| Protesters booted
Several protesters who were trying to raise attention about the plight of the Lubicon Cree in northern Alberta were thrown out of Prime Minister Paul Martin’s Calgary campaign rally at the Chinese Cultural Centre on May 28.
The protesters were all members of the Calgary Anti-Capitalist Collective. The Lubicon Cree have been trying to negotiate a land claims deal with the federal government for decades without success. Meanwhile, the collective says the aboriginal group’s traditional lifestyle has been destroyed by widescale industrial development on their traditional land.
Anti-Capitalist Collective member Yutaka Dirks says group members had tickets for the event and some used the opportunity to hand out leaflets on the Lubicon Cree situation. However, he says he wasn’t doing so when he was approached by a security guard and told to leave.
"It was just weird because they knew my name and I never introduced myself," says Dirks. "They told me it was a private event and even though I had tickets I had to leave."
Dirks says the group wanted to put some pressure on Martin to finish negotiations with the Lubicon.
All-candidates forum
Voters in the riding of Calgary East will have a chance to find out what their candidates think on a variety of issues at an upcoming all-candidates forum and debate.
The forum will include Green party candidate Dean Christie, Communist Party of Canada candidate Jason Devine, Liberal candidate James Maxim, Conservative candidate Deepak Obhrai and New Democratic candidate Elizabeth Thomas.
It will be held at Erin Woods Community Hall (83 Erin Park Drive S.E.) at 2 p.m. on June 6.
Red Cross donations
The Red Cross is appealing to Calgarians to donate money for disaster relief in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Nearly 900 people died and hundreds are missing after devastating floods in late May. The floods caused entire villages to be swept away.
To make a donation you can call 1-800-418-1111 or make a donation in person at 1305 11th St. S.W.
WildCanada.Net
Alberta Wilderness Association and Wildcanada.net have teamed up to create a new website "to illustrate the important links between the City of Calgary and its surrounding wildlands and wildlife."
The website will encourage Calgarians to be involved in low-impact wildland recreation opportunities and to become actively involved in planning that affects local and regional wildlands.
Visitors are asked to fill out a new survey on their favourite regional wildlands. In the fall, comments from the survey will be displayed on the website at www.CalgaryWild.net.
Urban sprawl study
The Canada West Foundation is embarking on a study of how rapid urban development in Alberta is impacting the environment.
Foundation staff will also look at whether governments have adequate land use planning policy in place to mitigate the negative aspects of urban development as part of an "Urban Growth and Land Use Initiative."
"The big purpose of this report will be to create awareness… and to advance the debate," says policy analyst Karen Wilkie.
Wilkie says the Canada West Foundation decided to study the issue because there was the sense that municipalities aren’t looking at the big picture when planning land use.
The initiative won’t just study new suburbs in cities but also the burgeoning country residential acreages springing up around Calgary and Edmonton.
The foundation will release its report on the issue in September.
Carifest
The city’s annual celebration of Caribbean culture kicks off on June 4 and runs throughout the week.
Carifest events for this year include the Taste of Carifest on June 4 on Stephen Avenue, a parade on June 5 at Millennium Park and the Sunshine Festival on June 12 at Prince’s Island Park.
More information is available at www.carifest.ca.
Youth vote
Founders of a new website and campaign called Apathy is Boring are hoping to convince disinterested and disillusioned youth voters to cast a ballot in the upcoming federal election.
The website offers information to young voters about how to vote, why they should vote and who the parties and candidates are. It points out that in the last federal election only 25 per cent of eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 24 bothered to vote, leading to a lot of potential lost votes that could have influenced election results.
To check out the website, go to www.apathyisboring.com. |
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