The Media Co-op

Veladero mine has spilled cyanide solution a couple times now

The people of Jachal, Argentina, have been protesting against their neighbour Barrick Gold's Veladero mine for years now. 

Following news of a spill at the mine on Tuesday night, at least the third spill in a year and a half, local group Asemblea Jáchal No Se Toca (Don't Touch Jáchal Assembly) took to the streets on Wednesday night, drawing a sizable crowd.

"Fuera Barrick" (Get Out, Barrick) banners came out once again and speakers sent a clear message that they want their Canadian corporate neighbour, Barrick, to leave. 

Mining operations were temporarily suspended on Thursday by the San Juan provincial government, the day after the protests and a conversation between the governor and the province's head of mining police.

After its last couple spills at Veladero released cyanide, in one instance contaminating five rivers, Barrick was ordered to up its environmental monitoring of the mine.

But Jáchal residents aren't having it. Asemblea Jáchal No Se Toca writes on Facebook that these temporary suspensions of the mine are "insufficient measures for such crimes". The group is fighting for permanent closure of the mega-project, and point to Argentina's mining laws stipulating that continued violations of the law shall lead to definitive closure of the mining establishment.

Barrick, for its part, says the spill has been entirely contained. The company recently announced it is teaming up with another Canadian mining giant, Goldcorp, to dig into massive areas of northern Argentina.

Immediately following failed attempts to trigger urban sprawl by a court appeal and numerous amendments to the Niagara Escarpment Plan, Niagara’s politicians have taken a new course. This came in the form of a request on March 2, 2017, from the Niagara Regional Council to ask the Ontario government  to amend its Growth Plan as part of the ongoing Coordinated Review of four provincial land use plans. The proposed changes in the Growth Plan would permit what are in effect urban boundary changes through the creation of “Special Policy Areas”.

These Special Policy Areas would all be in the Ontario municipalities of Thorold, Welland, Niagara Falls, Fort Erie and Port Colborne. The motion attempts to resurrect a scheme from four years ago to promote urban sprawl through an extension of the urban service boundary along the Queen Elizabeth Highway (QEW) through currently-agriculturally designated lands in southern Niagara Falls. This was supported by the City of Niagara Falls. But the proposal was dropped in order to secure provincial support for the establishment of the Niagara Regional Official Plan of a “Gateway” economic zone.

The farmlands in southern Niagara Falls adjacent to the QEW are intertwoven in a mosaic with provincially significant wetlands, including a unusual forest, the Waverly Woodlot. It contains the most ancient tall old growth forests in Canada, a rare tract of Black Gum Trees, the oldest of which is 600 years old. It also has important rare Buttonbush communities, which provide habitat for a regionally rare beautiful bird, the Wood Duck.

Agricultural groups had opposed the urban expansions of the “Gateway” in the past, but the Niagara Region removed these objections through a “stakeholder” consultation in which environmental groups were excluded. In a report titled DPS-18-2017 the Niagara Region’s Planning Department justified the proposed “Special Policy Areas” as part of a more “sophisticated” approach to land use planning which avoid restrictive “limiting factors.”

The claims of superior sophistication which justify urban sprawl are belied by a massive land use supply which would not permit urban expansions under the current Growth Plan. In the course of its research for a case resisting urban expansion, the Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society (PALS) discovered that there was a larger area for urban development that had not been reported.

Previously it had been believed that the Niagara Region had a 40-year supply of urban developable land. Now, this land supply has been greatly expanded through the victory of the Town of Fort Eire over provincial government through a court battle contesting an 800-acre area known as Douglastown. Although environmentalists had been lulled into not fighting this battle on claims forested lands would be protected, destructive assaults on this important wildlife refuge in Carolinian habitat have already begun.

In the debate at Niagara Regional Council this month there was only one member, the Mayor of Pelham, Dave Augustyn who voted against the request to the province to amend the Growth Plan. In doing so he cited “the accumulated infrastructure backlog of $545 million just to replace poor and very poor existing pipes and roads.”  For the sake of the fragile and unique habitats, it is to be hoped that the Ontario provincial government holds firm in the face of this latest urban sprawl offensive.

Papua New Guinea police reportedly destroy 150 homes beside Porgera mine

Around 150 homes were burned to the ground during police raids on Saturday, March 25, in the Wingima village beside a mine in Papau New Guinea (PNG) owned in part by Barrick Gold, according to the Akali Tange Association, a PNG-based human rights organization. 

The executive director of the Akali Tange Association, McDiyan Yapari, wrote in an email release that during Saturday’s raid by PNG Police Mobil Squads, eight young women were allegedly raped, and six young men beaten.

In a statement released two days later, Barrick, downplaying the 150 burned homes count, alleges “that approximately 18 structures were removed.”

The village was also burned down in 2009 (reportedly multiple times) and again in 2014. In one 2009 raid, Barrick claimed the number of homes destroyed was 50, whereas an Amnesty International investigation put the number at 130 or more.

Toronto-based Barrick Gold owned 95% of the mine (Porgera Joint Venture) from 2006 to 2015, and now owns 47.5%. China-based Zijin owns 47.5% after partnering with Barrick.

Yapari claims to have asked local police for the rationale for Saturday’s raid, and quotes an un-named policeman as saying, “The Company gave us orders and that we had no choice but to follow their directives.”

Barrick spokesperson Andy Lloyd denies the company gave the order.

“It is simply incomprehensible that Barrick does not publicly condemn house burnings by police occurring on the mine’s lease area, by all accounts by police funded and directed by Barrick, as these are gross violations of human rights,” says Catherine Coumans of MiningWatch Canada, “Does Barrick think it is appropriate to send police to remove people from where they sleep and burn down their houses and possessions?”

Earlier this month, the Akali Tange Association had written Justin Trudeau asking the Canadian Prime Minister to establish an ombudsman to hold Canadian miners to account. At the time, Yapari commented on Barrick’s behaviour in PNG to Radio New Zealand, saying that  "it is going from bad to worse now despite several attempts to hold the company accountable for its previous human rights abuses and harm that it has done to the local community here in Porgera. Barrick is continuously abusing human rights."

Over 137 women have alleged being raped or otherwise sexually assaulted at the Porgera mine by security and police. Nearly all of them have been paid compensation by Barrick through a “remedy framework” set up by the company. Eleven other rape survivors sought independent legal counsel, avoided the remedy framework, and received compensation several times larger than the others.

In addition to trouble with unequal compensation, MiningWatch Canada reported in April 2016 that, “the remedy process is not reaching all victims, is not equitable, and is not meeting victims’ needs”. Families of men killed by mine security are among those left out of the company’s remedy framework.

An investigation of the recent eviction by fire and other physical violence is being conducted by the Independent Observer of Porgera police operations, Ila Geno.

Barrick Gold holds its Annual General Meeting on April 25th in downtown Toronto.

This episode of GroundWire was produced on Anishinabe territory in Thunder Bay part of the Robinson Superior Treaty and home of the Fort William First Nation by Carly Forbes.

 

Headlines

Community forum on police brutality in Montreal | CKUT News

 

Red Rising grass roots Indigenous media collective launches issue #5 in Winnipeg | Stéfane Doucet, CKUW
 

Features

National Circle of ceremony and healing held in response to ongoing Indigenous youth suicide crisis | Sarah Newton, QCCR

 

Winnipeg students participate in 5 days for homelessness to raise money for local youth resource centre | Julian Cooper, CKUW

 

A discussion on the consultation process taking place regarding pipelines in Indigenous communities on the West Coast | Gunargie O’Sullivan, CFRO

 

Community Radio Report

 

Powel river hosts listening party at CJMP to celebrate local documentaries produced using the Radiometeres grant | Omme-Salma Rahemtullah with files from CJMP

 

GroundWire thanks all of its contributors as well as Djenaba Dayle, Courtney Harrop, Gretchen King, and Anna Sigrithur Houston.

 

This episode was hosted by Julian Cooper and Mahlet Cuff at CKUW in Winnipeg.

 

Music this week: Friction by The Lytics off their 2016 album Hold On, and Juniper by Begonia off her album Lady in Mind.

 

Listen to GroundWire on your local community radio station or find the latest episodes on groundwirenews.ca

 

Pitches for the next episode are due Monday April 3rd. 

Talking Radical Radio

On this week's episode of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh speaks with Jessica Chen and Jermaul Newell. They are students at York University in Toronto and are active with the campus chapter of the Fight for $15 and Fairness, which is working to raise the minimum wage, improve basic employment standards, and build solidarity between students and workers. The extensive mobilizing by low-wage workers pushing to raise the minimum wage has been one of the most widespread and energetic movements of recent years. It has taken different forms in different jurisdictions, but across North America these campaigns have come together under the common banner of the Fight for $15, which encapsulates the core demand of a raise in the minimum wage to $15/hr.

Though the outcomes of these campaigns have also varied from place to place, they have won at least some level of increase in minimum wages in a lot of jursidictions, and they have won commitments to phase in the full $15/hr amount in more than a few. Though bringing the minimum wage up to more liveable levels is the most visible demand in pretty much all of these campaigns, on some level they are also about more than dollars and cents. Whether it is present mainly in the details of the many stories that low-wage workers tell about their lives, or whether it finds expression in concrete demands, all of these campaigns convey a more expansive vision of dignity and a message of solidarity. They are about all of the many ways that low-wage workers get ground down because of how employers are allowed to treat them, and about their growing determination to stand together and get that changed.

Ontario is one of the jurisdictions where demands beyond the minimum wage level have been most clearly articulated, in part because the provincial government has been undertaking its first exhaustive review of the rules around basic employment standards in two decades. In Ontario, the campaign is called the Fight for $15 and Fairness.

Along with regular actions in communities across the province -- often anchored by workers centres, labour councils, anti-poverty groups, and other kinds of organizations -- the Fight for $15 and Fairness has also included plenty of campus-based organizing. This is really not surprising: Years ago, when it came to grassroots politics, the categories of "student" and "worker" were treated as separate, and the political work done by activists in their respective millieus was often quite distinct. Increasingly today, however, students have no choice but to be waged workers as well. Tuition in Ontario is among the highest in Canada and lots of students can only afford to pay for school, rent, food, and all the rest by working one, two, or even more jobs. And most jobs available to youth pay the minimum wage or only slightly more.

Jessica Chen is a third-year student at York University in Toronto. She works two minimum wage jobs in the service industry, so she has a very personal stake in raising the minimum wage and in improving basic employment standards. Jermaul Newell is a seond-year student at York. He also works for a wage, but in his case it's in a unionized position in the auto sector. This means the issues of the Fight for $15 and Fairness campaign don't impact him directly, but he participates because he believes that solidarity among workers in different situations is crucial to making advances for all working people.

Chen and Newell tell me about the broader Fight for $15 and Fairness campaign and about how it is playing out at York University. In particular, they illustrate very clearly how the campaign as it is happening at York may have begun from the strong hook of the $15/hr wage demand, but has quickly built to a broader vision of better lives for low-wage workers. Yes, like most Fight for $15 and Fairness groups across the province, they are mobilizing to put pressure on the provincial government as we draw closer to the expected summer release of the final report from the employment standards review. But the York group goes even farther: They are part of broader efforts to build alliances between students and workers on the campus. They played a role in supporting the recent strike by food service workers on campus employed by private-sector giant Aramark, who demanded and won a raise to $15/hr. And they see it as essential to talk about how racial justice and economic justice are tied together, and to name and challenge racism as an integral part of building the solidarity necessary to win dignity and better lives for all workers.

You can learn more about the provincial Fight for $15 and Fairness campaign and about the chapter at York University.

Talking Radical Radio brings you grassroots voices from across Canada. We give you the chance to hear many different people that are facing many different struggles talk about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it, in the belief that such listening is a crucial step in strengthening all of our efforts to change the world. To learn more about the show check out its website here. You can also follow us on FaceBook or Twitter, or contact scottneigh@talkingradical.ca to join our weekly email update list.

Talking Radical Radio is brought to you by Scott Neigh, a writer, media producer, and activist based in Hamilton (formerly Sudbury), Ontario, and the author of two books examining Canadian history through the stories of activists.

The image modified for use in this post is used by permission of Fight for $15 and Fairness - York University.

Trees needlessly felled in St Catherines park

When I intended simply to show my friend Daniel Nardone the wonders of winter waterfowl in St. Catharines’ Centennial Gardens I was given a rude shock.

The ducks had been given an eviction notice and there was a tree massacre of colossal scale. There was also bizarre trimming of tree limbs so to make it easier to play what we soon discovered was a sport called Frisbee Golf. The limbs so far at least had no protective measures taken such as special tree paint, to prevent the spread of infections.

I am familiar with the usual arguments for cutting trees in the Centennial Gardens. One that has been goes that they have to be cut trees to protect sight lines. When trees crowd sight lines, the arguement goes, they make it possible for illegal activity to take place. In this regard, reference is usually made to sex work. 

The matter of tree cutting in the Centennial Gardens discussed in St. Catharines City Council has been reported by the St. Catharines Standard for several years. Until now, the proposals have mercifully been defeated due to budget cuts. When I examined the tree butchery, I could not see any evidence of them being cut to maintain or enhance sight lines.

Most of the trees cut were adjacent to the Old Welland Canal in the middle of the park, far away from the Gale Crescent site lines. This stream has been identified as fish habitat by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. I have spoken to people who have been able to fish for native fish species, such as Brown Bullhead, in the park. Maintaining the existing tree cover benefits fish habitat by shading the stream.

While some trees have been cut on the north side of the old canal, more were cut in the intact forest block on the south side. This large block of forest is of sufficient size to provide beneficial habitat  for good indicator species of native wildlife, such as the Wild Turkey. Tree cutting should have never taken place here. This area moreover was quite spectacular visually, and a valuable - if under appreciated - asset to our city.  While cycling on the path often in the company of my spouse, Mary Lou, I frequently stopped in sheer wonder of the beauty of the place.

From observation, the trees cut appear to be various species of Willow. It was not possible for me in the surprise encounter without a field guide,  to identify which ones were the native Black Willow, or the exotic White and Crack Willows. However, in terms of ecological function, the various willows were doing well before being cut, in places clear cut. They provided shade for the Brown Bullhead and habitat for native species such as the Great Blue Heron and Wild Turkey.

There was one particular area where I found the tree removal to be most offensive. This was an intermittent stream close to where the Old Welland Canal disappears into an underground channel. Trees which once provided shade to this intermittent stream were removed by clear cutting. This removal was especially tragic since this spot should be managed as a vernal pool, with the hope that it would eventually become a valuable amphibian habitat. This area needs to be reforested.

If there are any plans to cut more trees in Centennial Gardens they should be stopped. One good long term principle of management should be that tree cutting in this park should be left to a native species that is found here: the Beaver.  

Parks such as the Centennial Gardens with forests providing habitat for forest-interior birds such as the Wild Turkey need to be managed better than this clear-cutting.

CALL FOR ART AND ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS: Awakening Resistance

What: A call for art and article submissions on Awakening Resistance for the 2018

Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar

Deadline: May 15, 2017

The Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar collective (www.certaindays.org) is releasing its 17th calendar this coming fall. The theme for 2018 is 'Awakening Resistance,’ reflecting on organizing in the current political climate.

We are looking for 12 works of art and 12 short articles to feature in the calendar, which hangs in more than 2,500 homes, workplaces, prison cells, and community spaces around the world. We encourage contributors to submit both new and existing work. We also seek submissions from prisoners – please forward to any prison-based artists and writers.

THEME GUIDELINES

The current political moment changes the landscape for radical organizing. Beyond the White House, communities worldwide are facing a climate that is more openly white supremacist, misogynist, and Islamophobic. Trump's election, specifically, has woken up many elements on the left as well as the right, both north and south of the U.S.-Canadian border.

Some questions to consider: What can other periods of history teach us about what brought us to this moment, and what we can anticipate in the next few years? How do we bring in/work with newly politicized people, or those who could become politicized? How do we openly and decisively oppose fascist organizing? What does this moment look like, uniquely, within the Canadian state and in other global contexts? What does resistance look like for radical movements of all kinds — ecological, anti-colonial, migrant justice. queer- and trans-liberation struggles?

We would like Certain Days 2018 to contribute to our collective answer to these and other questions that the current political moment presents for social justice movements.

For some more inspiration, we invite you to read “The Context for the Trump Phenomenon” by political prisoner and calendar co-editor David Gilbert: https://4strugglemag.org/2017/03/18/the-context-for-the-trump-phenomenon/

“There’s been an outpouring of Left analysis on who voted for Trump and why. Some of it is very helpful about race, class, and the economy. From what I’ve seen there’s been very little that puts all that in the global context, with the U.S. as the premier imperial power but in decline. Nor has there been enough that has rooted Trump’s rise in the developments of the past 45 years. This is the challenge for our ongoing project of analysis and activism.” - David Gilbert

FORMAT GUIDELINES

ARTICLES:

• 500 words max. If you submit a longer piece, we will have to edit for length.
• Please include a suggested title.

ART:

1. The calendar is 11” tall by 8.5” wide, so art with a ‘portrait’  is preferred. Some pieces may be printed with a border, so it  need not fit those dimensions exactly.

2. We are interested in a diversity of media (paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, computer-designed graphics, collage, etc).

3. The calendar is printed in colour and we prefer colour images.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

1. Send your submissions by May 15, 2017 to info@certaindays.org.

2. ARTISTS: Please send images smaller than 10 MB. You can send a low-res
file as a submission, but if your piece is chosen, we will need a high-res
version of it to print (600 dpi).

3. You may send as many submissions as you like.

Chosen artists and authors will receive a free copy of the calendar and
promotional postcards. Because the calendar is a fundraiser, we cannot
offer money to contributors.

ABOUT THE CALENDAR
The Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar is a joint fundraising and educational project between outside organizers in Montreal, Toronto, and New York, in partnership with three political prisoners being held in maximum-security prisons in New York State: David Gilbert, Robert Seth Hayes and Herman Bell. We are committed to doing work grounded in an anti-imperialist and anti-racist perspective. We work in solidarity with anti-colonial struggles, Political Prisoners and the rights of undocumented citizens and migrants. We are queer- and trans-liberationist. We raise awareness of Political Prisoners and Prisoners ofWar in the United States and abroad, many of whom are now in their fourth decade of imprisonment. People on the streets should understand the history of today’s social justice movements and how that history is linked to solidarity for PPs/POWs. In addition to building that historical awareness, we emphasize the ongoing involvement and continued commitment of PPs/POWs in these same movements.

Proceeds from the calendar will be used for direct support work for Political Prisoners and anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist struggles in the U.S. and Canada.

Panel examines neglect of Aboriginal, African Nova Scotian and poor white communities

Jim Maloney is the District War Chief for the Shubenacadie District and a leader of the Sipekne’katik First Nation-led movement in opposition to the Alton Gas caverns project. Traditionally, Mi'kmaq territory was and is split into districts which run as far west as the Gaspé peninsula and south into Maine.

“The whole idea of giving and sharing and gifting has been practised by my people for generations and generations,” he said. “We've been here for 12,000 years” -- and suffering from environmental racism for at least four hundred years of colonial history.

Environmental racism refers to socially marginalized minority communities which are subjected to disproportionate exposure of environmental hazards, the denial of access to sources of ecological sustenance (such as clean air, water, and natural resources), or both.

Maloney apologized for having no handouts for those who gathered in the Weldon Law building to hear the panel on March 7: “But if you could see inside my brain, you'd see I was the product of environmental racism (for 71 years),” he says. “I have a reputation for being a professional pallbearer.”

Twenty-six of the 28 kids he went to school with are now dead, he explained. Based on the disparity between the life expectancy of an indigenous person compared with a settler, “we're being cheated out of 25 years,” he says.

Maloney has worked in 235 First Nations communities in Canada and the US and has served as police chief for five. He was appointed the chief investigator on the Donald Marshall inquiry into the wrongful conviction of a Mi'kmaq man in the case of the murder of a black teenager.

“Federal and Nova Scotia courts use our resource money to fight us in court, then tell us it is illegal for us to have legal representation,” he adds. From 1927 to 1985 it was “open season on our people” -- they couldn't log, fish, or otherwise use their own land. In a similar stride, the government spent $400,000 per day on RCMP support for Irving Oil during the 2013 protests against fracking in New Brunswick but Maloney stresses that the people won in the end.

Maloney grew up with his father in a tar paper shack with a dirt floor. There was no dentist: “a doctor would put me in a headlock and rip my tooth out,” he recalls. He ate salt pork, molasses and grease and went to bed hungry at night, and went to school month after month in this fashion.

“I know how racism feels, how it smells and tastes,” he says in reference to the poverty of his youth.

But his people are victorious: “We've won over 98 per cent of Superior Court cases.” But things are getting worse in some respects: there are now more indigenous people in jails and more RCMP on reserves, with the added insult of “our own people arresting our own people,” he says.

Maloney maps out the inequality as follows: indigenous people have 28,000 square kilometers of reserve land in Canada; farmers have twice the amount – and companies like Irving own hundreds of thousands of acres.

What with Trump-era talk of walls and the expansion of oil power like Exxon Mobil in the U.S., Maloney urgently asked those gathered: “I want you to take down that wall.” In other words, his struggle is synonymous with First people's and poor people's struggles around the world.

Stuart Gilby is a lawyer who has worked exclusively on indigenous rights cases in Canada since he attended law school at the age of 42. He has written the literal book on environmental racism, and gave some examples during the panel: There is a high rate of cancer at Eel Ground First Nation, where not only old people but young people are dying. Water looks like gasoline at one point in the Miramichi River where the community is located, though it's healing itself now and there are more fish.

Acadia First Nation in Yarmouth has had a junkyard serving as a dumping ground for abandoned car parts in their community since the 1960s.

Forestry is destroying indigenous culture and land.

“The department of the Environment is generally a joke!” he quips. “Lawyers have enabled this to happen for decades: lawyers who work for the government and industry.”

“Sometimes I feel ashamed to be a Canadian,” he finished. “Sooner or later, even Donald Trump is gonna have to realize climate change is not a myth.”

(Stuart Gilby is also the legal representative for the AFNCNB, the Indian Act chiefs in New Brunswick who have presided over and signed off on many environmentally destructive projects, including fracking and Energy East –editor's note.)

Associate Professor of Nursing Dr. Ingrid Waldron referred to a Lincolnville resident to pinpoint environmental racism in Nova Scotia as the practise of locating “industrial waste sites next to African Nova Scotian, Native and poor, white communities.”

She added that Robert D. Bullard, so-called father of environmental justice, also says the discrimination is deeply rooted in the history of excluding African American and indigenous people from jobs, particularly in the green sector, or in decision-making processes.

She said that the environmental justice narrative in Nova Scotia is characterized by a kind of strategic inadvertence - that focuses more on issues of income and class, rather than candid discussions on race.

Most people know about the sad history of Africville, where African Nova Scotians were literally pushed to the margins and denied basic city services in the 1960s. Lincolnville first put up with one, then another landfill. Shelburne has been referred to as the “Community of Widows” because of the anecdotal evidence of cancer – so much so that there are disproportionately fewer men in the area.

People believe there are links between illness and proximity to the polluting industries. Some say they cause learning disabilities and conditions such as autism. People in Lincolnville are afraid of drinking the water and this causes psychological stress.

Environmental racism is quite gendered: exposure to toxic chemicals during pregnancy pose risks postnatally. One such example is “Cancer Alley” in Sarnia where there has been a noted disparity between male and female births. In the 1980s, indigenous women were leaders in the reproductive justice rights movement to recognize such dangers to their health and children.

As Director of the Environmental Noxiousness, Racial Inequities & Community Health Project (ENRICH), Waldron has been leading initiatives over the past several years to address environmental racism through legislation (Bill 111: An Act to Address Environmental Racism) and a new Environmental Bill of Rights she has been collaborating on with the East Coast Environmental Law Association, youth education (Time to Clear the Air), research, mapping and more.

Lisa Mitchell also spoke on behalf of the East Coast Environmental Law Association.

Finally, it takes people speaking up and sharing their own experiences, and their hopes for a brighter future. 

After the presentation, Sa'n Herney, gleefully quipped: “What is a treaty? I never signed a treaty, I didn't have my tree-dee glasses on...” He did, however, have his metaphorical water goggles because he wanted to be able “to see a fish come right up to me and kiss me on the lips.”

Learn more about environmental racism through the ENRICH project: http://www.enrichproject.org/

PM Trudeau in Victoria, Port Metro Vancouver expansion, & Indigenous radio gatherings

This episode of GW was produced on Sinixt traditional territory at Kootenay Co-op Radio in Nelson, BC.

Headlines:

Tanker truck spill case update from the Nelson courthouse | Rachel Mackenzie, CHLY

Features:

Demonstrators respond to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent visit to Victoria BC | Chris Cook, CFUV

Local objections to a proposed expansion by Port Metro Vancouver | Catherine Fisher, CHLY, with files from Gunargie O’Sullivan, CFRO

Community Radio Report:

A report on the kickoff “Future of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Broadcasting” gathering, held this February in Winnipeg Manitoba | Gretchen King, CKUT

Music:

Our music in this episode is from Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld’s Constellation Records album: “Never Were the Way She Was”

Thanks to all our contributors for this week’s episode. We also thank Catherine Fisher, Braden Alexander,  Omme Salma-Rahemtullah, and Gretchen King.

Pitch to GroundWire!

Take part in the next episode of GroundWire! The deadline for pitches is Saturday, March 18, and final pieces are due Thursday, March 23. Check out our priority bureaus and our format here. Don't worry if your piece, or raw audio, doesn't fit our GW requirements, we can edit it!

Tune in again on March 27 for the next episode of GroundWire produced by CKUW in WInnipeg (MB)!

GroundWire Coordination Team

WEBSITE - www.groundwirenews.ca PODCAST - http://groundwire.gwradio.koumbit.org/feed/

EMAIL - groundwireprod@gmail.com