In 2007, Canada was one of four countries to vote against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (with New Zealand, the United States and Australia). With its single-minded focus on making Canada an “energy superpower,” albeit only with fossil fuels, the Harper government feared the declaration’s concept of “free, prior and informed” […]
Canada
Posted inNews + Opinion
Reintegration: A nicer word for assimilation
Afghan children are among those who have never seen an Afghanistan not inflicted by violence. As an Afghan, my children, brothers and sisters are dying. I am an Afghan youth displaced due to violence. I may have never seen the violence on the land that is indigenous to me, but it is this violence which […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
No consent, no pipeline
The year I was born, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were 356 parts per million. The safe upper limit was 350 ppm. Since then, globally, we have increased that concentration to 410 ppm. This is a climate changed. When I heard about Justin Trudeau’s decision to buy out the Trans Mountain pipeline from Kinder Morgan, I […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Relying on a statue in a park to tell our history is lazy
Thousands of tourists will visit Halifax this summer and return home without learning an inkling of its history, all because a statue is locked in storage in Burnside. I kid, of course. If you’re a tour guide or historian who needs a statue to accurately and comprehensively share the story of Halifax, you need to […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
SCIENCE MATTERS: Don’t water down marine protection
Will Canada finally inspire a wave of celebration on World Oceans Day, June 8? Prime minister Justin Trudeau promised to lead G7 nations on global marine protection during Canada’s presidency this year, a welcome change after decades of inaction left just one percent of our oceans formally safeguarded. The government is charging ahead to meet […]
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Our Capital: Mosaic of Summer Activities at your Fingertips
As time goes by, travelling becomes even more accessible to the average jetsetter. Whether you travel for business or pleasure, you can count on getting from point A to point B with a direct flight. But did you know you could do the same from Atlantic Canada to our nation’s capital? To bring true patriot […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Hell or high water
“I always feel bad that it takes a crisis to bring that all into balance,” says Ken Paul about the struggle between Indigenous fishers and the federal government. “But sometimes that’s what necessary.” The director of Fisheries and Integrated Resources for the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nation Chiefs was one of the Indigenous leaders […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Rolling out the red carpet
Argyle Street will be painted red this weekend. From Thursday through Saturday, thousands of Liberal members will come from away to Halifax—gathering at the financially embattled Nova Centre for the governing party’s national convention. Faithful foot-soldiers travelling from across the country will get to rub shoulders with some of the most powerful politicians nationwide, and […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
SCIENCE MATTERS: Kinder Morgan pipeline controversy proves need to shift course
On March 31, an underwater pipeline carrying oil to a refinery in Balikpapan, Indonesia, broke, spreading crude over 20,000 hectares of Balikpapan Bay. Some of it ignited, killing five fishermen. Area residents experienced health problems including nausea, vomiting and respiratory difficulties, and marine life and mangroves were also devastated. In mid-January, an Iranian tanker carrying […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Plenty to protest as Trudeau comes to Halifax (again)
From pipelines to airstrikes, Justin Trudeau will arrive in Halifax later this week still dealing with the fallout from a week of controversial political decisions. The prime minister will join hundreds of other Party faithful attending the Liberal’s national convention, which takes place Thursday through Saturday at the newly opened and already burdensome Halifax Convention Centre. Trudeau […]
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Federal Court to decide on Abdoul Abdi’s future
Canada’s Federal Court will hear the case of a former ward of the province facing deportation to Somalia. Abdoul Abdi’s fate was to be decided on Wednesday by the Immigration and Refugee Review Board. But news of the federal hearing later this May caused the IRB to put a pause on its own proceedings. The […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Public coffers, private bonanza
It’s torture watching this loop play over and over again: Public money filling the already-deep pockets of the corporate elite, while they hypocritically tout the mantra of the free market economy. Last week the feds announced that Ocean Supercluster, a consortium claiming to be Atlantic Canada based—including big names like Emera, Clearwater, Petroleum Research Newfoundland […]
