by William A Collins
Tainted money
For your state,
When legislators
Take the bait.
The gambling industry’s under-the-radar political heft got a shot of overdue publicity when Sheldon Adelson, its biggest mogul, tried to use casino profits to buy the US presidency last year. Fortunately, the candidates the quirky conservative promoted were so flawed they lost.
by Janet Larsen
In recent years weather events have whiplashed between the extremes of heat and cold, flooding and drought. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases — largely from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas — have loaded up in the atmosphere, heating the planet and pushing humanity onto a climatic seesaw of weather irregularities. High-temperature records in many places are already being broken with startling frequency, and hotter temperatures are in store.
by Stephen Leahy
Monitoring of environmental activists in Canada by the country's police and security agencies has become the "new normal", according to a researcher who has analysed security documents released under freedom of information laws.
by Paul Weinberg
While the publication last week of a US Justice Department memo has triggered the first major debate on drones south of the border, it’s also likely to cast a long shadow over Canadian military affairs.
The document obtained by NBC attempts to establish the rules of the game for the US’s targeted assassinations in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. It asserts that threats to US interests do not have to be immediate to justify attacks, and that US citizens associated with al Qaeda are not immune.
Rideau Institute, which has just launched a petition and public education campaign aimed at scuttling the idea of armed drones in Canada’s arsenal.
Now get ready for all the questions now being raised about the legality of such missions to start migrating north, as the Harper government decides how to acquire armed drones under the Department of National Defence’s Joint Uninhabited Surveillance and Target Acquisition System (JUSTAS).
While the reported $1 billion program is way behind schedule, it’s being closely monitored by the Ottawa-based Rideau Institute, which has just launched a petition and public education campaign aimed at scuttling the idea of armed drones in Canada’s arsenal.
Although a year ago, then-associate defence minister Julian Fantino dismissed reports that Canada might acquire such vehicles as “mere speculation,” RCAF spokesperson Holly-Anne Brown confirmed to this reporter that the force is still on track for the purchases.
The program, she says, is “primarily” about giving Canadian Forces more scope in terms of “intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.” (DND has announced the use of smaller unmanned, unarmed craft for Arctic patrols.)
As to larger versions like the Reaper or Predator, capable of carrying weighty “precision-guided munitions,” she says this represents “a secondary” function “in support of deployed operations.
Future developments in unmanned aerial tech could make the controversial F-35 stealth jet fighter the Tories have put on hold due to ballooning costs obsolete.
“[JUSTAS] will contribute to equipping the Canadian Forces with the tools they need to be a modern, multi-role force taking on the challenges of the 21st century,” adds Brown, who refuses to be pinned down on a deadline.
The nature of those challenges is, however, not being mapped out. The US and Israel are the only countries employing these weapons at present, according to defence organization Global Security. Meanwhile, those working to minimize global conflict fear unmanned vehicles encourage participation in wars because their use means far fewer military casualties and hence less anti-war backlash on the home front.
“We would be making all of the same mistakes the Americans are making,” says the Rideau’s Steven Staples, pointing to the number of civilians inadvertantly killed by these supposedly precise weapons. (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates about 500 to 900 civilians have been killed by drones in Pakistan alone since 2004).
At York University, Michael Skinner, a researcher at the Centre for International and Security Studies, points out that the future of aerial war lies with remote-controlled supersonic jet fighters that can get in and out of tricky combat situations. He also suggests that future developments in unmanned aerial tech could make the controversial F-35 stealth jet fighter the Tories have put on hold due to ballooning costs “obsolete.”
“Once the government starts using the [current] armed drones, it will be easier to sell the buying of the next generation of unmanned aerial vehicles, which could be in operation in five years” and will be programmed to fire without the assistance of a human operator at base.
“Politically, governments don’t want to talk about it. You are talking about robotic warfare. That is politically volatile,” he says.
Even the more capable drones like the MQ-9 Reaper carry roughly one-ninth to one-fourth of the payload of a manned jet fighter like the F-16.
At the Washington-based Center for Defence Information, Winslow Wheeler doubts there will be any move to replace piloted aircraft with drones in the foreseeable future. Even the more capable drones like the MQ-9 Reaper, he says, carry roughly one-ninth to one-fourth of the payload of a manned jet fighter like the F-16.
And the Reaper costs about $120 million US, compared to about $55 million for a F-16 jet fighter. “There surely is a future for unmanned systems, but only for those uses where they are effective, survivable and affordable. We are clearly not there yet,” Wheeler tells NOW.
“As an assassination device, drones have the advantage of seemingly holding the perpetrator harmless and politically safe, but it is not clear how long that will last. This story has a long way to go,” he says.
Certainly, the political questions have begun. Queen’s University defence analyst Christian Leuprecht thinks the delay in the JUSTAS program can be partly attributed to the fact that our country is a signatory to the Geneva Convention.
“Canada is likely wrestling with its interpretation of international law,” he says. “We might take part in [US-led] missions, but it is entirely possible that the terms of engagement for Canadians with regard to unmanned aerial vehicles are going to be different.”
by Tyler Sommers
The recent scandals involving senators offer more reasons to question the Senate's continued existence.
by Linda McQuaig
Although much denigrated by the right these days, union activists are, as the old saying notes, “the people who brought you the weekend.”
The right apparently wants you to believe that the weekend is now out of date.
by Mel Watkins
Some of us are old enough to remember how, during the protests in the 1960s against the Vietnam War, in the presidency of Lyndon Johnson, we would shout: "LBJ, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?"
We turned a tragedy into a taunt but it had the merit of being the kind of truth that doesn't otherwise get widely acknowledged.
by Lester R Brown
The world is in transition from an era of food abundance to one of scarcity. Over the last decade, world grain reserves have fallen by one third. World food prices have more than doubled, triggering a worldwide land rush and ushering in a new geopolitics of food. Food is the new oil. Land is the new gold.
by Jill Richardson
“Why do American companies sell pesticides that are banned in the US to my country?” my Colombian friend Luz asked me. I had no good answer.
Yet, this question lies at the core of the bouquet of roses you might give or receive this Valentine’s Day. Nearly all roses sold in the US are grown in Colombia or Ecuador. US trade policies even encourage them to sell us roses by scrapping import duties, because Washington hopes it will keep them from selling and shipping us cocaine.
by Sarah van Gelder
The four founders of Idle No More didn’t start out famous. Until flash-mob round dances, prayer circles, and blockades spread across Canada, few people knew Jessica Gordon, Sylvia McAdam, Sheelah McLean, and Nina Wilson.
But today, Idle No More is emerging as a powerful movement for the rights of native peoples to protect the lands and waters.
Founders of Idle No More, from left, Sheelah McLean, Nina Wilson, Sylvia McAdam, Jessica Gordon. Photo by Marcel Petit.
The stakes extend far beyond First Nations’ land. Bill C-45, which sparked the movement, paves the way for expansion of tar sands mining and for building a pipeline to carry some of the Earth’s most polluting, carbon-intensive oil from Alberta to the Pacific coast for shipment to overseas markets. NASA climate scientist James Hansen says burning large quantities of tar sands oil would mean “game over for the planet.”
YES! Magazine Executive Editor Sarah van Gelder spoke with two of the founders on January 13: Sylvia McAdam, an author and educator from the Nehiyaw (Cree) Nation, and Sheelah McLean, an instructor at the University of Saskatchewan whose ancestors were European settlers
Sarah van Gelder:
Sylvia and Sheelah, how did you each come to be involved in the founding of Idle No More?
Sylvia McAdam:
After I graduated from law school, I returned to my father’s traditional land near the Whitefish reserve and to the waters that I had been to when I was a child, and they were gone. The waters had dried up! It was a terrible thing to witness.
When my father and I went back to his traditional hunting lands, his cabin was gone. There was just a huge burn mark on the ground. When my father saw it, he just stood there, so quiet, so upset. It was terrible to watch.
“It’s so clear what the government is doing: the bill opens up the land for resource development, for oil pipelines.”
I started investigating, and I learned that the conservation officers had blocked hunting roads to keep the traditional indigenous hunters away, and the lands were being logged. I felt intensely protective of the land and the water, so I went around nailing boards on trees, saying, “No Trespassing. Treaty 6 Territory!”
When I read Bill C-45, I was horrified. I got into a chat on Facebook with Jessica and Nina, and I started explaining to them the implications of C-45 for the environment, for the waters. I told them there’s something in law called acquiescence. That means that if you’re silent, then your silence is taken as consent. All of us agreed that we couldn’t be silent, that grassroots people have a right to know.
And then I told them, “I know this phenomenal white woman,” and I pulled Sheelah in. When we first did our teach-in, we were literally laughed at. People did not take it seriously, and we were so poor—we had nothing.
Sheelah McLean:
I’m a third generation white settler. I taught native studies in high school, and my aboriginal students kept talking about the racism they experienced in school and in the community.
I wanted to understand more, so I did a Master’s degree in what’s called anti-racist, anti-oppressive education. I had amazing mentors—all indigenous women—who taught me about the impact of colonialism on indigenous people worldwide. I did a lot of research on capitalism, globalization, and how racism is used to justify unequal relationships between settler societies and indigenous peoples.
van Gelder:
Where did the name Idle No More come from?
McAdam:
Jessica said, “We’re all being far too idle. We’re going to be idle no more!” And that became the name of our Facebook chat. It was not intended to dishonor the hard work of phenomenal, passionate, determined activists and lovers of the land. When we said “Idle No More,” we meant we had been idle, and we didn’t want to be anymore.
van Gelder: What is at stake here? What does Bill C-45 represent and what does this moment represent?
McAdam:
Bill C-45 is an omnibus budget bill. It lumps a slew of bills under one name. There are two that are especially detrimental. One removes much of the protection under the Navigable Waters Protection Act and, in some cases, totally removes that protection. It gives major corporations direct and easy access to our waters and to our land.
McLean:
It’s so clear what the government is doing: The bill opens the land for resource development, for oil pipelines.
People have been socialized to believe that an economy that relies on nonrenewable resource extraction creates jobs and brings money to our communities. But look at what’s happening to communities in Alberta’s tar sands region, which has one of the highest debts of any province in Canada. What about the poisoned land and water, and the fact that there are many aboriginal communities around the tar sands with very high rates of cancer, and types of cancer that have never been seen before? This is the time to say, “Enough is enough.”
McAdam:
There’s also an amendment to the Indian Act in the bill that allows for surrender of reserve land without proper consent of all Indian people affected and makes it easier for land to be redesignated to allow, for example, nuclear waste to be stored.
McLean:
These attacks are directed at indigenous peoples because the government is very aware that First Nations people can stop development on their land. These attacks are coming because multinational corporations want nonrenewable resource extraction.
So everything is at stake. We know about climate change and that it’s already affecting many species and also our communities. We can’t live in a world that doesn’t have clean air and land and water.
van Gelder:
Watching from a distance, it’s extraordinary to see how quickly Idle No More took hold.
McLean:
A key element is that it speaks the truth. The truth is that this continent, Turtle Island, was supposed to be built on nation-to-nation relationships with indigenous people. We’re just trying to rebuild that. The second truth is that we all need healthy air, water, and land. alThe other thing is that there’s a spirit and a heart to this movement. It’s about love, about honoring human dignity, and about honoring our relationship with the land.
McAdam:
I believe it was that spirituality — the combination of many prayers — that has been the biggest support to this movement. As we moved out into the communities with our teachings, I would approach elders and give them tobacco and a gift as a way of asking for their support in a sacred way. It was so beautiful to hear them speak about how this movement has a sense of liberation, a sense of freedom, a sense of empowerment for all people.
van Gelder:
Do you have children?
McLean:
We’re all moms, all four of us.
McAdam:
I think one of our strongest motivations is our children. We want them to witness that we weren’t silent about Bill C-45, and we want them to be able to be a part of our resistance.
van Gelder:
How does it feel to see people across Canada, the United States, and all over supporting you?
McAdam:
I can’t tell you how many times we’ve wept.
van Gelder:
How do you see the role of non-natives in this movement?
McAdam:
When Nina, Jessica, and I began to realize that we had a real chance of becoming self-determining because of this movement, we were high-fiving each other — we were so happy, so full of joy. Then we saw Sheela, and she was quietly looking at us, and we realized that we could not leave her behind.
The Canadian government is not acting in the best interests of Canadian citizens, so we have to defend them as well. This is what the elders have directed us. The treaty informs us that we adopted the Europeans and the subsequent descendents; they’ve become a part of our family, so they must be protected.
McLean:
For settlers, I think it’s important to support indigenous sovereignty because our humanity is tied up together. Attacks on one group hurt us all. Allies play an important role in this movement; there are lots of us at those rallies and round dances. I think people should just join in.
McAdam:
Yeah, Sheelah, remember the Raging Grannies?
There’s something happening in Calgary, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the flash mobs. Some grassroots allies built a symbolic little coffin, and they put “Racism” on the side of it, and they’re going to have people send letters, and poems, and songs, or whatever, saying goodbye to racism. I thought that was so cool!
van Gelder:
Let me ask you about Chief Spence, who is on a hunger strike as we speak, and the other chiefs. Are they part of your movement?
McAdam:
The face of Idle No More is the face of all grassroots people, not specifically one person. It’s the face of the many who have fasted, and walked, and been part of rallies, who have been organizing from the very beginning.
van Gelder:
What’s your view about the blockade of railroads, highways, and border crossings?
McAdam:
We don’t support really dramatic actions because our children and our elders are there, and their safety is a priority. As this movement goes global, we’re concerned that those types of actions will give people reason to use further violence against indigenous people. And I think a lot of people would agree that our peaceful actions have worked.
van Gelder:
When you think of people sitting on train tracks, for example, do you consider that a violent act?
McAdam:
Suppose a community were to come to us as Idle No More asking if they could blockade a road leading to where there’s going to be devastation to land — say, fracking. We would ask that they do ceremony and prayers, and that grassroots people — like the elders — be spoken to and their direction be asked. I think then Idle No More would support those types of blockades.
van Gelder:
When you imagine the sort of world you’re hoping your children will grow up into, what are some of the features of that world?
McLean:
I have visions of tackling inequality; we’re one of the richest countries in the world off indigenous lands and resources, and yet they are some of the poorest communities. And I’d like to see sustainable communities. What’s beautiful is that sustainable energy and technologies are absolutely in line with everything that Sylvia talks about in terms of indigenous laws on how to live with the land.
McAdam:
It’s absolutely that, yeah. For me it’s also self-determination for my people. And I would like that young people no longer utilize suicide as an option.
van Gelder:
How do you see things going from here?
McLean:
We’re starting to connect to the global community, to the United Nations, to solidarity groups around the world. Indigenous peoples worldwide are facing these same issues of having their land taken away, their resources extracted, and their land and water poisoned.
As more and more people come on board, it will take the shape that it needs to take. Each community has to decide how they’re going to tackle the issues of sovereignty and rethinking what it means to live with the land and water. It is going to continue to grow, there’s no doubt about that. And it will take various forms of resistance and building.
McAdam:
Indigenous self-determination, sovereignty, protection of land and water, and however that looks, I think those are critical at this point, and we’ll keep working toward that, until those things are in place.
Sarah van Gelder interviewed Sylvia McAdam and Sheelah McLean for How Cooperatives Are Driving the New Economy, the Spring 2013 issue of YES! Magazine.
