(As the NS Advocate reported yesterday) Press release: The Minister of Lands and Forestry, Chuck Porter, has agreed to meet with hunger striker Jacob Fillmore. Deputy Minister Paul LaFleche gave Jacob Fillmore and Janet McLeod the news yesterday in the lobby of the DLF just as, a block away, the Stop Clearcutting Our Future rally in support of Jacob was getting underway in front of Province House.
Judy and Larry Haiven tackle non-disclosure agreements. Some argue that everybody wins, they write. The complainant gets some compensation. The perpetrator and the employer are protected from all the bad publicity. But it’s a big defeat for the cause of justice. It’s as if the bad incident never happened.
There were some 150 people at today’s anti-clearcut protest at Province House, much more than double the number of people who showed up for last week’s rally. Momentum is growing, but maddeningly, on this 16th day into Jacob Fillmore’s hunger strike, the stakes are getting much higher as well. 16 days is a very long time not to eat solid food.
Signalized intersections are beyond doubt statistically the most dangerous place to cross the road, especially for people with mobility issues. The vast majority of signalized intersections in Halifax provide no dedicated infrastructure protection at all for pedestrians – just two faded white lanes and a legal right of way. Too many people have been killed there. Tell your councillor things must change.
Letter: I am writing to show my support of Jacob Fillmore and thank you for featuring his efforts. I went to the rally at Province House last week and met Jacob. On my drive home I knew I had to write in to the Premier and my local MLA, I couldn’t rest until I did.
Nina Newington: “Jacob Fillmore is on the 15th day of his hunger strike. He has said he will keep going until he is hospitalized OR until our government puts in place an immediate moratorium on the clearcutting of Crown lands. I tried to talk him out of this hunger strike. Lots of other people have too.”
Iain Rankin wants to be a fresh new face, but there are already signs that Rankin’s progressive talk may be just that — talk, writes Ben Sichel.
Raymond Sheppard writes about the role of racism in the Lionel Desmond case. “In the African Nova Scotian community, after facing anti-Black racism and hate trauma, individuals and the community try to move on and we have been taught to rise above it. However, the effects of this kind of trauma run deep and do not just go away.”
Letter: There is an empty plate at this table and an honoured guest , a youth, has been left out in the cold and he is hungry for change. Jacob Fillmore’s name and cause and courage have flashed around the world. The world is listening and he has been heard and now it is your turn to invite him in, to listen and meet the challenge of climate change.
I wasn’t planning for poetry this weekend, but that changed on the spot after reading this poem about ableism, Bill c-7, poverty, colonialism, and so much more, by the always brilliant Gabrielle Peters.