As is well known, the state of the forest industry and the forests themselves in British Columbia has deteriorated in the last 20 years, a culmination of longstanding bad policies and practices. Big corporations have shut down dozens of mills devastating workers and communities across the province. And there are many other problems.
The forests are unhealthy, plagued by insect infestations, decimation of old growth trees, poor planting practices, environmental deregulation, and so on.
[Webpage editor: Read this valuable account of developments in Venezuela, but which is also worth thinking about in terms of how we in Canada can face the looming reality of the climagte crisis, and in particular of the dialectic between 'progressive' government policy and 'popular' initiatives.]
A young theorist and grassroots organizer argues that Chavez’s socialist project lives on as an array of self-organized initiatives.
As enthusiasm for a Green New Deal for Canada grows, what type of planning will bring about a just transition to a low-carbon society?
Specifically, we turn to two questions.
First, how can plans for a just transition, from their very beginning, respect the principle of free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples?
The B.C. government is ready to enact a new Environmental Assessment law that could go a long way toward protecting the environment when new mines and other industrial projects are proposed.
But all of it is worthless if companies continue to dodge the Environmental Assessment process altogether – and I’m afraid that’s why I’m writing to you today.
