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Reclaim PKOLS - Call to Action

Call to Action from Hereditary Chief WEC'KINEM On May.22nd, hereditary chief WEC'KINEM (Eric Pelkey), with support from Songhees and the WSÁNEĆ tribes, will lead an action to reclaim the traditional name of PKOLS (formerly known as Mt. Douglas).  Please support this action, and...

Enbridge's Failed Media Campaign

Research by Shane Johnson Enbridge is not only failing at convincing people in this province that their project is a good idea, they have also created an atmosphere of mistrust and have wasted millions of dollars on a flop media campaign....

Chevron Gas Stations Blockaded for Fracking Project

Activists in Victoria blocked traffic and rode bicycles to three Chevron gas stations, distributed flyers, and wrapped Chevron stations in crime scene tape. “Chevron is the latest corporation to sign up to commit colonial climate crimes in British Columbia. Fracking...

Racist Article in Nanaimo Daily News Shocks Readers

An article in the Nanaimo Daily News has shocked people across the province today. Don Olsen, a writer for the newspaper, wrote an article titled 'Educate First Nations To Be Modern Citizens' that has brought on protest directed at the...

Easter Ceilidh - March 28th

A SocialCoast Event On THURSDAY of the EASTER LONG WEEKEND, Victoria's most celebrated Scottish pilot, Bennie Aitken, will be hosting a community Ceilidh! For anyone not from Scotland, let us explain:this is a community party with a traditional scottish 'barn dance'...

Hundreds pay final respects to Elijah Harper at funeral service in Winnipeg

Mourners gathered Monday in Winnipeg at the funeral service for Elijah Harper. ...

Participatory budgeting: A laboratory for democratic learning

Participatory budgeting, democratic deliberation and decision-making by citizens (or residents, though usually of local neighbourhoods), is a fast-growing practice of participatory democracy that began in 1989 in Porto Alegre, Brazil and is now...

What does 'means' mean? Harper, the media and a growing scandal's unanswered questions

The brief statements announcing the resignation of Stephen Harper's Chief-of-Staff Nigel Wright leave all the key questions in the Senate expenses scandal unanswered.  In fact, Wright's statement raises new questions, especially this line: "I did not advise...

World media reports on Harper government's growing Senate expense scandal

It's been a busy long weekend for Canadian political news. The resignation of Stephen Harper's Chief-of-Staff Nigel Wright, and the growing Senate expense scandal, has even made worldwide headlines.  BBC News reported: "Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's top...

NDP asks RCMP to investigate: 'Mr. Wright has yet to come clean on what the $90,000 bought'

Monday, May 20, 2013...

Expenses high while BC Ferries considers service cuts: union president (in All)

At a time when BC Ferries is looking at cutting services, it should first try to reduce what it is spending on management expenses, said Chris Abbott, the president of the BC Ferries and Marine Workers' Union. ...

Raven coal mine application rejected (in All)

B.C.'s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) has rejected an application for the Raven Coal Mine, a controversial coal project that became an election issue in the Comox Valley. Read...

Less than a quarter of eligible voters supported Libs: Democracy Watch (in All)

When elections are won with support from only 22 per cent of eligible voters, the system is broken, argues one group in favour of electoral reform. Read more ......

Youth vote a factor in Weaver's election strategy (in All)

The youth vote was an important factor in getting Andrew Weaver, the province's first Green MLA, a seat in the legislature. "How much of a factor, we're still trying to figure that out," says Naomi Devine, communications director. "This is...

Responsibility shirking at play in NDP upset, prof muses (in All)

Not voting and witnessing a crime without acting might have more in common than you think. Read more ... ...

Sasquatch Festival founder Adam Zacks talks developing artists, landing Sigur Ros

A lot of the focus at Sasquatch Festival this year will be put on its big-name headlining bands like Mumford and Sons, The Postal Service, The Lumineers, and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. But it’s the smaller, up-and-coming bands playing the...

Noms!: Sticky Wicket delivers no-nonsense Victoria pub food

The Strathcona Hotel, located on Douglas in downtown Victoria, is quite the destination. Many of us would have been to the Rooftop in the summer for buckets night, gone downstairs to Club 9one9 for late-night clubbing, and maybe even stayed...

Comics: Pablo and Earth Council

Montreal psychobilly band The Brains lose makeup, gain notoriety

It didn’t end up working out for KISS, but it might be a permanent thing for Montreal’s long-running psychobilly band The Brains. We, of course, are talking about taking off the makeup and hanging up the costumes. For KISS, their...

Vancouver hostels cheaper student travel option, more social than hotels

Travelling is expensive, but it can also be socially challenging. For the typical “starving student” or “student stranger in a strange land” looking for a summer vacation with some new experiences along the way, lodging and transportation costs can be...

This Week in Martlet History: May 17

In the May 17, 2001 Martlet issue, staff wrote an editorial piece that discussed the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) protests and their effect on the world and the provincial election.

Truth and fiction in photography

Reflections on Grenier’s Teenage Paparazzo documentary

One student’s frustration with elections

I urge you to stop giving a shit about your government, because I believe that they don’t care about you, your family or your ridiculous student debt.

An illuminating lesson in simplicity

How a humble headlamp saved a photo shoot

A-List

InDesign tools I wish I could use in real life

People are starting to laugh at Harper blunders

Harper has thrown so many colleagues under the bus the space must be getting crowded. by Geoffrey Stevens “I don't know whether to laugh or cry” - retired House of Commons law clerk Rob Walsh, on the Mike Duffy/Nigel Wright...

Duffy scandal has destroyed Harper’s brand

Canadians expect PM to act on his 2005 vow that cheaters go to prison. by Ish Theilheimer The Senate expense claim scandal keeps getting worse, and we've probably only seen and smelt the tip of the excrement-berg. First, the public...

Athabascan Chipewayans speak out on bitumen pipeline

Indigenous people living downstream from the tar sands explain why they are saying enough is enough. Produced and directed by Eriel Deranger and Melina Laboucan-Massimo Shell Canada is proposing two new tar sands mine projects in northern Alberta, Canada. From...

Marg Delahanty accosts Mike Duffy

Woman warrior suggests Senator find new job. from This Hour Has 22 Minutes Mary Walsh's character shines on Parliament Hill.

Homeland Security vs Occupy

New report describes how counter-terrorism departments monitored Occupy movement. from the Center for Media and Democracy MADISON, WI , May 20, 2013 — DBA Press and the Center for Media and Democracy today released the results of a year-long investigation:...

Raven Coal Mine Application Rejected by Regulators

Victoria, May 17, 2013 – The BC Environmental Assessment Office announced today that it has rejected the application for Compliance Energy’s proposed Raven Coal Mine, located near Fanny Bay in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island. read more

BC Election Reflection

by Lauren Kaljur As I walked through Yaletown on election night, peering through a restaurant seated with well to-do clientele smiling as they sipped their fine victory wine, I was reminded that we are divided. With a popular vote split between...

Protecting Marine Species

by Jeff Hutchings PHOTO CREDIT: Bill Fisher What do Atlantic cod and BC’s canary rockfish have in common with the burrowing owl and Vancouver Island marmot? They have all declined by more than 80 or 90%. And they are all considered to...

Speaking Tour on CETA, FIPA, TPP Trade Agreements

May 15, 2013 - You are invited to a public discussion on "CETA, FIPA, TPP: The New Face of Corporate Power." This event will be part of an eight-city speaking tour in B.C. to build opposition to Canada's corporate trade...

Environmental Science Axed by Harper 2012-2013

Compiled by Joyce Nelson Fisheries & Oceans Discontinued: Species-at-Risk Program, Ocean Contaminants & Marine Toxicology Program, Habitat Management, Experimental Lakes Area (Northern Ontario), DFO Marine Science Libraries, Centre for Offshore Oil & Gas Energy Research   read more

Four More LNG Export Projects Proposed for B.C.

By Scott Simpson, April 10, 2013 British Columbia’s potential LNG production boom just got louder. Energy Minister Rich Coleman announced Wednesday that the provincial government has received four “new major international LNG project proposals” to develop liquefied natural gas export...

Same Company Building Keystone and Tennessee Pipelines

Two projects are currently being fought on the ground (and in the trees) halfway across the country from each other, and various sources (including an article in the Ecologist ) have confirmed that the same company is doing on-the-ground construction...

Alberta Natural Gas Liquids Pipeline Proposed: Keyera, Plains Seek Shipper Commitments for Deep Basin Connector

By Dan Healing – April 10, 2013         Two new pipelines have been proposed to bring petroleum liquids from the Deep Basin to the Edmonton area. Photograph by: Eric Hylden , THE CANADIAN PRESS CALGARY — Two...

Pipeline Rejection Bad for U.S.-Canada Relations, says Redford: Alberta Premier in Washington Again to Advocate for Keystone XL Pipeline

Apr 10, 2013 – CP If the Obama administration rejects the Keystone XL pipeline, it would be a significant thorn in Canadian-U.S. relations, Alberta’s premier said Wednesday. Premier Alison Redford was in Washington for her fourth trip to lobby on...

Province Pushes Keystone XL Pipeline With Another Round of U.S. Ads

By Bryan Weismiller, Calgary Herald April 7, 2013 CALGARY —  Alberta is releasing another series of advertisements in U.S. publications aimed at convincing Americans that approving the Keystone XL pipeline would benefit both sides of the border. The advertisements, which...

Has the CRD unintentionally pushed the reset button on the sewage treatment plan?

By Leslie Campbell and David Broadland, May 2013 Its $17-million purchase of property in a residential neighbourhood as a possible location for biodigesters has critics—and at least two NDP candidates in the BC election—calling for a rethink of the entire plan. The...

Is the law catching up to BC's police chiefs?

By Rob Wipond, May 2013 The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner and the Registrar of Lobbyists are hot on their association’s trail. But a former BC police chief and solicitor general doubts they’ll ever be caught. There’s one thing the police...

The mayor's dilemma

By David Broadland, May 2013 Was Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin accurately briefed on the financial state of the City’s largest-ever infrastructure project before the last election? If he wasn't, as he claims, why isn't he concerned? Shortly after Focus went to press...

Going viral

By Katherine Palmer Gordon, May 2013 A new film is making sure salmon are on the menu of the provincial election. Here’s the good news: While the documentary Salmon Confidential is an incredibly disturbing exposé of government efforts to hide the truth...

The politics of nature (part 2)

By Briony Penn, May 2013 The Liberals have fumbled the biodiversity ball; so what are the alternatives offering, and what are they hedging on? As mentioned in last month’s article, the BC Liberals have left a perfect vacuum for other political parties...

THE WEEK — May 16: Queer culture celebrated

Queer culture celebrated, time for a sobering survey, and one time, at Social Media Camp...

Chowing down Off the Eaten Track

New food tour group brings focus back to love of locavores

Your election, your choice

Local organizations ask candidates the tough questions

Great Scot

Mighty Men hurl haggis at the 150th Highland Games

THE WEEK — May 9: A fashionable way to stop violence

Women in Need offers a fashionable way to stop violence, oily messages not so slick, dragon boats paddle on