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Stop the sell-off of prairie grasslands

Nov 262012

Saskatchewan, Manitoba, set to sell remaining grasslands for development.

from the Public Service Alliance of Canada

We have already lost more than 80 percent of the native prairie to development.

Now, the government of Saskatchewan is poised to sell more than 1.8 million acres of what remains of these iconic lands and potentially destroy a sustainable eco-system that delivers environmental and economic benefits. Manitoba may follow suit with a further 700,000 acres.

These breathtaking landscapes represent some of the last functioning prairie ecosystems on earth.

Until environmental protection and conservation guarantees are in place, the sale must be stopped.

Sign the petition

Make Shell pay for Ken Saro-Wiwa’s death

Nov 222012

Take action!

Nigerians protest corruption in the oil industry.

Nigeria's Parliament poised to fine Shell $5 billion for giant spill.

from Avaaz.org

In days, Nigeria's Parliament could approve a $5 billion fine against giant oil polluter Shell for a spill that devastated the lives of millions of people, and pass a law to hold all oil companies to account for polluting and plundering. This is a watershed moment, but unless we all speak out, oil giants will crush it.

Finally, Big Oil is having to pay for the wasteland and violence that they’ve created. President Jonathan supports the Shell fine, and progressive Senators are pushing for strong regulations, but oil companies are slick, and without huge international support MPs could buckle under the pressure.

Politicians are deciding their positions right now — sign the urgent petition for the Nigerian Parliament to fine Shell and support the bill, and then forward this page to everyone — when we hit a million signers we'll bring our unprecedented global call to the steps of Nigeria's Parliament.

Here is the letter:

To all Members of the Nigerian National Assembly:

As global citizens, we urge you to enforce the $5 billion fine against Shell to compensate the people affected by the 2011 Bonga oil spill. We call on you to end oil impunity by endorsing the NOSDRA Amendment Bill that holds polluters accountable with clear penalties, and support a Petroleum Industry Bill with strong transparency, accountability and environmental provisions to reform Nigeria’s oil sector.

Sign this letter on the Avaaz.org website.

Shot down once, Bell puts new spin on bid for Astral media

Nov 192012

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Big telecom tries to flip last month’s public interest decision from the CRTC.

from OpenMedia and the Stop the Takeover Coalition

Big telecom company Bell is trying once again to take over Astral media, and gain more control over Canada’s media system. This comes only one month after the CRTC listened to Canadians and shot down the merger, saying that this concentration of power in Bell’s hands would not benefit the public.

Grassroots group OpenMedia.ca and the Stop the Takeover Coalition were thrilled to see the CRTC listen to Canadians and deny Bell’s takeover.

Canadians pay high prices for worse content and services because of a lack of competition and choice.

Now, however, Bell is trying once again to persuade the CRTC to allow them to acquire Astral. The big telecom company has also launched a PR campaign seemingly targeted at Canadians, which OpenMedia.ca calls “manipulative and disingenuous". Bell is attempting to make the argument that their takeover would benefit Canadians, despite the fact that Canadians have already been clear that this is not the case.

Canadians pay high prices for worse content and services because of a lack of competition and choice.

Canada's media system is already one of the most highly concentrated in the industrialized world. Canadians pay high prices for worse content and services because of a lack of competition and choice. OpenMedia.ca, the Stop the Takeover Coalition, and thousands of Canadians have argued that this deal will only serve to further that.

OpenMedia.ca Executive Director Steve Anderson says: “Canadians were clear that they want less of Bell shoved down their throat. Now that Bell has realized they don't have the public's support, they appear to be trying to spin us into accepting their anti-competitive control over our daily communications. I don't think it's going to work. Canadians are too smart for this.”

After denying Bell’s first application for a takeover, CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais stated in a release: “It would have placed significant market power in the hands of one of the country’s largest media companies. We could not have ensured a robust Canadian broadcasting system without imposing extensive and intrusive safeguards, which would have been to the detriment of the entire industry.”

Canadians can learn more about the Bell/Astral merger and take action at StopTheTakeover.ca.

About the Stop the Takeover Coalition
The Stop the Takeover Coalition comprises public interest groups and industry players who are coming together, based on a set of common principles, to oppose the proposed takeover of Astral Media by Bell and to promote public engagement through the Stop the Takeover campaign.

Some of the groups leading the coalition include grassroots citizen-engagment group OpenMedia.ca (the group behind the largest online campaign in Canadian history) and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC). They are joined by the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), Canada Without Poverty and the CWP Advocacy Network, the Canadian Media Guild (which represents over 6,000 media workers, including those from CBC, Reuters, the Canadian Press, and Shaw Media), the Consumers' Association of Canada, the Council of Canadians (Canada’s largest citizens’ group), the Council of Senior Citizens' Organizations of British Columbia (COSCO), and Québec-based consumer groups Option consommateurs and Union des consommateurs. Learn more about the Coalition and its members.

Protest union-busting at Mexican mine

Nov 122012

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Excellon's hired thugs broke up a peaceful protest camp.

from Labourstart

On the morning of October 24, around 180 hired thugs violently evicted workers and landowners from a protest camp at the entrance to the La Platosa mine, located in La Sierrita, Durango and owned by the Canadian mining company Excellon Resources Inc.

The protest camp had been set up peacefully since July at the entrance to the mining complex in order to put pressure on the company to recognise freedom of association and the workers’ right to join the Miners' union SNTMMSRM; the community landowners were jointly protesting the company’s failure to comply with the terms of its 2008 agreement to lease the land from its peasant owners.

The armed aggressors arrived in five local buses and one belonging to the mining company, La Platosa. The aggressors were members of the yellow Don Napoleon Gomez Sada Metallurgical and Steelworks Mining Union. They arrived shouting, “We come with orders to remove you with beatings or with death”. A municipal police patrol car present at the camp did nothing. Members of the Mexican army and the Federal Police also arrived later in the morning, yet took no action.

Communal farmers and mine workers participating in the protest claim that La Platosa mine operators have reneged on legal commitments to workers and the local community. The federal and state governments have so far failed to intervene, to ensure the dispute is resolved and human rights upheld. Send your appeal to the local state governor and Interior Minister.

Sign the letter at Labourstart.

Laborstart supports this action, in partnership with IndustriALL, Amnesty International and Proyecto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales, A.C (PRODESC).

IndustriALL Global Union represents 50 million workers in 140 countries in the mining, energy and manufacturing sectors and is a new force in global solidarity taking up the fight for better working conditions and trade union rights around the world. PRODESC is a non-governmental organization founded in 2005 whose primary mission is the defense of economic, social and cultural rights of underrepresented workers and communities in Mexico. Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 3 million supporters, members and activists in more than 150 countries and territories who campaign to end grave abuses of human rights.

Respect Guelph’s energy plan

Nov 082012

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Tell Ontario Energy Minister to direct Hydro to work with Guelph City Council.

from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance

The City of Guelph has often been a pioneer on environmental initiatives, such as the green bin for organic waste. So it’s not surprising that Guelph has developed a farsighted Community Energy Plan that emphasizes local, sustainable energy production from sources like solar, geothermal and combined heat and power and that sets ambitious targets for improving its residents’ and businesses’ energy efficiency.

But there seems to be a big disconnect between the community’s plan and what the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) has in mind for the city.

Stop the salmon farming industry

Nov 052012

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Cohen Commission Report gives many reasons to shut down ocean farms.

On November 1, the explosive Cohen Commission Report detailing the risks of the salmon farming industry was released, and yet this very minute the government of British Columbia is considering the renewal of salmon farm leases. We now have a huge opportunity. This is why I started a petition to stop the province from renewing these leases.

Draw the line to protect women’s control of their bodies

Oct 212012

Take action!

Join the call for a global Bill of Reproductive Rights.

from the Center for Reproductive Rights

The Center for Reproductive Rights has launched an innovative new campaign — "Draw the line" — in support of the Center’s Bill of Reproductive Rights. The Bill of Reproductive Rights provides an opportunity for Americans to join together and tell lawmakers that they stand strongly behind a woman’s right to safe reproductive health care.

Oppose secret trade deal with China

Oct 182012

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Few Canadians have heard of FIPA, the Canada-China Foreign Investment Protection Agreement.

from Leadnow.ca

In two weeks, Prime Minister Harper could pass the most secretive and sweeping trade deal of a generation.

This deal would pave the way for a massive natural resource buyout and allow foreign corporations to sue the Canadian government in secret tribunals, restricting Canadians from making democratic decisions about our economy, environment and energy.

Most Canadians have never heard of FIPA, the Canada-China Foreign Investment Protection Agreement, because Prime Minister Harper is trying to sneak it through without a single vote or debate in Parliament.

Canadians have a right to determine our future, but this agreement will undermine our democratic rights and lock us into an inescapable path of foreign-ownership and resource extraction until at least 2040.

The Canada-China FIPA is set for automatic approval on October 31 unless we get the word out now that the Harper Conservatives are trying bypass Parliament and sneak this deal by Canadians. That’s why we partnered with SumOfUs.org on this campaign. If enough of us raise our voices now, we can create a massive public outcry to stop this devastating deal in its tracks.

The Canada-China FIPA is set for automatic approval on October 31 unless we get the word out now.

Alongside this deal, the Harper government is trying to speed through the sale of Nexen, a major Canadian oil and gas company, to the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), one of China’s massive state-owned oil companies. The $15 billion-dollar Nexen takeover will open the floodgates to a wave of foreign buyouts of Canada's natural resources.

If FIPA passes, a Chinese company can take over Canadian resources and then sue Canadian governments — provincial or federal — in secret, if the government does anything that threatens the company’s profits.

Any Canadian law or government decision — even ones that protect Canadian jobs, our environment, our economy and our families — could be fought in secret tribunals outside of our legal system. Arbitrators unaccountable to the Canadian public would have the power to award billions in damages to foreign corporations if we do anything that hurts corporate profits, like improve environmental standards or slow down the export of cheap, unprocessed resources.

Time is running out. We have two weeks before FIPA is set to pass into law, and the Nexen takeover could be approved at any time. Canadians, including many Conservative MPs, oppose the Nexen takeover, and Prime Minister Harper has just asked for a 30 day extension to regroup. We need a massive public outcry now.

Please go to the Leadnow site and send your version of this letter:

Dear Prime Minister Harper,

I am concerned about the CNOOC-Nexen takeover and the Canada-China Foreign Investment Protection Agreement (FIPA).

These agreements would pave the way for a massive natural resource buyout and allow foreign corporations to sue the Canadian government in secret tribunals, restricting Canadians from making democratic decisions about our economy, environment and energy.

Canadians have a right to determine our future, but this agreement will undermine the democratic rights of Canadians and lock us into an inescapable path of foreign-ownership and resource extraction until at least 2040.

I call on you to reject the Nexen takeover and the Canada-China investment deal. Let’s start over with a national conversation that brings Canadians together to make responsible choices about the wisest long-term stewardship of our natural resources.

Canada is not for sale

Save Marineland’s animals

Oct 152012

Take action!

Ontario has no laws controlling aquariums and zoos.

by Phil Demers, for Zoocheck Canada

After 12 years of working at Marineland as an animal trainer, I made the difficult decision to quit and speak out about the deplorable conditions and neglect I witnessed. I saw dolphins living in extremely poor quality water, their skin flaking off in chunks, and six out of seven harbour seals becoming blind or suffering severe eye damage. A baby beluga named “Skoot” died last month after being attacked by other belugas in a pool she should have never been forced into.

Many people are appalled. Many are calling for Marineland to be closed. However, what most don't know is that Ontario has no laws controlling aquariums and zoos, or protecting the animals inside. Without those laws no one will be able to save the animals of Marineland.

Wal-mart warehouse workers walk

Oct 152012

Take action!

Tell Wal-mart to improve warehouse working conditions.

from SumofUs

For fifty years Walmart has been fighting a war against workers, driving down wages and crushing attempts to organize around the world. But just this week, an incredible new chapter opened in the fight against Walmart's race-to-the-bottom economics — workers in Walmart’s California and Chicago warehouses have gone on strike.

Workers are sick of working in 100+-degree heat without access to clean water, they’re sick of poverty wages, and most of all, they’re sick of being ignored by management. So this week, dozens of workers have walked off the job, and the ones in California are marching 50 miles to Walmart’s to downtown Los Angeles to confront some of Walmart top executives. By the time they arrive, we want the workers (and the bosses) to know that thousands of people around the world are standing with them.

Support the warehouse workers' courageous stand: Tell Walmart to come to the table and improve working conditions.

Every year, Walmart ships hundreds of millions of tons of goods from Asia, through warehouses in the southern California desert and outside Chicago, and then on to local stores. Conditions in those warehouses are scandalous. UCLA’s Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program has found that 63 percent of workers have been hurt on the job.

UCLA’s Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program has found that 63 percent of workers have been hurt on the job.

Investigations by California state regulators have led to numerous citations and fines for breaking labor laws for the companies that manage the warehouses.As long as Walmart can escape responsibility for its suppliers’ behavior, there will be no systematic changes at the warehouses.

Walmart may not hire the warehouse workers directly, but it built the warehouses and hired subcontractors to manage them. And since 90 percent of goods moving through these warehouses are destined for Walmart, the world’s largest corporation clearly has the power to raise standards throughout the industry.

Since 90 percent of goods moving through these warehouses are destined for Walmart, the world’s largest corporation clearly has the power to raise standards throughout the industry.

Workers have tried to meet with Walmart executive before, but they've been ignored. Now they're doing something that can't be ignored. They don’t have an officially recognized union, so they’re taking on a substantial risk by going out on strike. But the workers understand that by taking a stand, they’re challenging a business model that has made life worse for millions of workers around the globe.

As a community, we’ve taken on Walmart before. Thousands of us shared an infographic about Walmart’s devastating impact on the global economy, and tens of thousands of us have spoken out against abusive conditions in Walmart’s Thai suppliers. Let’s let Walmart know that every time workers fight back against its destructive business model, we’ll be standing with the workers.

Tell Walmart: take responsibility for conditions in your warehouses and meet with the warehouse workers. *****************************************************************************

MORE INFORMATION

Warehouse Workers United blog The Guardian,

Walmart supplier NFI's warehouse workers strike over working conditions, 13 September 2012

BREAKING NEWS! Wal-mart warehouse workers declare victory!

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