“As if worrying about rising sea levels isn’t enough, the evils of climate change are also affecting our food supply. A mix of increased temperatures, changes in rain, and bacterial and fungi outbreaks have hit American farmers hard, causing harvests to fall behind schedule or find complete ruin. With dramatic shifts in weather becoming increasingly common, a number of foods we’re used to eating could be in danger of extinction…”
“For many years, climate change has displaced millions in the developing world – and now America is seeing its first climate refugees. Over 180 native communities in Alaska are under threat as ice melt, rising seas, and erosion threatens their traditional way of life. A new report by the US Army Corps of Engineers predicts that Alaskan villages such as Newtok (located on the western coast of Alaska and 400 miles south of the Bering Strait) could be completely underwater as soon as 2017…”
“The Senate expense scandals sweeping Ottawa have met a particularly poor reception in the Conservative government’s Western heartland, where calls are now emerging for the resignation – and criminal prosecution – of several senators. Those implicated in housing expense problems “should be out of there, in a flash. No stalling about it,” said Myron Thompson, the outspoken Albertan who spent 15 years as a member of Parliament. Mr. Thompson was first elected in 1993 with the Reform Party, which had championed Senate reform, a political platform that drew its greatest support in Western Canada…”
“British Prime Minister David Cameron’s flagship gay marriage policy deepened a rift in his own party on Monday after many of his own lawmakers defied him in a sign of growing strains on his leadership and his coalition government. Almost 40 per cent of Cameron’s 303 lawmakers in the lower house of parliament voted for an ultimately unsuccessful amendment that would have allowed registrars to refuse to perform gay marriage ceremonies if they objected…”
“Vermont on Monday became the fourth U.S. state to end legal penalties for doctors who prescribe medication to terminally ill patients seeking to end their own lives. The law, which includes a number of safeguards over the next three years as the state adapts, marked the first time a U.S. state has used the legislative process to make assisted suicide legal. Oregon and Washington have similar laws passed through ballot measures and a Montana court authorized the practice in 2009…”
“There’s some who still hold to the line. Ethical abuses? No big deal. The people don’t care. It won’t hurt the Harper Conservatives much. These people should try telling the Liberals that they weren’t damaged by the sponsorship scandal or Brian Mulroney that he wasn’t hurt by the Karlheinz Schreiber affair or John Turner that he wasn’t set back by Pierre Trudeau’s barrage of 11th-hour patronage appointments. They should try telling historians that Lester Pearson wasn’t hurt by the scandals involving his Quebec ministers or that the Louis St. Laurent government didn’t suffer on account of invoking closure in the pipeline debate…”
“Norway is ranked No. 1 in the world for productivity, measured by GDP per total hours worked, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Canada comes 17th, behind Spain. Many variables affect productivity, and Norway’s high oil production contributes significantly to its GDP, and therefore productivity…
Mr. Cappelen attributes Norway’s high productivity to four main factors:
1. A more educated work force, largely enabled by free university tuition;
2. Outsourcing low-wage, low-productivity labour;
3.Maximizing participation in the work force for skilled workers, (providing social support and flexible work for seniors and new parents);
4. Equal distribution of income…”
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“When oil was discovered in the Norwegian continental shelf in 1969, Norway was very aware of the finite nature of petroleum, and didn’t waste any time legislating policies to manage the new-found resource in a way that would give Norwegians long-term wealth, benefit their entire society and make them competitive beyond just a commodities exporter…’Norway got the basics right quite early on,” says John Calvert, a political science professor at Simon Fraser University. “They understood what this was about and they put in place public policy that they have benefited so much from…’”
MANAGUA, May 15 2013 (IPS) - “Mayangna indigenous communities in northern Nicaragua are caught up in a life-and-death battle to defend their ancestral territory in the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve from the destruction wrought by invading settlers and illegal logging. The president of the Mayangna indigenous nation, Aricio Genaro, told Tierramérica that their struggle to protect this reserve, which is still the largest forested area in Central America, was stepped up in 2010, due to the increased numbers of farmers from eastern and central Nicaragua moving in. In addition to the destruction of natural resources, this invasion has turned violent and poses a serious threat to the biosphere reserve’s indigenous population, estimated at roughly 30,000. Since 2009, 13 indigenous people have been killed while defending their territory, said Genaro. The latest victim of this violent confrontation was Elías Charly Taylor, who died from gunshot wounds he received in the community of Sulún on Apr. 24, when returning from a protest demonstration against the destruction of the forest…”
“…The arm’s-length organization has named Gerry Protti, the founding president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers – the energy industry’s lobby group – as its chairman. Mr. Protti spent 15 years at natural gas giant Encana Corp., and also served as assistant deputy minister for Alberta’s energy department. No one questions whether he understands the oil and gas business. Some however, question his independence…Mr. Protti argues the new system, which comes with fatter fines, will be improved through stronger governance. Board members will no longer be the same folks sitting on hearing panels and running operations. These roles will be separated. Further, the rule-making process will also change. Policy questions will be removed from the regulator and put to the energy and environment ministers through the new policy management office…”
“In late March, I spent a few days with some other retirees at a political action conference in Toronto. We were among close to 1,500 labour activists and leaders from across Canada who spent the weekend talking about the attacks on working families in Canada and what we can do about them. Why, you ask, would retirees be interested in this? Well, when we were young our parents did not have many of the rights and benefits Canadian workers enjoy today. And during our working lives, we fought hard and long with our unions for the wages and benefits workers enjoy today, a fair share of the richness of Canada. Wages and benefits that allowed us to buy a house, take an occasional vacation, put our kids through college and university, and set aside something for retirement. And, as retirees, we are not about to just sit by and see our children and grandchildren lose what we fought for…”
“Workers at the New Era Windows Cooperative are celebrating the grand opening of their new unionized, worker-owned and operated business. Almost a year to the day after their window factory closed, a group of former workers have launched their own window business without bosses. They successfully raised money to buy the factory collectively and run it democratically. In 2008, some of the workers were involved in a famous six-day sit-in after Republic Windows and Doors gave workers just three days’ notice before closing the factory. The sit-in drew national attention and union workers reached a settlement where they each received $6,000 each. About 65 workers occupied the factory after their jobs came under threat again in 2012. We speak to two worker-owners of the just-opened New Era Windows Cooperative and a labor organizer who helped with their fight…”
“We did it, and it’s nothing to cheer about. The world hit the “sobering milestone” of 400 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 on Thursday—a first in human history — marking “a moment of symbolic significance on road of idiocy” the world has chosen, as well as a call for urgent climate action…”
“John King, a former employee of the Canada Border Services Agency and former elected officer of CEUDA (now CIU, the Customs and Immigration Union Component of the PSAC), had his employment terminated by CBSA in November 2007 for actions that allegedly involved “counselling or procuring an illegal strike.” He had posted statements on a local union website that the employer believed violated the illegal strike provisions of the Public Service Labour Relations Act. Originally suspended for 30 days, despite the fact that he removed the statement when asked to do so, King was subsequently terminated after he re-posted the statements in order to advise our membership of the reasons given by the employer for his suspension…”
“Lawyers are in a Montreal court today to defend three of Canada’s biggest tobacco companies against a $27-billion class action lawsuit. The complainants, two groups of individuals representing a total of 1.8 million Quebecers, allege these companies did everything possible to encourage addiction: Imperial Tobacco. JTI-MacDonald. Rothmans, Benson & Hedges. The defence’s first witness, Jacques Lacoursiere, a historian and professor, said it has been common knowledge for decades that tobacco is harmful…”
