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May, 2005 |
This issue of "Make Waves" covers some stories from March and April. If you have feedback or story ideas, please e-mail us. And don't forget that our Lands & People Festival is coming up on June 2. If you're in the Victoria area, we hope you'll come out to enjoy the event and meet us! |
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Original story: In advance of the provincial election on May 17, we published four articles, three on the areas of land reform in which we specialise (the topics of forestry and energy, plus Aboriginal rights) and one on the referendum on electoral reform. On the lighter side, we published on our "bc4sale" anti-privatization site, a video parodying the TV ads the government placed on TV late in 2004, which magically became the template for the ads the Liberal party ran during the campaign. See the bc4sale home page for links to the videos. Update: The election is over, and something more like normalcy exists in BC politics. The Liberal government has been hostile to land reform, and has pushed corporate control heavily. But the previous NDP governments were weak on land reform, too. That means we--that is you, Dogwood Initiative, and others who support sustainability and greater community control of land--must continue to press our elected representatives to support positive change. |
Unrest growing about resources throughout BC Original story: For those of us who care about civil society — the ability of people to come together to defend their interests and promote a fair, just and equitable vision for their community — the news about recent events on Haida Gwaii is inspirational. ...more Update: This story is part of a growing number of relatively untold stories that are good news for land reform. This one is, in fact, getting some attention, as it grows into a real uprising on Haida Gwaii. Read our updates about the inspiring, unified (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal) efforts to create a sustainable future on Haida Gwaii: "The impact of unrest on Haida Gwaii" and "Haida uprising creates dilemmas for Liberals". |
Tahltan moratorium heats up the Northwest Original story:"We declare a complete moratorium on resource development in our territory." These words, in a statement issued by the Elders of the Tahltan Nation last week, have sparked controversy in BC's northwest ...more Update: If you support land reform, you'll find good news in this story, as well. Since we wrote it, at the start of March, the Tahltan elders and the communities they serve have succeeded in pushing the major mining and resource extraction companies off their lands. They have rejected the secret deals signed by one unauthorised Chief with Shell and other multinationals. They have demanded a new, open process of consultation and accommodation with government, and are working with other community groups and environmental activists to evaluate development proposals in their territory. We'll be publishing further bulletins on this story in the coming weeks. |
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Original story: Criminal charges against the executives who fleeced Port Alice of its traditional economic engine, the old Doman mill, are too little, too late: kind of like shooting the fox after the hens have been eaten. And in the months since the Port Alice fiasco became news, the current BC government has done nothing to fix the problem. ...more Update: An older bulletin that deserves a revisit, at the start of the Liberals' second term. For major media, the story is over. That's unsurprising, since they paid little attention to the real story in the first place. As we note in our election bulletin on forestry and in another bulletin on the fate of northern communities, the Liberal government's first term has been filled with policies and laws that don't just abandon communities, but actively hand their future over to corporations. As Port Alice shows, the future the corporations have in mind can be quite different from the one the residents envision. Check our website for updates on Port Alice, and to see how you can help prevent repetitions of this story throughout coastal and interior BC. |
The scoop on Brascan — Weyerhaeuser Original story: First Nations and community activists from Port Alberni, Bamfield, Ucluelet, Haida Gwaii have Cortes Island have been calling with a number of questions about Brascan's proposal to take over Weyerhaeuser's coastal operations. ...more Update: Since February 18, when this deal was announced as a fait accompli, the two companies have been silent, and media coverage has failed to answer the questions we raise in the bulletin or note the risks to the deal posed by legal challenges First Nations are launching. Those challenges are even stronger in the wake of the Huu-ay-aht's major success earlier this month. The deal was supposed to close in about June, so unless it has gone sour, we should hear news soon. Since Weyerhaeuser's attempt to sell is the latest in a string of questionable mergers that take advantage of the new laissez-faire forestry laws, it will be interesting to see how the deal plays out now that the election's overand there is a stronger oppostion, able (and willing?) to question the sellout of our forests to corporate interests. |
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