When Prime Minister Trudeau’s government approved the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, the Kwantlen First Nation replied quickly and decisively with protest. Alongside the Tsleil Waututh, Secwepemc, and many other Indigenous nations whose unceded territories the pipeline would cross, the Kwantlen declared that they do not consent to the pipeline and will not allow it
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Our veins run with water, not oil – fighting for our lives against capitalism and colonialism across Turtle Island: By Seb Bonet
In 1971, Eduardo Galeano published The Open Veins of Latin America. His iconic title refers to the colonial extraction of resources from Pachamama. And the book’s subtitle, ‘Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent’, pointed to their transport to another continent, Europe, where gold, tin, rubber, coffee and so many more of Pachamama’s gifts
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The (Un)realities of Reconciliation: By Herb Varley
As what is now known as Canada gets ready to celebrate 150 years of Confederation, there has been renewed talk about reconciliation between the First Nations Peoples of this land and the Canadian government. The way the issue is being talked about is problematic at best, and at worst, it is yet another wave of
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Announcement from the Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee
The first women’s memorial march was held in 1991 in response to the murder of a Coast Salish woman on Powell Street in Vancouver. Her name is not spoken today out of respect for the wishes of her family. Out of this sense of hopelessness and anger came an annual march on Valentine’s Day to
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Kwantlen Nation leads the fight against Kinder Morgan pipeline transgression of territorial and political sovereignty: By the Editors
On Sunday December 11, 2016, Kwantlen Nation led an anti-Kinder Morgan pipeline rally in Fort Langley, partnering with the PIPE UP Network. Kwantlen leaders and community members marched and spoke out against the intrusion of the recently approved pipeline into their unceded territories. Nearly 200 people took to the streets of Kwantlen territory on
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Canada is not our only enemy – An anti-colonial perspective on foreign investment in British Columbia: By Natalie Knight
This is an edited version of a talk delivered at “The Housing Crisis is Global: Anti-Imperialist Perspectives on the foreign investment myth” panel discussion organized by Alliance Against Displacement and Chinatown Action Group, November 22 2016. My talk tonight hinges on making some beginning connections between what we term settler colonialism in the context
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Against the Dakota Access Pipeline from the Concrete Guts of the Real Estate Snake: Alliance Against Displacement Standing Rock Solidarity Statement
Over the past few weeks, as Alliance Against Displacement worked on this collective statement in solidarity with the camps and struggle at #NODAPL, the camps came under violent, militarized assault by police. The mainstream media has not covered this repression with the attention it deserves. To see a video of the militarized assault on
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Liberation & Decolonization – Discussion groups change our hearts and minds: By Natalie Knight
During our summit gathering communities across southern B.C., we decided that “liberation & decolonization” was a major point of unity among our many groups. As communities facing violence, homelessness and poverty in our everyday lives, we fight back by existing. We also fight back in the streets in organized resistance to police brutality and criminalization.
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Trudeau just gave the go-ahead to the next Oka – Frontline Salmon Warrior speaks out about Petronas LNG project approval: By Goot Ges
The day after the Federal government approved the Pacific Northwest LNG project on Lelu Island, Chief Yahaan of the Gitwilgyots Tribe from Lax Kwa’laams says that we are in it for the long haul, and we will continue to protect the Skeena River for the future of our children. He says this in gratitude to
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The ceremony of birth and Kanien’kehá:ka Mohawk ancestral wisdom: By Toni-Leah Yake
The role of motherhood in Kanien’kehá:ka Mohawk and Haudenosaunee societies Imagining Turtle Island prior to Euro-colonial invasion, I am strengthened. Kanien’kehá:ka Mohawk ancestral societies were constructed on matriarchal power relations. I am part of this matriarchal society, as a Turtle Clan blood member. These ways of relating to each other extend to future generations,
For our issue on the BC Liberal legacy, Volcano editors turned to our Community Spotlight on a legacy of our own to highlight her over 40 years of anti-poverty work. Jean Swanson is an editor with The Volcano alongside her work with the Carnegie Community Action Project. She previously worked with the Downtown Eastside Residents’ Association (DERA) and is the author of a book titled Poorbashing: The Politics of Exclusion.
You’ve been active in anti-poverty work for a long time. What has been the biggest realization that you have had with regards to poverty in this province? Has your understanding or approach to government changed over time and through experience?
My approach to government has definitely changed. Back in 1979, I actually ran as an NDP MLA candidate because I thought being involved in electoral politics was a way of implementing the things you’ve been fighting for in the community. I ran with COPE for city council too, along with my co-workers Bruce Eriksen and Libby Davies, who were elected. In those days it seemed possible to get city council to do some good things for the Downtown Eastside if we worked hard at it: fund the Carnegie Centre, pass a Standards of Maintenance bylaw, put sprinklers in the hotels.
In the early 90s, after the NDP cut welfare and brought in a whole poorbashing framework to justify it, I couldn’t bring myself to vote at all, let alone run for office.
Read more about Jean Swanson's commitment to anti-poverty organizing here.