This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Jessica Wildfire examines the continued threat of COVID-19 even as governments have largely decided to stop recognizing its devastating effects on public health. And Tom Kitchin points out how the same phenomenon has played out even in New Zealand (which was once
Continue readingTag: First Nations
Alberta Politics: In only 64 days, Danielle Smith blew the relationship Jason Kenney strove to build with Alberta First Nations to smithereens
Say what you will about Jason Kenney and his ideas, he made progress on persuading First Nations communities to buy into his vision of Alberta’s future. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has blown her predecessor’s relationship with Alberta’s First Nations to smithereens (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). Danielle Smith blew it all to
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Bad Driver or Hate Crime? RCMP says “impatient”
"[The driver] was shouting stuff out. He was being racist, using some racial slurs," said Garrett Dan. "We have a whole bunch of witnesses to what happened to my brothers." Please read this story, that probably should have published yesterday:https://t.co/nYF3dwaj0K — Akshay Kulkarni (@kul_akshay_) June 5, 2022 The RCMP put
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jacques Poitras talks to some of the at-risk people whose freedom will be undermined by the scrapping of public health protections. Phil Tank calls out Scott Moe for refusing to report on child COVID deaths (among other essential information even from the standpoint
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Katharine Wu writes that contrary to the continued attempt by right-wing talking heads to equate mass viral transmission with immunity, we can’t assume that the spread of the Omicron COVID strain will offer substantial protection from future infection. Kayla Rosen reports on new
Continue readingNorthern Currents : While the state arrests land defenders and the press, a new report highlights government apathy toward climate change
An all-to-familiar juxtaposition has arisen with the recent arrests of Indigenous land defenders and journalists by the RCMP. On the one hand, we have politicians like Justin Trudeau and John Horgan insisting on the importance of climate change and that we must act now. On the other, these same politicians
Continue readingNorthern Currents : Reconciliation is a sham to our political leaders
Our political leaders have a deficient understanding of reconciliation. What they want to reconcile are the contradictory interests between Capital and Indigenous self-determination. Ultimately, our political leaders, embodied by the Canadian state, side with Capital. There is a much more radical, transformative understanding of reconciliation available.
Continue readingNorthern Currents : Chrétien comments show that being out of touch is a feature of the Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is out of touch with the needs of working-class and Indigenous people. More and more people are realizing this as time goes on. This is not new, either. Given the recent comments of former Prime Minister and minister the (previously named) Indian Affairs, Jean Chrétien, this out-of-touchness
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Truth and Reconciliation Day Links
A few links and reports for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. – Rose Lemay writes that reconciliation requires systemic change at the level of individual assumptions and awareness. Murray Sinclair notes that the proclamation of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is just one small step in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: #Elxn44 Roundup
The latest from Canada’s federal election campaign. – The Climate Emergency Alliance highlights the crucial climate change question which was left out of the federal debates – which is what parties will to do keep fossil fuel reserves in the ground when we manifestly can’t afford to exploit them. –
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: No Truth
Manitoba’s new Minister really put his foot in his mouth. The leader of the Official Opposition put him in his place. Here's the exchange between @WabKinew and Dr. Alan Lagimodiere, the new Indigenous Reconciliation and Northern Relations minister. pic.twitter.com/qV87piRT7E — elishadacey (@elishadacey) July 15, 2021 Why are Canadian Conservatives like
Continue readingScripturient: Are Cwood’s Symbolic Gestures Mere Platitudes?
I understand symbolic gestures: they’re what we do when we cannot change a situation, but want to express our anger, passion, compassion, outrage, sadness, support, angst, or other emotions. From bumper stickers to flags at half-mast, rainbow-painted crosswalks, and lawn signs with supportive messages for causes: we all make them,
Continue readingNorthern Currents –: Tearing down colonial statues is making history, not erasing it
While confederate statues get bashed down in the south, Canada’s own architects of genocide and apartheid have also come to a crumbling demise. Statues of John A MacDonald and Egerton Ryerson have been defaced and torn down across Canada. My opinion on this is very clear: this is a good
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Canada Day 2021: Reflection, Land Rights, and Restitution
Reflection, remembrance and mourning are important. So too is restitution. And the best way to do that, is to respect indigenous rights, including land rights. Returning significant portions of land to indigenous peoples is both a moral obligation, and a necessity for healing and true reconciliation. It also makes good
Continue readingScripturient: They’re Paving Paradise to Put Up a Parking Lot
By now you’re aware that our council has approved a plan to destroy a large open, public space in Harbourview Park, and replace healthy grass and trees with an asphalt parking lot so that people will drive instead of bicycling or walking to use the $1.55 million splash pad that
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Cost Of A Child’s Coffin In Canada
I used to know how much a child’s casket cost because we had to fund raise so often for burials. https://t.co/OTh4zStsLy — Cindy Blackstock (@cblackst) June 1, 2021 “There Are Many Others”: 215 Bodies Found at Canadian Residential School for Indigenous Children | Democracy Now! https://t.co/yx7fyIdl5r — Cindy Blackstock (@cblackst)
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: “Isn’t Who We Are”
A Radio Ad Running in Saskatchewan Says Residential School Trauma Is a Myth, & I'm Pretty Sure No One's Noticed, Nevermind Concerned? https://t.co/rR813u866c — Tammy Robert (@tammyrobert) September 23, 2018 Why are there Canadians willing to deny the Residential School system was a genocide perpetrated against Indigenous people of Canada?
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Hundreds of Kids Found Dead In Unmarked Graves
A normal country would declare several days of mourning after a mass grave of children was discovered. — Nora Loreto (@NoLore) May 29, 2021 Canada is a normal settler-colonial country with a dark history of genocide against Indigenous peoples Canada is still fighting Kamloops residential schools survivors, and their descendants,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Alex Himelfarb writes about the need to get past obsessing over deficits and taxes when they’re necessary to fund a the society we want. – Olivia Stefanovich, Karina Roman and Ryan Patrick Jones report on the Auditor General’s report placing responsibility for
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Jason Hickel writes that on a global scale, poverty is the result of inequality and the misallocation of resources rather than underdevelopment. And Brittany Andrew-Amofah makes the case for a wealth tax to both reduce the existing concentration of wealth and power, and
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