no pipeline, no tankers, no problem

It doesn't matter whether it is in the provincial realm because any breach becomes the federal governments liability. Corporations have done well settling claims against the federal government for the actions of provincial governments. These investor rights agreements don't care about internal constitutions in any country because corporations are given the right to sue the signatory to the treaty in front of a arbitration panel outside of any countries court system.  As far as I can see that seems to be the main purpose of them. In Canada our federal government has been negotiating settlements.  In the future with big energy projects a province could potentially bankrupt the federal government by invoking its constitutional rights to act in relation to section 92 matters.

kropotkin

..my intitial reason for contacting my mla was to find out 1st what the ndp position was and 2nd to learn if a province can prevent the negotiations from going forward. the position you pose, i believe, is after the fact. 

..my 3rd reason is that, like the pipelines, the prov ndp is susceptible to pressure from below. the pressure would include municipalities who have come out against ceta. it would be far easier and with a greater chance of success to stop ceta now.

eta: my bold

Quote: Canada’s large federal team is led by chief negotiator Steve Verheul. Then, there are trade teams from every province and territory, here at the EU’s insistence, as most of what is on the table in this deal falls under provincial jurisdiction. (The EU doesn’t want to sign onto a deal only to find out later that provinces aren’t on board.) The EU has their negotiating team. And of course, all the teams have brought along their technical experts.

http://cupe.ca/privatization/europe-raise-concerns-ceta

Alaska to Oregon: Building Resistance to the Fossil Fuel Empire

7:00pm - 9:00pm

Saturday May 18 2013

Grandview Calvary Baptist Church

1803 East First Avenue

Join Portland Rising Tide and Rising Tide Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories explore the recent struggles and successes of the North American Climate Justice Movement. As the Fossil Fuel Empire strains to expand, with increased fracking, mountain top removal, coal exports, tar sands production, and new pipelines and extraction sites from North to South, hear from those actively building resistance and taking direct action to confront the root causes of climate change....

http://risingtide604.ca/?p=566

"LOCKDOWN" Tar Sands Blockade vs. Keystone XL Pipeline

"LOCKDOWN," is a ten minute documentary by Mutual Aid Media

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9siVZrg8_n0&feature=player_embedded

Mutual Aid Media is a new small collective of activists/storytellers with three primary media goals:

1) Normalize militant action

2) Show a manual of resistance

3) Work horizontally with participants in videos

Our objective is to create work that can be used directly in furthering resistance struggles. We want to engage horizontally with social, environmental, and political groups fighting against systems of oppression.

TransCanada Reps Kicked Out of Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation

“You’re not welcome here… We’ve said no from day one.”

And with these firm words the TransCanada representatives were kicked out of Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation last week. The seemingly aloof TransCanada officials showed up at the Tribal Office in Eagle Butte, South Dakota in an attempt to win the tribe over to the pipeline, but were met with a swift, firm response. Robin LeBeau, Cheyenne River Sioux Councilwoman for District 5, saw them in the parking lot and promptly told them off.

The encounter was caught on video:

http://www.tarsandsblockade.org/cheyenne-river/

..awesome left turn! they have a real sense for danger and how to put an end to it. an example for us all to follow. here's another:

First Nations prepared to fight Harper government, Enbridge in international court

Aboriginal leaders from British Columbia and across Canada talk land rights and share songs at the Idle No More Vancouver rally outside the Vancouver Art Gallery on Sunday.

Darla Goodwin wasn’t surprised when she first heard about the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline.

“We have ancient pictorials and scrolls that speak of a time when the women rise up,” she said. “A great snake was supposed to cross the land and poison Turtle Island, and we’re looking at that as the pipeline.”

Goodwin, an organizer for the Idle No More Vancouver and a member of the Cree First Nation, points to a prophecy, made several hundred years ago and passed down through the indigenous peoples of North America, that describes a time when a great snake will travel across the country, poisoning the land, the water and the air. There is another prophecy that references a time when one of the races would lose its way, and it would be up to the others—the women in particular—to remind the fallen nation what is means to steward the land....

http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/first-nations-prepared-fight-h...

Harriet Prince, a visitor from Manitoba dances at the Idle No More rally outside the Vancouver Art Gallery.

http://m.thespec.com/opinion-story/3840868-cash-donation-taints-hamilton...
[I]Hamilton Police Services Board should not be accepting money from private companies, especially ones who are trying to push through a very controversial project to ship tar sands dilbit (diluted bitumen) through our city.On June 6, the Hamilton 350 Committee, in accordance with Section V of the Ontario Police Services Act, submitted a complaint to the HPSB for accepting a donation of $34,910.00 from Enbridge Pipelines Inc.[/i]

Hmmm ... Corporate Social Responsibility ... funds for the 'community' .. . funds for the police to patrol their pipeline.
I didn't know police accepted corporate donstions with strings attached!

It doesn't look like Enbridge's Line 9 reversal is going ahead anytime soon!

Activists block construction at controversial Enbridge Line 9 pumping station http://www.mediacoop.ca/newsrelease/18045 [I] In addition to major environmental concerns, protesters have identified that Enbridge's lack of consultation with Indigenous nations and other impacted communities has driven them to take a stand against the construction. ...

Enbridge hasn't consulted with us or talked to us at all," says Missy Elliot of Six Nations.“The construction at Westover and along Line 9B is happening as if Line 9B has already been approved. It hasn’t -- in fact public hearings are scheduled for later in August,” says Sarah Allen, one of the group’s media liaisons at the pumping station protest. “What’s worse is that the admissions criteria to be part of these hearings were impossible to meet, shutting out most community voices.”Activists point out that approximately ninety percent of all pipeline spills happen near terminals and pumping stations, which puts Hamilton at significant risk.“These decisions have been made with a mind for profit -- not safety, sustainability or the environment. How many lives must be put at risk so that a few people can get richer?” asks spokesperson Elysia Petrone.“What's best for the land is what's best for our people. We have to protect the land -- this isn't just a side project for us -- we have to protect our future. It's our responsibility." Elliot insists. [/i]

SFU pressured to drop oil company investments

A student group at Simon Fraser University has joined a national campaign that's pushing campuses to divest endowments from tar sands and other fossil fuel companies.

Sustainable SFU, the independent notfor-profit student society, joined the Fossil Free Canada campaign, launched earlier this year by the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, which aims to encourage universities to pull their investments in fossil fuel corporations within five years.

"Sustainable SFU, as an organization, in January, passed a motion to initiate this campaign and to call on the university to divest from fossil fuels, to immediately freeze all new investments in fossil fuels and then, over the next five years, to end their investment in co-mingled funds," said Mike Soron, executive director of Sustainable SFU.

Soron acknowledged the process of divesting from such funds is a "very difficult thing to do" but suggested the case for divestment is not just environmental, but also economic and that investing or continuing to invest in fossil fuels is "a massive liability."...

http://www.burnabynow.com/technology/pressured+drop+company+investments/...

Train tragedy: Could it happen here in B.C.?

Communities in B.C. could be vulnerable to the kind of train wreck that left Lac-Megantic, Que. in ruins Saturday

quote:

Meanwhile, a new rail company has its sights firmly set on B.C. for oil transport. A group of Canadian businessmen calling itself Generating for Seven Generations (G7G) has proposed a 2,400-kilometre rail line that could move up to five million barrels of oil a day from Fort McMurray, Alta., to the port of Valdez, Alaska by way of northern B.C. and the Yukon. The oil would then be shipped to Asia.

A feasibility study is underway for G7G’s proposed Unifying Nations Railway Company, or UNRailCo, said G7G CEO Matt Vickers, adding the project is poised to go ahead regardless of whether Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline is approved.

“It’s going to be viable and feasible regardless of any and all pipelines,” said Vickers, noting the project directors have been purposefully “flying under the radar” until feasibility studies have been completed and a route has been finalized....

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Train+tragedy+Could+happen+here/8...

Bursting Our Petroleum Power Bubble

Humankind's mess stems from a lack of meaningful, sustainable work, says master painter Robert Bateman.

quote:

True power is meaningful work

Humans throughout the world face a tragic dilemma. We have dug ourselves into a deep hole of underemployment and overproduction, entirely due to petroleum power. When we ask the experts how to get out of the hole they say, "Dig deeper, downsize and fire more people. Increase production." We don't need to increase production. We have plenty of manufactured stuff. In fact, in almost every category we have too much inventory. We also have overcapacity in manufacturing sitting idle due to lack of demand. And we have so-called "dead money," sitting around waiting for something meaningful in which to invest.

Underemployment is like a growing plague on society. One in three university graduates end up in low-skilled jobs. More than half of new Ontario teachers are unemployed or underemployed. On the other hand, Switzerland has only two per cent youth unemployment. They have systems in place to address the problem.

I feel almost overwhelming sadness when I view the oppressively gargantuan quantity of retail available. How many shopping malls, how many airport retail outlets, how many online retail opportunities exist? Even in villages, as well as cities in Africa and Asia, I see masses of goods and hopeful salespeople but not much buying. Is shopping the purpose in life?...

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2013/07/13/end-of-petroleum-bubble/

25 Years After Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, Company Still Hasn’t Paid For Long-Term Environmental Damages

The long-term plan for rehabilitating damaged resources has yet to be implemented a full quarter century after the Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spewing more than 11 million gallons of crude oil into the surrounding ecosystem.

According to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the U.S. Justice Department and State of Alaska say they are still waiting for long overdue scientific studies before collecting a final $92 million claim to implement the recovery plan for unanticipated harm to fish, wildlife and habitat.

Cleaning up the Exxon Valdez disaster took four summers and cost approximately $2 billion, according to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council. In 1991, Exxon reached a civil settlement with the U.S. government and the state of Alaska in which it agreed to pay $900 million in payments, a $25 million criminal fine and $100 million in restitution....

Obama's Big Keystone XL Scandal

http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/07/17/obamas-big-keystone-xl-scandal/

"Obama attorney's law-firm represents TransCanada pipeline in Alaska..."

What conflict of interest? That IS the interest!

epaulo13 wrote:

If pipelines are rejected Canadians may need to accept risks of rail

The Quebec town of Lac-Megantic was decimated after railway cars filled with oil derailed and exploded.

Now, even as the search continues for bodies, there are troubling questions being raised about how Canada transports oil.

Many train lines pass through Aboriginal territories and as APTN’s Danielle Rochette finds out if oil pipelines are rejected Canadians may need to accept the risks of rail.

http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2013/07/12/if-pipelines-are-rejected-canadians...

 

No problem. Matt's the man with a plan...see #228 above

..matt's got a long way to go. if we can block pipelines we can certainly block trains. :)

..i really liked north of 60. still do. i was shocked when tina keeper ran for the libs. now this about tom makes me sad.

Interview with Freda Huson on Blocking Pipelines in Wet'suwet'en Territory Update from the 4th annual Unis'tot'en Action Camp

(video)

Freda Huson is the spokesperson for the Unis'tot'en action camp. Since July 2010, the Unis'tot'en clan of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation have been successfully blockading 7 oil and gas pipelines from encroaching on their traditional territories.

http://www.mediacoop.ca/audio/interview-freda-huson-blocking-pipelines-w...

Bob Rae to Head First Nations Board For BC Pipeline

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/07/24/pol-bob-rae-chairman-bo...

"Former Liberal MP Bob Rae is the new chairman of the board of a British Columbia-based partnership of 15 First Nations that is preparing to implement a major pipeline deal..."

This Community Has Spoken: Thou Shalt Not frack

I often ask myself: how much longer can the rogue forces of the fossil fuel industry continue wrecking our planet with impunity? Today I was reminded of our movement’s recurring answer to that question: not for long, if we can help it.

In the early hours of the morning, anti-fracking activists and community members in Balcombe, Sussex, UK, successfully halted the first day of explorations for a new shale gas development by famed (infamous, rather) fracking company Cuadrilla. Over 250 people united in a powerful, peaceful, joyful blockade --  that eventually convinced the trucks containing the initial fracking equipment to abandon the site.....

https://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/07/27-3

First Nation group furious at Province's move to cut trees down for Enbridge pipeline path

Geraldine Thomas-Flurer, a spokesperson for the Yinka Dene Alliance, vowed today to fight the BC government's moves toward granting Enbridge temporary land use permits to cut trees to gather data for the Northern Gateway pipeline, even before the pipeline has been approved.

Thomas-Flurer of the Saik'uz First Nation decried the absence of what she called "proper consultation" by the Province. 

“There's no way that the Yinka Dene Alliance is going to allow this to happen...we've put up signage on our territories and we're going to be practicing our Aboriginal rights, which we've practiced for a millennium. We're going to stop the people who are on the land who think they can just go out and act on temporary permits."

"We don't want the Province to approve any permits or do anything to advance the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline," she added.  "The Yinka Dene Alliance has said that we are going to be the wall that Enbridge has to go through, and we are adamant about that.".....

http://www.vancouverobserver.com/environment/first-nation-group-furious-...

And ...

[I]Maybe the benefit of a few billlion dollars in oil investment now is not worth the economic cost of wrecking the world for your children and grandchildren.[/i]

"communicate" ?!?!!

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/touch/story.html?id=8772902
[I]For the last three months, 7,300 barrels of bitumen have uncontrollably bubbled to the surface from deep underground and seeped into muskeg and water on four sites at the company's operations, creating an ecological mess, killing wildlife and damaging the reputation of CNRL in particular and the oilsands industry in general.

The company has cut down trees, hauled away tonnes of oily muskeg and put containment booms on a contaminated lake. But the bitumen keeps coming, seeping out of the ground through long, narrow fissures. Not only has CNRL been unable to stop it, the company doesn't know for sure why it keeps coming.The Pembina Institute based in Calgary disturbingly describes the leak as an "uncontrolled blowout in an oil reservoir deep underground." 
.[/i]

Members of the Wet'suwet'en nation perform a welcoming song to open the 4th annual Unis'tot'en action camp.

“My generation has stood up and said, 'No more'” Hundreds gather for 4th Annual Unis'tot'en Action Camp against pipelines in 'BC'

quote:

Toghestiy, Hereditary Chief of the Likhts'amisyu Clan of the Wet'suwet'en nation, said he was very happy with the high proportion of Indigenous participants at this year's camp compared to previous years.

“I would say about 40% of the population of the action camp was Indigenous, and they were Indigenous from different parts of Turtle Island,” Toghestiy told the Vancouver Media Co-op (VMC). “So it was amazing to have all these grassroots Indigenous people come together in solidarity with one another. We created an alliance, and it was a pretty beautiful experience. It will help us fulfill our responsibility [to the land] into the future.”

While most participants at the camp hailed from Vancouver and Victoria, people also travelled from as far away as California, New Mexico, and Toronto to lend their support. Amber Nitchman travelled up to the Unis'tot'en Action Camp from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

“I want to support Indigenous rights and sovereignty everywhere, especially those who are opposing extractive industries,” Nitchman told the VMC while on a night-time security shift at the blockade site. At home, she is involved with anti-coal mining campaigns. “Some of the pipelines [here] are for the same industry, and it's the land and water being destroyed in both places for profit, and destroying what little is left that people are able to live on in a sustainable way.”....

http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/story/%E2%80%9Cmy-generation-has-stood-and...