Search results for: “site/human rights”

  • The New Silk Road

    Canada joining the U.S. in exploiting Afghanistan’s resources Since George Bush declared the Global War on/of Terror on September 20, 2001, some influential Canadians have described Canadians’ sacrifice of tax-dollars and soldiers’ lives and bodies on the battlefronts in Afghanistan and beyond as an “investment.” The payoff promised for this…

  • Housing platforms and platitudes in the 2018 Vancouver election

    It should be no surprise that Vancouver’s growing housing affordability crisis is the top issue going into the election. All candidates are in favour of affordable housing, of course. Sorting out the chatter from concrete plans, however, can be difficult—not least because of the way Vancouver’s municipal politics has fractured…

  • Silencing the outriders, silencing democracy

    Since taking power federally in 2006, the Conservative government has undertaken a continuous attack on civil society organizations.  One of the government’s first actions was to cut support for women’s organizations that lobbied or did research on the status of women.  Environmental organizations have been accused of acting in the…

  • Big “Fracking” Problem

    Natural gas industry’s “fracking” risks causing earthquakes At the end of this month (Feb. 28), Quebec’s public consultations body, the Bureau des audiences publiques sur l’environment (BAPE), is scheduled to release its report on potential environmental impacts of developing the province’s Utica Shale gas field – an area of 5,000…

  • Fast Facts: Tax increment financing and True North Square

    First published in the Winnipeg Free Press September 20, 2018 On Thursday September 20, Winnipeg City Council will vote on a motion to clear the way for True North Square (TNS) to receive an $8 million subsidy through the City’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program. Council will be asked to…

  • Who is included in a Just Transition?

    Considering social equity in Canada’s shift to a zero-carbon economy Download 946.46 KB 35 pages  This report investigates whether the emerging policy consensus on just transition is consistent with the principles of social justice and equity more broadly. Rather than discuss the necessity of a just transition to a zero-carbon…

  • Fast and Loose with Tordon herbicide on the move

    Our family business includes growing bedding plants. In the spring of 2010 every tomato, pepper and marigold we started curled up grotesquely and died. After weeks of trying new fixes and consulting with a plant pathologist, we discovered that the culprit was in our compost.  It looked like herbicide damage so…

  • Challenging capitalism: a 12-step program

    Over a year ago, I posted “What are the Game Changers?“, an attempt at sparking some strategic thinking for the broader left. Now that we’ve had a month of Occupation, building on the original Occupy Wall Street action, I’ve been wanting to put these ideas back on the table, so…

  • December 2004: The Right is Wrong and the Left is Right

    Public opinion in Canada, as in the U.S., pulled to the right Reading Lewis Lapham’s chilling account in Harper’s of how public opinion in the U.S. was dragged to the reactionary right—and the similar account by Eric Alterman and Paul McLeary that you’ll find on Pages 8-10—I gave thanks that…

  • Indigo’s “For the Love of Indigo” school library fundraising campaign

    Did you know that parents want their children to have access to well-stocked libraries in their schools? Were you aware that they’re very concerned that provincial governments aren’t doing enough to ensure that there’s enough money to pay for these books and libraries? Or that increasingly teachers have to dig…

  • Food Sovereignty In Canada

    Movement growing to control our own food and agriculture What do community gardens on vacant urban lots, mobilizations against sea-lice infestations on the B.C. coast, support for small-scale fishers, university and community-led elementary school food programs that promote local food, and farmer protests against the Canadian Wheat Board and the…

  • CCPA Review: Taking Stock of the Bipole III Debate

    On July 29, 2010 Manitoba Hydro (with the approval and support of the Manitoba government) announced their preliminary preferred route selection for the Bipole III transmission line. Bipole III will bring power from planned dam developments on the Nelson River down the west side of the province to southern Manitoba,…