Boreal Forest Along Manitoba, Ontario Boundaries Proposed as World Heritage Site

The Winnipeg Free Press - 01/18/2012
WINNIPEG - A United Nations organization will soon have before it a bid to designate a huge tract of boreal forest along the Manitoba-Ontario boundaries as a world heritage site. Read more here.

Goodbye, Fish: Rising CO2 Direct Threat to Sea Life

Common Dreams Jan 16-'12
Study: Rising CO2 affecting brains, central nervous systems of sea fish. Details here.

Honeybee Problem Nearing a ‘Critical Point'

Grist - Jan 13-2012 Claire Robinson

"We are inching our way toward a critical tipping point," said Steve Ellis, secretary of the National Honey Bee Advisory Board…Details here.

Honeybees photo by PLT

Please also read: "Scientists Link Mass Death of British Bees to Farm Pesticides

The Rise and Fall of our Manitoba Water Stewardship Ministers.

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 there is now. 

I believe there is a requirement for leadership to truly save Lake Winnipeg and our precious waters, rather than just the advertisements. The people of Manitoba have a right to stand up and fight for what is right, and what is honourable and decent,as do all the people in Canada.

The abuse and pollution of our water sources has been tolerated and accepted for far too long, and government actions have not been successful to indicate any beneficial recovery of Lake Winnipeg waters.

It is long past time for all politicians to dedicate themselves,and work together in an all out effort to do whatever is necessary to clean up Lake Winnipeg and save our Manitoba water sources. It is time to put their political identities aside and help bring back the health,the beauty and colour of Lake Winnipeg.

So, come clean, Mr. Selinger. Why did you do it?

John Fefchak;

Virden, Manitoba.

Roundup-Resistant Weed Spreads to Canadian Prairies

Jan 11, 2012 Reuters Canada

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - A weed resistant to a widely used chemical to protect crops has spread for the first time to Western Canada, the country's grain and canola belt. Read more here. 

Kochia, Kochia scoparia.  

Photo by Jack Kelly Clark.

Ex-Bloc MP Takes Harper Government to Court for Ditching Kyoto

The Canadian Press - 01/13/2012

MONTREAL - A group led by a former Bloc Quebecois MP is taking the Canadian government to court in the hope of overturning Ottawa's decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol. Read more.

Sea Level Rise - an Emerging Hockey Stick (Video)

An open letter to Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver

Greenpeace - Jan 10-2012

Between 1999 and 2008 Enbridge pipelines spilled oil 610 times. Details here.
A bunch of "radicals" at a Regina 
demo about 2 yrs ago - PLT photo

So Stephen Thinks We're Radicals!

Hi Larry,

Holy smokes! Stephen Harper’s Conservatives entered 2012 with guns blazing, accusing “environmentalists and other radical groups” opposing the Northern Gateway pipeline of having a “radical ideological agenda” in an unprecedented open letter. That’s you and me they’re talking about, Larry.

Since day one of the No Tankers movement, our position has been that British Columbians should have a say in how their air, land and water is managed.  We don’t call that having a radical agenda, we call it democracy. Yet Harper and the oil industry seem increasingly threatened by reasonable citizens expressing reasonable concerns about our country and its resources. That’s why they’ve launched a coordinated American-style attack on opponents of Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline.

What can we do about it? We’ve been striking back in the media, but we’ve got to think bigger. We’re never going to have as much money as them, but what we can do is beat them with our size and our diversity.  The movement to stop oil tankers on the coast is growing, but Harper’s scare tactics prove that big is not good enough … we need to be huge.

Here’s where you come in. Northern Gateway will continue to be all over the news this week. Can you help us capture the national zeitgeist by talking about this issue with 5 people you know? Getting new signatures on our No Tankers petition is the number one way that we can grow our movement. Once people sign, they become a part of our network . And when a massive group of diverse people starts working together in a coordinated way, that’s when Harper and the oil industry start to sweat.

So, who should you talk to? Your friends and family are a good place to start, but you can think broader, too. What about business owners in your community? Talk to them in person, talk to them on Facebook, dust off your old telegraph and break out the morse code … we don’t care! Just let people know that the single most effective thing they can do right now is to sign our petition and join our movement.

We’ll have lots more strategic actions for you to take in the coming months, but right now, let’s just concentrate on getting huge.

For the coast,

Eric, Celine, Emma, Erika & Karl

P.S. If you’re a real keener, download our new Find Allies Action Kit. We estimate it’s about 30 hours work, and it’s a comprehensive way to make a big difference.

https://www.gifttool.com/donations/Donate?ID=1745&AID=1818

Adam Beach is My Hero

If you like my blog, I hope you'll consider a donation. Thanks! Larry

by Larry Powell

I don't spend a lot of my life adulating celebrities. In this case, I'm making an exception.

Adam had a rough life, growing up as a native kid on a Manitoba reserve. Now, he's an established television star. 

But wait, there's more. 

He has a social conscience! 

He's already made his mark as a cop on "Law and Order." Fame-wise, how much further can you go!

Now, he's starring in a new CBC TV series called "Arctic Air." At first, I was leary. The promos hinted at a show all about exploitation of northern resources. So, I watched, with low expectations. 

But Adam's character, an executive of  an aviation company, actually shows a sensitivity for the people there who are being affected by the ravages of climate change. 

(I really liked it when he punched out a mouthy Calgary mining millionaire. The millionaire showed his ugly, racist side, calling Adam's character "Chief" for not selling out a friend on a mining claim the friend had staked.)

But Adam Beach isn't just living out a fantasy on TV.

In real life, he has come out in defense of native communities trying to resist the Northern Gateway pipeline. In this era of ruthless government, hell-bent on making the world safe for multinational corporations, we need "equalizers" like Adam. 


Adam is also a friend of Mark Ruffalo, another amazing actor who has rallied in support of the Occupy Protest Movement!

Go Adam, go! 

Larry

Greens Join Forces With Liberals and Environmental Groups Against NDP’s Plan For Mining In Provincial Parks

"The idea of a peat mine inside a provincial park is simply sickening,” says Beddome
(January 10, 2012)
WINNIPEG – Green Party Leader James Beddome, joined by Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard, Manitoba Wildlands Director Gaile Whelan Enns, and Wilderness Committee Campaign Director Eric Reder spoke out against the NDP allowance of peat mining in provincial parks today at the Manitoba Legislature.  The Hecla/Grindstone Provincial Park, adjacent to Lake Winnipeg, may be home to a 531-hectare peat mine if an Environment Act license is granted. 
“Regulations are urgently needed to allow continued, and environmentally sustainable, harvesting of peat for gardens and related purposes,” says Gerrard.  “While there is a place for peat harvesting in Manitoba, there is no place for mining in provincial parks.”
Beddome added that a provincial compost strategy is also needed, because compost can be used as a replacement for peat in gardens.
“Using compost and other alternatives, rather than peat whenever possible, would reduce the need for peat mining, thereby reducing the associated damage and emissions caused by peat mining, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions from landfills,” said Beddome. 
The NDP have had 12 years to develop a peat land management strategy and regulations.  Instead, they have issued a temporary moratorium on peat mining in Manitoba.  Even with the moratorium, a loophole is allowing the NDP to permit new peat mines -- including in provincial parks.  Environmental groups see this as a tactic to get around the moratorium legislated in 2011 and for the NDP to collect revenue through new peat leases and mines, including in parks. 
“The NDP moratorium is in fact not a moratorium, as there are more than 200 pending and granted peat leases in Manitoba right now,” adds Gaile Whelan Enns, with Manitoba Wildlands.  “Rather, it is part of a twisted pattern of the NDP saying they have a moratorium and doing the opposite. This is no way to manage our province.” 
“Peat is a vital tool to preserve the health of our waterways and the temperature of our planet,” says James Beddome.  “Provincial parks are intended to preserve natural landscapes, not to serve as places of industrial development. The idea of a peat mine inside a provincial park is simply sickening.”
-30-
For more information, please contact:
Caitlin McIntyre,
Green Party of Manitoba Press Secretary
204-990-4064
Please also read: "Peat Mines Comment Period Extended."