Welcome to GR, etc. With BC's provincial election less than 24 hours away, there's one issue that we can cover without fear of trespassing on media elections gag orders. Neither of the two parties likely to lead the next government oppose open-pen fish farming in the province.
Despite mountains of evidence suggesting the folly of concentrated feed lots for fish; the obvious ill effects on the fish bred in cramped captivity; dubious health benefit claims of a human diet including these drugged and unnaturally sustained creatures; proven dangers pathogens from these operations pose to wild fish; the standing on its head of the precautionary principle required to keep this industry afloat, with the many known and suspected negative effects it represents, the BC Liberals and BC New Democratic Party both essentially support business as usual.
It's all so much of more of the same for BC-based scientist and wild salmon crusader Alexandra Morton, who last week, along with Ecojustice filed a best practices law suit against salmon farming giant Marine Harvest and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, (DFO) for the alleged "transfer of diseased farmed Atlantic salmon into waters shared by wild fish." As disturbing as the ramifications of Marine Harvest's willful, and possibly illegal, endangering of wild salmon in this manner are, (not to mention the apparent lackadaisical policing of its own policies by the Department of Oceans and Fisheries appear to be in this case, and others) more so is what this case reveals about another frightening virus, joining the already devastating and universally feared ISA virus afflicting farmed salmon stock, and its possible release into the wild.
Alexandra Morton back in court in the first half.
And; this May 15th marks Nakba Day for those within occupied Palestine, and the millions more comprising the Palestinian diaspora. Nakba Day's modern manifestation commemorates the day after Israel's 1948 declaration of independence.
Jon Elmer is a Canadian writer and photojournalist specializing in the Middle East and Canadian foreign and military policy. He has lived in and reported from Occupied Palestine for the better part of the last decade, based primarily in Jenin, Bethlehem and Gaza City. Jon's also reported from more than a dozen countries from the middle east, to Nepal, Western Sahara, the Basque country and right here in Canada. His articles and photographs are featured in the Journal of Palestine Studies, Le Monde diplomatique, The Progressive, Al Jazeera English among others. He is also a contributor, with Anthony Fenton to the book, 'Empire's Ally: Canada in Afghanistan.'
Jon Elmer and marking time passed in Occupied Palestine in the second half.
And, Victoria Street Newz publisher and CFUV Radio broadcaster Janine Bandcroft will join us at the bottom of the hour to bring us up to speed with some of what's good to do in and around our city in the coming week. But first, Alexandra Morton and keeping PRV in its cage.
Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/
Spring has arrived to the Island, and with it a renewed sense of purpose seems evident for those who would defend yet the glorious wild lands and ocean we are blessed to live amidst. Like the perpetual turning of the seasons though, some environmental battles inexorably come round again.
Such is the case with Clayoquot Sound, where years of resistance to forestry and mining abuses prompted international recognition and designation as a UNESCO global Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site, but has still proven insufficient to stem the despoilers, who rising zombie-like from apparent mortal defeat come ever back demanding more.
Clayoquot has already the dubious distinction of possessing the highest concentration of fish feed lots in the province, but that didn't stop Mainstream Canada, a subsidiary of Norwegian fish farm behemoth, Cermaq ASA from asking for another open net-pen operation. And, as they almost invariably do, Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans said, "OK!" It's an unwelcome development for locals, who view this operation as more than a fish farm too far.
Steve Lawson is National Coordinator of the First Nations Environment Network of Canada, and is a former board member of both the Canadian Environmental Network and the Marine and Terrestrial Committees of the Clayoquot Biosphere Reserve. He has lived most of the last fifty years on an island off Tofino; working as a fisher, tour boat skipper, and boat builder and designer among other things. Steve says he's; "...dedicated much of my life here on the coast to protecting old growth forests, wild salmon and other life and have tried to bring forward the understanding of nature and the traditional connections in order to promote the common good for all our relations."
Steve Lawson in the first half.
And; April Fools Day marks the opening of British Columbia's Grizzly hunt in the Great Bear Rainforest. Kiff Archer and Jason Moody live within the Great Bear, located along the mid-coast of BC, and they're both with the newly formed, Central Coast Grizzly Patrol. They were here at the start of last Fall's hunting season to talk about the beginning of the Coastal First Nations Coalition and its unilaterally declared ban on trophy hunting within their collective territories. The provincial government however neither recognizes the authority of the First Nations to do this, nor honours their demand for a ban on the hunt.
Kiff Archer and Jason Moody still standing tall in defense of the bears and other "trophy" targets in the Great Bear Rainforest in the second half.
And; Victoria Street Newz publisher and CFUV Radio broadcaster, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour to bring us newz from our city's streets and beyond. But first, Steve Lawson and new battle lines being drawn in Clayoquot.
I just signed the petition "The Government of British Columbia: Decline SIA's permit to dump contaminated soil in Shawnigan Lake" on Change.org.
It's important. Will you sign it too? Here's the link:
http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/the-government-of-british-columbia-decline-sia-s-permit-to-dump-contaminated-soil-in-shawnigan-lake
Thanks!
Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/
This week: journalist Jen Moore and the evil Canada's mining corporations do in Latin America; Mary Foster of the People's Commission Network and the strange case of Abousfian Abdelrazik; and, Victoria Street Newz publisher Janine Bandcroft on the city's continuing shelter crisis.
Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, 104.3 cable, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, www.pacificfreepress.com.
Check out the GR blog at: http://GorillaRadioBlog.blogspot.com
G-Radio is dedicated to social justice, the environment, community, and providing a forum for people and issues not covered in corporate and state media. Gorilla Radio airs live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 102FM, 104.3 cable, and on t