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This week on rabble.ca, Scott Vrooman writes why he will be ripping up his degrees if Queen’s and Dalhousie don’t divest from fossil fuels. Both universities continue to invest in the oil, gas and coal industries despite the devastating impact burning fossil fuel has on climate change. Vrooman has created two petitions in protest, one for Queen’s alumni and one for Dalhousie’s.

Stephen Harper is probably sweating bullets right about now. May has been a month of one humiliation after another for the Harper government. Gerry Caplan lists several reasons why Harper might want to start wearing a paper bag over his head.

In his latest commentary piece, former union researcher Kim Pollock analyzes Canadian capitalism and economy. Under Harper government, Pollock says that the Canadian economy will continue to be stagnant. Read his reflections here.

The Harper government has also been criticized by international human rights groups for the refusal to consider a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women. Recently, federal funding to the Quebec Native Women’s Association has been cut. Doreen Nicoll says Harper government is actively silencing the voices of Native women across Canada.

First Nations communities across Canada lack the access to clean drinking water. Brent Patterson, Political Director at the Council of Canadians, says that Indigenous peoples in Canada are having their basic human right to water and sanitation violated by the Harper government’s privatization plan for First Nations water services. 

As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada comes to an end, Dennis Gruending presents the hard and chilling facts about residential schools that are critical to remember. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada will be holding its closing events in Ottawa from May 31 to June 3, 2015.

With a Conservative government’s majority, Bill C-51 recently passed third reading in the House of Commons. It may seem like the battle has been lost but there’s still time to prevent Bill C-51 from becoming law. Dylan Penner says public pressure can make it happen, and invites Canadians to write to a senator and join in on a day of action on May 30.  

 

Lenée Son is a freelance multimedia journalist living in Metro Vancouver and the rabble.ca Blogs intern.

Image: Flickr/pmwebphotos

Lenée Son

Lenée Son

I am a freelance writer and photojournalist based in the Vancouver area. I have a strong interest in social issues pertaining to race, gender, and human rights. Especially as a woman of colour and...