January | 2012 | Pass it to the Left

Jan 13 2012

Activism, Civil LIberties, Crime, Internet, Legal, Parliament, Police and Security, Politics

(Un)Lawful Access to Information About You. No Questions Asked?

Last night, I had intended to go to the premiere and panel discussion down at W2 titled “(Un)Lawful Access” and watch the video by the same name and hear an impressive panel of speakers give their opinions on the Conservative Government’s latest ‘Lawful Access’ Bill which threatens to rob Canadians of their privacy online, but unfortunately life got in the way and I couldn’t attend… SO instead I watched the event via livestream online! And I’m glad I did, because what I learned is important in ways I hope you’ll be able to articulate and tell your friends about after reading (and watching) this…

Continue reading →

Tagged Activism, Civil Liberties, Crime, Internet, Legal, Parliament, Police and Security, Politics, Sarah Allan

Jan 12 2012

1 Comment

Democracy, Legal, Local, Politics

What You May Not Know About Municipal Elections

by Jesse Nelson

Every three years on the third Saturday of the month of November, elections are held across the municipalities of BC. These elections, unlike Federal elections and to some degree Provincial elections, differ when it comes to campaign financing legislation and disclosure requirements, as well the ID requirements for electors.

Did you know:

* There are currently no expense limits for campaign participants: electors, elector organizations (usually political parties) and campaign organizers (third party advertisers – usually private companies who support a particular candidate).

* Anonymous contributions are still accepted.

* Any donation under $100 does not need to be disclosed in the Campaign Financing Disclosure Statements. You can imagine how many supporters of a particular candidate or party make contributions of $99 or under.

Continue reading →

Tagged Democracy, Jesse Nelson, Legal, Local, Politics

Jan 11 2012

Activism, Civil LIberties, Community, Democracy, Equality, Occupation, Politics, Social Change

The Return of Occupy: Attaining True Democracy

By Natasza Zurek and Tracy Giesz-Ramsay

The Occupy movement is set to come back in full swing this Spring as suggested by renowned and respected Canadian figureheads: author Naomi Klein, humanitarian Romeo Dallaire and environmentalist David Suzuki, among others. And it should, because we still need change. Rather than being a beast of specific demands for the higher-ups, Occupy has become a model for a new way of attaining real democracy – where we don’t look for the solutions to come from individuals in places of concentrated power, but where the majority decides on the answers to the problems of our communities and throughout the world. What is sought is ‘participatory’ democracy: democracy of a kind we’ve never experienced before where the people themselves have a hand in policy making and a say in where the resources of this great continent should be used. If we’re able to bring back that light and make it burn brighter and longer, maybe we truly can create change. It’s possible that there will be a real revolution in the West and yes, we should most definitely come back and join the fight for it.

Continue reading →

Tagged Activism, Civil Liberties, Community, Democracy, Equality, Natasza Zurek, Occupation, Politics, Social Change, Tracy Giesz-Ramsay

Jan 10 2012

Consumption, Economy, Environment, Food, Health, International, Poverty

Genetically Modified Genocide

by Jessica Linnay

Prince Charles warned the world years ago that the mass development of genetically modified (GM) crops risked causing the world’s worst environmental disaster, accusing GM firms of conducting a “gigantic experiment with nature and the whole of humanity which has gone seriously wrong“. (UK Telegraph, 2008)

Flash forward to 2012 and one of the world’s most populated countries is deep in a state of genocide, crops and people both dropping like flies as farms fail in what’s now sadly known as India’s “suicide belt”.

Continue reading →

Tagged Consumption, Economy, Environment, Food, Health, International, Jessica Linnay, Poverty

Jan 09 2012

Art, Charity, Children, Homelessness, International, Non-Profit, Photography, Poverty, Youth

Home is Where the Heart is?

by Ayan Bihi

the idea of home can at times be seen as truly based on ones current perspective.

is home a constant and intimate space where you run away from the ways of the world?

what is its size?

what are the lines attached to it?

the idea as well as the reality of home appears to be a luxury.

where not everyone has been given privy.

Continue reading →

Tagged Art, Ayan Bihi, Charity, Children, Homelessness, International, Non-Profit, Photography, Poverty, Youth

Jan 06 2012

4 Comments

Culture, Equality, Feminism, Intersectionality, Knowledge, Media, Politics

Comments – To Read or Not to Read

by Sarah Allan

On more than one occasion I have had someone forward me a link to an online news article with a warning: Don’t read the comments! It seems that increasingly, the comment sections provided below many online news articles are filled with uninformed opinions, (not so) thinly veiled discrimination and wholly offensive contributions. While comment sections purport to stimulate discussion and spur debate, ideally moving our collective consciousness forward and helping us to share and learn from each other, do they really meet these ends? Or are they just a place for eccentric and opinionated people to rant and become further entrenched in their existing opinions? Is it a waste of time to participate in comment threads?

Continue reading →

Tagged Culture, Equality, Feminism, Intersectionality, Knowledge, Media, Sarah Allan

Jan 05 2012

Consumption, Environment, First Nations, Food, Politics, Social Change

SALMON AND YOU: Time to Step Up

by Chelsey Geralda Denise Armstrong

Salmon farming is not O.K. and we need to wake up and realize what is happening on our coasts. We need to turn down fish-farmed foods and we need to learn to prosper within our ecological means.

I would like to address a problem that few in British Columbia, let alone Canada, are aware of. When salmon farming was introduced over a decade ago into British Columbia the age-old promise of jobs and improved, healthier communities sang high from the trees. Those same communities have been abandoned, toxic algae blooms stock the coast, and the fish farms (92% of them owned by Norwegian companies) are running rampant with few pieces of legislation to slow them down.

Continue reading →

Tagged Chelsey Geralda Denise Armstrong, Consumption, Environment, First Nations, Food, Politics, Social Change

Jan 04 2012

Community, Culture, Economy, Environment, First Nations, Local, Non-Profit, Social Change

Boreal Learning Network Sessions Call for New Thinking and Collaboration Between First Nations and Environmental NGOs

by Samantha Kirk Benesh

Saskatchewan Environmental Society, December 2011

The fourth session of the Boreal Learning Network – Western Edition was held at Brew Creek Centre located just south of Whistler, BC from November 29th – December 1st, 2011. First Nations groups and environmental Non-Profit (ENGO) boreal congregations reflected, analyzed and collaborated, discussing current issues in the Boreal Realm. The Boreal Network strives to find new solutions to the past and present problems with forestry and industry development across Canada’s Boreal Region. Issues with property rights, industry exploration and policy breaches extend across boundaries and communities of First Nations Peoples in Western Canada.

Continue reading →

Tagged Community, Culture, Economy, Environment, First Nations, Local, Non-Profit, Samantha Kirk Benesh, Social Change

Jan 02 2012

Children, Education, Film, International, Non-Profit

A Shitima School Christmas

by Cluny Mackenzie-MacPherson

Christmas break in Zambia is a peaceful time. The school year follows the calendar, so most students are comfortably pleased at having attained a new grade level. The rains have recently arrived and everywhere one looks, agricultural hustle and bustle is afoot. Fields are being prepared, maize is being planted and the dusty landscape has been transformed into a green, florally diverse, tapestry.

Here at the school, Semester Break has been a fun time for all. This year, some thirty children are staying with us throughout the holidays, at the Julie-Anne Children’s Home on the Shitima site. Their days are made up of remedial and advanced classes, daily chores in the school garden and a busy schedule of sports and activities. Friday nights are movie night, when the wall-projector is dug out to great applause, and everyone curls up to watch films that hail from Hollywood, Nigeria or China (martial arts flicks are especially popular among the young boys!). All of this, combined with the usual resident chores, keeps the pace up at the school.

Julie-Anne's Children's Home

Continue reading →

Tagged Children, Cluny Mackenzie-MacPherson, Education, Film, International, Non-Profit

Pass it to the Left

Monthly Archives: January 2012

(Un)Lawful Access to Information About You. No Questions Asked?

What You May Not Know About Municipal Elections

Genetically Modified Genocide

Home is Where the Heart is?

Comments – To Read or Not to Read

A Shitima School Christmas

Follow “Pass it to the Left”

Monthly Archives: January 2012

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Pass THIS to the Left:

Like this:

Follow “Pass it to the Left”