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 …
Jan 07
Introduction: In Part I of this series we explored the David Suzuki Foundation’s involvement with Idle No More and how they neglected to disclose their stakeholder status in their letters to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In Part II, we looked into the background of INM’s webmaster and his connections to a global “revolution industry” that …
Jan 05
NOTE: Part I of this series can be found here If you’ve spent time reading through Idle No More’s website you’ve probably seen Spencer Mann’s name a few times. Mann is Idle No More’s webmaster, and appears to be responsible for the majority of the content posted on the site. Mann is the sole proprietor …
Jan 03
Introduction: Idle No More, so the legend tells us, is a grassroots movement started by four indigenous women from Saskatchewan who were unhappy with parts of the federal government budget bill C-45. The movement’s message inspired protests across the country- most were peaceful, but there were incidents where militants took advantage leading blockades, and tampering …
Nov 07
This week the Conservative party held its convention in Calgary. It was a good choice, the Prime Minister’s riding is there and it’s an easy city for the CPC to round up a nice sized crowd. There’s also an added benefit- Alberta’s a lot less left-leaning than the rest of the country, so it’s more …
Jul 08
After almost two years of research it’s become quite clear that a large part of Canada’ environmental protest movement is organized an led by a small, tightly knit, group of people. They have a lot of commonalities between each other- the tactics they use, their connections to unions, the messages they put out, and their …
Apr 07
Update: The man I recognized in Joyce Murray’s cheering squad has been identified as Chai Kalevar. Not only does he show up to NDP and Liberal events- but he’s also run as a candidate for the Canadian Action Party, and once for the National Party of Canada. He was also at the ‘Battle of Seattle’ WTO …
Feb 02
Last Saturday was the “Rally For Rights And Democracy” in Toronto. It was organized by the Ontario Federation of Labour- Sid Ryan was the major star of the day. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) had a major presence, as did the Steelworkers, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), teacher’s unions, and the …
Sep 03
I don’t believe that Harper is a dictator- quite the opposite. To call Harper a dictator would be an insult to history’s great dictators. A better description for him would be a Dictaphone. He records what his masters (and sometimes his constituency) ask for and he plays it back to the people. If not a Dictaphone, perhaps …