[Wamvan] Fwd: June in Review, Part II: Greeks revolt, Gaza flotillas ready, feds go anti-postal

[Tami Starlight]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: The Dominion <dru at dominionpaper.ca>
Date: Fri, Jul 1, 2011 at 8:09 AM
Subject: June in Review, Part II: Greeks revolt, Gaza flotillas ready, feds
go anti-postal
To: dominion-notify at ftm.koumbit.org




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To read June in Review, Part II, on the web, with pictures, visit:
http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/4050

June in Review, Part II Greeks revolt, Gaza flotillas ready, feds go
anti-postal

Ten flotillas of *Palestine* supporters gathered in Greece and prepared to
break the Israeli siege of Gaza by defying Israel's naval blockade. The
Israeli government has
suggested<https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/17/world/middleeast/17flotilla.html>it
would use force against the flotillas, as it did against the Mavi
Marmara
last year. During the preparations, the Irish flotilla was
sabotaged<http://mondoweiss.net/2011/06/irish-flotilla-ship-will-not-sail-to-gaza-due-to-extensive-sabotage.html>
.

Despite cross-Canada protests <http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/4035>,
actions, work stoppages and rallies in support of the striking postal
workers, the federal government
legislated<http://www.cupw.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/13413/la_id/1.htm>the
*Canadian Union of Postal Workers* back to work. CUPW has
announced<http://www.metronews.ca/halifax/canada/article/903414--cupw-to-challenge-back-to-work-bill-in-court>they
plan to challenge the back to work bill in court.

Under the *threat* of back-to-work legislation
imposed<http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/06/27/air-canada-workers-ratify-contract_n_885504.html%3Cbr%20/%3E>by
the Harper government just 16 hours into their strike, the
*Canadian Auto Workers*, representing 3,800 Air Canada employees, voted in
favour of a new collective agreement. “[The government's] decision to use
back-to-work legislation in the Canada Post and Air Canada disputes was not
neutral," said <http://www.cupw.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/13413/la_id/1.htm> CUPW
president Denis Lemelin. "The Conservatives have shown themselves to be very
anti-worker after only two months of majority government.”

The *Ontario* government and public school teachers have agreed
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/ontario-teachers-come-to-deal-on-pension-shortfall/article2075663/>to
an increase in their pension contribution rates and a reduction in their
benefits, with zero impact on the government's fiscal plan.

Thousands of people took
over<http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/29/us-greece-parliament-idUSTRE75S70J20110629>Syntagma
Square in Athens as the Greek government
passed<http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/29/uk-greece-debt-loan-idUKTRE75S1L220110629>the
first part of an austerity package in a bid for international funding.
If unsuccessful, *Greece* will default on its debt in mid-July. Greek police
used unprecedented force to repress demonstrators. "What happened was not
the police attacking a demonstration, it was them attacking an entire city –
an urbicide of highest order,"
read<http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2011/06/30/646-in-times-like-these/>a
report posted to Occupied London, a website dedicated to covering the
struggle in Greece.

An opinion poll commissioned by the Toronto Star identified that public
support for police actions during the *G20* has
decreased<http://www.thestar.com/news/torontog20summit/article/1014891--new-poll-finds-monumental-shift-in-public-perception-of-toronto-police-because-of-g20-actions>significantly.

The head of the Canadian delegation at a UN meeting
opposed<http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/06/22/canada-wont-allow-asbestos-hazardous_n_882173.html>placing
limits on the export of chrysotile
*asbestos*, a known carcinogen which is mined in Quebec. This will likely
mean international efforts to deem it a hazardous material will fail and
restrictions will not be placed on its export.

Canada's correctional investigator said
<http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1014727--prison-crowding-linked-to-tories-crime-agenda>
*federal prisons* are already experiencing significant and in some cases
dangerous overcrowding. His statement came just three months after Ottawa
ended accelerated parole for inmates.

Hockey fans in* Vancouver*
rioted<http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/blog/dawn/7558>after the Canucks'
Game 7 loss to Boston in the Stanley Cup Final. "It
appears that wearing your political stripes on your sleeve is far riskier in
Canada than wearing a hockey jersey, and that your purpose for being in the
streets will determine the police response more than your actions,"
wrote<http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1014920--a-tale-of-two-police-forces>Toronto
lawyer Adrienne Telford and law graduate Jeff Carolin, regarding the
differences in police response at the G20 and the Canucks riot.

Fifteen year-old Supriya Dwivedi was
banned<http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/supriya-dwivedi/quebec-hijab-soccer_b_882652.html>from
refereeing for the Lac St. Louis Soccer Association for wearing a
hijab, re-igniting the "reasonable accommodation" debate in *Quebec*.

Members of the *Nadleh Whut'en First Nation* who work at the Endako Mining
camp in northern BC
complained<http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/%E2%80%9Chttp://thetyee.ca/News/2011/06/22/CampIllnesses/%E2%80%9D>of
widespread illness they believe is caused by their work environment.
The
company called the complaints “exaggerated.”

The *Conservative government* indicated it will shut
down<http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/06/22/afghan-detainees-document_n_881927.html?ir=Canada>a
review of documents about the handling of detainees in Afghanistan. A
trove of records tabled in parliament last Wednesday were met with
speculation about whether Canadians knew the prisoners they handed over
might be tortured in Afghan jails.

Other defense documents
obtained<http://www.globalnews.ca/world/story.html?id=5007046>by the
Ottawa
Citizen revealed that the Canadian military plans to spend $830 million on a
new helicopter squadron and other construction at the Canadian Forces Base
in *Petawawa, Ontario*.

Warming *ocean waters* are causing the largest
movement<http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/greenpage/124555274.html>of
marine species in more than two million years, according to
scientists.

A 15-year-old *BC* girl with Down Syndrome was
found<http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/%E2%80%9Chttp://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/06/27/bc-down-syndrome-report.html%E2%80%9D>home
alone with her mother's week-old corpse. The mother was struggling
with
addiction and poverty, and was unable to care for her daughter without
support. Her income assistance was cut off before her death, despite the
fact that she was in dire need of financial and social aid.

The government of *Alberta* revealed a plan to
spend<http://vueweekly.com/front/story/believe_us/>$500,000
“educating” Albertans on the benefits of carbon capture and
sequestration technology, before conducting a public survey to decide if it
should give a $2 billion
subsidy<http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Tories+draw+fire+over+865M+carbon+capture+investment/5005671/story.html>to
an already wealthy industry for the controversial CCS projects.

The Iraqi government
shortlisted<http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE75K1BO20110621>Montreal-based
*SNC Lavalin* for a lucrative oilfield development contract. The winner of
the contract will be announced within two weeks.

The provincial electronics recycling program in *Ontario* proved
unable<http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/%E2%80%9Chttp://www.thestar.com/news/article/1015357--ontario-s-electronics-recycling-plan-coming-up-short%E2%80%9D>to
recycle all of the toxic materials it promised to keep out of
landfills.
It has a surplus of $20 million in collected eco-fees.

An internal Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
report revealed
<http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/glen-pearson/stephen-harper-africa_b_882680.html?ir=Canada%20Politics>that
trade with
*Africa* will soon supplant aid.

A group of US lawmakers
launched<http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/06/lawmakers-sue-president-obama-over-illegal-libya-war.html>a
lawsuit against President Obama, claiming that the bombing of
*Libya* is illegal. The suit states “the executive branch’s circumvention of
Congress and its use of international organizations such as the United
Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to authorize the use of
military force abroad, in violation of the Constitution.” Canada-led NATO
forces have carried
out<http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/06/26/UPI-NewsTrack-TopNews/UPI-12501309091084/>at
least 4,700 bombings over the past three months. During Foreign
Affairs
Minister John Baird's visit to the country to meet with rebels, he signed a
Canadian bomb that already
carried<http://www.metronews.ca/halifax/canada/article/901414--baird-surprised-pleasantly-by-libya-rebels--page0>a
surprising message: "This postal service don't strike."

Police in *Peru *opened
fire<http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFN1E75O04120110625?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true>on
a group of Indigenous people blockading an airport in Juliaca, killing
six and injuring dozens of others. On the same day, a mining concession
granted to Vancouver-based Bear Creek Mining was annulled by the Peruvian
government. The English language press
misconstrued<http://woborders.wordpress.com/2011/06/25/untangling-puno-mining-protest-reports-or-why-english-language-wire-reporters-should-read-the-local-press/>the
massacre as having been related directly to Bear Creek, when in fact
protesters there were protesting other mining projects and a proposed
mega-dam.

*New York State* senators
approved<http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/06/20116242306746341.html>a
law allowing gay marriage, making it the sixth state in the U.S. where
same sex marriage is legal. Rhode Island lawmakers
passed<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/us/30unions.html?_r=1&emc=na>a
bill allowing gay couples civil unions, but not marriage.

The mayor of *Halifax* survived
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/atlantic/halifax-mayor-under-fire-for-cash-advances-to-promoters-of-high-%20profile-concerts/article2075220/>a
council vote to suspend him, after a series of contracts to concert
promoters were doled out in a manner that contravened the city's spending
rules.
Satirical US organization Americans for Fairness in Awarding Journalism
Prizes continued
<http://abcnews.go.com/US/unaffiliated-organization-seeks-pulitzer-prize-onion-satirical-news/story?id=13923320>their
campaign to have *the Onion *nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. "It is the
number one news organization in the country. Unbiased reporting,
hard-hitting, in-depth coverage, I could go on and on, but unfortunately
most of the adjectives that could describe the Onion haven't been invented
yet," Steven Forbeck, head of the AFAJP, told ABC News.

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-- 
Meegwetch/Thank you/Merci
*Tami M. Starlight*
Vancouver, Canada
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