A selection of 'Canadian' and International News

Missile Defence vote "rigged"

  1. Prime Minister Paul Martin has "rigged" votes in the Commons to guarantee Liberal support for the controversial U.S. ballistic missile defence system, says an outspoken Grit.
  2. Canada's Policy on Ballistic Missile Defence

(Source : Canada Department of National Defence ; issued Oct.5)

Amendments to privacy laws won't protect our personal data from the FBI

October 8, 2004

 | http://www.bcgeu.ca/2502

The B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU) is rejecting the government's claim that amendments to B.C. privacy laws will be sufficient protection for British Columbians if their medical and financial records and other personal information are handed over to U.S.-linked companies.

Women Banned from Voting, Running for Office in Saudi Arabia

Feminist Daily News Wire |
October 13, 2004

Saudi Arabia

Global study finds one-third of amphibians face extinction

They were the first animals with backbones to walk on land. They witnessed the rise and fall of the dinosaurs and were present at the birth of a bipedal ape who went on to become the most destructive species the planet has ever known.

Iraq to pay US$200M to US coporations for "loss of revenue"

Globe and Mail | October 15, 2004
|
By Naomi Klein

Next week, something will happen that will unmask the upside-down morality
of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. On Thursday, Iraq will pay
$200-million (U.S.) in war reparations to some of the richest countries and
corporations in the world.

Death Squads rampage in Haiti, 600 killed in last 2 weeks:

Flashpoints radio interviews Kevin Pina

October 15, 2004

Canadian activists be advised that the RCMP is presently in command of the "training" of Haitian police and are in charge of the overall UN police "stabilization mission" contingent. Add this to the gruesome context below.

A shift in [Canadian] policy on Mideast?

Globe and Mail | Friday, October 15, 2004 - Page A7
|
By John Ibbitson

"Senior government officials are increasingly angry [...] about what they claim is a major but surreptitious shift in
this nation's foreign policy. Canada, they say, is moving away from a
balanced approach toward the Middle East in favour of explicit and virtually
unqualified support for Israel."

Vanishing seabirds worry Arctic biologists

CAMBRIDGE BAY, Nunavut - Scientists say several kinds of Arctic seabird

are dwindling in numbers and some are changing their eating habits as ice

conditions change in the north.

Commission of Inquiry releases wide-ranging Consultation Paper

OTTAWA | Oct. 5 | CNW Telbec |

Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor released today
a Consultation Paper relating to the Policy Review portion of his mandate. The
Paper invites individuals, groups and organizations, including government
institutions, to provide their views on whether a new review mechanism is
required for the RCMP's national security activities and, if so, what it
should look like.

Churches declare Sanctuary Week

Interfaith Sancuary Coalition |
October 13, 2004

Montreal - Appalled that several people have now entered a second year
living in sanctuary, churches across Canada have declared a Sanctuary Week
from October 17th to 24th. The United Church of Canada, which is
currently offering sanctuary in two of the five known cases, has called
upon its congregations across the country to devote a part of their weekly
prayer services to the issue of sanctuary, to invite local MPs to attend
the services, and to write the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to
ask for a solution for the current sanctuary cases, as well as for the
implementation of a right of appeal for refugee claimants, in order to
prevent the need for recourse to sanctuary.

Anti-war activists show Iraqis what "Americans are really like"

Nyack, N.Y.. -- More than 2,000 people opposing the war in Iraq, including
teachers, lawyers and the father of an American beheaded by terrorists,
are sending Iraqis personal photos with protest messages to showcase "what
Americans are really like."

Threats force New Brunswick Tories to call off AGM

FREDERICTON -- Finance Minister Jeannot Volpe says threatening letters have forced the cancellation of the Progressive Conservative party's annual general meeting scheduled for this weekend in Edmundston, according to reports.

The Lord government is coping with a strike by more than 800 hospital support workers in Moncton, and with pulp mill closures in Miramichi and Nackawic.

Riot police take down blockade of Trudeau airport

Public Service Alliance of Canada members, representing customs workers from Montreal, Dorval and Mirabel, demonstrated for three hours at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

American corporations being paid for "loss of profits" in Iraq

Globe and Mail | October 15, 2004 | By Naomi Klein

By all means, pay Saddam's victims -- but surely that means Iraqis, not rich [American]
corporations.

A Letter from James A. Baker, III

It seems the Carlyle Group has resorted to Spam Tactics to try to defraud Iraq and the world out of $57 Billion dollars, for themselves and the Kuwaiti Government.