Media Mornings: Wed, Jan 16

W2MEDIA.CA | Listen to today’s broadcast of Media Mornings on Vancouver Co-op Radio 100.5 fm: Fighting for our Rights. With host Jane Bouey

( ( ( LISTEN TO PODCAST ) ) )

Interview with Lisa Hammond, President of the Hamilton-Wentworth Teachers local in Ontario, about Bill 115, the attack on teachers, public education and the fight to defend our democratic right to collective bargaining.
Interview with Joey Hartman, President of the Vancouver and District Labour Council, about labour as allies with Idle No More, and history of the Trade Union Research Bureau
Interview with Jeremy Hainsworth about the controversial acquittal of accused gay bashers and the status of the legal struggle against hate crimes
Claudio Eckdahl with an update on the efforts to stop the Belo Monte Dam of the Amazon in Brazil.

News headlines:
The Tyee reports that the Vancouver hearings of the Joint Review Panel into the Northern Gateway pipeline project are off to a noisy start. About a thousand people rallied against the pipeline on Monday evening. Yesterday, five protesters were arrested for disrupting the hearings being held at the Sheraton Wall Centre. Police say that after the five were allowed to enter the hearings by a registered participant, they put up yellow tape declaring that the room was a “climate crime scene”. Protests against the pipeline will continue at noon today, with a rally organized by local Idol No More activists outside the Wall Centre. The Vancouver phase of the hearings will continue to late January, but members of the public are not allowed to be present at the submissions.
The multi-union Community Bargaining Association (CBA) has reached a tentative collective agreement with the Health Employers’ Association of BC (HEABC). The two-year proposed agreement covers over 14,000 workers in community health, and comes after one year of difficult negotiations.

Pivot Legal has revealed that City of Vancouver staff is recommending a 400% increase to the fines associated with criminalizing poverrty.
The Tyee is reporting that The Georgia Straight has responded to a legal case brought against the newspaper by John Furlong, the chief executive of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
Political pundit Bill Tieleman reports that a group formed by a retired corporate leader will soon launch a $1 million multi-media campaign to attack the BC New Democrats and help re-elect Premier Christy Clark’s BC Liberals. – The Tyee