build on the wonderful, pioneering divestment victory at Hampshire College last year to take divestment to the next level. This makes a superb model for the mushrooming divestment campaigns around the world.
—The Global BDS Movement

The Dominion: How did the recent divestment campaign by SAIA-Carleton get started?

Yafa Jarrar: In the summer of 2009, SAIA-Carleton members started researching companies that Carleton’s Pension Fund invested in. SAIA was able to obtain a list, with the help of a faculty member who put forward the request. Of about 550 companies that contribute to the Pension Plan, five were found to be complicit in the occupation of Palestine and in violation of Palestinian human rights. These companies are BAE Systems, L-3 Communications, Motorola, Northrop Grumman, and Tesco. After rigorous research for seven months, SAIA found that each of these companies is actively involved in significant violations of international humanitarian law. SAIA-Carleton immediately decided to start a divestment campaign after learning of Carleton’s unethical investments in the illegal military occupation of Palestine.

SAIA-Carleton prepared a detailed document titled, “Carleton University Pension Fund: Complicity in Violations of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.” The three main demands addressed in this campaign are: that Carleton University Board of Governors, via the Pension Fund Committee, immediately divest of its stock in the five companies; that Carleton University refrain from investing in other companies involved in violations of international law in the future (such as mining companies, weapons manufactures and tobacco companies); and that Carleton work with the entire university community to develop, adopt and implement a broader policy of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI), through a transparent process.

How does Carleton University's involvement with these specific companies constitute complicity in the ongoing occupation of Palestine?

Each of these five companies is actively involved in significant violations of international humanitarian law, including grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention amounting to war crimes. The five companies contribute extensively to these violations in numerous ways, including: manufacturing weapons or weapons components that are used to kill and maim Palestinian civilians; providing surveillance equipment and electronics that serve to support the illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine; economically developing the illegal settlements in the West Bank, thereby entrenching the occupation of Palestinian land; by perpetrating the illegal siege on Gaza; and Israel’s discriminatory practices and policies against the Palestinians, both in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and within Israel.

These companies benefit by contributing to the ongoing occupation of Palestinian lands and repression of the Palestinian people. By investing in these firms, not only does Carleton University violate its own ethical principles (as an academic institution), but it also becomes complicit in breaches of international law and violations of human rights. All peoples and organizations, including Carleton University, are bound by the principles of international law. In reference to the Nuremberg Principles, the 2004 Opinion of the International Court of Justice, Articles 49 and 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the UN Security Council Resolutions 446, 452, 465, and 471, Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the Goldstone Report, and Canadian Domestic Law, it is incumbent upon Carleton University to end its investment in such companies, and any other company that supports the illegal occupation of Palestinian land.

How does SAIA-Carleton's divestment campaign contribute to the BDS movement, both in the global and Canadian context?

If our divestment campaign succeeds, there will be a major snowball effect that will motivate more Canadian and international campuses to start researching and hopefully adopting similar divestment campaigns. We know there are a few American and Canadian campuses that have already begun their research.

How do you see this divestment campaign as similar to earlier anti-apartheid divestment campaigns targeting Apartheid South Africa?

It is very similar. Divestment campaigns targeting Apartheid South Africa back in the 1980s based their activism upon anti-racist and anti-oppressive principles, precisely what SAIA-Carleton’s mandate calls for. SAIA-Carleton’s current divestment campaign is continuously referring to the successes of Carleton’s Anti-Apartheid Action Group. In March 1987, Carleton’s Board of Governors fully divested from South Africa after a two-year campaign by the Carleton Anti-Apartheid Action Group. Carleton and other campuses around the world were able to divest from Apartheid South Africa because of student activism, and we should be able to do it today in the face of Apartheid Israel. According to South African activists and figures like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, it took the South Africans 25 years to get the word across [in reference to the global South African BDS movement]. These figures observe that the Global BDS movement against Israeli Apartheid is moving along even quicker and more effectively facing successes and support from labour unions, churches, student unions, academics and human rights organizations.

What advice do you have for other campuses about launching divestment campaigns?

I call upon all students and activists to start launching similar divestment campaigns if they find their universities complicit in apartheid Israel. My advice to them is to use our research document, as well as that of Hampshire College, as reference documents, and to gain as much popular support as possible after they have completed the research. One thing SAIA-Carleton has learned from Hampshire’s experience is that for this divestment campaign to be successful we have to work on educating and gaining the support of the Carleton community. In the end, it will be the students, faculty, and staff who will have to pressure the university, not just the group who launches the campaign.

How does this divestment campaign fit into a broader socially responsible investment policy at Carleton University?

Currently, Carleton’s Pension Fund does not have a Socially or Ethically Responsible Investment policy in place, and has no mandate except increasing income. The fund’s portfolio includes many weapons manufacturers, oil and gas companies and casinos, which exploit Palestinian workers, brutally enforce the military occupation of Palestinian land, and are suspects in the commission of possible war crimes in Gaza. This leaves the university open to public censure for colluding in ethical and human rights violations. To adopt an SRI policy would put Carleton and its employees on the moral high ground, making it attractive to investors, students, and faculty. Other universities and educational pension funds have adopted SRI policies, including Yale, Queens, McGill, UBC, and Hampshire College.

Where is the campaign now and what can we expect to see next from SAIA-Carleton?

SAIA-Carleton is working on making the research document public. We are conducting educational workshops and presentations to the Carleton community (student unions, clubs and groups, faculty, and classroom presentations) to gain the support of the community on this campaign. So far, students, faculty and staff who learned about Carleton’s unethical investment in weapon companies and companies that violate international law and the rights of the Palestinians, have been appalled, shocked, and ready to support us. We are expecting a positive response from everyone in the Carleton community because there is no justification for support of weapon and war investments. Weapon companies that manufacture Hellfire missiles and Apache Helicopters that kill Palestinian children and students should have no place at our university. After we gain public support, SAIA-Carleton, along with the larger community, will take the campaign to the Board of Governors and the Pension Fund to demand official and immediate divestment.

A complete schedule of Israeli Apartheid Week with speaker biographies is available on the website.

Yafa Jarrar is a Palestinian activist who was born in Jerusalem. She moved to Canada in 2003 to attend Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific. She is currently completing her MA in Political Science at Carleton University and a member of SAIA-Carleton.

Ali Mustafa is a freelance journalist, writer, and media activist. He resides in Toronto.

BDS poster

February In Review, Part II

Cameron Fenton — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:46:49 +0000

Great Lakes protected, Afghanistan bombarded, Africville controversially compensated

An unpublished United Nations report blamed the world's 3,000 largest corporations for $2.2 trillion in environmental destruction, totaling one third of their collective profits.

A report filed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission alleges upwards of 217 workers may have been in contact with dangerous levels of radiation while working on refurbishing a reactor at the Bruce nuclear power facility on Lake Huron last November. Workers were exposed to highly dangerous and carcinogenic alpha radiation in excess of government mandated safety levels and 12 to 25 times that experienced by Canadians outside of the nuclear industry—the equivalent of receiving ten x-ray scans.

Israel's Reut Institute defined the international social justice movement as an "existential threat" to the country and called for a government plan to "attack" and "sabotage" solidarity groups working around the globe, including in Canada.

On February 18, a group of Nigerian military commanders calling themselves the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy seized control of the nation from President Mamadou Tandja. Coup leader Colonel Adamou Harouna has called the action a "patriotic act" to restore democratic processes following Tandja's move to extend his presidential term through an allegedly fraudulent referendum.

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach unveiled a plan for Alberta to incorporate the tar sands and carbon capture technology into its K-12 provincial education program through "a flow of age-suitable information about the energy industry, its importance and its future". Environmental groups are concerned that this "energy literacy initiative" will be provincial propaganda targeting young people. This plan comes at the same time as budget cutbacks targeting air and water monitoring in the province.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty called on the federal government to match funding for renewable energy development with the amount for carbon capture, despite the technology remaining unproven.

Members of the indigenous Jummas nation in Bangladesh were attacked by government security forces supporting Bengali settlement expansion onto traditional Jumma territories. Local reports state soldiers opened fire on civilians, killing at least six, and aided settlers in burning five villages.

Amidst of the so-called Olympic truce, NATO launched a US-led offensive in the town of Marjah, Helmund province, in southern Afghanistan. Operation Mushtarak caused a massive population displacement of Afghans and involved over 15,000 US, Afghan and NATO troops. The operation has killed at least 15 civilians, including 12 as a result of a targeted attack by the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, an advanced surface to surface missile system. A separate air-strike on a three-vehicle convoy on its way to Khandahar killed 27 civilians. In a public statement NATO defended the attack, saying they believed the convoy to be transporting Taliban insurgents.

Doctors in interior BC have voiced their opposition to the development of a gasification plant in Kamloops. The plant would use old creosote-soaked railway ties to create a synthetic gas—comparable to propane or natural gas—for electricity production. Health professionals and environmental groups state the process will release dangerous pollution into the air-shed of the Thompson Valley, potentially harmful to human and ecological health.

Thousands across the Ivory Coast have taken to the streets since President Laurent Gbagbo dissolved the government and the electoral commission on February 12, further delaying a national election that has been avoided for the past five years. Five demonstrators were killed on February 19, when police opened fire on a crowd in Gagnoa, around 200 kilometers northwest of the economic capital, Abidjan.

The Okanagan Indian Band began a protective blockade at Bouleau Lake, near Vernon, BC, on February 22. The blockade has been organized to prevent logging in the regional watershed—which provides fresh water to 1,800 residents—by Tolko Industries Ltd.

Canadian-based uranium extraction company Denison Mines has begun mining uranium on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, despite a US government moratorium on new uranium mines and legal challenges from the Havasupai and Hualapai Nations, who maintain ancestral claim to the Grand Canyon. This move comes shortly after the Obama administration announced nearly $8 billion in loans for new nuclear power plants as part of the US plan to combat climate change.

Four key witnesses in the case of Palestinian solidarity activist Rachel Corrie's death are to be allowed to testify at a hearing in Haifa, northern Israel, next month. In 2003 Corrie was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer; her family filed a civil case against the Israeli defense ministry after the driver of the bulldozer was acquitted for allegedly not seeing Rachel Corrie.

Halifax mayor Peter Kelly delivered an official apology to former residents and descendants of Halifax's Africville, a predominantly black community bulldozed in the 1960's to erect the MacKay Bridge. The $3 million dollar compensation package offered by the city is being disputed by a group who says the decision to accept the package was undemocratic and illegal.

Hypothermia, due to an unusually wet winter, caused a higher number of deaths among immigrants attempting to cross the Arizona-Mexico border. Increased sercurity along the border is also pegged as a contributing factor, forcing longer travel distances over more difficult terrain for those attempting the trek.

The death of Boa Sr marks the extinction of the Bo language. Boa Sr was the last speaker of Bo, the language of the Bo tribe who have lived on India's Andaman Islands for as many as 65,000 years. The Great Andamanese, a combination of the tribes of the Andaman Islands, now has only 52 members, down from 5,000 when the British colonised the Andaman Islands in 1858.

The US Environmental Protection Agency announced it will spend $2.2 billion over the next five years to help restore the Great Lakes. The funds will be used to prevent pollution, clean up toxic hot spots, and fight invasive species. $475 million have been approved to date for the cleanup, and more will be sought in the coming years.

South African climate justice groups launched a global campaign to block the World Bank from loaning $3.75 billion to Eskom, most of which would finance the Medupi coal-fired power station. Campaign organizers vowed to lobby countries to vote against the loan, and threatened to revive the the World Bank "bond boycott" as a tool to stop the loan. Opposition is primarily based on concerns Eskoms activities will cause SA's climate debt to grow and negatively impact communities near coal mines.

A report from the ombudsman of Quebec has criticized the process for reviewing police misconduct, which currently calls on other provincial police forces to carry out the investigation. It called for the establishment of a civilian review panel to investigate cases in which civilians are harmed or killed by police actions. The report was, in part, a response to the clearing of two Montreal police officers responsible for the shooting death of 18-year-old Fredy Villeneuva last summer.

A proposed highway development in Saskatchewan is facing opposition from wildlife advocates who claim the Humbolt highway bypass will be "effectively opening up a killing zone" by cutting too close to a wildlife refuge established for the protection of local grassland plants and animals.

CSIS has been implicated in the detention and torture of Ahmad El Maati, one of three Canadians detained and tortured in Egypt and Syria. An investigation has found that correspondence between CSIS and Egyptian intelligence officials may have contributed to his being abused.

Troops in Marjah

Cannon and Clinton

Identifying Apartheid

Moira Peters — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:09:17 +0000

Canadian students respond to Israel's rights abuses

TORONTO—In the first week of March, Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) will take place in 13 cities across Canada and more than 40 cities internationally.

“When we first organized Israeli Apartheid Week in 2005, I don't think we comprehended this kind of growth,” says longtime Palestine solidarity activist Rafeef Ziadah.

IAW began as a project initiated by the Arab Students Collective at the University of Toronto in 2005. The IAW annual lecture series provides a space for discussion and education surrounding Israeli apartheid policies and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. In its sixth year, IAW has become an international movement, facing opposition as it gains momentum. Discussion themes this year include: BDS successes; “fighting racism, fighting apartheid;” the structural planning—environmental and architectureal—of apartheid; queer and feminist solidarity activism in the anti-apartheid movement; and national liberation movements, with particular focus on North America’s First Nations, Palestine and Venezuela.

In “Eroding Israel’s Legitimacy in the International Arena,” the Reut Institute describes the BDS campaign and IAW on campuses.

“The risk posed is that such campaigns will create an equivalency between Israel and Apartheid-era South Africa that penetrates the mainstream of public and political consciousness.” Apartheid Week organizers and BDS activists in Canada not only stress the similarities of these two systems, but also emphasize the importance of linking apartheid to other forms of systematic discrimination, such as the Canadian state's treatment of Indigenous communities.

Palestinian civil society issued a call for a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel, endorsed by over 170 Palestinian parties, organizations and trade unions representing Palestinians in Israel, the Occupied Territories and the global diaspora. Through the application of economic, political and diplomatic pressure on Israel, the BDS movement seeks Israel's compliance with international law and its recognition of the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination, and demands an end to Israeli occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and the dismantling of the Wall, the recognition of the fundamental rights of Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality, and the protection and promotion of the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands.

Last year, Liberal party leader Michael Ignatieff delivered a statement accusing Israeli Apartheid Week of going “beyond reasonable criticism into demonization.” The Canadian Parliamentary Coalition Combating Anti-Semitism (CPCCA) has also gone as far as accusing IAW of anti-Semitism. However, in his statement at the coalition’s fourth hearing, Assistant Vice President of Strategic Communications at the University of Toronto Robert Steiner asserted that “there is no evidence of generalized anti-Semitism on our U of T campuses, there is no evidence of Jewish students being systemically harassed and intimidated on our campuses.”

The opposition faced by the BDS movement, whether in the form of verbal harassment at events or bureaucratic hold-ups, is considered a byproduct of the growing international success of the campaign. In 2006, delegates at the CUPE Ontario convention voted almost unanimously on a resolution to support the international campaign against Israel until the right to Palestinian self-determination is recognized.

This support was further solidified in 2009 as the university sector of CUPE passed a motion in support of academic boycott. Over 80 professors and employees at colleges and universities in Quebec have signed a petition calling for a comprehensive campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions, including a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. Most recently, Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) launched a divestment campaign at Carleton University following the lead of students at Hampshire College in the US, whose work led to the Board of Trustees divesting from six Israeli companies directly involved in human rights violations on February 7, 2009. SAIA's report exposes Carleton University's Pension Fund investments in five companies linked to Israeli's military. Inspired by this example, SAIA groups on Toronto campuses have initiated research with the aim of formulating a divestment plan for York University and the University of Toronto.

IAW organizers say it’s no surprise the movement started in Canada, pointing to Ottawa's blatant support for Israel's apartheid system. On January 12, 2009, at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Canada was the sole nation to vote against demanding “urgent international action” to halt Israel's “massive violations” of human rights in Gaza. A recent report by Ottawa's Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) exposes Canadian complicity in equipping American warplanes and attack helicopters used by Israel.

Beyond its allegations of demonization and hatred, the Reut Institute document presented at the 10th Herzliya Conference also admits the growing success of the BDS movement. “Given Israel's dependence on vigorous trade, as well as scientific, academic, and technological engagement with other countries, this movement towards isolating the country may pose a strategic threat.”

Organizers hope this threat will pressure Israel into ending its apartheid policies and practices, as it did in South Africa 16 years ago.

A complete schedule of Israeli Apartheid Week with speaker biographies is available on the website.

Lama Shoufani is an undergraduate student in the Anthropology and Life Sciences departments at the University of Toronto. She is also a volunteer with the Ontario Public Interest Research Group.

Rafah Wall

Prisoners

'In words and song, we commit to fighting apartheid'

Tim McSorley — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:35:57 +0000

Five hundred Montreal artists announce support for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israeli state

The following is a call from Montreal artists to support the international campaign for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israeli apartheid:

Today, a broad spectrum of Montreal artists are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and supporting the growing international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against the Israeli state. Last winter, the Israeli state launched a violent military assault on the Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip, leaving over 1,400 Palestinians dead, including over 300 children. Despite the official end of military operations, the blockade continues to this day, with devastating consequences for Gaza’s residents.

Over 60 years from the beginning of the ongoing Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) in 1948, in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from historic Palestine through Israel's creation, Montreal artists are united in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice.

Montreal artists are now joining this international campaign to concretely protest the Israeli state’s ongoing denial of the inalienable rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties, as stipulated in and protected by international law, as well as Israel's ongoing occupation and colonization of the West Bank (including Jerusalem) and Gaza, which also constitutes a violation of international law and multiple United Nations resolutions.

Palestinian citizens face an entrenched system of racial discrimination and segregation, resembling the defeated apartheid system in South Africa. A matrix of Israeli-only roads, electrified fences, and over 500 military checkpoints and roadblocks erase freedom of movement for Palestinians. Israel’s apartheid wall, which was condemned by the International Court of Justice in 2004, cuts through Palestinian lands, further annexing Palestinian territory and surrounding Palestinian communities with electrified barbed wire fences and a concrete barrier soaring eight meters high.

Gaza remains under siege. Israel continues to impose collective punishment on the 1.5 million Palestinians of Gaza, who still face chronic shortages of electricity, fuel, food and basic necessities as the campaign of military violence executed by the apartheid state of Israel endures. UN officials recently observed that the "situation has deteriorated into a full-fledged emergency because of the cut-off of vital supplies for Palestinians." As a result of Israeli actions, Gaza has become a giant prison.

The global movement against Israeli apartheid, supported by a large majority of Palestinian civil society, is not targeted at individual Israelis but at Israeli institutions that are complicit in maintaining the multi-tiered Israeli system of oppression against the Palestinian people.

In fact, the Palestinian civil society BDS call, launched by over 170 Palestinian organisations in 2005, explicitly appeals to conscientious Israelis, urging them to support international efforts to bring about Israel's compliance with international law and fundamental human rights, essential elements for a justice-based peace in the region. The present appeal is also rooted in an active engagement with many progressive Israeli artists and activists who are working on a daily basis for peace and justice while supporting the growing global movement in opposition to Israeli apartheid.

During the first and second intifadas, Israel invaded, ransacked, and even closed down cinemas, theatres and cultural centers in the occupied territories. These deliberate attempts to stifle the Palestinian cultural voice have failed and will continue to fail. Around the world, the call for BDS is growing and is strongly rooted in the historic international solidarity movement against apartheid in South Africa.

In keeping with Nelson Mandela’s declaration that "our freedom [in South Africa] is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians," we believe that international solidarity is critical to liberating Palestinians from Israeli colonialism and apartheid. This struggle will continue until all Palestinians are granted their basic human rights, including the right of return for all Palestinian refugees living in the Diaspora.

Today, a diverse array of artists in Montreal, from filmmakers, musicians and dancers to poets, authors and painters, are joining the international movement against Israeli apartheid. On the streets, in concert halls, in words and in song, we commit to fighting against apartheid and call upon all artists and cultural producers across the country and around the world to adopt a similar position in this global struggle.

To add your support to this letter or to present questions or suggestions please write to info@tadamon.ca

1: Aidan Girt, musician, 1-Speed Bike
2: Alexander Moskos, musician, AIDS Wolf
3: Chole Lum, musician, AIDS Wolf
4: Yannick Desranleau, musician, AIDS Wolf
5: Esmeralda Súmar Jara, Amérythmes
6: Karen Lliana Lemus, Amérythmes
7: Ronald Lemus, Amérythmes
8: José Sermeno Rosales, Amérythmes
9: Daviyd Yisrael, Amérythmes
10: Pierre Allard, Action Terroriste Socialement Acceptable, ATSA
11: Annie Roy, Action Terroriste Socialement Acceptable, ATSA
12: Hamid Nach, musician, Bambara Trans
13: Kattam Laraki-Côté, percussionist, Bambara Trans
14: Iqi Balam, singer, Banda de Gaza
15: Owain Lawson, musician, Black Feelings
16: Brian Mitchell, musician, Black Feelings
17: Kyle Fostner, musician, Black Feelings
18: James Di Salvio, Bran Van 3000
19: Bronwen Agnew, Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble
20: Maire White, Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble
21: Skyla Mody, Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble
22: Annabelle Rivard, Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble
23: Veronica Post, Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble
24: Sonja Engmann, Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble
25: Cathy Inouye, Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble
26: Anne Gorry, Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble
27: Andrea Miller-Nesbitt, Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble
28: Joseph Boulos, Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble
29: Matt Corks, Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble
30: Florence Richer, Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble
31: Maggie Schreiner, Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble
32: Jon Boles, musician, Clues
33: Ben Borden, musician, Clues
34: Brendan Reed, musician, Clues
35: Don Wilkie, co-founder, Constellation Records
36: Ian Ilavsky, co-founder, Constellation Records
37: Tyler Megarry, DJ Backdoor
38: Robyn Maynard, DJ Dirtyboots
39: Kevin Moon, DJ Moonstarr
40: Vladimir López, DJ Palosanto
41: Scott Clyke, DJ Scott C
42: Mike Lai, DJ Static
43: Mado Lamotte, Drag Queen Diva
44: Nader Hasan, musician, Echoes Still Singing Limbs
45: Nick Kuepfer, musician, Echoes Still Singing Limbs
46: Aidan Jeffery, musician, Echoes Still Singing Limbs
47: Amine Benbachir, Elby & Woods
48: Jordan McKenzie, musician, Elfin Saddle
49: Emi Honda, musician, Elfin Saddle
50: Deeqa Ibrahim, singer, Empress Deeqa
51: Normand Raymond, musician, Ensemble Acalanto
52: Carmen Pavez, musician, Ensemble Acalanto
53: Rafael Azocar, musician/composer, Ensemble Acalanto
54: Rebecca Foon, musician, Esmerine
55: Jean-Sébastien Truchy, musician, Fly Pan Am
56: Lisa Gamble, Gambletron
57: Emilie Mouchous, electronic musician, Gamackrr
58: Sub Roy, musician, Grand Trine
59: Zayid Al-Baghdadi, musician, Hazaj Ensemble
60: Fadi Halawi, musician, Hazaj Ensemble
61: Michael Farsky, musician, Homosexual Cops
62: Joel Janis, singer, Jahnice +
63: Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, artist, Jerusalem in My Heart
64: Lubo Alexandrov, musician, Kaba Horo
65: Erik Hove, saxophonist, Kaba Horo
66: Zibz Black Current, poet, Kalmunity Vibe Collective
67: Matin Heslop, contrabass, Kalmunity Vibe Collective
68: Ron G. vocalist, Kalmunity Vibe Collective
69: Katalyst, poet, Kalmunity Vibe Collective
70: Adam Kinner, saxophonist, Kalmunity Vibe Collective
71: Mohamed Mehdi, guitar/voice, Kalmunity Vibe Collective
72: Jordan Peters, guitar, Kalmunity Vibe Collective
73: Fabrice Koffy, poet, Kalmunity Vibe Collective
74: Gordon Allen, musician, L’Envers
75: Simon Leduc, musician, Le Descente du Coude
76: Fanny Bloom, La Patère Rose
77: Kilojoules, La Patère Rose
78: Roboto, La Patère Rose
79: Simon D., Léopard et Moi
80: Lynne T., Lesbians on Ecstasy
81: Bernie Bankrupt, Lesbians on Ecstasy
82: Mathieu Farhoud-Dionne, rapper, Chafiik, Loco Locass
83: Geneviève Beaulieu, musician, Menace Ruine
84: Steve Lamothe, musician, Menace Ruine
85: Fred Savard, musician, Metis Yeti
86: Matthew Jacob Lederman, musician, Moondata LABprojects
87: Nantali Indongo, Nomadic Massive
88: Modibo Keita, Nomadic Massive
89: Diegal Leger, Nomadic Massive
90: Nicolás Palacios-Hardy, Nomadic Massive
91: Lou Piensa, Nomadic Massive
92: Ralph Joseph, Nomadic Massive
93: Meryem Saci, Nomadic Massive
94: Vox Sambou, Nomadic Massive
95: Jason Selman, Nomadic Massive / Kalmunity Vibe Collective
96: Sébastien Fournier, musician, Panopticon Eyelids
97: Félix Morel, musician, Panopticon Eyelids
98: Nicolas Basque, guitar/voice, Plants and Animals
99: Matthew Woodley, percussionist, Plants and Animals
100: David Bryant, musician, Set Fire to Flames
101: Thierry Amar, musician, Silver Mt. Zion
102: Sophie Trudeau, musician, Silver Mt. Zion
103: Mohamed Masmoudi, musician, Sokoun Trio
104: Greg Napier, musician, Special Noise
105: Jeff Simmons, musician, Special Noise
106: Edward Lee, artist, St. Emilie SkillShare
107: Reyrey Castonguay, artist, St. Emilie SkillShare
108: Machaulay Culkin, artist, St. Emilie SkillShare
109: Amanda Oliver, artist, St. Emilie SkillShare
110: Rochelle Ross, artist, St. Emilie SkillShare
111: Tasha Zamudio, artist, St. Emilie SkillShare
112: Kerri Flannigan, artist, St. Emilie SkillShare
113: Jessie Stein, singer/guitar, The Luyas
114: Yassin Alsalman, musician, the Narcicyst
115: Gern F., singer/guitar, The United Steel Workers of Montreal
116: Martin Cesar, musician, Think About Life
117: Greg Napier, musician, Think About Life
118: Caila Thompson-Hannant, musician, Think About Life
119: Graham Van Pelt, musician, Think About Life
120: Andrea deBruijn, poet, Throw Poetry Collective
121: Alessandra Naccarato, poet, Throw Poetry Collective
122: Merrill Garbus, musician, Tune-Yards
123: Sundus Abdul Hadi, visual artist
124: Jean-Marc Abela, filmmaker
125: Faiz Abhuani, Artivistic collective
126: Paul Ahmarani, actor
127: Mitchell Akiyama, electronic musician, intr. version recordings
128: Patrick Alonso, photographer
129: Hala Alsalman, filmmaker
130: Tito Alvarado, poet, Proyecto Cultural Sur
131: David Arancibia, pianist
132: Sabrien Amrov, photographer
133: Fortner Anderson, poet
134: Tasha Anestopoulos, DJ
135: Daniel Anez, pianist
136: David Arancibia, pianist
137: Amelie Ares, artist
138: Shahrzad Arshadi, artist/photographer
139: Nedaa Asbah, musician
140: Natali Asbah, violinist
141: Maroupi Asbah, violinist
142: Jon Asencio, musician/performance artist
143: Martine Audet, poet
144: Mila Aung-Thwin, Eye Steel Film
145: François Avard, author
146: Shira Avni, filmmaker
147: Magali Babin, electronic music composer
148: Gina Badger, visual artist
149: Rebecca Bain, musician
150: Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, filmmaker
151: Kate Bass, visual artist
152: Philippe Battikha, musician
153: Mireya Bayancela, comedian
154: Jonathan Belisle, Transmedia StoryTeller
155: Nabila Ben Youssef, comedian
156: Kamal Benkirane, writer/editor
157: Serge Bérard, writer
158: Patricia Bergeron, film producer
159: David Bernans, author
160: Isabelle Bernier, artist
161: Josué Bertolino, documentary filmmaker
162: Santiago Bertolino, documentary filmmaker
163: Mark Berube, singer, The Patriotic Few
164: Kawtare Bihya, artist
165: Eli Bissonnette, founder Dare to Care Records
166: Pierre-Guy Blanchard, percussionist
167: Julien Boisvert, filmmaker
168: Michel Bonneau, musician
169: Rana Bose, writer
170: Marie Boti, director, Productions Multi-Monde
171: Magda Boukanan, pianist
172: Bachir Boumediene, Eye Steel Film
173: Arnaud Bouquet, documentary filmmaker
174: Marie Brassard, actress/theatre performer
175: Derek Broad, designer
176: Richard Brouillette, filmmaker
177: Marion Brunelle, jazz singer
178: Alexia Bürger, comedian
179: Chris Burns, musician
180: Louise Burns, artist
181: Peter Burton, musician, executive director of Suoni per il Popolo festival
182: Antoine Bustros, pianist/composer
183: César Càceres, visual artist
184: Philippe Cadieux, visual artist
185: Michel Campeau, photographer
186: Olivier Campo, Bar Populaire
187: Daniel Canty, writer/filmmaker
188: Paul Cargnello, singer/songwriter
189: Boban Chaldovich, filmmaker
190: Vincent Champagne, filmmaker
191: Mazen Chamseddine, graphic artist/architect
192: Yung Chang, filmmaker, Up the Yangtze
193: Sarah Charland-Faucher, filmmaker
194: Elsa Charpentier, artist
195: Julie Châteauvert, Dare-Dare art gallery
196: Ghada Chehade, poet
197: Geneviève Chicoine, artist
198: Shayla Chilliak, musician
199: Jordan Christoff, musician
200: Stefan Christoff, pianist/photographer
201: Jacob Cino, music producer/DJ
202: Moe Clark, poet
203: Andrea-Jane Cornell, sound artist
204: Michel F Côté, musician
205: Marie-Hélène Cousineau, filmmaker
206: Mateo Creux, pianist
207: Jean Michel Cropsal, painter
208: Daniel Cross, filmmaker, founder of Eye Steel Film
209: Vincenzo D’Alto, photographer
210: Amy Darwish, artist/dancer
211: Noémie da Silva, photographer
212: Marie Davidson, singer, Les momies de Palerme
213: Mary Ellen Davis, documentary filmmaker
214: Luke Dawson, artist
215: Susanne de Lotbinière-Harwood, literary translator
216: Étienne de Massy, artist
217: Sylvie de Morais, comedian
218: Lhasa de Sela, singer
219: Julie Delorme, DJ/CKUT host
220: Sophie Deraspe, filmmaker, Les Signes Vitaux
221: Jean Derome, jazz musician
222: Nathalie Derome, interdisciplinary artist
223: Marcelle Deschênes, composer/multimedia artist
224: Robert Deschênes, artist
225: Richard Desjardins, artist
226: Denys Desjardins, filmmaker
227: Keiko Devaux, pianist, the Acorn/People for Audio
228: Omar Dewachi, musician
229: Benoît Dhennin, photographer
230: Nathalie Dion, artist, Zazalie Z
231: Xarah Dion, musician, Ample collective
232: Dominique Lebeau, Domlebo, musician
233: Kim Doré, poet/editor
234: Julie Doucet, comic artist
235: Robyn Dru Germanese, artist
236: Frédéric Dubois, cultural worker
237: Bruno Dubuc, filmmaker
238: Martin Duckworth, documentary filmmaker
239: Philippe Ducros, theatre director, Hotel Motel
240: Katie Earle, artist
241: Marlene Edoyan, filmmaker, Multi-Monde Productions
242: Will Eizlini, musician
243: Hassan El Hadi, musician/singer
244: Majdi El Omari, filmmaker
245: Darren Ell, photographer
246: Nirah Elyza Shirazipour, filmmaker, Eyes Infinite Films
247: Yves Engler, author
248: Bérenger Enselme, Bar Populaire
249: Claudia Espinosa, photographer
250: Tony Ezzy, musician
251: Julie Faubert, visual artist
252: David Fennario, playwright
253: Javier Fernàndez-Rial, pianist
254: Carlos Ferrand, filmmaker
255: Ian Ferrier, poet
256: Riley Fleck, percussionist
257: Arwen Fleming, musician
258: Lindsay Foran, visual artist
259: Andrew Forster, artist
260: Tammy Forsythe, choreographer
261: James Franze, musician
262: Kandis Friesen, visual artist
263: Fanny-Pierre Galarneau, graffiti artist, Aïshaaglyphics
264: Carmen Garcia, film producer
265: Francisco Garcia, artist
266: Brett Gaylor, filmmaker, RIP! A Remix Manifesto
267: Chloé Germain-Thérien, filmmaker/illustrator
268: Christine Ghawi, musician/actress/winner of Gemini Award
269: Olivier Gianolla, painter
270: Peter Gibson, visual artist, Roadsworth
271: Serge Giguère, filmmaker
272: Yan Giguère, artist
273: Dan Gillean, visual artist, Fiver
274: Jason Gillingham, artist
275: Miriam Ginestier, DJ/artistic director of Studio 303
276: Michel Giroux, filmmaker
277: Ernest Godin, producer/filmmaker, Kondololé films
278: Anne Golden, video artist
279: Malcolm Goldstein, violinist/composer
280: Amber Goodwyn, singer, Nightwood
281: Ashley Gould, DJ
282: Janna Graham, sound artist
283: Étienne Grenier, sound artist
284: Neil Griffith, musician
285: Steve Guimond, artistic director of festival Suoni per il Popolo
286: Alexandra Guité, filmmaker
287: Freda Guttman, artist
288: Malcolm Guy, documentary filmmaker, Productions Multi-Monde
289: Tamara Abdul Hadi, photographer
290: Rawi Hage, author
291: Linda Dawn Hammond, photographer
292: Katy Hanna, artist
293: Shannon Harris, documentary filmmaker
294: Tim Hecker, electronic musician
295: Dorothy Henault, documentary filmmaker
296: Anne Henderson, documentary filmmaker
297: Hanako Hoshimi-Caines, contemporary dancer
298: Magnus Isacsson, documentary filmmaker
299: Yuki Isami, musician
300: Naledi Jackson, visual artist
301: Yohan Jager, pianist
302: Stéphane Jaques, theatre director
303: Jocelyn Jean, artist
304: Rodrigue Jean, artist
305: Sandra Jeppesen, poet/professor
306: David Jhave Johnston, poet
307: Sophie Jodoin, visual artist
308: Norsola Johnson, musician
309: Nicole Jolicoeur, artist
310: Sawssan Kaddoura, visual artist
311: Stephan Kazemi, designer
312: Kaie Kellough, poet
313: Arshad Khan, documentary filmmaker
314: Nika Khanjani, filmmaker
315: Maya Khankhoje, writer
316: Valerie Khayat, poet/singer
317: Catherine Kidd, poet
318: Sergeo Kirby, cinema producer, Loaded Pictures
319: Courtney Kirkby, sound artist
320: Aysegul Koc, filmmaker
321: Nick Kuepfer, musician
322: Devlin Kuyek, author
323: Sylvain L’Espérance, cinéaste
324: Danièle Lacourse, cinéaste
325: Stéphane Lahoud, cinéaste
326: Jean-Sébastien Lalumière, cinéaste
327: Ève Lamont, documentary filmmaker
328: Noam Lapid, visual artist
329: Chantale Laplante, composer
330: Rodolphe-Yves Lapointe, artist
331: Monique Laramée, multidisciplinary artist
332: Graham Latham, musician
333: Hugo Latulippe, cinéaste
334: Brian Allen Lipson, musician
335: Klervi Thienpont Lavallée, actress
336: Franck Le Flaguais, artist
337: Sophie Le-Phat Ho, Artivistic collective
338: François Leandre, visual artist
339: Michel Lefebvre, artist/multimedia editor
340: Vincent Lemieux, artist/DJ
341: Jean-François Lessard, writer/composer
342: Anna Leventhal, writer
343: JJ Levine, photographer
344: Mika Lillit Lior, choreographer/dancer
345: Sarah Linhares, singer
346: Paul Litherland, artist
347: Amy Lockhart, filmmaker/artist
348: Guillermo Lopez, cinema editor
349: Jacinthe Loranger, visual artist
350: Ehab Lotayef, poet
351: Lousnak, singer/multidisciplinary artist
352: Caytee Lush, poet
353: Kit Malo, artist
354: Khalid M’Seffar, radio host/DJ
355: Jessica MacCormack, multidisciplinary artist
356: Emmanuel Madan, sound artist
357: Rob Maguire, editor ArtThreat.net
358: Claude Maheu, musician
359: Hernán Maria, musician
360: Omar Majeed, filmmaker, Taqwacore – the Birth of Punk Islam
361: Iphigénie Marcoux-Fortier, filmmaker, Multi-Monde productions
362: Natalie Marshik, artist
363: Billy Mavreas, visual artist
364: Valerian Mazataud, photographer
365: Kirsten McCrea, artist, Papirmasse
366: Taliesin McEnaney, theatre artist
367: Catherine McInnis, artist
368: Meek, electronic musician
369: Feroz Mehdi, filmmaker/activist
370: Elany Mejia, musician
371: Amy Miller, documentary filmmaker
372: Jeff Miller, writer
373: Claude Mongrain, sculptor
374: Émilie Monnet, singer, Odaya
375: Evan Montpellier, musician
376: Vincent Moon, filmmaker
377: Allison Moore, artist
378: Katie Moore, singer/songwriter
379: Jean-Guy Moreau, artist/comedian
380: Dominic Morissette, filmmaker/photographer
381: Nadia Moss, visual artist/musician
382: Krista Muir, musician, Lederhosen Lucil
383: Mehdi Nabti, musician
384: Tyler Nadeau, photographer
385: Dimitri Nasrallah, author
386: Rawane Nassif, filmmaker
387: Pamela Navarrete, artist
388: Norman Nawrocki, musician/author
389: Joshua Noiseux, photographer
390: Kelly Nunes, DJ
391: Alexis O’Hara, multidisciplinary artist
392: Sean O’Hara, founder Alien 8 Recordings
393: Sarah Pagé, musician
394: Cléo Palacio-Quintin, musician/composer
395: Catherine Pappas, documentary filmmaker
396: Marie-Hélène Parant, artist
397: Richard Reed Parry, musician, Bell Orchestre
398: Alain Pelletier, multidisciplinary artist
399: Yann Perreau, singer/songwriter
400: Sara Peters, poet
401: Pierre Petiote, artist
402: Mauro Pezzente, musician, founder Casa del Popolo
403: Alisha Piercy, artist/writer
404: Pierre-Emmanuel Poizat, musician
405: Carole Poliquin, filmmaker
406: Janet Ponce, singer/author/composer
407: Jeannette Pope, filmmaker
408: Rozenn Potin, filmmaker
409: Levana Prud’homme, dancer
410: Jean-François Poupart, writer/professor
411: Thea Pratt, artist
412: Alain G. Pratte, photographer
413: Kern Prophete, hip-hop artist
414: Jesse Purcell, artist, Just Seeds
415: Nelly-Eve Rajotte, artist
416: Anne Ramsden, artist
417: Nada Raphael, documentary photographer
418: Louis Rastelli, author
419: Antonella Ravello, photographer
420: Coire Ready Langham, circus artist
421: Fred Reed, writer
422: Victor Regalado, artist
423: Monique Régimbald-Zieber, artist
424: Alain Reno, illustrator
425: Gisela Restrepo, artist
426: Gerard Reyes, dancer
427: Andrea Rideout, theatre artist
428: Coco Riot, artist
429: Matana Roberts, saxophonist
430: Antoine Rouleau, photographer
431: Guilaine Royer, cultural worker
432: Daïchi Saïto, filmmaker
433: Trish Salah, poet
434: Babak Salari, photographer
435: Samian, hip-hop artist
436: Miriam Sampaio, multidisciplinary artist
437: Marjolaine Samson, artist
438: Julian Samuel, artist/writer
439: Ariel Santana, artist
440: Claire Savoie, artist
441: Dorothy Saykaly, contemporary dancer
442: Patti Schmidt, radio host/cultural commentator
443: Anita Schoepp, artist/musician
444: Nadia Seboussi, artist
445: Fran Sendbuehler, graphic artist
446: Marcel Sévigny, author
447: Sam Shalabi, musician/composer
448: Nik Barry-Shaw, writer
449: Eric Shragge, author/professor
450: Bridget Simpson, musician
451: Michelle Smith, documentary filmmaker, Productions Multi-Monde
452: Prem Sooriyakumar, filmmaker
453: Jennifer Spiegel, writer
454: Laurel Sprengelmeyer, artist, Little Scream
455: Darlene St. Georges, art educator
456: Alexandre St-Onge, sound artist/musician
457: Allison Staton, photographer
458: Victoria Stanton, performance artist
459: Gab Perry Stensson, artist
460: Martha Stiegman, documentary filmmaker/author
461: Kiva Stimac, visual artist, founder Casa del Popolo
462: Brett Story, filmmaker
463: John W. Stuart, graphic designer/writer
464: Caroline Tagny, graphic artist
465: Roger Tellier-Craig, musician
466: Vincent Tinguely, poet/writer
467: Juan Toro, musician
468: Tanya Tree, documentary filmmaker
469: Benoît Tremblay, artist
470: Philippe Tremblay-Berberi, filmmaker
471: Gisèle Trudel, artist, Ælab
472: Svetla Turnin, executive director of Cinema Politica
473: André Turpin, cinéaste
474: Armand Vaillancourt, painter/sculptor
475: Rufo Valencia, writer/poet
476: Sylvie Van Brabant, filmmaker
477: Niek van de Steeg, artist
478: Francis Van Den Heuvel, filmmaker
479: Rahul Varma, theatre director, Teesri Duniya Theatre
480: Chris Vaughn, violinist, Free Benny Meanz
481: Adrian Vedady, jazz musician
482: Felipe Verdugo, pianist
483: Sebastián Verdugo, pianist
484: Stefan Verna, documentary filmmaker
485: Gilles Vigneault, artist
486: Sam Vipond, musician
487: Tamara Vukov, filmmaker/academic
488: Shannon Walsh, documentary filmmaker
489: Francesca Waltzing, artist
490: Erin Weisgerber, sound artist
491: David Widgington, journalist/filmmaker
492: Ezra Winton, founder Cinema Politica
493: Britt Wray, artist
494: Gary Worsley, founder Alien 8 Recordings
495: Dexter X, filmmaker/musician
496: Eileen Young, visual artist
497: Karen Young, singer/songwriter
498: Kevin Yuen Kit Lo, graphic designer
499: Michael Zaidan, filmmaker
500: Kim Zombik, singer

More information: http://tadamon.ca.

Lhasa de Sela

Floating above the wall

Police to Receive 'Olympic Legacies'

hillarybain — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 06:42:01 +0000

Vancouver, Richmond Police Departments to move into Games-related digs

VANCOUVER—As soon as the 2010 Olympic Games are over, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) will be moving into the facility now occupied by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (VANOC). The Richmond Police Department (RPD) will be taking over the headquarters of the Integrated Security Unit, a 2010 Olympics-specific police unit that comprises the RCMP, the VPD and RPD, and the Canadian Forces.

“This move has been long anticipated and we are very pleased that the timing was such that our new building will be a valuable and cost efficient legacy of the 2010 Winter Games,” said VPD Chief Constable Jim Chu in a January 18 press release.

The move to reward police with new office space doesn't surprise critics of the Games.

"It's very appropriate that the police would move into the VANOC headquarters, since [VANOC is] their little puppet master for the duration of this Olympic regime that they've imposed on the city," said Gord Hill, the editor of no2010.com and member of the Olympics Resistance Network.

"They also got other facilities...including the Force Options Training Centre near Clark Drive and First Avenue," said Hill. "So you see a real expansion of the police forces here in the city, as a result of the Olympic security budget they put in place." The Force Options Training Centre was scheduled for to be complete for the Olympics.

Chris Shaw from 2010 Watch told the Vancouver Media Co-op that rewarding police with new equipment and new offices paid for by taxpayers was typical of the Olympics.

"[International Olympic Committee President] Jaques Rogge was very clear about this, he said you get a 'Security Legacy' and he's exactly right," said Shaw. "Unfortunately most of us don't want that."

The federal government will contribute $5 million to upgrading police facilities, and the City of Vancouver will contribute $10 million, money that critics say could have been better spent.

That the 2010 Olympics would leave a positive legacy for Vancouverites, specifically for poor people in Vancouver, has long been forgotten.

In addition to the boost for local police, tangible Olympic legacies for Vancouver will go to real estate developers like Bob Rennie, who developed and is marketing the 2010 Athletes' Village through his company Rennie Marketing Systems, and to the corporations that got in on the flurry of Olympic spending while the getting was good.

Dawn Paley is a journalist based in Vancouver.

For up-to-the-minute Olympics resistance coverage, check out the Vancouver Media Co-op, and the 2010 Convergence website. Follow the VMC on twitter!

VANOC's HQ

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