BC Office

Alice MacKay Room in Vancouver Public Library, 350 West Georgia
Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territory

A free public forum on the global Occupy Together movement and tackling issues of systemic inequality, environmental destruction, and government and corporate power.

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/259712764076064/

SETH KLEIN: Seth is the director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, BC Office. Seth’s research deals primarily with welfare policy, poverty, inequality and economic security.

RICHARD PORTEOUS: Richard has been involved with Occupy Vancouver for the past eight weeks and will be speaking about his experiences in the movement.

LORENE OIKAWA: Lorene is a Provincial Vice-President of the BCGEU union and is Chair of the BC Federation of Labour Human Rights Committee. She is a founder of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance.

GLEN COULTHARD: Glen (Yellowknives Dene) is an assistant professor in the UBC First Nations Studies Program and the UBC Department of Political Science. His most recent work won the Contemporary Political Theory Annual Award for Best Article of the Year in 2007.

HARJAP GREWAL: Harjap is Regional Organizer for the Council of Canadians on issues of corporate power, free trade agreements, the environment, and public policy. He is also active in No One Is Illegal for migrant justice, and anti-capitalist and Indigenous solidarity movements.

JEAN SWANSON: Jean is a coordinator of Carnegie Community Action Project in the Downtown Eastside. She was also previous national chair of the National Anti-Poverty Organization and is the author of Poor Bashing: The Politics of Exclusion.

For more information email hwalia8@gmail.com or call 778 885 0040.

Endorsed by: Council of Canadians, No One Is Illegal, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Streams of Justice, Check Your Head, Citywide Housing Coalition, Calamites: an anticapitalist network, Rabble.ca, BC Government and Service Employees' Union

Today we released a report on "fracking" In northeastern BC: a controversial process that gas companies are using to extract natural gas from deeply buried shale formations. The provincial government supports the industry with millions of dollars in subsidies, in spite of the health and environmental risks of fracking — and while the companies profit, British Columbians aren't getting much in return.

CCPA-BC researcher Ben Parfitt travelled to the heart of fracking territory with photographer Garth Lenz. Check out this short video to see what they found:

Fracking Up BC

And read Ben's study to find out more:

Fracking Up Our Water, Hydro Power and Climate

In northeastern BC, gas companies are racing to extract natural gas from deeply buried shale formations, using a process called "fracking." Check out this short video to find out more about fracking, and why it's the natural gas equivalent to Alberta's tar sands. And for more information, read the study: Fracking Up Our Water, Hydro Power and Climate: BC's Reckless Pursuit of Shale Gas.

A great many individuals and organizations help make the CCPA-BC tick. But we are especially grateful for the support of one of our key partners, the Columbia Institute.

In addition to working together on important initiatives like the Climate Justice Project and the Next Up youth leadership program, CCPA-BC receives core funding from Columbia. This funding has been essential to our growth, allowing us to direct resources as needed to research and public engagement on issues such as green jobs, health care, tax fairness and more. Columbia Institute's support is particularly vital to our communications work -- it helps to ensure that CCPA-BC research features prominently in the mainstream news and reaches thousands of progressive British Columbians online.

Want to know more? The Columbia Institute fosters inclusive, sustainable communities by nurturing strong local leadership, working with shareholders on responsible investing, and building capacity through lifelong learning scholarships.  www.ColumbiaInstitute.ca.