Features

Politics: clarify the rules

Jun 242013

Clear job descriptions could mitigate political scandals.

by Tyler Sommers

Political scandals don’t have to define Canada – but the way we respond to them, might. Rather than fall into quibbling or despondency as incidents pile up federally (Senate expenses, Nigel Wright’s cheque, Trudeau’s speaking fee) and municipally (the arrests of Montreal mayor Michael Applebaum and Laval Mayor Gilles Villaincourt), Canadians could respond to recent events by insisting that legislators draw up clear rules and job descriptions.

Tailings ponds and more

Jun 242013

Features

Fort McMurray flood highlights tar sands' threat to Mackenzie River Basin.

by Stephen Leahy

Record flooding in the heart of the Alberta tar sands dramatically illustrates their threat to Canada's 'Serengeti', the Mackenzie River basin. Only days before this week's flooding in Fort McMurray, a panel of international science experts warned that the nearly 200 square kilometres of toxic wastewater lakes near rivers like the Athabasca pose a direct threat one of the world's most important ecosystems.

Walking across the tar sands

Jun 212013

Features

Greenpeace leader supports First Nations' walk for healing.

by Tzeporah Berman

I was arrested on the front lines of Clayoquot Sound, I have marched in climate protests in Ottawa, Washington, Copenhagen and Durban, South Africa. I have sat in the board rooms of major corporations arguing the merits of taking action to protect the planet. But now I find myself on the precipice of what feels like a new experience.

On July 5 and 6 I will be walking a 14-kilometer road through the tar sands, supporting the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations, Keepers of the Athabasca, and the people who live in the region as they take time to heal from the devastation caused by reckless tar sands development.

‘I am Bradley Manning’ campaign

Jun 202013

Features

Celebrities rise to support whistleblower's actions.

from I Am Bradley Manning

In this five minute video, celebrities read Manning's words, support his actions.

I am Bradley Manning campaign website

C-377: A chance for the Senate to prove its worth

Jun 202013

Features

Senate Committee dissects anti-union Bill, issues damning report.

by Jim Stanford

There’s a hilarious piece in today’s National Post by Dean Beeby, who cleverly used an access to information request to ferret out a copy of the training manual used for the summer students who guide tourists around Parliament Hill. Anticipating critical questions about the role of the Senate in our modern-day democracy, the students are primed to highlight its virtue as a site of sober second thought.

Consider these choice phrases, straight out of the manual:

“Senate investigations are usually of a higher standard than those by committees of the House of Commons,” it exhorts. “Senate investigations are usually non-partisan, in that they do not suffer from excessive media exposure…. Senators have the time to dedicate themselves to exhaustive research and analysis.”
Continue reading »

Maybe Christy Clark won because she’s female

Jun 172013

Features

Canadians seem to prefer women as provincial premiers.

by Donna Dasko

Christy Clark shocked everyone last month with her victory in the in the British Columbia election. The opposition New Democrats led by Adrian Dix were expected to win – but ended ended up with less of the popular vote than they received in 2009, when they were led by Carole James.

Pundits have attributed the surprise Liberal win to many things – negative campaigning, the Premier’s laser-like focus on the economy, the ill-timed rejection of the Kinder Morgan pipeline proposal by Dix, and even a mysterious “incumbency” factor which is supposed to give governing parities a boost for some unknown reason. But none of the pundits has pointed to the gender factor and how having a female leader may have boosted Liberal support.

Harperites decrease tar sands scrutiny

Jun 172013

Features

Ottawa outsources environmental responsibility for in situ drilling.

by Nathan Lemphers

It’s hard to miss the federal government’s “responsible resource development” advertising flooding media, from the Stanley Cup playoffs to Blue Jays games, movie theatres, bus shelters and newspapers. Not to be confused with similar ads the oilsands industry is running, this campaign has the federal government on the streets and in our homes selling the benefits of oilsands development to Canadians.

But there’s something you won’t learn from the “responsible development” ads.

Media try to milk a mouse

Jun 172013

Features

Fuss over Mulcair's parking blown all out of proportion.

by John Baglow

OTTAWA, June 13 ,2013 — NDP leader Tom Mulcair waved and drove past a security checkpoint yesterday as he has always done. Turned out there was a new RCMP officer at the post who didn’t recognize him. An officer was sent after him, who drove to Tom’s parking spot, where Mulcair, surprised, said “Don’t you know who I am?” A respectful conversation ensued, and then Tom headed down to make things right with the RCMP commander.

Enter the corporate media shills.

Farmed fish overtake cattle

Jun 172013

Features

World protein consumption veers away from feedlot beef.

by Janet Larsen and J Matthew Roney

The world quietly reached a milestone in the evolution of the human diet in 2011. For the first time in modern history, world farmed fish production topped beef production. The gap widened in 2012, with output from fish farming — also called aquaculture — reaching a record 66 million tons, compared with production of beef at 63 million tons. And 2013 may well be the first year that people eat more fish raised on farms than caught in the wild. More than just a crossing of lines, these trends illustrate the latest stage in a historic shift in food production — a shift that at its core is a story of natural limits.

US Supreme Court strikes down gene patent

Jun 132013

Features

Court rules that patents on human genes are invalid.

from the American Civil Liberties Union

WASHINGTON DC, June 13, 2013 — The US Supreme Court today unanimously invalidated patents on two genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) on behalf of researchers, genetic counselors, patients, breast cancer and women's health groups, and medical professional associations representing 150,000 geneticists, pathologists, and laboratory professionals.

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