Briarpatch articles from June 2000

Briarpatch archives from June 2000

Under the knife: is Saskatchewan threatened by the privatization of health care?
June 1, 2000... The recently formed Alliance Against Corporate Health Care is gravely concerned about the state of health care in Saskatchewan. At a teach-in held in Regina in April, the Alliance cautioned the audience not to take medicare for granted in...

May Day activities across the Prairies.
June 1, 2000... May Day activities and celebrations across the prairies intensified from previous years. In Edmonton, Winnipeg, Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan and Brandon, Manitoba, May Day marches occurred. Each of these events concluded with celebrations of...

MayWorks in Saskatoon: a celebration of communities and social justice.
June 1, 2000... Saskatoon celebrated MayWorks 2000 at the end of April. MayWorks 2000 was a five-day festival that commemorated the building of communities on the prairies and people's struggles for social and economic justice. The city has now joined...

Living high off the hog: the shenanigans of a Saskatchewan Party MLA.
June 1, 2000... Locked-out hog barn factory workers were critical of Saskatchewan Party labour critic Randy Weekes' role in two labour issues in the province. Weekes is willing to go to bat to support a company that is thinking about moving its implement...

Boycott National Post: workers across the country take on Conrad Black.
June 1, 2000... Supporters of the strike at the Calgary Herald leafleted virtually every major airport across Canada on May 1. Their message, "Boycott the National Post." This is part of a strategy to force Conrad Black, owner of over 50 percent of...

Storm builds into a hurricane: students lead the demonstrations against the Tory government in Nova Scotia.
June 1, 2000... Politics in Nova Scotia has always been considered a part of the normal diet along with bacon and eggs. In June 1999, Nova Scotians voted out a minority Liberal government because it had proposed a budget which would have invested...

Snake eyes: Queen's Park deals itself a Royal Flush by sneaking in mini-casinos.
June 1, 2000... As an addictions counsellor might say, an addict's first reaction is denial. Like other provincial governments in Canada, the Ontario government won't admit it's become addicted to increased gambling revenues as a means to pay its bills....

IMF World Bank 2000: maintaining the momentum: reflections on Seattle, Washington & Washington, DC.
June 1, 2000... With our recent victories on November 30, 1999 Seattle and on April 16 in Washington, D.C., we have cause to celebrate. Although we have not defeated the forces of corporate globalization, we now have the tools to successfully challenge them....

Rebels with a cause: understanding the IMF and World Bank.
June 1, 2000... It's time to examine one aspect of the mainstream media's commentary on the April 16th International Monetary Fund/World Bank protests in Washington, D.C. Critics of the protests seem determined to make the case that protesters were more...

Rise of the police state: why the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF have to turn cities into virtual police states in order to hold their meetings.
June 1, 2000... There has been a great deal of discussion and analysis about the growing citizens movement against corporate greed behind institutions such as the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF. The Battle in Seattle and the more recent protests in...

Crime & punishment revisited: why unresolved anger about past abuses has a lot to do with why many people continue to offend.
June 1, 2000... Kent Munro one of those kids that was a real pain in the "you know where." He sat in front of me in my grade six class. Kent was always upbeat and usually had a smile on his face. But if there was a scheme afoot, you could bet he was either the...

Tag-team lobby: more military spending is a win-win situation for the military and corporations.
June 1, 2000... When finance minister Paul Martin brought down his budget in February, Canadian aerospace and defence corporations had plenty to celebrate. Martin handed the Canadian military a cool $1.7 billion to go arms shopping over the next four years,...

Demanding a police inquiry.
June 1, 2000... The recent tragic deaths of Lawrence Wegner and Rodney Naistus, the admitted abandonment of people by the Saskatoon City Police at the Queen Elizabeth Power Station, and questionable circumstances in other deaths in Saskatoon have sent shock...