Alternative News
Articles from non-mainstream as opposed to corporate for profit sources.
From progressive power to International Women's Day : in the news this week
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- Published on Monday, 11 March 2019 13:42
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Another week, another round of political posturing in the ongoing SNC-Lavalin scandal. We’ll cut to the chase.This week, we heard Gerald Butts, former PMO adviser, testify before the House of Commons. Then, Trudeau held a press conference on Thursday morning, which in typical fashion featured coded and qualifying language. His acknowledgement that he has “lessons to learn” can still be taken as an admission of error, writes politics reporter Karl Nerenberg. But the Trudeau administration likely knew better from the get-go, contends Ed Finn. Job losses are a flimsy excuse.
However it shakes out, the SNC-Lavalin scandal will not be without lasting effect. Allegations of corruption and interference in the judiciary have emboldened the Conservative opposition, writes Duncan Cameron. And Ole Hendrickson contends that through the scandal, Canadians have caught a glimpse of the “real Canada.” That is, “the hidden world of corporate influence on government decision-making.” David Suzuki connects the dots further, drawing links between corporate corruption, climate change and the concrete business. The question of how to counter the corporate capture of our public institutions that Suzuki and Hendrickson both highlight extends beyond any given electoral cycle or party.
But here’s the thing. As Susan Wright points out, the scandal has been a major distraction during a decisive election year. And without more information or evidence, it’s more or less spectacle.
Think back to the 2015 federal election, in which Trudeau promised “sunny ways” and a feminist revolution -- or at least gender parity in politics. Instead, he’s brought us the same ol’ boys club, writes Monia Mazigh. That his party has failed to deliver on nearly every other progressive promise it campaigned on -- from electoral reform to a full repeal of C-51 -- is no secret.
With that in mind, SNC-Lavalin won’t be the end of Trudeau. His failure to implement progressive policies will be. Read David Climenhaga on how pharmacare could’ve offered Trudeau an opportunity to shift attention -- and help Canadians in the process.
Many voters remain staunch in their support for truly progressive policies and ideas, regardless of what pundits and pollsters seem to think, reports Alex Cosh. But will the NDP provide a viable alternative and a real choice where Trudeau and the Liberals have faltered? Karl Nerenberg is not so sure.
Read more: From progressive power to International Women's Day : in the news this week
Capitalism: the worst possible system for people and the planet : in the news this week
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- Published on Monday, 11 March 2019 13:20
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Capitalism is the worst possible system for people and the planet.Extraction of profit at any cost is simply incompatible with caring for the delicate network of ecosystems that sustain life on Earth. An alarming scientific review recently found that human activity is driving insects to extinction, writes David Suzuki this week. And when the bottom of the food chain is endangered, so too is everything up the chain -- including people.
Ecological breakdown aside, communities across Canada are already feeling the effects of the corporate assault on workers and public institutions. Politicians and parties of all stripes tell us Canada simply can’t afford public investment in daycare, housing, or pharmacare while spending billions of taxpayer dollars on warships and pipelines. This is the real political scandal, says Matthew Behrens -- made clear in the Trudeau...
Read more: Capitalism: the worst possible system for people and the planet : in the news this week
The New Politics of Disablement: The Contribution of Mike Oliver
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- Published on Monday, 11 March 2019 02:50
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 1782 ... March 11, 2019
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The New Politics of Disablement: The Contribution of Mike Oliver
Ravi Malhotra
Michael Oliver (3 February 1945 to 2 March 2019) was a British academic, author, and disability rights activist. He was Emeritus Professor of Disability Studies at the University of Greenwich. His research focused on the social model of disability, and his activism centred on overcoming the systemic barriers disabled people confront in their daily lives. We present below a memoir of his contribution to building Disability Studies and a movement demanding inclusion and equality for disabled people.
Mike Oliver, Emeritus Professor of Disability Studies at the University of Greenwich in England, has died at the age of 74 after a short illness. A long time wheelchair user since the age of seventeen, a sociologist...
Read more: The New Politics of Disablement: The Contribution of Mike Oliver
Women Workers Forced Out on Strike on IWD
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- Published on Monday, 11 March 2019 00:46
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A new chance to save the bees
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- Published on Sunday, 10 March 2019 14:16
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Dear A,
Fantastic news! Almost 900 incredible SumOfUs members like you have already chipped in to save bees, butterflies and bugs from dangerous pesticides.
A grassroots group in Switzerland are on the verge of kicking toxic pesticides out of their country -- and now you can help them.
Last week, they launched eye-catching ads in train stations, walkways, and bus stops leading right to the doors of the Swiss Federal Assembly. But they don’t have the money to keep them up for long.
With your help they could set an example for the world to follow. Can you chip in to secure an historic pesticide ban?
If you’ve saved your payment information with SumOfUs, your donation will go through immediately:
Read more: A new chance to save the beesDigital Games: A Canary in the Coal Mine of Capital
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- Published on Saturday, 09 March 2019 23:30
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LeftStreamed — Recorded in Toronto, 28 February 2019
Digital Games: A Canary in the Coal Mine of Capital
Not everyone plays digital games, but with the rise of casual, mobile-based gaming, we all know someone who does. With global sales revenues that far exceed global Hollywood’s annual box office, the digital games industry is a leading and fast growing sector of digital capitalism, and the logics and mechanics of digital games are spreading through the wider economy at a breakneck pace, with the insurance industry and ride share apps looking toward “gamification” and other forms of psychological nudging to influence the behavior of workers and consumers alike.
In this session of The Capitalism Workshop, Daniel Joseph focuses on two sides of digital games: the commodification of play through new commodity forms bolstered by digital...
Read more: Digital Games: A Canary in the Coal Mine of Capital
New threat to Net Neutrality
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- Published on Saturday, 09 March 2019 10:10
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Paov,
Even though Net Neutrality is the law in Canada, the chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) called for “flexibility” in how it's enforced late last year.1
...Dumping salt in a river?!
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- Published on Saturday, 09 March 2019 04:10
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A massive natural gas company is about to destroy a river in Nova Scotia and trample Indigenous rights.
Tell the Federal government to stop Alton Gas’ destructive project.
A,
No one would ever think that dumping 3,000 tonnes of salt into a river every single day would be a good idea. And yet that is exactly what Alton Gas is asking the Federal government to let it do.
Indigenous grandmothers and their allies have been fighting Alton Gas’ massive gas storage project, for over 5 years,...
R&F.ca Weekly Update
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- Published on Saturday, 09 March 2019 03:06
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ACTIVlist Update - March 8, 2019
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- Published on Friday, 08 March 2019 11:24
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On International Women’s Day we commit to a better world
This daily ACTIVlist e-mail is a compilation of blog posts, media releases and action alerts from the Council of Canadians. For more information about our campaigns, how to get involved, and how to become a member, go to canadians.org. Please use this link to forward ACTIVlist to a friend and encourage them to join! Thank you for your interest and support.
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Today, March 8, is International Women’s Day. The Council of Canadians honours the struggles of women around the world for justice and equality.
Government inspection reports reveal complaints with bottled water
Bottled water that smells like "urine," tastes like "old socks" or reeks of "diarrhea." These were some of the complaints listed in four years' worth of government inspection reports obtained by...
Beaver Lake Cree have their day in court/Les cris de Beaver Lake se font entendre devant le tribunal
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- Published on Friday, 08 March 2019 04:36
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Cracker Barrel cheese
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- Published on Friday, 08 March 2019 03:10
- Written by editor
A,
Because of your pressure -- McCain's contacted us to let us know that it was already signed onto another food waste commitment to reduce its food waste by 50% by 2025 and it finally made the commitment public on its website.
Now we need to pressure Saputo, the dairy giant behind Cracker Barrel and Neilson milk, to address food waste.
Thanks for all that you do,
Amelia, Angus and the team at SumOfUs
Food processors like Saputo are most responsible food waste in Canada.
It’s time these food giants to clean up their act and sign the food waste pledge.
...Exterminators-in-Chief: Trudeau, Bolsonaro, et al, and Informed Consent
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- Published on Friday, 08 March 2019 02:02
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 1781 ... March 8, 2019
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Exterminators-in-Chief: Trudeau, Bolsonaro, et al, and Informed Consent
Judith Deutsch
In Memory of Dave Vasey who knew first-hand about official callousness toward life in the small town of Walkerton where people died needlessly of water contamination. Dave dedicated his too short life to fighting against climate injustice, militarization, and the austerity state.
I read the Canadian news today: “Pipeline expansion should be approved: regulator.”
Regulators ignorantly, negligently, criminally, and in contempt of life, yet again gave the go-ahead to money over incontestable science. Liberal democratic Canada is in league with Brazil’s military dictatorship and the Lima Group in overthrowing the Maduro government in Venezuela, and in deforesting the “lungs of the earth.” Theirs is a triple crime, of thrice proliferating greenhouse gas emissions at this...
Read more: Exterminators-in-Chief: Trudeau, Bolsonaro, et al, and Informed Consent
International Women's Day
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- Published on Thursday, 07 March 2019 21:02
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ACTIVlist Update - March 7, 2019
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- Published on Thursday, 07 March 2019 15:04
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Maude Barlow in Paris to help celebrate city’s public water system
This daily ACTIVlist e-mail is a compilation of blog posts, media releases and action alerts from the Council of Canadians. For more information about our campaigns, how to get involved, and how to become a member, go to canadians.org. Please use this link to forward ACTIVlist to a friend and encourage them to join! Thank you for your interest and support.
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Council of Canadians Honorary Chairperson Maude Barlow is in Paris, France as an invited guest speaker celebrating the 10th anniversary of “Eau de Paris,” the city’s public water system. She spoke in front of a hall full of people about the importance of ensuring water remains in public hands.
ACTION ALERT: Northern Pulp: Three days to comment on toxic legacy
Across the Cardinal Divide
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- Published on Thursday, 07 March 2019 07:02
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Pizza Hut's secret
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- Published on Thursday, 07 March 2019 06:30
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Pizza Hut and KFC are buying ingredients that destroy rainforests -- and they have one of the food industry’s worst policies on deforestation.
Tell Pizza Hut and KFC to commit to zero deforestation!
A,
Magnificent rainforests in Asia and South America are being slashed and set ablaze to produce palm oil, soy, beef and paper -- driving out the precious orangutans, pygmy elephants, and other endangered animals who call those trees home.
But fast food giants Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell have failed...
A More Dangerous World: The Nuclear Arms Race, the INF Treaty and Canada
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- Published on Wednesday, 06 March 2019 23:48
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 1780 ... March 7, 2019
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A More Dangerous World:
The Nuclear Arms Race, the INF Treaty and Canada
Socialist Project Steering Committee
On October 20, 2018, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the bilateral Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with Russia. The INF was signed by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev in December 1987. The treaty eliminated 2,692 land-based missiles with ranges of 500 km to 5,500 km. On February 1, 2019, the United States suspended its participation in the treaty, and Russia responded by withdrawing from the treaty the following day.
This comes at a time of heightening belligerence by the United States and its allies against countries beyond the ongoing military operations in the Middle East....
Read more: A More Dangerous World: The Nuclear Arms Race, the INF Treaty and Canada
ACTIVlist Update - March 6, 2019
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- Published on Wednesday, 06 March 2019 13:14
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Moving closer to pharmacare, but details on model still unclear
This daily ACTIVlist e-mail is a compilation of blog posts, media releases and action alerts from the Council of Canadians. For more information about our campaigns, how to get involved, and how to become a member, go to canadians.org. Please use this link to forward ACTIVlist to a friend and encourage them to join! Thank you for your interest and support.
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The federal government announced this morning that it will create a new drug agency and master list of prescription medications that would be available to everyone regardless of their ability to pay. But the Liberals fell short of confirming a new pharmacare program would be fully universal, accessible, comprehensive, publicly-administered and portable.
URGENT: Find the dumped mercury barrels and help the people of #GrassyNarrows
A new chance to save the bees
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- Published on Wednesday, 06 March 2019 12:16
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Bees, butterflies, and beetles are going extinct faster than we could imagine. A grassroots group in Switzerland just launched a campaign to ban ALL pesticides -- and set an inspiring example for the world.
Will you donate to make this pesticide ban a reality?
If you’ve saved your payment information with SumOfUs, your donation will go through immediately:
Donate CA$94 nowDonate CA$140 nowDonate CA$187 nowDonate another amount
A,
A new report says that pesticides are killing off the world’s insects at an alarming rate. And bees, butterflies and beetles are right at the top of the endangered list. By the end of the century, they could all be gone.
These insects pollinate crops, rejuvenate soil and supply food chains the world over. If...
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- ACTIVlist Update - March 4, 2019
- This changes everything...
- SEA Event: Hands On Overcoming Divisions in Climate Justice Workshop
- Myanmar hotel workers imprisoned for defending their union and their rights- resending due to email issues
- Myanmar hotel workers imprisoned for defending their union and their rights
