Police violence is a public health crisis, so why aren’t there health-based solutions?:

Cities across Canada are facing calls and protests to cut police budgets and to reinvest that money into community and social programs. So far, Edmonton, Alberta, has passed a motion to cut the police budget by $11 million over the next two years. Meanwhile, Toronto has dismissed motions to reduce the police budget, and has instead invested more money into reform strategies such as body cameras.

Police violence is a public health crisis, so why aren’t there health-based solutions?: Cities across Canada are facing calls and protests to cut police budgets and to reinvest that money into community and social programs. So far, Edmonton, Alberta, has passed a motion to cut the police budget by $11 million over the next two years. Meanwhile, Toronto has dismissed motions to reduce the police budget, and has instead invested more money into reform strategies such as body cameras.Read More

I Hate That, Despite the Lofty Promises, Canada Remains a Climate Pariah: Liberal or Conservative, it doesn’t make a whit of difference which party governs. Canada remains in the grip of petro-pimps and, yes, that includes the current Liberal government.

The National Observer has an analysis piece showing that Canada, in the midst of the pandemic, is supporting fossil fuels at 10 times the G20 average.

There are rumours that the Trudeau government is on the verge of going all progressive on our arse. Yeah, right. This would be the same, progressively-inclined regime that’s pushing through the massive, overpriced, no longer needed Trans-Mountain pipeline expansion even as foreign investors and energy companies are abandoning the Athabasca Tar Pits, openly declaring bitumen a “stranded asset.” What’s that line about, when you’re trying to get out of a hole, you must first stop digging?

I Hate That, Despite the Lofty Promises, Canada Remains a Climate Pariah: Liberal or Conservative, it doesn’t make a whit of difference which party governs. Canada remains in the grip of petro-pimps and, yes, that includes the current Liberal government.The National Observer has an analysis piece showing that Canada, in the midst of the pandemic, is supporting fossil fuels at 10 times the G20 average.There are rumours that the Trudeau government is on the verge of going all progressive on our arse. Yeah, right. This would be the same, progressively-inclined regime that’s pushing through the massive, overpriced, no longer needed Trans-Mountain pipeline expansion even as foreign investors and energy companies are abandoning the Athabasca Tar Pits, openly declaring bitumen a “stranded asset.” What’s that line about, when you’re trying to get out of a hole, you must first stop digging?Read More

Planting trees is no substitute for reducing fossil fuels – Environmental Defence: In the last election the federal Liberals promised to plant two billion trees, a pledge that upon re-election has become a government commitment. While it’s true that nature should be part of the climate change solution, some caution is needed. It could be the next version of greenwashing, or even climate denial.

The research is clear that protecting and enhancing ecosystems can play an important role in climate action, but also that these activities couldn’t possibly make up for the very high carbon emissions coming from the burning of fossil fuels. Some oil and gas companies may be pointing to forests, wetlands, and other ecosystems as a replacement for the crucial goal of phasing out of fossil fuels. But avoiding climate catastrophe can’t be done on the back of nature alone.

Planting trees is no substitute for reducing fossil fuels – Environmental Defence: In the last election the federal Liberals promised to plant two billion trees, a pledge that upon re-election has become a government commitment. While it’s true that nature should be part of the climate change solution, some caution is needed. It could be the next version of greenwashing, or even climate denial.The research is clear that protecting and enhancing ecosystems can play an important role in climate action, but also that these activities couldn’t possibly make up for the very high carbon emissions coming from the burning of fossil fuels. Some oil and gas companies may be pointing to forests, wetlands, and other ecosystems as a replacement for the crucial goal of phasing out of fossil fuels. But avoiding climate catastrophe can’t be done on the back of nature alone.Read More