The Daily GRRR! - Feb. 24, 2015 - “Too Bad It’s Only Tuesday” Edition
DailyGrrrFeb24.mp3Welcome 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 24th, 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. 24, 2015
1. RCMP release fearmongering report on “anti-Canada petroleum movement”
2. Pre-emptive arrests of activists begin in lead up to Toronto Pan Am Games
3. Mystery “tunnel” in T.O. becomes irrationally big news as potential Pan Am threat
4. Family Day demo in Kenora aims to “Protect the Water for Future Generations”
5. Deportation of Yukon family will tear disabled toddler away from loving parents
6. Taking Ourselves Seriously: Developing Strategy for Social Transformation
7. SoundFM hosts “CKMS S.O.S.” fundraiser party to keep our station on the air!
1. RCMP release fearmongering report on “anti-Canada petroleum movement”
As reported by Press Progress, a newly disclosed intelligence assessment from the RCMP, dated January 2014, warns of "a growing, highly organized and well-financed anti-Canada petroleum movement that consists of peaceful activists, militants and violent extremists who are opposed to society's reliance on fossil fuels." The report has come to light amidst fresh debate in Parliament over the Conservatives’ new so-called “anti-terror” legislation and its potential use against groups involved in protest activities and social movements. The Harper government already has a proven track record for gathering intelligence on opponents of the tar sands, but while an RCMP spokesperson recently assured The Globe and Mail that "there is no focus on environmental groups, but rather on the broader criminal threats to Canada's critical infrastructure," the report actually states that "within the anti-petroleum environmental movement, the law enforcement and security intelligence communities have detected a small, but violent-prone faction" who are capable of engaging "in criminal activity to attempt to shut down the Canadian petroleum industry." A closer look at this mislabeled “intelligence assessment” reveals that much of the report relies on information patched together from sources like oil industry lobbyists and media outlets sympathetic to the oil industry, demonstrating once again how biased and unscrupulous Harper and his cronies continue to be in their quest to demonize all dissent against their corporate resource extraction agenda.
2. Pre-emptive arrests of activists begin in lead up to Toronto Pan Am Games
As reported in the EarthFirst! Journal and on the Hamilton Institute blog, “On January 29 2015, a person in Hamilton who has been active in organizing against Line 9 and the Tar Sands opened their door to find a detective from the Hate Crimes and Extremism Unit of the Hamilton Police. This person is on bail from charges relating to the many blockades of Enbridge’s Line 9 construction sites. They were placed under arrest for breach of bail under a flimsy pretense. They were held overnight and released the next day under a stricter bail. Subsequent court appearances have made it clear that the Hate Crimes and Extremism Unit targetted this person as part of the security operation in the lead up to the Pan Am Games.
“This is a simple and, in many ways, all too common story. Bail and probation conditions are routinely used by police to harass and intimidate people in Hamilton, usually broke people and people of colour. We seek to share the story of our friend’s arrest and some analysis around it not to arouse indignation about the police’s actions, but to inform our allies of the kinds of attacks we can expect in the leadup to the Pan Am games and to combat the fear this harassment can bring. ...These maneuvers by police have their echo in a recent news story indicating that the RCMP now consider so-called “anti-petroleum activists” to be a leading security threat in Canada. A big chunk of the HPS’s latest budget increase will go towards intelligence gathering, with additional funding from the Pan Am committee and in co-ordination with other intelligence agencies.
“The day before the HCEU detective set out to find our friend, he attended an intelligence meeting about threats to the Pan Am games, and evidently his first task was to seek out local “anti-petroleum activists” to harass. Our friend has no intention of organizing around the Pan Am games and, to our knowledge, neither do any of the other anarchist or anti-tar sands organizers in town – we are opposed to this stupid disply of nationalist arrogance, but were mostly planning on ignoring it. It is clear to us that police are opportunistically using the Pan Am games as cover to attack anti-tar sands and anarchist movements, and as with the G20, it is those already ‘known to police’ who are targeted first.”
If you’re interested to know more about this, we’ve also linked to the full story here on the podcast page for today’s show.
“It Begins: Repression of “Anti-Petroleum Activists” and the Pan Am Games”
http://thehamiltoninstitute.noblogs.org/post/2015/02/20/it-begins-repres...
3. Mystery “tunnel” in T.O. becomes irrationally big news as potential Pan Am threat
As reported by CBC News, national security officials were notified when an underground tunnel was recently discovered near a venue for this summer's Pan Am Games in Toronto. The tunnel was dug in the woods near Toronto's Rexall Centre and York University's Keele campus. It was large enough for a person to stand in, at around 2½ metres in height, and was about seven metres long. The tunnel had lights inside, powered by a generator, and the walls and ceiling were reinforced. “Bunker” is perhaps a better descriptor of the site, though sources have since told CBC News that the space was filled in by authorities. They have apparently ruled out the possibility that the space was going to be used as a drug lab or marijuana grow-op, though it likely took weeks if not longer to dig, and the earth excavated from the tunnel appears to have been removed from the site to help avoid detection. Comments made by Ray Boisvert, the former assistant director of intelligence at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, indicate how hyper-seriously the authorities are taking this discovery. You can imagine his hushed tones and furtive eyes darting around when he said things like, “"First and foremost is the question around the context of the tunnel — where it is positioned? How deep was it? How accessible was it? And what sort of things could be sent through that tunnel, being people or material?” Boisvert said that the tunnel's proximity to the Rexall Centre could be a concern for those involved in security for the Games. But they’re not paranoid or anything.
4. Family Day demo in Kenora aims to “Protect the Water for Future Generations”
As reported by Reclaim Turtle Island, dozens of Anishinabe women, their families, and supporters converged on Kenora’s Market Square at noon on Family Day to deliver a message against the proposed Energy East Pipeline that will send tar sands oil right through the City and through all of Treaty 3 (and other First Nations) Territory. With a focus on protecting the water for future generations, the action was intended to be highly visible—with drumming, singing, placards and speeches—and to inform and engage the local public about the immense threats to local water sources, ecosystems, animal habitats, and human health that are posed by the likelihood of oil spills, as well as broader environmental impacts from proposed tar sands expansion.
Fawn Wapioke is Chief of Shoal Lake #39 and said, “I am deeply concerned about the pipeline and believe that our responsibility is to the land, the water, and future of our People. Our responsibility is upholding the law of the land to ensure survival of our Mother Earth.” TransCanada, speaking to the possibility of a major oil spill in the area, has said that it would take a minimum 22 minutes to shut down the Energy East pipeline in case of a leak. Any spill from the pipeline could allow as much as 2.7 million litres of oil to spill in that time, and it wouldn’t be the first major industrial spill in the region: “Being from Grassy Narrows, I know firsthand how damage to the water can poison our families and our kids, not just now, but in the future, too,” said Corissa Swain, a youth from Grassy Narrows where families continue to watch newborn children exhibit the brutal symptoms of mercury poisoning from the Dryden pulp and paper mill that dumped over 9,000 kgs of Mercury into the English and Wabigoon River System over 40 years ago. “We know from our own experience how these kinds of projects can have terrible impacts on future generations and how unlikely it is that government or companies will ever clean up afterwards,” says Swain.
5. Deportation of Yukon family will tear disabled toddler away from loving parents
As reported by CBC News, an immigrant family living in Whitehorse is being deported from Canada and the two parents are now facing an unimaginable decision regarding their youngest son. Sergio Rojas is from Mexico and his partner Linda Martinez is from Nicaragua, and the couple also have a seven-year-old son who was born outside of Canada. But their three year-old son, Jonathan, who was born in Yukon and is a Canadian citizen, has a malformed skull which requires medical care that the family will struggle to obtain if deported. The couple had applied for residency in Canada under compassionate and humanitarian grounds but were denied. They've been told they have to leave the country on March 4, but pediatricians and therapists have told the couple their son won't receive the necessary medical care if they bring him with them when they are forced to return to Central America. Rojas says an immigration officer in Vancouver told the couple they could leave Jonathan in Canada, and as he tearfully explained, "We cannot leave members of our family. But they say leave it or take it. This is not a good situation for us."
Jonathan has been diagnosed with plagiocephaly and torticollis which is a type of muscle paralysis. He receives treatment at B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver and gets daily therapy at the Child Development Centre in Whitehorse where he's learning to walk and talk. As his father explained, "He's in a special program eight hours a day, he receives all the care here. And the pediatrician told me to don't move out.” The family has been in Canada for several years, and while Rojas is originally from Mexico, his family now all live in the United States and Martinez has no family of her own in Nicaragua. But after CBC Northbeat aired the family’s story on Friday, reaction on social media was swift. Yukon MP Ryan Leef met with the family twice during the weekend, though he also admits that the family had first sought assistance from his office in September. But Leef said he would meet with Immigration Minister Chris Alexander on Monday and pledged to fight for the family's right to remain in Canada.
6. Taking Ourselves Seriously: Developing Strategy for Social Transformation
This Friday, from 6-8:30pm at the Downtown Community Centre here in Kitchener, WPIRG and the KW Anarchist Bookfair Collective are proud to present this much anticipated workshop with anarchist organizer, writer, and educator Chris Dixon.
The question of strategy – how we might win in the near and long term as we struggle against domination, exploitation, and oppression – is pressing. As anti-authoritarians, however, we frequently face barriers to thinking and acting strategically. These include fixating on principles over plans, fetishizing specific tactics, and organizing in crisis modes. Drawing on interviews with organizers across North America, this presentation will discuss these barriers, and potential ways we can move past them toward developing effective approaches for the long haul of social transformation. Together, we will explore how to build movements in the world as it is – engaging with where and how people are struggling – while cultivating strategies toward the world that we want. This presentation will especially highlight strategic approaches based on fighting for non-reformist reforms and building dual power.
Once again, the workshop will be taking place at the Downtown Community Centre, located at 35B Weber St West in Kitchener. We’ll be using the multi-purpose room there, which is on the second floor and accessible by the building’s elevator. There is visitor parking located at the DTCC, and if you have any other specific accessibility or childcare-related needs or concerns, the organizers encourage you to get in touch with the as soon as possible by email, so please send any inquiries to kwbookfair@gmail.com.
7. SoundFM hosts “CKMS S.O.S.” fundraiser party to keep our station on the air!
This coming Saturday, CKMS is having an emergency fundraiser and party for our members and supporters at the Button Factory, located at 25 Regina St. S. in Waterloo! Tickets are $10.00 on their own, or $20.00 if you would like to purchase or renew your membership to our fabulous local co-op radio station. Performances for the night will include independent musicians Lynn Jackson, Elsa Jayne, and Shua James, as well as DJ sets from Souljah Sessions, Nattyphysicist, DJ Cool, and DJ Denim. We’ll also be drawing for over $1,000 in raffle prizes all night long, so come early and plan to stay a while! Doors open at 7:30pm, and this is a 19+ event so bring your wallets for some tasty drinks too! Space is limited, so email hl@soundfm.ca to purchase your ticket now!
Midway Music: Come People by Xavier Rudd and the United Nations
Feature: “Canada Is Spending Millions Keeping Immigration Detainees in Jail” by Desmond Cole for VICE Canada
http://www.vice.com/read/no-crime-no-problem-canada-is-spending-millions...
Closing Song: I Can’t Breathe by Pussy Riot