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Harper's foreign aid must include access to abortion
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It is at times hard not to fear for the future of our species. Often enough such times involve the quite unbelievable treatment of girls and women by those with power, mostly men. Here is one case study, beyond belief yet true.
In 2009, an ailing 9-year old girl in Brazil had to have an emergency abortion after a doctor discovered she was four months pregnant. The girl had been raped by her stepfather since she was six.
The Catholic Church then excommunicated the doctor who performed the abortion, his medical team, and the girl's mother. The rapist was not excommunicated, even though the local archbishop acknowledged that he had committed "a heinous crime." For the Church, he said, "the abortion, the elimination of an innocent life, was more serious."
This past July, an 11-year old girl in Chile who became pregnant was denied an abortion. The girl had been violated repeatedly by her mother's boyfriend for over two years. Chile is one of seven predominantly Roman Catholic countries in Latin America where abortion is forbidden under all circumstances. The 11-year old appeared on television to declare that she wanted to keep the baby. "I'm going to love the baby very much, even though it comes from that man who hurt me. It will be like having a doll in my arms."
Across the U.S., Republican extremists who now dominate the party at both the national and state levels oppose abortion, often with no exceptions in case of rape or incest or health issues for either fetus or mother. They are introducing legislation to this effect in states across the U.S. as well as in Washington.
In Canada, the Harper government refuses to fund overseas projects that offer access to abortions to child brides or to victims of rape during war. This policy was first spelled out by the Prime Minister in 2010 when he announced his support for maternal and child health initiatives in poor countries, and it has been reaffirmed in recent weeks by his ministers.
In New York last month, Mr. Harper expressed Canada's support for a range of United Nations initiatives to combat sexual violence and forced marriages. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird also travelled to New York to emphasize the government's commitment to protecting women and children.
The practice of forced marriages of young girls is "an appalling violation of human rights," Mr. Baird said, and Canada is committed to putting a stop to it. Millions of girls under 18 years old -- some as young as eight -- are forced into marriages each year in various parts of the world, including Canada. "I don't think any nine or 11-year-old girl is in a position where she should be forced to marry at that young age." This position was reiterated in this week's Throne Speech.
Complications from pregnancy and giving birth at a young age are known to be grave risk factors for both mother and baby. In 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that while real progress was being made in reducing maternal mortality, it nevertheless remains a serious global problem.
Unsafe abortion, it reported, is one of the three leading causes of maternal mortality, while safe abortions by trained health workers in sanitary conditions can prevent such deaths. According to WHO, providing access to such a service is one of the most effective ways to address this major problem.
There are two issues here. The first is entirely practical. If maternal and child health and the protection of women and children was really a priority for Mr. Harper and his government, if they truly wanted to save women from preventable agonizing deaths, they would be promoting safe abortions for pregnant underage girls and for pregnant women in cases of rape, incest or health issues.
The second is entirely human. "I don't think any nine- or 11-year-old girl is in a position where she should be forced to marry at that young age," Mr. Baird says. He calls it a human rights issue. But what if the nine- or 11-year-old girl then gets pregnant? Is she in a position where she should be forced to have a baby? Is she not entitled as a human right to an abortion? What level of cruelty is required to deny a child an abortion and force her to have a child? It makes you question our common humanity.
Image: flickr/comsec
CCPA asks 10 questions about the Canada-EU CETA
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Prime Minister Harper's announcement on Friday that he'd concluded a new corporate rights pact with the European Union was greeted by instantaneous support from media pundits, editorial boards and business lobby groups. Only part of that reaction (from business groups) was planned by the government. The rest was spin albeit highly effective spin based on the unanimity of praise for a deal that has not been made public yet.
Most early news articles reprinted a set of (rehashed and discredited) assumptions about the EU deal as if they were the inevitable economic outcome of its possible ratification. (Yes we still hope we can stop this deal before then, and that there are very good reasons to.) The CBC reprinted much of Harper's 44-page promotional brochure on CETA and even created cute new graphics for an interactive explainer which seems to have been taken off the site. If you missed that, you can still find all the impressive numerical data here, like that the population of Europe is 500 million (which it isn't, actually).
Luckily we have the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The CCPA's senior trade researcher Scott Sinclair asks 10 questions about CETA in an article today at nationalnewswatch.com, and he reminds us that much more than a trade deal, CETA is "a constitutional-style document that affects patent protection for drugs, foreign investor rights, local government purchasing, public interest regulation and many other matters that are normally decided by elected legislatures after public debate."
Questions like "Why are the thoroughly discredited projections of economic gains from the CETA being treated as facts?" and "Why does CETA include an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism?" The latter in NAFTA has been used more than 30 times to challenge Canadian public policies outside the courts, in private tribunals, resulting in more than $160-million in awards or settlements being paid to U.S. corporations.
"Both the European Parliament and an official Sustainability Impact Assessment have questioned the need to include investor-state dispute settlement in the CETA," writes Sinclair. "Canada and Europe have highly regarded court systems that protect the rights of all investors regardless of nationality. There is no justification for including investor-state arbitration in the CETA, but unfortunately it will now be used by foreign corporations to attack public interest regulations on both sides of the Atlantic."
Sinclair's last question, "Where will all this end?", is important, not just because what Canada didn't give up to get the EU deal done could end up on the chopping block in future agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It's an important question to ask about the approval process for CETA, and whether there will be any real opportunity for the public to affect the deal, or if it's a fait accompli.
International Trade Minister Ed Fast said today that the Canada-EU deal won't change between now and it being introduced into the House of Commons. But we know from experience there is no way to amend an agreement after that point. It's a simple yes or no vote for MPs where nuance disappears.
This is, of course, exactly how the Harper government likes to operate. You are either with the Conservatives or with the child pornographers, terrorists, etc. The Prime Minister told media on Friday that there is no point in considering the opinions of anyone critical of CETA because they are just ideological extremists. He's now using CETA promotional material to recruit new members to his party, you know, if you'd rather not be associated as an "anti-trade" terrorist).
For an agreement that, as Sinclair shows us, is about much more than trade, we shouldn't accept this blatant disregard for democracy.
The federal and provincial governments should be putting time and money into town halls across the country where public input has a real chance of changing the CETA deal itself, or taking out parts that clearly don't make sense (e.g. longer patents and higher drug costs). I don't know how much hearings like that would cost, but we could start by reallocating what Harper has promised the provinces in compensation for any economic fallout from the deal.
The Trade Justice Network has started a petition to make this review happen. You can sign it, and find out more about the EU deal (including from leaked texts) at http://tradejustice.ca. In the coming weeks we'll be providing new resources to help people get through the spin on CETA, and new tools you can use to engage your friends, neighbours and politicians on what we are still sure will be a bad deal for this country.
'An act of war': Armed RCMP officers carry out militant action against Mi'kmaq and Elsipogtog Nations
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There is a picture circulating widely over the Internet of a woman on the front lines of the struggle against SWN Resources, a company which seeks to potentially frack on traditional Mi'kmaq and Elsipogtog Nations territory in New Brunswick.
In the photo, she is kneeling in front of a line of armed Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers, holding an eagle feather.
Eagles are one of the most -- if not the most -- important bird for Indigenous people. It can fly the highest so it is closest to Creator. That is where the eagle and its feathers get their reverence.
So no, she didn't have a gun or a sword.
Perhaps arming yourself with a feather in the face of extreme police repression -- the RCMP had an attachment of snipers in camouflage when they raided the blockade Thursday morning -- seems useless.
But with that eagle feather, she was protecting her people.
The same goes when First Nations activists and their allies carry drums, sing traditional songs and burn traditional medicines like sage and sweetgrass during demonstrations.
To understand the context behind Indigenous uprisings such as the recent uprising in Elsipogtog -- which means "River of Fire" in Mi'kmaq -- and why they came to head after SWN Resources issued the blockades an injunction on Wednesday October 2, 2013, one needs to understand the importance of right spirit and good living.
To walk the Red Road is to defend Mother Earth. This is what anti-fracking activists are doing in New Briunswick with their highway blockade.
The blockade was on Highway 134 and has since been taken down by the police.
As demonstrators were being arrested yesterday at the blockade site near Rexton, New Brunswick -- more than 40 arrests were made, including Chief Aaron Sock -- you could hear the powerful drums and people singing the Mi'kmaq Honour song.
As the police shoved and beat demonstrators, dragging them into the ditch to be arrested, the song and drums were doing the heavy work of supporting the demonstrators.
Perhaps it seems odd to hear people singing such a beautiful song as the Mi'kmaq Honour Song during such violence.
Again, mainstream activists and supporters, as well as the general public, need to understand the context that is Indigenous resistance.
Sacred items such as eagle feathers, drums, smudge, shakers and songs are all powerful spirits to support Indigenous hearts.
They are as powerful as any modern weapon like an axe or gun. When treated with proper respect, they keep Nations strong.
Demonstrators across the country have sung the Mi'kmaq Honour Song to provide the blockaders with strength.
"Kepmite'tmnej ta'n teli l'nuwulti'kw
Nikma'jtut mawita'nej
Kepmite'tmnej ta'n wettapeksulti'k
Nikma'jtut apoqnmatultinej
Apoqnmatultinej ta'n Kisu'lkw teli ika'luksi'kw
Wla wskitqamu eya eya
Wey u we he haiya, Weu we he haiya
Wey u we he haiya, Weu we he haiya
Wey u we he haiya,
Wey u we he haiya, Weu we he haiya
Ta Ho!"
Translation:
"Let us greatly respect our nativeness
My people let us gather
Let us greatly respect our aboriginal roots
My people let us help one and other
Let us help one and other according to the Creator's
intention for putting us on this planet."
The anti-fracking standoff in New Brunswick has been going on since June and the companies involved are SWN Resources and Irving Oil.
Most recently, demonstrators had been holding critical fracking seismic trucks hostage, but it was the recent injunction a week ago that prompted the RCMP to move in.
On October 1, 2013, Chief Aaron Sock issued an eviction notice to SWN Resources.
The police moved in yesterday morning.
And now suddenly mainstream Canadians can add a new word to their vocabulary alongside the word Attawapiskat. It's sad that it takes a crisis to get mainstream Canadians and politicians to notice.
Paul Richard, a member of the Mi'kmaq nation, stated, "There is a lot of anger and old trouble in the region, between the Acadians and the Anglophones and between Canadians and New Brunswick Indigenous communities. But now it's good to see everyone working together."
During the day on Thursday, at least five police vehicles were burned. At the blockade site, the RCMP deployed dogs, rubber bullets, pepper spray and RCMP snipers.
The RCMP retreated at 7:00 p.m. that night.
When, at the end of the day, people can rally: "Yay, no one died on the front lines today," shows the absolutely sad state of affairs between First Nations communities and the police and government.
Rick Rogers, an Anishinaabe Ogichidaa, commented to me today at a sweat, "The Canadian nation has existed alongside different Indigenous nations, but this militant action by the RCMP is an act of war."
Krystalline Kraus is an intrepid explorer and reporter from Toronto Canada. A veteran activist and journalist for rabble.ca, she needs no aviator goggles, gas mask or red cape but proceeds fearlessly into the democratic fray.
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