In April it was announced that Ontario would be joining Quebec in implementing a cap and trade system on carbon emissions. While the Ontario government has presented this development as a positive step for the climate, critics of cap and trade point out that the mechanism often does not lead to lower green house gas emissions. Instead, it creates another market to commodify nature and allows corporations to continue profiting from environmental destruction for a small financial fee.
Moderated by Lana Goldberg. Introduction by Greg Albo. Presentations by:
Author's note: Until this past February, I worked as a contracted television producer for Global TV and its current affairs program, 16x9. Last fall, I was commissioned to do a story for the program about the Koch brothers, their holdings in Alberta’s oil sands and their interest in getting the Keystone XL pipeline built. In January, two days before the 22-minute documentary was about to air on 16x9, Global's senior management pulled the story.
Opposition movements against four megaprojects linked to the Alberta oil sands are increasingly connected, according to Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, an author, environmental activist, and former leader of the 2012 student strike in Quebec.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Canada's Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt announced new harmonized guidelines for rail tanker cars Friday morning in Washington, in part to deal with the lessons learned from the Lac-Mégantic tragedy of July 2013 and to deal with the 4,000 per cent increase in crude oil shipments by rail in recent years.
The Alberta government escalated its campaign to build tar sands pipelines under Premier Jim Prentice by seeking to have First Nations become full-blown proponents of the projects in return for oil revenues.
Documents obtained by the Guardian show that under a proposed agreement the province would have funded a task force of Alberta First Nations and government officials to “work jointly on removing bottlenecks and enabling the construction of pipelines to tide-water in the east and west coasts.”
QUEBEC CITY–Standing at the head of the line, drum in hand, Melissa Mollen-Dupuis and several First Nation drummers took their first step forward. Behind them, an estimated 25,000 people followed.
“I say we need programs for people who are addicted to petrol and money,” said Mollen-Dupuis. “Just like we do for people who are addicted to alcohol and drugs.”
Mollen-Dupuis is a seasoned environmental activist.
The Innu from Mingan on Quebec’s North shore is a staple in environmental marches.
In today’s climate action march, she was walking for a new purpose.
. . . The bill "isn't really about terrorism," but about preserving economic and power relations in Canada, Palmater said.
Citizens have worked too hard to create treaties, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and international laws that protect basic human rights to toss it all away "because we wanted to protect some corporate economic interests," she added.
Her arguments were echoed by Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, who said the bill would dangerously expand powers of Canada's security agencies without making people any safer.
Senior engineers at Canada’s energy regulator are under investigation by their professional association over their probe of alleged safety code violations at TransCanada Corp., Canada’s second largest pipeline operator.
The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) confirmed to Reuters it is investigating some of its members who work at the National Energy Board (NEB).
Canada's spy agency helped senior federal officials figure out how to deal with protests expected last summer in response to resource and energy development issues — including a pivotal decision on the Northern Gateway pipeline.
Bill C-51 'Day of Action' protests denounce new policing powers
Anti-terrorism bill opens door to spying on opponents,Mulcair charges
Anti-terrorism bill's powers could ensnare protesters, MP fears
