Month: June 2017

Michele Moreau resigns from inquiry into missing, murdered Indigenous women

Michele Moreau resigns from inquiry into missing, murdered Indigenous women:

allthecanadianpolitics:

A senior staff member with the much-scrutinized inquiry into murdered and missing indigenous women has resigned.

Executive director Michele Moreau cites personal reasons for her departure, which is effective July 21.

The inquiry released a statement saying it accepted Moreau’s resignation with great sadness.

Some First Nations leaders have been critical of the inquiry’s progress so far and victims’ families have said they haven’t been adequately consulted about hearings.

Chief commissioner Marion Buller promised improved communication.

Moreau said it is with mixed emotions that she is departing.

Canada 150 | ‘We called it ‘Prison Island’: Inuk man remembers forced relocation to Grise Fiord

Canada 150 | 'We called it 'Prison Island': Inuk man remembers forced relocation to Grise Fiord:

allthecanadianpolitics:

This story is part of a series from CBC North looking at Canada 150 through the eyes of northern families.

Larry Audlaluk was two years old when he and his family were uprooted from their home in Inukjuak, Que., and dropped off 2,000 kilometres away, on Ellesmere Island.

They are High Arctic exiles; part of a group of 87 Inuit who, in 1953 and 1955, were persuaded by the Canadian government to leave their homes with promises of better hunting and the option to return to Inukjuak in two years.

But promises were broken, and Inuit were forced to stay and form the communities of Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay.

Audlaluk says the government’s relocation plan was billed as an opportunity for Inuit of northern Quebec to live more traditional lives in the High Arctic.

But there were underlying motivations, such as stopping Greenlandic hunters who were poaching polar bears, and exerting Canadian sovereignty.

“It was the time of the Cold War, and Americans were getting a little bit too close,” says Audlaluk. “They wanted a civilian component up here.”

Continue Reading.

BC NDP to form government with BC Green supportVery often during…



BC NDP to form government with BC Green support

Very often during elections Canadians have been convinced not to vote Green or NDP because “they can’t win.”   

So instead of voting for (and maybe electing) who we want, we vote “strategically” for someone we don’t want because we’re afraid someone we hate will win.  Frankly, I think the phrase “strategic voting” is a misnomer, because it isn’t very strategic to vote against the one you want.  {Although it is very strategic for the one who gets your vote!)  I think the American term “Lesser Evilism” is far more apt.  

Thankfully we are waking up.  Since Elizabeth May’s election to the House of Commons, the New Brunswick and P.E.I.Greens are the 3rd parties in their respective provinces, and now the BC Greens are doing very well indeed.  And since the federal Liberals have dropped the ball, with both parties favouring Proportional Representation, it looks very much like BC will be the one to lead Canada into a real representative Representative Democracy.

What’s wrong with the Copyright Office’s DRM study?

mostlysignssomeportents:


This month’s US Copyright Office study on Section 1201 of the DMCA identified many problems with America’s DRM laws, which ban bypassing DRM even when no copyright infringement takes place.

But the report’s recommendations fall far short of the minimum standard that the Copyright Office should aspire to, namely: allowing Americans to use their property in lawful ways, even if some corporation wishes they wouldn’t, because it hopes to sell them expensive parts, service, apps, or other add-ons.

EFF’s lawsuit against the US government seeks to establish that standard: you bought it, you own it, you can use it in any lawful way you choose, even if that make the manufacturer’s shareholders sad.

The Copyright Office, by contrast, fails to even show that DRM does anything useful in the world, but still advises against allowing people to buy or share tools to let them bypass DRM in order to do the kinds of things the Copyright Office endorses, from repairs to security research.

http://boingboing.net/2017/06/29/absolutely-nothing-say-it-agai.html

After Trumpcare kills you, this service will send your cremains to the GOP lawmaker of your choosing

mostlysignssomeportents:

Mail Me to the GOP is a new service that will ship your cremains to the GOP lawmaker of your choice after Trumpcare kills you.

The form also allows you to send a custom message to the lawmaker, such as “My combat tour in Iraq resulted in enough disability to make me uninsurable, but not enough to get all my healthcare through the VA. You killed me, you prick.”

The service was created by Zoey Jordan Salsbury, and crashed briefly after she announced it because so many people wanted to sign up.

Mail Me to the GOP

https://boingboing.net/2017/06/29/republican-ash-holes.html

B.C. First Nations lose bid to appeal Site C dam at Supreme Court of Canada

B.C. First Nations lose bid to appeal Site C dam at Supreme Court of Canada:

asshole-academic:

The Supreme Court of Canada has declined to hear two appeals that sought to delay the Site C dam project in British Columbia.

Two First Nations — the Prophet River and West Moberly First Nations —  had sought a judicial review of the mega-project, citing problems with how it was approved by the provincial and federal governments.

The Site C dam is a controversial $8.5-billion hydroelectric project on the Peace River near Fort St. John in northeastern British Columbia.

Once completed, the dam will flood an 83-kilometre-long river valley. BC Hydro say it will provide enough electricity to power the equivalent of around 450,000 homes

The two First Nations say proper consultations were not carried out during the approval process and that adverse effects from flooding would significantly impair how they exercise their treaty rights.

The applications were dismissed with costs today.

As usual, the Supreme Court of Canada gave no reasons for its decision not to hear the cases.

The claims have been previously dismissed by the provincial Supreme Court of B.C. and the Federal Court of Appeal.

In their decision, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled the federal government is allowed to issue permits for projects like Site C without first discovering if the project violates treaty rights.

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? 

THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA HAS GONE OVER TO THE DARK SIDE

B.C. First Nations lose bid to appeal Site C dam at Supreme Court of Canada

B.C. First Nations lose bid to appeal Site C dam at Supreme Court of Canada:

asshole-academic:

The Supreme Court of Canada has declined to hear two appeals that sought to delay the Site C dam project in British Columbia.

Two First Nations — the Prophet River and West Moberly First Nations —  had sought a judicial review of the mega-project, citing problems with how it was approved by the provincial and federal governments.

The Site C dam is a controversial $8.5-billion hydroelectric project on the Peace River near Fort St. John in northeastern British Columbia.

Once completed, the dam will flood an 83-kilometre-long river valley. BC Hydro say it will provide enough electricity to power the equivalent of around 450,000 homes

The two First Nations say proper consultations were not carried out during the approval process and that adverse effects from flooding would significantly impair how they exercise their treaty rights.

The applications were dismissed with costs today.

As usual, the Supreme Court of Canada gave no reasons for its decision not to hear the cases.

The claims have been previously dismissed by the provincial Supreme Court of B.C. and the Federal Court of Appeal.

In their decision, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled the federal government is allowed to issue permits for projects like Site C without first discovering if the project violates treaty rights.

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? 

THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA HAS GONE OVER TO THE DARK SIDE

“In the 44 years during which the Act was enforced, it authorized the legal and forced sterilization…”

“In the 44 years during which the Act was enforced, it authorized the legal and forced sterilization of approximately 2,500 people, the majority of which were poor, female, under the age of 25, and from ethnic minorities. Of the total number of individuals sterilized, 64.7% were women, 49.8% were from rural communities, 40.6% were unemployed, 20.55% were characterized as housewives, 25.7% were Métis or Indian (a disproportionately high number considering Métis and Indian made up only 3.4% of the total population in Alberta at the time), and 70.6% were under the age of 20. Furthermore, there were a number of incidents of patients ‘recovering’ from retardation after being sterilized— Leilani Muir being one of the more well known cases.”

- Candice M. McCavitt: “Eugenics and Human Rights in Canada: The Alberta Sexual
Sterilization Act of 1928″ from Peace & Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology  (via asshole-academic)