Trailer Park Evicted to Make Room for Fracking

When the 32 families of the Riverdale Mobile Home Park in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, found out that they were losing their homes to the state's latest fracking operation, the news didn't come from their landlord, or an eviction notice in the mail—they read about it in their morning paper.

The February 18 article, published in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, nonchalantly detailed the approval of three natural gas projects in Lycoming County, PA, including a water withdrawal station that would pipe millions of gallons of water from the Susquehanna River to fracking stations in the mountains further north. The article noted that an "added benefit" of the plans was "the removal of mobile homes," which were located in a potential flood plain.

Quebec Student Protests: Tuition Protests Planned For Montreal And Quebec City

MONTREAL - Student leaders are urging people to march en masse through the streets of Montreal and Quebec City.

The calls by the heads of the movement opposing tuition fee increases come as protesters shift gears for the summer months.

Crowds are expected to gather in downtown Montreal for a march today as well as outside the provincial legislature in Quebec City.

Are we heading towards a one man government, with no checks and balances?

The list of allegations of assault on Canadian parliamentary democracy by the Harper government is a long one. They include the two prorogations, the lack of information on the cost of the omnibus crime bill, the hiding of $10 billion of the full costs of the F-35 fighter jets and the inclusion of some 70 odd pieces of legislation under the omnibus budget bill without the benefit of full democratic exposure. And now we have a new one, this time being alleged not by the opposition parties, but by an independent officer of Parliament.

On April 12, 2013, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Kevin Page, requested from certain deputy ministers information regarding the savings measures in their departments relating to the stipulations in the omnibus budget bill that has just been passed in the House of Commons. The PBO relied on section 79.3(1) of the Parliament of Canada Act which was brought in under the much vaunted Harper Conservative Federal Accountability Act.

Page: Budget details or court case

Parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page is giving the government until the fall to hand over details of budget cuts or he is taking them to court.

On Monday, Page made public an 11-page legal opinion that said the government was breaking the law by not handing over the information.

The law says the parliamentary budget officer, Canada’s independent budget watchdog, is to have “free and timely access to financial or economic data.”

'It's time to take the uprising in Quebec from coast to coast to coast'

On Friday, June 22, join in the largest act of civil disobedience in North American history.

From the Harper government's attacks on workers and our environment, to Charest's attacks on students and Law 78's attack on the public's right to protest, now is the time to unite.

Tomorrow, June 22, there is a massive mobilization taking place in Quebec. Join with friends and family to take the uprising in Quebec from coast to coast to coast.

This is about more than tuition; this is about education for all, about ending austerity, and about creating the future we want to build. We refuse to be silenced!

This Friday, wherever you are, join with friends and family to bang on pots and pans in solidarity with the people of Quebec.

Most casseroles will begin at 8p.m. Check out this link to find out where events are being planned in your city. If your city isn't on the list, organize an event with the people in your community.

Casseroles will continue on a weekly basis. The next massive demonstration will be July 22.


On ne lâche pas!


Original Article
Source: rabble.ca
Author: Brigette DePape

At Rio+20, Canada furiously backpedals on environment

Twenty years ago, newspapers were filled with stories about an event called the Earth Summit.

Billed as a bold undertaking, the 1992 summit meeting on sustainable development in Rio de Janeiro represented a monumental effort by the world’s nations to stave off environmental Armageddon.

It produced one treaty aimed at combating global warming and another devoted to preventing the extermination of entire species of plant and animal life.

Kent says Canada must counter misinformation on environment by ecologists

RIO DE JANEIRO - Environment Minister Peter Kent says Canada must stop the spread of "misinformation" on the environment by ecologists with an ideological agenda.

It's the latest example of strained relations between Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government and the environmental movement.

Kent, who is attending a United Nations conference in Brazil on the environment, said Thursday that ideology has tinged criticism of the federal government's efforts.

Paul Krugman: Solving Europe's Crisis 'Is Not Going To Be About Punishing The Guilty'

Paul Krugman says that European leaders need to forget about exacting punishment and get around to actually addressing the crisis in Europe.

"This is not a morality play. You have to find answers," Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning Princeton economics professor and New York Times columnist, said in a recent interview with PBS. "The question is whether the Europeans in general, and the Germans in particular, can accept the fact that this is not going to be about punishing the guilty, especially because in many cases the people suffering the most had nothing to do with creating this crisis."

Walmart Petition: 130,000 Call On Company To Cease Business With CJ Seafood

Walmart is facing criticism for allegedly profiting from unfair labor practices.

More than 130,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org calling on Walmart to stop doing business with a seafood supplier accused of labor law violations.

U.S., South Korea War Games Called A Warning To North Korea

POCHEON, South Korea -- A huge North Korean flag disappeared behind a tower of flames and thick black smoke Friday as South Korean fighter jets and U.S. attack helicopters fired rockets in the allies' biggest joint live-fire drills since the Korean War.

The war games south of the heavily armed Korean border come amid rising animosity between the rival Koreas and are meant to mark Monday's 62nd anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 war, which ended in a truce, leaving the Korean Peninsula still technically at war.