Archive for 2007 November

Recently, I’ve received both posted and emailed messages from Jack Layton attacking Stephane Dion for abstaining from the vote on the Throne Speech.  These attack are disingenuous and dangerous.     Read more »

Donna Dillman has moved her hunger strike for a moratorium on uranium mining to Queen’s Park.  Her rally this morning got a significant group of supporters out in the cold at Queen’s Park.  It felt good to be there.  The press was there taking pictures and talking to people.  It feels like something powerful is in the works.  Donna was gracious and informed and sensible even though she’s starting to feel weak and she’s always cold.  Our MPP, Peter Tabuns, was out there in support, as well as a lot of faces from Toronto-Danforth including our candidate Sharon Howarth and Green Party of Ontario staff Jeff Brownridge and Jessica Fracassi.  The Green Party of Ontario issued a press release in support of Donna, and the Green Party of Canada has been behind her all along. Peter scheduled an interview with Donna following the rally and has promised his support for further media opportunities.  Thanks Peter.  And thanks Donna, for your courage.

The good news, reported in this blog before, is that the Green Party is rising in the polls, even beating out the NDP nationally in popularity in some polls.

The bad news is that rising popularity and entrance into the main fray of politics means that we’re subjected to the same sort of nastiness the big boys used to reserve for each other.

The good news is that Prime Minister Harper’s policies, for a while thought to be substantive on climate change by much of the population, are now being recognized for what they are: fraudulent greenwash that actually reverses what little progress we’ve made.

The bad news is that Prime Minister Harper skewered any meaningful action on climate change at the recent Commonwealth talks in Uganda and managed to ram through a toothless policy guaranteed to allow climate change to roll on unchecked.

The good news is that on the heels of this development, one of his few allies in the commonwealth and indeed in the world, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, was turfed out in a general election where climate change was a major issue.

The bad news is that on the heels of all the bad publicity surrounding his irresponsible actions, Prime Minister Harper has attacked Elizabeth May for her searing denunciation.

The good news is that apparently Elizabeth May is the authority that Harper feels needs attacking.  We’re not such an inconsequential party after all.

The other good news is that what Elizabeth actually wrote about Mr. Harper is reasonable and sound.

Donna Dillman is moving her hunger strike to Queen’s Park.  Please join her in her call for a moratorium on uranium mining.

Rally for a moratorium on uranium mining
Tuesday, 2007 November 27, 10:30 am
Princess Margaret Hospital
(University Avenue, just south of Queen’s Park, at Orde St.)

Donna Dillman is a Green Party member who is active in the Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium (CCAMU)

She has been on a hunger strike since October 8, asking Premier McGuinty for a moratorium on uranium mining.  The mining company has now evicted her from their gates.  Because her quarrel is with Premier McGuinty anyway, she’s moving to Queen’s Park.  She’s asking people to rally with her at Princess Margaret hospital, and to march the short distance to Queen’s Park at 11 am tomorrow.

Donna is still walking so she will join us for the march.  She has also been asking people to put up homemade signs that say “Bring Grandma Home”.  She would like to spend Christmas with her grandchildren, but won’t give up until she gets her moratorium.

Her mind is clear as a bell.  She accepts juices.  I’m planning on bringing some warm cider.  Please join me.

Students Against Climate Change, headed up by my friend Paul York, is hosting this talk by local (Toronto-Danforth) IPCC lead author Danny Harvey.

Global Warming and the Need for Political Change
lecture with Danny Harvey
Wednesday, 2007 November 28, 6 pm
Hart House, University of Toronto
free

We all know votes can be bought.  This article reveals that one of Bush’s biggest campaign contributors is also one of the world’s biggest polluters.     Read more »

Jim Harris posted this article on his blog.  It’s nothing new.  Just reminding us that the glaciers are melting, faster even than we had expected.  It focuses on the implications of glacial melt, with little reference to any other aspects of climate change.     Read more »

Prime Minister Harper is overturning a long-standing Canadian tradition of seeking clemency for Canadians sentenced to death in the United States.  Human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have denounced this development.  All three opposition parties have espressed their opposition to the change in policy.  Amnesty International further decried Canada’s unwillingness to co-sponsor a United Nations resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty.  Once again, Prime Minister Harper finds himself at odds with the values of most Canadians, all 3 opposition parties, Canadian traditions, world opinion and human rights promoters.

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness Amnesty International

Cities for Life Toronto Celebration
Friday, 2007 November 30, 6 pm
Peace Garden, Nathan Phillips Square
lighting ceremony at 8 pm, St. James Cathedral
free     Read more »

The Green Party is in the news again.   At the GPO convention this weekend, one of the things that will be decided is whether to hold a leadership review.

In this modern world, we understand more than ever how inter-connected everything is. Einstein once said, “Mankind will never know peace until his compassion extends to all living things.”

So it was with great sadness and anger and frustration that I first heard on CBC radio and the read in The Star, that the Japanese whaling fleet was off to the Antarctic to kill Humpbacks. This is an endangered species that was nearly driven to extinction and is supposed to be under international protection. To pretend that the slaughter has a “scientific” purpose is ludicrous.  The CBC newscast reported that, as they were only to kill 50 animals, it wouldn’t have a major impact. That makes it better?  As long as we view the natural world as something to be plundered, as something we are somehow removed from, we are in deep trouble. On this issue,  Japan has elected to be the poster boy of human self-centred greed and short-sighted stupidity.  Perhaps we should hunt the whalers, or those who profit from their grim work;  I’m sure there are still enough of them as to not have a major impact.

From the nice folks who brought you the Toronto Public Space Committee in 2001, we introduce to you the Toronto Cyclists Union!

Launching in the spring of 2008, the bike union will be Toronto’s first membership-driven bicycle advocacy organisation.

For more information, newsletter signup and volunteer form, please visit the Toronto Cyclists Union website.

A message from your friends at the TPSC.

These videos have been removed from YouTube:
youtube.com/watch?v=60Zk4-JPCdg
youtube.com/watch?v=XClNHfmFDog

A reminder from Rich Smith about a rally tomorrow (Tuesday) morning…

Though this rally highlights the dangers that toxic chemicals in consumer products pose to children, adults are at terrible risk as well.  Bisphenol A, for example, isn’t just in children’s products.  It’s also in water bottles, every tin can on your shelf, you name it.  In recent testing, 96% of Americans had measurable levels of this hormone disrupting chemical in their bodies…There’s every reason to believe that pollution levels in Canadians are the same.

Ontario has a major opportunity to take a leadership position on this critical issue.  We need your support to ensure it happens.

BAN TOXICS, BABY!
Family Rally to End Toxic Chemicals in Baby Bottles
Tuesday, 2007 November 20, 10 am – 11:00 am
Queen’s Park front lawn.  Free.     Read more »

Thanks to Bruce Hanson for the pointer.  Here’s some background:

The reality is that the rise of oil, not the dollar, is this year’s big news story and the end of cheap oil could prove to be the greatest challenge we have faced in a generation.

Governments must act now to anticipate the coming period of “peak oil.” This means massive investments in public transit, tough laws that encourage high-density housing instead of sprawl, and getting serious about making the transition to a service and knowledge economy less dependent on oil.

A rally, march and eco-fair presented by Stop Climate Chaos – Toronto with ACT for the Earth, CYCC, Greenpeace, Canadian Federation of Students and the Steelworker’s Union.  This event is part of a global day of action on climate change coinciding with climate change talks in Bali.

D8 — Global Day of Action for Climate Change
Rally at Dundas Square
Saturday, 2007 December 8, 12 noon
Dundas Square (southeast corner of Yonge and Dundas) Free.

If I were King of the World, I’m sure I’d set everything straight.  But I’m not, and neither are you.  But this news item shows how a non-majority Green Party in a non-superpower country can make an international difference in the response to a global crisis.     Read more »

This event is presented by the Centre for the Environment at University of Toronto.  It’s a panel discussion with industry leaders in support of positive environmental practices.

Corporate Responsibility: The Greening of Success
Wednesday, 2007 November 21, 7 pm
Hart House, East Common Room.  Free.

There will be another St Lawrence Forum a week after the first, this one on affordable housing.

Affordable Housing: Finding Solutions!
a St Lawrence Centre Forum
Wednesday, 2007 November 28, 7:30 pm
St Lawrence Centre for the Arts
27 Front St East (2 blocks east of Union Station).  Free.

The St Lawrence Centre fora are very well organized and informative.  For more info, call  416-366-1656.

The Politics of Food — A St Lawrence Centre Forum
Tuesday, 2007 November 20, 7 pm
St Lawrence Centre for the Arts
27 Front St East (2 blocks east of Union Station).  Free.

For the first time, the Green Party is the third party nationally.  In a Strategic Counsel poll commissioned by the Globe and Mail and CTV, the Green Party is polling at 13% nationally, above both the NDP at 12% and the Bloc at 11%.  With this news, Deputy Leader Adriane Carr has asked all Canadians to sign on to the petition demanding that Elizabeth be allowed into the televised Leader’s debates during the next federal election.  I’m asking everyone to do that now.     Read more »

KAIROS presents this forum with Hugh McCullum:

High and Dry: The Environmental Cost of Alberta Oil Sands Development
Friday, 2007 November 16, 7:15 pm -9 pm
UofT Pharmacy Building, 144 College St, room B150
416-657-8345.  PWYC.

Tonight is your opportunity to meet Edward Burtynsky, the photographer of those spectacular photos that look so achingly beautiful until you realize what you are seeing.  He photographs the impacts of industry on the environment, but infuses an aesthetic sense even to the most disturbing scenes.  The bright ribbon is a river flowing red, the lovely pattern of concentric rectangles is a deep open-pit mine, the people in it no bigger than pin pricks, the little flickers of lights on the monolithic shadow are the torches of workers in Bangladesh painstakingly deconstructing the hulks of decrepit ships.  There are orderly stacks of tires and compressed telephones, piles of computers and televisions and clothes.  They’re very eye-opening.

Edward Burtynsky at Worldchanging at the Berkeley
Wednesday, 2007 November 14, 7 pm
315 Queen St East

Post Carbon Toronto is hosting a talk by Daniel Lerch about post-carbon cities and the urban planning required to get us there.

Post Carbon Toronto presents Daniel Lerch
Wednesday, 2007 November 14, 7:30 pm
Metro Hall, 55 John St, Rm 304

Raymond Scholz invites everyone to this fun event.

Citizen’s Environment Watch Holiday Open House
Thursday, 2007 November 29, 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm
147 Spadina Ave, suite 204
(northeast corner of Richmond and Spadina)