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Another news week and rabble.ca bloggers continue to bring nuanced and thoughtful takes on the stories of the week. From the oil spill in Saskatchewan to Victoria’s Super InTent City, here are the top rabble.ca blog posts of the week.
Last Thursday’s oil spill in Northern Saskatchewan has threatened the drinking water of tens of thousands. Emily Eaton explains how this is just one of thousands of spills related to the extractive oil industry that happen annually in the province. There have been over 18 000 spills recorded in the province since 1990. Eaton says this is the result of poor regulation and understaffed regulators to enforce them.
Jesse McLaren expands on the issue discussing how protecting oil or water are at odds. He notes that the solution to the oil spill has been to build a water pipeline to access water upstream and that politicians continue to support pipelines as a form of harm reduction. But McLaren asks what are the risks and who bears them. He says we can either support pipelines or transition to a new economy.
Another violent shooting has made headlines, this time in Munich. David J Climenhaga writes about how the reaction to the shooting is an important lesson on the politics of fear. He notes many Canadians immediate reaction was to blame Muslims, portray refugees as dangerous, and demand less-effective gun control laws. However we now know it was a lone German shooter who was inspired by American style shootings. Climenhaga details lessons we can take away from the violent tragedy.
In other news a report this month from the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has shown Canada has the worst record for drunk driving deaths in the industrialized world. Wayne Roberts criticizes campaigns that focus on drivers accused of driving under the influence as addressing only part of the problem. He says the real issue is Canada’s drinking problem and drunk driving is the result.
In Victioria over 100 homeless people are fighting for their community and rights. Jessica Hawkins writes about how the Super InTent City could spark the national conversation needed about homeless rights. She details the impact that daily displacement has and the impact that a human rights approach by decision makers would have.
Finally, I was bothered by a bizarre apology in the media by the perpetrator of the latest FHRITP prank so I wrote a little something about it. FHRITP being a vulgar phrase shouted at female T.V. reporters that began trending in January 2014. I discuss how this trend is indicative of a larger problem where harassing and violent behaviour is dismissed with a “boys will be boys” sentiment rather than engaging in critical discussion.
That’s it for this week’s blog roundup! Make sure to check out more rabble.ca blogs to find out what’s happening in your world.
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