Friday, March 30, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
"Stand With Us to Fight" - an indigenous rally against Enbridge -
Hundreds of indigenous people gather in Vancouver to oppose Enbridge. And why don't we see this in the news? What's up CBC?
"Stand With Us to Fight" | Vancouver Media Co-op
"Stand With Us to Fight" | Vancouver Media Co-op
Understanding Harper's Evangelical Mission - TheTyee.ca - Mobile
I can't imagine how Jesus could ever imagine Christians like these.
Understanding Harper's Evangelical Mission - TheTyee.ca - Mobile
Understanding Harper's Evangelical Mission - TheTyee.ca - Mobile
Friday, March 23, 2012
Federal Tories can't plug every pipeline threat - and what is threatened?
There are so many things left out of this story - and it is instructive to observe how it is framed. For one thing, Joe Oliver is quoted as saying that thousands of jobs are at stake due to regulatory delays. In actuality, the Enbridge pipeline only promises roughly two hundred permanent jobs and the resulting tanker traffic threatens tens of thousands of jobs that already exist in the fishing and tourism industries. The story also ignores the tens of thousands of jobs that would be created by upgrading the bitumen in Canada and piping it to Eastern Canada to displace the million barrels of imported oil that are being consumed there every day. While the story does mention the impact of the strong petro-dollar on Eastern Canada, it does not approach the magnitude of the 700,000 jobs that have already been lost in the manufacturing sector or even mention the impact the high dollar has on every other aspect of Canada's economy that relies on Export. This includes farming, technology and software development, movie industry, etc.
And the story seems to hint that the First Nations only "think" that they should have a say over their ancestral lands. How would Joe Oliver and Stephen Harper feel if a pipeline appeared in their back yards?
The facts are that Canada would benefit from a policy that reduced our dependent on exporting unrefined bitumen at under-valued prices. More jobs would be created, our future would be more sustainable and Canada would be a better place for everyone if we adopted a more holistic energy policy rather than a short-sighted plan which sells our children's heritage for pennies on the dollar.
Federal Tories can't plug every pipeline threat
And the story seems to hint that the First Nations only "think" that they should have a say over their ancestral lands. How would Joe Oliver and Stephen Harper feel if a pipeline appeared in their back yards?
The facts are that Canada would benefit from a policy that reduced our dependent on exporting unrefined bitumen at under-valued prices. More jobs would be created, our future would be more sustainable and Canada would be a better place for everyone if we adopted a more holistic energy policy rather than a short-sighted plan which sells our children's heritage for pennies on the dollar.
Federal Tories can't plug every pipeline threat
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Canada's Quiet Genocide - and the price of privilege
Having had the opportunity to travel extensively and to live on 4 continents, I have often reflected on how lucky I am to be born in Canada. Lately, I am beginning to realize some of the true cost of that privilege.
Today I attended the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in Cowichan and heard stories from residential school survivors who had been forcibly taken from their families, prevented from speaking their language, isolated from their culture and often subjected to physical, psychological and sexual abuse. Theirs was the latest chapter in the systematic genocide that targeted the original inhabitants of this land. Earlier attempts included violent exterminations; cash bounties for killing indigenous people, eliminating the bison herds which were a primary food source and leaving smallpox-infected people or blankets in villages where people had never encountered the disease.
While not as openly violent, the residential schools were one of the most effective instruments of assimilation. For more than a century, the Canadian government paid the national Christian churches to operate these schools with the intention of assimilating Indigenous children into the dominant culture of mainstream society. For more than 3 generations, these children were forcibly removed from their homes and subjected to a system which aimed at the destruction of their family connections, oral traditions, languages, cultures, knowledge systems, spiritual traditions and Indigenous identity. These schools operated until the early 1990s and more than 80,000 survivors are living today. The impact on the survivors and their descendants is clearly illustrated in the commission's interim report, which should be required reading for every citizen of Canada.
From this history, it seems clear to me that the Government of Canada signed treaties with the Indigenous peoples of this land with the intention of eliminating the cultures and/or the people before they really needed to consider the long-term effects of the treaties.
And yes, in my opinion, this really does qualify as genocide - in every way comparable to Hitler's extermination of the Jews. In the past I often wondered how, at the end of WWII, the vast majority of the German citizens could deny any knowledge of Hitler's Final Solution with it's ghettos, forced evacuations, death camps and crematoriums. Now I think I understand.
It is a privilege to live in Canada - and until we acknowledge the price that the Indigenous peoples of this land have paid for our privilege- Canadian justice is nothing more than an illusion.
Today I attended the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in Cowichan and heard stories from residential school survivors who had been forcibly taken from their families, prevented from speaking their language, isolated from their culture and often subjected to physical, psychological and sexual abuse. Theirs was the latest chapter in the systematic genocide that targeted the original inhabitants of this land. Earlier attempts included violent exterminations; cash bounties for killing indigenous people, eliminating the bison herds which were a primary food source and leaving smallpox-infected people or blankets in villages where people had never encountered the disease.
While not as openly violent, the residential schools were one of the most effective instruments of assimilation. For more than a century, the Canadian government paid the national Christian churches to operate these schools with the intention of assimilating Indigenous children into the dominant culture of mainstream society. For more than 3 generations, these children were forcibly removed from their homes and subjected to a system which aimed at the destruction of their family connections, oral traditions, languages, cultures, knowledge systems, spiritual traditions and Indigenous identity. These schools operated until the early 1990s and more than 80,000 survivors are living today. The impact on the survivors and their descendants is clearly illustrated in the commission's interim report, which should be required reading for every citizen of Canada.
From this history, it seems clear to me that the Government of Canada signed treaties with the Indigenous peoples of this land with the intention of eliminating the cultures and/or the people before they really needed to consider the long-term effects of the treaties.
And yes, in my opinion, this really does qualify as genocide - in every way comparable to Hitler's extermination of the Jews. In the past I often wondered how, at the end of WWII, the vast majority of the German citizens could deny any knowledge of Hitler's Final Solution with it's ghettos, forced evacuations, death camps and crematoriums. Now I think I understand.
It is a privilege to live in Canada - and until we acknowledge the price that the Indigenous peoples of this land have paid for our privilege- Canadian justice is nothing more than an illusion.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Oil sands, green groups unlikely allies in push for carbon tax - The Globe and Mail
Here is a solid reference for just how out of touch the Harper Conservatives are in their energy policy. Groups as diverse as Exxon Mobil and the Pembina Institute are calling for some form of Carbon taxation to change the energy policy landscare and "Jack Mintz, who heads the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, said a carbon tax would allow Ottawa to cut subsidies to all forms of energy and allow the market to function."
Oil sands, green groups unlikely allies in push for carbon tax - The Globe and Mail
Oil sands, green groups unlikely allies in push for carbon tax - The Globe and Mail
Joe Oliver may not be legally elected - Who is the Enemy of the State now?
OK - now it appears that Natural Resources minister and Champion of the Enbridge Pipeline, Joe Oliver may have been "elected" through fraudulent and illegal means. And to think he has labelled me as an "Enemy of the State"... Where do I live? Russia??
Toronto riding allowed voters with bogus addresses - Politics - CBC News
Toronto riding allowed voters with bogus addresses - Politics - CBC News
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Five Principles For Surviving Community « BRITTIAN BULLOCK
For those who are interested in learning the essence of living in community - this article rings true to me.
Thanks to Servants Vancouver for posting this on facebook.
Five Principles For Surviving Community « BRITTIAN BULLOCK
Thanks to Servants Vancouver for posting this on facebook.
Five Principles For Surviving Community « BRITTIAN BULLOCK
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