British Columbia

Canadian Longshore Workers Forced Into Binding Arbitration

November 13, 2024 Joe DeManuelle-Hall, Labor Notes. Educate! British Columbia, Canada, Forced Arbitration, Montreal, Strikes, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

“The government is sending a dangerous message: employers can bypass meaningful negotiations, lock out their workers, and wait for political intervention to secure a more favorable deal,” said the Canadian Labour Congress in a statement on the government’s intervention into the port disputes.

Youth Are Calling For Free Public Transit Across British Columbia

April 22, 2024 Transit for Teens, The Tyee. Organize! British Columbia, Canada, Earth Day, Public Transit, Public transportation, Transportation, Youth Activism

Public transportation is woven into the fabric of daily lives for teens. For many, it’s the bridge between home, school and extracurricular activities. What if public transit for youth was a public good? The Transit for Teens campaign aims to make that a reality across British Columbia. We are members of the Transit for Teens youth leadership coalition with the Centre for Family Equity, and we’re raising awareness in the lead-up to the provincial election this fall about how free transit is a globally tested approach that can meet climate, social inclusion and health goals here in B.C.

British Columbia Court Convicts Three Indigenous Land Defenders

January 15, 2024 Amanda Follett Hosgood, The Tyee. Resist! British Columbia, Canada, Indigenous Rights, Land defenders, Wet’suwet’en

Three Indigenous land defenders charged more than two years ago with defying a court order have been found guilty of criminal contempt in B.C. Supreme Court. Justice Michael Tammen, who delivered his decision this morning, will now consider an application by all three to stay the charges based on alleged misconduct by RCMP officers during the arrests, which occurred along the Coastal GasLink pipeline route in Wet’suwet’en territory on Nov. 19, 2021. The hearing began following the verdict this morning. “There can be no doubt that Sleydo’, in occupying the metal structure on Nov. 19, 2021, knew that her actions would tend to depreciate the authority of the court,” Tammen said, adding that two others arrested the same day and standing trial this week were defying the order and “reckless” in blocking access to the pipeline route.

Stitching A Co-Operative Future In Victoria, BC

January 5, 2024 Each For All, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! British Columbia, Canada, Cooperatives, Sustainability

In the heart of Victoria, British Columbia, a remarkable transformation story has been threaded by The Make House. What started as a 10-year-old sole proprietorship blossomed into a worker co-operative in December 2022. Host Robin Puga had an enlightening conversation with Tanya King, Studio Manager and Board Vice-President, unraveling the journey behind this creative pivot. he Make House began as a sole proprietorship. Faced with the prospect of the owner selling the business, the staff team decided to reimagine the future of The Make House. The decision to shift to a worker co-operative model was fueled by a desire to deepen their community roots and engage in democratic decision-making

We’re Going To Have Fairy Creeks Happen All The Time

June 1, 2021 Sarah Cox, The Narwhal. Resist! British Columbia, Climate Change, Environment, Forests, Indigenous Rights

As tensions escalate and arrest tallies grow at logging blockades on Vancouver Island, The Narwhal spoke with one of the foresters tapped to help the province navigate its old-growth woes

The Battle For Old-Growth Forests In British Columbia

May 30, 2021 Ethan Cox, Jerome Turner, Kyle Darling, and Michael Simkin, Ricochet. Resist! British Columbia, Environment, Forests, Logging

Over the last two weeks around 120 people have been arrested and charged, most with violating an injunction obtained by a logging company. But with more people streaming in by the day and the RCMP trying to secure an area the size of a small country, there’s no end in sight. This is the latest from southwest Vancouver Island, which has become an international hotspot in the fight to save old-growth forests. Last August, a group of environmental activists set up a series of blockades of logging roads deep in the bush surrounding Port Renfrew, B.C. Their goal was to preserve stands of old-growth in the Fairy Creek watershed, one of the largest and most significant ancient forests remaining in North America.

‘A Good Day To Protect The Things You Love’: Anti-Pipeline Climbers Block Trans Mountain Oil Tanker

July 5, 2018 By Jessica Corbett, Commondreams.org Resist! British Columbia, Oil, Pipelines

As green groups and Indigenous leaders continue to raise alarm about the ecological and economic threats of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project—which Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently announced the government is taking over after protests led Kinder Morgan to halt construction—12 activists on Tuesday launched an aerial blockade at the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge in Vancouver to stop an oil tanker from leaving the pipeline's terminal. Opponents of the expansion project are especially concerned that, if completed, it would trigger a nearly seven-fold increase in the number of tar sands tankers that depart from the company's terminal in Burnaby, British Columbia, increasing the risk of a major oil spill and degrading marine conditions along the "tanker superhighway."

First Nations Occupy Fish Farms In British Columbia To Force Action

November 24, 2017 Brandon Jordan, wagingnonviolence.org Resist! British Columbia, Farms, Fishing, Indigenous Peoples, Occupation

By Brandon Jordan for Waging Nonviolence - The sign outside the protest encampment on Midsummer Island in British Columbia, Canada, is a blunt summation of what its inhabitants — indigenous people from various First Nations tribes — have been trying to accomplish for the past two months: “Get Fish Farms Out.” Yet, due to a Supreme Court ruling issued last week, it is not the fish farms that must leave the island, but rather the demonstrators and their camp, which consists of two small houses with beds, solar panels and a replenishing supply of food. The court made its decision after receiving an injunction, or demand for removal request, by Marine Harvest, the Norwegian seafood company that operates the facility. Demonstrators were given three days to dismantle the camp and 30 days to leave the island — or risk arrest. As the decision was being handed down, more demonstrators gathered outside the court in Vancouver to tell reporters and supporters that they are still committed to their demand of removing fish farms on indigenous territory. “That doesn’t mean the occupation is over,” said Ernest Alfred, hereditary chief of a few First Nations tribes in British Columbia. “We just have to strategize and come up with a plan of relocation.” The plan that unfolded saw a handful of First Nations people remove and transport all their Midsummer Island supplies, including the homes, to another encampment at nearby Swanson Island, which is also the site of another Marine Harvest facility.

Protesters Of BC Hydro Dam Promise To Stay

January 6, 2016 Staff, www.theglobeandmail.com Resist! British Columbia, Canada, Environment, Hydro-Electric

By Staff of The Globe and Mail - Members of a small but defiant group are pledging to keep protesting the Site C hydroelectric project in northeastern British Columbia, despite being ordered off the land. They set up a camp on Dec. 31, when BC Hydro and Power Authority issued an eviction notice while pressing ahead with land clearing for the controversial $9-billion dam. The crown corporation gave protesters 24 hours to leave the area known as Rocky Mountain Fort, on the south bank of the Peace River, just a few kilometres south of Fort St. John.

RCMP Planning Mass Arrest Of Indigenous Activists Under Bill C-51

August 31, 2015 ThinkPol, www.thinkpol.ca Resist! British Columbia, Canada, Finance and the Economy, Indigenous People, Terror

By ThinkPol - The RCMP are preparing to carry out a mass arrest operation against the indigenous Unist’ot’en Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation in northwestern BC under Harper government’s Bill C-51 labelling as terrorists First Nations activists exercising their Aboriginal Title and Rights to protect their lands from oil and gas development, according to a joint statement by the groups supporters. The Conservatives’ controversial anti-terror act criminalizes protests that may be seen as interfering with ‘the economic or financial stability of Canada’ and opponents of the bill had long feared that it would be used to stifle opposition to oil pipelines aggressively promoted by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

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