dominion, n. 1. Control or the exercise of control. 2. A territory or sphere of infl uence; a realm. 3. One of the self-governing nations within the British Commonwealth. The Dominion CANADA’S GRASSROOTS NEWSPAPER WWW.DOMINIONPAPER.CA • DECEMBER, 2005 • Vol. II, #14

Privatization in BC Reconstructing Disaster A New University Unions and government face Corporations and post-Katrina Ecology and social justice off once again. rebuilding contracts. frame founding meeting. » p. 2 » p. 8 » p. 13

$0 to $5 Sliding scale Independent Journalism depends on independent people. Please subscribe. dominionpaper.ca/subscribe The Dominion, December 2005 • Vol. II, #14 Canadian News 2 Beautiful—Privatized—British Columbia? Health care workers, teachers, fight government over policy by Dru Oja Jay private schools. Dr. Ernie Lightman, a pro- When British Columbia’s fessor in Social Work at the Uni- teachers defied laws passed by versity of Toronto and former Gordon Campbell’s Liberals to faculty member of the London stage an “illegal strike” in Octo- School of Economics, called the ber, it was the second major tactics used in BC “very analo- showdown with organized gous to what Margaret Thatcher labour since the Liberals took did in Britain.” power in 2001. The health care “If you’re going to do some- workers’ strike in April 2004 thing the other guy doesn’t had seen 43,000 workers in 11 want done, you beat up on his unions join picket lines. symbol,” said Lightman. In The Liberal government Thatcher’s case, “Privatiza- imposed contracts on health tion was a way of wrecking the care workers and teachers, unions.” bypassing collective bargaining Lightman, who has stud- and arbitration by legislating ied the tenure of Mike Harris’ their terms directly. “The gov- Teachers, union members and other supporters march on the Conservative government in ernment tore up the collective provincial legislature in Victoria. Janine Bandcroft/BC Indymedia Ontario, said that privatization agreement in both cases,” said in BC is driven by a long history Larry Kuehn of the BC Teach- has a deep disdain for BC’s pow- for cuts, which in turn are driv- of polarized power struggles ers’ Federation (BCTF). erful unions, or that BC politics ing privatization. In the case of between “big labour and big Before the 2001 election, have always been characterized health care workers, privatiza- business”. Campbell had told the Health by showdowns between labour tion was a key element in the Harris’ cuts, he said, were Employees Union’s (HEU) and business-backed right wing government’s agenda. 6,000 more ideological, and didn’t newspaper, the Guardian, that governments–depending on public sector jobs were replaced require a showdown with “I don’t believe in ripping up who is asked. with corporate contracts. unions. “They said ‘we’re cut- agreements....I have never said “The government doesn’t In the case of education, ting taxes and we’re going to I would tear up agreements.... like some of the big public sector however, privatization is more reduce the deficit’.” “They shut I am not tearing up any agree- unions,” said Marc Lee, Senior subtle. down womens’ shelters because ments.” Once in power, how- Economist at the BC office of The BCTF’s Larry Kuehn they didn’t want to ‘break up ever, the Liberals imposed pay the Canadian Centre for Policy says the Liberals are taking families,’” said Lightman. cuts and replaced over 6,000 Alternatives (CCPA). “To injure “inch by inch measures” to Lightman explains that the public sector workers with cor- those unions, they’re willing to privatize parts of the education relative power of unions in BC porate contract positions. engage in some fairly bad public system. is due to the history of natural While the Campbell gov- policy.” “They are making things resource extraction, which is ernment did not cut teachers’ Under the dislike, however, more difficult for the public “absolutely essential” to the positions directly, it did not is an agenda. According to some schools,” said Kuehn. “It encour- province’s economy. Workers in provide the funding to back up observers, the real motivation ages private schools.” mining and timber were more legislation of a 2.5 per cent per is tax cuts and privatization, to “If the public system is vulnerable. year salary increase and other which the unions are a signifi- starved of funding then people “If you’re in an isolated increased costs. School boards cant barrier. will tend to gravitate towards mining town in BC, your work were forced to cut teaching staff Lee explained that tax cuts private alternatives,” said Lee. is your life, there’s no distinc- by 2,600, or eight per cent, and provided the justification for “It is not privatization per se, but tion.” “You need a union more 100 schools were closed. Anger deep cuts to public services. does boost the private system.” than you do in Toronto,” where over increased class sizes, lack When the Liberals first came to Kuehn points out that the automobile industry plays of separate classes for special power in 2001, they legislated private schools–including, he a significant role. According to needs students and the attack $2.3 billion in tax cuts from an notes, religious, elite and funda- Lightman, the culture of strong, on bargaining rights fueled the overall budget of around $26 mentalist institutions–receive organized labour that developed decision of 42,000 teachers to billion. The result, says Lee, 50 per cent of the funding per in the natural resource sector go on strike. was “the biggest deficit in pro- student that public schools get. has carried over to the public The question remains, vincial history.” Public services “They just expanded provisions sector trade unions in BC. however: why would Campbell’s budgets were cut by one third, for special needs students to 100 Stephen Howard of the BC Liberals actively pick fights with while funding for education was per cent of what public schools Government Employees’ Union some of the province’s largest merely frozen. get,” said Kuehn. This has been was optimistic about the future trade unions? According to Lee, “the seen by some–especially public of the ongoing battles over public The initial answer tends to deficit that came from the tax school teachers–as a first step policy in BC. A “rigid agenda for be either that the government cuts was used as a justification” to increasing overall funding for continued on page 16 » 3 Food The Dominion, December 2005 • Vol. II, #14 Of Sturgeon and Hydro Québec Food from the rivers we are losing ~ ISSN 1710-0283 ~ by Carole Ferrari www.dominionpaper.ca [email protected] On Saturday, November the 5th, 2005, Hydro Quebec PO Box 741 Station H fl ooded another 600 square kilo- Montréal, QC H3G 2M7 metres of James Bay territory to (514) 313-3478 fi ll in a new reservoir across the Eastmain River. Hydro-electric The Dominion is a pan-Canadian development has destroyed the media network that seeks to Eastmain river and with it the provide a counterpoint to the spawning grounds of the fi sh corporate media and direct that used to swim there, includ- attention to independent critics ing the lake sturgeon. and the work of social movements. The sturgeon has been The Dominion is published called “the most valuable fi sh in monthly in print and on the web. the world.” Its eggs, or caviar, sell for an astonishing $7,000 Publisher a kilo. Around the world, caviar The Dominion is considered a culinary delicacy Newspaper Society and an aphrodisiac. But there’s a Editor lot more to sturgeons than their Dru Oja Jay economic value and powers to Managing Editor increase human sexual confi - Hillary Lindsay dence. Arts Editors Sturgeons are known to Max Liboiron be friendly and to actually like Sylvia Nickerson Jane Henderson Original Peoples Editor humans; they seem to enjoy snails, and other small fi sh as lion years old. They are called Kim Petersen human presence. They grow they migrate up to their spawn- living fossils and act as a vital Agriculture Editor slowly - lake sturgeons grow to ing beds. link to our pre-historic past. Hillary Lindsay be a metre long - taking seven The species of sturgeon that Almost all kinds of stur- Environment Editor to eight years to reach sexual inhabited the Eastmain is likely geon are endangered because Yuill Herbert maturity. And they eat slowly. as old as the river itself. The life of over-fi shing, water pollu- Health Editor They dine on the bottom of span of a sturgeon is anywhere tion and hydroelectic develop- Andrea Smith lakes, riverbeds and oceans, from 50 to 150 years long, but ment. HydroQuebec is trying Media Analysis Editor tasting their way across the sturgeons as a species are so old to develop new spawning runs Anthony Fenton muddy bottoms feasting on they knew the dinosaurs. The for the sturgeon and other fi sh Review Editor insect larvae, worms, crayfi sh, species is thought to be 80 mil- whose spawning grounds have Linda Besner been destroyed by the Eastmain Français Editor dam. But previous dam and Vivien Jaboeuf dike developments for hydro- Sturgeon Copy Editors electricity in the James Bay Kate Andronov Carefully take off the sturgeon’s skin, as its have lead to unhealthy levels of Ian Harvey oiliness will give the fi sh a strong and disagreeable mercury in the fi sh in the area. Linda Besner This sturgeon recipe is taste when cooked. Cut from the tail-piece slices Moira Peters an old one from Miss Leslie’s about half an inch thick, rub them with salt, and Ottawa Coordinator Directions for Cookery. Written broil them over a clear fi re of bright coals. Butter Jane Scharf by Eliza Leslie the cookbook was them, sprinkle them with cayenne pepper, and Volunteer Coordinator fi rst published in 1837. I chose Moira Peters send them to table hot, garnished with sliced this recipe because it is simple Contributing Illustrator lemon. Squeeze lemon over the fi sh before eating. and I imagine it to be best Sylvia Nickerson enjoyed somewhere between the Board of Directors According to Environmental Defense’s Oceans 51st and 54th parallel, cooked Yuill Herbert Alive, the most eco-friendly sturgeon to eat for its on an open fi re near the shores Hillary Lindsay of a mighty river, the way stur- meat and for its caviar is farmed white sturgeon Adam Loughnane geon was probably enjoyed by from the Pacifi c coast. Sylvia Nickerson the James Bay Cree for so many Moira Peters thousands of years. Ted Rutland Jonathan Sheppard Food Editor: Hillary Lindsay, [email protected] The Dominion, December 2005 • Vol. II, #14 Arts 4 Card Carriers Artist’s Trading Cards (ATCs) are art for everyone by Max Liboiron

There is a new currency on the market that measures 2 1/2 x 3 1/2” and can be made of anything from ticket stubs to porcelain. This creative currency’s value is measured in communication, accessibility, and exchange, and is known as the Artist’s Trading Card. The only rules for ATCs are that they measure the stan- dard card size and that they be exchanged for other cards. There is not money involved, no media restrictions, and some- times, no Artists. The point of an ATC is that it can be made by ATCs can be made by anyone and that the exchange of them brings anyone and that the exchange people together. of them brings people together; cards are traded by mail, on the to trade with anyone, and, in the endless creativity.” cial or elitist constraints. There internet, or in face-to-face trad- principle, I would not refuse to The movement has simi- are not too many venues where ing sessions organized through- trade with anyone. We do get larities to scrap booking, where Leonardo could be trading work out the world. In fact, if there a number of non-artists that collage, personal taste, and with an eight year old while is an elitism to be found in the regularly attend and make most found materials combine to discussing the pros and cons practice, it is that some traders interesting cards.” allow anyone a creative outlet. of using duct tape versus glue consider face-to-face trading Mabie has collected some And like scrap booking, the guns in collage. The fun and to be the “only true” form of 8,000 cards, and keeps them commercial market has taken social emphasis of the cards can ATCs. all in binders in plastic sheets notice and slick anthologies and make ATC a grassroots public Issues of art versus craft, or to facilitate trading. He stresses “how to” books as well as com- art without the stratifications, of artist versus non-artist, or of the importance of the social mercial starter kits have become elitism, and inaccessibility that commercial viability are mixed exchange of the trade above the available. While these aids do more institutionalized forms of and defied in trading sessions. material trade. “Traders look not jeopardize the exchange or art can carry. If done through the mail, a par- forward to attending the ses- loose rules that are the focus of For more information or ticipant accepts the condition sions to see each other and see ATC, they do tend to be formu- to find a group to trade with that anyone can make a card what the new cards look like laic in their recommendations check out: http://www. anyhow. And when it comes this month, to see what new for design, and romanticize the artist-trading-cards.ch/, to trading, a similar attitude approaches regarding ATCs cards and the aesthetic. http://artisttradingcards. is adopted. Don Mabie, who is have evolved during the past The “real charm” of ATC is meetup.com/, http://www. associated with trading sessions month. I have been trading for the diversity and freshness that canadiancontent.net/ and at The New Gallery in Calgary, some eight years and it never comes from people creating http://www.thenewgallery. says, “I have never refused ceases to amaze me regarding miniature art without commer- org/atc.html

Defining “Art” In my society there is no by the ethics or values of the carrying a ceremonial pot.) Art his bare hands. A carver should single word for ‘art.’ We have people. Several art forms can is a necessity, an integral force not work when annoyed. Tools no distinction between ‘art’ and be combined for a purpose. and a part of living–an essential and materials need respect. The ‘craft.’ All are creative activi- For example, music, sculpture, role in everyday lives of Ghana- arts are not the privilege of a ties requiring skills and a sense pottery, painting, textiles and ian communities. A particular few selected people. of aesthetics. The aesthetic dance may be used simultane- work of art may be destroyed qualities of arts are not only ously. (A man may dance to after use, no matter how beauti- Kwegyir Aggrey of Ghana determined by the language a drum while wearing a mask ful or expensive it may be. We From artistsincanada.com and of art (i.e., rhythms, balance, and a special costume with his also have taboos: A blacksmith Robert Genn’s Weekly Letters. shapes, lines, texture, etc.) but body partially painted–while should not strike a person with

Arts Editors: Jane Henderson and Max Liboiron, [email protected] 5 Review The Dominion, December 2005 • Vol. II, #14

The compressed spaces of ability to throw her voice into romance. These employ com- these poems string together to disparate personae feels sinis- plex structures that circle back form a hard, true collection like ter at times. Even the ‘found’ on themselves, pronouns that a series of cruddy motel rooms in poems, from sources like cal- change halfway through. These which someone has beeen read- culus textbooks or ornithology poems, and the book as a whole, ing Wittgenstein. Focus and reg- guides, have an almost unholy pull off the trick that our most ister are constantly shifting, and savour. While Solie never wows important interactions do–we the speakers shift too; the “I” of us with a shiftless access to glide through confidently, then “Cardio Room, Young Women’s beauty we haven’t earned, keep- reach the end and realize we Modern and Normal Christian Association” claims ing her observations for the haven’t understood a thing. Karen Solie she has “evolved/ in a flash, most part “dry-eyed and frost- —Linda Besner Brick Books, 2005 like the living flak/ of a nuclear bit”, there are a few poems that mistake”, and certainly Solie’s rush blind and headlong into

Terpstra’s brothers-in- stantly between the reflective were central to the daily life The law—known in the family as and the matter-of-fact. “The Boys recreates. Terpstra shows “the boys”—were born with boys” died more than twenty- us a familial world operating Duchenne’s muscular dystro- five years ago, and this memoir on a different scale from that of phy, a debilitating illness which asks, “Whose story is this?” as the “able-bodied” everyday, one killed all three while still in their Terpstra grasps after illuminat- of both constant detailed dis- late teens or early twenties. ing information beyond his own comfort and vast, irrepressible Terpstra’s project–assembling memories. At times Terpstra’s personality. “The boys proved the fragmented, interwoven sto- description feels excessive, as in it,” Terpstra writes. “The simple ries of their lives–has produced the three pages explaining how fact of your created being is suf- The Boys, or, Waiting for the this memoir without page num- Eric and Paul shot baskets from ficient for all time. They proved Electrician’s Daughter bers, structured by numbered their wheelchairs. However, it by being themselves and segments from a phrase to a the reader comes to realize the having no ‘future.’” John Terpstra page long. His writing has a import of the minutiae of move- —Jane Henderson Gaspereau Press, 2005 staccato lyricism, shifting con- ments and positioning that

This book, Seymour’s first, poet’s prisms, through which he tion. Perhaps this piece must be opens with a series of short, deftly triangulates our place in performed to be believed. breathtaking pieces on the the world. Other moments reveal Sey- “Nomenclature of the Semi- Less successful is the final mour as a newcomer still find- Precious.” Each improvisation section, a “Fugue for the Gulf ing his subject, as in a letter to launches from the name of a of Mexico,” designed for three a newborn baby that cloyingly gemstone into luminous obser- distinct voices. Over ten pages, commiserates “I was sorry / vation on some facet of life on phrases and stanzas repeat to hear about the bris.” On the earth, whether it’s prehistory, in themselves in different positions whole, these bright, confident Inter Alia “Amber”—stones Seymour calls on the page and, dismayingly, in poems approach the world David Seymour “fossils of regret”—or impend- differently-coloured inks. The carefully, but always with an Brick Books, 2005 ing mortality, in “Black Opal.” classical-music counterpart is engaging readiness to play. Here and throughout, objects evoked, but the effect is not tex- —Regan Taylor artificial and natural are the ture or resonance—just distrac-

Any reader who enjoys a cask into two glasses, and the of the phrases and torque the long perambulations pondering possibilities for failure and suc- images to reveal new meaning. the quality of light, grand epis- cess therein, that receives the The superlative poems here– temological questions, and the author’s attention. The other such as “Why Ghost Towns”, veracity of the senses will feel delight in this book is its unique “Imagining a Black Bear into right at home with the poetic “echolalia” technique. In these the Parking Lot”, “To Draw voice in this collection. Even a paired poems, a page length Blood from Stone”–tend to be poem like “The Party”, rather prose poem is followed by an the result of a lighter and more Change in a Razor-backed than focusing on the people echolalia–a repetition of select playfully imaginative tone than Season gathered, examines an object words and phrases, arranged deBeyer exhibits in the rest of and its philosophic import; in with line-breaks and spacing the collection. Michal deBeyer this case it’s wine pouring from that twist the original syntax —Matthew J. Trafford Gaspereau Press, 2005 Review Editor: Linda Besner, [email protected] The Dominion, December 2005 • Vol. II, #14 Agriculture 6 McOrganic? Is corporate organic changing the organic landscape in Canada? by Hillary Lindsay Peter Johnston, a garlic farmer on Lasqueti Island in “Would you like an Organic British Columbia, has noticed Fair TradeTM coffee with your that the niche market for small Egg McMuffin, Ma’am?” organic farmers has quickly Fantasy? Not if you wander disappeared. “Before supermar- into any one of 658 McDonalds kets began [stocking organic scattered across the Northeast- produce], it was bought either ern United States. Transfair directly from the growers or USA and Oxfam America have from health food stores. We welcomed the fast food giant’s sold to a couple of them on Van- decision to serve Newman’s Own couver Island. These either no Organic Coffee. “We are excited longer exist or don’t carry pro- about this regional launch, and duce anymore. The chains aren’t we hope to see it spread across interested in buying from small, the country,” said Seth Petch- local, seasonal producers.” ers, coffee program manager for Sea Spray Atlantic Growers Oxfam America. But is having Is organic agriculture mirroring the global industrial agriculture Cooperative was formed three a 100% Organic Fair TradeTM system it was created to combat? years ago partly in response to coffee with your Big Mac really by some of the biggest compa- coli may not be sprayed with the Atlantic Superstores interest a sign of victory for the organic nies in the world. For example, noxious chemicals, it is still in selling organic produce. But movement? Kellogg owns Kashi, a supplier mono-cropped, mechanically Norbert Kungl, whose organic Rebecca Kneen, co-owner of of organic whole grain cereals harvested and transported farm Selwood Green is part of Crannóg Ales, a certified organic and Kraft has bought out Boca, thousands of miles before it the cooperative, reports that farm and micro-brewery in BC’s a maker of organic soy burgers. is eaten.” Kneen argues that sales to the Superstores have Okanagan Valley, concedes The corporate interest in organ- organic or not, industrial agri- shrunk significantly. “When we that if organic and fair trade ics goes beyond food to include culture negatively impacts the have local production, they will standards are being met, there things like organic cotton and environment through the loss order, but the orders are dis- will be some benefit to farmers organic seeds. Select Walmart of crop and seed diversity and couragingly small,” said Kungl. but hastens to add that “this is stores now sell a limited line of fossil fuels required for large One member of the cooperative a tiny action in a company that organic cotton supplies for yoga, machinery and long-distance began growing large quantities pollutes massively, has obscene bath and baby. M&M/Mars has shipping, of baby spinach and salad mix hiring practices and labour rela- bought Seeds of Change, an Organic produce - even because the Superstore had tions and devalues food.” organic seed company. “Many vegetables that could be grown indicated interest in purchasing The Big Boxes of the new organic seed varieties are now locally, like garlic, potatoes, it, but by the time it came to sell, suburban landscape are going available only through a giant carrots and apples - is regularly Superstore was no longer inter- organic. “We are particularly seed company called Seminis, trucked thousands of miles to ested. “They would not take excited about organic food, the which earlier this year was arrive on supermarket shelves. those items because they had a fastest-growing category in all of acquired by Monsanto,” reports In fact, 85% of organic food deal or were in the process of a food,” said Walmart’s CEO Lee Howard. in Canada is now imported. deal with PC Organics and some Scott at a recent shareholders The corporate takeover of Howard describes why super- large companies in California,” meeting, according to the New organics can be seen as both market chains (like Whole explains Kungl. Kungl has York Times. Loblaws’ Presi- a success and a failure for the Foods in the US) rarely stock learned to expect this from the dent’s Choice Organics line has organic movement, believes local organic produce. “Whole Atlantic Superstore. “We know expanded beyond organic pro- Howard. “On the one hand, Foods has centralized their that if they can get anything as duce to include organic chicken the acreage devoted to organic distribution of produce, and a PC Organic Product they will noodle soup, frozen entrees and production, without synthetic it’s easier for them to buy from not have competing local pro- cookies. pesticides, increases every year a large-scale grower in Mexico duce in the store.” Even products that look so to meet the market demand. than a small-scale farmer next According to Johnston, wholesome that one imagines On the other hand, some of door,” he explains. “The price most consumers do not dis- they were made in a local hip- the ideals of the organic move- premiums that small-scale tinguish between local and pie’s kitchen often carry a mul- ment, which was in a large part farmers once relied on to stay corporate organic foods. John- tinational logo. Phil Howard, a response to industrial agricul- in business have been declining ston describes the frustrating a postdoctoral researcher at ture, have fallen by the wayside.” as they are forced to compete attitudes of many shoppers, the Centre for Agro-ecology Organic agriculture increasingly with massive farms that grow “If it’s organic, it’s good, even and Sustainable Food Systems, resembles the global, industrial only a single crop. These mega- if it is shipped from Mexico or notes that according to one agriculture system it was cre- farms have economies of scale Europe. The lowest possible estimate, 40% of the packaged ated to combat, says Howard. but externalize more costs to price is important.” organic foods on the shelves of Kneen agrees, “Even society and to ecosystems in Low prices are coming at a natural food stores are produced though a 50-acre field of broc- comparison.” high cost, says Kneen, includ-

continued on page 16 » 7 Environment The Dominion, December 2005 • Vol. II, #14 Tremblay’s Remote Control Democracy and Sustainability in Montreal by Van Ferrier cal support in the suburbs of lacking transparency and failing Montreal by promising the de- to encourage citizens to partici- Citizens in countries like mergers. The Mayor continues pate in the democratic process. Canada are suffering from the to maintain that support by “We are facing monu- effects of ill-planned cities and investing in infrastructure, mental challenges that require environmental degradation, which according to Projet Mon- a completely different mind- says Executive Director of UN- treal makes suburban life more set,” Bergeron says during the Habitat Anna Tibaijuka leading comfortable with new highways debate. “We see Montreal slip- up to the third session of the and bridges at the expense of the ping behind many other cities World Urban Forum to be held overall health and well-being of in North America that have in Vancouver next spring. At the urban residents. made the step towards sustain- heart of this crisis, she says, is “For 60 years, Montreal able planning through better a failure to consult and to allow has been locked into a dead-end governance.” the full participation of ordi- development path that has put For example residents of nary people in the development us in a very vulnerable position,” Vancouver are finding that the of cities. says Bergeron. “But we must Greater Vancouver Regional Montreal, the city Prime wake up from this ‘American District–the regional author- Minister Paul Martin picked to Tremblay in Montréal. ICAO dream’ attitude that is keeping ity that oversees key services host this year’s International us from achieving our goals.” in the greater Vancouver area Climate Talks on behalf of cil–which will manage the taxes Bergeron says the Mayor’s and facilitates provincial coop- Canada, is a poignant illustra- of most residents in the metro- agenda goes against what most eration on common policy tion of Ms. Tibaijuka’s mes- politan area–Mayor Tremblay Montrealers want. “Citizens issues–has given them a solid sage, according to Ray Tomalty appointed his handpicked want to live in complete com- foundation upon which new who teaches Urban Planning executive committee to admin- munities that are healthy, well projects and policies are being at McGill University and runs ister it. The Quebec government maintained, safe and clean,” built with a vision for sustain- a research institute on urban recently approved this move. he says. “By building houses in ability. issues in Montreal. Richard Bergeron–leader clusters around public trans- So why hasn’t Montreal Tomalty explains that on of a new force in local politics portation hubs, we can mini- achieved similar results? January 1, 2006 Montreal’s called Projet Montreal–says mize traffic, noise and pollution Tomalty says its because despite Mayor Gerald Tremblay will this is what Montrealers have with energy efficient dwelling having a regional authority that take control of the new Agglom- come to expect from Tremblay’s units that conserve heat and includes 64 municipalities, the eration Council that was created style of governance. electricity.” Metropolitan Community of by the province of Quebec to “The executive committee Public transport-oriented Montreal (Communauté Métro- manage common services such sits behind closed doors under development is precisely the politaine de Montréal, or CMM) as police and fire departments, the Tremblay administration, kind of innovative initiatives is not accountable to the citi- water treatment facilities and and a culture of secrecy reigns at that Bergeron–an urban plan- zens it is supposed to represent. public transit for Montreal City Hall,” says Bergeron. “Our ner with twenty years of experi- Vancouver city officials, on the Island municipalities. mayor would like to transpose ence in Quebec and abroad–is other hand, have encouraged The coverage of these this type of governance to the proposing for Montreal. It is greater public participation via services will include several Agglomeration Council. This also the foundation upon which public consultations, ideas fairs, suburban communities that tactic is intended to muzzle the Scandinavian countries learned and other visible commitments voted to de-merge from the opposition.” to develop participatory local to democratic inclusion. city. But rather than achieving Incumbent Montreal city governments that are some of With Kyoto delegates the autonomy from what these Councillor Alan de Sousa is the most accountable and sus- in town from November 28 fifteen communities perceived responsible for sustainable tainable in the world. to December 9, the biggest as a highly centralized Montreal development on Mayor Trem- Montrealers had the rare challenge for Montreal’s com- City Hall, the de-mergers have blay’s executive committee. He opportunity to discuss munici- mitment to sustainable develop- actually increased dependency says his team has moved Mon- pal environmental issues with ment is not whether it can play on the Mayor’s executive com- treal forward and will continue city officials during the munici- host to important international mittee. to do so with a 20-year plan that pal election environmental meetings on climate change. Tomalty says these com- will commit the city of Montreal debate. High expectations Montreal city officials and munities were hoping to to clear sustainable development were placed on de Sousa who citizens should be asking them- become independent cities, “but objectives. Bergeron has doubts was forced to defend both his selves how they could make got a dictator and more taxes Tremblay will follow through on administration’s environmental sound contributions to improv- instead.” these commitments. record and what Tomalty calls ing health and well-being by Rather than allowing all Mayor Tremblay, who was City Hall’s “closed bureaucratic improving the democratic Montreal city councillors to sit re-elected for a second term culture” that has become noto- accountability of City Hall. on the Agglomeration Coun- November 6 built his politi- rious among Canadian cities for Environment Editor: Hillary Lindsay, [email protected] The Dominion, December 2005 • Vol. II, #14 Business 8 Reconstructing Disaster Profiteers and Pink Slips Ravage the Gulf Coast by Rob Maguire that federal funds support local businesses and create decent Three months have passed jobs, the Bush administration since Hurricane Katrina, and has focused on paying politi- the high drama of disaster has cal dividends to their powerful been replaced by the less glam- corporate backers by helping orous task of rebuilding lives them maximize profits during and communities. While the the reconstruction phase. people of New Orleans struggle Bush unilaterally repealed to adjust, wealthy corporations the Davis-Bacon Act, legislation are reaping the rewards of requiring federal contractors to reconstruction. pay workers “prevailing” wages The US Congress has for the region. Although the already approved US$62 billion prevailing wage in New Orleans for reconstruction in the Gulf is a mere $9 an hour for con- Coast, with earmarked funds struction work, contractors may Bush with Allbaugh. White House expected to exceed $200 billion. now pay as little as the federal Much of this money has already stands to receive at least $200 Katrina contract thus far, worth minimum wage, currently five found its way into the hands million in contracts from FEMA up to $1 billion, for debris dollars and fifteen cents. of corporations with close ties and the Army Corps of Engi- removal. AshBritt head Randal Other government depart- to the Bush administration. neers for housing management, Perkins has donated tens of ments have played along, drop- This has come as no surprise construction and engineering thousands of dollars to Repub- ping sanctions for companies to critics, including Federal services. News of the recon- lican politicians, including the who hire illegal workers, sus- Communications Commission struction contracts propelled host of the Katrina Reconstruc- pending requirements concern- Inspector General H. Walker Shaw’s stock to a three-year tion Summit, Florida Senator ing the employment of women Feaster. “When so much money high. It also spurred the fol- Mel Martinez. and minorities and exempting is available, it draws people of lowing announcement on their A particularly poor deal for industries in the region from less than perfect character,” web site: “Hurricane Recovery taxpayers came in the form of environmental regulations. said Feaster. Projects: Apply Here!” a $236 million no-bid contract Bush also plans $2 billion in tax Soon after funding was Halliburton subsidiary that FEMA signed with Carnival breaks for corporations operat- approved, contractors gathered Kellogg, Brown & Root has Cruise Lines to house evacuees ing in the “Gulf Opportunity in Washington for a “Katrina been contracted to rebuild navy on ships for six months. Assum- Zone.” Reconstruction Summit.” bases at three separate Mis- ing the ships will be filled to Edward Sullivan, president Hosted by Republican Senator sissippi facilities. The work is capacity with 7116 people, this of the Building and Construc- Mel Martinez and sponsored part of a $500 million contract works out to $1275 per person tion Trades Department of the by Halliburton, the conference signed between Halliburton per week–entertainment not- AFL-CIO, the largest labour brought together some 200 KBR and the US Navy. Since withstanding. This far surpasses union federation in the US, corporate representatives, lob- the storm, Halliburton shares the cost of an actual seven-day called the measures “legalized byists and government bureau- have risen over 10 percent to cruise from Carnival, which can looting of these workers who crats to network and receive $65. US Vice President Dick be had for $599. will be cleaning up toxic sites advice on “opportunities for Cheney, who formerly served as While these deals have left and struggling to rebuild their private sector involvement” in Halliburton’s CEO and received shareholders smiling, Wash- communities, while favoured the reconstruction efforts. nearly $200,000 in deferred ington has done little for the contractors rake in huge prof- Several well-connected pay from the company in 2004, 53,000 families still displaced its from FEMA reconstruction multinationals have already is the official in charge of evalu- from the storm. For example, contracts.” cashed in, securing lucrative ating the Bush administration’s FEMA refuses to pay shelter In its handling of the Gulf reconstruction contracts. Two response to the disaster. costs beyond December 1 for Coast reconstruction efforts, the such corporations are the Shaw Other corporate beneficia- most evacuees. Unemployment Bush administration has suc- Group and Halliburton. Both ries include California-based is another critical problem. cessfully facilitated a significant firms currently employ the ser- Bechtel Corporation, which has Forty percent of Louisiana’s transfer of wealth from workers vices of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, received a $100 million FEMA businesses have been damaged to well-connected multination- George W. Bush’s former cam- contract to provide short-term or destroyed, leaving nearly half als. By favouring subsidies and paign manager, past head of the housing. Bush named Bechtel’s a million people without work. high profit margins for its cor- Federal Emergency Manage- current CEO to his Export With the massive amount of porate allies, the White House ment Agency, and, according to Council and placed its former reconstruction work to be done, has exacerbated the suffering a headline in the online maga- chief executive in charge of the and billions in federal funds at of those affected by Hurricane zine Slate, America’s foremost Overseas Private Investment play, the potential for economic Katrina and is jeopardizing the “disaster pimp.” Corporation. AshBritt Envi- growth and job creation is tre- region’s chances of a successful Allbaugh’s Shaw Group ronmental secured the largest mendous. Rather than ensuring recovery. 9 Media Analysis The Dominion, December 2005 • Vol. II, #14 Land Claims and Treaties and Bands, Oh My! First Ministers’ Meeting coverage limited to official story by Dru Oja Jay the meeting, Manuel raises yet another major issue not men- When those with decision tioned in media reports. Since making power and access to the Lester Pearson, the federal gov- media come to a consensus, it is ernment has insisted on calling often easy to conclude that their its funding to band councils account reflects reality–that, to “humanitarian assistance”, the extent that one understands instead of its legal obligation the official story, one under- under Canadian law. Manuel stands the situation itself. While writes: the usual suspects may not dis- We view programs and ser- pute such an account, dissent vices as part payment from the can nonetheless be found by Canadian and provincial gov- ernments using and benefiting those willing to look. from our lands. The AFN and The First Ministers’ Meet- [others] have let the Canadian ing in November was, according and BC government off-the- to media coverage, a “historic hook by unlinking programs summit” held in Kelowna, Brit- The Grassroots Peoplesʼ Coalition protests outside the First and services from Aboriginal ish Columbia where $5 billion Ministersʼ Meeting in Kelowna, BC. GPC and Treaty Rights. in spending was announced to “alleviate poverty” and “improve that “The minute you recognize learn that “about 200 bands Why aren’t these challenges the quality of life” of Indigenous our economic and treaty rights, from across Canada” boycotted to the most basic assumptions people in Canada. The plan our poverty would disappear the meeting. “It’s as if the agree- upon which the plan to “lift focuses on housing, health care, immediately.” The Globe report ments were already prewritten natives out of poverty” is based education, economic develop- also noted that the deal signed with the AFN in Ottawa,” Bill reported in the media? ment, and relations between in Kelowna made no mention of Namagoose of the Cree Grand Is it because the claims are natives and provincial and fed- treaty rights. Council was quoted as saying. outlandish? Probably not. The eral governments. While the media failed to Another layer still obscures 1996 Royal Commission report Reporting typically pre- provide the minimal context understanding of the situation: came to essentially the same sented a positive outcome, for Manuel’s remarks–indeed, the band system itself. The band conclusions outlined above. despite difficulties in reaching the CBC, the National Post, council system was imposed in According to the Commis- agreement. A Globe and Mail the Canadian Press and others 1884, with the Indian Advance- sion, report, for example, referred to ignored the grassroots perspec- ment Act. Traditional systems Aboriginal peoples’ right a “feud” between the Assembly tive completely–the informa- of government were outlawed. of self-government within Canada is acknowledged and of First Nations (AFN) and the tion is readily available for those Typically, traditional govern- who look. ment held chiefs as spokespeo- protected by the constitution. Congress of Aboriginal Peoples It recognizes that Aboriginal (CAP) over whether wording “The federal government ple rather than decisionmakers, rights are older than Canada would include natives without has co-opted the Assembly of and decisionmaking power itself and that their continu- government-recognized status. First Nations... as Aboriginal rested with the people of the ity was part of the bargain Criticism of the process and Treaty rights are traded off nation. By imposing a system between Aboriginal and non- was tempered by an overall for the modern day equivalent against the will of the affected Aboriginal people that made impression that progress was of ‘trinkets and beads’,” Manuel communities, the federal gov- Canada possible. being made. “The government wrote in a GPC communiqué. ernment transfered control to is doing the honourable thing, In the analysis of Manuel the Ministry of Indian Affairs. The remaining explanation but it does have the stink of and many others, the federal To this day, the Federal is that instead of understanding desperation to it,” NDP native government and Canadian government controls band things as they are, journalists affairs critic Pat Martin told the corporations have made hun- funding, and can withdraw it as chose the shortcut of under- CBC, referring to the imminent dreds of billions of dollars on it sees fit. A resident of Grassy standing things the way the fall of Paul Martin’s Liberal gov- resources and land that, by law, Narrows, a community in west- political establishment presents ernment. belongs to Indigenous peoples. ern Ontario, told independent them. Whether journalists were In a brief foray outside By one estimate, the value of oil journalist Macdonald Stainsby unable to look beyond the offi- of this narrow range of views revenues from unceded land in that “The council and the chief cial line, were not allowed to, offered by the political estab- Alberta totals over $70 billion make a good living, and get a or didn’t want to, is a analysis lishment, the Globe and Mail for the last 12 years. very good income. In this very for another day–analysis that made mention of some deeper There was, in fact, consid- poor community, that’s why requires insider access. That criticisms of the process. The erable dissent about the meet- people join the council. They Canada’s journalists told a woe- Globe’s Bill Curry quoted Arthur ing. have no real power, but they are fully incomplete story, however, Manuel of the Grassroots Peo- One has to search the web- scared to risk their funding.” is a matter of the public record. ples Coalition (GPC) as saying site of CBC North, however, to In a communiqué sent after The Dominion, December 2005 • Vol. II, #14 Labour 10 Where’s the Boss? Worker cooperatives look to spread democracy by Hillary Lindsay the coop they co-founded with three others. SSG is a research Peter Cameron is sipping and consulting firm that is also a pint of fair trade cocoa stout, run by people under the age of a beer made collaboratively by thirty. La Siembra, an Ottawa based Although there were many worker cooperative specializing young faces in the conference in fair trade chocolate, and La crowd this year, almost all Barbarie, a worker cooperative were white. “It’s very obvious microbrewery based in Quebec when you go to a cooperataive City. The beer, coined La Soli- gathering that there are some daria, is not yet on the market, of us who should be at the and much like the worker coop- table who are not at the table,” erative movement itself, is still in notes Nangwaya. “In the US the early stages of development. it’s the same challenge. There Dru Oja Jay “As a movement we’re still very Conference participants discuss new workplace models. are not enough minorities and young,” notes Cameron. “The should be run. At Inkworks this globalization movement, says oppressed racial groups in the Canadian Worker Cooperative process is reflected in a work- Ajamu Nangwaya, a doctoral worker cooperative movement. Federation (CWCF) is only four- place with a strong health plan, student at the Ontario Institute This is something we have to teen years old. Ontario didn’t a press that only uses recycled for Studies in Education who is change as a movement.” even officially recognize worker paper, and a policy to donate or studying cooperative entrepre- For Nangwaya, once one cooperatives until 1991-92.” discount printing done for local neurship. “A lot of young people starts thinking about work- Cameron is worker-owner social justice organizations. are dissatisfied with their expe- place justice and democracy, for Planet Bean Coffee, a worker According to Hoover, Inkworks’ rience in the workplace. They one inevitably must address cooperative in Guelph Ontario priorities are not unusual for a do not have a lot of control the injustices of society as a specializing in fair trade organic worker cooperative. “There’s a over decision-making. They whole. “As a coop movement coffee. He’s come to Montreal lot of research about how coops see the disloyalty of companies, it’s important for us to real- for CWCF’s annual conference are innately more accountable they’ve seen parents lose their ize that we should be working held from November 17th to to their local and physical envi- jobs after twenty or more years to displace capitalism,” he 19th. The conference is not ronment because that’s where with a company. There is a cer- believes. “What we’re struggling large, but with 110 registered the people who work in them tain level of cynicism.” Though for is not just decent jobs and participants it’s the biggest one live. They have a track record of many young people are aware democratic work places but to yet - and according to Cameron, being more sustainable, more of the bleak working conditions transform society and econom- the worker cooperative move- accountable, more involved, that exist both here and over- ics. It is important for us to see ment is on the rise. going above and beyond status seas, many are not aware of the the necessity of building demo- There are an estimated 350 quo environmental and work alternatives, says Nangwaya. cratic structures inside the com- worker cooperatives in Canada practices.” “For the worker cooperative munities in which we operate so employing around 11,000 This kind of workplace con- movement it is our challenge that the worker cooperative is people in sectors as diverse as science does not make worker to raise awareness and have the embedded in a community deci- forestry, retail, information cooperatives less competitive services in place to help them sion making process.” technology and entertainment. in the cut throat world of busi- form worker cooperatives.” Nangwaya’s vision for a To a customer, they may appear ness, insists Cameron. In fact, CWCF has taken on this new democracy is a far cry from no different from a regular busi- it makes them more competi- challenge, and several young the top-down approach most ness, but an employee would tive. In the capitalist system, participants in this year’s con- Canadians are familiar with. never make the same mistake. he explains, companies exploit ference rewarded their efforts. “Rarely do people get a chance “You can see it in new work- workers and the environment Krystal Payne and Nick Scott to practice democracy in our ers who come in. They’re look- in order for the ownership class were representing their newly own lives,” agrees Hoover. “Not ing for the boss,” says Melissa to pocket a substantial profit. incorporated youth-run worker at school, not at home, not at Hoover, with a laugh. Hoover “That’s a gap we can use to be cooperative. The Underground work, so we don’t have a lot of works at Inkworks Press, a competitive and take care of Cafe opened in Fredericton this training in democracy. I think worker cooperative based in our workers. Plus, we have less year to a crowd many times the coops are the one place where Berkley California. Like other strikes, we have less days off due size of the Cafe’s capacity. The people can feel their power as worker cooperatives, InkWorks to pissed off workers. People vegan cafe specializes in local, people and make democratic is worker-owned and demo- won’t rip off the company cause fair trade and organic menu decisions. “ Hoover believes that cratically run by its employees: it’s their company.” options. Geneva Guerin and coops could help transform soci- There is no boss. The worker cooperative Melissa Garcia Lamarca gave etal democracy, because once Inkworks employees meet model is one that will appeal to a presentation to the CWCF people know what real democ- regularly to make collective deci- young people, especially those conference on the Sustain- racy feels like, they want more sions about how the business involved in the anti-corporate ability Solutions Group (SSG), of it. “I’ve seen it happen.” 11 Accounts The Dominion, December 2005 • Vol. II, #14 Give ‘em the Boot! Zapatistas and solidarity activists step “no sweat” campaign up a notch by Chris Arsenault and others has since shut down, nize ourselves along the same the entire wage system with due to a huge influx of low-cost principals as the First of January their forays into industry. Co- It’s been almost twelve footwear from China - but the Co-op,” said Amanda Smith, an op members receive no salary years since the Zapatistas of First of January Co-op survives. anthropology student in Halifax for their labour; all profits are southern Mexico said ya basta Its first priority is to provide and a member of the Black Star invested back into entire com- (“enough”) to neo-liberalism high-quality, low-cost footwear Boot Cooperative. munity, mostly to pay for public and initiated a struggle for “a for the surrounding communi- “Organizing co-opera- services, specifically health pro- world where many worlds fit.” ties. “We sell to the indigenous tively,” admits Smith, “is cer- motion. Today, the Zapatistas are for 150-220 pesos (approx 25 tainly trying. None of us have “We have a difficult situ- creating a variety of participa- USD), just enough to recuperate experience working with boots. ation,” admits Hedez, who is tory economic institutions to the cost of the materials,” said It’s a little disorganized, frus- married with several children. meet community needs: wom- one co-op member. “Here in trating and often inefficient, but “We sustain ourselves through en’s artisan co-ops, amber pro- San Andres there are shoes for the project came directly from what little we can grow in our ducers’ co-ops, fair-trade coffee 100 pesos, but they will only last the Zapatistas, and at this point, milpas (fields). We have two cooperatives and a non-sweat- for a season.” it seems like the most useful days a week for working in the shop boot co-operative. With significant national thing we can be doing.” fields. We also buy various On a sunny July day, myself and international interest “It’s less about selling boots things, but very little.” and a delegation of foreign in zapatismo (a fluid politi- than it is about the example At first glance, working solidarity activists tramped cal movement that strives to we are trying to set: economic roughly 40 hours a week as a the muddy hills around Oven- create change without seizing interaction based on interna- volunteer seems over-zealous, tic Caracole, in the Los Altos power), the cooperative decided tional solidarity and workers if not downright exploitative. region, to visit the First of Janu- they could use sales to non- producing quality goods without But factory activists have real- ary Boot Co-op. Rafael Hedez, a indigenous supporters to help bosses,” Smith added. ized they can’t pull themselves leading activist with the co-op, finance the development of the Since the uproar against out of poverty individually, one and several other compañeros workshop. “We sell high boots sweatshop abuses in the early by one. Key pillars of zapatismo welcomed us with cokes and to foreigners for 350 pesos and 1990s, major textile corpora- like health, education, and work bowls of snow-tire-tough beef medium for 300. This is the tions have spent millions on with dignity demand collective soup stewed on an open fire. price for those who are in soli- public relations to showcase action, cooperation and mutual Inside the workshop (basi- darity with us, who,” stresses “good corporate citizenship”. aide. cally a barn with corrugated Hedez, “are also Zapatistas.” Some positive examples of The First of January Boot iron roof, one of the higher-end Before ending his pre- non-sweat apparel production Workshop is not a perfect model buildings in a region of thatched sentation, Hedez stressed the have sprung up in the last couple of economic democracy. The farm huts), a dozen or so men democratic essence of the orga- years: Sweat X was paying high component parts for the boots– were busy cutting leather, trac- nization. “This is the factory for wages to US workers (until soles, laces, etc.–are bought ing patterns, and heating brand- everyone. We are all the owners. it shut down), and American from coyotes (middlemen) in ing irons. Large blue flames We are the coordinators who Apparel, who just recently San Cristobal de las Casas, and erupted as glue was melted to manage the workshop.” opened a store in Toronto, pays are presumably imported from attach the soles. Democratic values not- workers in Los Angeles decent sweatshops in China. After showing us around, withstanding, the factory has wages to produce un-branded And, in the Chiapas high- Hedez proudly explained the many practical problems: the high quality t-shirts and other lands, the “glory” of worker-self- ownership structure of the machinery is very outdated, sig- clothing. management exists alongside workshop to us. “We have no nificantly reducing productivity, Commendable as these deplorable poverty that the owner. Here we are all equals,” and component parts that can’t examples may be, their praxis Mexican government character- he said. be made on site, such as soles is fundamentally flawed. They izes as “acute marginalization.” “When something is and laces, must be bought from seek a half-hearted return to the Many of the workshop activists needed, or when problems arise a middle-person in San Cristobal post-war “New Deal,” naively can’t afford proper shoes for - all jobs have problems - then de Las Casas at inflated prices. hoping decent paying nine-to- their own children. we have a meeting or a general Enter the Black Star Boot five factory jobs can thrive again Poverty is ubiquitous in Chi- discussion. If we want to do Collective - a Canadian youth- in the era of neo-liberalism. And apas (and indeed, in much of the something without consulting run organization dedicated to although workers have more say world), stifling opportunities for the rest, we can’t do that. We finding international markets over their lives at the American alternative economic arrange- must present the job on behalf for Zapatista boots and, more Apparel factory than in a Nike ments - for however clearly you of everyone,” said Hedez. importantly, raising money to or Adidas outsourcing opera- articulate your vision of a par- The co-op began on Jan 1, improve the workshop. They tion, the non-sweat factories ticipatory economy, you can’t 1998, when two activists trav- sell boots over the Internet and still operate within a centrally make something from nothing. eled from Chiapas to Mexico facilitate workshops to raise planned hierarchy. The workshop wants to expand City to spend six months learn- awareness about alternative In a sense, the Zapatis- production, but it’s unlikely ing the trade. The independent models of production and social tas–basically an agrarian they’ll get a bank loan for new workshop that trained Hedez organization. “We try to orga- movement–have leap-frogged continued on page 16 » The Dominion, December 2005 • Vol. II, #14 Original Peoples 12 Masala and the Rainforest Future of Kermode bear and rainforest “uncertain” by Kim Petersen

The spectacular northwest coast of colonially designated British Columbia contains one of the world’s great temper- ate rainforests. Here, the open Pacific Ocean and meandering fjords lap at the shore of the ancient rainforest where mil- lennia-old cedar trees and tow- ering Sitka spruce grow amid the glaciated Coastal Mountain chain. The rich ecosystem is intersected by streams that host salmon, upon which apex predators such as killer whales, The Kermode bearʼs distinctive white coloring appears in roughly 30 per cent of the bears in the Spirit black bears, grizzlies, wolves, Bear Rainforest. ronthiele.com and eagles feed. The salmon are on the BC coast. clearcutting. The status report, ate–serves the interests of the also a nutritional mainstay for Logging and road-building authored by the David Suzuki province well. First Nations people. also mean the loss of critical Foundation, concluded that 80 But progress is near on a The region is named the food sources and protective percent of crucial spirit bear land use deal, says Sterritt. “The Spirit Bear Rainforest because it cover from poachers. Denuda- habitat is still at risk. First Nations are on the verge of is home to masala, a rare white- tion of the rain-soaked moun- According to some observ- striking a new deal with the BC colored bear also referred to as tain slopes causes landslides and ers, however, the report’s con- provincial government.” the spirit bear or Kermode bear. erosion. Salmon habitat will be clusions are a bit alarmist. Art The Gitga’at and Kitasoo/ Masala–the original designation smothered, killing the salmon Sterritt, a former chief treaty Xais-xais First Nations have from Sm’algyax (the Tsimshian and decimating an important negotiator for the Gitga’at First developed land-use plans that language)–is a genetic variation food source of masala. Nation, is now the executive go a long way to protecting some of the black bear whose distinc- A 1996 investigation by director of the Coastal First of masala’s essential habitat. tive coloration is the result of a the Sierra Legal Defense Fund Nations, a grouping of First The Kitasoo/Xaixais First single recessive gene expressed revealed that clearcutting Nations working together to Nation has already designated phenotypically in as many as accounted for a startling 97 per forge an ecologically sustain- protected areas–the Nakami one in ten of these bears. cent of logging in the temperate able economy. Sterritt acknowl- Weld–where resource extrac- Biologists estimate a popu- rainforest. Pressure from First edges that some clearcutting is tive industries will be prohib- lation of 1,200 black and white Nations, environmental organi- still going on in the Spirit Bear ited. The remaining land base of spirit bears–400 of the white zations, and public concern led Rainforest but says that “major, the traditional territory will be coloration. The spirit bear lives the BC provincial government, major advances have been made managed according to Ecosys- in greatest numbers on the in April 2001, to announce a to improve” the situation. tem Based Management (EBM) islands in the territory of the “Spirit Bear Protection Area” The rainforest and masala principles: sustainable use of Gitga’at (people of the cane) of approximately 135,000 hect- are important to his people. the land and resources. The First Nation: Gribbell Island ares. Sterritt relates how the Gitga’at purpose is to foster economic (up to 30 percent of the bears However, this sanctuary First Nation has been living in development and job creation are white) and Princess Royal remains unprotected until the “co-existence with masala for- while respecting ecological Island (up to 10 percent are BC government passes legisla- ever ... [and] have won the right values and conserving wildlife white). tion that accords with First to use the bear as a crest”–exclu- and marine life. This ursine rainforest deni- Nations priorities for the Spirit sively for the hereditary chief. According to Sterritt, the zen and other forest-dwelling Bear Protection Area which Today, First Nations con- EBM should be fully imple- wildlife have been threatened falls within the traditional and tinue to fight for recognition mented by 2009. by clearcut logging practices. unceded territories of four First and treaty rights to their ances- Territorial sovereignty is According to the BC environ- Nations: the Kitasoo/Xais-xais, tral lands. Few treaties were delayed, but the First Nations of mentalist organization Valhalla Gitga’at, Heilstuk, and Haisla/ signed with the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest and envi- Wilderness Society, the long- Hainaksula. Treaty negotiations BC. Sterritt describes the treaty ronmentalists have achieved an term prospect for masala’s over territorial claims are ongo- discussions as “pretty disap- ecological victory. In so doing, survival is “Uncertain, at best.” ing with the BC government and pointing,” being “bogged down a large expanse of intact rain- Particularly disconcerting is federal government. in bureaucracies,” “stalled,” and forest is preserved for Original the felling of old-growth trees A 2005 status report called “not moving along well at all.” Peoples and their culture to whose hollowed-out trunks into question the protection of The “snail’s pace” of the pro- flourish and for masala and provide winter dens for bears the Spirit Bear Rainforest from cess–which many say is deliber- other wild species to thrive. 13 Canadian News The Dominion, December 2005 • Vol. II, #14 A New Canadian University Begins... Founding meeting stresses principles of ecology and social justice by Wilma van der Veen educators and support staff would also be students, and stu- What would a university dents and support staff would based on principles of ecology also be educators; and innova- and social justice look like, and tive funding strategies, such as one that was tuition free? This the “working college model” fall, individuals from across where students are also work- Canada converged on Arundel ers at the university. As was Nature Centre just outside practiced at the meeting, the Montreal, Quebec. Like the new university would exercise project itself, the community bilingualism to more accurately of Arundel is small and rela- reflect the nature of Canadian tively unknown; by the time the society, incorporating more lan- weekend was over, however, the guages in the future. While an potential for the project began initial physical location would to gather energy and momen- be sought, virtual and satellite tum. campuses across the country Why a new university? would be pursued. Although a clear vision of what As for curriculum, the a new university should be did notion of a living curriculum not yet exist at the start of the was accepted where as needs weekend, many arrived with of those involved changed, sub- strong opinions of what a new jects taught would be modified. university should not be. “The This would be inclusive of all current university system pro- subject matters for all students vides the necessary education to from the most basic of learning fill the jobs necessary in the capi- how to feed, shelter and clothe talist system, while normalizing oneself, to more traditional this system’s destructive and intellectual pursuits. dangerous operations provid- “I was really impressed,” ing a system of rewards for the reflected Herbert after the participation in this destruction meeting ended. “Something has [e.g. labour and human rights’ begun even though I was pes- violations, environmental deg- simistic about this whole idea radation, and a growing under- coming to anything.” A deter- class],” said graduate student mined optimism seems to have Steve Turpin. “It is clear that in now infected participants at the order to contest these systems meetings who are now inves- of domination and destruction, It is key that the university become a community onto itself but also tigating the possibility of the a new university will have to be intimately interconnected with the community in which it will first campus being situated in work towards a holistic learning reside. Philip McMaster ([email protected]) or around Arundel, the location environment based on mutual of what will likely be considered respect and reciprocity - both an institution of higher learn- able building materials, to the the historic first meeting of a socially and environmentally”. ing would look like that was production and consumption new Canadian university. Laird Herbert, a student and born in Canada, of Canada, and of organic food, to research “The process of actually prime initiator of the meetings, by young Canadians attuned creations that would not be implementing our visions, as had similar frustrations with the to the spirit and rhythms of harmful to the planet. It was we are beginning to do after this choices available, “There aren’t the twenty-first century,” said key that the university become magic convergence of energy any post-secondary educational Tony Hall, a University of Leth- a community onto itself but also and minds at the Arundel institutions in North America bridge professor and author of be intimately interconnected Nature Centre, can inspire a that are based on sustainable The American Empire and the with the community in which it sense of hope,” Hall commented ecological principles and simul- Fourth World. would reside. as the meeting came to a close. taneously are affordable.” Ecological principles were Practical matters that The next organizing meet- The weekend focused on to be the foundation upon which would realize this project were ing will be held the weekend developing a vision with associ- to base other principles, ecolog- also explored. Discussions of January 13-15th. Those who ated statements, an initial strat- ical considerations being incor- covered the use of active and would like more information egy for realizing such a project porated into all dimensions: inclusive decision-making pro- can check out and next steps. “The time has from the physical infrastructure cesses drawing upon consensus www.newuniversity.net come to at least imagine what using environmentally sustain- models; mutual learning where The Dominion, December 2005 • Vol. II, #14 Canadian News 14 Remembering Bureaucracy Not all war veterans are remembered by Chris Arsenault feel the Spanish drama as a per- sonal tragedy,” wrote French It is the year of the veteran, writer Albert Camus after the and as cannons blare and politi- fascist victory. cians make speeches praising After his release, Paivio the sacrifice of soliders, one made it to France and hopped group of Canadian freedom a steamship home in secret, “so fighters dwindles without a there wouldn’t be demonstra- penny in pensions or official tions in our honour.” Thousands recognition. still turned out at Toronto’s Jules Paivio was 19, work- Union Station to greet one ing in a Sudbury department group of returning vets. store when he decided to head “When we got back, we for Spain along with more than resumed our political activity 1,200 other Canadians, to join and tried to find jobs,” he said. the fight against fascism. But for Paivio, the call came The year was 1936. General again soon. When World War Francisco Franco led a military Two broke out, he had married coup against Spain’s elected but he enlisted again, legally leftist government. Western this time, teaching map-reading democracies, trying to appease in Petiwawa because the army an increasingly aggressive wouldn’t send him overseas. Adolph Hitler, issued an arms The government and vet- embargo against the Spanish erans’ groups continue to deny Republic. official recognition for Spanish “I saw the agony of the Civil War fighters. “Veterans’ Spanish people on the news Jules Paivio receives no veteransʼ benefits for fighting in the Spanish benefits are only available to reels and it touched me,” said CivilWar. Rachel Rosen veterans who served in a war Paivio, now 88. in which Canada was an official The Spanish Civil War Ross Rifles, before being shipped While Franco’s fascists participant,” said Janice Sum- is seen by many historians as to the front, trying to defend received planes, weapons and merby, spokesperson for Veter- the classic case of right versus Madrid, the Spanish capital, soldiers from Germany and ans Affairs. wrong: an elected government from fascist encirclement. After more than 100,000 Italian “Obviously, many Canadi- supported by peasants, work- three months of trench warfare troops, Paivio’s Republican side ans went on their own to serve ers and small business people and some intensive training, he had no international support, but did so without government standing against a fascist dic- was put on a campaign to break other than a few Soviet military encouragement. This is an issue tator backed by the military, through enemy lines. advisers and an insufficient that has been debated in the industrialists, large land owners “They (the Spanish people) supply of weapons. “We always House of Commons and various and Church officials. were always happy they had held out that the democracies governments have decided to It inspired Pablo Picasso international volunteers helping would come around and provide stick with the status quo,” she to paint his famous Guernica, them. Everyone understood ‘no us with weapons. But it was not said. Ernest Hemingway to write For pasaran,’ (they shall not pass) to be,” he said. Trade unions, student Whom the Bell Tolls and much so if they didn’t speak English Paivio was captured and groups, and progressive enter- more poetry, prose and intellec- they understand no pasaran spent a year in a prison camp tainers have raised funds over tual discourse. and that fist, that salute,” facing beatings with rifle butts, the years for memorials in Van- William Lyon Mackenzie- reminisces Paivio. In 1996, the burns from cigarettes, constant couver, Toronto and Ottawa. King’s Liberal government for- Spanish government invited interrogations and a bad case of When speaking of the bade Canadians from fighting surviving veterans back to scurvy. He was freed in a swap situation today, after the fall in the war, so Paivio with other Spain, and honoured them with for Italian prisoners in 1939 as of the Berlin Wall and the old young communists, anarchists Spanish citizenship. Nearly half the war wound down and Spain model of socialism, Paivio, still and believers in the Republic the Canadians who served died succumbed to fascist control. a communist, admits, “There bused to New York, sailed to fighting fascism. “It was in Spain, that [my is not that clear understanding France, and crossed into Spain The attempts to break generation] learned that one can of right and wrong, where you joining 40,000 others in the fascist lines were unsuccessful. be right and yet be beaten, that can serve and do your bit. It was international brigades. And the tide turned against force can vanquish spirit, that kind of a unique situation at the “I didn’t tell my folks I was the anti-fascists. The left, as it there are times when courage time; there were a people who going,” he chuckles. so often does, turned on itself. is not its own recompense. It is you could help and support. Paivio received three weeks “The Trotskyites cut our supply this, doubtless, which explains That’s why it was so easy to get of training with old Canadian lines,” said Paivio. why so many, the world over, volunteers to go,” he said. 15 Voice From The Coffin The Dominion, December 2005 • Vol. II, #14 Did you hear the one about... Deconstructing a Canadian Indian in the privacy of your own home by Stewart Steinhauer a resistance? Points #201 to #203 from The Final Report Hmm. Deconstructing On A Study Of Treaties, Agree- Canadian Indians in the privacy ments, and Other Constructive of your own home? Reverse Arrangements Between States engineering intellectual prop- and Indigenous Populations, erty? That’s a tall order for a United Nations Economic And short space. Flipping open the Social Council, Commission Master’s toolbox, he grabbed On Human Rights, Sub-Com- the monkey wrench and tossed mission on Prevention of Dis- it into the cogs of the Machine. crimination And Protection Of For a nanosecond, things Minorities, prepared by Miguel lurched to a halt, and, in that Alfonso Martinez, Special Rap- short space, Steinhauer said: porteur to the UN, the product “Canadian Indians, circa of 25 years of study into the 2005, are a social construct subject, said: created out of the remnants of Indigenous Peoples surviving 201. In this context, let it be genocide by subjecting them said that the Special Rappor- teur’s historical research has to a social engineering project Steinhauer hammer finishing around lettering at base of “Surviving Genocide”. shown, in his view, that not all spanning several centuries. indigenous nations made the As such, they can be properly he be? Author Tanya Wasacase Cola logo to Dick Cheney’s face wisest of choices at all times. thought of as the intellectual has explained how identity is a mouthing “War Is Peace” to the That is to say, at some crucial property of western civilization, function of a way of life, rather Pepsi logo, then back to Cheney, moments in their history, Canada division.” than a function of skin, hair, or endlessly. some indigenous nations were Steinhauer looked at his eye colour, or any of the other The following morning not capable of putting the need atomic clock; there wasn’t much theories of identity proposed by the first fall snow had melted to unite among themselves over their individual inter- of that nanosecond left. Reverse western civilization. Anonymous away, but the chill of the ests, even though unity was Indigenous language activists coming winter had definitely engineering. Was it going to be necessary to confront prop- like playing country and west- have explained how language stayed. While the Italian steam erly encroachment on their ern music backwards, where is the spiritual/ mental/ emo- pot bubbled up espresso from sovereign attributes. This was your dog comes home, and tional/ physical story-telling the Zapatista coffee grounds, true even when the ultimate your spouse and kids, too, and voice which interactively shapes Steinhauer fired up the laptop intentions of the newcomers there’s a great crop, and you get and describes that way of life. and contemplated addictions. were already apparent. The to keep the farm? Looking back With a sudden startle reac- Deconstructing Canadian Indi- terrible consequences inher- ent in allowing themselves to in his own family lines, Stein- tion, Steinhauer realized that ans has got to have something be divided appear not to have reverse engineering must begin to do with addictions, doesn’t hauer saw ancestors from the been totally perceived. Cree, Ojibwe, Metis, Mohawk, at home; slamming shut the it? Irish, and Scots Nations. In true Master’s toolbox, he got up and From liberalism he picked 202. In addition, on more than colonial fashion, his only func- took the few short steps from out individualism, and re- one occasion they seem not to tional language was English, his office to his home. branded it as isolation. From have recognized the advan- just like most other modern That night he had a dream. the liberal concept of private tages and disadvantages, in Cree, Ojibwe, Metis, Mohawk, A medieval siege catapult was property he picked out the all their dimensions, nor the final consequences, of a policy Irish and Scots people. lobbing plague-bloated corpses enclosure of the commons, and of alliance with European onto Turtle Island, from across re-branded it as dislocation. With terrifying force, powers. This can be said both the Machine spit the monkey the big water. Countless mil- From the global order created of those who adopted this wrench across a half-vast uni- lions of African Peoples were by the crossing of individualism policy of alliance in line with verse, and time slouched on being dragged under that water, with private property he picked their own on-going fratricidal again. Enough day-dreaming chained together in a seemingly out labour as a commodity, and struggles and of those who on the job, thought Steinhauer, endless line. The sky was dotted re-branded it alienation. Stein- decided to favour one of the it’s back to work. Getting out with mushroom-shaped clouds, hauer was about to say “com- non-indigenous powers over the others in the military con- his reverse engineering tools, while turbulent weather buf- bine this unholy trinity, and you frontations that took place in feted the surface of the earth. A could make an addiction out of he sighted down that slouching their ancestral lands. time line of his ancestors, past full moon stood just clear of the absolutely anything”, but the row upon row of engineered weather, on the eastern hori- steam pot started making those 203. Further, it is also appar- humans. If he wasn’t going to zon, and onto its surface a giant come and get it noises that all ent that they could not fully be intellectual property of the satellite-mounted projector was true coffee addicts can’t resist. appreciate (or that they Canadian sector of western casting an alternating set of If resistance is futile, then widely underestimated) the civilization, then who would images, going from the Coca- why bother trying to organize continued on page 16 » The Dominion, December 2005 • Vol. II, #14 Accounts 16

Deconstructing, continued from previous page » Boots, cont. from page 11 »

questionable role played, and to ring, and she rushed into the he had one day, as he sat by the capital; a 1994 memo from the still played, in many cases, by bedroom to urge him on, only roadside watching life go by, on Chase Manhattan Bank urging religious denominations or to discover him half undressed, the Okanagan Indian Reserve # the Mexican army to “eliminate their representatives as effec- and in a peculiar state. When 1. A real estate salesman stopped the Zapatistas” demonstrates tive instruments of the colo- nial enterprise in its various you’re old, sometimes things to ask for directions. “Do you how global capital deals with stages. don’t work when their supposed know which way to Kelowna?” those who seek alternatives. to, and then, by surprise, they Pete looked at him and said, “I Still, the workshop’s pro- Then again, what if suddenly work when they’re not don’t know”. “Well then, which duction is based on a key prin- resistance is fertile? Inside supposed to. The old woman way to Vernon?” “I don’t know.” ciple of zapatismo: “Everything Steinhauer’s coffee-addled grabbed him and threw him Exasperated, the salesman said, for everyone, nothing for our- brain, a thought flitted past. down on the bed. “What are you “Don’t you know anything, old selves.” “We can’t get together to fend doing?” he cried. “We’ll be late man?” to which Pete responded, “Those of us with the privi- off the fiends, but we can sure for church.” Hoisting her long “I know I’m not lost.” lege of a Canadian passport, who get together to make babies”. skirt, the old woman replied, Yeah. We’re not lost. If are ‘also Zapatistas’ by Rafael’s It brought to mind the old “The church will still be stand- we can stand our ground, keep definition, have a responsibil- Cree couple who lived nearby ing there next week, but I’m not our languages alive, keep on ity to help build participatory the Catholic Church on their so sure that this will be.” making babies, keep at least the structures in re-developing reserve. It was a Sunday morn- But if le pièce de résistance, memory of our way of life alive, areas,” said Black Star organizer ing, and the old woman was fertility, is futile, what then? we’ll never be lost. Dennis Hale. “And not just admonishing the old man to Feeling at a loss, Steinhauer because we’re nice guilty liber- hurry, and change into his remembered old Pete Gregory’s Next: als, but because we need them church clothes. The bell started words, describing an experience Panarchists to the rescue! more than they need us.”

Privatization, continued from page 2 » privatization regardless of the “a huge victory for the labour International Labour Organiza- tivity” in the health care jobs cost–to taxpayers, in decline of movement.” tion in the last three years. BC, targeted by the government in quality of service,” said Howard, “Audiences outside of BC he added, has the “worst record 2004. is leading to “mounting anger”, don’t realize the extent that the of any provincial government” Lightman thinks that the evidence of which can be seen in government has thumbed its when it comes to labour. unions are waiting out the gov- the public support for the strik- nose at workers’ rights,” said According to Lee, privati- ernment, which is significantly ing teachers. Howard, citing “nine separate zation is losing credibility. “The weaker than it was after win- The high profile strikes, occasions” where the govern- cost savings aren’t materializing ning a vast majority of provin- he said, have “helped galvanize ment was convicted of “violat- the way they planned,” he said, cial seats in 2001. “They’ll make public opinion against privati- ing basic and fundamental citing an “increase in absentee- a symbolic stand, and wait and zation.” The BCTF strike was rights of working people” by the ism” and a “decrease in produc- hope for an NDP government.”

McOrganic, continued from page 6» ing weakening local economies, possible throughout our entire dards in ways that benefit Kneen’s. The cooperative is causing the disappearance of process,” explains Kneen. “Cor- corporations at the expense of refocusing its energy away from mixed farms with diverse crops porate beer is focused on the everyone else,” warns Howard Atlantic Superstores towards and damaging “the entire rural bottom line.” referring to organic standards selling produce directly to cus- fabric of Canada, which is based Small farmers are frus- in the US. “Some [small farm- tomers. This kind of exchange on small farms and the culture trated by an organic certifi- ers] have already given up on can happen at farmers markets and skills developed by farmers cation process that fails to the term “organic” to describe and through Community Sup- and ranchers.” differentiate between the their values. They would rather ported Agriculture (CSA) boxes, Large companies are often organic potato grown by a small explain exactly how they grew which deliver boxes of fresh able to sell one organic product mixed farm next door and the the food, or even invite custom- produce from the farm directly at a low price by subsidizing it organic potato shipped from an ers to see their farm, than pay to consumers’ doors. with a line-up of non-organic industrial monoculture farm in hundreds of dollars for a certi- Johnston agrees with the products, thus undercutting Mexico. “Some of us would like fication that they see as a sort of emphasis on local. He adds, “I’d the small organic producer. to include fossil fuel audits in the lowest common denominator.” also like customers to buy basic, But according to Kneen, small certification process,” explains For the bewildered consci- wholesome food rather than organic producers, like Crannóg Johnston. “Not a hope with the entious food shopper, Kneen’s processed convenience foods. Ale’s Micro-brewery, offer the corporations involved though. advice is unequivocal: “Buy But supermarket chains and customer and the community [With corporations], there is local!! Ignore corporate organic, food corporations won’t encour- far more than a cheap product. and will be constant pressure to and buy locally produced food age this. It isn’t profitable.” “What we do is focused on high produce enough product at the directly from the farmer or When food shopping, Johnston quality products, locally sourced lowest possible price.” through a food co-op.” asks customers to stay smart. ingredients, supporting the “Constant vigilance will Sea Spray Atlantic Grow- “Are organic twinkies really a local economy and creating as be required to resist attempts ers Cooperative is hoping cus- good idea?” little environmental impact as to weaken the USDA stan- tomers will follow advice like