Dear Coast,
My name is Chris Arsenault and I am a freelancer working with the Chronicle Herald, CBC, THIS Magazine and other outletts around Canada.
I wasn’t sure who is the proper person to pitch to, so figured I’d try this.
I am Sending a story about a recent tour of NS by a Colombian villager who blames NS Power for destroying his home. I have pictures to accompany if you are interested.
If you want to see some of my work, I have the cover story and photos in the latest issue of THIS Magazine http://www.thismagazine.ca/issues/2006/03/collateral.php
If you’re interested in the story, blast me an e-mail and we can talk about rates.
Thanks for the consideration,
Sincerely,
Chris Arsenault arsenault_chris@hotmail.com902-802-1355
NS Power Importing ‘Blood Coal’: Displaced Colombia Villager.
Coal mining is usually a dirty business but for Jose Julio Perez and the 700 other former residents of Tabaco, a small town in northern Colombia, it’s downright bloody. The village was illegally destroyed to make way for the expansion of Cerrejun, the world’s largest open pit mine which supplies coal to Nova Scotia Power.
Mr. Perez spoke in Halifax last week, trying to arouse indignation among NS Power’s customers, “I appreciate what you are doing tonight,trying to understand and feel our pain,” Mr. Perez said to the fifty people gathered at Dalhousie University to hear his presentation. “ We feel international pressure will help us receive justice,” said Perez.
Approximately 17% of the NS Power’s coal comes from Colombia’s often violent mining sector. Most of NS Power’s Colombian coal comes from Cerrejun, stretching more 50 km in northern Colombia. During Cerrejun rapid expansion, entire Afro-Columbian communities, like Mr. Perez’s, were displaced; 350 000 Colombians were violently ousted in the first nine months of 2002alone.
Mr. Perez’s presentation began with a short video from the 2001 eviction and eventual destruction of his town; heavily armed riot police bullied unarmed villagers while bulldozers smashed the town’s church and school.
Members of the media, who were filming the event, had their cameras broken by the army and faced multiple threats. The camera panned to an interview with Mr. Perez who stood in front destroyed home: concrete and corrugated iron laying in shambles as his son cried.
“ It’s crucial for Nova Scotians to realize that whenever they flip the light switch, blood flows along with electricity,” said Garry Leech, a political science professor at Cape Breton University specializing in Colombia and a member of the Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network (ARSN), the organization coordinating the ‘blood-coal’ campaign.
“There are coal mining cooperatives in Colombia that have good human rightsrecords,” says Francisco Ramirez, President of Colombia’s National Mine Workers Union, who has found common cause with Jose Julio Perez and other villagers displaced by the mines.
Mr. Ramirez, who has faced seven assassination attempts for his lawful union activities at Colombian coal mines, spoke in Halifax last year as part of the campaign. “They (worker mining cooperatives)sell coal at the world market price, so I don’t know why NS Power won’t even consider switching, at least until the situation improves at Cerrejun,” said Ramirez.
“ Initially, Nova Scotia Power refused to meet with us to discuss the human rights situation at their Colombia suppliers,” said professor Leech. “Because of the campaign and the media attention it has garnered, they become more open to discussing the situation.” Mr. Perez and his supporters met with NS Power officials during his visit to Halifax.
Colombia’s civil conflict, fueled by North America’s lust for cocaine, coal and oil has spawned one of the hemisphere’s worst humanitarian disasters. Because of its turmoil and geopolitical importance, Colombia has received 4 billion dollars in US aide, mostly military, since 2000; only Egypt and Isreal receive more. Colombia has 3 million internally displaced refugees like Mr. Perez, surpassed only by Sudan as a hot-bed of homeless horror.
Jose Julio Perez’s former village Tabaco was pretty nice by Colombian standards. It boasted a school, telephone exchange, medical clinic and a church, all of which were destroyed by Cerrejun’s bulldozers. Currently, the mine employs 1000 private security guards in what ARSN members consider a, “private militia”.
In 2002 Mr. Perez and his fellow villagers challenged their eviction in Colombia’s supreme court. They won. The court issued a judicial decree ordering the relocation of the village. Four years later, the order hasn’t been enforced and the townspeople are still living as refugees; their children are not in school. “ The mine company has more power than the president,” said Mr. Perez, citing corruption in the police and military as the prime reason why the high court’s order hasn’t been enforced.
When the mine was expanding, owners offered some villagers compensation, on the condition that they wouldn’t try to negotiate collectively for relocation. Mr. Perez and many others, are demanding that they be moved collectively to a new town with the same amenities and infrastructure as Tabaco. Because of this, they haven’t received a penny in compensation. Mr. Perez and his family are currently living with relatives in a near-by settlement.
To make the whole ‘blood coal’ situation more Canadian than a medium-double-double before pee-wee hockey, NB Power’s ‘blood coal’ is transported to ourshores by Canada Steam Ship Lines- Paul Martin’s old tax-payer subsidizedLiberian flag waving junket representing all that’s wrong with governance inthe era of globalization.
It’s ironic; Atlantic Canadian coal mines close throwing thousands out of work, devastating entire communities, while we outsource production to far-off lands and buy from mines implicated in human rights abuses.
90% of Columbia’s human rights violations are perpetrated in mining andpetroleum exporting regions, 433 massacres in 8 years, according ding toAmnesty International. In 2001 alone, Canadian corporations invested $869million in these often violent sectors.
Colombian and Nova Scotia activists, including Perez and Leech, are planning a conference near the Cerrejun mine for August 9th to keep the heat on Nova Scotia Power and other companies they say are dealing in ‘blood coal’.
By Chris Arsenault
This article appears in Mar 23-29, 2006.
I got this PC pamplet in the mail. The first page is just bashing the liberals and NDP for the current economic situation that is much the result of the once in a century pandemic. He says the 9 year Liberal-NDP government. That was a lie. They entered a pact on March 22, 2022 so until then it was either a liberal majority or minority government. He’s trying to tie the NDP to the liberals because he knows they are down in the polls. The second page says they are going to cut the HST from newly constructed homes under $1m. I agree! Ok that’s day one. What’s the rest of your plan for 5 years? Is cutting taxes the only thing conservatives know how to do? 30,000 homes isn’t going to do a thing! Canada is facing a significant housing shortage, with estimates indicating that an additional 3.5 million housing units are needed by 2030 to restore affordability across the country. They need to increase taxes on the super rich, and add another tax bracket or 2 on those making over $500k or $1m a year. Increase the basic personal amount. They need to ban the corporatization of single family homes. And I think they should look at restricting airbnbs when they are taking away from the housing supply and causing instability in the market.
Like him or hate him, Trudeau did many good things for this country. He legalized weed and medically assisted death, which I think most people agree with. He increase child tax benefits and brought a million children out of poverty. He added 10% to the Canadian pension plan for those over 75, which benefits my father. He cut the middle class tax bracket from 22% to 20.5%. He made major strides toward reconciliation. He and the NDP brought in a national dental plan for those over 65 which saved my parents over $1,000 last year. He supported Canadians through the pandemic with payments. I received over $2,000 that I desperately needed at the time. The carbon tax rebate pays me over $400 a year which helps offset the price of gas. When I was not earning much money I got the HST rebate which was very helpful. People seem to forget what it was like during the pandemic. 54 people died in Northwood alone. Every country tried their best to handle the pandemic and in retrospect there are things we could have done better, but it was a once in a century event and we should study how each country handled it and analyze the data to prepare for the next pandemic. That’s what responsible governments would do. Much of what ails Canada is similar to what is affecting every other developed country on earth. Inflation is mostly do to grocery store gouging that they used the pandemic as their excuse but in reality, up until the pandemic the average grocery store profits were 1.5%. Now they are above 4%. Galen Weston is worth over $10B because he gouge he each and every Canadian. The government must pass laws to cap grocery store and food production profits. It must increase taxes on the Uber wealthy. Once you’ve hit a billion dollars, even if it’s in stock. You gotta convert stock to cash and pay 90% taxes on it or donate those shares to an approved charitable organization that is trying to solve a problem you believe in. Billionaires should cease to exist. There is too much suffering around the world for 3 of the richest billionaires to have their own personal space race. Trudeau made mistakes. He increased immigration too heavily after the country opened up after the pandemic and the housing market couldn’t handle them. Many tradespeople and others retired during the pandemic. He allowed too many of these predatory schools to bring in way too many students who were not really students. If a university brings in a foreign student, they should have to provide housing for them, they have to live on campus and they should have to attend class. After finishing school they have 1 year to find a job or they have to go back to their country. We need certain foreign temporary workers like Jamaican farm workers who are crucial to our food supply but we need to produce better housing and pay for them. There needs to be mandatory driving school for immigrants who want to get a license and especially for truck drivers. If someone is a temporary foreign worker or student, breaking the law like stunt driving or driving and driving, or smash and grab should result in deportation. When I was a foreigner living in Japan I was always aware that I could never break a law. I couldn’t drink and bicycle or get in a fight because knew if I ever got arrested. I think most Canadians would like to see such strict consequences for people who are not citizens of Canada yet. That being said, most immigration I’ve seen has been very necessary and I don’t know how we’d function in society without them.