Humanists for Social Justice and Environmental Action supports Human Rights, Social and Economic Justice, Environmental Activism and Planetary Ethics in North America & Globally, with particular reference to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other Human Rights UN treaties and conventions listed above.

Friday

Don’t frack Ontario! The Council of Canadians

Don’t frack Ontario! The Council of Canadians
On May 17, the Wynne Liberals passed Bill 127, which included an amendment to the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act for “projects that involve the injection of substances into underground geological formations.”

Without naming it, that literally describes the process of fracking. Oil and gas companies draw enormous volumes of water from local watersheds, mix in toxic chemicals, and then high-pressure inject it deep underground to fracture rock to release trapped natural gas.

You may have seen news reports of how fracking has contaminated the drinking water of area residents, in some cases coming out of the tap with so much methane that it can be lit on fire. And now a new expert study directly links fracking to earthquakes happening in B.C. and  beyond.

But the Wynne government is choosing to ignore this evidence. It also ignored the advice of Environmental Commissioner Dianne Saxe,
who noted in a May 11 letter before the vote on Bill 127:
“If the government does not intend these changes to apply to high-volume hydraulic fracturing, the easiest way to avoid mis-interpretation would be to expressly provide that this permitting authority does not apply to fracking.” 
You and I can’t let the province do this, especially after  just last week failing to protect our community water supplies from giant  bottling companies like NestlĂ©.

Please  add your name to the more than 3,000 people who have already called on  Premier Wynne to ban fracking.

Monday

Evidence for Democracy - Science Integrity Policies

Canada is on its way to establishing science integrity policies!
Science integrity policies aim to ensure that government science follows the protocols of objectivity, openness, replicability, transparency, and freedom from undue influence.
This is amazing news! We have been pushing for the establishment of robust, progressive science integrity policies since the Liberal government was elected in October 2015. 
Objective, sound, and robust science, evidence, and data are needed to inform policy. When government decisions are made on the best available evidence, our health, environment, economy, and communities improve.
Science Integrity Policies (SIPs) are policies aimed to ensure government science follows the protocols of objectivity, openness, replicability, transparency, and freedom from undue influence.
Last December, the Government and PIPSC negotiated the inclusion of government scientists’ right to speak in collective agreements. This means that if the government tries to muzzle scientists, they can file a grievance with their union.
Taking this further, these new agreements between the government and union require that each federal department with more than 10 researchers establish SIPs.

Amnesty International Canada - Action for Saeed Malekpour

Amnesty International Canada
"All I want is for my brother to be free, and returned to his home in Canada, and I want an investigation that will reveal the truth."  - Maryam Malekpour, sister of Saeed

A Canadian permanent resident originally from Iran, Saeed Malekpour made a trip in 2008 to visit his ailing father in Iran. He was arrested and accused on the grounds that an open source web program he created for uploading photos to the internet had been misused. In 2010, he was sentenced to death. The death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2012.
While detained Saeed reported he was blindfolded and handcuffed while several individuals beat him with cables, batons, and their fists in order to force a confession. His televised ‘confession’ was the only ‘evidence’ used against him in court to secure his conviction. Saeed was then sentenced to another 7 years in prison for speaking out about the torture he experienced.

Sunday

Petition e-1030 to Reinstate Navigable Waters Act

Petition e-1030 - E-petitions
  • More than 35 million people directly rely on the Great Lakes every single day and political realities of any empowered government prevent direct action in protecting freshwater tributaries, streams, rivers and lakes; thus, the need for indefinite protection beyond legislation is required to ensure all Canadians, including Indigenous peoples, can enjoy the sanctity and longevity of the Great Lakes Basin for generations to come;
  • The relationship between major industry proponents including the oil and gas industry and the Canadian Government, as well as any empowered political party of the present day, is fundamentally flawed when considering the need to protect the Great Lakes upon which all life depends; and
  • Any well meaning government concerned with Canada’s environmental legacy and wealth cannot, without significant disruption to the operating status quo and fulfilling the directives of economic growth, make lasting change to protect Water indefinitely.
We, the undersigned, Indigenous & Non Indigenous Peoples of the Great Lakes, First Nations, Metis and Inuit and Citizens of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to undertake a process by which to formerly acknowledge the Great Lakes as Living Entities, thereby assigning legal personhood to each Lake including Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario within its power as a Nation State under the British Commonwealth;
Support the formation of a Multi-Interest Great Lakes Tribunal lead by Indigenous Peoples that will act as the Voice of these new Persons. This entity should be formulated by appointment via Indigenous protocols and through multi-interest groups already in existence.
Reinstate the Navigable Waters Protection Act through repealing sections of the Omnibus Bill C-45.