PLANET IN PERIL

by John Fefchak Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Water is the life blood of all living things. It just seems we have so much fresh water in Canada, we don't  look after it, as we know we should. (U.S. and Canada need to  reduce algae bloom on Lake Erie, WFP 29 Aug) It is clear that governments have ignored the basic principles of water stewardship for too many years in the pursuit of narrow economic interests. Lake Winnipeg has become a horrid reminder of devastation, that we are  leaving our children and their children to bear alone. Now Lake Erie has a sickness that has returned. So many of our Lakes have become diseased. The name of this disease is 'human complacency.' Slime on a Lake Winnipeg beach near  Gimli. PLT photo.

Dear Editor,  Oh, to be in Europe, now that they have put us to shame, once again!  Member states of the European Union have just voted to clamp a temporary (2 year) ban on members of that "devil family" of bee-killing insecticides known as "neonicotinoids." It is now illegal to use the stuff anywhere over that entire continent! While Europe has finally seen the light, they're still applied prodigiously on food crops in North America. The seeds of crops such as corn and canola are now shot-full of them before they even go into the ground!

by Larry Powell                    Robert Sopuck, MP for Bottom-Trawling & Shark-Finning.                                                                              It may be deplorable.  But, for the Harper government (and my own MP, Robert Sopuck), not quite deplorable enough. I'm talking about "shark-finning." Each year, worldwide, an estimated 100 million sharks are caught for their fins, only. The sharks, still alive and bleeding, with their fins cut off, are then dumped back into the ocean, either to die a slow death, or be eaten by other predators.  Shark fins are considered a delicacy. While shark fishing is legal off Canada's coasts, finning was banned here years ago. Still, tonnes of fins obtained elsewhere in this manner, often from endangered species, are imported, yearly. So an NDP MP introduced a private members' bill to help curb the practice by simply banning imports into this country. Sopuck (CPC - Dauphin/Swan River/Marquette), sp

Dear Editor, Is it now old-fashioned to expect those who govern us, to do so in a decent, respectful way? If it is, then call me old-fashioned. Even for someone painfully aware of the depths to which our democratic system has sunk, especially since the Harperites took over, I was shocked to learn about a bullying incident which played out on Parliament Hill earlier this month.  The Commons Agriculture Committee was meeting to talk about "low-level presence." Before you doze off, it's a topic which everyone who puts food in his mouth, should care about! This government actually wants Canada to start accepting traces of genetically-modified (GM) genes in the food we import, even though those genes have neither been inspected nor approved by our own domestic regulators! A guest appearing before the committee, Lucy Sharratt of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN), opposed this idea. This was hardly surprising, since CBAN's very reason for being is to

Dear Editor, Remember when school would start and your teacher would ask you how you spent your summer vacation? While school is now a dim and distant memory for me, last summer is anything but. I spent about ten days of it, flat on my back in the Regina General Hospital, after a near-death experience.  It all started on a dark and stormy night in late June. Like many other folks living in a huge area of the eastern prairies, we suffered property damage in the thousands when a dangerous "plow wind" of well over 100kph struck about midnight, while we were in bed.  (Sadly, it was consistent with what our top scientists have been warning us about for decades: That the climate we humans are changing by our addiction to fossil fuels, is bringing "weather events" which have become way more severe and frequent than they once were.)  The wind buckled our garage door (above), damaged our car inside, blew the tops off several of the spruce trees in our shelter belt

By: John Bennett - Sierra Club of Canada - Wpg. Free Press OTTAWA — All the benefits Roslyn Kunin attributes to life in Canada in her recent column, including peace and order and good government, came about through civil disobedience. The suffragettes who won women the right to vote did not shy away from it. Details here. First Nations Protestor - Regina. PLT photo

Dear Editor, I never thought I'd say this. But I may be lucky to be living in a riding represented by a Member of Parliament on the government side, (Robert Sopuck - Dauphin/Swan River/Marquette) after all. I say this because the government Mr. Sopuck represents, under Stephen Harper, has decided the Assiniboine River, one of millions of lakes, rivers and streams in Canada, is among the very few designated as "protected" by its new, "Navigation Protection Act."  (It happens to flow through Mr. Sopuck's riding.)  Shellmouth Dam on the Assiniboine. Could it now be harder to approve such structures in Tory ridings - but easier elsewhere? PLT photo. The Assiniboine forms Lake of the Prairies, a popular area for cottagers and boaters, just a few clicks west of where I live. This protection means that ice-fishers, anglers and pleasure boaters will keep their historic right, which dates back to Sir John A. himself, to navigate the river without having to

Letter to the Editor: As I read "The province wants public thoughts on environmental plan" in the Free Press, I can’t help, but think that Lake Winnipeg is already green, far too green, in fact. This is a man-made situation. Lake Winnipeg is not polluting itself. We, the people are the cause for allowing the abuse and pollution to these waters. It is apparent that respect and gratitude is not a requirement in to-day’s society and how to take care of water that sustains all life.  We are not alone. There are neighbouring provinces and the United States that also make their contributions of pollution. An action often referred to, as ‘out of sight, out of mind’. I am skeptical of yet another plan for "Think Saving Lake Winnipeg", and here’s why. On June 2, of 2011, Premier Selinger presented his Plan to Save Lake Winnipeg. In that plan there was to be an International Summit that would bring together the stakeholders and levels of government t

14/04/2012 1:00 AM |     Brandon Sun - PRINT EDITION Maple Leaf and government policy is to blame for the continued loss of hog producers and a risk to “thousands of jobs” at the Brandon slaughter plant. Manitoba Pork Council general manager Andrew Dickson would have us believe that the province-wide hog production ban and new manure treatment regulations are the culprits. Does Dickson forget that the loss of most independent hog farmers started when the Maple Leaf, Hy-Tek and Puratone corporations set up their pyramid scheme-like operations and the conservative Filmon government removed single-desk marketing protection in the late 1990s? Well before a moratorium and phosphorus regulation was put in place. Further details here.

Dear Editor,  I've been struck by the irony of recent, published pictures of my Member of Parliament, Robert Sopick. Smiling broadly, he is shown in one, presenting trophies to the winners of a fishing derby and, in the other, in beaming attendance at a sport fishing banquet (below) .  A few days later, the government Mr. Sopuck represents, rammed through the all-purpose budget bill which included the gutting of the Fisheries Act. Now, all the Act will allegedly "protect" are those fish that are part of "a commercial, recreational or aboriginal fishery." The old Act protected all fisheries, presumably because fish don't always stop abruptly at the boundaries they have been designated. How naive! As a recent article from a Canadian professor of environmental law suggests, if the fish don't "obey" the new rules imposed by Harper, they could find themselves in mortal danger of strip mines, oil spills, clear cuts and the other hazards

Dear Editor, I guess only time will tell whether my local government, the RM of Shell River, will opt to build another earthen sewage lagoon, this one in the country west of Roblin, or turn to more modern technology for the treatment of human waste.          (Read earlier story here.)       A Manitoba company called Blue Diamond Technologies, Ltd., briefed the Council last week on its own, more modern system which is already treating hog waste right here in this province. Three company officials presented details of their technology to the last RM meeting. They explained they are already testing their system on sewage in the Town of Carman. They maintain their way is not only more eco-friendly but likely cheaper than a lagoon, as well. The Reeve and Councillors gave them a fair hearing and asked questions to get more information. I've certainly read and heard enough to know, I think, that there are many drawbacks with the old-style lagoons. Given this fact, and based

Wpg Free Press May 2 '12 (Fort McMurray, Alberta)....this former small northern town is perhaps the most polluted and.... Details here.

Dear Editor, I'd like to extend a challenge to my local government, the Rural Municipality of Shell River.  (Please read earlier story here.) I'd like you to prove to myself and my community that you are living in the 21st century and determined to be the best that you can be. So far, you've been moving quietly ahead with plans to build a major, new, earthen sewage lagoon, using technology that is, at least, decades-old. An expert in the field of waste treatment and water pollution, Prof. Bill Paton of Brandon University, says such lagoons "Do not perform well in Manitoba's climate. I have not found any Manitoba lagoons that meet effluent license requirements. Many of them also leak to groundwater!" And a former potato farmer I have talked to, Al Baron, says he had to abandon his farm near Carberry years ago when expansion of a nearby lagoon contaminated his land, making it unfit to carry on as a producer. You didn't

On the chopping block to save money, but not a murmur about the gold-plated Pension Plan that the MP’s have saved for themselves. Well, it's apparent that Gerry Ritz, born in 1951, never had to deal with the dry and wind years of the 1930’s, when never-ending dust clouds,  grasshoppers, and no rain settled on the prairies.  The settlers of those years knew if they were to survive,  changes had to be taken in their farming  methods and stop their land base from being blown  away.  The tree and shrub belts were a beginning, but  also a challenge, as the scarcity of water, even for themselves and livestock, resulted in many  failures and setbacks. But eventually, conditions improved and the trees and shelter belts began  to flourish. And they were successful.  For not only to help prevent the loss of precious topsoil, shelter belts became a refuge and a haven for wildlife, a nesting area and food for birds. Yes, with modern farming methods and  large machinery, the

Dear Editor, I recently learned I may be getting a new "neighbour" -  a sewage lagoon.  The municipal plow prepares a way to the site for the drill truck. (l.)              The grader and truck on the site.(below)   The drilling begins. PinP photos The Rural Municipality of Shell River sent in a drill truck a week or two ago to sink holes less than a mile upwind of my retirement home in the country, north and west of Roblin. The test results will determine whether the site is suitable for such a project. Apparently, it could cost millions of dollars, especially if a liner has to be installed to prevent leakage.* Turns out, the "quarter" is owned by the Reeve, Albert Nabe. It's also within a couple of miles of some six farm homes nearby, mostly downwind as well. I was disappointed that no one from the RM council had given me a "heads-up" about this. I heard about it, instead, from a private individual at a social even

Dear Editor,                      The sad reality for hundreds of thousands of sows is that the cost of getting rid of gestation crates (sow stalls) is being used as an excuse to prolong the cruel practice.   Market conditions for raising pigs in a factory setting are changing as Laura Rance pointed out in her February 23, 2012 editorial “The economics of animal welfare.”  People are increasingly less prepared to tolerate the inhumane way pregnant gilts and sows are confined in 2 foot by 7 foot crates on concrete slatted floors most of their lives.   The Manitoba Pork Council says producers are willing to adjust to changing market conditions.  But not until 2025, claiming that it will cost $1 million per existing operation to convert from sow stalls to group housing.    Manitoba Agriculture and Food web-posted 2010 cost of production figures for a 500 sow farrow to finish operation show that a new gestation building costs $23.10 per square foot. Total building cost

Dear Editor, I see the powerful tentacles of Big Oil are tightening around us again. The "grassroots" group known as EthicalOil.org is reaching out through a compliant media, to spread its fear campaign that "foreign hordes," not Canadians, are going to decide whether the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline will be approved. Grassroots, my ass!  The talented, dedicated group of researchers who publishes * DESMOGBLOG.COM has exposed "EthicalOil.org" for what it is; "A small industry front group with secretive funding sources." As DESMOG explains, EthicalOil's message is being amplified through an "echo chamber" of powerful allies, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Sun Media ("Fox News North") to which Harper has close connections. (Not to mention Harper minions like Joe Oliver, whose earlier, infamous letter accused pipeline opponents of being a bunch of "radicals.") The EthicalOil message? Fo

Dear Editor, I think the Government of Manitoba has some explaining to do.  With Lake Winnipeg's water quality getting progressively worse through the years, why has Premier Selinger done away with the Ministry of Water Stewardship? Former Premier Gary Doer created the Department almost a decade ago. Since then, the government has bragged about it being "the first in Canada," suggesting it was needed to deal with mounting problems such as floods, agricultural and industrial impacts, eutrophication, excessive algae bloom, climate change and a growing population.  Then, with the stroke of a pen last week, the Premier has reduced Water Stewardship to a branch of the Department of Conservation. Why? It seems to me that the stewardship of Manitoba waters was the beginning of a life line for the survival of Lake Winnipeg. Now it has been taken away. At no time in Manitoba's history has there been such a need for a Department of Water Stewardship as the

If you like this blog, please consider making a donation. Thanks! Larry Dear Editor, It's sometimes referred to as "the people's corporation." I don't believe the CBC deserves that endearing title any longer. Just last night, we were treated to another spectacle on "The National." Each member of the high-profile "At-Issue" Panel, to one degree or another, pooh-poohed almost every question posed by viewers as part of a year-end special. No, they chimed, there is no serious gap between the rich and poor in this country. On the contrary, Andrew Coyne informed us, huge progress is being made in reducing poverty in Canada.  Rex Murphy seconded the motion, reminding us, we've actually never had it so good! (Rex seldom opens his mouth but to change feet!)  No, the Occupy Movement has had no real impact. (No one offered, of course, that this might be because blind, narrow and stupid politicians refuse to recognize good, new

If you like my blog, please consider a donation. Thanks! Larry Dear Editor, If Stephen Harper is so keen on becoming a "law and order" Prime Minister, why does he seem to have so little regard for the law, himself? Since coming to power about six years ago, his government has been riddled with a litany of dirty tricks, domestic and international crimes. The most recent is his scandalous decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Accord, a legally binding, international agreement to limit human emissions of greenhouse gases, which are causing catastrophic climate change. (Have you noticed Manitoba's tragic and terrible flooding lately?) Even China put Canada to shame at the recent climate talks in Durban, showing a willingness to "step up" and show some environmental leadership while Harper showed none. His "operative" at the talks, Peter Kent (who I now refer to as our "Minister of Environmental Destruction"), once again proved, neither o