Hundreds rally and march in Toronto for a Solidarity City

For seven years, thousands have marched through the streets of Toronto on May 1, demanding status for all, immigrant rights and worker rights. Supporting indigenous communities and environmental justice. Calling for an end to racism, ageism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia.

"And on February 21, Toronto City Council voted to reaffirm its promise to deliver services to every resident regardless of immigration status," said Tings Chak, a member of No One is Illegal Toronto.

Premier Redford tells schoolkids to beware of such opponents as Wildrose Party

EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Alison Redford is warning young schoolchildren to beware of the Opposition Wildrose party because, she says, it is committed to not building anything.

Redford, with dozens of children spread in a semicircle at her feet at an Edmonton school, made the comments while announcing construction of new schools for the area.

Redford told the children — and the parents and dignitaries seated behind them — that while her government is committed to building things, her opponents are not.

Premier explains Alberta politics to children: 'Opposition Leader, what big teeth you have!'

Once upon a time, while Alberta's premier was telling fairy tales to impressionable children, some of her senior officials were spinning fairy stories of their own.

Actually, this all happened yesterday.

The premier told a group of Grade 1 students at an Edmonton school library a story about a good princess named Alison, who built schools for children just like them, and a very bad princess named Danielle, who wouldn't build any schools at all!

The Alison in question, of course, is Premier Alison Redford herself, the one telling the story. The Danielle is Danielle Smith, leader of the Opposition Wildrose Party. And maybe Redford didn't use exactly those words, but you get the general idea.

The giants of the green world that profit from the planet's destruction

The movement demanding that public interest institutions divest their holdings from fossil fuels is on a serious roll. Chapters have opened up in more than 100 US cities and states as well as on more than 300 campuses, where students are holding protests, debates and sit-ins to pressure their to rid their endowments of oil, gas and coal holdings. And under the "Fossil Free UK" banner, the movement is now crossing the Atlantic, with a major push planned by People & Planet for this summer. Some schools, including University College London, have decided not to wait and already have active divestment campaigns.

Boston, from One Citizen of the World Who Calls Himself a Runner

In the past thirty years, I’ve run thirty-three full marathons. I’ve run marathons all over the world, but whenever someone asks me which is my favorite, I never hesitate to answer: the Boston Marathon, which I have run six times. What’s so wonderful about the Boston Marathon? It’s simple: it’s the oldest race of its kind; the course is beautiful; and—here’s the most important point—everything about the race is natural, free. The Boston Marathon is not a top-down but a bottom-up kind of event; it was steadily, thoughtfully crafted by the citizens of Boston themselves, over a considerable period of time. Every time I run the race, the feelings of the people who created it over the years are on display for all to appreciate, and I’m enveloped in a warm glow, a sense of being back in a place I missed. It’s magical. Other marathons are amazing, too—the New York City Marathon, the Honolulu Marathon, the Athens Marathon. Boston, however (my apologies to the organizers of those other races), is unique.

Doug Elmendorf, CBO Director: Fixing Debt Problem Requires Hitting The Middle Class

One government official has some bad news for Americans and politicians: You can’t protect the middle class from tax increases or benefit cuts if you want to fix the deficit. But part of the problem lies in the definition: Basically everyone considers themselves part of the middle class.

JPMorgan Caught in Swirl of Regulatory Woes

Government investigators have found that JPMorgan Chase devised “manipulative schemes” that transformed “money-losing power plants into powerful profit centers,” and that one of its most senior executives gave “false and misleading statements” under oath.

The findings appear in a confidential government document, reviewed by The New York Times, that was sent to the bank in March, warning of a potential crackdown by the regulator of the nation’s energy markets.

Stephen Harper To Skip Commonwealth Meeting In Sri Lanka, Citing Human Rights Abuses

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper won’t be attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka next November, The Huffington Post Canada has learned.

The decision may ostracize Harper as the only G8-level leader not attending the meeting with Britain, Australia and New Zealand all expected to send their prime ministers, but it is expected to be very popular with Tamils, a new community the Tories are going after.

RCMP Report Details 51 Cases Of Disciplinary Action

RCMP officers have faced disciplinary action for acts of bad behaviour ranging from driving a cruiser drunk, to surfing porn on the office computer, to carelessly firing a gun.

According to the latest annual report on bad behaviour in the RCMP ranks, an Alberta sergeant was also disciplined for deliberately deleting portions of a document that led to a stay of proceedings in a "major criminal case."

Global warming caused super storms, ice thaw, UN organization warns

Global warming was to blame for super storms that killed hundreds of people last year, and record levels of ice thaw in the Arctic, the United Nations has warned.

As national representatives meet in Bonn, Germany, for the latest round of climate change negotiations, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued its latest report on the damage attributed to global warming.

The annual summary, which will inform policy-makers around the world, confirmed that 2012 was the ninth-warmest year on record, since record have been kept. The global average temperature in 2012 was 0.45 C warmer than the 1961 to 1990 long-term average of 14 C.

The report also pointed out that Arctic ice was at a record low, rainfall increased causing floods around the world and a number of countries experienced drought.

Extreme weather events, like Superstorm Sandy in the U.S. and typhoon Bopha in the Philippines, were linked to climate change and the damage and death toll could be exacerbated by rising sea levels. Michel Jar-raud, the secretary-general of the WMO, said the extreme events in 2012 were "a sign of things to come."

Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Louise Gray