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The sorrows of Wise Charbonneau and the need for a Canadian sequel | Jun 18 2013 | Marie Léger-St-Jean |

Please support our coverage of democratic movements and become a supporting member of rabble.ca. After a year of hearings, let's stop and reflect on what we've learnt so far from the ongoing show on the Charbonneau Commission channel. Prologue

The world will be poorer without Nelson Mandela | Jun 17 2013 | Gerry Caplan |

Please support our coverage of democratic movements and become a supporting member of rabble.ca. We have in our home four separate photos of my wife with Nelson Mandela, taken in South Africa and Canada, which we consider among our most precious possessions.

Announcing 'best of rabble' special iPad multimedia 2013 edition | Jun 14 2013 | rabble staff |

Last year rabble.ca was the first to use iBooks Author for a long-form journalism project and this year we are again presenting a multimedia version of the best of rabble for the iPad. You can download the 2013 edition for free right here. Special thanks to Matt Dusenbury, Derrick O'Keefe, Michael Stewart and Kim Elliott!

Cliffs should stop pointing fingers, check its corporate ego before resuming work on Ring of Fire | Jun 14 2013 | Ramsey Hart |

Please support our coverage of democratic movements and become a supporting member of rabble.ca. On Wednesday, U.S. mining company Cliffs Natural Resources announced that it was ceasing work on the environmental assessment process for its high-profile chromite project in the area of northern Ontario dubbed the “Ring of Fire”.

Activist Communique: Journey for Earth walkers arrive in Toronto on their way to Ottawa | Jun 13 2013 | Krystalline Kraus |

Please support our coverage of democratic movements and become a supporting member of rabble.ca. There are five walkers arriving in Toronto on the evening of Wednesday June 12 -- Nancy Greyeyes, Rueben Roy, Sharon Veley, Geron Campbell, and Brian Whitstone -- who were originally associated with a larger group of walkers called "A Sacred Journey for Future Generations" who wanted to stop here in the Big Smoke before meeting up with their allies in Ottawa on June 21, 2013, for National Aboriginal Day.

U.S. says climate change 'high risk' to federal assets, Canada has no infrastructure adaptation plan | Jun 12 2013 | Elizabeth May |

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From Kensington Market to Gezi Park: Gentrification is a global force | Jun 12 2013 | Michael Stewart |

Gezi Park in Istanbul has been making headlines for two weeks, tempting the West's fickle appetite for revolution. Last Monday, 50 protestors occupied the nine-acre park to confront demolition crews preparing to turn one of the last remaining green spaces in the city into a shopping mall. Three days later, their number had grown to 10,000. Western media reports have followed a predictable pattern for anyone bred on the script written by the Arab Spring: an autocratic government, supported by militia thugs, are suppressing the people's demand for democracy. "Democracy" in this context is a messy, sticky term, but surely, like Justice Potter Stewart we will know it when we see it.

Le fond de l'air est rouge: Stefan Christoff on the legacy of Quebec's 2012 student strike | Jun 11 2013 | Derrick O'Keefe |

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Day of action against cuts to health care for refugees June 17 | Jun 11 2013 | Brent Patterson |

Please support our coverage of democratic movements and become a supporting member of rabble.ca. A National Day of Action is planned for Monday June 17 to protest the Harper government's cuts to health care for refugees. The Council of Canadians fully supports this action led by Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care "to take the facts directly to the streets and tell Canadians the consequences of the federal government's cuts to refugee health care."

Toronto Japanese Film Festival invites Toronto to experience Japanese culture | Jun 11 2013 | Lindsay Presswell |

Please support our coverage of democratic movements and become a supporting member of rabble.ca. To promote "friendship through culture" is the official mission of the Japanese Canadian Culture Centre (JCCC), and this message is certainly reflected in the planning and presentation of the Toronto Japanese Film Festival (TorontoJFF) that will take place at the JCCC from June 13 to June 28.

Give me spots on my apples, but leave me the birds and the bees! | Jun 10 2013 | John Bennett |

Please support our coverage of democratic movements and become a supporting member of rabble.ca. The European Union (EU) banned three pesticides (Imidacloprid, Clothianidin and Thiamethoxam) last week to protect rapidly declining bee populations. Bee pollination is essential to the functioning of our ecosystem and the production of all fruits and vegetables. When bee populations start to mysteriously and rapidly die-off, it's a big deal.

Public interest lawyer and rabble contributor Steven Shrybman receives the 2013 Rideau Institute Leadership Award | Jun 10 2013 | rabble staff |

Last week the 2013 Rideau Institute Leadership Award was presented to public-interest lawyer Steven Shrybman for his many years of work and achievements in promoting democracy. The Rideau Institute Leadership Award is given by the Rideau Institute Board of Directors to a person or group for making an outstanding contribution to a progressive vision of Canada.

Activist Communique: G20 police officer who allegedly beat Adam Nobody stands trial | Jun 9 2013 | Krystalline Kraus |

Please support our coverage of democratic movements and become a supporting member of rabble.ca. This is the second G20 Summit policing case that has gone to court. On Friday May 31, 2013, Ontario Superior Court Justice M. Gregory Ellies found Toronto Police Constable Glenn Weddell not guilty of aggravated assault and assault with a weapon in regards to the alleged beating of Dorian Barton.

Your change makes change! | Jun 7 2013 | rabble staff |

The scandals around Harper seem to be sticking and change is in the air. Change is also in your pockets. At rabble.ca your change makes change. For $5/month (or about 16 cents/day) you can have a real impact on the news and views that get reported. That’s not a lot of coin to take on Harper and his cronies, to expose the misinformation on the Tar Sands, to bring you the news of grassroots democratic struggles and to go beyond the mainstream headlines. Please give us your change and become a supporting member of rabble right now.

Protecting the right to water means banning fracking | Jun 7 2013 | Emma Lui |

Please support our coverage of democratic movements and become a supporting member of rabble.ca. The government has conceded the human right to water exists, but thats not enough. Alarm bells continue to sound in the media about fracking -- from heated debates about its safety in Illinois, New York, and California to even the threat it poses to German beer.

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Redford Government, Alberta Health Services Division, drops two political hot potatoes | Jun 19 2013 | David J. Climenhaga | It would be easer to believe the government and AHS were taking action to improve care if they hadn't been taking equally vigorous action to muck it up just weeks ago.

Activist Communique: Sovereignty Summer begins in Toronto | Jun 18 2013 | Krystalline Kraus | Take back Aboriginal Day as a day of solidarity and protest.

Harper's policy on vulnerable refugees is wildly inconsistent -- and cruel | Jun 18 2013 | Karl Nerenberg | From Syria to Sri Lanka, the Harper government has turned a blind eye to the suffering of refugees. Now it's even cutting health care for those who manage to reach Canada.

Language apps help preserve endangered aboriginal languages in the Northwest Territories | Jun 18 2013 | George Lessard | Free apps offer language learning, practice, games and quizzes in many everyday categories such as greetings, phrases, vowels, expressions and much more.

Harper government 'pleased' with secret TPP investment session in Vancouver | Jun 18 2013 | Stuart Trew | Over the weekend, North American trade justice activists searched the city of Vancouver for a so-called "interessional" meeting of investment negotiators from Trans-Pacific Partnership countries.

We ignore scientists at our peril | Jun 18 2013 | David Suzuki | The science behind human-caused global warming is overwhelming, and consensus among climate scientists is close to unanimous. But that's not enough to stop the deniers.

Federal court hears government had duty to consult Hupacasath First Nation on Canada-China FIPA ratification | Jun 17 2013 | Stuart Trew | Lawyers for the Hupacasath First Nation and DFAIT argued before a federal court judge on whether the government has a duty to consult First Nations before ratifying international treaties.

Cuts to refugee health-care continue to endanger lives | Jun 17 2013 | John Bonnar | A year later, health-care professionals still can’t fathom the senseless cuts the Conservative government made to refugee health-care.

Yellowknife's Wildcat Cafe reopens after two-year hiatus | Jun 17 2013 | George Lessard | After a two-year-long renovation Yellowknife's oldest restaurant and historic icon, the "Wildcat Café" has finally opened for its 2013 summer season.

Athabasca Healing Walks a celebration of what our planet has lost | Jun 17 2013 | John Bennett | John Bennett talks mix tapes and toxic waste water spills as he takes a nostalgic look at what the Healing Walks organized by the Keepers of the Athabasca are meant to recover.

Harper loses his best hope for a Conservative MP from Montreal | Jun 17 2013 | Karl Nerenberg | The Conservatives only snared a second place finish in one Montreal and area riding: the riding of Mount Royal. Their candidate was Saulie Zajdel, who was arrested on Monday.

Warning to Tories: It's not just Trudeau any more … it's open season on public speakers! | Jun 16 2013 | David J Climenhaga | Watch out if you’re a Liberal electrician or an NDP handyman if you've ever done a job for someone who failed to meet a mortgage payment. The PMO and Brad Wall are going to come after you!

The new African Diaspora in Vancouver | Jun 16 2013 | Gillian Creese | Migration is often a story about loss and struggle as much as new beginnings. In spite of ideologies of multicultural acceptance in Vancouver, migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have experienced exclus

Activist Communique: G20 officer accused of beating activist breaks down in court | Jun 16 2013 | Krystalline Kraus | The trial of Toronto Police Constable Andalib-Goortani began last week and the Crown has rested its case. The defence has now begun.

Happy Father's Day; celebrate it by standing up for women's rights. | Jun 16 2013 | Michael Laxer | On Father's Day we need to say there is no such thing as "sexism" against men. It simply does not exist.

Artist Diane Boudreau's 'Species at risk' in the Northwest Territories | Jun 16 2013 | George Lessard | Local artist-biologist Diane Boudreau has been working in English and French with youth and street people in the NWT for several years connecting art and the environment.

Activist Communique: Solidarity Tent City and Night March to Oppose the G8 – Kitchener | Jun 16 2013 | Krystalline Kraus | On June 26 2010, the G20 invaded Toronto to plan the austerity and war agenda that we are seeing today. Now its N. Ireland's turn.

'We need to overturn the system': In conversation with alt-Nobel winner Nnimmo Bassey | Jun 15 2013 | Ethan Cox | Nigerian activist and author Nnimmo Bassey on climate change, system change and Stephen Harper.

Alberta Health Services to be run from Vancouver Island? Top 99 execs to get bonuses after all? | Jun 15 2013 | David J. Climenhaga | It’s still not 100 per cent clear what Alberta Health Services’ new Official Administrator will be doing, other than “advising” AHS’s remarkably mild-mannered CEO on how to do his job.

RCMP make arrests at New Brunswick fracking protest this morning | Jun 14 2013 | Brent Patterson | This morning the RCMP are arresting courageous defenders of the land and water. Police have been brought in from across the province so that SWN Resources can move in for fracking tests.

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