Speaking tour in 8 Ontarian cities to engage protection of Great Lakes

The tour, Great Lakes Need Great Friends: Protecting The Great Lakes Forever, will visit Toronto (May 15), Hamilton (May 16), Thunder Bay (May 17), Kingston (May 22), Sarnia (May 24), Township of Tiny (May 28), Owen Sound (May 29), and London (May 30).

“The Great Lakes of North America are in serious trouble,” says Barlow. “Industrial pollution, climate change, over-extraction, invasive species, and wetland loss are all taking their toll on the watershed that provides life and livelihood to more than 40 million people and thousands of species that live around it.”

“On this tour to Great Lakes Basin communities, we’ll be discussing an exciting new proposal to designate the lakes and their tributary waters as a lived Commons, to be shared, protected, carefully managed and enjoyed by all who live around them,” adds Barlow. “A Great Lakes Basin Commons would recognize that water is a human right. It would recognize the ecological rights of the watershed, that private interests are subordinate to community rights, that governments have an affirmative obligation to manage and protect the Great Lakes, and that First Nations/American Indian tribes should be involved in the decision-making process. Public participation is key to the Great Lakes Basin Commons.”

The Council of Canadians is demanding that these commons and public trust principles be included in the Ontario government’s upcoming Great Lakes Protection Act.

Emma Lui, Water Campaigner for the Council of Canadians, says the tour will help:

• “Foster connections along the Great Lakes by making the links between current fights against threats such as fracking, bottled water withdrawals, invasive species, and nuclear waste storage and shipments.
• “Cultivate a Great Lakes stewardship by encouraging people to recognize they not only have a right, but a responsibility to protect the Great Lakes’ waters.
• “Invite community involvement and encourage inspiring actions that will help shift the current market economy priorities that govern the Great Lakes to priorities based on commons and public trust principles.”

Full details about the speaking tour and local speakers are available at: www.canadians.org/greatlakes.

PDF tour poster

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Links:
Open letter: http://canadians.org/trade/documents/CETA/joint-letter-1010.pdf
Comic: http://www.canadians.org/trade/documents/CETA/CETA_ten.pdf
G20 – Voices of the People: http://rootsmedia.ca/2010-07/219-g20-voices-of-the-people-the-peoples-summit
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/e2nie
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Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Roots-Broadcast/109809822374593
CETA rally: http://rootsmedia.ca/2010-10/227-ceta-rally

Maude Barlow & Ernie Hilts

This broadcast covers a Vancouver hospital’s plan for abandoning babies; Rahul Singh’s GlobalMedic’s service; Sears warehouse workers lock-out; PEI senior’s prescription break; BC HST NDP petition; lesbian school photo blues; Ontario Water Conservation Alliance ideas; and the April 22nd Aboriginal HST protest.

This broadcast covers Aboriginal legal action against tar sands; Grassy Narrows mercury poisoning; RCMP’s new submachine guns; product safety with children; Re:Sound music licensing; film pirate Geremi Adam; Israeli attacks in Canada; governmental hacking; Obama’s privatization of space exploration; eco-destruction and economic fear; April 22nd Aboriginal HST protest.

This broadcast covers the prorogation of Canadian Parliament, and Jack Layton’s motion to prevent minority Prime Minister Stephen Harper from acting as a “king.” Today’s broadcast also looks into the torture of Afghan detainees, the Province of Toronto, bloody protesting, and health concerns relating to diesel trains. Stay tuned to RootsMedia.ca for bi-weekly broadcasts, with new segments.

#1 http://rootsmedia.ca/2009-10/86-rally-4-accountability
#2 http://rootsmedia.ca/2009-10/142-police-brutality-western-universit
#3 http://rootsmedia.ca/2009-10/144-balloon-boy
#4 http://daretoremember.com
#5 http://rootsmedia.ca/2009-10/118-families-share-stories

Andrea Horwath

In front of the Ontario legislative building, at Queen’s Park, on Monday was a “Rally 4 Accountability” to have an Ombudsman oversee the Children’s Aid Society. Andrea Horwath, MPP and leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party, introduced Bill 93 in 2008 to provide external investigations of allegations against the Children’s Aid Society.

The Ombudsman will be able to investigate the publicly funded system, where child abuse and misuse of funding is said to be ramped.

RELATED STORIES:
• Families share stories
• Families visit Minister of Children and Youth Services
• Call for cross-country film

Many spoke out against the C.A.S. describing their own horror-filled stories. From an Archbishop’s children being held hostage between the truth of his case and the credibility of the C.A.S.; to the story of a 17 year-old youth having to take care of other foster children while the foster parents are out spending funding on dinners for themselves, instead of providing proper food and adequate winter clothing for the children. Another youth described the neglect he endured when needing a hip replacement.

In an audio recording a mother describes her daughter being sexually abused by a boy who shares the same bedroom. (Click here to listen to this audio recording and hear other stories.)

Many of the people there are being sued by the Children’s Aid Society for defamation. Watch the videos and listen to the broken families, then decide for yourself how credible the Children’s Aid Society is.

After the rally, some of the group walked to the office of the Minister of Children and Youth Services. RootsMedia.ca was there for part of the meeting, and hopes to obtain the following audio recording.

Tuesday, the day following the rally, Deb Matthews resigned as Minister of Children Youth Services. The group who walked into the office did not meet with Matthews herself, but met with a couple from communications and also the policy advisor.

The former Minister’s workers listened, and stressed that they need to have continued input from the families.

View raw video of speeches, and the spontaneous surprise visit to the Minister’s office, on RootsMedia.ca’s YouTube channel; don’t forget to subscribe! The video is uploading, come back to this post for links to videos, and how you can get involved.

Links:

• Facebook Group
• Rally 4 Accountability
• Bill 93