Author's posts
Jun 07
Is ForestEthics Gravitating Towards The Militants Now? (Feat. Ben West, Gord Hill)
To steal a phrase used by TIDES Canada, our country’s environmental movements often bring together some strange bedfellows. The most striking of these relationships has to be the partnership with Green Party leader Elizabeth May and the Council of Canadians leader Maude Barlow- May is outspoken against violence (albeit in a strangely twisted manner), while Barlow …
Jun 05
[Updated] Vancouver Activist House Raided In Anti-Pipeline Vandalism Investigation (Feat. Gord Hill)
Update: Quell surprise, Ben West of ForestEthics has complained that the police were too heavy-handed… Vancouver has been experiencing a Vandalism problem over the past few months. A person (or persons) have been prolifically spray painting “No Pipelines” on buildings across the east side of the city. The graffiti is in no way artistic; and in …
Jun 02
What Didn’t The Media Tell Us About Desmond Tutu’s Visit? (Feat. 350.org & Eriel Deranger)
The one thing I admire most about Desmond Tutu is his rigorous advocacy of non-violence. As the creator of the concept of the Rainbow Nation, and chairman of South Africa’s Truth And Reconciliation Commission, Tutu’s work made a real difference to many people’s lives. More recently, Tutu spoke out against the African National Congress, saying “it …
May 31
Burnaby Chevron Protesters, Threats Of Violence, And The Perversion Of Mahatma Gandhi
Activists interrupted a Burnaby, BC fuel truck refilling station yesterday, protesting Chevron’s involvement in the Pacific Trails Pipeline project, and showing ‘solidarity’ to the (violent) Unist’ot’en Camp. Replicating Greenpeace’s similar stunt in October 2013, three of the protesters locked themselves to the front gate. Their message for Chevron was to ‘frack off’, a slogan as stale as their tactics. …
May 29
[Updated] Slacktivist Exploitation Of Missing Toronto Women Has Unintended Consequences
Update: The two teenage girls have now been found. Update 2: Corrected a mistake: Paisley Ray’s spreadsheet separated the men into their own tab, I missed that. Ray has created a Storify page of her tweets. I use an app on my phone to subscribe to the Toronto Police Service’s news release updates. It’s an interesting barometer …
May 27
Eco-Terrorism: The Scariest Part Is Watching The Enablers (Feat. Daryn Caister & Kevin Farmer)
On Saturday afternoon I got a tweet from Antonia Zerbisias at the Toronto Star. She and I’ve had a bit of a rivalry over the past year, Antonia got quite upset after I criticized her reckless support of militant activists who promote violence (she got quite nasty in return). So, considering Antonia’s past behavior (and …
May 20
A Drive-By Report On Today’s (Sad) Line 9 Protest (Feat. Usual Suspects)
Update: This report initially said that the Line 9 spokesperson claimed this dig would fix 400 defects, that was inaccurate, and has been fixed. If you read my story Yawn, Another Line 9 Pipeline Occupation, then you probably don’t need to bother reading any further, today’s 12-hour ‘blockade’ of a Line 9 site is pretty …
May 19
LeadNow’s Anti-Social Climate Rallies Leave Vandalistic Legacy! (And what we can do about it)
Last weekend LeadNow.ca organized their Defend Our Climate, Defend Our Communities rallies across the country. LeadNow claimed they had events in over 100 locations (some possibly in people’s living rooms), and that many thousands of people showed up in support. The two largest gatherings were in Vancouver and Toronto- many of the usual suspects appeared, …
May 17
Ojibwe Girl Refuses Cancer Treatment, Radical Agitators Chomping At The Bit For War (Feat. Two Row Times)
A video was released this week of a an 11 year old indigenous girl explaining her intention to forego chemotherapy and instead rely on ‘traditional medicines”. Doctors say the child would have an 80% chance of survival if she continued with her treatment; she was 11 weeks into it before deciding to give up. She claims …
May 12
Environment Hamilton Gives Militant Anarchists “Environmentalists Of The Year” Award! (Feat #SwampLine9)
One of my most disturbing discoveries while researching the resurgence of activist militancy was the large number of ‘legitimate’ organizations who’ve been willing to work with people who promote violent tactics. Sometimes it’s blatant, like when a leader at the Council of Canadians helped bring the Black Bloc into the Olympic protests; or things that make …