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Come Clean On Blood Coal

By Pat Hanratty

On March 22nd, 2008, Adolfo Gonzalez Montes, was murdered. He was a worker at the Cerrejon Coal Mine in Colombia, and also a union leader with the National Union of Coal Mine Workers. He left behind a wife and four children.

Montes is one of 2510 union officials who have been killed or have disappeared in Colombia in the last ten years. Many others continue to be watched and harassed on a regular basis.

What connection does Adolfo Gonzalez Montes have to do with New Brunswick?

Which Side is the Premier On?

By Dana R. Brown

As leader of the official opposition in 2005, Shawn Graham made a commitment to establish a public auto insurance system in New Brunswick. It seems that this priority has fallen off the Liberal agenda once in power. This pledge to provide public auto insurance wasn't just an empty promise of its leader, it was and still is the will of the Party as it was passed as a resolution at the New Brunswick Liberal Party Biennial Convention in 2005.

American Gangster in Montreal: The True Story of Hal C. Banks

By Dana Brown

Capital Rules!

By: Chris Walker

The economy has radically changed since the era when Adam Smith championed the "upstart" businessmen who dared to challenge the merchant monopolies that dominated the economy of his day. For Smith, the government created monopoly distorted the market, and granted unfair privilege and power to one sector of the population. In his view, this privilege could not be justified. It is highly unlikely Smith could have foreseen the day when private power would become so great that it would be possible for mega-corporations to sue governments for damages, and win!

Liberals engage in political double-speak to sell private health care to New Brunswickers.

Once again we see that the current NB Liberal Government does not understand the word 'democracy', nor does it understand that it is expected to govern in the interests of the people, not private business.

By the Editors of The Citizens' Press

Mike Murphy, the once President of the New Brunswick Liberal Association (A.K.A. the Liberal Party of New Brunswick), now private insurance lawyer, has seemed to have found the perfect place in government to increase business for lawyers: become Minister of Health and promote the privatisation of NB Health Care.

NB Liberal Party Needs a Sober Second Thought

By the Editors of The Citizens' Press

The New Brunswick Liberal Party needs a sober second thought before putting the fate of the NB economy in the hands of the current cabal of neo-liberal ideologues and quack economists of the NB Self Sufficiency Task Force. The Task Force has gone off the road with its new proposal to get quick cash for policies that New Brunswickers reject.

New Brunswickers need a real job creation strategy, not some loony ideas from a task-force that seems only to be able to dream up new ways of taxing the working people of the province. The latest edition from the Self-Sufficiency Task Force on selling NB Liquor Bonds is yet another half thought-out plan to get money to pay for lavish, costly, and unnecessary infrastructure projects. A real made in New Brunswick solution should not equate with selling our economy down the river in a way that will lock in New Brunswick tax-payers into what amounts to a long-term debt-repayment scheme.

Process used by Self-Sufficiency Task Force Undemocratic -- Press Release

Citizens of New Brunswick deserve an open debate about their future.

N.B., Also available in audio format: Listen here.

“A task force charged to solve a particularly complex problem is generally comprised of individuals representing a variety of perspectives, expertise and experience and it engages in broad public consultation to inform its deliberations. A report with recommendations comes at the end of a thoughtful, inclusive process, and reflects as much as possible a consensus of thinking among its diverse members, influenced by what they have heard from the public.” – Janice Harvey, Telegraph-Journal column, February 21, 2007

Response to Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses' Position Against Anti-Scab Legislation

Dear Ms. Swift,

The purpose of this response to your letter is two-fold. Firstly, to point out the importance of passing Bill C-257 - also known as anti-scab legislation. Secondly, to encourage you to stop haranguing Canada's political leaders, and intruding on matters of public business for the sake of your private interests.

There can be no doubt the CFIB, and the individuals you represent, have serious concerns regarding Anti-Scab Legislation. No doubt your interests are served when the interests of working people are squashed, and the more trouble workers have in getting fair wages and working conditions, the more easily your friends can increase their profit margins. Your desire and ability to line your pocket books is your own problem and your own business, not the concern of the body politic. Fairness and social justice is the only proper concern any government should have; therefore leave the debate to our elected representatives, such as they are.

Francis of Atlantica

By Charles Fournier

Francis McGuire, member of New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham’s Self-Sufficiency Task Force, startled the people of New Brunswick with his views on the future development of this Province. With emphasis on allowing rural communities to depopulate and commercial development as the economic engine in the cities, his vision touched off a visceral reaction among New Brunswickers. It was almost as if he had declared a whole way of life obsolete. Families who have made their living by directly interacting with the land and forest for generations were forced to face the possibility that their children may not be able to do the same, even if they want to.