It's the most important story nobody's talking about: the continued dire situation at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Judging by the assurances of the Japanese Government and drying up of mainstream media coverage, it's easy to see how most of the world has been lulled into a false sense of security. Yet recently - amid troubling warnings from American and Japanese politicians and nuclear experts about the instability of thousands of radioactive spent fuel rods - the mainstream media and global community are starting to take note...but will it be in time to stave of a potential disaster of incalculable proportions?
The Common Sense Canadian's cartoonist in residence. While working at a paper mill and raising two children as a single-dad in Kitimat, BC, Gerry began working as a self-taught editorial cartoonist for the town paper in 1993.
Check out this new cartoon from Gerry Hummel highlighting the push to open up BC and Alberta's fossil fuel resources to emerging Asian markets like China. In recent months both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Resources Minister Joe Oliver have told Canadians and leaders on the world's stage that the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline will be built despite intense opposition from the public and First Nations in BC.
The latest from our cartoonist Gerry Hummel. With the BC Liberals' popularity in free-fall, according to recent polls, the party's chances of holding onto power in May 2013 are looking grimmer by the day. Premier Clark for the first time now trails Opposition leader Adrian Dix in job approval numbers as well.
Check out this new cartoon from Gerry Hummel. In recent weeks British Columbians and concerned media and citizens around the world have been rocked by the revelation that multiple species of wild Pacific salmon are showing signs of being infected by a European stain of the deadly Infectious Salmon Anemia virus. While Canadian regulators and politicians stall, their American counterparts are calling for emergency testing and swift action to address the potential disaster for wild salmon up and down the West coast.
Check out the latest from our cartoonist and Kitimat resident, Gerry Hummel. The town's council recently hosted a public forum on the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, which would end its 1,100 km journey from the Alberta Tar Sands at the Port of Kitimat - where supertankers would be loaded with bitumen, en route to Asia and the United States. The elusive Enbridge VP for the project, John Carruthers, was there representing the company - which heard not one iota of positive feedback from the community all evening.
The latest cartoon from Gerry Hummel - referencing the Joint Panel Review for the hugely controversial proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline. Rules defining public participation were recently announced by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and National Energy Board. Despite assurances of multiple avenues for public comment, many First Nations, citizens and conservation groups from the region are expressing their doubts - remaining in steadfast opposition to the project.
Check out the latest from our cartoonist Gerry Hummel. Hydraulic Fracturing, or "fracking" - a relatively new method for extracting natural gas - involves shooting a mixture of highly pressurized water, sand, and unknown chemicals deep underground in order to crack open shale formations to release gas. The value of the resource in BC has been pegged at $750 Billion - and while we're going gangbusters to develop our local industry, concentrated in northeast BC, other jurisdictions throughout the US and Canada are putting the brakes on fracking until we have a better grasp of its ecological and geological consequences, and how to better manage the enormous volumes of water currently being used in the process.
Rafe Mair has been giving his local MP, Federal Tory John Weston, a hard time of late for his praise of Plutonic Power/General Electric's private power projects. The West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky representative allegedly referred to these "run of river" projects as having a relatively small ecological footprint. If it weren't such a serious matter, this assertion would be downright comical. Speaking of comical, here, with his take is our resident cartoonist, Gerry Hummel.
We are pleased to present this new Common Sense Canadian cartoon by Gerry Hummel.
BC Liberal leadership frontrunner Christy Clark - whose possible ties to the Basi-Virk/BC Rail case have been brought to light in recent memos exposed by blogger Alex G. Tsakumis - insists the public is no longer interested in Railgate. But can her bid survive the growing calls for a Public Inquiry into the scandal?
30 year-old William Housty's powerhouse presentation to the National Energy Board's Enbridge hearings in his community of Bella Bella. William describes the history, language and culture of his people in fascinating detail - and how the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline and Tar Sands supertankers transiting the waters of his people's territory would destroy their traditional way of life.
Highlights from this week's National Energy Board hearings in Bella Bella on the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline and supertankers on BC's coast. Powerful testimony from three members of the Heiltsuk First Nation, sharing their experiences with the sea.rn
The Heiltsuk First Nation learned late Monday that scheduled National Energy Board hearings on the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline will resume Tuesday in Bella Bella, following their cancellation Monday in the wake of a peaceful demonstration to which the Joint Review Panel overreacted.
Close to 2,000 people turned out on a rainy Monday afternoon in Vancouver last week to speak out against Tar Sands oil tankers on BC's coast. The occasion marked the 23rd anniversary of the disastrous Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. The crowd gathered at the Art Gallery to hear from guest speakers like 350.org's Bill McKibben and members of the Heiltsuk First Nation of Bella Bella, who coorganized the rally, along with ForestEthics and Greenpeace.
Rueben George of the Tsleil-Waututh (Burrard) First Nation and Ben West of the Wilderness Committee discuss Kinder Morgan's quiet plan to twin its existing Trans Mountain Pipeline from the Alberta Tar Sands to Vancouver - which would result in up to 300 supertankers a year plying the waters of the Burrard Inlet and South Coast.
Eleven year-old Ta'Kaiya Blaney of the Sliammon First Nation sings her hit song "Shallow Waters" to some 2,000 people outside the Vancouver Art Gallery. She tells the audience one year ago on this day she was chased from Enbridge's Vancouver office when she tried to present her song to company officials.
World renowned climate activist Bill McKibben of 350.org lent his voice to the "Our Coast, Our Decision" rally in Vancouver Monday. McKibben told the crowd of close to 2,000 outside the Vancouver Art Gallery, "This is one of these great moments in human history and you guys are absolutely at the white, hot centre of it."
Rafe Mair pulls no punches in this, the second of a two-part interview with BC NDP Leader Adrian Dix - grilling the potential future premier of BC on Liquid Natural Gas, fracking, the proposed Enbridge pipeline and salmon farms.
Marven Robinson, a spirit bear guide from the Gitga'at Nation of Hartley Bay, speaks to Damien Gillis in Prince Rupert the day after the big rally he helped organize against Enbridge on Feb. 4, 2012.
In the first of a two-part interview, Rafe Mair grills BC NDP Leader Adrian Dix on private power, Site C Dam and BC's flawed environmental assessment process. What will the NDP do with existing and future private river power projects (a.k.a. IPPs) if they form the next government - and where do they stand on Site C Dam?
The beating of drums echoed throughout the seaside community of Prince Rupert, BC, on February 4 as thousands of First Nations and BC citizens banded together to express their opposition to the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway twin pipelines from the Alberta Tar Sands to nearby Kitimat on BC's central coast.
The various spokespeople for supposed "grassroots" pro-Tar Sands and pipeline organization EthicalOil.org have steadfastly maintained their campaign has no connection to the oil and gas industry or the Harper Government. But as the links between these groups continue to pile up, that contention becomes harder and harder to swallow.
In the wake of the bogus deal Enbridge attempted to foist on the Gitxsan people of Northwest BC last month to help pave the way for its controversial proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, the community has banded together in inspiring fashion - with camcorders and the Web as their weapons of choice.
Watch this series of clips by independent filmmaker Craig Delahunt from the Cohen Commission, including a key hour of testimony from the final day of ISAv hearings and interviews with experts outside the Commission.
See how the Gitxsan are banding together in a moment of crisis, following the unauthorized deal with Enbridge signed by rogue treaty negotiator Elmer Derrick.
