Society

At the FIPA rally, June 5 2013
Outside the Federal Court, 701 Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC
Photo: Brenda Sayers, pictured here with white blanket, of Hupacasath First Nations, Vancouver Island, has led the First Nations court action, on behalf of Canadians, against the Canada/China Investment Protection Agreement (FIPA).

Interviewer: We're talking all about solidarity. It's all about We Stand Together. How do you think the outcome of this case will affect the other cases that are up right now with the  Frog Lake and the Misigaw around overturning the legislation that destroyed our Navigable Waters Act? 

SP: I think that all of these court cases will serve as a

Compiled by Joyce Nelson

Fisheries & Oceans
Discontinued: Species-at-Risk Program, Ocean Contaminants & Marine Toxicology Program, Habitat Management, Experimental Lakes Area (Northern Ontario), DFO Marine Science Libraries, Centre for Offshore Oil & Gas Energy Research
 

by Joyce Nelson

Canada’s Information Commissioner, Suzanne Legault, agreed at the end of March to launch an investigation into the extensive muzzling of federally-funded scientists at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Environment Canada, Natural Resources Canada and other federal agencies. Her decision comes after a February 20th complaint formally filed by Democracy Watch in partnership with the Environmental Law Clinic of the University of Victoria, which called for a full investigation and was accompanied by a 128-page report, Muzzling Civil Servants: A Threat to Democracy.

That report documents systematic silencing since 2007 of

Excerpt from Joyce Nelson's WS article, "Harper's War on Science"

Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, has consistently defended the Harper government from accusations of a War on Science by emphasizing the $5.5 billion that the Feds have provided to the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), including another $225 million to the CFI in Economic Action Plan 2013 released on March 21.   

The CFI – the key decision-maker for all science funding in

by Lisa Matthaus

Polling consistently shows that British Columbians have strong environmental values, some of the strongest in Canada: from protecting salmon to keeping our coast and streams free from oil spills, British Columbians across the political spectrum speak loudly and proudly to defend our natural legacies.

by Heather Menzies

In early January, a man identifying himself as a seventh-generation descendent of Chief Tecumseh, who led the Native Nations in an alliance with General Isaac Brock in the War of 1812, came to see Chief Theresa Spence on Victoria Island. He stood across the sacred fire from where she sat, and explained that he’d felt “called” by the spirit of his ancestor to “stand up” and support her. “You speak from the heart of the earth,” he said.
As I listened, I realized that he was using a language that’s virtually extinct in public discourse. Yet it’s a language that

by Gavin Fridell

In 2012, the Conservatives ended the 70-year monopoly seller status of the Canadian Wheat Board, one of the world’s largest and most successful “state trading enterprises.” The government decision came without a vote among prairie grain farmers, required by the Canadian Wheat Board Act, and despite a 2011 plebiscite in which a majority of farmers voted to maintain the Board’s status. The matter is now before the courts, but the Board cannot simply be revived after having been dismantled. Instead, a coalition of farmer groups has launched a class action suit against the government seeking billions of dollars in compensation.

by Dawn Paley

Over the past years, environmentalists and activists from North America have consistently looked to the south for inspiration and guidance in environmental and climate struggles. Throughout the hemisphere, and in the face of adversity, poverty and repression, communities have organized on a local level in defense of the health of their water, land, and air.
On occasion, these local struggles have translated into national issues

by Dawn Paley

Co-operatives are falling back into favour as a way to organize for sustainable economic alternatives and social change.
Though Canada has one of the largest co-operative movements in the world, it is – with some exceptions – a rather conservative sector, which has drifted away from grassroots organizing.

by Darryl Luscombe

Bill C-38, The Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, received Royal Assent and became law in Canada on June 29th, 2012. The Omnibus Budget bill is the most targeted  attack on democracy, the environment and environmental advocates by any Canadian government in history.