the SGNews news blog

The SGNews Blog is a frequently-updated list of Canadian and international news links of interest to progressive readers.

Apr 042013
 

Buses reduce carbon emissions, noise, and local pollution.

from the Vancouver Observer

"If someone asked you about what technologies have the greatest potential to reduce the carbon pollution that is destabilizing our climate and turning our oceans acid, what would pop into your head first? Many people would mention wind turbines, solar photovoltaic panels, electric cars, and perhaps even bicycles lanes or light rail. But there is a potential climate superhero quietly patrolling the streets of Vancouver, Burnaby and about 300 other cities, the seldom-noticed electric trolley bus.

"Part of what makes the trolley bus such a potential game changer is that it not a new and unproven invention; like the bicycle and electric streetcar the basic design has been refined gradually for over a century. The first trolley buses in regular service were very basic, like the electric streetcars that came into regular service about a decade earlier. Trolley buses have gradually been refined to be highly sophisticated forms of transportation with a solid track record, the largest carry up to 200 people in buses with three sections. …"

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Apr 032013
 

Complaints come amidst growing demands by aboriginal groups for greater say on resource extraction.

from the Globe and Mail

"A group of First Nation communities in mineral-rich Northern Ontario is asking the province to postpone implementation of new mining regulations that went into effect this week, claiming the rules were drafted without full consultation.

"The new regulations are part of a modernized Mining Act that was passed in 2009 to promote mineral exploration and development in a way that recognizes aboriginal and treaty rights and minimizes impact on the environment. …"

Full story

 

Apr 032013
 

OLRB Chair Bernard Fishbein reserves judgment on whether to rule in small school boards' case against elementary teachers' after-school boycott.

from the Toronto Star

"If the Ontario Labour Relations Board rules that the elementary teachers’ union broke the law last fall when it advised members not to run after-school programs, it could threaten the shaky labour peace being hammered out now with Queen’s Park, warns the lawyer for the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO).

"Howard Goldblatt urged Labour Board Chair Bernard Fishbein Tuesday to drop the case against ETFO launched in January by two small school boards, who argue the Education Act forbids unions who aren’t in a strike to encourage collective action that disrupts the normal activities of a school. …"

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Apr 032013
 

Pipeline carried same oil Keystone XL would transport.

from The Nation

"When the Exxon Pegasus pipeline ruptured Friday in Mayflower, Arkansas, tens of thousands of gallons of diluted bitumen were sent forth into a residential neighborhood, and 22 homes had to be evacuated. Since this is the same sort of oil that would be carried by the Keystone XL pipeline, were it to be built, the Arkansas spill is appropriately spurring a conversation about safety. Is Keystone also going to lead to more spills? (There have been twelve on the completed portions of the pipeline already.) And how dangerous is this stuff spilling all over the ground?

"But this conversation must start with a simple fact: There are too many known unknowns about diluted bitumen. We don't know exactly what's in it, and the government hasn't fully studied how safe it is to transport. …"

Full story

Apr 032013
 

Race for Superintendent of Public Instruction centres on issues including vouchers.

fromThe Nation

"Debates about education policy often get muddled, especially at election time. Though school board contests across the country regularly touch on local elements of the fight over the future of public education, and though legislative contests frequently raise policy details, it is rare that voters in a high-profile statewide contest face an absolutely clear choice on a broad range of education concerns.

"But in Wisconsin, where Republican Governor Scott Walker has attacked teacher unions and hacked away at education budgets, and where Walker now proposes a sweeping expansion of a controversial vouchers scheme to shift public money to private schools, voters will have a chance to register their response Tuesday.

"Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers, a nonpartisan official elected four years ago, is up for reelection. And he is, for all intents and purposes, running against Walker’s education agenda. …"

Full story

Apr 032013
 

Ignorant comments based on negative stereotypes and misinformation.

from the Georgia Straight

"Canada has shown quite a racist attitude in its response to the Idle No More movement. Blatantly racist comments that I would certainly not expect in 2013 abound, such as “Indian giver”, “Playing victim…waiting for a handout”, and “This is Canada…the point is for everyone to have equal rights aka no special native rights…move on and get over it. You ain’t special. You are no different than any other Canadian even if you don’t want to call yourself one.” These feel like a slap in the face, and I’m a white Euro-Canadian. And then Don Olsen’s letter was published in the Nanaimo Daily News. I can sit idly by listening to this racist hatred no more.

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Apr 032013
 

Alberta has least effective policies of any province in curbing pollution.

from the Vancouver Observer

"When it comes to fighting climate change, Alberta is all hat, no cattle.They talk a good story but their weak climate policies allow their climate pollution to surge out of control, forcing climate failure on our nation.

"The Alberta Government repeatedly highlights what it claims is its cutting edge carbon tax of $15 per tonne of carbon dioxide (tCO2). Just last week they paid $30,000 to run a half page ad in the New York Times lobbying for the Keystone XL pipeline, proclaiming:

'Alberta already has a $15 price on carbon.'

"Oddly, they left out the fact that only about  2percent of Alberta's emissions pay their carbon tax. …"

Full story

Apr 012013
 

President can help Canada stop environmental destruction.

from the New York Times

"If President Obama blocks the Keystone XL pipeline once and for all, he’ll do Canada a favor.

"Canada’s tar sands formations, landlocked in northern Alberta, are a giant reserve of carbon-saturated energy — a mixture of sand, clay and a viscous low-grade petroleum called bitumen. Pipelines are the best way to get this resource to market, but existing pipelines to the United States are almost full. So tar sands companies, and the Alberta and Canadian governments, are desperately searching for export routes via new pipelines. …"

Full story

Mar 312013
 

from the Toronto Star

"Peter Kormos was, as well as being a natural-born contrarian practically made for a life of political opposition, a complicated man.

"Over almost a quarter century in Ontario politics, the long-time New Democratic MPP — found dead in his Welland home Saturday at just 60 — was renowned for his high-profile antics and keen nose for publicity. Yet he lived as a loner, maybe even a lonely soul. …"

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Mar 292013
 

from the Georgia Straight

"The federal government’s Safe Streets and Communities Act should be amended or revoked, a report issued today by B.C.’s provincial health officer recommends.

"The report, titled Health, Crime, and Doing Time, argues that changes included in the federal crime legislation enacted last year amount to a step backward that could result in more aboriginal youth and adults in correctional centres, and lower health status for aboriginal populations. …"

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