The St. John's chapter took part in a rally and march through downtown St. John's, protesting the austerity budget. It will disproportionately affect working class and vulnerable people. It introduced a number of taxes and fees, including a 'deficit levy' that burdens lower-income earners by percentage of taxable income more than any other. Someone earning over $200,000 a year is capped at $900 but someone earning $25,000 has to pay $300. Check out some of the other devastating cuts to programs and services ("expenditure reductions" is the euphemism..."). Here's the coverage from the Independent. For more background on what's happening, visit the NL Independent:
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The St. John's chapter of the Council of Canadians joined with other grassroots groups like the Social Justice Coop NL, Sierra Club NL, Cinema Politica, and Avaaz Canada to take part in the global climate march. Marches in communities around the globe started yesterday and will continue for the next few days in the build-up to COP21
"The video - narrated from the perspective of business supporter of free trade agreements - highlights that trade and investment agreements increase corporate power, erode state sovereignty, weaken democratic authority and are central to the neoliberal framework of privatization and deregulation. It also notes the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provision that affords foreign corporations the right to sue for compensate when public services are expanded or when privatization is reversed." Read more about the Council of Canadians and Common Frontier video here.
Stephen Harper visited Bay Roberts today (first time he's been in Newfoundland since 2011 and first time this election campaign) and got this reception! The Public Service Alliance Of Canada organized the rally.
CBC reports, "Conservative Leader Stephen Harper ventured into a lion's den that is perhaps the least fertile electoral ground for him in Canada on Saturday. The Tory leader attended a rally in the riding of Avalon in Newfoundland and Labrador. ...By mid-afternoon Harper supporters and protesters had gathered at the site of his rally at Harbour International in Bay Roberts, N.L., some waving placards and chanting slogans. ...The event in Bay Roberts is Harper's first foray into the province this election campaign. Newfoundlanders have shown little electoral warmth toward Harper. In the 2011 federal election they elected only one Conservative MP."
VOCM adds, "About 50 protesters [were there] chanting 'Heave Steve' and 'Harper has to go'. ...Ken Kavanagh of the Council of Canadians doesn't think the Conservatives have a chance of even a single seat in the province. He says the only reason Harper is here is because the other two leaders were in NL last weekend."
Thanks to Jim Parsons for footage of the chants!
The Telegram highlights, "Overall, the difference in tone was stark between the Harper event in the riding of Avalon, and the campaign rallies last month by New Democratic Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau in the capital city region. Both the Mulcair and Trudeau events were open to anybody, and featured hundreds of supporters, whereas security was heavy at the Harper event, and a generous estimate of the crowd would be maybe 100 people. The Harper event was by invitation only, and an RCMP officer physically grabbed the Telegram reporter when he tried to enter the event, demanding to see identification. ...Harper's event was also the only one of the three that featured protestors outside, with a couple dozen people holding signs and chanting anti-Conservative slogans on the road outside the MoorFrost building."
The CBC report also notes, "The provincial Progressive Conservative government has been at times openly hostile toward Harper... [Former premier Danny Williams] had accused Harper of breaking a promise to protect offshore oil earnings from federal equalization funding clawbacks. Harper was also heavily criticized for what many fishers in Newfoundland and Labrador saw as a betrayal of a promise he made during negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement [CETA] with the European Union. According to Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Paul Davis, Harper's government [has reneged on its promise of a] $400 million fisheries fund to compensate fishers for losses as a result of the trade deal."
Our chapter, along with the Corner Brook Status of Women Council, the NL Social Justice Co-op, and Democracy Alert are supporting the Meet the Federal Candidates Forum in Corner Brook on October 5th, 7:30 pm at the Royal Canadian Legion Hall.
The four Federal Candidates running for election in the Long Range Mountains Electoral District have confirmed that they will be participating:
The topics for discussion and debate are of local, national and global concern. They include the State of our Democracy, the Environment, the Economy, Health Care and Social Issues – such as Affordable Housing, Child Care, First Nations Relations, Immigration, and Education. Following the questions from the moderators, the public will have the opportunity to ask questions to the candidates. The St. John's chapter of the Council of Canadians is joining other activists across the country in days of action against CETA. Sept 25 and 26 take action to spread awareness about the downsides to CETA (i.e., weakening environmental policies, making it easier for corporations to sue governments for loss of profits, allowing the privatization of public services, bypassing local democracies).
We are launching a short theatrical video to help bring CETA -- and all the European grassroots opposition to it -- to light. 2.7 million Europeans oppose CETA. Visit the Council of Canadians website to learn more about how to take action: http://canadians.org/ceta-days-action Members of our chapter will be passing out pamphlets on CETA and encouraging people to vote by distributing Voter's Guides. The St. John's chapter of the Council of Canadians and health care allies (including CUPE's Wayne Lucas, the Canadian Health Coalition's Mellissa Newitt, and Leo Broderick from the CoC national board) gathered in Bannerman Park for a visual demo. “Without a health accord, $36 billion is slated to be cut from our public health care. Already, Newfoundland and Labrador has lost $22.4 million in the past year since the accord expired,” says Michael Butler, Health Care Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. “This has a real impact on the health of all Canadians, and it is time the premiers demand that a new health accord be negotiated.” Here are more photos from the event on Flickr. We decided to focus on the following campaigns/issues in the coming year:
Here's a link to the Prezi with lots of pictures recapping our year's activities! http://prezi.com/l-xjnv-am-5w/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share At our follow-up meeting Sunday June 28, 3-5 pm at Sobeys Merrymeeting, we will be focusing on brainstorming action items and discussing strategy/tactics for implementing short- and long-term goals. The NL fracking review panel has been accepting public submissions. Our chapter, and individual members, made wonderful submissions! If you'd like to make one, you can still do so at http://nlhfrp.ca/submit-feedback-to-the-panel/submissions/ Here is the submission from our St. John's chapter of the Council of Canadians: To the NL Hydraulic Fracturing Review Panel: The St. John’s chapter of the Council of Canadians echoes the growing number of groups outspoken in their demand for a full fracking ban in Newfoundland and Labrador. There is no safe way to frack, and the lack of scientific consensus on the issue led the Nova Scotia fracking review panel last year to conclude that fracking should not go ahead in their province. The lack of planning around waste waster management and community consultation were some key concerns that led to the decision to extend their fracking moratorium. Two of our five-member panel were also on the Nova Scotia panel, so we wonder how the same pool of evidence (with its gaps in the areas of human health impacts over the long term and general lack of social license across the Atlantic region) could magically yield a different conclusion for fracking in our province. Moreover, the unique geology on the west coast of Newfoundland adds another knowledge gap for our panel to contend with. The recently released Hinchey study looks at the geology of the Green Point shale, reiterating the lack of information we have of the areas coveted by fracking companies. The study states: “There is currently no way to reliably and accurately depict or predict the extent, location, rock characteristics or shape of Green Point Shale layers below the surface. It is therefore, not feasible to present a model for unconventional shale gas/oil exploration in the area.” (Hinchey, Knight, Kilfoil and Hicks, 2015, 166) http://www.nr.gov.nl.ca/nr/mines/geoscience/publications/currentresearch/2015/Hinchey-A-2015.pdf The complexity of the rock formations and the near total ignorance of the shale formations of Western Newfoundland make the prospect of fracking even more reckless. At the very least, a precautionary approach to resource development would extend the moratorium in light of our best geologists acknowledging they know almost nothing about the proposed area. But despite how obvious and compelling these gaps in our knowledge should be in the decision-making process, it’s easy to cherry-pick studies that will allow you to conclude that, with enough regulation and technological know-how, fracking can potentially be done safely. We have seen devastating and irreversible damage actually (not potentially) done by the fracking industry: drinking water contamination, people getting sick from flaring near schools and residential areas, the proliferation of earthquakes, the slow release of toxins from tailings ponds that contain wastewater no one knows what to do with. Fracking has already caused enough irreversible damage and produced enough wastewater that it doesn’t have a plan for (especially in Nova Scotia) – why should Newfoundlanders and Labradorians trust the hypothetical scenarios offered by people with vested interests in fracking on how stringent their regulations will be? It is not up to people to prove to industry that fracking is unsafe; it is up to those who want to impose themselves on our landscape and communities via dangerous unconventional methods of extreme energy to prove to us that it can be done safely. Fracking will never be done safely, for the simple reason that pumping millions of litres of unknown chemical soup and water at high pressures deep underground, traversing aquifers, and using explosives to create fissures in sensitive geological formations will always have a huge degree of risk on human wellbeing. Groundwater contamination, earthquakes, and human health impacts are very real consequences of taking those risks. The people of western Newfoundland have clearly not given their social license to this industry, for the obvious reason that these risks are not worth the few jobs and temporary monetary gains they might bring to the area. Moratoria have swept the Atlantic region. Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick have all said ‘no’ to fracking. Instead of feeding our harmful dependence on fossil fuels, the provincial government must seize the opportunity to transition to renewable forms of energy, and have some foresight into where the rest of the world is headed in the face of catastrophic climate change. Please also include the following articles on your website for consideration. They have important things to add on the financial risks of fracking:
Jimena's graphic! Paula's and Erika's submissions, created during the NL Fracking Submission Writing Parties: And Ken Kavanagh's amazing submission to the NLHFRP! Submission to NL Hydraulic Fracturing Review Panel
BY Kenneth J. Kavanagh, Bell Island June 1, 2015 “The health of the people is the highest law.” (Cicero 106 – 43 B.C.) Introduction As a concerned and engaged citizen who believes in the power of the people inherent in a true democracy, as a retired educator who believes in the power of knowledge and as a parent of four (4) children who feels an obligation to leave a safer and sustainable world for future generations, I wish to express my personal and strongly-held views with respect to the matter of fracking and the Newfoundland and Labrador Hydraulic Fracturing Review Panel (NLHRP) and process. My submission will likely not deal with much of the specific terms of reference of the review panel. I have been reading many of the submissions and am very impressed with the breadth and depth of coverage of the major concerns and questions about hydraulic fracturing. I am quite impressed and confident that all that needs to be said will be said. This submission is my response and opinion to fracking in NL. Why did the NL Government Establish this Panel I want to begin by commenting on the Newfoundland and Labrador government’s motivation for establishing this so-called independent panel and review process. I do this knowing that you will likely take the position that such comments are irrelevant and, in any event, not something that you can comment on or consider in terms of your final report. I may have to concede on the second point but not the first. Hydraulic Fracturing is a very controversial issue and a public review process is just that. It is a public process for the public to express its collective views and thoughts on the matter. While you may be constrained by the terms of reference imposed on you by government, I reserve the right not to be and to comment on all aspects of this issue. I believe this government has been pro fracking all along. From the time that people in the Port aux Port/Bay St. George area began to oppose the prospects of fracking, the government has dismissed, trivialized and denigrated the concerns expressed by a significant portion of the population and generally held a favourable and positive position on the controversial extraction technique. In particular, government Ministers and MHA s have tried to use their clout and influence to dismiss the criticism and soft peddle no-worry and pro-industry view of fracking. The best example of this was Tom Marshall, a very powerful MHA from the area who was the Natural Resources Minister and then became the interim Premier for a few months in early 2014. During a public meeting on the Port aux Port Peninsula, Marshall showed up with a few suits from his Department, waving a stack of papers and thought he was going to quash the growing opposition to the fracking plans on the West Coast by the sheer weight of his political and personal standing in the area. He got a rude awakening with a strong backlash from the residents at the session. In one exasperated exchange with a critic, he uttered: "I don't care what anybody in this room says to me, I'm going to do the right thing." Then in a subtle and insulting attempt, he trotted off to Weyburn, Saskatchewan, the headquarters of fracking in Canada and came back with a rosy expose of what he experienced. “They are not having any problems with it at all,” said Marshall according to a Western Star story. In the same story he was quoted as saying: “They haven’t had any water contamination, they haven’t had any problems with water volume, they haven’t had livestock dying, they haven’t had earthquakes.” Once again, Mr. Marshall was surprised and a tad upset at the backlash to his superficial positive framing of his fact-finding trip to Saskatchewan. He was called on his feeble attempt to sell a fake bill of goods to the community and the community told him so. I believe it was at this seminal point that both Mr. Marshall and the government realized that it would take a more long term and sophisticated strategy to bring the masses in to compliance with the wishes of the government and the industry. Every move since then on this file has been part of that sophisticated strategy. First there was the October 2013 move to close the door on accepting any fracking applications pending an internal review. The media and most people referred to the move as a ‘moratorium’ which was not really the case but government was in no rush to correct the perception and bit of positive publicity that ensued. Eventually, there would be the announcement of an external review. In the meantime, the individuals and groups involved with the Port aux Port/Bay St. George Fracking Awareness group stepped up their efforts with their information and public awareness campaign. Armed with a keener awareness of the many controversial issues around fracking, public concern and opposition was growing across the entire province. All during this time, this government’s popularity with the NL electorate was plummeting. Premier Kathy Dunderdale stepped down and the PC Party went through a disastrous leadership with two contenders backing out and the eventual acclaimed winner, Frank Coleman, rejecting the position of Premier just days before assuming office. The ensuing leadership contest had its own controversial ending but the present Premier, Paul Davis, emerged the victor. By the time Paul Davis took over, this government had lost seven (7) by-elections, including the extraordinary total swing of 89.7 percentage points from the PCs to the Liberals in Mr. Tom Marshall’s former district of Humber East. In this context, Minister Dalley appointed this Hydraulic Fracturing Review Panel on October 10, 2014. So let’s call a spade a spade here. The appointment of a so-called external, independent review panel is not the result of some ‘on the road to Damascus’ enlightenment and realization that hydraulic fracturing is fraught with risk and danger and that the public must have a voice in decision as to whether it will be allowed to happen or not. No, it was a decision made ‘on the road to low polling numbers.’ With all due respect to the members of this Panel, the appointment of this Review Panel is nothing more than a desperate, crude, and - ultimately foolhardy attempt - to reverse plummeting political fortunes by moving the highly volatile and controversial public discourse on hydraulic fracturing away from the government to another body whose report would not be ready prior to the next election. It was also meant to have the dual benefit of placating the opposing public. The establishment of the Review Panel has another built-in ‘defense mechanism’ I shall refer to next. The Independence of the Panel When Minister Derrick Dalley appointed this Panel on October 10, 2014, he claimed: “Our government listened to concerned citizens and industry stakeholders and selected an independent panel...” He may have listened to the industry stakeholders but he certainly has not listened to concerned citizens, It would seem the ‘independence’ is somewhat like ‘beauty’ and is in the ‘eye of the beholder!’ Some or all of the panelists may claim their independence! I am not sure as I have not heard any of them state that publically or pledge any intention to do so. The Minister who appointed the panelists claims they are and has publicly stated that he has faith in them. That may well be but then the question becomes who has faith in the Minister. I don’t and I would strongly suspect that would be true of a large segment of the electorate. Clearly, there are many citizens who question the independence of this panel, including the concerned citizens of the Fracking Awareness Network of the West Coast. Just recently more than a dozen groups on the east coast of the province held a press conference and also expressed similar concerns with respect to the panel’s independence. I, too, respectively question their independence. Among other things, I base my opinion on the following public comments made by various panelists. Mr. Graham Gagnon (a panelist with the Wheeler Review Panel), in the September 4, 2014 edition of the Chronicle Herald, expressed surprise and disappointment that the NS government issued a ban on fracking so soon after the release of the Wheeler report. In the meantime the report recommended such a ban. At one point in the article, Mr. Gagnon says he believes “the fracking of shale gas, like coal mining or gold mining, carries some risks, but if regulated and closely monitored, it is not going to create drastic environmental problems.” He finishes by saying: “I don’t think the concerns that are there are necessarily showstoppers.” In the January 31, 2014 edition of the Western Star, the following quote is attributed to Mr. Maurice Dusseault: “There are many people who are taking a position that fracturing is inherently bad and what I’m saying is that the process of hydraulic fracturing is not much riskier than other industrial practices.” He asserted that it’s a practice that, if done properly, can be done safely. He went on to dispute information to the contrary. Then we have the following quote by our own Mr. Wade Locke in the September 12, 2014 edition of the Telegram under the banner of “Economist says objectivity crucial for fracking review”: “Just as it would be terrible for an environmental disaster to result from fracking, it would be tragic for a major economic opportunity to be lost because of an ill-formed appeal to emotion. I just hope the opportunities here (in Western Newfoundland) are realized to their fullest potential.” These are clear and emphatic statements that do not point to objectivity and independence. I give the panel high marks on transparency as some of its members did declare their bias. The most disappointing and insulting comment was by Mr. Locke. As a typical mainstream economist, he may wish to deal in numbers of widgets produced, GDP, interest and exchange rates, supply and demand trends and so on. In the meantime, citizens of this province have a right to ask questions – even in an emotional and passionate manner – and expect answers. They especially have this right in the case of a project in their backyard involving an unconventional extraction technique that is yet unproven and can have irreparable harm on the health of persons and the environment. In my mind, and in the minds of many Newfoundlanders and Labradoreans, this panel is anything but an objective and independent panel. Unlike the Nova Scotia fracking review panel, where citizens actually had input into the panel composition, this panel of 5 men was appointed by a government that is very much pro-fracking but desperate to lift itself out of the polling doldrums in time for the next provincial election. So whether you are aware or admit or accept it, this panel is neither what was promised nor what the people of this province are entitled to in order to review such a critical and controversial matter of public policy. The Panel is a tool of this government with the dual purpose of deferring and deflecting negative publicity yet assuring its corporate friends that fracking will come to pass. A Provincial Concern Not a Regional One It is perhaps another sign of the myopic and self-serving motive of the government, but the most disappointing aspect of the Terms of Reference is the confinement of the issue to a review of fracking specifically as it relates to a potential project in Western Newfoundland. The comprehensive review done in Nova Scotia was provincial in scope. In fact the NS review, though not perfect, was substantially better that the NL review process. It had a more complete and comprehensive set of Terms of Reference. It had an 11-member panel with much broader expertise and experience, and appointed with input from the public. And it had several opportunities for input by citizens including 11 public consultation sessions across the entire province. On the matter of public consultations, I believe it is an insult to the citizens in every corner of this province not to have an opportunity to appear before this panel to express their concerns and fears about the real and/or potential impacts of fracking on them, their communities and the environment. Even if the basic fracking activity is confined to the West Coast, certain aspects of the project could involve other parts of the province such as in the storing of fracking waste water. The most important principle here though is that every citizen owns this province and every citizen has an interest in and a responsibility for all aspects of this province. I may not belong to the Port au Port Peninsula, but I have a responsibility to worry about my fellow citizens and what may be happening to the environment in that area. This matter is a ‘we’ matter and this panel must allow residents of every part of the province to have a reasonable opportunity to have a voice. Concluding Remarks Hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking’ is an unconventional, controversial and dangerous oil/gas extraction technique. Industry proponents, most politicians and some citizens (including some on this panel) like to argue that there is no proof of harm! I disagree. I think there is ample proof of harm but for those who might wish to cling to this self-serving and baseless argument, let me offer the wise words of Caleb Behn, an indigenous lawyer: “Absence of proof of harm is not absence of harm!” Furthermore, I believe that when it comes to the matter of fracking, the “Precautionary Principle” or what the Wheeler Report referred to as the “Precautionary Approach,” must apply. This principle is an established principle contained in the final declaration of the UN Conference in Environment and Development. Fundamentally, it would call for the burden of proof on avoiding public harm to rest with the developers and governments who wish to pursue or give licence to the use of the hydraulic fracturing technique. Finally, I want to make reference to the concept of “social licence” as described in the Wheeler Report. Social licence refers to the approval or acceptance of the community as a “pre-condition and continuing condition for hydraulic fracturing to occur in any community.” The Wheeler Report goes so far as to link the principle to the fulfilling of the “precautionary” principle as the matter of assessing risks and benefits must be left to those who will be most impacted with such risks and benefits which is at the community level. In other words, a hydraulic fracturing project requires a “community permission to proceed.” On this meaning of social licence, I strongly concur. Industry stakeholders and the political systems that support them and do their bidding tend to thrust the powerful and enticing argument of economic development and wealth generation when it comes to these kinds of industrial developments. For them ‘profit trumps people’ and they entice people to follow a parallel maxim of ‘money trumps health.’ To that belief, I offer the following Cree saying: “When the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten, and the last stream destroyed, you will realize that you cannot eat money.” On May 15th folks from around St. John's got together in the community room at Sobeys to make video submissions. The NL Fracking Review panel is accepting submissions and we believe in supporting different types of expression (our first Submissions party focused on art and creative expressions and this one focused on videos). Deadline for submissions is June 1st, so there's not much time left! Please make your submission -- whether that's through a painting, a heartfelt letter, a review of the scientific literature, or a video of you stating why you think fracking is the wrong move – send your thoughts to the panel's official website: http://nlhfrp.ca/submit-feedback-to-the-panel/ by June 1st, 2015. Here's a video submission made by Adam Case: And here's a short clip from folks singing the Raging Grannies song "No Frackin', No Way!":
https://www.facebook.com/justin.brake.5/videos/o.471261759605852/830687210335064/?&theater MORE VIDEOS to come soon, including a song about the resistance against fracking and a dance video! A People's Senate for Canada, book launch and discussion, May 13, 2015, @ The Lantern, 7-9 pm5/9/2015 Our local chapter of the Council of Canadians is co-hosting with Helen Forsey the launch of her timely new book, A People's Senate for Canada. This is a free event and everyone is welcome to attend. Here is the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1634796160090252/ This little book is written for Canadians who care about our democracy and the future of our planet. The Senate, surprisingly, could make major contributions to both. A People’s Senate for Canada explains how we can make that happen. This is a timely book about reclaiming our democracy from the control of global corporations and the Prime Minister's Office. Provocative and thoroughly researched, it links the Senate to current issues like climate change, trade agreements, human rights and electoral reform. A People's Senate is exactly what this country needs today – and it is not a pipe dream! What if we had a Senate that was independent of party politics, truly committed to “sober second thought” and dedicated to the common good? What if Senate appointments focused on experience, integrity and creativity, and flowed from a non-partisan participatory process based on merit and reflective of our country’s diversity? What if senators were able to fully devote themselves to their proper legislative and investigative work, cooperating wherever possible, free of party control and electoral worries, and financially accountable to the Auditor General? A People’s Senate for Canada combines grassroots experience, thorough research and critical commentary to create a people’s resource for positive change. This book offers a rationale, an analysis and a feasible proposal for an upper house that would restore citizen participation and help check government power. ----
Helen Forsey is an activist writer and the daughter of the late trade unionist, constitutional expert and Senator, Eugene Forsey. She has worked in international cooperation and popular education in Latin America, West Africa and Canada. Her previous publications include three books: Eugene Forsey: Canada’s Maverick Sage; The Caboose at the Cape: A Story of Coming Home; and Circles of Strength: Community Alternatives to Alienation; and numerous articles on constitutional, political, rural and feminist issues. The NL Fracking Review Panel is now accepting public submissions until June 1st, 2015. (http://nlhfrp.ca/)
Let's tell them what we think about fracking in NL! Here's the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/672703282859452/ The St. John's chapter of the Council of Canadians is hosting the first "submission writing" party. We'll use words (traditional letters), paint, crayons, videos, songs, theatre, etc. to express our views about fracking in NL. Join us at the Rocket to work on your submission. There will be a few laptops for online submissions (http://nlhfrp.ca/submit-feedback-to-the-panel/submissions/) and resources with facts on fracking to help inspire you! Also, check out this citizen-led blog with fracking review submissions! http://nlfrackingsubmissions.weebly.com/ And the VOCM coverage! http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?mn=2&id=54367&latest=1 Let's make our voices heard loud and clear on this issue and keep NL frack free forever! Saturday March 14th grassroots protests across all provinces united in a Day of Action against Bill C-51, the Harper government's supposed anti-terror legislation. The bill has earned nearly unequivocal condemnation in the mainstream media, including from 100 academics from across the country and civil society groups. Main concerns centre on privacy, the criminalization of legitimate dissent and protest, as well as the sweeping implications of information sharing, the over-reach of CSIS powers, and finally the erosion of our hard-fought constitutional rights and freedoms, including freedom of speech and assembly without the threat of being labelled a terrorist. Simple participation in street protests like ones that swept Canada today, under Bill C-51, if considered a threat to security or critical infrastructure, come under the purview of this law. This would criminalize indigenous and environmental groups especially, who are trying to take a stand for the land, their rights, and to safeguard the future of our planet. Here is a video of the protest through downtown St. John's. Our chapter joined 19 other chapters across the country to protest Bill C-51. Solidarity! Check out the coverage in the NL Independent:
Listen to Erika, chair of our chapter, read a statement prepared by Ken, who couldn't be there in person. Our chapter's Letter to the Editor was published in the Telegram.
-- Indigenous women make up 4.3 per cent of the Canadian population, yet they account for 16 per cent of murdered women and 11.3 per cent of missing women. In the last 30 years, 1,026 Indigenous women have been murdered and 160 are missing. Sadly, the numbers continue to increase. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is wrong. These MMIW cases are both crimes and sociological phenomena. Many professional and competent commentators have stated and unequivocally asserted that the over-representation of Indigenous women as victims of violence serves as concrete evidence that the problem is systemic. We clearly need to deeply examine why this is happening and to come up with a national action plan. While Harper shuns a national inquiry, aboriginal leaders, opposition leaders, provincial leaders, civil society leaders, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People, many professional sociologists and criminologists, and many Canadians all support the call for one. More importantly, the families of these murdered and missing women call for this inquiry. These families will gather in Ottawa on Feb. 26 as part of a national day of action. Some of them will then participate in a roundtable meeting on this issue with provincial premiers and indigenous organizations on Feb. 27.We, in the St. John’s Chapter of the Council of Canadians, join in the collective call for a national inquiry and urge all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to stand with us in support. Finally, we urge Stephen Harper to do the right thing with respect to an inquiry and cede to the will of the people on this matter of a national inquiry. Ken Kavanagh, Erika Steeves Join us for a special town hall on the future of public health care featuring national chairperson of the Council of Canadians Maude Barlow on December 1st at St. Theresa's Parish Hall 7-9 pm, St. John's.
On March 31, 2014, the Health Accord expired and with it so did billions of dollars in federal health care transfers to Canadian provinces. Few people realize the grave implications of this deliberate decision by the Harper government not to renegotiate the Health Accord. In all, over the next ten years Medicare will lose $36 billion in federal funding. Our province alone will lose $491 million -- this at a time when our population is aging, and unemployment and precarious employment are on the rise. This will compromise national standards and funding for health care, say health care experts. It will also push us towards increased privatization and an American-style two-tiered health care system (one for the rich and one for the rest of us). This town hall meeting will be an important opportunity for us to show our support for strong public health care for all people residing in Canada. You can join the Facebook event here (and share far and wide) https://www.facebook.com/events/343153965855463/ The Saturday before the town hall (November 29th) we're holding a workshop at MUN on taking direct action by going door to door talking to people about health care. Here's the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/861870703845782/ Hope to see you there! For more info, check out these great resources: Health accord backgrounders: It is likely that on the call in shows questions outside the health accord will come up, but related to larger health care myths. CUPE has some great fact sheets on this worth reviewing: Myths and Facts: Thanks to everyone who came out to the awesome Frackdown Boilup Potluck! It was a bit chilly, but we had great conversations and learned more about what fracking would mean for our province. Here are links to some of the hand-outs that we had available:
The St. John's chapter of the Council of Canadians, in association with the East Coast Fracking Awareness Group, invites the public to a Frackdown potluck on October 16, 5-7 pm, in Harbourside Park, part of the Global Frackdown events (started October 11th with events planned around the world).
Click here for the Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/834937183194311/ As a result of grassroots organizing on the west coast of Newfoundland, in the face of fracking proposals by Black Spruce Exploration and Shoal Point Energy, we now have a temporary moratorium in place. No fracking will be considered until the provincial government completes an independent, external review of fracking. Now it's imperative to ensure that people’s concerns are voiced and heard during the coming round of public consultations to help guarantee a full ban on fracking. We want to celebrate the success of west coast mobilizing and east coast solidarity (and beyond!) – that people power can indeed affect policy change. In the past year, Atlantic Canadian provinces have shown to be on the leading edge of fracking resistance: New Brunswick’s new Liberal Premier has promised to impose a moratorium, and Nova Scotia and NL both have temporary moratoria in place. However, we must remain vigilant and keep working towards a full ban on fracking! The NL external fracking review panel has just been announced, so it's important we make sure they hear the public's legitimate concerns and say no to fracking. For more info on the groups on the west coast fighting fracking, join the Port au Port/Bay St George Fracking Awareness Group Facebook page and check out the Newfoundland and Labrador Fracking Awareness Network website, http://www.nlfan.ca/ For more general info on fracking, check out www.canadians.org/fracking The People's Climate March saw over 300,000 people converge in New York City, with over 2,500 solidarity events in 166 worldwide, making it the biggest climate mobilization in history! Here are some pictures from the St. John's #PeoplesClimateMarch: More photos of the march here (Thanks to Jimena!): https://plus.google.com/photos/105441510755097354068/albums/6061648149456036625 And a video of the march: On Sunday, September 21st, just days before a landmark climate summit at the UN, a global People's Climate March is set to take place. World leaders don’t believe enough of us care about climate change, and that’s why they’re still not yet rising to the challenge of saving our planet. But on September 21, we have an unprecedented chance to prove them wrong, with the largest climate mobilization in history. The St. John's chapter of the Council of Canadians will be participating in the St. John's event at 1 pm in Harbourside Park. Join us! Here's the Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/365653426916482/ St. John's -- Protests are taking place worldwide to oppose the collective punishment of Palestinians. A rally has been organized in St. John's by concerned citizens, to take place this Thursday evening at 6 pm in Harbourside Park. The St. John's chapter of the Council of Canadians will be participating and showing solidarity. There will be a short march up Water St. (starting at 6:30) and to return to Harbourside Park.
Since July 7th, Israeli forces have killed more than 436 Palestinians and wounded over 3000, destroying homes and hospitals, and displacing villages. Last week, Israel significantly escalated their military offensive against the people of Gaza by launching a ground invasion. The Harper government is supporting these atrocities and one purpose of the rally is to show that these views do not reflect those of all Canadians. Send MP Jack Harris this letter expressing your condemnation for this ongoing massacre in Gaza. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4SkWKUAlGbYa2tsam1UWGxoRUU/preview?pli=1 Coinciding with Canadian Environment Week, the Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides NL, Friends of Grand River-Mistashipu, and Social Justice Cooperative NL have organized a “Provincial Day of Action on Tordon 101,” Sat. June 7, in communities throughout the province (Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Stephenville, St. John’s, others to be confirmed).
The St. John's Chapter of the Council of Canadians will be out to participate in the Provincial Day of Action on Tordon 101, which aims to raise awareness on the use of the dangerous pesticide Tordon 101 in the provincial government’s road-side spray program and on the proposed 1,100km Labrador-island transmission link as part of the Muskrat Falls project. The Day of Action will consist of a door-to-door signature drive and public meetings in various communities, and is the initial step of an ambitious goal by this coalition of groups to gather 15,000 signatures on a petition to ban Tordon 101 in the province. Download the petition and fact sheet from the campaign website: www.bantordon101.wordpress.com Read the article in the Independent about the Day of Action: http://theindependent.ca/2014/06/06/province-wide-day-of-action-saturday-to-call-for-ban-on-agent-white/ Visit the Facebook event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1484707998413061/ |