Take action!

Justice for Rehtaeh

Apr 112013

Demand an independent inquiry into the police decision not to lay charges in her rape.

by Sherri B, Halifax

I am horrified at what happened to Rehtaeh. She was a beautiful, caring person. She was a amazing artist. She loved animals.While I haven't seen her in a few years, I'm friends with her family and I can't believe how our community and the authorities failed to protect her.

Seventeen months ago, she was raped. The rape was photographed and the photos were shared around her Nova Scotia community. Rehtaeh was destroyed by this. Any 15 year old would be. She was called a slut. She was bullied. She faced depression. And this week she took her own life.

After Rehtaeh's rape, the RCMP investigated for a year but said there was not enough evidence to lay charges.

After Rehtaeh’s rape, the RCMP investigated for a year but said there was not enough evidence to lay charges. How is this possible? Everyone knows what happened. Do we not have laws that cover abuse like photo-sharing and cyberbullying?

How is this possible? Everyone knows what happened. Everyone knows about the photos. Everyone knows she was 15 when those photos were taken. Everyone saw her being bullied and shamed at school. How can police say they didn't have the evidence they needed to pursue charges? Do we not have laws that cover this kind of abuse, from photo-sharing to cyberbullying?

Nova Scotia’s Justice Minister Ross Landry must call an independent inquiry into this situation. The Minister must find out if the police ran this investigation properly and determine if there is important evidence that was not taken into account when they decided to close this case.

The Minister said he would not order a review of the of the RCMP investigation. Hours later, following the huge outpouring of concern from the community, he has said he is now open to considering what options are available. The Minister must call for an independent inquiry and we must all sign this petition to make sure he knows how important this is.

Click here to go to Change.org and sign the letter below, as more than 85,000 readers have already done.

To:
NS Justice Minister Ross Landry

We're demanding and independent inquiry in the police investigation.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Tell Harperites: stop muzzling scientists

Apr 072013

Take action!

Government secrecy leads to abuses, corruption and waste of your money.

from Democracy Watch

Under President Obama, the United States government has new policies that not only allow government scientists to speak with journalists, but allow them to call journalists and discuss their work. Conversely, in Canada, Prime Minister Harper's administration has established new policies that hide government research and valuable information Canadians have paid for. Ironically, Harper's policies are the same as those George W Bush put in place when he was President.

‘Cover climate change’ petition launches

Apr 042013

Take action!

Environmentalist-media reform coalition petitions TV networks to look at causes of climate disruptions.

from the League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club and Media Matters for America

WASHINGTON DC, April 2, 2013 — The League of Conservation Voters (LCV), Sierra Club and Media Matters for America have launched a campaign demanding that ABC, NBC and CBS provide more climate change coverage during their evening newscasts. The petition campaign follows a recent Media Matters study that found that these networks featured only 12 climate change segments combined in 2012, a year of extreme weather and record-breaking heat waves nationwide.

“The new year shouldn’t bring the same old coverage. It’s time the nation’s top evening newscasts give climate change the coverage it deserves. If we want to see action to address this issue, the media needs to connect the dots between climate change and the extreme weather we’re seeing right outside our windows,” said Vanessa Kritzer, LCV Online Campaigns Manager.

“It’s disheartening that in a year that saw record-breaking heat, massive wildfires and Hurricane Sandy, the networks failed to help their viewers understand the connections to climate change,” said Emilee Pierce, Media Matters.

"National broadcasters have the power to influence decision makers and shape public discourse — with that power comes the responsibility to report on the issues that matter most to Americans. NBC, CBS and ABC must meet the scale of the climate disruption issue with their news coverage. With millions of American families losing their homes and livelihoods to extreme weather, we urge them to give climate disruption and climate solutions the accurate, thorough and frequent coverage that Americans deserve," said Maggie Kao, Sierra Club National Press Secretary.

"These are the top rated newscasts in the country. It's disheartening that in a year that saw record-breaking heat, massive wildfires and Hurricane Sandy, the networks failed to help their viewers understand the connections to climate change," said Emilee Pierce, Media Matters Energy and Climate Program Director. "Imagine if the same networks had covered mass layoffs in 2008 without mentioning broader economic trends. Leaving out the climate context for certain extreme weather events is no different."

A recent Media Matters for America study found that ABC World News did only one segment about climate change last year, NBC Nightly News did only four and CBS Evening News devoted just seven segments to this critical issue.

This lack of coverage came at a time when much of the country experienced climate change-fueled extreme weather, including extraordinary heat waves, severe drought and the devastating impacts of Hurricane Sandy. LCV, Sierra Club and Media Matters have set a goal of getting 60,000 Americans nationwide to sign the petition demanding that these networks provide more reporting on climate change, talk about it during their extreme weather coverage, and make it clear that global warming is not a disputed theory, it’s a fact.

Tell NBC, CBS, and ABC to give us better coverage on climate change!

In a year that brought the US record-breaking heat, massive wildfires, a historic drought, and devastating storms like Hurricane Sandy, the nightly news programs on ABC, CBS, and NBC barely talked about what was fueling this extreme weather — climate change. We need better coverage if we want people to connect the dots and demand real action to curb global warming pollution.

Please sign our petition below to Michael Corn, Executive Producer of ABC World News, Patricia Shevlin, Executive Producer of CBS Evening News, and Patrick Burkey, Executive Producer of NBC Nightly News, asking them to give us more frequent, accurate coverage of climate change this year.

Dear Mr. Corn, Ms. Shelvin, and Mr. Burkey,

Every night, tens of millions of people tune into the news on the major broadcasting networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC, expecting to learn about the most pressing issues facing our families and our nation. Given the urgency of addressing the climate crisis, we urge you to put global warming at the top of that list.

After experiencing the hottest year ever recorded in the United States and a series of devastating extreme weather events including wildfires, droughts, and storms like Hurricane Sandy, the American people deserve to know how our changing climate is fueling this extreme weather and what we can do about it.

That can only happen if you devote more coverage to climate change, report on future extreme weather in a climate context, and interview more climate scientists who will be able to accurately connect the dots between human activity, climate change, and the weather we have been experiencing. Yet, a recent study by Media Matters for America found that last year climate change was only featured in 12 segments on your nightly news programs combined.

Confronting the climate crisis is the challenge of our generation, and we urge you to honor the best traditions in American journalism by putting the focus on science and accurately reporting on climate change.

We look forward to watching your thorough, accurate coverage of climate change in the year ahead.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]

Sign the petition on the LCV website

Chip in to help fight deserts

Apr 012013

Take action!

Harper says $350,000 is too much. Show your disagreement by pledging $1 or up.

from Indiegogo

Canada is now the only country within the UN that does not support the goal of fighting drought.

By opting out of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification we're sending a clear message to the world that we don't care.

I don't believe this. Canadians do care. Our government just doesn't understand how important the welfare of people across the world is to us.

Help tell our government that.

Here's what we need — and what you get

Canada's contribution to the treaty is $350,000. If we raise it for them, how can they not sign? For $1.00, every cent of which will go to the Receiver General, we can eliminate the only reason the government has not to sign the treaty. Put Canada back on the environmental map.

If we don't reach our goal, no funds will be drawn. The additional money is to pay the Indiegogo fees.

Who am I? I'm just a Canadian, like you, who doesn't want to see our Canadian brand further eroded by the ill-advised decisions of our government.

Drought Campaign at Indiegogo

Tell Nissan US to stop union busting

Mar 282013

Take action!

Other Nissan shops are unionized; only the US firm launched intense anti-union campaign.

from the United Auto Workers

Workers at Nissan’s US assembly plant in Canton, Mississippi, are campaigning for a fair union election process and an end to Nissan’s tactics of fear and intimidation.

Nissan, the world’s 6th largest auto manufacturer, and a well-respected corporate citizen, recognizes and collectively bargains with unions in Japan and all over the world. Yet when workers in the United States started to seek out union representation, Nissan’s American management adopted the time-worn tactics of professional union busters. This intense anti-union campaign includes making implied threats to close the plant and interrogating and harassing pro-union workers.

Workers, students, community leaders and human rights activists around the world are shining a light on Nissan USA’s shameful behavior and calling on the company to do better. In the plants, on campuses, and in our communities we are standing shoulder to shoulder with Mississippi workers who are fighting to defend their civil right to decide freely and without fear, whether they want to be represented by a union, or not. These are the same rights afforded to Nissan workers around the world.

Lend your voice to insist that Nissan Do Better and that Nissan’s Chief Operating Officer, Mr Toshiyuki Shiga, intervene to make things right in Mississippi.

Dear Mr Shiga,

I am writing to respectfully voice my concern regarding anti-union, anti-freedom of association activities including the intimidation and harassment of workers seeking to unionize at your Nissan facility in Canton, Mississippi, USA.

I feel this type of aggressive, anti-union, hostility is a dishonor to Nissan’s well- respected reputation as a global leader, a long-standing member of the UN Global Compact, and a role model for positive labor relations. Nissan Canton local management’s actions are in direct violation of the United Nations Global Compact principles and the ILO standards which Nissan corporate management has committed to abide by.

Nissan’s employees in Canton, Mississippi wish to exercise the same rights that Nissan workers in Japan and elsewhere enjoy. And like the many unionized Nissan workers around the globe, they proudly support their company, but they also want a voice on issues that affect them, their families, and their community.

I urge you to immediately intervene to bring local management in Canton, Mississippi in-line with the values and principles that has established Nissan as a successful and esteemed corporate citizen and allow workers in Mississippi the fundamental right to a fair union election, free of intimidation and fear.

Sincerely,

Sign the letter online

Keep Kevin Page

Mar 212013

Take action!

Tell Harper government: Keep the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

from Leadnow.ca

The Harper Conservatives are just about to release another secretive budget bill with deep cuts to services Canadians rely on. The cuts, which come on the heels of a wave of spending scandals, are going to be unpopular, so they’re silencing the only man who has shown himself to be truly capable of exposing this government’s fiscal mismanagement.

Save Banff maternity services

Mar 172013

Take action!

Tell Alberta: Halt the removal of obstetrical services from Banff Mineral Springs Hospital.

from the Community of Banff

To Alberta Health Services and to Covenant Health;

Obstetrics is an essential health service and central pillar of community. This decision [to require Banff residents to travel 30 minutes on a highway to deliver a baby in hospital] was taken without public input or consultation with those people most likely to be affected. The result of this unilateral decision will be to limit the range of choice for women and their families with regards to primary health care.

To:
Alberta Health Services and Covenant Health

Stop the removal of obstetrical services from the Banff Hospital

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Sign this letter online at Change.org

Reference

Banff hospital closes down obstetrics ward

Deportation is not entertainment

Mar 152013

Take action!

Tell National Geographic Channel to cancel the reality show Border Security.

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?

Shockingly, one of the raids was being filmed by a camera crew for a reality TV show Border Security, which airs on 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.

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:

To:
National Geographic Channel
Force Four Entertainment
Canadian Border Services Agency

We are urging National Geographic Channel and Force Four Entertainment, 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.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Sign online at Change.org

Send Fukushima clean-up bills to plant builders

Mar 112013

Take action!

Nuclear companies try to walk away from Fukushima disaster.

from Greenpeace

General Electric, Hitachi and Toshiba designed, built and serviced the reactors which directly contributed to the Fukushima nuclear disaster, yet these companies have not paid one cent of the cost for the reactor failures.

The cost of the Fukushima nuclear disaster is estimated at $250 billion US dollars.

All of the costs from the nuclear meltdown fell on TEPCO, the operator of Fukushima, which could not afford it and was nationalised. The costs of Fukushima are being paid by the Japanese people themselves, as taxpayers they are footing the bill for this nuclear disaster.

The situation in Japan is not an exception, if you live in or near a country with nuclear reactors, it is likely that nuclear companies could walk away from an accident near you without paying any of the costs. General Electric, Hitachi and Toshiba should pay for the damage caused by their reactors!

Add your name to the petition, which says:

Yes! I agree that nuclear companies like General Electric, Hitachi and Toshiba should pay for the damage their reactors cause in disasters like Fukushima.

Sign the petition online

Tell Harper: No attack drones!

Mar 082013

Take action!

Tell Stephen Harper, other party leaders, and your own MP that you do not support attack drones.

from Ceasefire.ca

Send your letter, right away.

You can edit this letter. Your personal comments, especially in the first few paragraphs, will give the message much greater impact.

To: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (and all Opposition leaders);

Dear Prime Minister Harper,

I do not support your government's plans to purchase armed drones for the Canadian Forces. Instead, I urge you to cut wasteful military spending and use our tax dollars to support social programs, protect the environment, improve our health care and assist the world’s poorest people.

Sincerely,

M le premier ministre Harper,

Je n'appuie pas le projet de votre government d'acheter des drones armés pour les Forces canadiennes. Au lieu, je vous demande de mettre fin au gaspillage de ressources à des fins militaires. Utilisez plutôt l'argent de nos impôts pour protéger nos programmes sociaux, préserver l'environnement, améliorer nos services de santé et venir en aide aux plus démunis de la planète.

Salutations sincères

Sign this letter at Ceasefire.ca

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