Is the National Energy Board as corrupt as FIFA?

FIFA and the National Energy Board are both organizations that have the duty to look over their respective industries. Both have the power to review, research, study, and make decisions for their respected fields. But the problem is that both do not look out for there respected fields or for people who work in that field. The difference is that the corruption that FIFA does only harms players in the sporting world who make millions of dollars. However, the decisions by the National Energy Board not only affect the people, it also effects nature and communities for years. The poor decisions that the National Energy Board make can cost people jobs, oil spills, and also can cost millions of dollars for clean up. So, when a prominent economist resigns from the National Energy Board, she states that "the National Energy Board is not interested in a scope of issues that is broad enough to do an appropriate review of the environmental risk and economic impact of this project on Canada and particularly in British Columbia". It's a pretty scary thought that an organization whos role is being the referee between the oil and gas industry and the citizens of British Columbia is on the side of the oil and gas industry. BC residents and businesses need to be aware that the National Energy Board is not for BC residents but for Corporations.

Written by: Inderpal Brar

An open letter to Stephen Harper and Christy Clark regarding the extermination of Bees

To Stephen Harper and Christy Clark,

Bees are not just animals. They are animals that help the environment, the economy and farmers in BC and Canada.

They create jobs and business for people who want to sell honey in BC and in Canada.

They also are the animals that are the main pollinators for "apples, peaches, melons, pumpkins, cucumbers, mustard, canola, alfalfa, and coffee" (David Suzuki, 2015).

In BC alone, "approximately $200 million in agricultural production is dependent on honey bee pollination every year in this province. Across North America that number rises to $16 billion per year." (British Columbia News room, 2015).

Before you two go off to talk about big business, I just wanted to let you know that bees are dying off in vast numbers. They will not just affect how we live, but they will also affect how we do business, especially for local Canadians and BC residents who depend on these jobs to earn a living. I am asking both of you to sign this petition below, in order to help solve the issue of the extermination of bees. https://www.wildernesscommittee.org/sign_the_petition_ban_bee_killing_neonicotinoid_pesticides


References:

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/downloads/Pollinators_fact_sheet.pdf

http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2012/05/day-marks-importance-of-honey-bee-to-bc-agriculture.html

Anti-Slapp Bill Enters Legislature (Read it Below)

Environmental Defense Working Group

BC Law Reform – Stop SLAPP Suits

https://www.facebook.com/StopSLAPPsuits

News Release

Burnaby May 26, 2015

A Real and Present Danger:

B.C. Urgently Needs Anti-SLAPP Legislation

The Environmental Defense Working Group (EDRF) applauds the BC New Democratic Party for taking a leadership role in proposing an anti-SLAPP Act to protect Charter rights in the province. SLAPP suits, or Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation, are becoming more common in Canada and experts agree there is an urgent need for legislation to prevent them.[1] The proposed Act will allow Judges greater flexibility to evaluate claims of malicious lawsuits aimed at silencing and preventing protests against large corporations.  The proposed Act does not, of course, protect unlawful conduct.

The Act follows legislation in Quebec to stop SLAPP suits and protect Charter rights and Bill 83, Protection of Public Participation Act, 2013, which is presently before the Ontario legislature. 28 US states have already adopted effective anti-SLAPP legislation to protect Constitutional rights.[2]

SLAPP suits are lawsuits generally brought by large corporations or government agencies to silence individuals and community-based groups. The term SLAPP suit is used in part to describe a case where the goal of the party bringing the lawsuit is generally not to win, but to silence critics and deny them their Charter rights. [3] As such, SLAPP suits threaten public participation and thereby the democratic process in Canada.

The power of a SLAPP comes from the use of the court system to intimidate individuals, communities, unions and civic groups and to exhaust their often very limited resources. It is not the strength of the lawsuit itself, but the threat of onerous and expensive legal proceedings that makes SLAPPs so harmfully effective. SLAPP suits often require enormous resources to defend against and can exhaust the resources of any ordinary defendant. Activities that attract SLAPPs may include citizens reporting of environmental violations, filing complaints with government agencies, contacting the media, speaking at public meetings, participating at hearings before administrative tribunals or engaging in public campaigns.[4]

There are several lawsuits against protestors presently before the BC Supreme Court.[5] But the most well known is the $5.6 million civil suit against five defendants by Kinder Morgan the giant Texas based oil company. That suit was brought to an abrupt conclusion when Kinder Morgan issued a unilateral discontinuance after one defendant had argued in BC Supreme Court for a dismissal, recognition that the civil suit was a SLAPP suit and special costs and was proposing to appeal Kinder Morgan’s civil suit.

Alan Dutton was one of the five named in Kinder Morgan’s lawsuit and notes that “the effect of a SLAPP suit is to silence critics, deny freedom of speech and assembly along with other democratic rights. SLAPP suits also destroy community organizations and exert a ‘chill factor’ on important public discussion and non-violent peaceful protests.”

Alan Dutton, a spokesperson for the EDRF, leads a law reform project funded by West Coast Environmental Law aimed at bringing legal experts together to evaluate solutions to SLAPP suits as well to engage the public in discussion of Charter rights in the context of lawful public protests. Alan added “I believe that "SLAPP suits represent a clear and present danger to Charter rights in BC and we are glad that the NDP is taking the issue seriously and has taken action by tabling a Bill to stop SLAPP suits." 

The EDRF urges all Parties in BC to support anti-SLAPP legislation. The EDRF and is organizing a petition to encourage all elected officials to support the proposed Act.

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The Environmental Defense Working Group is a newly formed group and has received two grants from West Coast Environmental Law to develop a made-in-BC solution to SLAPP suits.

For more information, please contact Alan Dutton and the Environmental Defense Working Group at 604- 290-1108, or e-mail aldutton@gmail.com.

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[1] James E. Shragge, “Recommended Legislative Measures to Counter Strategic Lawsuits.”

[2] EcoJustice, “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP): Legislation Urgently Needed in Ontario.”

[3] Michaelin and Chris Tollefson, “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation: The British Columbia Experience.”

[4] Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, “

 FACT SHEET: Protection of Public Participation Act.”

[5] The classic SLAPP suitcase in BC was the Cedar Hills Eight. See Chris Tollefson and Bram Rogachevsky, “ Grassroot’s Cedar Hill Eight SLAPP Back.”

Public Awareness Saturday- Dogwood Initiative

We'll be at the Public Awareness Saturday event in New Westminster on May 30th. For more information, check out a link here as well as the information below.

Join Dogwood Initiative and our partners at Voters Taking Action on Climate Change and Communities and Coal for a peaceful Day of Action concerning the Fraser Surrey Docks coal export project. We will poster the streets, gather signatures on the Beyond Coal petition, and share our stories as to why we oppose this project and what we can do to stop it in its tracks.

We will meet at the Tin Soldier between the River Market at the New Westminster Quay and the Fraser River Discovery Centre at 11am on Saturday, May 30th. This event will last until 1:30pm.

Fraser Surrey Docks has amended their proposal to build a coal transshipment facility. Instead of barging coal up the Fraser River, now they want to become a fully fledged coal port with tankers carrying thermal coal from the United States.

If you think this is a bad idea, you're not alone. We need to get organized in directly impacted communities so that British Columbians can have a say in projects that impact their home. We'll be asking people to join us and organize in their community to defeat this proposal- after all, communities across BC are still saying no to this shortsighted project.

Join us in New Westminster at the Tin Soldier near the Quay to gather signatures, share stories, and poster the streets with a public service announcement.

This is going to be a good one.

With hope,
Arie

A quick update on our discussion on SLAPP suits

Hey everyone! So for the past month and a half, we have been focusing on SLAPP suits, and the issues surrounding them in many different areas. Here are some links to all of our articles.

History of the Slapp
Government and Oil Companies Support Slapp Suits
Interview with Alan Dutton- Part One
Interview with Alan Dutton- Part Two
Alan Dutton Interview- Audio Transcript
History of SLAPP suits in British Columbia
SLAPP suits and Corporate Responsibility
SLAPP suits across Canada
How to get involved in the Anti-SLAPP movement
SLAPP suits and Local Businesses
SLAPP suits and the Green Economy

Even though we are going to start looking into our next topic, which is green bonds, we are still not finished our topic on SLAPP suits. We will continue to provide articles, guest blog posts, and interviews with experts regarding this issue. We also are going to be starting an audio discussion/short podcast on these types of topics. We will keep you posted on that as well. We thank you all for your continued support and we hope that you all continue to check out what we are doing here at Eternal Sustainability. Thank you! =)

SLAPP suits and Local Businesses

SLAPP suits do not just affect activists or organizations, but they also affect local green business. The first reason how local green businesses will get affected is when governments and big corporations work together. A great example of this would be the BC Government and LNG, in the sense that both work together and benefit off each other. Christy Clark, the leader of Liberal Party of BC, received funding from LNG and Kinder Morgan to help her re-election campaign. Christy Clark paid back Kinder Morgan and LNG by working with them to promote pipeline jobs, and give more funding to trade schools. Not only did they get a boost by the government, but they also got Premier Christy Clark, who did not comment on the pipeline protest or about issues such as Kinder Morgan putting SLAPP suit's on residents. However, you might ask yourself how this affects small green business. Well, it affects them in any different ways. The first way is funding and promotion. The Liberal government promotes, and gives funding to a lot of foreign oil and gas companies, but barely even promotes any local businesses and renewable energy. As small green business, I would take offense to that because a lot of businesses vote for the Liberal Party of BC because they say they create jobs, and promote the economy. That is not true because at the end of the day, small businesses are the ones that can create more jobs for more local people.

Written by: Inderpal Brar

SLAPP suits and the Green Economy

Our blog has primarily focused upon the green economy, green jobs, and sustainability in general. One may wonder how SLAPP suits fit into this group. As said in the past few articles, SLAPP suits allow corporations to run amok in society, without the interests of the individuals and citizens of that society. A majority of these corporations are in industries such as oil, gas, coal, and anything in-between. The thing is, these SLAPP suits are undermining the opportunities for green industries such as renewable energy to take fold, especially because they are at a competitive disadvantage, as opposed to these larger organizations. Our next few articles are going to focus on SLAPP suits and the green economy, and how one impacts the other.

How to get involved in the Anti-SLAPP movement

I have a few ways to create a movement to stop SLAPP suits in BC. Like any movement in the world, it only takes one person to start a movement to solve any issues or problems in the world. If you want get involved, here are couple of steps to get involved with Slapp suits.

Step 1: Go on facebook and type in #stoptheslapp, as well as Stop the Slapp and like the group.

Step 2: Secondly, talk about SLAPP suits with your friends and family.

Step 3: Write to your local MLA'S.

Step 4: Create a social media or event campaign.

Step 5: repeat step 2-4. To create more awareness to your community