Approaching the fifth anniversary of the Mt. Polley tailings spill into Quesnel Lake and beyond little has been done to affect the way mining is conducted in this province. Imperial Metals, the company responsible for that disaster, among other things, has yet to be properly held to account for the damage its negligence caused. And it doesn’t seem likely to be in the future.
With governments’ unwilling to address this long-standing and ongoing failure of oversight a citizen-led initiative has begun. The BC Mining Law Reform Campaign launched a couple of weeks ago, and it is determined to succeed in bringing mining operations in BC to heel.
Douglas Gook is a Quesnel-based ecology activist and farmer who’s focused on Eco forestry alternatives in the woods there and beyond for more than forty years. The former BC and Canadian Green Party candidate is a director of the BC Environmental Network and Spirit Dance Cooperative Community, and leads Forest Protection Allies, one of the many environmental organizations pressuring government to get effective cleanup processes going, and appropriate compensation for those effected five years after the infamous Mt. Polley spill. He’s also one of a growing chorus who do not accept the Site C decision as final.
Douglas Gook in the first half.
And; despite the great hope for peace in Colombia, an announcement by the country’s military of a “new” strategy to deal with what they say is a continuing insurgency, and against organized drugs gangs, has sparked concern of a return to the bad old days of death squads and the “falsos positivos” program of the civil war.
Daniel Kovalik is a lawyer, educator, labour, peace, and justice activist, democracy defender, journalist and author. He teaches international human rights law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and was until recently Senior Associate General Counsel for the United Steel Workers Union. Kovalik has observed elections in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Colombia, where he too witnessed the 2016 peace plebiscite promising an end to the generational war there.
Dan’s also served as an attorney for Colombian plaintiffs in cases alleging corporate human rights violations, and is co-recipient of a Project Censored Award for chronicling the murder of trade unionists in Colombia. Some of his many book titles include the ‘Plot To…’ series: ‘The Plot to Scapegoat Russia: How the CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Vilify Putin’, ‘The Plot to Attack Iran: How the CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Vilify Iran’, ‘The Plot to Control the World: How the US Spent Billions to Change the Outcome of Elections Around the World, and his latest, ‘The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela: How the US Is Orchestrating a Coup for Oil.’
Dan Kovalik and failing peace in Colombia in the second half.
And; Victoria Street Newz publisher emeritus and CFUV Radio broadcaster, Janine Bandcroft will join us at the bottom of the hour to bring us news of some of the good things going on in and around our town in the coming week. But first, Douglas Gook and citizens acting where government won’t with the BC Mining Law Reform Campaign.
Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/","author_name":"Pacific Free Press"}