Mexico
Anti-mining protests in Mexico, Canada
The July 22 Global Day of Action Against Open-Pit Mining, most widely observed in the Andean nations, also saw coordinated protests in NAFTA partners Mexico and Canada.
Tag: Canada
Iran
Iranian Qaeda connection rears its dubious head —in Canada
Following last month's claims about al-Qaeda biggie Sulaiman Abu Ghaith having been sheltered by Iran, Canadian authorities boast breaking up an Iran-backed Qaeda plot.
Leak at tar sands plant fouls Athabasca River
Tainted water poured for hours into Canada's Athabasca River before a broken pipe was sealed at one of the Suncor tar-sands plants that it is to supply the Keystone XL pipeline.
North Africa
Mali: US airlifts French forces
In a mission slated to last two weeks, US Air Force C-17 transport planes are ferrying troops and material from France to Mali for the offensive against jihadist rebels.
Planet Watch
Chief Spence maintains hunger strike —despite Ottawa meetings
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Gov-Gen. David Johnston met with First Nations chiefs in Ottawa, but Chief Theresa Spence announced that she will maintain her hunger strike.
Planet Watch
Canada: First Nations challenge Bill C-45 in courts
As protests continue across Canada, two First Nations in Alberta have launched lawsuits challenging the new laws that loosen federal environmental protections.
Planet Watch
Quebec: #IdleNoMore protesters block rail line
Protesters with the Idle No More movement, supporting a hunger strike by Chief Theresa Spence of Ontario’s Attawapiskat First Nation, blocked a rail line in eastern Quebec.
Planet Watch
Quebec fracking ban challenged under NAFTA
Energy firm Lone Pine Resources is challenging Quebec’s fracking moratorium under the North American Free Trade Agreement, and demanding $250 million in compensation.
Innu block roads in northern Quebec
Local Innu are blocking a highway outside the town of Sept-ÃŽles to protest their exclusion from talks over Quebec’s Plan Nord mega-project to exploit timber and energy resources.
Watching the Shadows
US transfers Gitmo detainee Khadr to Canada
Canadian citizen Omar Khadr was transferred to Canada from Guantánamo Bay to serve out the rest of his prison sentence under the authority of the Correctional Service of Canada.
Planet Watch
Keystone vs Enbridge: race or stratagem?
As work commences on TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline, it emerges that TransCanada’s supposed rival Enbridge is quietly but rapidly expanding its own US pipeline network.
The Andes
mosque160
Trump, the great enthusiast for dictators, suddenly develops a touching concern with democracy in Venezuela, grasping at the opportunity for long-sought regime change. Predictably overlooked in the world media's Manichean view of the crisis are voices of Venezuela's dissident left that takes a neither/nor position opposed to both the regime and the right-wing leadership of the opposition. Also unheard are voices of indigenous dissent and resistance. In an episode that received little coverage, December saw protests in the remote Orinoco Basin after a leader of the Pemón indigenous people was killed in a confrontation with elite Military Counterintelligence troops. The military operation was ostensibly aimed at clearing the region of illegal mining—while the Pemón themselves had been protesting the mining. The indigenous leaders view the militarization of the region as intended to make way for corporate exploitation under the Orinoco Mineral Arc plan. (Photo: EcoPolitica Venezuela)