Jun 21
Periscope is an app that makes it almost too easy to broadcast live videos from Android and IOS phones. I often use it when covering protests, it’s come in very useful when ethically challenged activists try to make up stories I’m doing anything but quietly filming. I’ve also used it to ask hard questions of Jane …
Sep 16
On Tuesday night, a crowd of about 100 people gathered in the Waterloo-Centre riding for an all-candidates debate on refugees and immigration. The three main candidates – Liberal Raj Saini, NDP’s Susan Cadell, and Conservative incumbent Stephen Woodworth – probably didn’t know it, but they were joined on stage by a man recently declared a terrorist …
Jun 29
Is it real, or Vision Vancouver propaganda? The City of Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Plan is an initiative to do what it says on the box, to make Vancouver the world’s greenest city by 2020. The plan that was launched in 2010 reads like it was written by mayor Gregor Robertson’s benefactors and former employers in …
Oct 19
Correction: Joel Solomon resigned from TIDES in April 2014 On Friday Jorge Barrera of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) released one of the most fascinating stories I’ve read in months. His article RCMP tracked movements of Indigenous activist from ‘extremist’ group discussed an access to information request filed by Carleton University criminology instructor Jeffrey Monaghan that confirms …
Oct 16
Update: Since this article was written, Hollyhock has now deleted the tweet from their account- interesting… In January, 2012 I had the pleasure of staying at Hollyhock, a charity owned training resort on Cortes Island BC; one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Hollyhock is a contentious place; some view it as (literally) magical, …
Aug 07
Introduction: In November 2012 a group of leaders from NGOs, unions, academia, first nations and militant anarchist groups converged for a conference at the University of Toronto. Their goal was to come up with a strategy how to interfere with Enbridge’s plan to reverse their Line 9 pipeline- limiting Canada’s ability to export our oil …
Jun 11
One of Toronto’s most entertaining political battles over the past few months has been between radical feminists and ‘men’s rights’ campaigners. Both sides are saddled with angry extremists, so their intolerance for each other has made for some spectacular viewing. The situation leaves many people wondering how far each side is willing to go to take …
Jun 02
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
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 27
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 …