Must Reads from Last Week
BC Electoral Reform Referendum
The referendum questions are out
From NDP Government (includes a summary): Read more. From CBC: Read more.
Fair Vote Comox Valley and Fair Vote Canada/BC applaud clear referendum question
A press release from Fair Vote Comox Valley and from Fair Vote Canada/BC. Read more.
Having said that, Fair Vote Comox Valley feels the descriptions of the three systems are somewhat unclear and the larger Fair Vote Canada group is working to get clarification from the BC NDP government on this.
PR in the US?
Check out this New York Times article on PR and how it could make the US a more functional country. The piece is written by David Brooks, a self-declared Republican. Mr. Brooks is on the KCTS News Hour most Friday nights as part of a political panel and he is always a voice of reason who despairs what the Republicans are currently doing in/to the US.
Excerpt: “Now the two-party system has rigidified and ossified. The two parties no longer bend to the center. They push to the extremes, where the donor bases and their media propaganda arms are. More and more people feel politically homeless, alienated from both parties and without any say in how the country is run.”
Locally
READ THIS: Leadnow National Day of Action against KM Buyout
DATE: Monday, June 4:
- 11:00 a.m.: Hornby Island Co-Op Store, 5875 Central Rd., Hornby Island
- 12:00 p.m.: Gord Johns/Ronna Rae Leonard office, 437-5th, Courtenay: Leadnow is looking for Greens to attend.
- 12:00 p.m.: Rachel Blaney’s Office, 908 Island Hwy, Campbell River
- 2:00 p.m.: Powell River Public Library, 6975 Alberni Street, Powell River
- 4:00 p.m.: Rachel Blaney’s office, 4697 Marine Ave., Powell River
Philosophers’ Cafe to discuss whether sustainable living is realistic
DATE: June 6, 2018, 7-8 pm
LOCATION: Community Room, Berwick Comox Village, 1700 Comox Ave., Comox
Read more.
The Blanket Exercise – Potlatch 67-67 Teaching
DATE: June 8, 2018, 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Native Sons Hall
NUMBERS LIMITED. 60 PEOPLE MAX. PLEASE RSVP DIRECTLY TO KEISHA EVERSON VIA EMAIL (keishaeverson@gmail.com) OR FACEBOOK MESSENGER
The Blanket Exercise was developed by KAIROS to educate about the history of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, and the impact of colonization throughout the centuries. It is historical, experiential, emotional, and personal. Participants are put in the shoes of Indigenous Peoples to help understand how decisions made by the Church and Government of Canada impacted and continue to impact Indigenous lives.
Doors open at 6:00 and the Exercise starts promptly at 6:30. The exercise itself runs approximately 45 minutes. There is a Debrief afterwards that allows participants to work through their experience together. The Debrief can last anywhere from 30-60 minutes.
Kus-Kus-Sum Multi-Media Spectacle
DATE: June 28-30, July 1, show starts at 10 p.m.
The Caravan Stage Company production takes place on the waterfront, on a ship. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for those under 14. Get tickets here. Read more.
Provincially:
Site C
Part 1: A new book, Breaching the Peace: The Site C Dam and a Valley’s Stand Against Big Hydro, by Sarah Cox, is out. Check out this excerpt.
Part 2: Injunction request relates to court cases by West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations arguing that Site C infringes on their Treaty 8 rights. The injunction is to stop work from proceeding until the court cases have been concluded. At the moment, work is continuing. Interestingly, the Federal government has decided not to oppose the injunction, but this journalist’s (Zoe Ducklow) theory is that they feel safe that the BC NDP will fight tooth and nail to oppose it and so the Feds can just sit back and not weigh in. Read more.
Part 3: “Lost in the news over the Trans Mountain pipeline is that B.C. Hydro will be cutting a cheque to Flatiron/Graham, principal contractors on the Lower Mainland Transmission Line, for approximately $100 million following arbitration… Of the $1.25 million unions donated to the B.C. NDP between July 1 and December 31, 2018, $860,000 of it came from vocal supporters of the government’s decision to proceed with Site C. We’ll see how their members react in a few years to their monthly utility bills, because the chances that Site C will come in at $10.7 billion are about the same as pigs flying.” Read more.
Part 4: And another, similar piece in The Edmonton Journal, pointing out the hugely destructive nature of the Site C project. Read more.
Part 5: Comox Valley Record letter to the editor re Site C dam.
Kinder Morgan
Part 1: There has been a spill from the existing Trans Mountain pipeline. Also read this and this and this.
Part 2: Meanwhile, in Ontario, scientists are planning experimental “oil spills” in northwestern Ontario this summer in an effort to better understand what happens when diluted bitumen winds up in freshwater lakes. They could just look at the results of the pipeline rupture in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to see what happens in real life. Read more.
Part 3: Elizabeth May has pleaded guilty to criminal contempt in the Kinder Morgan protest. Read more.
Part 4: Michael Ruffolo, of The National Observer, interviews Jyoti Stephens of The Nature’s Path company. Nature’s Path has replaced its company website with a site calling for people to join in the fight against the Kinder Morgan (I guess that’s now the Canada Pipeline Crown Corporation) continuing. They believe businesses need to be an “agent of change for the world.” “At the end of the day, there’s no business to be done on a dead planet,” so businesses need to step up and declare what they believe in. Check out the Nature’s Path website and see what they’ve done. (By the way, they make GREAT granola.) If you scroll down the screen, there are various things you can do. One of them is sign a petition to the Federal Government that was just created yesterday. This is an official Parliamentary petition asking the government to invest in renewable energy. Remember, for your signature to be ‘official,’ you have to click the link on the confirmation email they will send you immediately after you’ve clicked the Sign button.
Part 5: Well, the news broke on May 29 that Canada is now going to own a pipeline. Here are comments from 350.org:
“Like many of you, we hoped that Kinder Morgan abandoning this project would be the end of this fight, forcing Justin Trudeau to reject pipeline politics so we could get on with the work of pushing Canada to lead the 100% renewable energy revolution. But it’s not, and our Prime Minister has gone from self-styled climate leader to fossil fuel CEO.
Here’s the thing about democracy - and using public money to buy this pipeline - Justin Trudeau just made us all shareholders in this pipeline. He just opened a TransMountain office in every single riding across this country, and each of its new executives’ phone numbers and addresses are listed on the government of Canada website. In short, the Prime Minister just gave us the power to stop this pipeline, but we need to get to work if we’re going to use it. So let’s start by asking for shareholder meetings all across the country.
Before this pipeline deal is finalized in the fall, Kinder Morgan’s shareholders are going to get a chance to vote on it, and we want the same thing. If this government is going to pony up public cash for their pipeline bailout, we think people all across Canada deserve the right to have their say. That’s why we’re calling for a shareholder meeting, and we need your help. Send Justin Trudeau and his cabinet a message demanding that they hold public consultations on their decision to buy Kinder Morgan.
One thing to note is that the Trudeau government is still looking for a final buyer for this pipeline — and so far they haven’t had very much luck. Oil companies and banks alike can read the tea leaves: Indigenous-led resistance is nowhere close to winding down. As freshly minted shareholders, let’s make sure our local TransMountain executives hear this message. Join us in asking the Trudeau government for pipeline consultations in every riding across the country.”
Part 6: As always, Andrew Nikiforuk cuts right to the chase: “the federal government will pay $4.5 billion for an old and compromised tanker and pipeline system that the company valued at $550 million in 2007.” Read more.
Part 7: Elizabeth May in The Guardian. Read More. And in parliament.
Part 8: And also in The Guardian, “The Canadian prime minister presents himself as a climate hero. By promising to nationalise the Kinder Morgan pipeline, he reveals his true self.” The author gets more personal: “Stop swooning over Justin Trudeau. The man is a disaster for the planet.” Read more. While you’re on the page, the irony is the Alberta pro-pipeline ad there at the same time.
Part 9: Elizabeth May has sponsored an official Parliamentary petition (different than the one above). This one is designed specifically to “halt any plans to purchase the Trans Mountain pipeline or otherwise support its expansion.” This one only opened May 31 at 4:22 p.m. and is open until September 28, 2018. As of 10 p.m., May 31, it already had 662 signatures from across the country and 2 from other countries. Everyone please sign and share this petition as well as the one in Part 4.
Part 10: The Trans Mountain pipeline is becoming the gift that keeps on giving. For a new wrinkle in the debate around Trudeau deciding to buy the pipeline, read this article from The Guardian on whether this could have anything to do with Canada being sued by China for infringing on their profits from the oil sands.
Excerpt: “The logic to Trudeau’s action may lie in an obscure and often overlooked agreement called the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (Fipa). This agreement, ratified in 2014, was negotiated by the previous Harper government. It was passed without a vote in Parliament. Fipa, which remains in place until 2045, was signed to ensure that China got a pipeline built from Alberta to BC, among other benefits.”
Nationally:
NIPR’s AGM – SAVE THE DATE
DATE: June 16, 2018.
LOCATION: Campbell River.
GUEST SPEAKER: Sonia Furstenau, BC Greens MLA
Check it out and RSVP to debruijn6@gmail.com
Green Party of Canada Biennial Convention
September 28-30, 2018. Read more. Convention 2018 is Sept 28-30 in Vancouver! Join us and help us build for success in 2019. Info and registration here.
Thought of the day:
The Master’s tools will never dismantle the Master’s house. (Audre Lorde)
