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Labour Victories, Failures And Lessons In History And Solidarity

April 12, 2025 Tom Sandborn, Rabble. , , ,
They say that if we fail to learn the lessons of history, we are doomed to repeat it. Recent events in my hometown of Vancouver and across North America call this warning to mind today. On April 5 in Vancouver, a municipal special election saw two candidates from the more or less left end of the political spectrum, Sean Orr of the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) and Lucy Maloney of the NDP-adjacent One City party, elected to city council, a result that represents a stern voters’ rebuke to the developer-friendly regime of Mayor Ken Sim and his ABC party.

We Knew Vancouver’s Ecosystem Was Damaged; The Truth Is Much Worse

July 20, 2023 Lauren Kaljur, Resilience. , , , ,
More than a century after colonization nearly eradicated key fish populations around Vancouver, British Columbia, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation is looking to the past to restore the ecosystem. Within just a few decades of Europeans beginning to develop what is now Vancouver, British Columbia, in the 1870s, 99 percent of Pacific herring, surf smelt, and eulachon had been wiped out in nearby waters. According to new research, the three species of forage fishes, which feed whales, salmon, seabirds, and many other animals, were quickly decimated by destructive fishing practices, industrial activity, and pollution.

RCMP Must Respond To Spying Allegations

November 11, 2020 Jeremy Hainsworth, Vancouver Courier. , , ,
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) is taking the RCMP in front of a judge for its alleged failure to respond to allegations of spying on groups and organizations and First Nations opposed to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project. The suit, filed in Federal Court in Ottawa against the force Nov. 9, names the federal attorney general and B.C.’s minister of public safety and solicitor general and further alleges information gathered was improperly shared with oil companies and the National Energy Board.

Vancouver Poet Rita Wong Incarcerated For 4 Weeks For Peaceful Anti-Pipeline Protest

August 27, 2019 By Vera DeWaard, Pencanada.ca , , ,
On August 16, 2019, Rita Wong, an award-winning Vancouver poet and an associate professor in Critical and Cultural Studies at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, was sentenced to 28 days of incarceration at the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women in Maple Ridge, BC.  She had participated in a peaceful protest on behalf of missing and murdered Indigenous women on August 24, 2018 alongside three other women protestors at the Westridge Marine terminal, impeding access to the Trans Mountain facility in breach of a court-ordered injunction. 

Grandfather Scales Tree, Erects Mid-Air Camp To Stop Kinder Morgan Clear-Cutting

May 21, 2018 Staff, Risingtidenorthamerica.org , , ,
Coast Salish Territories (Vancouver) – Early this morning Terry Christenson, a 70-year old Grandfather of two, and former Juno nominee, scaled a tree on the inside of Kinder Morgan’s fence (Westridge terminal side) and erected a mid-air camp suspended from its trunk. Terry constructed the high-flying structure to stop Kinder Morgan’s proposed tree clearing which is being done to enable the company’s drilling through Burnaby Mountain. This pipeline does not have consent of the Indigenous Nations it would pass through. It would endanger the livelihoods and economies of all those that depend on an oil free coast and I for one won’t stand by and let it happen,” said Terry Christenson. “I’m taking this action to protect my grandchildren’s future. I care about this land, this coast and I won’t let it be destroyed all so a Texas oil company can increase its profit share.”

Environmental Group Stand.Earth Cries ‘Corporate Intimidation’

October 18, 2017 Travis Lupick, www.straight.com , , ,
By Travis Lupick for The Georgia Straight - A Vancouver-based environmental group received an unwelcome visit by police today (October 17). “At this moment sheriffs are waiting outside the Stand.earth office at 207 W Hastings on Enbridge's orders to seize all assets of the organization,” reads a media release issued by the nonprofit organization. “This morning our staff was served a notice of writ of seizure and sale, and two sheriffs showed up at our door, demanding to take all of our assets.” Stand.earth was previously known as ForestEthics and has operated out of a Vancouver office since 2000. This morning’s visit by police relates to a court challenge the organization mounted against the National Energy Board’s 2014 approval of an Enbridge pipeline that was planned to run from Alberta to eastern Canada. Enrbidge acted as an intervenor in the case. The challenge was eventually dismissed and Stand.earth was ordered to pay the oil and gas giant’s legal fees, which amounted to $14,000. Stand.earth never paid. Next, Enbridge obtained a court order concerning damages. Then, today, police officers responding to that court order visited Stand.earth’s headquarters in order to collect on the debt.

Vancouver Tent City Occupants Have Law On Their Side

July 31, 2014 Harsha Walia, www.westcoastnativenews.com , ,
Vancouver city councillor Kerry Jang, appointed to the housing committee, has been slandering in recent interviews the people in Oppenheimer tent city as mobs and mischief-makers who are breaking the law. However, tent city residents are quite well-versed in the law, citing the B.C. Court’s Adams decision, the Supreme Court of Canada’s Tsilhqot’in decision, and inherent indigenous law as a defence for their stand. The city claims that camping and structures are not allowed because they “create barriers for other residents who want to use and enjoy the park space.” These seemingly innocuous bylaws about structures in parks and public enjoyment of green spaces, in effect, criminalize poverty. “The majestic quality of the law forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under the bridges, to beg in the streets and steal bread,” Anatole France said in the early 1900s. Pivot Legal Society launched a legal challenge two years ago to the city’s bylaws that prohibit homeless people from sleeping and sheltering outdoors. Instead of adhering to the significant Adams court decision — which ruled that Victoria bylaws that prohibited homeless people from sheltering outdoors when there is a lack of indoor shelter space were unconstitutional — our municipal government is considering increasing fines for homeless people sleeping outdoors to $10,000 per ticket.

Inside Vancouver’s Sanctuary City Movement

July 15, 2014 David P. Ball, www.thetyee.ca , ,
Vancouver is poised to become the newest among North America's self-declared "sanctuary cities," a stance intended to protect the safety of undocumented people within its borders. What does it mean to become a sanctuary city? Who's pushing for the change and who thinks it's a bad idea? Where would lines shift between local and federal rules and jurisdictions? And beyond declaring Vancouver a sanctuary city, what other measures could prevent immigrants without status in our midst from suffering undue hardships? These questions will be explored in a four part series beginning today (watch a Tyee-produced 12-minute video on the subject, below). Spurring the sanctuary city movement in Vancouver was the arrest, and death, of Lucia Vega Jiménez. It's been seven months since Vega Jiménez was picked up by transit police for not paying her $2.75 fare.

Vancouver’s Pop-Up Shelters For Homeless

July 2, 2014 Jenna Kagel, www.mic.com , ,
Here's How Vancouver Responded to London's "Anti-Homeless Spikes": A Vancouver charity, RainCity Housing, is converting city benches into pop-up shelters for homeless people. And by giving homeless people in this rainy city some dry coverage and a place to rest, RainCity is putting London's anti-homeless spikes to shame. The company specializes in accommodation and support services for the homeless in Vancouver. They used designs that feature welcoming slogans on the bench backboard. During the daytime, the benches are places to wait for a bus or sit. At night, they convert into usable shelters where the backboard lifts up to provide shelter. The daytime city bench uses UV rays from sunlight, so the bench reads, "This is a bench." Then at night, glow-in-the-dark wording appears, saying, "This is a bedroom," and drives people to the RainCity website. Another bench installation reads, "Find shelter here," and when the bench's back support is raised up, it says, "Find a home here," providing the address of a RainCity shelter.

Vancouver Declares City Is On Unceded Aboriginal Territory

June 27, 2014 Peter Meiszner, www.globalnews.ca , , , ,
Vancouver city council has unanimously voted to acknowledge that the city is on unceded Aboriginal territory. Mayor Gregor Robertson declared a ‘Year of Reconciliation’ last summer, in the hopes of building new relationships between Aboriginals and Vancouverites. “Underlying all other truths spoken during the Year of Reconciliation is the truth that the modern city of Vancouver was founded on the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations and that these territories were never ceded through treaty, war or surrender,” reads part of the motion from the city. The city says it will now work with representatives from the Aboriginal community to determine “appropriate protocols” for conducting city business.