from the Vancouver Sun
An act before the BC legislature which looks, on the surface, to be housekeeping legislation, actually grants private property rights to corporations holding BC forest licenses without any reciprocal benefits to the public interest for the Crown-owned land. This gift of a public resource, writes Anthony Britneff in a special to The Vancouver Sun, was offered with no public consultation.
by Courtney Brooks
UNITED NATIONS, March 16, 2013 — Muslim and Western countries have approved a new United Nations declaration aimed at combating violence against women and girls.
by Jon Cozart
Ariel, Belle, Pocohantas, Jasmine tell their after-stories.
by Diana Aviles Hernandez and Concerned Residents
Yesterday, March 13, Canadian Border Services Agency officers raided several construction sites in Vancouver. Dozens of migrant and undocumented workers were interrogated, arrested, and detained. Most of them are now being held for deportation even though some of them were in the midst of making various immigration, refugee, and sponsorship claims.
Would these raids have happened on this scale, in such a militaristic way, if a reality TV show wasn’t being filmed for National Geographic Channel?
We are urging National Geographic Channel and Force Four Entertainment (the show’s production company), to cancel the show Border Security immediately, and for the Canadian Border Services Agency to stop participating in this program and conducting violent deportations.
Deportation, exploiting human suffering, coercing migrant workers, and tearing apart families is not entertainment. Would these raids have happened on this scale, in such a militaristic way, if a reality TV show wasn't being filmed for National Geographic Channel?
As the wife of one the men being detained, I know that while they were interrogated and intimidated in custody, they were given consent forms to say that they would allow the footage to be aired on TV. My husband refused to sign these forms because he recognized it was wrong, but other people who he is being detained with — some who speak little English — could not stand up to this coercion.
As the wife of one the men being detained, I know that while they were interrogated and intimidated in custody, they were given consent forms to say that they would allow the footage to be aired on TV.
Not only did the show film the raid, the camera crews came to the houses of the men who were arrested.
The first season of Border Security is already airing on National Geographic. By running this deceptive and exploitative show, National Geographic is complicit in the victimization of people who are living, working, and building community with their families and loved ones.
By signing this petition, we are sending a message that deportation for the sake of entertainment is unacceptable.
My Story
My husband Renan was one day from completing his immigration sponsorship forms when Canadian Border Services raided the construction site he works at. Though we married in November, Renan still had final sponsorship documents to submit. Renan was also required to work to be considered for sponsorship.
My husband has been caught in a systemic problem: His sponsorship required that he work before he became a Canadian, but a work permit wasn’t yet granted. Within a week, he will be deported to Honduras, where he fears for his life.
Renan was supporting family in Honduras, as well as my own daughter Aaliyah. Our family’s suffering is a private matter, and should not be broadcast as entertainment.
Here is the letter the petition authors invite people to sign:
Deportation, exploiting human suffering, coercing migrant workers, and tearing apart families is not entertainment.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
by Leo Burnett, Paris
French ad explores the domestic side of the paperless revolution.
by Jorge Barrera
OTTAWA (APTN) –The Harper government continues to prevent the UN special rapporteur on Indigenous peoples from visiting Canada.
James Anaya, the special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples, says the federal government continues to ignore his year-old request to visit Canada to investigate the “human rights situation of Indigenous peoples,” according to a February 20 letter he sent to the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC).
“I have communicated with the government of Canada to request its consent for me to conduct an official visit to the country to examine and report on the human rights situation of Indigenous peoples there,” writes Anaya, in the letter. “I initially made the request in February of 2012 and am still awaiting a response from the government.”
Anaya has written the federal government at least three times requesting permission to visit the country…
from The Independent
Britain's health system could slip back by 200 years unless the "catastrophic threat" of antibiotic resistance is successfully tackled, the Government's Chief Medical Officer warns today…
from the Ontario Health Coalition
More than a thousand people in communities across Ontario held candlelight vigils and rallies outside local hospitals March 4 to protest privatization and cuts to hospital services.
Organized by the Ontario Health Coalition, "S O S — Save Our Services" rallies protested the $3 billion cuts in health spending featured in the government's recent budget.
While the health ministry states that home care will take up the slack in hospital services, according to the coalition, the cuts are hospital services such as surgeries that cannot be replaced by home or community care.
“Thousands of surgeries are being cut from our local non-profit hospitals to be privatized to for-profit corporations, or they are simply cut. Hundreds of health professionals, nurses and hospital support staff are being cut along with the services they provide”, said Natalie Mehra, director of the Ontario Health Coaliton.
In smaller communities, the cuts range from 10 percent to almost 50 percent of existing hospital beds, she said. In larger cities, deficits ranging from $20 million to $40 million have been created by hospital funding cuts, resulting in bed closures and service cuts.
Hundreds of registered nurse positions are to be cut, said Vicki McKenna, First Vice-President of the Ontario Nurses' Association.
"The impact of cuts to hospital services as a result of government hospital funding reform means less care provided by fewer registered nurses," said McKenna. "This is happening at a time when Ontario already has the second-lowest ratio of RNs to population in the country and will result in higher readmission rates and increasing costs."
by chwils2012
Meet Aspynn, Angyl, and other All American girls.
