The Daily GRRR! - Feb. 23, 2015 - Your “Ugh, Monday Morning” Edition

Welcome back to SoundFM! You are now listening to The Daily GRRR! on the air every weekday morning from 9-10 a.m. here at 100.3fm, CKMS in Waterloo, Ontario, and SoundFM.ca on the web. This is Kathryn and I’ll be your host on this Monday morning show for February 23rd, 2015.

As always, we are broadcasting from the heart of the Haldimand Tract, the occupied Grand River Territory of the Six Nations, which we continue to recognize as Haudenosaunee land.

The Daily GRRR! is a project of the Grand River Media Collective and is supported by the Community Radio Fund of Canada and CKMS.

We will begin today with headlines:
The Daily GRRR!
HEADLINES for Feb. 23, 2015 
1. Shell Canada muscles through court proceedings in Sarnia’s Chemical Valley
2. U.S. researchers find glyphosate herbicide in food from around the world
3. Wolves wrongly blamed for caribou losses and sentenced to unnecessary deaths
4. Hamilton hosts screening of animal testing doc + Q&A with film’s director!
5. Strip search of teen girl in Quebec high school ignites much-needed criticism
6. WLU marks National Adjunct Walkout Day with solidarity demo for contract profs
7. A season of anti-austerity organizing springs forth in Quebec for “Printemps 2015
8. SoundFM joins 20 other stations to broadcast 2015 Homelessness Marathon!

1. Shell Canada muscles through court proceedings in Sarnia’s Chemical Valley

On February 13, at 9:00am in the morning, members of Aamjiwnaang First Nation gathered at the Sarnia Court House to support ongoing legal proceedings lodged against the wrongful release of chemicals in their community during the month of January 2013. The chemical release resulted in adverse health effects for scores of Aamjiwnaang residents, particularly young children attending daycare near the Chemical Valley industrial park. The defendant in this case, Shell Canada Corp., was scheduled to make their first court appearance that morning. However, upon arriving at the appointed place and time, Aamjiwnaang community members and representatives of the press were abruptly informed that the courtroom had been changed to another building in a different part of town. More than 200 cases were listed on the docket for the morning's court session, with court officially convening at 9:00am. As it was later learned, Shell Canada's representation exercised corporate VIP privileges and exited the building at 9:03am with a police escort, having promptly been granted their request for a return date in April.

Most community members were not yet present at the new location in time to observe the proceedings, leaving many people feeling frustrated: "I want to hear how the Ministry of Environment lawyers speak up on behalf of the communities that were affected,” said prominent Aamjiwnaang community member Ada Lockridge. “What I would like to see is a stationary air monitor put around our community centre day care area.” Several supporters explained they had rearranged their schedules to attend the hearing, with some family members travelling to Sarnia from as far as Peterborough for the court date. Concerned Aamjiwnaang residents plan to return for the next court date, set for April 10.

2. U.S. researchers find glyphosate herbicide in food from around the world

As reported by Sustainable Pulse, researchers from Abraxis LLC and Boston University have further confirmed that the world’s most used herbicide – glyphosate – is widespread in food products around the globe. The researchers tested honey, pancake and corn syrup, soy sauce, soy milk and tofu purchased in the Philadelphia, US metropolitan area. Glyphosate residues above the minimum “limit of quantification” (or testing level) were not found in pancake and corn syrup, soy milk, and tofu. However, the most shocking results were found in honey: Of the sixty-nine honey samples analyzed, forty-one samples, or fifty-nine percent (59%), had high glyphosate concentrations, as did five of the eleven organic honey samples, or forty-five percent (45%), which was even more shocking to the researchers.

Sustainable Pulse Director Henry Rowlands reacted Thursday to the published results, saying, “This sad news shows just how widespread glyphosate is in our food. With the increase in GM crops being cultivated worldwide it is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid. If you ask anyone if they feel there should be ‘allowed’ levels of toxic chemicals such as glyphosate in their bodies the answer will of course always be ‘No’. It is a fact that the scientific and regulatory process cannot evidence ‘safe’ levels for these chemicals.” In addition to comparison of production method (organic vs. conventional), the honey results were evaluated according to pollen source and by country of origin, grouped by GMO usage (prohibited, limited, or permitted). The results showed that honey from countries that permit GM crops contained far more glyphosate than honey from countries which limit or prohibit the cultivation of GM crops, with the levels in the U.S. by far the highest.

3. Wolves wrongly blamed for caribou losses and sentenced to unnecessary deaths

As reported by SumOfUs.org, nearly 200 wolves in British Columbia are going to be shot from helicopters over the next few weeks in a bloody and misguided attempt to save an endangered caribou herd in western Canada. These killings are likely to go on for five years, and yet the real threat to the region’s dwindling caribou population is being willfully ignored. Oil, gas, mining, and logging companies have been trashing the mountain caribou habitat for decades, but instead of curtailing this industrial habitat destruction, the provincial government is scapegoating wolves and condemning them to an unnecessary death. This culling is just a stopgap measure anyway and not a viable long-term solution to the caribou's problems. It will, however, cause immense suffering to the wolves, who are highly a social and intelligent species.

Part of the problem is the caribou's natural protection from wolves has been undermined by commercial activity. Normally, thick winter snow is enough to keep them safe from most predators, but the wolves have been using the industrial infrastructure of pipeline corridors, roads, railways and snowmobile trails to move through the landscape and hunt. Some feel the cull is awful but necessary to save the caribous, and others feel the cull should be canceled outright. Fundamentally though, the B.C. government should never have let the problem get to this point. But the slaughter of these wolves is a powerful and frightening example of how the long-term future of the natural world is being sacrificed for short-term profits, particularly those of the oil, gas, mining and logging companies who are causing the real damage in this region and so many others around the world.

4. Hamilton hosts screening of animal testing doc + Q&A with film’s director!

On Thursday, March 5, from 6-9pm, the Hamilton/Halton Animal Liberation Team (HALT) and the McMaster Veggie Club are co-hosting a documentary screening of “Maximum Tolerated Dose” followed by a Q&A/discussion with director Karol Orzechowski. “Maximum Tolerated Dose” is a first feature-length documentary that charts the lives of both humans and non-humans who have experienced animal testing first-hand, with hauntingly honest testimony of scientists and lab technicians whose ethics demanded that they choose a different path, as well as the simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking stories of animals who have seen both sides of the cage. The film aims to reignite the debate about animal testing by bringing these rarely-heard perspectives to fore.

The screening will be held at Hamilton’s anarchist social centre, The Tower, located at 281 Cannon Street East in downtown Hamilton. The entrance to the space has 3 steps leading to the door, and while the washroom is on the same floor, it is narrow and may not be easily accessible to everyone. The event will also have a “Safer Space Policy” in effect. To quote the organizers, “Shitty and/or oppressive behaviour will not be tolerated. We welcome folks to approach a member of either if they feel uncomfortable/are in need of assistance and we will handle the situation to the best of our capabilities.” And finally, this event is entirely FREE! However, donations are always accepted and will go towards the maintenance of the space.

6. WLU marks National Adjunct Walkout Day with solidarity demo for contract profs

As explained on the Facebook event page, “Wednesday, February 25, 2015, is National Adjunct Walkout Day, an American movement aimed at creating visibility and awareness of contract faculty and staff working conditions in this rising climate of toxic and hostile working environments within post-secondary institutions. This year, student body has been faced with a toxic administrative-led hybrid process that aims at re-evaluating and re-distributing finances and curriculum changes laid out in what they call the integrated planning and resource management (IRPM) report. This is something that had next to no input from students and no input from contract faculty at Laurier. ...The student body has had little to no support from the administration, no voice, no awareness of and no contribution in the IPRM process. Our entire institution is changing, and yet, the quality of our education is at stake.”

The organizers are calling for all students to stand in solidarity with Laurier’s contract academic staff and faculty this Wednesday, in the Laurier campus quad, to raise awareness and visibility for what they’re calling the toxic working conditions for these contract staff and faculty at the school. In the words of the organizers, “As students, we pay thousands of dollars a year for our education. We are in school to get a degree and to get a better job, yet why is it that the one's teaching us this narrative do not get the same opportunity of stable living, of health care access, of aspirations?”

Laurier: National Adjunct Walkout Day: https://www.facebook.com/events/793155654064934

7. A season of anti-austerity organizing springs forth in Quebec for “Printemps 2015”

As reported by The Media Co-op, anti-austerity organizing is accelerating in Quebec, aiming to become highly visible and audible this spring, Printemps 2015, culminating in a "grève sociale," a social strike on May 1st. The main players include familiar names from the 2012 student movement, like student association ASSÉ and the Red Hand Coalition, as well as the new Printemps 2015 (Spring 2015) coalition and a much wider array of community groups. Actions are ongoing, ramping for the arrival of spring, and, while Montreal is again a buzzing hive of activity, people all over La Belle Province are getting involved.

Austerity in Quebec, the cutting of public services across the board while protecting corporate interests, is thoroughly in mainstream discourse. This was notably demonstrated at the beginning of this year, when the ideological-political concept was the butt-end of several jokes on Bye Bye 2014, the New Year’s Eve TV special on Radio-Canada (French-language CBC) watched by nearly four million Quebecers. The show’s introduction was a parody of Premier Philippe Couillard (Parti Liberal du Québec) selling austerity to the middle class, followed by a song with “austerité” as the upbeat refrain. The faux-Couillard enacted scenes of government corruption, public sector cutbacks, and exorbitant generosity to the petroleum industry and other large corporations. It is tempting to think that through some magic forces in Quebec civil society the anti-austerity movement will by default be a success. But a critical public does not a social movement make. It takes time and organization. And people in organizations, organizations willing to fight fights, have been working steadily for years, intent on making the anti-austerity push impossible to ignore.

8. SoundFM joins 20 other stations to broadcast 2015 Homelessness Marathon!

On Wednesday, February 25, to Thursday, February 26, 2015, CFRC 101.9fm in Kingston, Ontario will host the 2015 Homelessness Marathon. The yearly overnight broadcast is shared on campus and community stations from coast to coast, creating linkages and raising awareness of homelessness in Canadian communities. The Marathon began in 1998 in Geneva, New York, and has continued annually south of the border as well. But the concept moved north to Canada 13 years ago, with CKUT 90.3fm in Montreal as the host station. Last year, the Marathon was hosted by CJSR 88.5fm in Edmonton, and this year, CFRC takes the reins. The 2015 marathon will feature both local and national programming. It will include 30-minute to two-hour segments from 14 stations representing six provinces, as well as a special edition of GroundWire focusing on homelessness, with headlines and feature stories from more stations across the country. So be sure to tune in here at 100.3fm in Kitchener-Waterloo or go to SoundFM.ca to stream the live broadcast!

Midway Music: Talkin’ ’Bout A Revolution by Tracy Chapman

Feature: “Dear contract academic faculty: I see you” by Erin Wunker for Rabble.ca
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/campus-notes/2015/02/dear-contract-acade...

Closing Song: Educate (Rewrite of “Grenade” by Bruno Mars) by Teon and Citizens Academy Choir of Cleveland Ohio