Site C protesters continue hunger strike as food security, environmental concerns persist

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Site C protesters continue hunger strike as food security, environmental concerns persist
Kristin Henry has gone on hunger strike in front of B.C. Hydro to protest the building of the Site C dam project. The fact that it could also contribute to food insecurity in that area is not lost.
By Alyse Kotyk

rabble.ca - News for the rest of us

17 Mar 2016

Hey rabble readers!

Tonight we bring our winter fundraiser to a close. That likely makes this moment, right now, your last chance to help rabble meet the very attainable fundraising goal of $3,130 before midnight tonight Pacific time -- and still be able to receive your choice of reward!

Click here to donate right now and choose your gift of either the Best of rabble.ca 2015 edition, Indigenous Nationhood by Pam Palmater, or a copy of the new documentary film from Avi Lewis, This Changes Everything, based on the book by Naomi Klein.

Noam Chomsky reminds us of what the stakes are for supporting and growing independent media in Canada and around the globe. He writes, "it is no exaggeration to say that the hopes for a decent world rest substantially on the success of the kind of work that rabble.ca has been carrying out with such distinction and dedication." There it is.

And it really is no exaggeration to say that if everyone who receives these emails donated just $50 right now we could upgrade our website, expand our local coverage, hire the next generation of young, talented, and diverse journalists and writers, and we wouldn't have to fundraise for years to come. That's really all it would take to strengthen rabble and media democracy in Canada. So chip in what you can right here.

Also on the media democracy front, be sure to watch this important previously recorded live video event featuring prolific media reform theorists Robert McChesney and John Nichols discussing their new book that calls for Net Neutrality and the fight against a "citizen-less" future for our democracy.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives' annual Alternative Federal Budget deserves more attention than ever, now that we have a government that has affinity for at least some of its ideas. And with free tuition and ambitious tax measures, this year's Alternative Budget dares the Liberals to think big. As budget day on March 22 nears, Karl Nerenberg adds up the recommendations in a special report.

In Vancouver, rabble is excited to host the upcoming event, "Combating Islamophobia in the Media," a community forum on the mainstream media landscape and how it has the power to either reinforce or fight Islamophobia in Canadian society. Join us on April 5 at 7 p.m., featuring Sunera Thobani, Itrath Syed, and Urooba Jamal, with our sponsors at OpenMedia. Spread the word, get all the details and RSVP for the event here.

This week's top news

New BCTF president Glen Hansman takes aim at gender inequality and child poverty
New BCTF president Glen Hansman discusses what's ahead including addressing gender inequality, lack of education funding in B.C. and the child poverty problem.
By Teuila Fuatai

Responsible journalism is under attack in Nova Scotia
And, unfortunately it's an inside job. The newsroom workers at the Halifax Chronicle Herald have been on strike since Jan. 23. The Halifax Typographical Union responds.
By Francis Campbell, Ingrid Bulmer

Justice for Berta Cáceres rally condemns Canada's lethal influence in Honduras
Activists and allies gathered in Toronto on March 11 to to voice their solidarity with Indigenous activists and environmentalists and condemn the assassination of Berta Cáceres.
By A. Splawinski

Halifax Chronicle Herald workers keep up pressure to end the strike
Halifax Chronicle Herald workers have been on strike for almost two months. Management has not been in contact with the union since the early days, but workers continue to press for change.
By Teuila Fuatai

This week's top blogs

Prickly business: Illegal trafficking now threatens the cactus more than mammals or birds
Illegal harvesting and habitat loss are devastating the world's cactus populations, and there's no end in sight. They're now the fifth most threatened species group on the IUCN red list.
By Jen Halsall

'The War at Home' intimate, stark portrayal of Canada's domestic violence epidemic
Award-winning filmmaker Shelley Saywell has created an incredibly intimate documentary, The War at Home, by examining the stark realities of intimate partner violence.
By Doreen Nicoll

Alberta's scuppered 'Kudatah' is no laughing matter
George Clark's attempt to overthrow the government turned into an angry demonstration with participants shouting homophobic slurs, waving posters with swastikas and "Final Solution" slogans.
By Susan Wright

Mulcair faces fire as NDP convention nears
A group of Quebec NDPers wrote an open letter calling for changes in the party but not for Tom Mulcair's head. Others have now joined the fray, and they are not shy about targeting the leader.
By Karl Nerenberg

Restoring funding for refugee health critical step, but much more work remains
A doctor who has been working with refugees provides his perspective on the health funding announcement and other issues.
By Maya Bhullar

Pushing the Saskatchewan NDP to do better for Indigenous women
The team running for the Saskatchewan NDP is the most diverse it has ever been. Why has this new level of diversity not seemingly had an impact on the party's policies?
By Nora Loreto, Sarah Beuhler

This week's top columns

Fascism stalks U.S. campaign as Trump fans the flames of bigotry
We were taught that fascism was defeated in 1945, with the end of the Second World War. Yet the long shadows of that dark era are falling on the U.S. presidential campaign trail this year.
By Amy Goodman, Denis Moynihan

Treating voters as citizens -- and other lessons from my time in politics
Looking back on her foray into politics, Linda McQuaig questions if we're well served by a conventional wisdom that has reduced the voter to a simple-minded consumer who's only out for themselves.
By Linda McQuaig

Eye witness: Photojournalism and images that move us
We now have the capacity to deliver photo essays to mobile devices that have a resolution that rivals the finest publications. But they depend on one thing for their success -- powerful images.
By Wayne MacPhail

Obama questions the Washington playbook on U.S. foreign policy
Responses to events "tend to be militarized responses," Obama said in a recent account, which chronicles how the U.S. president became disenchanted with the Washington establishment playbook.
By Duncan Cameron

MORE FROM...
Naomi Klein, Linda McQuaig, Rick Salutin, Duncan Cameron, Wayne MacPhail, Murray Dobbin and others! Read columns...

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This week's top podcasts

CBSA conducting raids on caregivers in B.C. and Yukon
Project Guardian is a Canada Border Services Agency project targeting foreign caregivers in their employers' homes. Advocates say workers are being penalized for leaving exploitative workplaces.
By Redeye Collective

Trans people supporting each other and pushing for change in New Brunswick
Reid Lodge and Mable Wheeler talk about the work of Fredericton Gender Minorities and TransAction NB.
By Scott Neigh

First Nation, second class
Privilege and power versus the struggles of, and racism against, Indigenous peoples the world over, and the future of EV vehicles in Canada.
By Daryn Caister

This week's top rabbletv

Watch: Trudeau's Liberals could help save millions of lives
An American pharmaceutical corporation is suing Canadian taxpayers for $500 million because we rejected their patents.
By Shit Harper Did

This week's top books

Revolution or war? Syria's struggles from the ground up
No recent conflict is as misunderstood as the Syrian Revolution assert authors Leila Al-Shami and Robin Yassin-Kassab. It should be seen as a revolution. Here's why.
By Gerard Di Trolio

In this issue

Upcoming events

LondonFree screening of Til the Cows Come Home
The Prisoners Justice Film Festival and Cinema Politica present a free screening of the documentary Til the Cows Come Home at London Central Public Library.
By Prisoners Justice Film Festival

Toronto Reclaim Your Voice Toronto
Survivors of abuse share their stories at this event.
By Reclaim Your Voice

VancouverUntold Stories: Voices of Chinatown Seniors
Join us for a public conversation about the changes in Chinatown as experienced by Chinese-speaking seniors that live in the neighbourhood.
By DTES SRO collective

This week's top in cahoots

Food self-sustainability is both possible and necessary
As exporters like California struggle to maintain production in the face of climate change, Canada must aim to improve our own self-sufficiency.
By Upstream

Top 10 things Canadian unions want to see in the federal budget
Early next week, the federal Liberal government will table their first budget. This is an historic opportunity for our government to respond to the jobs crisis.
By Canadian Labour Congress

Alternative Federal Budget 2016: Time to move on
This year's AFB would lift 1.1 million Canadians out of poverty, reduce income inequality, boost economic growth, and, result in 520,000 new jobs, bringing unemployment rate to 6 per cent.
By Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Active babble topics

The Trump phenomenon
By NorthReport

Karl on Parl: CCPA Alternative Budget dares Liberals to think big. Will they?
By mark_alfred

The post-Harper Conservative Party
By Pondering

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This week's top tool

Fill in Wikipedia's gaps
Too many women and people of colour have no pages or tiny blurbs.

Poll

What do you think is the best way to renew the NDP?

The NDP convention is coming up in early April and, unsurprisingly, discussion of the future of the NDP has been relentless since the party's less-than-stellar preformance during the 2015 federal election.

Many have questioned whether current party leader Tom Mulcair should stay on, citing the party's apparent shift to the right during the election as a prime example of its failure. Others have suggested a leadership campaign is the last distraction the party needs.

Some have also suggested the party has become disconnected with Canada's left, especially grassroots and social movements, and needs to renew its own goals and objectives.

What do you think is the best way to renew the NDP?

Choices The NDP is fine. I agree we need to work on our election campaigning, but people are overreacting. Ah, blow it up and start anew with a real democratic socialist party. The party as a whole needs to refocus on real progressive politics and not get sidetracked with a leadership campaign. It seriously needs to look at and implement the principles the Leap, Waffle and NPI manifestos tried to instill originally. I think it needs a new leader. Someone who will consider what a real progressive opposition in Canada needs to look like. I'd like the NDP to become more active and independent in their actions, instead of always reacting. None of the above.

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