The Tide

The Tide: Green rights, environmental racism, and honouring Loretta Saunders

Thu, 15 May 2014 15:00:00 -0300

On this episode of the Tide:

Honouring Loretta Saunders
In the wake of the recently released UN report on Aboriginal peoples in Canada, and its call for a national enquiry into the pattern of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada, we remember Loretta Saunders through the voices and sounds of a Halifax vigil in her honour, held on March 27th, 2014. Featuring Inuit elder Sara Anala, Loretta's sister Delilah Terriak, the Kitpu Youth Drumming Group and Frances Palliser-Nicholas.

In Whose Backyard?

HMC reporter Robert DeVet tells about a new project looking into why toxic industries and waste dumps are so often located close to Black and Mi'kmaq communities in Nova Scotia. Featuring researcher Ingrid Waldron, and voices from the film In Whose Backyard?, produced by Pink Dog Productions.

Recognizing the rights of nature
In Canada, we don't have the right to clean air or clean water. Journalist Donald Cameron is documenting the movement to recognize the rights of nature, and to include the right to a healthy environment in basic civil rights. Though common in most of the world, the rights of nature are absent from a handful of countries including Canada. Cameron talks about why that is, and why he thinks it should change.

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Credits
Produced by Erica Butler.
Music: Sisters (A Tribe Called Red, feat. Northern Voice )
Theme Music: The Just Barelys

The Tide: GM apples, letter from an Elsipogtog mother, the haddock rebound, and postal workers talk Canada Post

Mon, 17 Mar 2014 15:00:00 -0300

On this episode of the Tide:

WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THIS HADDOCK?

There's more haddock in the ocean right now than there's been since before the groundfish collapse that devastated Atlantic Canada's economy in the early 90's. The Tide speaks with Justin Cantafio, Sustainable Fisheries Campaigner at the Ecology Action Centre, to find out what's going on with all this haddock, and how we might be making the same old mistake–mismanaging rebounded stocks by overfishing.

LETTER FROM AN ELSIPOGTOG MOTHER, by Annie Clair

On Oct. 17th, 2013, the RCMP raided on a peaceful protest and blockade near Rexton, New Brunswick.

Citizens from the Elsipogtog First Nation and others had been peacefully protesting shale gas exploration in New Brunswick for months, but had recently started a blockade of equipment owned by SWN Resources, the company doing the shale gas explorations. The blockade was costing SWN an estimated $60,000 a day.
Junior (Germain) Breau was one of the over 100 who were arrested in the violent takedown. He is still in jail today, awaiting trial on multiple charges. Annie Clair is Breau's mother, also a shale gas protester and facing charges of her own stemming from the October 17th raid.

GM APPLES AWAIT APPROVAL
Okanagan Specialty Fruits is hoping to get approval to produce and sell genetically modified apples in Canada. We hear from Nova Scotia apple producers and Lucy Sharratt of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network about their concerns over the new GM fruit.

POSTAL WORKERS ON THE FUTURE OF CANADA POST

Toni MacAfee and Jeff Callaghan are both postal workers serving as union officers with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. The Tide sat down with them to hear their thoughts the recent announcement to drastically reduce postal service in Canada.

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Credits
Produced by Erica Butler.
Music: Fisherman's Blues (The Waterboys), Gaslands (Jay Manafest)
Theme Music: The Just Barelys

Testing Citizenship, Criminalizing Intellectual Disabilities, and Fair Elections

Mon, 24 Feb 2014 14:00:00 -0400

On this episode of the Tide:

Would you pass as a Canadian?
Most Canadians born here will never have to learn some of the things on Canada's citizenship test. And in 2013, the federal government made it even harder, with increased focus on language and military history. Tim Callanan reports on what it takes to become a Canadian citizen.

Criminalizing Intellectual Disabilities

Media Coop editor and reporter Robert DeVet brings us the story of two Nova Scotia women with intellectual disabilities being dragged into the criminal court system. There are striking similarities between the cases of Nichelle Benn and Amanda Murphy - both institutionalized, and both accumulating histories of criminal charges and convictions for assault. Recently the parents of both women have been speaking up and calling for a change to the way intellectually disabled adults are handled in the criminal justice system.

All's Not Fair in Canadian Elections

As parliamentarians discuss the new Fair Elections Act this week, I speak with Fair Vote Canada's Kelly Carmichael about her objections to the new act, and her ideas for more comprehensive electoral reform in Canada.

Credits
Produced by Erica Butler and Pierre Loiselle, with contributions from Tim Callanan and Robert DeVet.

Theme Music: The Just Barelys

**Don't forget to subscribe to THE TIDE podcast via F eedburner or iTunes.**

Citizen Budlakoti, women & Wikipedia, GM salmon goes to court and honouring Rocky Jones.

Mon, 10 Feb 2014 14:00:00 -0400

On this episode of the Tide:

Citizen Budlakoti
Halifax Media Coop editor Hillary Lindsay spoke with Deepan Budlakoti. The 24-year-old was born and raised in Canada only to have his citizenship stripped by the federal government in his 2010.

Women & Wikipedia
Wikipedia has a problem. Not enough women are working on the online collaborative encyclopedia. I drop in on the Halifax Art & Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon to find out what some people are doing to fix it.

GM Salmon Goes to Court
The Ecology Action Centre has launched a lawsuit against the federal government over their approval of the world's first genetically modified animal to be raised for food. Hillary Lindsay speaks to Susanna Fuller about why.

Honouring Rocky Jones
A new portrait of the late Burnley "Rocky" Jones will grace the walls of Dalhousie's Schulich School of Law, thanks to the Black Law Students Association of Canada. We hear from BLSA treasurer and Schulich grad Julie Sobowale, as well as from Rocky himself, speaking last year at Dalhousie.

Credits
Featuring the voices of: Deepan Budlakoti, Eleanor King, Rebecca Young, Genevieve Flavelle, Sam Moss, Annalise Prodor, Susanna Fuller, Julie Sobowale, and Rocky Jones. And for the Halifax Media Coop, Erica Butler and Hillary Lindsay.

Produced by Erica Butler and Pierre Loiselle, with contributions from Hillary Lindsay.

Theme Music: The Just Barelys

**Don't forget to subscribe to THE TIDE podcast via RSS feed or iTunes.**

The Tide: Offshore oil and gas and Nova Scotia's fracking review

Wed, 22 Jan 2014 14:00:00 -0400

**Don't forget to subscribe to THE TIDE podcast via RSS feed or iTunes.**

On this episode of the Tide, we hear about:

the Nova Scotia government's review of hydraulic fracturing and concerns about how it's happening,
the growing offshore oil and gas industry in Nova Scotia,
a new tool library getting started in Halifax, and
the fight to unionize workers in Halifax cafes.

Featuring interviews with Neil Bailey, Gretchen Fitzgerald, and David Wheeler.

Produced by Erica Butler and Pierre Loiselle, with contributions from Amaris Bourdeau and Robert DeVet.
Music: The Just Barelys

FURTHER READING:

Nova Scotia's hydraulic fracturing review

Trust in Wheeler? / Cape Breton U President and Chief of Nova Scotia's Hydraulic Fracturing Review addresses NOFRAC's concerns

December 19, 2013 by MILES HOWE

Nova Scotia anti-fracking coalition worried about fracking review / Too much secrecy, not enough consultation, and scope too narrow

December 17, 2013 by ROBERT DEVET

Shale gas and coal bed methane vs. your water / Geoscientist discusses risks of extraction technologies

November 25, 2013 by SCOTT BARBER

Coal Bed Methane Extraction: “Don't Worry. It's Not Fracking”

November 13, 2013 by KEN SUMMERS

Offshore Oil and Gas Activities in NS

Drilling for oil off the coast of Nova Scotia / Fear of spills has environmentalists concerned

January 3, 2014 by ROBERT DEVET

Offshore seismic testing puts wildlife at risk, biologist fears

November 21, 2013 by ROBERT DEVET

Baristas Rise Up in Halifax

Just Us! Coffeehouse baristas ratify first collective agreement / Union calls it a victory for everyone in the service industry

December 20, 2013 by RANA ENCOL

Second Cup dispute goes to labour board / Employer agrees she disciplined, fired staff after union vote

August 20, 2013 by HILARY BEAUMONT

Baristas Rise Up: "We are always stronger together" / Guest blog editorial

July 25, 2013 By Jeannie Baldwin

Unionizing baristas symptom of job crisis in NS / Halifax millenials want respect in service industry

July 15, 2013 by HILARY BEAUMONT

Second Cup baristas allegedly fired after union vote / Sales declining at café, worker says

July 11, 2013 by HILARY BEAUMONT

Just Us! pens deal with union / Moore: Employees were not dismissed for organizing

June 28, 2013 by HILARY BEAUMONT

Just Us and Them? / Baristas at Just Us! Café attempt to unionize, lose their jobs

April 2, 2013 by HILLARY BAIN LINDSAY

Halifax Tool Library

Group wants to start a tool library for low-income families

December 13, 2013 by AMARIS BOURDEAU

Introducing The Tide, a new podcast from the Halifax Media Coop

Fri, 20 Dec 2013 14:00:00 -0400

Introducing the first episode of The Tide, a new podcast I'm producing for the Halifax Media Coop, with the help and mentorship of Pierre Loiselle.

Please have a listen and be sure to subscribe to the podcast using RSS or iTunes.

In this first edition of The Tide:

Gerald Hannon: HMC Contributor Mark Rendell brings us into the room for a talk by Toronto gay liberation activist Gerald Hannon, former editor of Body Politic.

Original HMC story: Toronto gay activist continues fight for equality

Harsha Walia: HMC ContributorCandida Hadley interviews activist and thinker Harsha Walia about indigenous sovereignty, settler colonialism, feminism, and Undoing Border Imperialism.

Miles Howe: The HMC journalist and editor talks about seismic testing, fracking, getting arrested, and getting involved in the struggle to stop shale gas exploration in the Elsipogtog First Nation in New Brunswick.

Miles Howe's latest story: Is there a monitor in New Brunswick? - One month later, aquifer still broken due to SWN's seismic testing.
Other coverage by Miles Howe

Credits: Produced by Erica Butler and Pierre Loiselle for the Halifax Media Coop. Contributions from Mark Rendell and Candida Hadley.