Greenspiration News - activist burn out, elections, tidbits
angela bischoff
greenspi at web.ca
Wed Oct 8 10:19:50 EDT 2008
Greenspiration News
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“The modern conservative
is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in
moral philosophy. That is the search for a superior moral justification
for selfishness.” – John Kenneth Galbraith
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For those of you who missed the CBC documentary on
ACTIVIST BURN OUT
aired Sept. 21/08 on the Sunday Edition, you can listen to it here:
http://www.greenspiration.org/drug/articles/activist_burnout.mov
Burning Bright
31 minutes
Producer: Frank Faulk
Featuring: Angela Bischoff with Tooker's story
If you listen to it, please consider sending me your thoughts. Based on
your feedback, I'll suggest to the producer follow up stories. It touched
a nerve with people, but there's so much more to the story that could be
covered. What would you like to hear more of? What might a Part 2 entail?
<greenspi at web.ca>
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If the election were held today, the polls show we'd have another Harper
government, possibly a majority, even though less than half of all
votes would be cast for Conservatives. That's because there are about 60
Ridings where the vote could get spilt between other parties, allowing a
Conservative to win.
But the situation is not hopeless. By using our votes strategically, we
can avoid the vote splitting that elected Harper last time.
There's a vibrant grass roots movement growing across the country for
'anybody but Harper' including this great initiative that offers all the
up-to-date riding by riding information you need to make a smart choice.
Please check it out at
<http://www.VoteForEnvironment.ca>www.VoteForEnvironment.ca.
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Canada's Party Leaders Answer Questions on Climate Change and the
Environment - Election 2008
The Tomorrow Today group of 11 of Canada's largest environmental
organizations put six questions to the leaders of the five main political
parties in Canada's 2008 federal election.
We wanted to know how strong the leaders are on climate change, wild
spaces, water issues, renewable energy and their personal commitment to
solving the global warming crisis.
We asked each leader to provide one 90-second video in response to each of
the six questions in both French and English. We gave them five days to
respond. We have noted where a party did not respond.
We hope this will help you decide which leader has the best plan for
building a strong future for Canada — a future where our climate and
natural spaces are protected, the economy is strong and our energy system
is sustainable.
http://www.tomorrowtodaycanada.ca/election/en/
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Here find a comprehensive list of all the responses to the federal
election from environmental and justice civil society organizations. It's
all here:
http://manitobawildlands.org/govern_elections.htm#fed2008
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Thanks to the Dominion for these tidbits. Links to each story can be found
in their Sept. in Review: http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2122
Pollsters found that "half of those surveyed agreed with the notion that
giving Mr. Harper a majority would be like electing Mr. Bush as prime
minister."
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Seventeen political parties registered for the elections.
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A hacker was able to send two emails from Prime Minister Harper's account.
One email, sent to media outlets across the country, included the
statement, "We are a tar sands level party, not a grass roots party," and
announced the plan to "make sure that American and Canadian jelly beans
have the same standards."
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Greenpeace accused Syncrude Canada of trying to 'cripple' the organization
through a lawsuit. The oil giant is seeking $120,000 in damages relating
to a protest carried out at their Alberta tar sands operations in July.
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The Nuclear Waste Management Organization launched a search for a site to
store nuclear waste in Canada. The site selection focus will be in
Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick– all provinces that use
nuclear energy. "I don't have a clue where they would put something so
eternally toxic," said Christian Theriault, founder of Citizens against
Uranium Mining, to the possibility of a nuclear waste facility in his
province of New Brunswick.
--
A report carried out by Metropolitan Vancouver found that street
homelessness in Greater Vancouver has increased 373 per cent since 2002.
The number of people living on the street in the city is close to 3000.
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A study by Dalhousie University found that Canada's war effort in
Afghanistan has cost $22 billion so far, and predicts that there will be
41,000 Canadian veterans of the war in Afghanistan by 2010.
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In Nigeria, three attacks against Royal Dutch Shell's operations over a 48
hour period included blasts at a flow station.
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A Statscan survey found a 4.9 per cent rise in public transit use in
Canada since last year.
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I am an Eco-Shadow
If you are interested and able to dog the Harper campaign with an
environmental message and want a costume, see: http://ecoshadow.com/
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Check out this 5 min. video about CanWest Global's attack on Canada's
restrictions on prescription drug advertising.
CanWest Global Attacks Drug Ad Laws
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSk7IP_Yljw>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSk7IP_Yljw
Canada's biggest media empire has launched a lawsuit to strike down
restrictions against prescription drug advertising. But your media isn't
telling you about it -- find out why, and what the potential danger is to
you.
For best viewing, click on the "Watch in High Quality" option directly
below the video -- it makes a big difference! If this option is not
available and you are using a high speed connection, try a different
browser.
For updates, sources and links see
<http://www.robwipond.com>www.robwipond.com
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Transportation Futures:
Ontario's Inaugural Road Pricing Forum
<http://www.rccao.com/events>www.rccao.com/events
Date: Thursday, November 13, 2008
Location: Hart House at the University of Toronto
Traffic congestion. Lost time. Crumbling roads. Increasing emissions.
Few transportation choices.
Most Canadians agree that there is an urgent need to bring predictability
and ease of mobility to the country's transportation network -- especially
near large urban centres. Can road pricing play a role in improving
mobility, air quality and the state of the nation's transportation
infrastructure? Or is it just a cash grab?
To answer these questions, the non-partisan Transportation Futures Forum
will showcase how several countries have dealt with road pricing issues
related to policy development, public acceptance, technology, governance
and investment. They include:
· London‚s Congestion Charging Scheme
· France‚s Variable Tolling System
· Germany‚s Satellite-based Toll Collection System for Heavy Trucks
· Oregon‚s VMT-Based Road Charging Pilot Project
· Holland‚s „Different Payment for Mobility‰ Plan
A round table of local experts will be on hand to assess which of these
road pricing approaches might be best for the Ontario context and when the
time might be right for implementation -- if ever. And your participation
with over 150 decision makers, transportation practitioners, land use
planners, business leaders, academic researchers and NGO representatives
will make this event truly interactive and educational!
Register today for Ontario‚s first ever Road Pricing Forum and take
advantage of our Early Bird Rates! See <>www.rccao.com/events for
more information. We look forward to seeing you on November 13th!
Presented by: Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario in
conjunction with Healthy Transport Consulting
Sponsored by: Local 183 Toronto, ReNew Canada Magazine, Halcrow
Consulting, Ontario Professional Planners Institute
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>From Singer songwriter activist Bob Bossin
"In two years under Harper, Canada has become one of the worst
heel-draggers on global warming. Our military has shifted from peace
keeping to war making. Where we once welcomed war resistors, we now turn
them away. In April, the Conservatives de-regulated and privatized food
inspection, and we know what happened in August. They plan to do the same
for the airline industry. Prisons, they say 'are for punishment.' And for
14 year olds. They don’t much like the arts and they don’t get the
internet. I could go on. If Harper wins his majority, I shudder to think
how, well, American, Canada will become.
Fortunately, voting strategically has just gotten a whole lot easier.
There is now an amazing website -
<http://www.voteforenvironment.com>www.voteforenvironment.com - that is
tracking every riding in the country and making up-to-the-minute
suggestions on how best to fight Harper. It is the coolest example of
Canadian grassroots democracy since the Free Trade comic book. "
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The Wellbeing Foundation today published on its website a series of
scientific papers which clearly demonstrate both the ineffectiveness of
electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and that it causes both short and long
term cognitive and intellectual damage to those who are given it.
www.wellbeingfoundation.com
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http://www.dwatch.ca/camp/RelsOct0108.html
Democracy Watch Files Court Challenge of Prime Minister's Federal Election
Call -- Violates Both Fixed Election Date Law and Charter Rights
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
OTTAWA - Today, Democracy Watch released details about the application it
has filed in the Federal Court of Canada challenging the legality of the
recent federal election call.
Democracy Watch has applied for an order that Prime Minister Stephen
Harper's advice to the Governor General of Canada on September 7, 2008 to
dissolve Parliament and call an election violated the fixed election date
measures that Bill C-16 added to the Canada Elections Act because a vote
of non-confidence in the Conservative government had not yet occurred in
the House of Commons, and therefore the dissolution of Parliament and the
calling of the election was illegal.
Democracy Watch is filing this case not only to challenge the calling of
the current election, but also to win a ruling that will prohibit future
prime ministers from calling elections before a vote of non-confidence in
the House of Commons has occurred.
Everything Conservative government Cabinet ministers and representatives
said about their Bill C-16 in the House of Commons and Senate made it
clear that the legal effect of the Bill is to require the government
(whether minority or majority) to lose a vote of confidence in the House
of Commons before the Prime Minister can advise the Governor General to
dissolve Parliament and call an election:
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Back carbon tax, leading economists tell politicians
More than 200 experts say policy is best way to fight climate change
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=1fcafc91-adbe-4f4d-8947-a94d08b9db2f
The Ottawa Citizen, Tuesday, October 07, 2008
More than 230 academic economists have signed an open letter to the
leaders of the federal political parties, urging them to acknowledge that
putting a price on carbon is "the best approach" to combatting climate
change.
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M.Ed. in Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice
Are you interested in pursuing a Master of Education degree? Do you want
to learn more about:
- climate change and other environmental issues
- social equity and justice
- educational approaches that integrate social justice and ecological
sustainability
?
The Department of Sociology and Equity Studies at OISE/UT is getting set
to offer a part-time M.Ed. focused on Environmental Sustainability and
Social Justice. This exciting new program will take an interdisciplinary
approach, and students will have a chance to learn from a range of
scholars in the department and beyond. It is anticipated that the first
group of students will start in September 2009.
Sample course titles include:
- Equity and Environmental Sustainability
- Environmental Consequences of Militarism
- Indigenous and Non-indigenous Approaches to Sustainability and Social
Justice
- Project-based Practicum in the Field (including student-led showcasing
of innovative solutions to diverse problems of social injustice and
unsustainable practice)
- Plus a wide range of electives from the University of Toronto.
To find out more, come to an orientation meeting on Wednesday, October
29th, at 7:00 pm (light refreshments will be available at 6:30). It will
be held in Room 12-274 at OISE, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto (just above
the St. George subway station).
Please ALSO send an e-mail to
<mailto:sustain at oise.utoronto.ca>sustain at oise.utoronto.ca to confirm your
interest.
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