The Miꞌkmaq people are facing hostility and threats in Eastern Canada over the right to fish to sustain themselves. 

This has included:

• “In response to Mi’kmaq fishers setting up 150 out of their 350 allowed traps, non-Indigenous fishers gathered at the wharf in Digby to protest.”
  
• “One of the ways Nova Scotian fishers have found it appropriate to protest Mi’kmaq harvesting practices has been to chase down boats and fire flares directly at them. There have also been attempts to ram small boats with much larger vessels.”
  
• Two people being arrested and charged with assault.
  
• “Lobster traps in St. Mary’s Bay were vandalized, their lines were cut, and the traps were left on the shore.”
• “Some fishers have posted calls on social media to reimplement the Canadian residential school system, and for other harsh treatment of Indigenous peoples and their children.” 
  
• A lobster boat belonging to a Mi’kmaq fisher has been destroyed by a suspicious fire at a wharf in southwestern Nova Scotia.
  

These people have the right to sustainably fish on their own land and support their livelihoods. Megan Bailey, professor at Dalhousie University’s Marine Affairs program, an expert, has said that there is no conservation concern as has otherwise been claimed. “The scale of the livelihood fishery as it exists right now with 350 traps is not a conservation concern.”

Ways you can support the Mi’kmaq people (both on this front + other issues):

Treaty Truckhouse Legal Fund - Grassroots Grandmothers, Mi'kmaw Rights Holders and others continue to stand united as water protectors of the Shubenacadie River in the Sipekne'katik District of Mi'kma'ki, where Alton Gas intends to dump salt brine equivalent to 3000 tonnes of hard salt every day.

• Another donation link is here, or e-transfers can be sent to treatytruckhousefund@gmail.com 
  

Support for our Eskasoni Mi’kmaq Fishers - Supplying resources for the fishers to continue the battle to have access to moderate livelihood fishery.

Mi’kmaq Fishers: To show support you can donate funds via e-transfer to the following emails with the message “donation”:

• wasawek39@hotmail.ca
• ravenchanelleaugustine@gmail.com

update on this since its been a few weeks, it hasnt stopped and it got even worse last night

I talked to the woman in charge of Fisheries at the Sipekne’katik Nations office, she says there are NO gofundme drives affiliated with their fleet. If you want to give money, contact Monica at monicah@sipeknekatik.ca. I repeat: THE FISHERY IS NOT AFILIATED WITH ANY GOFUNDMES.

Thank you for the clarification, it looks like the fishery gofundme is down!

IMPORTANT TO NOTE GUYS: donate through their official channels as they currently DO NOT have a gofundme!!

"Twin Towers Collapse as Tensions Continue Between Terrorists and Civilians"

for those not familiar with what's going on in nova scotia rn: local white fishermen have been terrorizing the natives for using their (legally guaranteed!) fishing rights and so far the rcmp have done basically nothing to stop them, and the "fire" mentioned in the headline was an act of fucking arson.

Toronto Off-Duty Officer and Brother Given Slap On The Wrist After Blinding Young Man

Ontario Superior Court Judge Joseph Di Luca delivered a verdict today in the case of an off-duty Toronto police officer and his brother, Const. Michael Theriault and Christian Theriault, who were accused of beating Dafonte Miller on December 28, 2016.

During the trial, Miller, 19 at the time of the incident, told the court that more than three years ago, in the early hours of the morning, he was walking with his friends in Whitby, Ontario when two men standing in a garage began questioning him. Miller said the two men started to chase him between homes before they eventually began beating him. He said Michael used a metal pipe, while Christian used his hands and feet.

 According to Miller’s lawyers, his left eye was entirely dislodged and split into four, leading him to lose his ability to see out of this eye entirely and he also had trouble seeing out of his right eye. He also suffered injuries including a broken orbital bone, bruised ribs, broken nose and a fractured wrist.

.In a virtual court proceeding Friday morning, the judge found Michael Theriault guilty of assault, but not aggravated assault. 

He was also found not guilty of attempting to obstruct justice in connection to the case. Christian Theriault, meanwhile, was found not guilty on both counts.

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Tine for a slice of Schadenfreude Pie: Alberta’s health minister, who likes to cut health funding during an epidemic, is completely melting down now that the public is aware that he and his wife own a company that provides private health insurance. Melting down as in “screaming and crying in a neighbour’s driveway saying his neighbour should take down a Facebook post about his potential conflict of interest.”

All the sympathy I’d normally have for a dude under intense public pressure and scrutiny has gone to the same place as most of Alberta’s public mental health funding, ie. it’s been cut by government austerity measures.