RCMP and CSIS treat peaceful protest actions and questioning the Harper Government as ‘forms of attack’, label activists involved “national security threats”, documents reveal. By Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Feb. 22, 2013: The Harper Government is intensifying its attacks on environmental and other activist movements in Canada, according to documents released under freedom of information laws, the Guardian READ MORE
 Activism News, Canada, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, csis, environment, Environmental Activist, Extremism, Featured, Government, Harper government, Harper vs. Canada, Inside Ottawa, Keystone XL Pipeline, national security, Natural Resources, Opinion and Analysis, Petro-state, Politics News, protests, RCMP, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, terror identities, Terrorism, the guardian, The Ugly Canadian Green Party leader Elizabeth May published a well-thought out and clear article on Wednesday, breaking down the reasons why the ongoing media banter about Attiwapiskat fund mismanagement and Chief Theresa Spence are merely distractions from an ongoing legacy of government failure to protect indigenous people and the environment. Twitter and Facebook have become virtual battlegrounds for both government supporters and those who are involved with the Idle No More uprising. Racism, sexism and classism are rampant, and tension arising from finger pointing and blame displacement are escalating. The crux of it all is that the Canadian government, and the majority . . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Attawapiskat Audit is Merely a Distraction If you speak French, you’re in for a real treat from this group of protestors in France. And if you don’t, I think you’ll find that the clip transcends language into something that is universally mockable. By the time Chick-fil-A quietly announced that it was no longer donating to political groups with anti-gay agendas, the cacophony of attention given to the back and forth over the Chick-fil-A controversy has been dwarfed by protests in the Muslim world sparked by a previously unknown Islamophobic amateur film produced in the US. In this post I look at the interesting phenomenon of why some, often very minor, statements or events can balloon into receiving mass attention like that given to the Chick-fil-A controversy or anti-film protests. It should first be said that the decision by Chick-fil-A demonstrates the power that these (Read more…) Quebec students, outraged over a 75% tuition increase, have sparked the largest protests in Quebec’s history and have already managed the rare achievement of achieving genuine, if minor, concessions that would have almost certainly not happened were it not for the protests. As is common when protests rise up, there have been many attempts to denigrate or diminish the protest and the reaction is often overly negative. I believe that in a democracy, citizens not only have the right but also the responsibility to take the issues that they care about and that affect them, and to push for those . . . → Read More: Progressive Proselytizing: Solidarity with Quebec Student Protesters Harper government is letting us down on many fronts and his policies on the environment are one of the major let downs. Harper is in the pocket of oil, gas and coal companies. People are left with no choice but to protest. Professor Mark Jaccard was arrested along with other protestors. A handful of protesters were arrested late Saturday evening. (Ben Hadaway/CBC) “Putting myself in a situation where I may be accused of civil disobedience is not something I have ever done before,” Mark Jaccard said. “But the current willingness of especially our federal government to brazenly take actions that . . . → Read More: LeDaro: Anti-coal Mark Jaccard, a Nobel Peace Prize winner arrested A crowd of about 200 appeared in Queen’s Park, Ontario yesterday, protesting provincial legislation that will help eliminate anti-gay bullying in schools. This rally also marked the unveiling of some brand new terminology to be used by the anti-gay lobby, as a spokesperson began referring to Gay-Straight Alliances as “homosexual sex clubs.” The protesters then unexpectedly switched topics to rally against school-time “kidnapping, murder, and treason gangs,” previously known as chess clubs. The following is a partial list from The Toronto Star: G20 Summit: Cop Unmasked As Protest Couple File Suit (Read the Star article for all the details) March 7, 2012: Toronto police settle a human rights claim filed by a paraplegic man arrested during the G20 summit. Terms are not public due to a confidentiality clause. Feb. 16, 2012: Toronto lawyer Nicholas Wright sues Toronto police for $25,000 for alleged unlawful arrest. June 24, 2011: Sean Salvati, a paralegal arrested prior to the G20 summit and allegedly strip-searched, assaulted and held naked in a jail cell for nearly an hour . . . → Read More: Driving The Porcelain Bus: List of Toronto G20 Lawuits CANADIAN POLITICS ONTARIO: DENOUNCE AND DEFEAT DRUMMAND’S DREADFUL DIRECTIONS: Always on the lookout to squeeze the poor even further the McGuinty government of Ontario has recently received a commission report of a plan to tighten the screws from former bank executive Don Drummond. It was all that could be expected. Here is the reaction to this report from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) ññññññññññDefeating Drummond’s Dreadful Directions Former Toronto Dominion Bank economist, Don Drummond, has now handed overhis report to the McGuinty government. As we might have expected it is acall to arms (Read more…) CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO: KEEP THE SCHOOL HOUSE SHELTER OPEN: Here’s another callout from down Ontario way and the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP). This is an appeal and petition to keep a downtown homeless shelter open. Here’s the story: &&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Hello everyone, The fight for the School House Shelter and services AND housing in the Downtown East continues. Please sign this on-line petition that will be brought to the City:http://www.petitiononlinecanada.com/petition/save-the-school-house-harm-reduction-shelter/834 Did you know that aside from its short title, the words «children» and «predators» do not appear anywhere in Bill C-30? Once again, the Harper government’s PR machine is revving up to defend another idiotic piece of proposed legislation — and when I say idiotic, I mean pathologically idiotic! There is absolutely nothing lawful about the access Bill C-30 will give the Harper government and those it designates to implement it. How can Canadians stop this legislation from being rammed through the House of Commons? Contact your MP right now and send Bill C-30 back to the drawing board. CANADIAN LABOUR ONTARIO: PENSIONERS AND ALLIES OCCUPY 21 ONTARIO TORY OFFICES: It’s called “Blue (collar)-Grey Power”, an alliance of workers and pensioners to oppose Tory plans to gut Canada’s Old Age Security (OAS). Here’s the story, from the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) of how they occupied 21 Conservative MP offices across Ontario. You can read more about this action and find out which Tory bench warmers were targeted at the website of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL). A great example of how labour is taking up the innovative tactics of the Occupy movement. . . . → Read More: Molly’sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2012-02-12 14:31:00 Millions of internet users and entrepreneurs already opposed the Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act (aka SOPA and PIPA), including Google. Why NO SOPA? In case you missed it, somecanuckchick dot com went dark — along with thousands of others — on January 18, 2012 to protest SOPA and PIPA. I believe that SOPA and PIPA would have reached beyond the borders of the United States of America and required internet service providers [ISPs] to take down any website [Canadian, or otherwise!] accused of posting, or linking to, copyrighted content. I also believe that SOPA and PIPA . . . → Read More: somecanuckchick dot com: On SOPA + PIPA + [Un]Lawful Access… CANADIAN LABOUR LONDON ONTARIO: COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR LOCKED OUT CATERPILLAR WORKERS: Time ticks on until this Saturday’s mass demonstration in solidarity with workers at the Electro-Motive Diesel plant in London Ontario. While this is being planned the local community in London Ontario is rallying behind the workers affected who are supposed to have their wages cut by 50% as per the company’s offer. There has been much discussion about the culpability of the federal government in allowing a foreign purchase of this enterprise insofar as it was “in the interests of Canada”. Obviously it is not, and the federal . . . → Read More: Molly’sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2012-01-20 02:48:00 Bulgaria Protest Tsvetelina Beloutova.jpg No kinky stuff, Bulgaria declared as it limited Chevron in using only conventional drilling techniques and not hydraulic fracturing. The Bulgarian government voted to prohibit Chevron from using fracking to search for natural gas in the northeast section of the country. The main driver for the decision was public concern about contaminating the drinking water supply and land with unknown chemicals and leaking gas (sound familiar?). The country asked Chevron in June to conduct an exploratory test within its borders for its potential for gas extraction. Since then, citizens have voiced their concern . . . → Read More: DeSmogBlog: Permission Denied: Bulgaria Says "No" To Chevron’s Exploratory Fracking Amanda Hiscocks to judge: “By focusing on the KKK’s tactics and not their politics you’ve missed the point entirely.” Go here for an excellent post on the woman facing a 16-month sentence for ‘counselling to obstruct police and counselling to commit mischief’ prior to the G20 protests. Read her full statement to the judge, where she takes on his digusting and wildly inappropriate comparisons CANADIAN LABOUR NEWFOUNDLAND: TROUBLE IN PARADISE It is a very old story out in Newfoundland way. Fish processing companies come and go, opening, closing and reopening elsewhere. All, of course, to keep labour costs as low as possible no matter what the effect on local communities. The Ocean Choice International company is cut from the usual cloth. They have recently laid off 400 workers in Port Union and Marystown. This has come along with a “request” to the Newfoundland government to grant the company permanent exemption to ship fish outside of the province for processing. In return the company “promises” . . . → Read More: Molly’sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2012-01-12 01:35:00 The proposed oil pipeline from Bruderheim, AB to Kitimat, BC will spill. It is not a question of if, but when — and by how much. FYI, oil and gas pipeline incidents and accidents are a regular occurrence in Canada. The majority are classified as minor, discharging less than 10 litres and are generally contained without directly impacting the environment. Since 2010, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has logged more than 100 different oil and gas pipeline incidents and accidents. Of course, the goal of the oil and gas industry is to have zero incidents and accidents. There is an . . . → Read More: somecanuckchick dot com: On Kitimat… CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO: NO TO BUDGET CUTS IN TORONTO: The following call out for protest against proposed budget cuts in the City of Toronto comes from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP). **********************[ocap] Stop the Cuts – Final Ford Budget Showdown! Important Update on City Cuts: 1) January 17th Mobilization: Final Budget Showdown 2) What you need to know about the 2013 City Budget ——————- 1) Final Budget Showdown Toronto vs Ford! Toronto Stop the Cuts Rally and Action January 17, 5:30pm City Hall **Join OCAP and the Downtown East Committee as we . . . → Read More: Molly’sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2012-01-10 01:12:00 ART: POLICING: As in keeping “someone’s peace. How do we measure the success or effectiveness of a social movement? Ultimately we probably wish to change our society in some way, or perhaps to resist the changes that are occurring. Sometimes these changes can be very targeted such as implementing a specific government or corporate policy. And sometimes it can be more general such as changing the attitudes and behavior of the population. I will look generally at what it might mean for a social movement to be successful and then consider this with respect to several specific cases such as the Occupy Movement, the Arab Awakening, the . . . → Read More: Progressive Proselytizing: Measuring the success of social movements: Occupy, Arab Awakening, the Tea Party, and Keystone XL Eccentric billionaire Sir Richard Branson somewhat surprisingly expressed his support for the OCW movement the other day, admitting they had “very valid reasons” to be protesting. “It’s now up to the business community to ensure that we show the way so that they can go, the Occupy Wall Street can feel that they’ve done their job and go home, and they’ve made a difference, and I think they will have made a difference, hopefully,” Branson said. Well, isn’t that special? Perhaps I’m just an inveterate cynic (or curmudgeon, as some would have it), but as superficially pleasing as Sir Richard’s . . . → Read More: Red Tory v.3.0.3: Branson: OCW “A Good Start” As the last motley vestiges of the OCW protest movement’s defiant encampments are being efficiently (and for the most part, amicably) removed this week by civic authorities across the country, it has to be admitted that this particular tactic of the movement was doomed to fail from the outset. With winter fast approaching, participation dwindling and the few remaining impromptu OCW tent cities having devolved into unseemly chaos, little could be gained from persevering in the insane folly of imagining that “if we camp here, things will change.” Although the harebrained notion of youthful idealists and fiery activists establishing . . . → Read More: Red Tory v.3.0.3: What’s Next for OCW? Panelists on the BBC comedy quiz show Have I Got News For You trade jibes about the OCW movement in London. Great line by Ian Hislop responding to the silly right-wing trope that protesters patronizing Starbucks are hypocrites: “You don’t have to want to return to a barter system and the Stone Age to complain about the way the financial crisis affected large numbers of people in the world.” |
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