rabble.ca - John Bonnar Audio Blog

Refugee and Immigrant rights groups demand Bill C-31 be scrapped

johnbon — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:20:39 +0000

Members of No One is Illegal Toronto and Occupy Toronto protested outside Conservative MP Joe Oliver’s office on Wednesday morning, demanding that the Conservatives cancel, what has come to be known as, the Refugee Exclusion Act.

Listen to an interview with Katie Berger of Occupy Toronto and Syed Hussan of No One is Illegal Toronto.

From the press release:

Occupy Toronto and No One Is Illegal Toronto have shut down MP Joe Oliver’s office at 511 Lawrence Avenue West to demand that the Refugee Exclusion Act, Bill C-31, be discarded.

Simultaneously occupations at Conservative MP offices are underway in London, ON, while a banner was dropped in Ottawa as part of a coordinated and escalating campaign.

Yinka Dene Alliance Freedom Train arrives in Toronto

johnbon — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:05:16 +0000

Listen to speeches from the pre-rally press conference, the rally and one-on-one interviews during the march from Metro Hall to Le Meridien King Edward Hotel on King Street where Enbridge was holding its Annual Shareholders Meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

From the website:

The Yinka Dene Alliance is taking a Freedom Train across Canada to enforce their legal ban on the Enbridge Northern Gateway oil pipelines and tankers project, and to stand up for their freedom to choose their own future.

Protesters rally outside Barrick Gold shareholders' meeting

johnbon — Wed, 02 May 2012 22:18:50 +0000

Click here to see more photos from today's rally in Simcoe Park across from the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto.

Listen to speeches from the rally.

Rally organizer Sakura Saunders is the co-editor of Protest Barrick, a website dedicated to tracking and exposing the violations of human rights and the environment by mega gold mining company, Barrick Gold.

She is also involved with the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network in Toronto, and is a volunteer and board member with the Prometheus community radio project based out of Philadelphia.

National Day of Mourning honours fallen workers

johnbon — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 23:17:03 +0000

Click here to see more photos from today's ceremony.

Over 100 people gathered Friday afternoon at the Chinese Railway Workers Monument in Toronto to pay tribute to workers killed, suffered disease or injury on the job.

MC - Andria Babbington - Vice President Labour Council

Music - MC Mohamed Ali

Angela Bischoff: Dangers of nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons proliferation

johnbon — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 23:53:46 +0000

Listen to a speech given by Angela Bischoff from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance on Tuesday morning where she warns about the connection between nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons proliferation, as well as the Ontario government's plans to spend upwards of $80 billion on new nuclear power projects.

Her speech was followed by a question and answer session.

The event was organized by the Veterans Against Nuclear Arms and co-sponsored by the Hiroshima Day Coalition.

Egyptian refugee Mohammad Mahjoub seeks an end to proceedings against him

johnbon — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:38:36 +0000

Listen to a press briefing outside the federal court in Toronto on Tuesday afternoon with remarks from Syed Hussan from the Justice for Mahjoub Network, lawyer Paul Slansky and Mohammad Mahjoub.

From the press release:

Egyptian Refugee Mohammad Mahjoub was in court again yesterday in a bid to end proceedings against him after a court-ordered inquiry into a Department of Justice seizure of his confidential legal documents found multiple instances of prejudice that make continued trial against Mr. Mahjoub untenable.

CAW demands severance pay for laid off workers

johnbon — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:29:54 +0000

Click here to see more photos from today's rally outside Catalyst Capital at 77 Bay Street in Toronto.

Listen to interviews with Ken Lewenza, CAW National President and Chris McGlone, a laid off Snowbear worker.

Listen to speeches from Ken Lewenza, CAW National President, Robin Dudley, CAW Local 1917 President, Jerry Dias, Assistant to the CAW National President, Gary DeLong, Snowbear plant chairperson and Bill Gibson, Kitchener area director.

CAW outlines new proposals to revitalize Canadian auto industry

johnbon — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:11:19 +0000

At a press conference Monday morning, the CAW called on federal and provincial governments to implement new policies that would support and strengthen the Canadian auto industry as well as to develop an overall strategy for keeping good jobs in Canada.

Listen to the press conference featuring CAW Economist Jim Stanford and CAW National President Ken Lewenza followed by a question and answer session with the media.

Click here for more information and to sign the petition

Community rallies to keep harm reduction focused men's shelter open in Toronto

johnbon — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 22:56:13 +0000

Click here to see more photos from Saturday's rally and barbecue.

Listen to speeches from anti-poverty activists Gaetan Heroux, Beric German, Anne Egger, Cathy Crowe, Peter Leslie, Richard St-Pierre, Brian DuBourdieu and Asha Mohamoud.

From the press release:

The School House was first opened in the 1970s, it is a 55 (paid) bed facility for men in the downtown east end of Toronto. It was one of the first shelters in Canada to operate from a harm reduction perspective, and remains one of the very few harm reduction focused shelters in this city.

Refugee and immigrant rights activists occupy Conservative MP constituency offices

johnbon — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 22:10:25 +0000

Listen to an interview with Sardar Saadi, No One is Illegal Toronto, from Conservative MP Ted Opitz's office on Wednesday afternoon.

From the press release:

In a coordinated effort, members of refugee and immigrant rights groups including No One Is Illegal are occupying Conservative MP offices in Ottawa, Toronto, St. Catharines, Edmonton, and Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories. Banners have also been dropped in Montreal and Halifax. These actions coincide with April 4, Refugee Rights Day, and are being organized to demand that the Refugee Exclusion Act, Bill C-31, be discarded.

Live updates and pictures are being streamed through: www.twitter.com/NoOneIsIllegal

NDP Leadership Convention interviews: Ian Capstick, Sid Ryan and Kathleen Monk

johnbon — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:38:20 +0000

Listen to interviews with Ian Capstick, owner of Media Style, former press secretary to NDP caucus and Leader Jack Layton, Sid Ryan, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour and Kathleen Monk, Executive Director Broadbent Institute, former Director of Strategic Communications NDP Leader Jack Layton.

Community-based agency releases new documentary video to help keep sex trade workers safe

johnbon — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 00:38:17 +0000

Click here to see more photos from Friday's video launch

Listen to speeches followed by a Q & A

From the press release:

In celebration of International Women's Day, Street Health Community Foundation, in conjunction with Regent Park Community Health Centre and the Bad Date Coalition, will be releasing their new documentary entitled "The Safer Stroll Project".

The Safer Stroll project is based on a community capacity building approach that addresses violence perpetrated against women who work in the context of "street level" sex work.

OPSEU builds movement to save Ontario Place

johnbon — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 23:28:32 +0000

Click here to see more photos from yesterday's information session at Nathan Phillips Square.

Listen to interviews with Karrie Ouchas, Acting Campaigns Officer, Ontario Public Sector Employees Union (OPSEU), 11 year-old Trevor Bruinix-Simpson, who started his own petition in Trenton to save Ontario Place and Warren Singer, who has been going to Ontario Place since he was a boy and now enjoys outings to Ontario Place with his 6-year-old daughter.

From the press release:

Employees of Ontario Place will take their campaign to keep the landmark waterfront park open to Nathan Phillips Square on Wednesday.

KI Indigenous Nation tells mining company to stop prospecting for gold on their land

johnbon — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 23:22:48 +0000

Click here to see more photos from Tuesday's rally.

Listen to speeches from Tuesday’s rally across the street from the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto.

Speakers included KI Councilor Cecilia Begg (of the KI6 jailed leaders), KI Councilor Randy Nanokeesic, Steven Chapman - KI Lands and Environment Unit, Maryam Adrangi - Council of Canadians, Sid Ryan - Ontario Federation of Labour, Ramsay Hart - Mining Watch, Shane Moffat - Greenpeace, Krisna Saravanamuttu - Canadian Federation of Students, and Syed Hussan - Toronto KI Support Network.

From the press release:

Gardeners collective plans network of community gardens to feed Toronto's hungry

johnbon — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 23:02:32 +0000

Listen to an interview with Jacob Kearey-Moreland, an organizer with Occupy Gardens Toronto that held a Seed Exchange outside the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday.

From their Facebook page:

A growing collective of gardeners plotting to plant & tend food gardens all over the city, and share the produce with all who are hungry.

Inspired by the Occupy Movement, Occupy Gardens Toronto represents the next step in our (vegetable) stand against inequality, corporate corruption and greed, growing hunger and the destruction of life itself.

McGuinty's austerity agenda will do nothing to create jobs, says CUPE Ont. president

johnbon — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:14:20 +0000

Listen to an interview with CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn as he talks about the devastating effects cuts to public services and new user fees will have on average Ontarians.

From their press release:

Average Ontarians will pay the price for Don Drummond's radical austerity agenda if the McGuinty government implements his recommendations in next month's budget, says Fred Hahn, President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario.

"It is hard to believe the McGuinty government takes the vast majority of these recommendations seriously," said Hahn.

New campaign aims to make ecocide a crime

johnbon — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:39:04 +0000

Listen to an interview with Polly Higgins, a Lawyer for the Earth who proposed Ecocide as the 5th Crime Against Peace to the UN in 2010 and is currently on a North American speaking tour.

Polly is the author of the award-winning Eradicating Ecocide: Laws and governance to prevent the destruction of our planet.

She has been voted one of the "World's Top 10 Visionary Thinkers" by the Ecologist and named "the Planet's lawyer" by the 2010 Change Awards.

From the website:

Ecocide is the destruction, damage and loss of ecosystems. It is happening on a mass scale, every day and it is getting worse. But we can change this -- by making it a crime.

Activists call for an end to the use of animals in research and education

johnbon — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:27:44 +0000

Listen to an interview with Paul York, an organizer with the Animal Rights Club at the University of Toronto

From the event page:

The University of Toronto is the site of roughly 90,000 unnecessary animal death per year, for the purposes of research and education.

Over 200 of the experiments in 2010 -- involving thousands of animals -- were "class D" -- which means they inflicted very high levels of suffering, and resulting in all cases in death and dissection.

There is a common misimpression that these experiments are necessary for human health. That is not true.

Lack of safe operating procedures at new Toronto jail puts lives at risk, says OPSEU

johnbon — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:29:38 +0000

Listen to an interview with Dan Sidsworth, Ontario Public Sector Employees' Union (OPSEU) Divisional Chair for Ministry Community Safety and Control Services.

From the press release:

Correctional officers working at the new Toronto Intermittent Centre on Horner Avenue are warning that the lack of standard operating procedures at the jail will lead to serious injuries or deaths.

The warning comes after an offender at the facility suffered a near-fatal overdose this past weekend.

Dan Sidsworth, elected chair of the province's 6,000 correctional officers, said that the facility should never have been allowed to open until official procedures were in place to allow for the safe operation of the jail.

Groups opposed to the increased criminalization of HIV/AIDS

johnbon — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:56:46 +0000

Listen to an interview with HIV/AIDS activist Tim McCaskell.

From the event page:

On February 8, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear two landmark cases about HIV, sex and the criminal law. More details here: http://www.aidslaw.ca/EN/stopcriminalization/index.htm

Stand for justice! Oppose the criminalization of HIV.

Make your voice heard.

Where: Church of the Holy Trinity, 483 Bay Street, Toronto

When: Monday, 6 February at 5:30 p.m.

What: Calls to Action, March to Old City Hall & Street Theatre

It is time to stop persecuting people living with HIV who have safe and consensual sex. The criminal law should only be used where a person puts another person at a real risk of harm.

Iranian pro-democracy activist wins the right to remain in Canada

johnbon — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:16:30 +0000

Listen to an interview with Kiomars Soofi, the brother of Kavoos Soofi, an Iranian pro-democracy activist who won a stay on his deportation that was to take place on February 7.

From the press release:

“Kaavos is an well-known political activist in our community who has publicly advocated for democracy in Iran,” says Sahar Zerehi, one of the lead organizers of the 2009 prodemocracy demonstrations in Toronto and a journalist in Shahrvan publications.

His political activism, which is publicly available on Facebook and has been covered on CBC, puts his life at great risk if his deportation is carried out.

Concerned citizens condemn alleged violence by Toronto police against homeless, marginalized people

johnbon — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:23:38 +0000

Listen to an interview with Doug Johnson Hatlem, a street pastor and social justice activist.

From the press release:

Today marks the first anniversary of Christopher William Gardian’s death, early on the sixth day after a severe beating by police in Toronto's 14 Division.

We will meet at the South gate of Trinity Bellwoods Park at 12:30 p.m. to remember Chris' death.

Dressed in black, and with black tape over our mouths, we will then march along Queen St. to the heart of 14 Division at Queen and Bathurst. Nearby is a drop-in which Chris made use of nearly every day.

Jane Goodall Institute asks Careerbuilder.com to stop using live chimpanzees in ads

johnbon — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:14:47 +0000

Listen to an interview with Jane Lawton, Executive Director, the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada

From the press release:

The Patriots and the Giants may be the ones vying for the NFL championship this Sunday, but the chimpanzees in the CareerBuilder.com ads will be the real losers at this year's Super Bowl. Endangered chimpanzees belong in the wild, not in advertising or in entertainment.

The Jane Goodall Institute of Canada (JGI Canada) is asking Canadians to go to JaneGoodall.ca and sign a letter from world-renowned primatologist and environmentalist Dr. Jane Goodall asking the leadership of CareerBuilder.com to stop using live chimpanzees in its ads.

Post-secondary students raise awareness of Toronto's affordable housing crisis

johnbon — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:30:57 +0000

Listen to interviews with Habitat for Humanity, the Habitat Toronto Campus Coalition, Toronto EMS and a Toronto EMS Youth leader.

Click here to see more photos from Occupy Gould Street

From the press release:

Building on the Occupy Toronto movement, students representing the Habitat Toronto Campus Coalition will occupy Gould Street at Bond Street for 24 hours starting Friday, January 27 at 7 a.m in affiliation with Ryerson University.

Protesters celebrate 'marriage' between Minister of Natural Resources and Big Oil

johnbon — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:19:57 +0000

Listen to interviews with Maryam Adrangi and Mark Calzavara of the Council of Canadians, Stop the Tar Sands and Keith Stewart of Greenpeace Canada.

Click here to see more photos from Friday’s protest

From the press release:

This month Joe Oliver sided with big oil, characterizing concerned communities and individuals who have signed up to take part in the democratic hearings in place to examine the controversial Enbridge tar sands pipeline, as boogeymen. In reality over 4,000 people are registered to speak, 79 per cent of which are residents of British Columbia.

York Federation of Students protests 'flawed' Liberal tuition grant program

johnbon — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:51:34 +0000

Listen to an interview with Alastair Woods, camper and vice-president of Campaigns and Advocacy of the York Federation of Students.

From the press release:

Students at York University will begin a 10-day, on-campus camp-out on Monday, January 23 to protest the rising cost of post-secondary education and to bring attention to a National Day of Student Action to be held on Wednesday, February 1.

The "Freezing to Drop Tuition Fees" camp-out is designed to draw attention to the chronic underfunding of post-secondary education that has left Ontario students out in the cold.

Students are concerned that the Liberal tuition grant implemented this January excludes two-thirds of all students.

Toronto Stop the Cuts fights to retain city services

johnbon — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:30:26 +0000

Listen to an interview with Victoria Barnett, Media Spokesperson, Toronto Stop the Cuts Network

From the press release:

A series of rolling actions are beginning at City Hall on January 17, co-ordinated by the Toronto Stop the Cuts Network and its neighbourhood chapters to stop cuts to municipal city services and insist that the $154-million budget surplus be used to expand services in the city.

A public demonstration is planned for 5:30 p.m. on January 17, 2012. Actions will continue for the next two days.

Charges dropped against farm where two Jamaican migrant workers died

johnbon — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 01:17:45 +0000

Listen to an interview with Chris Ramsaroop, an organizer with Justicia For Migrant Workers, and his reaction to the dropped charges.

From the J4MW press release:

Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW) decries the denial of justice for the families of Ralston White and Paul Roach, two migrant workers killed while working near Ayton, Ontario in September 2010.

On Tuesday January 10th, 2011, four individuals associated with Filsinger farms were set to go to trial on multiple charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA), in one of the first OSHA prosecutions involving migrant workers.

Former alleged G20 'conspirator' charged for refusing to obey a court order

johnbon — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:53:12 +0000

Listen to the complete audio from the press conference held on the steps of Old City Hall prior to Julian Ichim's court appearance at 11am.

From the Toronto Community Mobilization Network (TCMN) press release:

Three days after starting to blog about his experience at the G20 and with undercover infiltration, activist Julian Ichim was ordered by the OPP to take down a blog post about his personal relationship with one of the undercover cops who infiltrated community organizations across the country in the lead up to the 2010 Olympics and the G20.

Police evict Occupy Ottawa from Confederation Park

johnbon — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:27:51 +0000

On early Wednesday morning, police moved in to evict Occupy Ottawa from Confederation Park. The move came 26 hours after the eviction deadline from the National Capital Commission. This report contains interviews from around outside the newly-barricaded park with a member of Occupy Ottawa and also with the media representative of the Ottawa Police. It also features a phone interview from later in the morning with the arrested occupier who had to be taken to hospital after being injured by police during the arrest. Produced by Greg Macdougall, www.EquitableEducation.ca