Harper Big Win - and the end of the Canadian illusion

To raucous applause and chest-thumping cheers, PM Harper wins the day and forces his 400+ omnibus "budget" bill through the house without a single amendment. Harper's Conservatives have clearly won a major victory in parliament - Congratulations!

For the 60% of Canadians who voted against Harper in the 2011 election, this arrogant, bullying approach to re-shape Canada in Harper's image shatters the illusion of the polite, gentle country that we used to call our "home and native land".

Finally many of us are beginning to see through all the hypocrisy and we are waking up to the colonization experiment that Canada has always been. People of First Nation's heritage have mostly been free of illusion as they have suffered directly under the abuse of power that our system calls justice. Now hopefully we can stand with them to oppose this failed experiment in Colonial Statehood before Mother Earth tells us that it is too late.



For complete coverage of the day in parliament with all the gritty details., check here.

Elizabeth May leads commendable effort to halt Tory omnibus juggernaut | Full Comment | National Post

 "It has become accepted wisdom that Conservative treatment of the legislative process is often high-handed and abusive, has contributed to public cynicism and borders on a threat to the democratic process itself."

And this article comes from the National Post.....

Elizabeth May leads commendable effort to halt Tory omnibus juggernaut | Full Comment | National Post

Gitxsan Media revealing the Enbridge Spin in the Mainstream media

 Media shapes our perception of reality and events from the local to national scale. A great example comes from my friends in the Gitxsan Unity Movement. After six months of legal battles, a blockade and incredible personal sacrifice, the Gitxsan people forced an audit of the Gitxsan Treaty Society and the resignation of its' leaders who had made an illegal agreement with Enbridge. Now as the news gets out, Enbridge has done everything possible to spin the story in their favour. Please read the real story here:

Hazelton Daily: Articles

Enbridge Northern Gateway: Seen the ad? Want the truth?

Enbridge is spending millions of dollars on an ad campaign to make their pipeline look appealing to Canadians by concealing the truth about ther project.

Here is a different take that uses their same format to tell the side of the story that they would rather you didn't hear about. 



http://youtu.be/tGrgxaewsiQ

Too bad Enbridge has all the big money to buy airtime on TV.

The Hope and Fear of our transitional times - an analysis by Chris Hedges

 I have become a big fan of Chris Hedges lately. He is a powerful writer who has called our society and the Christian churches to account on several occasions. He has also witnessed the disintegration of civil society in countries that disintegrated into violent civil war and this column brings an important message for our time.

Chris Hedges: Northern Light - Chris Hedges' Columns - Truthdig

Mulcair, Oilsands, Dutch disease - Politics and the Media

This has been an interesting week in the propaganda war surrounding the development of Alberta's tarsands. The latest round began with Thomas Mulcair, the new NDP leader, pointing out that the high value of Canada's dollar - primarily due to oil exports - is highly damaging to the manufacturing industry and he compared this to "Dutch disease" (the economic impact of Holland's gas exports on the rest of it's economy in the 1970s). His comments were immediately condemned by Alberta Premier Alison Redford who stated that Mulcair was engaging in divisive politics and suggested that he was ill informed about the oilsands. She went further to indicate that he should not be allowed to comment until he took the time to visit Alberta and see the development for himself.

In the wake of this war of words, Alberta's Pembina institute released a report containing economic analysis which largely supported Mulcair's claims. In turn, Ethical Oil launched an attack on Mulcair which condemned him for not seeing the difference between Canada and Nigeria. This was met with a response by Christoper Majka which analyzed the economics and politics of the various positions.

Alberta's oilsands development has obviously become a very heated topic and there are billions of dollars and thousands of jobs in the balance - not to mention the environmental impacts. No matter what your current position on this issue, I would ask that you look at these links and ask yourself the following questions.

Does the story contain factual analysis or simply opinion?

Are the statements designed to convey information or trigger emotional response?

What are the motives behind the statements? Who wins and who loses?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/05/30/pol-dutch-disease-pembina-institute-report.html

http://www.ethicaloil.org/news/thomas-mulcair-cant-see-the-difference-between-canada-and-nigeria/

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/christophermajka/2012/05/dutch-disease-denial-inflation-politics-and-tar

Also consider that Mr. Mulcair has followed through and made a visit to Fort MacMurray. Unfortunately, Premier Redford was not there to meet him - as she was committed to attend a meeting of the Bilderberg group instead.

And finally, it might be worth mentioning that the Alberta Government's 2012 budget documents confirm that the manufacturing sector has been seriously challenged by the high value of the Canadian dollar - which clearly confirms Mulcair's earlier statements.

Since everyone clearly agrees, what is all the fighting about?

'Oilsands fever' seen as Canada's Dutch Disease - Politics - CBC News

'Oilsands fever' seen as Canada's Dutch Disease - Politics - CBC News

Enbridge plans reversal of oil pipeline to supply central Canada - Canada - CBC News

Enbridge plans reversal of oil pipeline to supply central Canada - Canada - CBC News

Gitxsan Crisis Update May 14th - Afternoon - Please share!!

The GTS (Gitxsan Treaty Society) - and a small minority of Gitxsan chiefs (3/30) are siding with Enbridge and using the Canadian courts to overturn the will of the majority of the Gitxsan nation. Warrants were issued today to arrest key leaders of the Gitxsan Unity movement and the results are recorded here in this inspiring example of non-violent peaceful resistance. 

It is clear that the Gitxsan people - who have never ceded their territory to the Canadian government- are resisting this pipeline development. Unfortunately, the media is not covering this story because it goes against the corporate interests that are so clearly backed by the Harper Government. The best defense that the Gitxsan have is a well-informed public because if/when the government resorts to violence to achieve Enbridge's agenda their actions will be clearly exposed.

Please share this widely.

Gitxsan Crisis Update May 14th - Afternoon - YouTube

The Enbridge Pipeline increasingly represents a clash of conflicting Realities

 The conflict over the Enbridge Pipeline proposal to ship Alberta's bitumen across BC and First Nation territory  is quickly becoming a clash over opposing world views. For Stephen Harper and many privileged Canadians- the earth simply represents resources that can be taken and sold to the highest bidder. Their experience is that their water comes from a tap (or plastic bottle) and their food comes from a grocery store and they will defend to the death this economic system because they (mistakenly) believe their lives depend on it. 

First Nations people - and an increasingly wide range of informed Canadians- realize our food comes from the land and our water comes from the streams - and we must fight to our death to defend the Earth's natural living systems because they truly give life to us all.

Canada News: Walkom: Northern Gateway pipeline faces ‘unbreakable’ wall - thestar.com

(Thanks to Derrick Jensen for this powerful insight) 

Original Quote:
"If your experience is that your food comes from the grocery store and your water comes from the tap, then you are going to defend to the death the system that brings those to you because your life depends on them.  If your experience, however, is that your food comes from a land base and that your water comes from a stream, well, then you will defend to the death that land base and that stream."