The Canadian Progressive: Norway’s experience with Big Oil offers lessons for Idle No More

by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Jan 21, 2013: Norway’s experience with Big Oil offers lessons for Idle No More and other progressive movements determined to stop Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives from turning Canada into a petro-state. Earlier, I blogged about a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, which

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Politics and Entertainment: Bill McKibben on #IdleNoMore | The stakes couldn’t be higher, for Canada and for the world

“The stakes couldn’t be higher, for Canada and for the world. Much of this uprising began when Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper rammed through Parliament an omnibus bill gutting environmental reviews and protections. He had no choice if he wanted to keep developing Canada’s tar sands, because there’s no possible way to mine and pipe that sludgy crude without fouling lakes and rivers. (Indeed, a study released a few days ago made clear that carcinogens had now found their way into myriad surrounding lakes). And so, among other things, the omnibus bill simply declared that almost every river, stream and lake in the country was now exempt from federal environmental oversight. Canada’s environmental community protested in all the normal ways – but they had no more luck than, say, America’s anti-war community in the run up to Iraq. There’s trillions of dollars of oil locked up in Alberta’s tarsands, and Harper’s fossil-fuel backers won’t be denied. But there’s a stumbling block they hadn’t counted on, and that was the resurgent power of the Aboriginal Nations. Some Canadian tribes have signed treaties with the Crown, and others haven’t, but none have ceded their lands, and all of them feel their inherent rights are endangered by Harper’s power grab. They are, legally and morally, all that stand in the way of Canada’s total exploitation of its vast energy and mineral resources, including the tar sands, the world’s second largest pool of carbon. NASA’s James Hansen has explained that burning that bitumen on top of everything else we’re combusting will mean it’s “game over for the climate.” Which means, in turn, that Canada’s First Nations are in some sense standing guard over the planet.
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Politics and Entertainment: Bill McKibben on #IdleNoMore | The stakes couldn’t be higher, for Canada and for the world

“The stakes couldn’t be higher, for Canada and for the world. Much of this uprising began when Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper rammed through Parliament an omnibus bill gutting environmental reviews and protections. He had no choice if he wanted to keep developing Canada’s tar sands, because there’s no possible way to

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Politics and Entertainment: Bill McKibben on #IdleNoMore | The stakes couldn’t be higher, for Canada and for the world

“The stakes couldn’t be higher, for Canada and for the world. Much of this uprising began when Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper rammed through Parliament an omnibus bill gutting environmental reviews and protections. He had no choice if he wanted to keep developing Canada’s tar sands, because there’s no possible way to

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The Canadian Progressive: In Paris, street art in solidarity with Idle No More (PHOTO)

More than five thousand #IdleNoMore protesters gathered in Ottawa Friday as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and First Nations leaders held a closed-door  meeting. Meanwhile, in Paris, street art in solidarity with Idle No More: RELATED: AFN call for “real change”, “remedies and actions” for First Nations In Ottawa, thousands of #IdleNoMore and allied protesters demand real

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The Canadian Progressive: In Ottawa, Thousands of #IdleNoMore And Allied Protesters Demand Real Change (PHOTOS)

by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive | Jan 11, 2013 7.00 PM EST #IdleNoMore’s show of people-power forced Prime Minister Stephen Harper to stay for entire five hours of meeting with First Nations leaders. More than five thousand #IdleNoMore protesters gathered in Ottawa today as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and First Nations leaders held a closed-door

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Politics and Entertainment: Mission Accomplished for the shrewd person who decided on the Deloitte Audit Release

It’s difficult not to think that the timing of the release of  the Deloitte financial audit of Atawapiskat was calculated in its anticipation of a potential backlash against Spence and, by association, #idlenomore.  The audit prompted Spence to shut down media relations, a closed door thus leading to the media’s usual the-people-deserve-to-know resentment and dog-with-a-bone mentality about being squashed.  That in turn led to bad press, especially from the Coyne, Blatchford,  and Wente types, and bad press led to an apparent shift in public opinion.  The squabbling over today’s meeting doesn’t help. 
Mission accomplished for whoever it was who decided to release the audit.
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The Canadian Progressive: For #IdleNoMore, support and prayer from Kobe, Japan (PHOTO)

From Kobe, Japan, an expression of support and solidarity for hunger striker Attawapiskat First Nation Chief Theresa Spence and the phenomenal #IdleNoMore grassroots movement for Aboriginal rights and sovereignty: This photo: Photo via Facebook And these words: Today , we gathered together to pray in Kobe Japan. We hope this prayer can reach to Chief Theresa

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