Ecology and Participatory Democracy

Prime Minister Martin is under intense pressure from New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord to provide massive subsidies to keep New Brunswicks's only reactor operating. Lord has threatened to build a coal plant if the federal government refuses to subsidize the reconstruction of Point Lepreau as a Kyoto project. We can stop this environmental disaster and prevent a huge waste of taxpayers money.

New Brunswick’s Point Lepreau is a 22-year-old nuclear power plant nearing the end of its life. It will cost at least $1.4 billion to refurbish the plant so that it can continue operating.

New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord has said the province will not go ahead with the Point Lepreau refurbishment without Ottawa’s financial help.

The premier is looking for $400 million from the federal government to help cover the cost of refurbishment.

Any federal subsidies for the reconstruction of Point Lepreau would set a costly precedent. All of Canada’s nuclear reactors will need to be closed or refurbished over the next 15 years.

In Ontario, nuclear refurbishments have been prohibitively expensive and have not guaranteed good performance or long-term operation. There are better options than Point Lepreau -- $1 billion could fund large conservation and energy efficiency strategies and a variety of renewable energy options, such as wind power and biomass, that could help meet New Brunswick’s energy needs for the next two decades.

So...

Take action by sending a fax: actionworks.ca/clientfiles/greenpeace/actioncentres/greenpeace/takeaction.jsp

and/or...

Write to Prime Minister Paul Martin and Finance Minister Ralph Goodale and urge them not to subsidize the Point Lepreau nuclear station. Let Ottawa know that energy efficiency, conservation and renewable energy can provide new jobs and cleaner, safer options for the people of New Brunswick.

The Right Honourable Paul Martin
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
E-mail: pm@pm.gc.ca

The Honourable Ralph Goodale,
Minister of Finance
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Fax: (613) 996-9790
E-mail: Goodale.R@parl.gc.ca

Tim Hortons Roll Up The Rim Contest encourages people to use disposable cups. Tim Hortons disposable cups inevitably end up thrown out on Cape Breton Island roads. Please sign this petition asking Tim Horton's to encourage the use of reusable mugs: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/268476999

On the five year anniversary of the first "A16", we are again calling for a mass mobilization against the neo-imperialistic policies of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and all their cohorts. Free riders in a city where 12,000 people sleep on the streets, there is no public hospital, more people per capita have HIV/AIDS than any other U.S city, and students' reading performances are lower than the national average in all grades beyond first. Globally, these exploitive institutions are forcing developing countries into debt as well as perpetuating the current North-South system of global apartheid, privatizing natural resources essential to everyday life, and the unequal representation that denies countries outside of the G-7 (or 8?) a voice for their own determinations.

For these reasons and many others the A16 Planning Collective, are calling for direct actions against these institutions of capitalism which promote poverty, racism, sexism, environmental destruction, and the concentration of power in the hands of the leaders of a few countries during the week of April 11-17. We ask that persons who disagree with the policies and institutions of the World Bank and IMF start to create affinity groups in which to partake in autonomous direct actions as a means to prevent "Business as Usual" as well as the Spring Meetings themselves. We have planned two mass direct actions which will take place on April 15 and 16, but will not announce these actions until closer to those dates.

We hope to organize an action that is accessible to everyone who wants to participate, at many risk and experience levels. We will provide information and a framework for actions to affect the overall plans of preventing "Business as Usual" and the Spring meetings, but we will depend on individuals and affinity groups preparation and encourage everyone to come with their own ideas, supplies, and plans. This will not be a standard march and rally, and while it is coming up rather fast, we do believe that we can succeed in stopping these meetings, but it can only happen with your help.

See you on the streets,

The A16 DC Planning Collective
202-885-3333
a16dc@mutualaid.org

www.A16DC.org

N. B., the Welcome Center / Puppet Factory opens on Monday, April 11th at All Souls Church 15th & Harvard NW, 10:00 a. m. to 8:00 p. m., Monday through Friday. Also, people have set up some themes, please note that these are "themes" and not actual suggestions. Some intelligent/sexy/anarchist has been stenciling the city with these:

Monday
Rat & Pig Day.

Tuesday
Environmental Defense Day

Wednsday
Decorate The City Day

Thursday
Glue The City Day

Friday
Play In Traffic Day

Critical Mass from Dupont Circle at 5 p. m., route to be determined.

Saturday
Brick The Banks Day
Also, there will be a Riot Folk Concert at Cafe Mowanage at 7 p. m., people are also making other plans for this day which some are considering the "Day of Autonomous Action". Others would say every day is a day of autonomous action. Whatever, it may be a good day to be at the wrong place at the right time, which could be easier than it sounds!

Sunday
Animal Defence Day

For those of you who can't make it, these themes could easily be carried out in your own towns and communities, in solidarity with the DC protests. Be creative!

In November 2004, Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources proposed a number of measures to improve the conservation of wolves. In March 2005 he implemented only one of them: a limited closure on the hunting and trapping season for wolves and coyotes. This partial season closure is a good first step, but it is not enough to protect wolves in the province. The minister is now considering whether or not to implement other proposed conservation measures. It is up to the public to show Minister Ramsay where the majority of Canadians stand on this issue. A lot of help is needed to make sure previous commitments to wolf conservation are not abandoned. So, please ask Ontario's Premier and Minister of Natural Resources to take leadership in changing the way wolves are viewed and managed in Canada by taking action through www.canadianwolves.net/ontario
{http://www.canadianwolves.net/ontario}.

Hello,

My name is Jim Wickens, I'm an oceans campaigner for Greenpeace International. I'm writing to you from Ulsan, an old whaling city in South Korea, where this year's International Whaling Commission meeting will be held. I am here with Yeyong Choi from the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM), and we need your help.

We have uncovered plans that the Korean government is planning to build a whale meat processing factory here, to enable them to process freshly caught whales. What is the purpose of such a facility? It strongly indicates Korea has plans to resume commercial whaling. Why else would you invest in a brand new whale meat factory?

Greenpeace and KFEM have today set up camp on the land where the government is planning to build this factory, establishing a Whale Embassy, to allow us to speak for Korea's whales that have no voice to protest. It isn't easy here, camped in the heart of Korea's pro-whaling past, with a dozen whale and dolphin meat restaurants across the road.

We want the Korean government to know that the international community opposes the resumption of whaling in any shape or form and we urgently need your help to do this.

Please help us to speak out for Korea's whales.

Click here to send a message to the Korean embassy in your country, tell your concerns, and ask the Korean government to:

• Publicly announce they will not build a whale meat processing factory
• Bring an end to the whale meat trade in Korea
• Vote for whales and not whaling, at this year's International Whaling Commission meeting in Korea.

By sending this letter, you can directly show your support at the occupation - for every message sent, we will tie a ribbon to our embassy lighthouse. The more ribbons we get, the stronger our voice becomes!

Thanks for your support. Every letter sent will make a difference.

All the best,

Jim and Yeyong

The War Resisters Support Campaign, a broad-based coalition of community organizations, has launched a petition aimed at Canada's Federal Government to allow US war resisters who refuse to fight in Iraq to have refuge in Canada.

Initial signatories include June Callwood, David Suzuki, Maude Barlow, Shirley Douglas, Naomi Klein, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Amir Khadir, Paul Cliche and M.G. Vassanji. Please read the Declaration.

You can add your name at http://www.PetitionOnline.com/resister/petition.html

For more information, contact resisters@sympatico.ca

(I cut and pasted this from resist.ca, it's a Globe and Mail article.)

Prince Rupert, B.C. -- Haida Indians say they have seized a large quantity of cut timber from Weyerhaeuser for alleged breach of contract.

"We hope we can use this money to get hospitals here ... and all our schools are in debt because they've been funded like everywhere else in the province," said Guujaaw, president of the Council of the Haida Nation.

The seized timber is a result of a Haida claim that Weyerhaeuser has violated five of the six provisions they agreed to in a 2002 accord between the Haida, forestry workers and Weyerhaeuser.

"Weyerhaeuser was going in and grabbing whatever they could on their way out the door," said Guujaaw. "We had a contract with them and they broke it."

The Haida have seized several barges and other timber still awaiting sorting, including cypress, cedar and hemlock, said Guujaaw.