Redeye

A letter signed by Naomi Klein, David Suzuki and Noam Chomsky, as well as a hundred other academics, activists and artists was delivered to Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau’s office on Feb 25. It called on the federal government to stop propping up a repressive and corrupt dictatorship in Haiti, pointing out that for the past two years, Haitians have demonstrated their overwhelming opposition to Jovenel Moïse with massive protests and general strikes calling for his departure from office. We speak with Yves Engler of the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says we should re-imagine Canada Post and use its existing network to connect Canadians as part of a green and just recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic. We talk with Kate Holowatiuk about the vision they have developed - Delivering Community Power.

A new study has found that air pollution from fossil fuels was responsible for more than 8.7 million deaths globally in 2018. This death toll exceeds the combined total of people who die globally each year from smoking tobacco plus those who die of malaria. The study was published in the journal Environmental Research earlier this month. We talk with Eloise Marais, Associate Professor in Physical Geography at University College, London and one of the authors of the study.

Vancouver City Council approved rezoning applications for two new housing projects spearheaded by local Indigenous societies, despite neighbourhood opposition. Council also looked at how they could support reconciliation, bring in paid sick leave and protect West End residents from homophobic street preachers. All this, and more, in today’s City Beat with Ian Mass.

Ben Parfitt says the BC government doesn’t have a good handle on how much water the major industries in the province use. He argues that we need to get that information before we can implement effective policies to encourage conservation and sound management of our water. Ben Parfitt is a resource policy analyst with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

The BC government says that fracking and the natural gas industry will not only be economically beneficial for the province but also consistent with the province’s climate action plan. Peter McCartney disagrees. McCartney is climate campaigner for the Wilderness Committee and author of the just released report Planet on Fire: Let’s End Fracking in BC.

Following the unanimous passage of an NDP motion, the Canadian government has designated the Proud Boys as a terrorist entity. The move came swiftly on the heels the Trump-led white nationalist insurrection at the US Capitol. While this might seem like a big win, many progressive and anti-racist organizations are asking if putting white supremacists on the terrorist list is the right approach. We speak with BCCLA board member and lawyer Hasan Alam.

Hassan Diab’s ordeal began over 12 years ago when France requested his extradition in relation to the bombing of a Paris synagogue in 1980. Hassan was extradited to France in 2014 where he spent 3 years in solitary confinement. Finally French authorities dropped all charges against Hassan Diab, citing lack of evidence, and Diab returned to Canada. Now a French court has said it wants to proceed to trial in his case. Tim McSorley of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group says the Canadian government must intervene to prevent a further miscarriage of justice.

A new program recently introduced by the Vancouver Police Department authorizes officers to remove people if they have allegedly violated the provincial Trespass Act. The VPD’s Trespass Prevention Program allows them to do this even if there wasn’t a call to 911. We talk with Meenakshi Mannoe, criminalization and policing campaigner at Pivot Legal Society.

The Saudi-led bombing and blockade of Yemen has led to the death of 250,000 people and created the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. On Jan 25, people around the world protested against their governments’ support for the war. In Canada, peace and labour activists blocked trucks at Paddock Transport International, a Hamilton company involved in shipping Canadian-made, light armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia. We talk about Canada’s role in the crisis in Yemen with Simon Black, assistant professor at Brock University and co-founder of Labour Against the Arms Trade.

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are large investment companies that own, and in most cases operate, rental apartment buildings. Housing activists say REITs result in the loss of affordable rental units and drive gentrification, in order to make the highest profit for their investors. On February 9, Vancouver city councillor Jean Swanson is bringing a motion to the council meeting that is designed to protect affordable rental housing in Vancouver. We talk with Sara Sagaii of the Vancouver Tenants Union.

Canadian supermarkets throw out tons of unsold food every day. A common misunderstanding is that this food is rotten and useless. The truth is that most food thrown out is edible. Greenpeace is calling on supermarkets to reform their practices. They would like to see the big chains commit to a zero edible food waste target. We talk with Ann Foo, a volunteer with Go Zero Food Waste.

Canadian history, as many of us learned it in high school, leaves out or distorts the histories of many Canadians who do not fit into the prescribed narrative of this country. Students are often left questioning how they can study a past that does not reflect their present. A new book, Transforming the Canadian History Classroom: Imagining a New "We", calls for an approach that places students at the centre of the history classroom. We speak with author Dr. Samantha Cutrara.

In May last year, the Alberta government cancelled blanket environmental protections that had been in place since the 1970s, paving the way for foreign mining companies to operate open-pit coalmines in the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains. We talk with Toby Malloy of the National Farmers Union.

The 4,300 unionized employees who work at the publicly-owned Hastings Park at the Pacific National Exhibition have been left out of Canada's economic recovery plan and are subsequently out of work. Vancouver City Council finally paid some attention to this issue last week. Also, in this week’s City Beat report, Ian Mass talks about housing for renters, VSB property, the Port of Vancouver and a nasty fight at Surrey Council.

As the world struggles with the second wave of the pandemic and vaccines are being rolled out, we are starting to hear calls for an app that could store a record of a Covid-19 vaccination. Françoise Baylis is a philosopher with a special interest in medical ethics. She tells us some of her concerns with how a vaccination record for Covid-19 could be used.

In 2017 the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons started an international movement to develop a treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. On January 22, the treaty was endorsed by 122 countries at the United Nations. Canada was not a signatory but there is a petition to Parliament to change that. Dr. Nancy Covington is with the Canadian affiliate of the International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War.Sign the petition: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Sign/e-3028

On Jan 18, Nunavut Independent Television made history when it launched Canada’s first all-Inuit Inuktut TV channel. Uvagut TV is the first Indigenous–language channel in Canada. Lucy Tulugarjuk is chair and executive director of Nunavut Independent Television. She’s also director of the Inuit-language children’s film, Tia and Piujuq. Lucy Tulugarjuk speaks with us two days after Uvagut TV goes on the air.

There are a complex web of laws and jurisdictional issues that affect our coasts and oceans. The question is how we can use these laws to better protect our water and marine life. West Coast Environmental Law has put together a guide to these marine protection laws. We speak with lawyer Stephanie Hewson about that guide.

The Vancouver School Boards owns billions of dollars worth of property around Vancouver, including the land that the Kingsgate Mall is located on. Some VSB trustees are considering selling off land to private developers to meet funding priorities. OneCity school board trustee Jennifer Reddy is opposed to what she calls the privatization of public land. She explains her concerns.