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The earth provides resources but they must be used with the common good in mind.
Investigate glyphosate connection to unidentified brain disease: Neurologist
The neurologist who first raised the possibility of a mysterious neurological disease in New Brunswick is now urging the federal government to test the environment for glyphosate, suspecting the widely-used herbicide is connected to the disease cluster in the Moncton and Acadian Peninsula areas.
Marrero sent a letter … warning them of “troubling” new developments and pleading for action and warning some of his patients were in “advanced stages of clinical deterioration and near end of life”. Among those developments, he said recent laboratory tests on a number of patients showed “clear signs of exposure” to glyphosate, as well as other compounds linked to herbicides, adding that many of those tested had levels “many times over the detection limit,” according to the letter obtained by the Guardian. New Brunswick uses more glyphosate per hectare of harvested forest than any province in Canada, according to a report from New Brunswick’s top doctor in 2016. In September 2022, the Conservation Council reported that glyphosate spraying is up 30 per cent in the Crown forest since 2005. J.D. Irving, the province’s largest forestry company, consistently sprays the most each year. And its volume of spraying is trending up even steeper—spraying on Crown land clearcuts harvested and managed by Irving increased 55 per cent between 2005 and 2022.
Bayer, the company that now produces glyphosate, has been ordered to pay millions in damages to cancer victims who were exposed to its products. In June 2022, the US Supreme Court refused to hear two appeals from the company trying to get out of paying.
[Meanwhile], "The provincial government released its final report on February 24, 2022 [pdf], declaring that there was in fact “no evidence of a cluster of neurological syndrome of unknown cause.” (Canadaland) ....Read more at CCNB. This is all very troubling. Many have been calling for governments to ban glyphosate use in Canada. Several other countries have already, but Bayer is a very powerful company who have deep pockets and an army of lobbyist to convince politicians that glysophate is safe. - FVC Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation
March 6, 2023 - Canada.ca
Is Canada meeting its targets? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_Development_Goal_6
Activists Disrupt the Flow of the World’s Largest Mining Convention to Say ‘Water is Life!’
Activists hold a banner that says "Water is Life" in the Metro Convention Centre, during PDAC 2023. Photo: MISN (Additional photos available upon request)
(Toronto | March 6, 2023) Using long pieces of blue fabric, activists disrupted the world’s largest mining convention in Toronto yesterday to call attention to the industry’s record of harming important watersheds and to denounce efforts to further expand mining into ecologically sensitive areas.
Canada (and PDAC) prioritizes more mining at the expense of the planet “Mining companies are using the pretext of the energy transition to push through projects without consent, in areas where there is longstanding community opposition,” says Viviana Herrera, Latin America Program Coordinator for MiningWatch Canada. “People across the world are fighting to protect their critical life sources – water – to sustain this generation and those to come. We must take the extractive pressure off.” Read more.... Calls for the federal government to regulate Canadian mining companies operating overseasFebruary 6, 2022 - CBC/The Current
We've documented widening Guatemala, and I've seen this with all my work in Guatemala and Honduras is that I believe the Canadian government and our companies know that there's almost no way that any legal accountability can be achieved in a country like Guatemala that is characterized by systemic corruption and impunity, let alone repression. And so it's a nice
Canada. I think in many ways the mining companies actually don't know or even care as to where the resources are. They know little to nothing about a country like Guatemala. This is a Canadian problem and it should be policed and we should have minimal criminal law and civil accountability in Canada.
Listen to the CBC story start listening to this story at minute 47:00 (25 min). Watch the video to learn more. Co-editors Catherine Nolin and Grahame Russell will be discussing their powerful new book, Testimonio, on the date of its publication, along with several of the book's contributors. It is unbelievable that Canada is implicated in the crimes that are happening in other countries with impunity. This is a Canadian problem and our government is turning a blind eye to what is happening. It's up to us, the people to have our voices heard. - FVC WHEN BIG OIL INTERVENES IN CANADIAN POLITICS, IT DOES SO WITH FOREIGN MONEY—AND ON A HUGE SCALE
February 6, 2022 - Council of Canadians
Writer Gordon Laxer is a political economist, professor emeritus at the University of Alberta
look at the much greater foreign funding intrusions by big oil and gas corporations? Size matters.
All the big oil and gas producers operating in Canada are either fully or majority foreign-owned. None are majority Canadian-owned. LEARN MORE Carbon tax should fund free public transport
Mining Company DisastersNovember 21, 2020 - GCCM Article
In 2015 a dam managed by the mining company Samarco (a subsidiary of Vale S.A) burst in Brazil in the state of Minas Gerais, in the municipality of Mariana. The swath of mud big enough to fit 16,000 Olympic swimming pools kills 19 people and destroys entire communities. A little more than three years later, a different dam managed by the mining company, Vale S.A., burst again the same state of Brazil, Minas Gerais, in the municipality of Brumadinho. But this time, the loss of human life is exponentially worse. The avalanche kills more than 250 people, burying “women, men, animals, and vegetation.” Click on the image below to learn more and see a 78 sec video 
The long struggle for rights and justice.
Looking Ahead: Proposals for a Just and Inclusive Recovery
June 23, 2020 - Tamarack Institute
Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible EnterpriseMay 20, 2020 - D&P
The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, lacking the power to compel testimony or the submission of documents, cannot effectively investigate allegations of human rights abuse linked to Canadian mining, energy, and garment companies’ global operations and supply chains.
Be part of the solution! Sign the e-petition to the House of Commons. Also see #power2investigate #CAN4mHRDD The Liberal Government promised to address this critical justice issue, but to date little has been done. Help call on government to do the right thing. See earlier posting (April 25, 2019) on this issue below. - FVC The divestment movement is working!February 26, 2020 - 350.org
We all need to speak up and act. It is not a futile action.
'Completely unsustainable': How streaming and other data demands take a toll on the environmentJanuary 6, 2020 - CBC - Thomas Daigle
Tech firms look for solutions as data centres use huge amounts of power to fuel streaming and social media. 
For those of us binge-watching TV shows, installing new smartphone apps or sharing family photos on social media over the holidays, it may seem like an abstract predicament.
The gigabytes of data we're using — although invisible — come at a significant cost to the environment. Some experts say it rivals that of the airline industry... How much power does it take? Anders Andrae, a researcher at Huawei Technologies Sweden whose estimates are often cited, told CBC News in an email he expects the world's data centres alone will devour up to 651 terawatt-hours of electricity in the next year. That's nearly as much electricity as Canada's entire energy sector produces. ....LEARN MORE Climate emissions from tropical forest damage 'underestimated by a factor of six'November 5, 2019 - The Guardian
Assessment Reports on Biodiversity - VideoSeptember 26, 2019 - Our Lady of Hope Province
In March 2018, IPBES launched four Assessment Reports on #biodiversity and #EcosystemServices - one each for #Africa, the #Americas, #AsiaPacific and #Europe and #Central Asia. Together they are the most important expert contribution of the past decade to the state of knowledge about nature and nature's contributions to people.
Pledge To “Wipe Right”: Use Recycled Toilet Paper
August 28, 2019
(USA) National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is raising awareness about how a simple product like toilet paper is devastating our forests and is calling on consumers to use recycled toilet paper in order to conserve that resource. Canada has the same problem. 
As a conscious toilet paper consumer, pledge to:
Take the NRDC PLEDGE. Honduras Catholic Church to Aura Minerals & all mining companies: “GET OUT OF OUR TERRITORY”
October 2, 2018 - Rights Action
Statement by Bishop & Diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán (Honduras), saying ‘No’ to Aura Minerals destruction of Azacualpa cemetery, ‘No’ to Aura’s cyanide-leaching, open-pit mining.
(L: bones of bodies illegally exhumed by Aura Minerals, left lying around in Azacualpa cemetery. R: local citizen stares in one of the over 100 graves emptied out. Photos: Azacualpa environmental committee)
The Diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán, in Honduras, demanded that Aura Minerals (Canadian/U.S.) gold mining company and its subsidiary MINOSA and ALL the mining companies, close all of their operations and depart from Azacualpa, in clear support to the local community. READ THE STORY MASSIVE FOSSIL FUEL SUBSIDIES CONTINUE, BUT TRUE COSTS ARE HIDDEN FROM CANADIANS
September 23, 2018 - Environmental Defense
What’s the dumbest policy in the world? Public cash for oil and gas!
Canada’s federal government handed out hundreds of millions of dollars per year in public money to oil and gas companies between 2016 and 2018, despite its longstanding commitment to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. Take action: Tell Canada to stop funding fossils. Actually, the final figure is likely much higher, but a lack of transparency from the federal government makes many subsidies to climate polluters difficult to quantify. With the recent purchase of the Kinder Morgan pipeline, that number is likely to be higher still. READ MORE PLUS: The Star reports:
“This has more to do with the oil price crash and crafty industry tax accounting than significant action by Canada’s government,” said Patrick DeRochie, climate and energy program manager of Environmental Defence. “Combining carbon pricing and fossil fuel subsidies is like trying to bail water out of a leaky boat. If you don’t fix the leak, you are never going to fix the problem.” Open for Justice: Increasing corporate accountability in CanadaSeptember 9, 2018 - Mining Watch Canada
On January 17, 2018, The Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) is greatly encouraged by the Minister of International Trade’s announcement of the creation of a Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise. The human rights ombudsperson will investigate complaints concerning the overseas operations of Canadian companies and will issue public findings on allegations of harm. The office will make recommendations for redress; regarding corporate eligibility for government services; and with respect to policy and law reform. Read Executive Summary: Establishing a human rights Ombudsman for Canada’s international extractive sector (pdf)? Take Action: Ask your member of parliament to support this initiative.
Dozens of scientists from over 20 countries explain how mining, logging and fossil fuels disrupt the water on earthAugust 8, 2018 - Canada's National Observer
Rare old growth trees in the Great Bear Rainforest. Photo by Andy Wright
Canadian government departments should work closer together to determine how the interaction of forests and water is being disrupted by fossil fuel extraction, mining and logging, says a Canadian scientist at the centre of a new report presented to the United Nations.
“There’s an emerging scientific body of evidence that is starting to suggest that it’s not just what happens when the raindrop falls to the ground...but that the forests produce water,” says Canadian scientist Irena Creed. #cdnpoli #cdnsci Oil and gas extraction, logging and mining all has an impact on the connection between forests and water, she said. Canada should examine how much resource extraction should be halted in order to ensure the ecosystem’s forest-water balance isn’t disrupted. READ MORE.... July 18, 2018 - The Narwhal
Canada’s mining giants pay billions less in taxes in Canada than abroadCompanies pay Canada a tiny fraction of what they pay other countries to extract gold
Mining companies operating in Canada are paying just a fraction of the fees, taxes and royalties they pay in other countries. That's often in addition to underfunded mine liability. Pictured here is the abandoned Giant Mine in Yellowknife, one of the country's largest gold mines, which operated for 70 years before closing and leaving Canadians with an estimated billion-dollar cleanup. Photo: Matt Jacques / The Narwhal READ THE FULL STORY
Every year, $31 billion of food ends up in a landfill in Canada alone. This isn't just stale bread and mouldy produce. This is good to eat food of all sorts. Produce, dairy, grain, protein, and everything outside of those.
Yet, nearly one million Canadians rely on food banks each month, and about four million Canadians are "food insecure", of which 1.5 million are children. In 2015, the French government passed a law forbidding supermarkets from wasting and deliberately destroying food that can still be eaten. Instead, supermarkets have since been required to donate all unsold food products to charity such as food banks. READ MORE AND TAKE ACTION Trudeau Government Must Act after Striking Workers Murdered at Canadian-Owned Mine in Mexico
TORONTO – The murders of two strikers at a Canadian-owned mine underscores the widespread repression of basic labour rights in Mexico – even when the employer is Canadian, the United Steelworkers (USW) says.
“On Saturday, November 18 – four days after the Canadian government was warned of the potential for such violence – an armed group murdered two striking workers from the Canadian-owned Media Luna gold mine in the state of Guerrero,” said Ken Neumann, the USW’s National Director for Canada. “The root of these brutal murders is the widespread repression of labour rights in Mexico – including by Canadian companies,” Neumann said. “We are once again urging the Canadian government to intervene with Mexican authorities and the company to recognize the basic rights of Mexican workers and prevent further violence. The Mexican government and this Canadian company must ensure this conflict is resolved without further bloodshed.” READ MORE.... |
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