The Globe and Mail reports, “Ontario would need to see scientific proof that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is safe before it allows energy companies to use the controversial practice to extract natural gas, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday. (So far) no private companies have approached the province to request permission to frack, which involves the use of chemically-treated water under extreme pressure in drill holes to fracture underground shale and release gas or oil.”

CBC reports, “The Council of Canadians has started a telephone hotline so voters in three federal ridings where byelections are currently underway — Durham (Ont.), Calgary Centre and Victoria — can report suspicious phone messages or live calls. The byelection vote in those ridings is Monday. …Suspicious activities should also be reported to Elections Canada, the group says, but ‘reports to Elections Canada are private, leaving the public in the dark about the nature or extent of any complaints,’ the group wrote in a press release Tuesday.”

On November 21, 262 Members of the European Parliament -- more than one-third of MEPs -- voted in support of a moratorium on fracking in Europe.

Food & Water Europe comments, “While it is disappointing that a majority of the Parliament did not agree that an appropriate response to the documented risks of fracking is a moratorium, the reports and moratorium vote were only the first skirmish in the long-term battle to permanently ban fracking from Europe. Food & Water Europe -- together with civil society groups across Europe -- will continue to work with MEPs to increase awareness of the risks and negative impacts associated with large-scale unconventional gas activities.”

Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow will be speaking at the OISE Auditorium in Toronto this Wednesday November 28 at 7 pm in support of five people from Guatemala challenging the Toronto-based mining company Hudbay Minerals.

The CBC National News reported this week, “A group of indigenous people from Guatemala say a Canadian mining company was behind violent crimes and the destruction of their villages and they have come to Canada seeking justice.”

Angelica Choc, Maria Cuc Choc, German Chub, Rosa Elbira and Margarita Caal Caal are suing Hudbay Minerals for the damages they’ve suffered.