Forced sterilization of migrants. Separating refugee children from their families. Actively refusing to protect detainees from COVID. ICE is committing human rights atrocities. Full stop. The catastrophically evil record of ICE is not news. These atrocities are well documented - there is literally an ICE atrocities database. [1] Ongoing human rights atrocities were explicitly cited by Union Pacific, the latest corporation to cut ties with Trump's enforcement thugs. [2] And yet Vancouver-based Hootsuite, a certified B Company that is chartered explicitly "meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance", just signed a three-year contract with ICE. This is complicity with Trump's neofascist human rights abuses - for profit. People in Canada are mortified by the Trump regime. We may not be able to vote in their election, but we certainly will not sit idly by and allow a Canadian corporation to profit from atrocity. We are demanding that Hootsuite join the many corporations who have cut ties with ICE, and cancel the new contract immediately. Sources: [1] https://www.aclu.org/issues/immigrants-rights/ice-and-border-patrol-abuses [2] https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/union-pacific-railroad-police-cuts-ties-ice

Annita McPhee is a progressive Indigenous woman wanting to become the BC NDP candidate for Stikine riding. Annita announced her intention to seek the nomination once it was announced that Doug Donaldson would not seek re-election. However, the Party is trying to make exceptions to the policy to parachute in a Party-picked candidate. She needs your support to ensure the BC NDP doesn’t break its rules. She needs your help to support opportunities for progressive Indigenous women to run for the BC NDP.

The cost to of living far exceeds the payout, especially with rent and groceries.

In a survey gathering data from 2017 to 2020, the Centre for Rural Health Research reports that the average total out-of-pocket costs for 381 BC patients accessing health care outside their home community was $2234 per patient and 78% of survey respondents reported difficulty in paying these costs. The full report is available at the following link: https://crhr.med.ubc.ca/resources/reports/ Too many rural British Columbians have suffered for far too long as a result of this situation. The severity of the problem is now clearly evident and the BC Rural Health Network calls on all BC residents to sign this petition calling on local and provincial policy makers to take action immediately to correct it.

Canada has been implicated in perpetrating war by the UN, due to Canada selling LAVs to Saudi Arabia which are being used in the war in Yemen. Canada has a trade agreement with Saudi Arabia which includes selling war implements to access to Saudi Arabia’s market, specifically oil. Canada needs to produce more green energy and get off oil dependency.

Having faced devastating pandemics in the past, First Nations are all-too aware of the threat posed by COVID-19. Families live in multi-generational homes due to housing shortages, hospitals are hundreds - if not thousands - of kilometers away, and communities face a chronic shortage of essential health workers and supplies: in many communities the equipment itself is outdated, or in extremely short supply.  The stakes for First Nations could not be higher. First Nations are among the most vulnerable populations in B.C., with the most to lose. The loss of an Elder represents a loss of language, culture and history. Reduced access to healthcare, food insecurity, and lack of government services are just a few of the problems that could turn a bad outbreak into a devastating crisis. The virus has exposed the inequities faced by First Nations in providing for the health and well-being of their communities. First Nations need your help to get the Ministry of Health to release the life-saving information they require so they can make informed decisions and respond effectively to the pandemic. Together we are forcing B.C. government to answer hard questions in the media and to justify why they are keeping First Nations in the dark about COVID-19 cases in and near their communities. Now, we need to ramp up the pressure on the Ministry of Health and Health Authorities, so they honour First Nation’s right to life-saving information. Sign the petition and support Indigenous government's right to life-saving health information to #keepsafe from COVID-19.

The sports world is taking bold action in solidarity with Jacob Blake, an unarmed black man who was shot and paralyzed by a white Wisconsin police officer a few days ago. The NBA, WNBA, MLB and MLS have all postponed games in the wake of players and team's speaking out against the shooting and boycotting games. Notably absent from this list is the NHL. The NHL has issued a statement, taken a "moment of reflection" before Wednesday nights game, but continued with games as usual. Sign your name calling on the NHL to postpone playoff games, along with other major sports leagues in America, who are taking a stand in support of Jacob Blake, and the Black Lives Matter movement.

News reports are showing that the Toronto Raptors are considering boycotting the first game of their series against the Boston Celtics. This discussion comes as a result of the attempted murder of yet another innocent Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the latest in a seeming unending string of such murders and attempted murders by unaccountable police officers. The pain of seeing such public murders inflicted over and over again must be immense. And it comes with the additional burden of knowing that each time, nothing changes. The Toronto Raptors are more than our basketball team. They are the spirit of Toronto, and they represent our compassionate, progressive nation to the world. And we as fans are part of the team. We want them to know that if they decide to boycott Game 1 in order to shine a spotlight on this injustice and say "no more" to the ongoing police violence, we the fans have their backs and will rise to support them.

City people need clean, healthy air to support good health. The country needs clean air to reduce the frequency of forrest fires, windstorms and torrential downpours which flood many parts of our land. The costs related to saving lives and repairing the damage affects everyone by increasing their insurance rates.

Counsellors and psychotherapists are the only mental health professionals required to charge GST/HST! Other providers of psychotherapy include: psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, doctors, nurses, psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses. All of these professionals are exempt from charging GST/HST. But not counsellors and psychotherapists. This discrepancy is unfair. There are tens of thousands of counsellors and psychotherapists across Canada. Professional help is available. Yet counsellors and psychotherapists are out of reach for many due to the added expense of GST/HST. That expense can mean the difference between getting much-needed support or allowing mental health issues to go untreated. In order to remove GST/HST for counsellors and psychotherapists, the Ministry of Finance required five provinces to regulate the profession. After the fifth province regulated it, however, former Finance Minister, Bill Morneau, rejected the removal of GST/HST, citing differences in regulated titles among the provinces. Some provinces call the service psychotherapy while others call it counselling. But the government had not made these titles a requirement for GST/HST exemption. The goalposts keep moving. Mental health issues used to affect 1 in 5 Canadians. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, this figure has increased to 1 in 4. The pandemic has had a devastating emotional and financial impact on many. Removing this financial barrier to mental health services is needed now more than ever. Let’s create the necessary national change and make mental health and addiction services more accessible - let’s finally get GST/HST on psychotherapy and counselling removed!

The plan put forth by Minister of Education Stephen Lecce and Premier Doug Ford to reopen schools this fall amidst the pandemic is not enough. The underfunded plan leaves everyone in the dark as to how schools will be run, and limits the resources to keep students safe. Elementary schools, in particular, have very little in terms of actual safety measures, with overcrowded classrooms preventing social distancing and masks being non-mandatory for grades three and below. Many faculty are already at a greater risk of infection, especially in a cramped environment such as a classroom. Children are also known to be asymptomatic, which will make doing symptom checks extremely difficult, making it that much harder to detect and control outbreaks if they occur. The government has made promises such as adding 900 new custodians and 500 nurses. But, for nearly 5,000 schools across Ontario, this is not nearly enough. There have also been promises for new HVAC systems, but there is little time to install them before the beginning of the school year. Please sign this petition if you feel students and faculty deserve to be protected at school, and that Lecce and Ford should rethink their current reopening plan, so we can go back to school with confidence that we, our families and our teachers will be safe.

In current classrooms, physical distancing is impossible. If the government does not change course and insists on reopening schools without reducing class sizes, our kids, friends, and family members will contract the virus.