Small "Idle No More" Protest at Court House

Prince Rupert, like many communities across Canada today played host to a gathering designed to create awareness of concerns over the Conservative government's omnibus budget legislation Bill C-45,   and in particular its inclusion of Aboriginal issues, the legislation was recently passed by the Senate and will most likely become law in the New Year.

The small gathering of local citizens took to the Provincial Courthouse lawn on Friday afternoon, braving a cold wind to listen to speeches, express their concerns over the Federal Governments legislation and wave signs proclaiming the need to defend Democracy.

By the usual standards of past protests in the city, the Friday gathering was on the small side, holding mainly close to the sidewalk on McBride through the mid afternoon period of 2 PM on until just after 3.

The Idle No More theme has been building over the last few weeks, mainly through websites and social media, with larger protests across the country planned for today, some of which were more effective than others.

Among the listing of protest activities were such things a blockades in Alberta of  a road leading to the Alberta oilsands and a march at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, as well as other gatherings in large cities across the country.

One of the events of today, a rolling protest at the Winnipeg airport probably detracted from their cause, owing to the inconvenience that they provided for travellers on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

In Saskatoon, protestors took a page from the Occupy movement, as they made their case at a city shopping centre, where over 2,000 protestors in flash mob form, held hands and danced to the beat of drums and First Nations singing, all amidst the throng of Christmas shoppers.

The theme for the day was awareness and whether in a larger gathering or a small one, the message of concern over the Conservatives legislation was heard from coast to coast to coast.

Among the concerns over that legislation is the impression that it clears the way for development of traditional land without consultation of Aboriginal residents and weakens environmental protection in Canada. First Nations groups say that they were not properly consulted regarding the legislation, adding the Bill to the growing file of concerns that they have with the Federal Government.

The Prince Rupert protest was one of a number in Northwest BC, CFTK had details of the Idle No More gatherings from Prince Rupert to Burns Lake.

Further reports and background on the cross Canada Idle No More protests of Friday, can be found below.

CBC-- Idle No More stages national day of protest
CBC-- Idle No More protest movement hits B. C.
CBC-- First Nations Chief says Idle No More fuelled by frustration
CBC-- A people's movement that is Idle No More
CBC-- Idle No More Protests hit Calgary and Southern Alberta
CBC-- Idle No More movement wants 'honest look' at treaties
CTV-- Idle No More rallies held across Canada as movement grows
APTN-- Idle No More rumbles from Cairo to Ottawa, Prince Albert to Los Angeles
APTN-- 'This is deadly serious,' says Atleo as Idle No More flexes muscles once again
APTN-- Five First Nations block tarsands highway in the name of Idle Now More...
Huffington Post--  Alberta Highway 63 Blockade Near Fort McMurray by First Nations Movement
Huffington Post-- Idle No More vs. Bill C-45
rabble.ca-- Wave of support for Idle No More grows across Canada and beyond
The Tyee-- 'This is our future we have to fight for'" Idle No More movement launches weekend of protests
Toronto Star-- Idle No More movement sets social media ablaze
National Post-- "We Believe Our future is at stake"
National Post-- "Idle No More: Hunger-striking Attawapiskat chief vows to 'die' for her people as aboriginal protests spread
Vancouver Sun-- Idle No More supporters vow resistance to federal government is just beginning
Vancouver Sun-- On eve of Idle No More protest, hunger striking First Nation Chief pushes Harper to lead change
Vancouver Sun-- Grassroots movement at heart of protests
Macleans-- Idle No More: More than protest is needed for progress
Macleans-- Where #IdleNoMore began
Guardian UK-- Canada's First Nations protest heralds a new alliance

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Mr. Speaker!! The Civility watch

On Parliament Hill, they seem more Sopranos, than Socrates!

(Parental Warning scene below contains much in the way of foul language)



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With a growing number of our elected MP's seemingly seeking status on Santa's "Naughty" list, perhaps it's time to start cataloguing the more mercurial of outbursts within the hallowed, seemingly profane at times House of Commons.

The latest example of the growing lack of civility from those who hold a seat in the Commons coming from Pat Martin, NDP MP for Winnipeg-Centre (who seems determined to win the award of potty mouth in perpetuity) and a rather nasty twitter outburst, highlighted by the term "rat faced whores".

As a public service to civility, perhaps leader Tom Mulcair could take away Pat's electronic devices.

We'll begin the research  seeking out some of the Greatest of the less than great moments of Parliamentary decorum of recent times and moving forward, keep a running tally on the potty mouthed Parliamentarians.

Sadly, we suspect this may prove to be a most voluminous project.

2012

December 20-- Pat Martin vs Vic Toews
December 6-- Peter Van Loan vs Nathan Cullen
June 19-- Jason Kenny vs Alberta's Tom Lukaszuk
March 17-- Pat Martin vs Economist Stephen Gordon

2011

December 11-- Bob Rae and his fellow Liberals
Dec 15, 2011 -- Justin Trudeau vs Peter Kent
November 17 -- Pat Martin vs the Conservatives

Nathan Cullen in the middle of the "Commotion in the Commons"

Conservative House Leader Peter Van Loan seemingly was channeling Jean Claude Van Damme on Wednesday, as tempers got a tad out of hand in the House of Commons with Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP and NDP House Leader Nathan Cullen one of the principles in a most acrimonious exchange.

Cuss words were a flying and fingers a wavin' around the House of Commons, as Mr. Van Loan crossed the floor to address Mr. Cullen, upset about some procedural wrangling that he apparently did not find much favour with.

As the nasty exchanges continued, NDP leader Thomas Mulcair interceded with his own strong language, while other MP's including Defense Minister Peter McKay gathered around to lead Mr. Van Loan back to his own side of the House.  Or a neutral corner if you will as we keep to the theme of pugilistic pugnaciousness.

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The incident flared up after a lengthy night on Tuesday, with apparently sleep deprived MP's working late into the night to debate and discuss Bill C-46, Wednesday when the NDP House Leader raised a point of order, Van Loan seemingly lost it a bit.

The NDP House Leader (perhaps doing the math on mass and physics and such) for the most part seemed to hold his temper in check, though he did later express concern to the CBC over the perception of ongoing bullying in the House of Commons, a topic that the outburst seems to have highlighted.

As things evolved, cooler heads eventually prevailed and the Commons returned to its normal level of debate, such as things are in Ottawa these days.

The outburst was clearly not the House of Common's best moment, Canadians no doubt hoping that our elected officials can somehow find their way out of the playground style scrapping that seems to be of yesterday's display.

If this kind of thing keeps up, Clearly what the House of Commons will need is a Playground Monitor, one willing to send the more belligerent of our MP's off to the corner for a time out...

The reviews of the near rumble in the Commons can be found below...

December 6-- Cullen in Middle of Heated Exchange in the Commons
December 6-- Van Loan apologizes after dropping 'F bomb' in verbal dustup with NDP but may still face formal complaint
December 6-- Near-brawl erupts in Commons between Tory Peter Van Loan and NDP's Nathan Cullen
December 6-- Heated exchange between Van Loan, Mulcair in House
December 6-- Tory House Leader Van Loan apologizes for swearing during Commons skirmish
December 6-- Van Loan and Cullen should turn to coffee to bury proverbial hatchet
December 6-- Tory House Leader apologizes for 'inappropriate word'
December 6-- Verbal brawl erupts on the floor of the House of Commons
December 6-- Tory House leader apologizes for inappropriate word
December 6-- Cullen on Commons confrontation (video)
December 5-- Tempers flare in Commons over omnibus budget
December 5-- 'Don't threaten my House Leader': Mulcair, MPs nearly come to blows over budget

Cross Posted from the North Coast Review

NDP North Coast race stands at two heading towards December

Back to back announcements came out this week, setting the stage for a competitive race for the North Coast New Democratic Party nomination.

The winner of which will no doubt hope to turn into electoral success in the Spring and the chance to claim the seat at the British Columbia Legislature of departing NDP MLA Gary Coons.

That race grew to two on Thursday, as City of Prince Rupert Councillor Jennifer Rice officially announced her candidacy for the nomination, making official, what had been hinted at since September around the city.

She joins Prince Rupert District Teachers Union President Joanna Larson, who announced her bid for the nomination on Wednesday.

As we reviewed in the blog at that time, the two candidates will offer up much to the competition, but perhaps will require the delegates to the nomination process to decide which stream is more to the riding's liking. While both clearly endorse much of the NDP agenda and seem to share many similar thoughts on man issues, they appear to be approaching the nomination from different wings of the party if you will.

Ms. Larson from that of the union movement  and Ms. Rice from the environmental side.

It also could be a nomination race that plays out to a degree over social media, both candidates have in the past made use of an online presence.

Councillor Rice in her most recent successful bid for Municipal office in Prince Rupert and Ms. Larson in her successful quest for elected office with the BCTF.

A prospect that could make for a fairly informative race and a most interesting two months leading up to the January 26th nomination convention.

Some of the media previews of the pending race for the nomination can be found below.

The Northern View-- Individuals seeking NDP nomination revealed
CFTK TV-- NDP Nomination race set on the North Coast

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Walkin' it back with Justin Trudeau

As the week closes, it has provided a most valuable lesson for would be Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, best to remember what you said and who you said it about, before you begin a quest for the leadership of a National Party.
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 Trudeau, the perceived front runner for the Liberal leadership after just a few months on the trail, ran into a wee bit of trouble on that rocky path to mountain top, as it seems that when it comes to politics few ever forget, especially when the candidate, relying on a bit of charisma, is presented with his own words to chew over.

The issue of course is Justin Trudeau's off handed characterization of Canadian governance these days, apparently in his minds eye under the yoke of a cabal of Albertan's, who it seems just don't get the rest of the country.

The irony of course being that he issued his thoughts on a Quebec based television program, which played heavily to the theme that Canada would be a much better governed place if some Quebecois participants had their hands on the levers of power again.

The Sun Media Group, was more than happy to provide the video clip, much to the delight it is said of Conservative Members of Parliament who as the twitter verse discovered, were quickly learning of the Trudeau faux pas while the House of Commons was in session.

Originally, the candidate from Papineau took to the usual standard of response when these kind of embarrassing moments come to light, the ever popular "I was misquoted" statement was issued, which apparently only had a shelf life of believability of less than 24 hours.

Friday, Trudeau swallowed that bitter pill of reality and took ownership of the statement, though talking it back with the thought that he perhaps worded things wrong, in the quest for his true intention.

That being that it's the Conservatives and not Albertan's that are apparently ruining the country, which will perhaps help soothe some of the Alberta Liberal party's internal feelings, but really, won't do much to suggest that it's not what may truly be his belief, that the province as a whole is a square peg  in the Trudeau concept of Canada's round hole.

The resuscitation of his past observations come after a week which featured some pro-energy and investment thoughts for the province, a few of which raised a few eyes seemingly to be at odds at his previous observations on the environment, our industrial impact on it  and the need to do more to protect it.

It remains to be seen if his Alberta beef comes to haunt his leadership prospects, it probably played well in Quebec and maybe Ontario, which will most likely make the difference in the leadership campaign and he'll then have no shortage of time to try and reinvent his Alberta image (and views) by the time another election campaign comes around.

The problem with his comments, beyond the obvious damage that they do to the Liberals rebuilding efforts in the west, are that they reinforce the belief of many Canadians that Quebeckers believe that they have some claim of ownership on the running of the country.

The review of his television appearance of two years ago, also gives many a chance to review some other controversial ruminations of the candidate. Last year Trudeau observed that he disagreed so much with the Conservative agenda of Stephen Harper that even he might consider the options of Quebec becoming a country.

Add that, onto his less than steady handling of the Alberta outburst and it's not hard to see how perhaps Liberals might want to consider a full vetting of his campaign, along with all others as to which ones actually reflect a "national" vision for the third place party.

One thing is certain, he didn't do any favours for Liberal candidate Harvey Locke, who is in a tough race, with the Conservative candidate, possibly a Liberal breakthrough moment in Calgary Centre's by election on Monday.

With less than 72 hours til the polls open, Locke is probably hoping that Justin doesn't drop in to help him do some main streeting...

Vancouver Province-- Justin Trudeau apologizes for  2010 video interview (video)
Canada.com-- Trudeau slam at Alberta typical of Canadian politics
National Post-- "I'm sorry": Trudeau apologizes for controversial anti-Alberta remarks
National Post-- McGuinty and Trudeau give Albertans new cause to be wary of Liberals...
Toronto Star-- Justin Trudeau faces uproar for alleged anti-Alberta comments in 2010 interview
Toronto Sun-- Trudeau says sorry for anti-Alberta comment
CBC-- Trudeau 'sorry' for Alberta comments he says were aimed at Harper
CBC-- At Issue panel: Justin Trudeau, the Liberals and Alberta (video)
CTV-- Trudeau apologizes for anti-Alberta remarks (video)
Huffington Post-- Justin Trudeau Alberta Comments could Derail Liberal Star's Momentum

C is for candidate, which Ms. Larson will be

The race to perhaps take Gary Coon's seat at the Legislature in the Spring now has a new name offered up for consideration, as Prince Rupert and District Teacher's Union head Joanna Larson put forward her name as a potential standard bearer for the NDP on the North Coast.

Ms. Larson announced her candidacy on Tuesday, outlining her 20 years of service in both the labour movement and the community as the foundation for her bid for the NDP nomination.

She is currently on her fourth term as PRDTU President and is in her second term on the executive of the BC Teacher's Federation.

Hers is the first official candidacy for the departing Mr. Coons position at the Legislature, City Councillor Jennifer Rice had previously been tagged as a potential candidate, but so far no official announcement has been made by the Councillor as to her future political ambitions.

If she does make the leap from municipal to provincial politics, it will offer up an interesting debate within the local NDP.

Ms. Rice being more from the environmental side of the NDP ledger, while Ms. Larson has already gained her bona fides in the labour movement on the local scene.

With Mr. Coons retiring from provincial politics after two terms in office, the nomination on the North Coast may be a much coveted thing, for the most part the North Coast has traditionally been a relatively safe seat for the NDP.

The Liberal Party of BC and other provincial parties have yet to announce any candidates for the North Coast riding for the election in the Spring of 2013.

For those looking for more information on possible platform positions for the potential candidate, Ms. Larson maintains a twitter page, which offers up a bit of a glimpse in her political thoughts.

Some background on the NDP developments can be found below.

The Northern View-- Head of Prince Rupert teacher's union seeking NDP nomination
The Northern View-- Jennifer Rice picked by NDP as possible candidate for next election
CFTK TV 7-- MLA Gary Coons Won't Run Again
The Northern View-- North Coast MLA Gary Coons not seeking re-election in 2013
The Northern View-- MLA expected to announce intentions for 2013 election this week

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Alaska to Alberta rail option could have an impact on Port of Prince Rupert

The ongoing debate over the Northern Gateway pipeline may in the end see the project put back on the shelf, but the fallout from that prospect could also have an important impact on other aspects of the transportation grid in and out of the Port of Prince Rupert.

With the Northern Gateway panel hearing much in the way of opposition to the planned pipeline to Kitimat, a possible alternative plan to ship Alberta's bitumen to Asia's hungry energy markets is starting to take shape.

A rail pipeline if you will, 2400 kilometres across from the Fort McMurray extractors, to a port terminal at Valdez, Alaska.

Making use of rail cars to transport Alberta's product to world markets.

The proponents of the project known as the Unifying Nations RailCo Initiative is the latest plan of the G7G, Generating for Seven Generations, and according to their most recent press release, the proposed project has  apparently secured the approval of Alaska First Nations, as well as the initial support of First Nations across northern BC, the Yukon and into Alberta.

Something that Enbridge has had more than a few problems in securing, in the prelude to the Northern Gateway development.

It's not the first time that a rail pipeline has been suggested, in fact CN offered up the solution a few years back in 2009, with the terminal at the time suggested for the Port of Prince Rupert.

Not much has been heard of that plan in the noise over the Northern Gateway debate, but one imagines it could be a workable plan B for Alberta, which is determined to get its resources to world markets. The prospect of an oil by rail plan, on the back burner while the Northern Gateway discussion moved forward.

National Post-- CN idea a winner for oil sands
Sun News-- Crude oil rides the rails as pipeline projects flounder
CBC-- Shipping crude by rail needs no regulatory approval, PM told
Vancouver Sun-- Pipeline protests spur companies to consider shipping oilsands crude by rail

Railroads already use rail cars to transport bitumen to destinations other than British Columbia. So the project it seems is a workable solution with CN currently working on plans to double its oil shipments for next year.

There are of course detractors to the pipeline by rail project, including a few observers of  the oil industry itself.

Still, the main stumbling block for the CN option whether it be crude or bitumen, is that it would require terminal development at Prince Rupert.

And at the moment the prospect of bitumen shipments on the north coast is still very much a hot issue for local opponents, whether it be out of Kitimat or Prince Rupert.

The G7G proposal seems to count on that backlash to continue, using it as well as an ownership stake for First Nations, as their main discussion points in pushing their rail plan forward.

The rail plan to Valdez would of course remove that opposition, good for Alberta, not so much perhaps for the Port of Prince Rupert or the for the region and its growing reliance on the Port for economic development.

A key part of the Alberta to Alaska proposal is this little addition to the prospectus, which clearly has goals much larger than just shipping bitumen.

If the railway was double-tracked Canadian potash, grains, lumber, metals, minerals and other exports could be taken to port for shipment around the world. 

 The rail line could return from Valdez bringing equipment, supplies and water from the coast to the oil patch, at lower costs compared with current modes and distances.

Indeed, opening up Valdez as a viable port for Alberta's raw resources could have a rather large impact on shipments of any number of other bulk goods out of Ridley Terminals, the Grain Elevator and the resource shipment plans for the proposed Watson Island project.

Fairview Terminals most likely would not feel the impact of such a second rail line across Northern BC, the infrastructure required for container service is costly and the future of the container service at the Port of Prince Rupert it would seem is fairly secure at the moment.

But when it comes to the shipment of bulk goods, a second northern route could be a major competitor to the offerings through Prince Rupert.

The National Post provided a helpful review of the potential for the second rail option to the north, it no doubt will make for interesting reading for any number of stakeholders.

Some other reviews of the G7G plans can be found below.

PRWeb-- A Railway from Canada to Alaksa: Ready to Be Built in Six Years

Mining.com-- A Northern Gateway workaround that could ship a lot more oil to the coast

Cross posted from the North Coast Review