International Stop the Tar Sands Day is Back!
2012-02-08  |  Derek Leahy

 

On MAY 5th, 2012 people around the globe will come together once again to raise international awareness about one of the most destructive energy projects in the world: the tar sands of northern Alberta, Canada.

 

FRANKLIN, TASMANIA (AUS) – The results from ISTSDay Vote 2012 are in and May 5th blew the other three possible dates completely out of the water. May 5th was the earliest date available to vote for so apparently people want International Stop the Tar Sands Day to happen this year ASAP. I will take this eagerness as a good sign.

 

Where do we go from here? Well, this is where I ask you one of my favourite question:

 

Who wants to help?

 

Many of you have been reading my blog since its creation two years ago when International Stop the Tar Sands Day was still called Tar Sands Demonstrations Europe...

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TPP - Trans Pacific trade deal at what price?
2012-02-07  |  Janet Eaton

By John Ibbitson

Last updated Monday, Feb. 06, 2012 4:46AM EST

On Tuesday, as Stephen Harper arrives in China, a delegation from Japan begins talks in Washington that could affect Canada’s trading future far more than anything that gets signed in Beijing.

The Japanese badly want to join the Trans Pacific Partnership, an ambitious set of trade negotiations between the United States and eight other Pacific nations that have gone far farther, and faster, than most observers expected. Australian Trade Minister Craig Emerson said last week that he expects to see “something substantial – not a finalized agreement, but substantial – by around July.”

That doesn’t leave much time for the Japanese to get in, or for Canada, either. This country is also eager to join the TPP.

But membership has its costs, and some may not be aware how high those...

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Gateway (Gitga'at First Nation) Community rally a full-court press against proposed pipeline
2012-02-07  |  Janet Eaton

Mike Hager and Gordon Hoekstra, Vancouver Sun

Published: Saturday, February 04, 2012

Nearly 1,000 people marched in Prince Rupert on the weekend to protest against Enbridge's proposed $5.5-billion Northern Gateway oil pipeline.

The protest was hosted by the Gitga'at First Nation, which is based at the end of Douglas Channel and would see much of the proposed tanker traffic.

The event began with beating drums and singing around 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Pacific Mariners Memorial Park and ended at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre, where speakers, dancers and singers continued into the evening.

Demonstrators rallied in Prince Rupert, B.C. Saturday, voicing their opposition to Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline from Alberta's oilsands to Kitimat.   Bob Hill, treaty coordinator and negotiator for the Gitga'at and an MC at the rally, said the event was planned in the lead-up to the National Energy Board hearings...
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Food & Water Watch: Don´t Scrap Food Safety Protections to Ease Trade with Canada
2012-02-07  |  Janet Eaton

Statement by Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch

WASHINGTON - January 30 - "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S.
Department of Commerce are co-hosting two days of meetings this week with
the intention of reducing regulations to encourage more trade between the
U.S. and Canada. The first day of the meeting is being held at the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, which gives an indication of who would benefit from
the changes being considered.

"The proposals, which were developed by the Obama and Harper
administrations, include reducing or eliminating the regulations for
imported meat, poultry and egg products from Canada. One of the proposals
is to allow imports from Canada to go without inspection at the border and
allow imported meat, poultry and egg products to be sent directly to U.S.
processing plants. This is an unacceptable change that abandons...

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IISD Handbook: Investment Treaties [ little to promote sustainable development.]
2012-02-07  |  Janet Eaton

By Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Aaron Cosbey, Lise Johnson, Damon

Vis-Dunbar, IISD, 2011. Paper, 62 pages

This handbook focuses on international treaties that guarantee standards of treatment for foreign investors. Today, there are literally thousands of investment treaties between governments, and many more are signed every year. Historically, developed countries pushed the agreements in order to provide an extra measure of legal protection to their domestic investors who sought to invest in riskier foreign territories abroad.

Developing countries, a number of which were long resistant to certain principles and concepts embodied in the agreements, then incorporated  them into their strategies for attracting foreign investment and capital into their territories. Developments over the past two decades have shown these to be powerful instruments, which play a big part in
defining the relationship between host states and...

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ATIs
2012-01-24  |  Bradford Duplisea
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EthicalOil.org stands for big oil - nothing else
2012-01-22  |  John Bennett

First, I want to apologize in advance for the length of this blog. So much has happened over the past week I can’t be pithy!

I want to start by thanking everyone who sent kind and encouraging words this week via email, phone, Facebook and Twitter. I also want to congratulate the 1300+ of you who proudly declared themselves “radicals” in their letters to Joe Oliver. The response has really overwhelmed me.

The Insightful Comment of the Week Award came from Day #1 of the Northern Gateway Pipeline hearings and goes to Ellis Ross, Haisla Nation Chief,  who said of Enbridge’s proposed pipeline: “No matter how idiot proof you make it, they just keep making better idiots”. I found this to be the ultimate precautionary statement, and a great way to kick-off the hearings!

As you are aware Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver kicked-off the week with a bizarre and...

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Asbestos allowed in Canadian Kid's Toys
2012-01-21  |  Bradford Duplisea

Did you know asbestos is allowed in Canadian Children’s toys?

See pg. 9 of this FAQ from the Canadian Environmental Law Association.

Please take a moment and Send an email to the Prime Minster and Minister of Health and tell them you want this situation change!

For more on asbestos dangers and the Government of Canada's immoral stand, see here.

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Who Owns Our Oil Sands? Foreign corporations stake their claims to our resources
2012-01-21  |  Bradford Duplisea

Foreign corporations, some controlled by national governments, have been using their economic clout to buy into Alberta's oil sands and take control of our natural resources.

U.S., French, British, Chinese, Thai, Korean and Norwegian interests have all bought stakes in oil-sands projects. According to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), international companies have invested nearly $20 billion in the last three years through mergers, partnerships and outright purchases of projects.

This increased foreign investment raises questions. Who has the right to develop our natural resources? Who sets the rules for how these resources are developed? Who controls where the resources are processed and sold?

One of the most recent major international investments came in November 2010, when Thailand's state-owned PTTEP bought a 40-per-cent stake in Statoil's Kai Kos Dehseh project for $2.3 billion. Statoil is a Norwegian company whose largest...

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NAFTA a way to restart Keystone Pipeline? Public Citizen
2012-01-20  |  Janet Eaton

The Obama administration made a lot of us environmentalists happy with yesterday's decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline. But given that the Canadian government and corporations appear to be steaming mad about this, it's worth all of us reflecting on what their next move could be. A NAFTA case, for one, does not seem out of the question.....

TransCanada could point to a long string of overtures by the U.S. government that led it to develop "legitimate expectations" (as that is defined under trade law) that it would be able to build the pipeline, going from the private assurances in favor of the pipeline (recently revealed by FOIA documents to Friends of the Earth) and ending in the
December 2011 payroll tax cut (which included Keystone- related provisions). Those "expectations" could be then measured against what could be characterized under the FET standard as an arbitrary decision-making process, as when the Obama administration...

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