Briarpatch articles from May 2000

Briarpatch archives from May 2000

Rogers & out (the Ontario Labour Relations Board rejects a request by Rogers Broadcasting to deny union certification for The Shopping Channel).
May 1, 2000... The Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) has rejected an attempt by The Shopping Channel to get rid of its union. The Shopping Channel is a division of Rogers Broadcasting. "The Labour Board's decision sends a message to Rogers that it is...

Franken-trees (trials on genetically modified trees occur without research into environmental implications).
May 1, 2000... The World Wide Fund for Nature reports that 116 trails on genetically-modified trees have occurred without proper controls or research in to the effects on the environment since 1998. Seventy of the franken-forests are in The U.S., while Great...

Coincidence? (inspection of a dairy in the riding of Prince Edward Island's minister of agriculture is cancelled despite fears of salmonella).
May 1, 2000... When an outbreak of salmonella was traced to a dairy owned by Parmalat Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency let the dairy know about its forthcoming inspection. (Apparently, notifying companies about an upcoming inspection is a common...

Bhopal (Union Carbide's share prices rise despite negative publicity over a toxic gas disaster at its plant in India).
May 1, 2000... It's been over 15 years since the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India leaked toxic gases into a nearby slum. More than 3,000 people died on December 3, 1984, and another 16,000 have died from injuries related to exposure to the deadly gases....

Fields of genes: Canadians demonstrate against Frankenfood.
May 1, 2000... On April 1, the Regina chapter of The Council of Canadians and The Sierra Youth Coalition participated in a nation-wide picket of Superstore and Loblaws to get genetically engineered foods off their store shelves. "Canadians are rejecting...

Tony the Tiger's secret ingredient: your breakfast cereal may not be safe to eat.
May 1, 2000... Greenpeace has called on consumers to stop buying Kellogg products as part of a campaign targeting the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The campaign launch took place on a day when anti-GMO rallies involving thousands of Canadians...

Don't call 911 (demonstrators in Regina denounce police brutality).
May 1, 2000... A large group of demonstrators marched from Regina City Hall to the Regina Police Headquarters on March 15. They demanded an end to police brutality and racism by police, an independent civilian review of complaints against the police, and...

No second chance: poor-bashing sinks to new lows (Ontario takes action against welfare fraud).
May 1, 2000... On April 1, 2000, anyone who has been convicted of welfare fraud in the province of Ontario will be banned from receiving social assistance for the rest of their life. "To tell such a person that from here on in you are sentenced to a life...

Will Ralph Klein sound the death-knell of Medicare? It's time to stop the floodgates of for-profit health care in Canada.
May 1, 2000... The Canadian health care system has been on the brink of collapse due to decreased funding levels, rising costs, advances in technology and an aging population. In recent months, provincial governments have been calling upon the federal...

PM versus PM Jr: Liberal leadership skirmishes in perspective.
May 1, 2000... Media analyses and commentaries have largely missed the boat in assessing recent leadership controversies surrounding Jean Chretien and Paul Martin, Jr. To fully understand what is happening, account must be taken both of the recent federal...

Opening Pandora's box: Ottawa rolls the dice with its clarity bill.
May 1, 2000... The debate continues about just why Ottawa proceeded on the dangerous and provocative course reflected by the Clarity Bill. One school of thought has it that Prime Minister Jean Chretien, still wounded by the criticisms he endured for his 1995...

Beyond e-hype: a look at the brave new world of e-commerce.
May 1, 2000... The Globe and Mail recently unveiled a snappy new "e-BIZ" logo, which will be used to highlight major articles dealing with high-tech developments. This logo might be the journalistic equivalent of the ".com" which routinely appears at the end...

Briarpatch reaches for tomorrow (the magazine gets connected to the World Wide Web).
May 1, 2000... In the past four years, the world wide web has exploded into the public eye quicker, and with bigger impact than other similar technological innovations have in the past. Unlike television and radio before it, the information that is accessible...

Back to the future (Briarpatch will launch its own Website on September 1, 2000).
May 1, 2000... After of being "high touch" rather than "high tech," Briarpatch will launch its new web site on September 1, 2000. The magazine will continue to be produced, but in addition, we will have a web site that will give our readers, and those...

Counting for nothing: women's work still isn't included in the economy.
May 1, 2000... Marilyn Waring "is a complex woman. She is no armchair theorist, but rather actively confronts a host of economic and environmental ills, as well as women's exploitation," said Dr. Joyce Green, professor of Political Science, while she was...

Woman of the world: a profile of a Nicaraguan doctor.
May 1, 2000... My friend Elizabeth Pena is a young doctor based in the city of Boaco, about 50 kilometres from Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. After she took her medical training in Russia (in Russian), she returned to Nicaragua to devote herself to the...

Making sustainable development work: popular health education in Nicaragua.
May 1, 2000... Cuts to social spending are a world-wide problem. But one of the countries worst hit is Nicaragua. "I agree with reducing public expenses. But it's where you make the cuts that's the problem. The government ministers here are cutting so...

Turning tide: relations between trade unionists in Canada and Cuba have changed dramatically in the last 20 years.
May 1, 2000... Twenty years ago, the relationship between the Canadian Labour Congress and the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC) were icy. That's when the CLC was still ruled by Cold War mentality, and contacts between the CLC and its Cuban equivalent...

Banana republic (Del Monte Produce recognizes Guatemala's banana workers' union).
May 1, 2000... The banana workers' union and Fresh Del Monte Produce signed an agreement in March to resolve the most important labour struggle in Guatemala in several years. The agreement allows Del Monte to continue to lease three of its plantations to...

Call to mobilize (the corporate ethic is becoming the sole guideline for social policy).
May 1, 2000... I get the feeling that there is a monumental crisis afoot and people just don't seem to get it. Now granted, I am only 32 years old, so I have limited experience in cataclysmic events for the world's people. But I don't mind telling you that I...