Sudbury Social Justice News - April 7, 2013

EVENTS & MEETINGS:

1) Tuesday, April 9: Meeting of Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty
2) Tuesday, April 9: Solidarity Against Austerity Organizing Meeting
3) Thursday, April 11: Meeting of Grassroots: Sudbury's Media Collective
4) Thursday, April 11: Building Inclusive Communities with Sex Workers
5) Friday, April 12: Solidarity Against Austerity Rally and March
6) Saturday, April 13: Native Plant Workshop
7) Monday, April 15: Friends of Sudbury Transit Meeting
8) Tuesday, April 23: Meeting of Justice and Freedom for John Moore
9) Saturday, April 27: Greater Sudbury 2013 Earth Day Festival

NEWS, ANALYSIS, & CALLS TO ACTION:

1) Petition: Say No To a Dirty Oil Pipeline Through Northern Ontario

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Tuesday, April 9: Meeting of Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty

Time: 6:30pm
Location: Offices of the Sudbury and District Labour Council (Suite 209
upstairs in 109 Elm Street, which is across the street from the Native
Friendship Centre)

Matters to be discussed include organizing the Solidarity Against Austerity 2 rally and march (in the second part of the meeting – see event 2 below); reports on the Raise the Rates meeting in Toronto that 5 members of S-CAP attended; the raise the minimum wage campaign; our ongoing direct action support work, including for community start up and maintenance needs; setting up an S-CAP drop in space and much more. The venue is wheelchair accessible. Children are welcome to attend, or childcare support is available upon request.

S-CAP is a direct-action anti-poverty organization based in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. We provide direct-action support work assisting individuals in their struggles with welfare and ODSP, housing, employers, and others who deny people what they are entitled to in order to meet their needs. In addition, we mount campaigns against and support educational work about regressive government policies as they effect working people and people living in poverty. We believe in the power of people to organize themselves. We believe in the power of resistance!

La coalition contre la pauvreté de Sudbury (S-CAP) est un organisme d’action directe luttant contre la pauvreté. Elle se trouve à Sudbury en Ontario.

Le travail de la coalition se base dans l’action directe et consiste à apporter de l’aide aux individus dans leurs luttes pour l’assistance sociale, l’invalidité, le logement, l’emploi et à les aider à faire face aux gens qui leur refusent ce à quoi ils ont droit pour rencontrer leurs besoins. De plus, la coalition fait des compagnes de sensibilisation et de dénonciation par rapport aux politiques gouvernementales régressives quant à leurs effets sur les travailleurs et travailleuses et les personnes vivant dans la pauvreté.

La coalition croit au pouvoir des personnes de s’organiser elles-mêmes; elle croit au pouvoir de la résistance!

S-CAP on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/257339454351403/

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Tuesday, April 9: Solidarity Against Austerity Organizing Meeting

Time: 7:30pm
Location: Offices of the Sudbury and District Labour Council (Suite 20 upstairs in 109 Elm Street, which is across the street from the Native Friendship Centre)

The venue is wheelchair accessible. Children are welcome to attend, or childcare support is available upon request (http://sudburycap.com/contact-sudbury-coalition-against-poverty/).

This meeting will be particularly focused on making signs and on prepping people who are going to be marshals at the event.

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Thursday, April 11: Meeting of Grassroots: Sudbury's Media Collective

Time: 10am to 11am
Location: Environmental Resource Centre (176 Larch Street, back entrance)

Everyone is welcome to join us for our next meeting, on Thursday, March 14,  10 - 11am in the ERC (176 Larch, back entrance). We'll be discussing our upcoming "Sudbury Voices" event and campaign launch as well as other aspects of our new membership campaign and of course, brainstorming story ideas.

Also, mark future meetings on your calendar, 10-11 am on the 2nd Thursday of each month: May 9 and June 13 in the ERC.

Grassroots Sudbury Media is a working group of the The Media Co-op. We are creating independent media in the North, to speak to our issues and outlooks on our communities as well as the world around us. Independent media provides an avenue for people who are wishing to gain critical perspective on the issues that matter most to us, and to give a voice to those people and stories that you won't find in the mainstream media.

Find our site at:
http://sudbury.mediacoop.ca

Contact the Sudbury Working Group to learn more about writing for us or to let us know about community issues and events at:
grassrootssudburymedia@gmail.com

Find us on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/GrassrootsMediaCollective

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Thursday, April 11: Building Inclusive Communities with Sex Workers

Time: 8am to 5pm
Location: Quality Inn, 390 Elgin Street, Sudbury
Cost: $60/$50 if you register by April 1/$20 for students

A day of capacity building, networking and training. Many sex work topics will be discussed including stigma, work safety, marginalization, trafficking, issues faced by Aboriginal communities, decriminalization, community policing, and the myths and realities.

Guest speakers include:

* Sex Workers Action Group (SWAG)
* Sex Workers Action Project (SWAP)
* Sex Professionals of Canada (SPOC)
* Maggie's Toronto Sex Workers Action Project
* Sex Workers Advisory Network Sudbury (SWANS)
* Prisoners' HIV/AIDS Support Action Network (PASAN)
* Prostitutes of Ottawa/Gatineau Work, Educate and Resist (POWER)

We encourage attendance by ALL COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS including sex workers, service providers, counsellors, health care providers, community members, police services, faculty and students.

Please note all presentations will be in English only. Refreshments and lunch will be served. Seating is limited

Sponsored by Reseau Access Network, Public Service Alliance of Canada, LUFAPPUL.

For more information, please contact Tracy Gregory at 705-688-0500 ext.
222.

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Friday, April 12: Solidarity Against Austerity Rally and March

Time: 4pm to 7pm
Location: in Memorial Park in downtown Sudbury for the meal and rally, then a march through the downtown to the Provincial Building and Rick Bartolucci's office

Part of the Province-Wide Raise the Rates Week of Action

Against the Wynne Liberals in the Lead Up to the Provincial Budget.

Friday April 12th

- 4 pm Memorial Park. Free Meal and Rally
- 5 pm March through the downtown to the Provincial Building and to Rick Bartolucci’s office

The Raise the Rates Campaign is calling for a week of action in the lead up to the 2013 Provincial Budget which is set to come down mid-April. All across the province organizations and unions will be holding actions at Liberal MPP’s offices and other events during the week of April 8 to challenge Liberal austerity and to demand real action on Poverty:

• No cut to the Special Diet
• Restore the Community Start Up and Maintenance Benefit
• No downloading of ODSP or forcing people with disabilities into poverty jobs
• Restore OW and ODSP rates to where they were in 1995 (A 56% increase)
• End the freeze on the minimum wage. Set it at $14 and index it to inflation

Kathleen Wynne, after serving in the McGuinty government and being part of its attack on social assistance and the poor is asking us to believe that she is now the ‘Social Justice Premier’. She wants our communities to stop mobilizing and challenging her and to go back to the failed strategy of consultations with the Government instead. The Raise the Rates Campaign sees no reason to trust Wynne or to stop confronting the Liberal government’s austerity agenda. We demand real measures to increase sub-poverty social assistance rates and low wages and we are ready to fight back against cutbacks and attacks on the poor her Government is considering in its upcoming Budget.

Supported by the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty, the Sudbury and District Labour Council (SDLC), the Sudbury Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Council, Idle No More, Centre de santé communautaire du Grand Sudbury, The Sudbury’s Worker’s Education and Advocacy Centre, Radical North and the Poverty, Homelessness and Migration Research Project at Laurentian University.

For more information contact S-CAP
https://www.facebook.com/groups/257339454351403/

This event on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/events/519821458070278/

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Saturday, April 13: Native Plant Workshop

Time: 10am to noon
Location: Lake Laurentian Conservation Area Nature Chalet (2309 South Bay Road, Sudbury)

Ever wondered about native alternatives to invasive species that are commonly planted in gardens? Conservation Sudbury, in cooperation with special guest Aisha Chiandet will be presenting a Native Plants Workshop - Urban Gardens Featuring Native Plants!

Participants will learn the benefits of introducing native wildflowers and shrubs to their garden or shoreline, and how to identify, source and grow native plants. They will receive resource materials on how to get started with native plants and how to identify and eradicate invasive species. Each participant will also obtain hands-on experience planting a native flower and/or grass to take home with them at the end of the workshop.

The cost of the event is $15.00 per person, which will be used to help cover travel expenses for our guest speaker, resource and planting materials, and complimentary hot beverages and light snacks for participants.

Space is limited to 30 participants. To reserve your spot or for more information, please call: (705) 674-8904 or email:
lakelaurentian@gmail.com

We run monthly events at the Conservation Area all year long - stay updated by visiting the Conservation Sudbury’s website nickeldistrict.ca or find us “Friends of Lake Laurentian” on facebook.

This event online:
http://sudbury.mediacoop.ca/blog/grassrootssudburymedia/16877

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Monday, April 15: Friends of Sudbury Transit Meeting

Time: 7pm
Location: reThink Green (176 Larch Street, back entrance)

To discuss Earth Day Festival booth.

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Tuesday, April 23: Meeting of Justice and Freedom for John Moore

Time: 6:30pm
Location: Fromagerie Elgin, 5 Cedar Street (entry from Elgin), Sudbury

We will be discussing the ongoing work to cultivate opportunities for John to speak about his case outside of Sudbury and working on a fundraising event.

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Saturday, April 27: Greater Sudbury 2013 Earth Day Festival

Time: 10am to 5pm
Location: École secondaire du Sacré-Cœur, Sudbury, Ontario (261 Notre Dame Ave.)

Circles & Cycles: Celebrating Sustainable Communities

The Greater Sudbury Earth Day Festival celebrates Earth Day and strives to raise awareness of environmental issues by promoting local initiatives in Greater Sudbury.

Join us for the kick off to Sudbury`s festival season - a celebration of all things green!

Live Music
Children`s Area - performers and activities
Local Food Fair
Vendors and Exhibitors - huge range of businesses and organizations!
Giveaways and Raffle Prizes

www.earthdaysudbury.ca

This event on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/events/504778076230908/

NEWS, ANALYSIS, & CALLS TO ACTION:

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Petition: Say No To a Dirty Oil Pipeline Through Northern Ontario
To sign the petition, click on this link: https://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/no-tar-sands-pipeline-through-nor...

TransCanada PipeLines' East-to-West project would involve 3,000 km of fifty year old natural gas pipeline (TransCanada's mainline) being converted into an oil pipeline -- resulting in the pumping of 850,000 barrels per day of tarsands bitumen east across Northern Ontario. The company has not yet disclosed much public details about this project so we have the opportunity to stop this project before it begins!

April 2nd UPDATE: TransCanada has officially announced this project and are calling it "Energy East Pipeline." 3,000 kilometres of existing natural gas pipeline would be converted to carry crude East and 1,400 kilometres of new pipeline would be added. The pipeline would carry the astronomical volume of between 500,000 and 850,000 barrels per day across Northern Ontario (at the top end that would be the largest oil pipeline in North America).

THE SEVERE RISKS TO THE ENVIRONMENT
The greatest concern with this pipeline conversion is the threat it has to the environment. In the 55 year history of this gas mainline there have already been five significant incidents in Northern Ontario. We can expect these numbers to increase as a pipeline built in the 1950's begins use for something other than what it was intended. Oil is much more dangerous than Natural Gas when it leaks into the environment and tar sands oil (diluted bitumen) especially is nearly impossible to clean up because it sinks into the ground more than regular oil does.

This pipeline traverses rivers, runs adjacent to lakes, and flows beside vital drinking water sources. For example, in North Bay it crosses the east-end of Trout Lake, which provides the municipal drinking water for over 50,000 people.

When this pipeline leaks or breaks, as it unquestionably will, there are also concerns about who would pay the costs associated with a spill. The 2010 spill of bitumen from an Enbridge pipeline in Michigan where more than 3 million litres of bitumen were spilled, has already cost more than $800 million in clean-up efforts. Our Northern Ontario public water supply, our health, our livelihoods, communities, farmlands, outdoor recreational activities, wildlife and fish habitats will all be at risk of dangerous and costly tar sands oil spills like this.

WHAT STAGE IS THIS PROJECT IN?
With TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline project having the potential of being rightly rejected by the US government, Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline meeting a wall of opposition in British Columbia, and Enbridge’s Line 9 reversal in Southern Ontario getting strong opposition from those municipalities, new pipelines that would allow tar sands to reach the East Coast are being proposed.

It is encouraging that at the end of March, Canada’s National Energy Board denied the request by TransCanada to pass costs of this "under-used" mainline to gas producers -- this was seen as TransCanada’s attempt at getting even more producers to divert their gas to different markets and get off of this line so they could then ease the public acceptance of converting this pipeline to pump tar sands bitumen East. The National Energy Board called TransCanada's request "inappropriate cost shifting" and noted that the tolls on the mainline have "increased substantially over a short period of time." Despite lower commodity prices, TransCanada had until that ruling been allowed to continuously raise the toll to transport natural gas along the mainline, ultimately contributing to the "under-used" scenario they label the pipeline as today.

Less that a week after that strong ruling by the National Energy Board, TransCanada announces its intentions to now convert this mainline to oil service so they will have to submit this new project for review. Unfortunately we cannot rely on National Energy Board from being able to prevent this project from happening. An effect of last year’s federal budget bill, as our national energy regulator they no longer be able to say no to oil pipeline projects as politicians in Cabinet are now able to overrule their decisions.

Another contributing factor to the "under-used" scenario TransCanada labels the natural gas mainline as is the fact the tar sands is the largest single consumer of natural gas in Canada -- forecast to soon use 30% of Canada’s total Natural Gas consumption. The processing of bitumen into synthetic crude requires significant amounts of energy, which is currently being generated by burning natural gas (one barrel of tar sands crude oil requires between 700 and 1700 cubic feet of natural gas). Early media spin about why converting this gas pipeline to an oil pipeline is a good idea heavily cites that this mainline is currently "under-used," don’t be fooled by this position as justifiable rationale.

WHAT EXACTLY WOULD BE IN THIS PIPELINE?
Tar sands producers generally produce either synthetic crude, which has passed through an on-site upgrader, or dilbit, which is raw bitumen thinned with lighter petroleum products and proprietary chemicals. With increased production over the last few years, tar sands producers (which are mostly foreign-owned) are now piping out more dilbit in order to cut their costs.

WHERE IS THIS OIL GOING?
The destination refineries on the East Coast would process this heavy oil to then be put on tankers for foreign markets. The 850,000 barrels a day sent across the country for world export would be risking catastrophe in our own environmental every inch of the way -- and Canada would continue to import oil for domestic use. Of course the additional export tankers would pose a huge threat to the ecology of the St. Lawrence and the Bay of Fundy.

Tar sands oil producers are seeking access to foreign markets because they will get more dollars per barrel than the Canadian market pays.

WHAT ABOUT THE JOB CREATION?
TransCanada is positioning this pipeline as the eastward alternative to competitor Enbridge’s Northern Gateway for exports to Asia, even though it would require sending oil much longer distances and loading it into smaller and less efficient tankers. Environmental groups Equiterre and the Natural Resource Defense Council suspect this project is a way for TransCanada to still export Alberta bitumen to the US Gulf Coast for refining -- a workaround to the opposition their controversial Keystone XL project is getting. One thing is clear, besides the existing refineries the only significant job creation that will happen will not be in Canada -- we will inherit only the environmental costs.

EFFECTS ON NATURAL GAS AND ELECTRICITY PRICES
The mainline, which runs five pipes wide in places, is TransCanada's founding asset and has delivered gas from the West for more than 50 years. Obviously, loosing this natural gas mainline through Ontario would directly affect home heating as this pipeline carries 77 per cent of the country's natural gas to market.

Also affected would be the several gas-fired electricity generation along the mainline (such as North Bay's 40 MW generator which supplies much of the electricity for the area). Natural gas is the second largest source of supply in Ontario's energy mix and plays an important role in the elimination coal.

Several Northern Ontario industries, like mining and processing, use natural gas to directly run their operations and would also be affected if this mainline converts to an oil pipeline.

WHY NO TAR SANDS OIL?
Each tar sands pipeline that gets developed will further increases our dependence on this dirty fuel and will lock-in a demand for a product that we do not need. Promoting further growth of the Canadian tar sands industry is dangerous and foolish.

At the outstanding volume of 850,000 barrels per day, this pipeline would allow the tar sands to increase their production dramatically and therefore guarantee the further destruction of the boreal forest (one of the world’s most important ecosystems), produce lake-sized reservoirs of toxic waste (like the one that leaked at the end of March 2013), and release vast quantities of pollutants into our air when this tarlike fuel is refined (significantly more than fuels made from conventional oil).

We need clean and renewable energy solutions as we make the inevitable and necessary transition to a post-oil world.

WHAT NOW?
Demand a pause on the plethora of pipelines being proposed to deliver Alberta's tar sands oil until we develop a national sustainable energy strategy.

Encourage Northern Ontario mayors to pronounce a declaration against the natural gas mainline being converted to a tar sands pipeline. Demand that no tar sands oil is piped through our communities, our country-side or our cities!

TEXT OF PETITION:
To:
Northern Ontario mayors and municipalities
Please pronounce a declaration that you will oppose the proposal that the natural gas mainline that runs through our communities be converted to a tar sands pipeline. Tell TransCanada Pipelines and other levels of government that we want NO tar sands pipeline through Northern Ontario!

Sincerely,
[Your name]

To sign the petition, go to this link: https://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/no-tar-sands-pipeline-through-nor...