Tag: British Columbia

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Sophie Papp, Zain Haq, Dan Kovalik June 4, 2022

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Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded June 4th, 2022

Its been almost thirty years since the Mike Harcourt NDP arrested more than a thousand people protesting the clearcut destruction of Clayoquot Sound. More than a generation later the ‘War in the Woods’ seems a cause lost to those still fighting to protect ancient forests here. Save Old Growth is a nascent citizen’s resistance campaign organizing to pressure the provincial government to legislate an end to old growth logging now!

Sophie Papp and Zain Haq are coordinators of the Save Old Growth campaign. Sophie is an islander who while studying at UVic worked too with Access4All advocating for expanded online access for immuno-compromised students, and those facing other in-person class barriers. Zain is a co-founder of and strategist for Save Old Growth. He’s been arrested multiple times for civil disobedience and was imprisoned earlier this year for blockading the path of the TransMountain pipeline.

Sophie Papp and Zain Haq in the first half.

And; Colombians voted in national elections last week. It’s seen as the first real chance to unseat finally the far right power structure that has brutalized social justice and environmental activists, the indigenous people, and union organizers there for more than three generations. The favourite going into the May 29th poll, leftist Gustavo Petro and running mate, Francia Marquez fell just short of the 50% needed for a first round victory, so will face another vote against second place finisher, Rodolfo Hernandez June 19th.

Dan Kovalik is a lawyer, educator, labour, peace, and justice activist, democracy defender, journalist, author, and filmmaker. Dan has observed elections in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Colombia – where he witnessed the 2016 peace plebiscite promising an end to the generational war there. Of Kovalik’s 2020 film, ‘Nicaragua: The April Crisis & Beyond‘ on 2018’s so-called uprising in Nicaragua, Oliver Stone said, “Kovalik helps cut through the Orwellian lies and dissembling which make so-called ‘humanitarian intervention possible.”

Kovalik’s book titles include: ‘No More War: How the West Violates International Law by Using ‘Humanitarian’ Intervention to Advance Economic and Strategic Interest,’ ‘Cancel This Book: The Progressive Case Against Cancel Culture,’ and the “Plot to” series on American efforts to undermine the governments and economies of Iran, Venezuela, Russia, and to control the World entirely.

Dan Kovalik and Colombia’s second try at an electoral first in the second half.

But first, Sophie Papp and Zain Haq and stopping old growth logging.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing since 1998. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: cfuv.ca.  Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com/

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Ken Stone, Eddie Petrashyn April 9th, 2022

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Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded April 9th, 2022.

The Trudeau administration has again demonstrated the elasticity of its commitment to the “international rules-based order” extends too to domestic jurisprudence. This time, the federal Liberals are turning a blind eye to the blatant recruitment of Canadians to fight in Ukraine. This flies in the face of the Foreign Enlistment Act, which clearly specifies those engaging in such activities are breaking the law, but as of this writing no arrests have been made or charges filed.

Ken Stone is a long-time antiwar activist whose served as an executive member of both the Syria Solidarity Movement and Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War. Ken and the Coalition have released the statement on the government’s latest failure to uphold the law, ‘Illegal Recruitment of Canadians for War in Ukraine’.

Ken Stone in the first half.

And; as British Columbia’s helicopter-assisted wolf culling season picks up, questions again are being raised about both the efficacy of the program and veracity of its claim to be necessary for saving the endangered Northern Caribou.

Eddie Petrashyn is an East Kootenay conservationist with Wildsight, an organization working to quote, “protect biodiversity and encourage sustainable communities in Canada’s Columbia and Rocky Mountain regions“. Eddie’s investigation into BC government-approved forestry practices in the Wood River basin, north of Revelstoke challenge the logic behind the BC NDP’s conservation practices.


Eddie Petrashyn and saving northern caribou habitat in the second half.

But first, Ken Stone and Canada’s would-be foreign legionnaires.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio and serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/

Gorilla Radio FundingDrive 2021 with Chris Cook, Ingmar Lee March 18, 2021

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Welcome back to Gorilla Radio’s Home Edition, recorded on the dates, March 10th, 2021. And welcome to FundingDrive 2021.

Well, 2020’s FundingDrive was dissected by the Covid-19 outbreak, the station literally shuttering the studios to the two hundred-odd community and campus volunteers that keep the shows going. The small staff innovated, improvised, ducked and weaved, and managed to keep the signal open, and programming getting out.

I don’t believe anyone thought, a year later we’d still be doing shows remotely. But, here we are, recording not live but live to Skype, or Zoom, or with field apparatus. And we still need our community to help us; yes, help us help you.

The changes mean we’ve dipped into the funds to provide remote recording capability to more programmers, expanding online programming and production classes so our producers can all know how to edit and enhance programs, while navigated a frantically evolving new mediascape.

And that takes money of course; not a lot if everyone pitches in a little. But you can help too by letting us know you’re still out there listening, and taking heart.

Staff are here in the studio, man, woman, and non-binary gendering the phones to take your pledges at 1-250-721-8700. And you can go online to CFUVFriends.ca to donate as well.

For my part; this is the 24th FundDrive, or now “FundingDrive” program I’ve participated in. The first for me was answering phones for Sharon and Odain’s Sunshine Breakfast in 1998. Since then, I’ve done 22 episodes for Gorilla Radio. For those new to the show; Gorilla Radio is dedicated to social justice, the environment, community, and providing a forum for people and issues not covered in corporate/state media. I’ve been banging hour-long, two interview segments since 1999. And, today’s show is no exception. I’ll be back after the music and features with Episode 11-19, (or so) and my most esteemed and frequent guest over this long run, environmental defender and all-round iconoclast, Ingmar Lee.

One of the great benefits of doing this show has been meeting great people, dedicated to making the World better. One of my earliest guests, going back to the year 2000, exemplifies that. Ingmar Lee is a long-time BC-based environment defender, who describes himself as a “rotten, belligerent, iconoclastic, ungrateful, unrepentant, and unpleasant treehugger.” Besides these qualities, Lee has spent a life-time investigating truth, questioning accepted wisdom, and making enemies of greedhead political fraudsters, money-grubbing business leaders, spinmeisters and journalistic hacks at the CBC, CTV, and in the yellow press, who have in turn described his years of dedication and accomplishments as “environmental zealotry”, “eco-terrorism”, and the deeds of “a raving nutcase.” Just the man for GR!

Ingmar has appeared many, many times on Gorilla Radio over the past twenty years, covering the issues those same critics chose to willfully ignore, making of them sacrifices on the alter of personal careerism. Ingmar now lives along colonial British Columbia’s mid-coast, making an honest living in the territory, and with the blessings, of the Heiltsuk First Nation.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: https://cfuv.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Stefanie Brendl, Ken Boon, Janine Bandcroft October 8, 2020

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Welcome again to Gorilla Radio’s continuing efforts, NOT broadcast live from CFUV Radio in the basement of the Student Union Building at the University of Victoria, but emanating live-to-tape via Skype from our home-based … studios on this date, October 2nd, 2020.

Millions of marine animals will perish for the development of a vaccine for Covid-19. Though millions already die annually through medical and commercial “harvest”, the hyper-activity, or ‘Warp Speed’ race to come up with a treatment for the global pandemic, with its necessary billions of doses, poses an added extinction threat to the ocean’s already over-targeted species. None moreso perhaps than sharks, whose bodies contain a compound commonly used in vaccines.

Stefanie Brendl is a shark advocate and activist, filmmaker, social entrepreneur, and founder and Executive Director of Shark Allies, an organization dedicated to protecting that charismatic and critically endangered apex marine predator. The Shark Allies’ campaign against shark finning featured in the 2014 documentary film, Extinction Soup, exposing that ecologically disastrous international trade.

Stefanie Brendl in the first half.

And; the government of British Columbia was warned before re-energizing the long-moribund Site C dam plan it was a Frankenstein in the making. Indeed, the tales of horror to come should that Great White Elephant be roused rang across generations, but hubris and arrogance ruled the day. BC Liberal Premier, Christy Clark promised her legacy project would be realized come Hell and high water. And so it was begun.

Ken Boon is a Peace Valley farmer and president of the Peace Valley Landowners Association. Ken and his family have lived at the heart of the resistance to Site C from the beginning, and have remained long enough to see some of their worst fears realized.

Ken Boon and John Horgan’s bottomless Site C money binny in the second half.

And; CFUV broadcaster and host of Plant Powered Radio, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour with the Left Coast Events Bulletin of some of the good things to be gotten up to in and around our town in the coming week.

But first, Stefanie Brendl and the unnecessary price nature pays for humanity’s good.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: https://cfuv.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/