Treaty 6 Grand Chief demands top Mountie release all data on murdered, missing Indigenous women

March 31, 2015 Gaianicity Leave a comment

“Instead of attacking Indigenous people, the minister should bring people together to end the violence and finally call a national public inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.”

A grand chief from Alberta wrote to RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson Monday requesting he authorize the public release of all data collected by the federal police force as part of its review of 30 years of murdered and missing Indigenous women cases across the country.

Treaty 6 Grand Chief Bernice Martial wrote to Paulson in response to recent claims made by Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt that unreleased RCMP data shows Indigenous men are responsible for 70 per cent of the murders of Indigenous women.Valcourt made the statement during a closed-door meeting with three grand chiefs, including Martial, while the minister was in Calgary on March 20.

“We are requesting that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police release the report in its entirety on missing and murdered Indigenous women,” said Martial, in the letter obtained by APTN National News. “As the Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations of Alberta, this issue is at the heart of our communities and families who need some answers on their murdered and missing loved ones.”

The RCMP said in a statement last Thursday that it would not be releasing any data based on the “ethnicity” of perpetrators. RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Harold Pfleiderer also refused to back Valcourt’s claim that his statistic came from unreleased RCMP information.

Martial said the RCMP needed to release the information to determine whether Valcourt’s statements were true.

“With the recent statements by (Valcourt) stating that 70 per cent of Indigenous men are responsible for the deaths of the approximately 1,200 missing and murdered Indigenous we would like to review the report to see if his claims are accurate,” wrote Martial, whose treaty organization represents 25 First Nations. “This issue is close to my heart as I know it has affected so many families within our territory of Treaty 6.”

The RCMP has released only a portion of the information it gathered as part of its missing and murdered Indigenous women project. The federal police force reviewed cases held by about 200 police agencies across the country dating back to 1980.

Valcourt would not stop to answer questions from APTN about the data prior to question period Monday. Inside the House, he faced similar questions on the issue for a third time. Valcourt was not allowed to respond to the issue during question period last Friday.

This time, he answered one of two questions on the subject.

Quebec NDP MP Mylene Freeman, whose riding includes the Mohawk community Kanesatake, demanded during question period that Valcourt apologize for his “unsourced” claim.

“The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs…deeply offended First Nations leaders when he tried to cite an unsourced fact contradicted by the RCMP,” said Freeman. “Instead of attacking Indigenous people, the minister should bring people together to end the violence and finally call a national public inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.”

Valcourt said he wouldn’t comment on what was said behind closed doors.

“What I got from many people outside of those meetings, and I am talking about chiefs and tribal councils, is that they will indeed use the action plan to address the issues of missing and murdered Aboriginal women,” said Valcourt, during question period.

The minister, however, remained seated when Freeman launched a second question, this time in French which is Valcourt’s mother-tongue.

Referring to a recent appearance on popular Quebec television show Tout le Monde en Parle by Laurie Odjick, whose daughter disappeared from Kitigan Zibi, which sits north of Ottawa in Quebec, Freeman asked the government to call a public inquiry.

“We do not need a national inquiry,” said Susan Truppe, parliamentary secretary for the status of women department. “We are developing more community safety plans on and off reserves, including in regions identified specifically by the RCMP. This action plan will engage men and boys. It will raise awareness to breakinter-generational cycles of violence.”

Paulson on Monday appeared before the Senate committee conducting a pre-study of the Harper government’s proposed anti-terror legislation, Bill C-51. Paulson left the committee meeting through a back door to avoid media and refused to roll down the window of his SUV when APTN caught up with him on the street.

Pfleiderer was also present at the committee hearing, but he refused to comment when approached by an APTN reporter.

“I am the spokesperson,” he said. “Give me a call in the office…I am not giving you a comment.”

Justice Minister Peter MacKay and Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney also appeared at the Senate hearing.

MacKay told APTN it was his understanding that Valcourt obtained his information from the RCMP, but he hadn’t personally seen the specific 70 per cent number.

“I believe he was referencing material he was given by the RCMP. I wasn’t present at the meeting, I only heard what he has said about it since,” said MacKay. “I am only telling you what he has said about where this information originated.”

Blaney seemed to suggest Valcourt’s number came from an “analysis” of public information.

“The data are up there, anyone who wants to know about the file can download the data and make their own analysis,” said Blaney.

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@JorgeBarrera

Activism, Politics, Preventing Ecocide, solutions

Russell Brand and Naomi Klein join forces for This Changes Everything live

March 31, 2015 Gaianicity Leave a comment

Inspired by Naomi Klein’s book, activists, politicians and journalists came together to debate the future of the environmental movement

By Emma Howard, reposted from The Guardian, Mar 30, 2015

The system isn’t going to change things for us because for the system, things are working. Exxon don’t need a revolution. The systems are set up to prevent genuine true change happening. The good news as far as all of us are concerned is that change ultimately comes about through the will of the people.”

This was the call by Russell Brand to more than 1,000 people who came together in London on Saturday to “break down silos and join up diverse struggles, by showing the links between climate and social justice.” Most of those who attended came from social and environmental groups across the UK and Europe.

The event was called This Changes Everything in a nod to the book by Naomi Klein, who spoke via Skype. Other speakers who attended were Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party, journalist Paul Mason and the poet and environmental activist Nnimmo Bassey.

Comedian and author Francesca Martinez shared the personal story of her political awakening:

I went through a period of feeling very abnormal. The world made me feel I was faulty; a freak. One day I woke up and realised I had never met a normal person – and it was a profoundly political awakening. My insecurities had everything to do with living in a culture that breeds dissatisfaction. These disgusting ideals are a clear ploy to depoliticise people because the first step to creating a better world is to believe in one and if you’re too busy worrying about your thigh gap or that you’re balding you’re not going to put that energy into things that matter.”

Francesca Martinez : ‘If we are going to build a mass movement, we need to reconnect with ourselves’

Asad Rehman, who leads the international climate campaign at Friends of the Earth, said:

People power defeated apartheid – only people power can stop the climate crisis. This Changes Everything is a clarion call for a set of demands that unite the social, economic and climate justice movements. People’s demands on energy, food, housing and justice that speak to the needs of ordinary people and provide a positive vision of a cleaner, safer and more just society.

SOURCE

Take Action! Join The Guardian’s Leave It in the Ground campaign

Ecocide ALert, Fascism/Corporatism, Politics, Preventing Ecocide

Canada Pushes Ahead with Alternatives to Keystone XL

March 31, 2015 Gaianicity Leave a comment

By Bobby Magill, reposted from ClimateCentral, Mar 30, 2015

A decision on whether to allow the Keystone XL Pipeline to be built in the U.S. could come at any time, but there are myriad other projects on the table designed to do exactly what Keystone XL was designed to do: transport Canadian tar sands oil to refineries.

Those pipelines, both in the U.S. and Canada, are being designed to move the oily bitumenproduced from the tar sands to refineries in Texas and eastern Canada, and to ports on the Pacific Coast where the oil could be shipped to Asia.

Combined, the pipelines would be able to carry more than 3 million barrels of oil per day, far in excess of the 800,000 barrels per day that TransCanada’s Keystone XL is designed to carry.

Canada is sitting on about 168 billion barrels of crude oil locked up in the Alberta tar sands northeast of Edmonton — a trove of carbon-heavy fossil fuels bested in size only by oil reserves in Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. Today, the roughly 2 million barrels of tar sands oil produced each day in Alberta is sent to refineries in the U.S. and Canada via rail or small pipelines, none of which are adequate to carry the 3.8 million barrels of oil per day expected to be produced in the oil sands by 2022.

With Keystone XL’s future in question, Canada has a huge economic incentive to find alternative routes to markets. The tar sands represent a windfall of revenue for Alberta, which could see $350 billion in royalties and $122 billion in total tax revenue if they are fully developed over the next 25 years, according to Alberta government statistics.

But Keystone XL has famously run up against the politics of climate change where the Obama administration must approve the pipeline crossing into the U.S. The tar sands are one of the most carbon-heavy kinds of oil found on Earth, and processing and burning it will help accelerate an already rapidly changing climate, scientists say. Of course, the U.S. already refines and burns tar sands oil, but Keystone XL has become a symbol for accelerated tar sands development to the detriment of the climate.

The U.S. Department of State, charged with the environmental review of the proposed pipeline, could decide at any time whether to greenlight or kill the Keystone project. (President Obama’s recent veto of a bill requiring Keystone XL to be built did not halt the pipeline, only the effort by Congress to force the pipeline’s approval.) The pipeline has other controversies associated with it, including the possible contamination of the Ogallala Aquifer, the primary source of water across much of the Great Plains, if there is a spill. But if the Obama administration rejects Keystone, it will likely be on climate grounds.

RELATED	Obama’s Keystone XL Veto Not a Death Blow to Pipeline For Canada, Tar Sands Are Bigger Than Keystone XL Four Things to Know About Keystone XL

As a way around those challenges, other pipelines are in the works. One pipeline is already operating and sending hundreds of thousands of barrels of tar sands bitumen to Texas every day.

Experts, such as Stephen Kelly, a former U.S. diplomat and a visiting professor of public policy and Canadian studies at Duke University, say that the long-term outlook for Canadian oil sands production is not closely linked to the fate of Keystone XL.

“Canada has ample financial incentive to find ways to get its oil to world markets, and it’s likely to find ways to build pipelines to its coast, despite opposition,” he said last year.

Keystone XL alternatives face their own set of challenges in Canada. They basically fall into three camps, said Monica Gattinger, a University of Ottawa political studies professor focusing on cross-border energy policy.

Those include aboriginal opposition based on rights of First Nations peoples, principled opposition from those opposed to the climate impacts of developing the oil sands, and opposition from communities concerned about the local environmental impact of a pipeline.

Despite low oil prices today, the long-term economic outlook for the tar sands oil and the pipelines and railways that will carry it to refineries is likely solid, Gattinger said.

“To kill an individual project (like Keystone XL) and think that that’s the end of it is somewhat naive in my point of view,” she said.

A TransCanada pipeline pump station in Nebraska. TransCanada is the company looking to build the Keystone XL Pipeline. Credit: Shannon Ramos/flickr

These are the pipelines currently on the drawing board that will do much of what Keystone XL was designed to do:

Endbridge’s pipeline system

Tantamount to a smaller version of the Keystone XL, Canadian energy company Enbridge’s system of pipelines connecting Alberta with Texas refineries began carrying crude oil in January, sending about 400,000 barrels of Canadian oil sands crude to the Texas Gulf Coast.

As interest in the oil sands began heating up, Enbridge began increasing the capacity of theAlberta Clipper Pipeline, one of its main oil pipelines running southeast out of Alberta. The pipeline carries tar sands oil from the Edmonton, Alberta area to a terminal in Superior, Wis. Enbridge also plans to replace and upgrade another pipeline called Line 3, which runs parallel to the Alberta Clipper.

Where the Alberta Clipper and Line 3 end in Wisconsin, Enbridge’s newly expanded Line 61 Pipeline picks up, carrying tar sands oil to the company’s Flanagan Terminal south of Chicago. Line 61, which originally carried 400,000 barrels of oil per day, was upgraded to 560,000 barrels per day in 2014, and the company is currently in the process of doubling its capacity to 1.2 million barrels of oil per day.

From the Chicago area, Line 61’s oil continues another 600 miles south to a major terminal in Cushing, Okla., via the new Flanagan South Pipeline. That then connects to the newSeaway Twin pipeline, which started carrying Canadian crude oil to Freeport, Texas, in December. At full capacity, the Seaway Twin will carry 850,000 barrels of oil per day, about the same as the Keystone XL.

Northern Gateway

Another Enbridge project, the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline would take 500,000 barrels per day of tar sands oil 731 miles in a different direction — to Kitimat, B.C., on Canada’s West Coast, from Edmonton. The pipeline, at a cost of $6.5 billion, is expected to open up Asian markets for Alberta crude and is controversial for its possible environmental impact as it crosses the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Northern Gateway received government approval last year with 209 environmental conditions to meet.

First Nations tribes are mounting legal fights to stop the Northern Gateway from being built, saying it violates aboriginal land rights as fears about the impacts of possible oil spills from the pipeline galvanize more opposition. The project has lost momentum in recent months because of rising opposition and costs related to meeting the environmental conditions the Canadian government imposed on the project.

Trans Mountain Pipeline

The Pacific Coast is also the destination for U.S.-based Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, which would nearly triple the 300,000 barrel-per-day capacity of the existing 710-mile pipeline stretching from near Edmonton to Vancouver. Expected to carry 890,000 barrels per day of tar sands oil to port en route to Chinese refineries, the $5.4 billion Trans Mountain Pipeline is currently being reviewed by Canadian regulators, who are likely to decide whether to approve the project sometime next year. Kinder Morgan wants to finish construction on the project in 2017.

A digger extracting oil sands in Alberta. Credit: Shell/flickr

Like most of the other routes for tar sands oil to get to refineries, the project could be held up by locals along the pipeline’s route who oppose the project. Most recently, residents in the Vancouver area have begun protesting Kinder Morgan’s plans to blast the pipeline through a mountain near Burnaby, B.C.

Energy East

TransCanada is envisioning a $9 billion alternative to Keystone XL called Energy East that, if completed, will carry more than 1 million barrels of oil per day to Canada’s East Coast. Much of the proposed 2,858-mile Energy East is already built, stretching from Saskatchewan to Quebec. TransCanada plans to extend the pipeline from near Montreal to refineries in St. John, New Brunswick, where the oil could be refined locally or loaded on tankers en route to other refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast or ports beyond.

Energy East, opposed by many environmental groups and First Nations people along its route, is slated for completion in 2018 and is under environmental and regulatory review by the Canadian government.

Other Alternatives

There are other pipelines in the works that could carry tar sands oil to refineries. Enbridge plans to complete an expansion of a pipeline known as Line 9, that runs between Sarnia, Ontario, on Lake Huron to Montreal, giving Canada’s eastern cities greater access to Alberta’s oil.

Lastly, Alberta Premier Jim Prentice wants to build an oil pipeline from the Alberta tar sands to a port in Alaska, possibly following the McKenzie River Valley. It’s little more than talk at this point as no specific project has been proposed. SOURCE

climate science, Preventing Ecocide, Sustainability, Uncategorized

Despite deforestation, the world is getting greener: scientists

March 31, 2015 Gaianicity Leave a comment

BY ALISA TANG, reposted from Reuters, Mar 30, 2015

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The world’s vegetation has expanded, adding nearly 4 billion tonnes of carbon to plants above ground in the decade since 2003, thanks to tree-planting in China, forest regrowth in former Soviet states and more lush savannas due to higher rainfall.

Scientists analyzed 20 years of satellite data and found the increase in carbon, despite ongoing large-scale tropical deforestation in Brazil and Indonesia, according to research published on Monday in Nature Climate Change.

Carbon flows between the world’s oceans, air and land. It is present in the atmosphere primarily as carbon dioxide (CO2) - the main climate-changing gas - and stored as carbon in trees.

Through photosynthesis, trees convert carbon dioxide into the food they need to grow, locking the carbon in their wood.

The 4-billion-tonne increase is minuscule compared to the 60 billion tonnes of carbon released into the atmosphere by fossil fuel burning and cement production over the same period, said Yi Liu, the study’s lead author and a scientist at the University of New South Wales.

“From this research, we can see these plants can help absorb some carbon dioxide, but there’s still a lot of carbon dioxide staying in the atmosphere,” Liu said by telephone from Sydney.

“If we want to stabilize the current level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere - and avoid the consequent impacts - it still requires us to reduce fossil fuel emissions.”

Liu, who specializes in observing the water cycle including rainfall and soil moisture, used a new technique of collecting satellite data on radio frequency radiation naturally emitted by the Earth to calculate the amount of vegetation in a given area.

Before, scientists measured vegetation through satellite images and other techniques, looking at canopy greenness and plant height, he said.

Liu had expected to find increased forests in China, which has had tree-planting projects for two to three decades, as well as on abandoned farmland in former Soviet countries.

But he was surprised to discover the large expansion in vegetation due to higher rainfall on tropical savannas and shrublands in Australia, Africa and South America.

These fragile gains may be easily lost, as weather patterns shift with climate change, he warned.

“Savannas and shrublands are vulnerable to rainfall – one year can be very wet, and more carbon will be fixed in plants, but the next year can be very dry, and then we will lose the carbon fixed in previous years,” Liu explained.

Louis Verchot, a research director at the Indonesia-based Center for International Forestry Research, said Liu’s findings were “by and large what we would expect in the warmer and wetter world that results from climate change”.

“As ice and permafrost melt, they are being replaced by vegetation, and the tree line is moving north as the Arctic warms,” he said by email.

Vegetation growth is also expected to increase due to rising CO2 in the atmosphere, known as the “CO2 fertilization effect”.

Verchot said the value of Liu’s study was that it put a number on the contribution of vegetation to moderating greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere.

“Hopefully this will lead to greater efforts to stop tropical forest loss and to promote sustainable use of ecosystems in ways that preserve enough of the carbon absorption function as we continue to pump CO2 into the atmosphere through fossil fuel burning,” Verchot added.

SOURCE

Uncategorized

Climate change treaty will include promise of 28% emissions cut from U.S.

March 31, 2015 Gaianicity Leave a comment

Canada among many nations that have not revealed treaty commitment

The U.S. commitment comes after Obama announced a joint deal with China late last year that many saw as a critical step to effectively addressing global climate change. (Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press)

reposted from CBCNews, Mar 31, 2014

The United States will pledge Tuesday to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by up to 28 per cent as part of a global treaty aimed at preventing the worst effects of climate change, according to individuals briefed on the White House’s plans.

The administration’s contribution to the treaty, which world leaders expect to finalize in December, codifies a commitment President Barack Obama first made late last year in Beijing, when he announced a joint U.S.-China climate deal that raised global hopes that developed and developing nations can come together to fight climate change.

The U.S. proposal has drawn intense interest around the world. Most nations will miss Tuesday’s informal deadline to convey their contributions to the UN — only the European Union, Switzerland and Mexico unveiled their pledges before the U.S. By announcing its commitment early, the U.S. hopes to dial up the political pressure on other countries to take equally ambitious steps to cut emissions.

The White House declined to comment ahead of the official announcement.

In the works for years, the treaty is set to be finalized in Paris in December. If it’s successful, it will mark the first time all nations — not just wealthier ones like the U.S. — will have agreed to do something about climate change.

As part of its proposal, known to climate negotiators as an Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, the U.S. will also assert that its contribution is both ambitious and fair, said the individuals briefed on the U.S. proposal, who requested anonymity because the proposal hasn’t been announced.

It was unclear what metrics the U.S. would use to back up that claim. But the American proposal is expected to emphasize that the Obama administration has accelerated the rate of emissions reductions nearly twofold. Early in his presidency, Obama committed to cut U.S. emissions 17 per cent by 2020; his subsequent goal for 2025 pushes it to between 26 per cent and 28 per cent.

Canada greenhouse gas reductions — Canada is among those nations that have not revealed the level of commitment they are willing to make as part of the treaty. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

How will the U.S. meet its goal? The Obama administration has avoided putting hard numbers on the size of emissions reductions it expects from specific steps its taking. In its submission, the EU listed specific economic sectors — such as transportation, energy and manufacturing — where it expects major reductions, and named the specific greenhouse gases it plans to cut.

In contrast, the U.S. is expected to point broadly to the steps Obama is taking through executive action, such as pollution limits on power plants, stricter vehicle emissions limits, and initiatives targeting specific gases like methane and hydrofluorocarbons.

Many of those steps face major legal challenges and intense political opposition, raising the risk that they could be undermined or even discarded once Obama leaves office in 2017.

“Considering that two-thirds of the U.S. federal government hasn’t even signed off on the Clean Power Plan and 13 states have already pledged to fight it, our international partners should proceed with caution before entering into a binding, unattainable deal,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. SOURCE

RELATED:

FACT SHEET: U.S. Reports its 2025 Emissions Target to the UNFCCC

Poll finds strong majority of Americans support an international climate agreement.

Climate deadline day: Which countries will deliver Paris pledges?

Cultural Ecocide, democracy, Politics

Idle No More and friends gather to protest anti-terror bill

March 30, 2015 Gaianicity Leave a comment

032815-0329_protest_01.jpg-37218013-0329_protest_01-W.jpg — Members of the Idle No More community and supporters protested on Parliament hill Saturday to loudly reject the Conservatives’ anti-terror legislation, Bill C-51.

By EMANUELA CAMPANELLA, reposted from the OTTAWA CITIZEN, Mar 29, 2015

Despite the government’s recent proposed amendments to the legislation that would safeguard protesters from being detained by the new measures, demonstrators say that their rights to freedom of speech are still threatened.

On the steps below the Peace Tower, a large crowd of activists held their signs high as Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International, addressed protesters. He stood up, microphone in hand, recognizing Parliament Hill as “unceded Algonquin land,” with a clear message to listeners: “Bill C-51 has to go.”

“This legislation is so flawed … I can tell you that on every single page of Bill C-51 there is something that violates, undermines, attacks or affronts human rights. We don’t solve that by a little tweak here … by removing a word here,” he said.

The struggle to fight for the rights of First Nations people is already hard enough without the bill, said Lynda Kitchikeesic Juden, the protest’s organizer.

She’s part of the Idle No More movement that has peacefully rallied across the country for the protection of indigenous land and water. She’s afraid the bill will give the government secret policing powers to stop these kinds of protests.

“I see paperwork coming from CSIS, and every one of our events is listed as a possible threat on the same order as, say, an earthquake in Greece and terrorist act in Tunisia.”

The bill, introduced in January, would restructure Canada’s security laws to allow police to detain terror suspects more easily, ban the “promotion of terrorism,” enhance powers of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to gather and share data, and allow the government to add people to Canada’s “no-fly” list. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the changes would protect Canadians from the “evolving threat of terrorism.”

On Friday, the Conservative government announced that it would make amendments to the bill that will narrow the scope of what is considered a terrorist-related activity. This comes after a wave of protests across the nation rallying against Bill C-51. The government said it would also put forward an amendment that clearly states that CSIS agents would not have the power of arrest.

But for Ferrukh Faruqui, who joined the protest, the amendments do not address the biggest flaw of the legislation: the lack of oversight of CSIS.

“CSIS was created to make a distinction between intelligence gathering and law enforcement. If there is no clear distinction, then there’s abuses of power,” said Faruqui, who is also a member of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women.

She said the bill will chill free speech. “We should be able to stand up and say, ‘Yes, I know you are my elected prime minister’, and if we disagree with what they’re saying, then we have a right in a democratic society to dissent and not be afraid that our words are going to be misconstrued.”

She believes there is a great potential for the bill to be misused and criminalize law-abiding Canadians. “This is not the hallmark of a free society,” she said.

As musicians banged on a drum and protestors marched in a circle, Faruqui said: “I am standing on the grounds of Parliament today to exercise my right to free speech, which is something that I think we all need to have.” SOURCE

democracy, Politics

Do Not Think about Climate Change: Your views may be a threat to Canada’s security

March 30, 2015 Gaianicity Leave a comment

by Franke James, reposted from FrankeJames.com on Mar 30, 2015

I would have said you were crazy, and flat-out bonkers if you had told me 4 years ago that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAIT) would be claiming that there would be ‘injury to the conduct of Canada’s international affairs’ if their past discussions about me and my art show were revealed. (Canada initially agreed to kick in $5k under the UNFCCC agreement to provide climate change education for the corporate-sponsored art show.)

But in fact it’s all true and very Orwellian. They have been — and are still — covering up their discussions using high-level security clauses: section 15 (1) – International, and 21(1)(a), (b), and (c).

These are not your garden-variety access to information clauses either. These are heavy-duty clauses that only eight investigators across Canada can peek under — and challenge the removal of. I know that fascinating fact because I recently got a package of partially unredacted documents from DFAIT. They came as a result of writing to Suzanne Legault, the Head of the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC).

In April, 2013. I wrote to Legault saying, “The reason I was censored should make all Canadians angry — because it threatens the very essence of democracy: our right to speak up and disagree with our elected government.”

Remarkably, the OIC responded by immediately launching an investigation. But it took almost two years before I got anything. Just recently, I received a batch of partially “un-redacted” documents from DFAIT. The process is a bit of a dance. The OIC cannot command or order that DFAIT remove them. They need to persuade them to remove the redactions. For example, to defend keeping the s.15 (1) redactions, DFAIT would have to prove, “The evidence of harm must be detailed, convincing and describe a direct causation between disclosure and harm.” In cases where the OIC and DFAIT cannot agree, court is the final option. We’re not finished yet though, there are still lots of redactions remaining.

So let me show you what DFAIT was covering up with the high-level security clauses.

But first, some context. In 2011, I had signed up as a Canadian business-owner for help to “navigate the complexities of international markets“. I contacted the Trade Commissioner in Toronto, Candice Rice. She wrote to the Canadian Embassies in Europe.

See our email exchange.

From: Rice, Candice -TRNTO -TO
Sent: July 8, 2011 8:23 PM
To: Rice, Candice -TRNTO -TO; Cirule, Irena -RIGA; Sekhon, Sunny -WSAW -TO; Martin, Clinton ·MOSCO -TO; Polo Ferrer, Aurora -BCLNA -TO; Ceramilac, Ojurdjevka -BGRAO -TO; Kaminski, Anat -TAVN -TO; Young, Brian -ATHNS -TO

Hi Everyone,
I am forwarding you an email request from Franke James, artist, author and environmental crusader. You will find her impressive bio on www.frankjames.com [sic] and detailed information on her portfolio below. An exhibition of Ms. James’ work will be travelling to your cities during 2011 (see dates below). Ms. James would like to discuss the feasibility of holding a press conference at the Embassy/Consulate and would also like to invite post participation in the opening of the shows. She has already been in touch with Berlin separately (first show on the tour).
I would appreciate if you would contact Ms. James (copied on this message) to discuss how you may work together with her to promote the exhibition.
Best regards,
Candice

So, my request was to rent space for a reception or press event at the local Embassies in the towns where my show was going to be. But as we can see in the email below, Ambassador Scott Heatherington is clearly not supportive. He explains to Commissioner Rice why he had not felt “comfortable” supporting Nektarina’s request for funds for my climate change art show. He directs her, (and everyone else cc’d) to look at my visual essay, Fat Cat Canada’s Giant Litter Box, which is critical of the tarsands. The two redactions are blacked out using s.15 (1) International and 21(1)(b).

Heatherington_222_802_800px

Thanks to the OIC investigation we can now see what was redacted and whether it warranted those high-level security clauses…

Blocked for wrong thinking: “due to controversial views on energy issues, particularly oil sands”

Now we can see that Ambassador Heatherington said that he won’t support my request to rent event space at his Canadian Embassy “due to controversial views on energy issues, particularly oil sands.” His statement reveals that there is a double-standard for access to Canadian Embassy services. Because my political views don’t match the current Harper government’s, then I am blocked from accessing those services. And remember this example of political interference is being hidden from view by using s.15 (1) International.

Heatherington closes by saying, “We do not support private campaigns, unless providing such support will clearly advance broader Canadian interests and in this case we do not feel it does so.” Some Canadians will nod in agreement that Canadian Embassies should not support a project which is critical of Canada’s oil sands. However this is wrong for a number of reasons.

I asked to rent space at my own expense. Under the Charter of Rights, all Canadians are equal. Shouldn’t I have equal access to Canadian Embassies, regardless of my political views?
Ambassador Heatherington is censoring me because my political views on the oil sands are not in agreement with the Harper government’s.
Nektarina’s application for climate advocacy funding was approved by Sylvie Gauvin, DFAIT’s Planning, Advocacy and Innovation department. Ironically it was cancelled by the Deputy Director of Climate Change at DFAIT. (My hunch is that my show did not qualify as “Greenwash”).
When Canada signed the UNFCCC climate agreement it pledged to support climate change education and adaptation efforts around the world. The fact that reducing greenhouse gases is in conflict with the development of the oil sands does not free them for their obligation under the UNFCCC agreement.

The Ambassador’s opinion is redacted under 21(1)(b): “We do not support private campaigns, unless providing such support will clearly advance broader Canadian interests and in this case we do not feel it does so.” I don’t know what arguments the OIC used to get the sentence unredacted however it appears that it does not qualify as advice.

In response to a media inquiry, the Ambassador’s refusal to let me rent space is quoted, but his reason is hidden

ArtistsViews_Rice_ 800redacted

Now we can see what thought-crime is hidden under s.15(1) – “due to the artist’s views on the oilsands”

ArtistViews_800_DFAIT2015_yellow

Do Not Think about Climate Change: Your views may be a threat to Canada’s security. s. 15 (1)

Ian Macleod at The Ottawa Citizen wrote about my story and quoted me, “It’s very Orwellian to see that I was being censured because of the way that I thought. They were telling me ‘do not talk about climate change.’ That is a really horrible thing for them to be doing; we need to be talking about climate change, it’s not about to disappear. We have to figure out strategies.”

Go away. Do Not Look Under This Redaction!

DFAIT is still arguing that Olivier Roy’s statement below should remain redacted under 21(1)(b).

Redacted_Goof_802_DFAIT2015

But dang! The truth slipped out: “There should never have been promises made to Ms. James of our help…”

Oh my! Somebody at DFAIT goofed. The truth slipped out under a prior access request so we can actually see that they are covering up whatever ‘stuff’ could be politically embarrassing. What will they do when Bill C-51 is passed?

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The Harper government targeted me for my “thinking” claiming that it is “injurious” to the conduct of international affairs under section 15(1)

Is the Harper government labelling anyone who questions their policies on the oil sands as ‘threats to national security’? My experience — and new evidence from an investigation by the Office of the Information Commissioner shows that to be the case. In my case, they have abused their power by misusing high-level security clauses to hide their role in bullying my supporters and stopping my privately sponsored climate change art show from happening in 2011.

Would you be afraid?

Can you imagine getting the letter below from a foreign government saying, “The reasons for this decision are not something we are able to put in writing.” Would you jump back? I wouldn’t fault you for being afraid and thinking, ‘I don’t want anything to do with that person.’ That’s the power that the government is wielding with these clauses. They can ruin reputations, and destroy careers.

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“the extremely sensitive nature of the climate change issue.”

Approval of Nektarina’s Funding and the Cancellation by the Climate Change department

“Here we have abuse of access to information process, we have censorship, we have tyrannical information management”

Kevin Walby, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at University of Winnipeg reviewed my OIC documents and said this…

“This is a prime example of the tyrannical information management that Harper’s Conservatives engage in on every file. Access to information is one of the only means we have of holding governments accountable, and these findings show that Harper’s Conservatives are actively subverting that process.

The findings show that exemption clauses are not strictly followed and instead are applied to material simply because it does not fit into Stephen Harper’s vision of Canada. There is blatant evidence here of trying to protect the vested interest that Harper’s Conservatives have in the oilsands. The exemptions clauses are applied in ways that are a real stretch. It waters down access to information process in Canada when it is abused in these ways.

“Here we have abuse of access to information process, we have censorship, we have tyrannical information management, and all of those things are an affront to the idea of democracy, transparency and accountability. We also see that the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada can make a difference in digging up dirt on the bad practices of government agencies.”

Why Canadians should be afraid of Bill C-51

The government’s proposed security legislation, Bill C-51 will give authorities more power to withhold information that should be publicly available. It will crush dissenting opinions. How many Canadians are going to stand up to the government if they know that the Big Brother and Secret Police Bill C-51 will let the authorities work outside of the law?

Alyssa Stryker and Carmen Cheung, rights lawyers with the BC Civil Liberties Association explained 8 things you need to know about Bill C-51

Privacy watchdog Daniel Therrien, who was blocked from appearing as a witness at the committee hearings, explained on CBC News why he is afraid of its powers to act like Big Brother, “While the potential to know virtually everything about everyone may well identify some new threats, the loss of privacy is clearly excessive,” Therrien writes. “All Canadians would be caught in this web.” He explained that bill C-51 could give “as many as 17 federal departments and agencies access to every bit of data, personal and otherwise, that any department might hold on Canadians.”

Which reminded me of the spooky feeling I had when I looked at the “cc” list on Access to Information documents regarding my cancelled art show. I was surprised when I drilled down to see who in the Canadian government was watching my file. This “Spies and Prowlers” image is from my chapter called “Games Bureaucats Play”. I realized that the eyes spanned multiple government departments from DFAIT, to Environment Canada, Transport Canada, and Public Safety.

National security expert Craig Forcese created a short primer on key aspects of Bill #C51…

Bill C-51 (Antiterrorism Act 2015)

Conservative ministers downplay concerns about terror bill
[Conservative Minister] Blaney said a new broader definition of threats to national security (which includes interference with “the economic or financial stability of Canada” or with critical infrastructure) will apply only when it comes to information-sharing provisions. Blaney said it would not be used when it comes to CSIS’s exercise of its new powers to disrupt activities of suspected threats to national security. The spy agency would use its new powers against threats to national security as they have been defined in the CSIS Act for the past 30 years, he said.
Blaney and MacKay said neither the disruption powers nor information-sharing provisions would be used against “lawful” protest, advocacy or artistic expression. MacKay said the bill “does not include lawful or unlawful protest, dissent or stoppage of work unless there is intention to cause death or serious bodily harm, endanger someone’s life, or cause risk to the safety of the public.” Toronto Star

Ecocide Alert

Monthly Archives: March 2015

Treaty 6 Grand Chief demands top Mountie release all data on murdered, missing Indigenous women

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