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Archives for the month of: February, 2012
An Amazing film! If you’re not sure whether to take action on the Keystone XL pipeline, this could be the video that changes your mind.
Tar Sands Action/ Josh Fox
Tar Sands Action
The video mentions Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s famous quote on his plan for the tar sands in Alberta: It is “an enterprise of epic proportions, akin to the building of the pyramids or China’s Great Wall. Only bigger.”
Related topic:
Video: Canada’s Tar Sands: So Destructive It Makes Its Well-Paid Workers Want to Quit
Hundreds fill hall for pipeline forum
The nation’s top bank warns that people have set themselves up for the ‘perfect storm’ of financial problems. Indicators>>>
In an exciting act of grassroots resistance to Monsanto and their GMOs that are ravaging the planet, activist Adam Eidinger has infiltrated a Monsanto shareholder meeting and posted the video up on Youtube. Eidinger discusses the negative impact of GMO crops, Roundup, and other Monsanto creations on human health and the environment. As a result, a shocked Monsanto spokesman (identified as CEO Hugh Grant by Eidinger) does his best to brush off the concerns and assure the activist that the company — the same company that has been found to be running slave rings on their GMO crop fields — cares very much about the concerns of their shareholders.
Read more: NaturalSociety
Q&A – Monsanto Annual Shareholders Meeting (video 2 of 3)
Occupy Activist gets face time with Monsanto (video 3 of 3)
The NDP’s Pat Martin suggested that the Conservatives may have stolen the 2011 election.
With their narrow 11-seat majority in Parliament, the Conservative Party is facing its most significant scandal since the 2011 election, after Elections Canada began an investigation into thousands of illegal ‘robo-calls’ traced to a Conservative-tied firm in Alberta. You could call it ‘Robo-Gate’. Vancouver Observer
Opposition slams ‘robocalls’ linked to Tories
Opposition members are calling for a police probe into claims that a string of fraudulent phone calls strategically placed last spring were aimed at suppressing the Liberal vote on federal election day.
‘Robocalls’ tried to discourage voters
Caller pretending to be Elections Canada told voters their polling stations had been moved
> Election day phone calls tried to discourage voters
> Calls likely led some voters to give up on voting
> Calls led to a chaotic scene at one polling station
To The Governments Of Canada And British Columbia: SIGN THE PETITION — Dogwood Initiative
BC’s Huge Gamble, asks the question of what British Columbians are willing to risk in exchange for several hundred new jobs.
The short film lays bare not only the environmental and economic detriment to be expected if the Northern Gateway Pipeline is approved, but it also expounds Enbridge’s disregard for the health of residents as well. Posing a threat to the province’s coastal communities, unique rain forests, commercial fisheries and thriving tourism industry.
EARTH MATTERS
Uploaded by CoreyOgilvie on Feb 6, 2012
Please mirror and share with every British Columbian, Canadian, and world citizen who wants to protect the BC coast, Great Bear Rainforest, and our way of life. Enbridge Inc, with their horrible spill record, wants to build a pipeline thru the heart of BC and run tankers up and down our rocky coasts. Whats most amazing, is what we get in return for this HUGE gamble, watch to see…
Follow Corey’s future work:
http://www.facebook.com/OgilvieFilm
http://www.ogilviefilm.com/index.html
Join the BC fight against Enbridge:
http://pipeupagainstenbridge.ca/
http://dogwoodinitiative.org/no-tankers/petition
http://www.tankerfreebc.org/
http://www.pacificwild.org/
know any more links, pls send as message and I’ll include
BC’s Huge Gamble – short film – Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline – YouTube.
Which path will we choose? Please read and share widely.
The most moving moment of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel hearings in Prince Rupert which wrapped up Saturday were spoken by Lee Brain, the 26-year-old son of an oil executive
Here is an excerpt of his speech
So, if on one hand, you had an unpredictable path, that leads into a new dream, a new way of life for all of mankind and on the other hand, you had a predictable path that leads to the slow, inevitable decline of a civilization.
Which path would you choose?
State Department IG Finds Flaws in Pipeline Review
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.): “The more we learn, the less merit there is to this project. For those of us who are concerned about the consequences of global warming and the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the idea of producing oil that emits 82 percent more carbon pollution than conventional oil is indefensible. We have better options for the American people that do not jeopardize the future of our country and our planet. These include increasing fuel efficiency standards for our cars and trucks, a step which would cut pollution and save up to three times as much oil as Keystone XL could ever deliver.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders Page
To read the inspector general’s report, click here.
The Real Foreign Interests In The Oil Sands
What Ottawa doesn’t want you noticing
Here are a few details of the major investment deal coming soon between Canada and China, as well as a list of what CBC chief political correspondent Terry Milewski calls a “small blizzard of incremental agreements,” signed in Beijing on Wednesday.
The Big One: FIPA
Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the foreign investment promotion and protection agreement (FIPA) between Canada and China the first “comprehensive economic agreement” between the two countries.
In fact, what was signed by Harper and Chinese Premier Wen Jaibao in Beijing is not the final deal, but a declaration of intent: Now it must be legally reviewed and ratified by both governments, which for Canada will mean a debate in the House of Commons. Once both countries complete this process, it will need to be formally signed to take effect.
This deal will protect Canadians investing in China, as well as Chinese investors in Canada, from “discriminatory and arbitrary practices.” Once in place, investors can have more confidence that rules will be enforced and valuable business deals will be subject to predictable legal practices.
Harper told reporters in Beijing he “absolutely” expected that it will make a “practical difference.”
“The agreement does not override existing Canadian law in regard to foreign investment and foreign investment review,” Harper said. “Those laws remain in place.”
Negotiations for this agreement took 18 years, and key players in manufacturing, mining and the financial sectors were consulted to get to this stage.
It’s not unusual for Canada to have this kind of an agreement with a trading partner. FIPAs are in force with 24 other countries that trade with Canada, and active negotiations are underway with 10 other countries, according to the government’s announcement.
Agriculture:
– A new protocol, building on a 2010 agreement to restore Canada’s market access to the Chinese market for Canadian beef following the 2003 BSE outbreak and resulting border closures, to allow industrial beef tallow (fat) to be imported for the first time in almost a decade. China used to be Canada’s top export market for tallow ($31 million in 2002), and now Canada has a shot at a share of the $400 million in tallow China imports from around the world.
– A memorandum of understanding (MOU) on canola research, to address a recent fungal disease in canola and rapeseed that threatens Canada’s valuable trading relationship with China in canola.
– On Tuesday, Chinese aquaculture feed company Tongwei announced it will increase its purchase of Canadian canola by up to $240 million per year by 2015.
Natural Resources:
– A MOU between Natural Resources Canada and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to collaborate on scientific research on sustainable development of natural resources. The government release touts benefits including new technologies for resource firms, carbon emissions reduction strategies, reduced environmental impacts and natural hazards from resource development, and new opportunities for Canadian suppliers of equipment and services.
– A MOU spelling out a “framework” for Parks Canada and China’s state forestry administration to collaborate and share scientific expertise in the management of national parks, natural reserves and other protected areas. The agreement includes language around ecological restoration, conservation measures for endangered wildlife, wetlands development, and the preservation of forests and wetlands.
Energy:
– A continuation of the MOU, first signed in 2001 and renewed in 2006, on energy co-operation to “engage China on energy issues” through a Canada-China joint working group on energy co-operation, chaired by Natural Resources Canada and China’s national energy administration, which is responsible for Chinese energy policy. The working group oversees joint research projects, exchange of expertise, and co-operation between energy companies in both countries, including the promotion of energy efficiency and renewables. It aims to both attract capital investment and improve market access for Canadian energy resources and technology.
Science and Technology:
– Approval of seven projects, valued at $10 million, under the Canada-China framework for co-operation on science and technology and innovation, including: a diagnostic kit for acute kidney injuries, a wind energy seawater desalination system, a waste heat-recovery system to help oil refineries consume less fuel, new solar cells for renewable energy panels, a real-time multi-sensor navigational tracking device for hand-held devices, a blue-green algae bloom warning system and “next generation” large-scale geographic information systems.
– Two more calls for proposals, valued at $18 million ($9 million from each country) for joint research under the same framework. These proposals are for the development of “innovations with high commercial potential” in the areas of human vaccines and clean automotive transportation. The Canada-China joint committee on science and technology, made up of individuals from industry, academia and government, sets the priorities and oversees these projects. (To date, 21 projects ranging from nuclear power to AIDS drugs, to clean technologies for pulp and paper have received some $28 million in funding.)
Education:
– A renewed MOU extending and modifying the Canada-China scholars’ exchange program, which has seen 900 students travel between Canada and China since 1973. New eligibility rules and scholarships will be in place for the next round of competitions in 2012, including eight to 12 Canadian scholarships for Chinese professionals and 20 awards for Canadian university students.
O' Canada 