Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Kevin Love, Ken Boon May 6, 2021

Welcome back to Gorilla Radio’s Home Edition, recorded May 3rd, 2021.

On March 29th CLAS kicked off what will be “a year-long celebration of 50 years of fighting for social justice. When the Community Legal Assistance Society began it was the first law office of its kind in B.C. All these years later, founding member, Mike Harcourt says of CLAS, “Probably hundreds of thousands of low-income tenants, people facing burdensome debt, people living with mental illness and other disabilities, those living with addiction, and other individuals battling bureaucracies or facing discrimination have benefited from our unique service.

Well the need is still there, and is now perhaps greater than ever.

Kevin Love is a lawyer in CLAS’ Community Law Program, working primarily in the areas of mental health, and workers’ rights. Kevin represents CLAS on a number of committees, including the Worksafe BC’s policy and practice consultative committee as well as serving as chair to the Workers’ Compensation Advocacy Group.

Kevin Love in the first half.

And; more reports about the Site C mega-dam project have come out since I last talked to today’s second guest. In fact, since I started talking to him more than six years ago, millions have been spent on reports and studies and surveys and province-wide dog and pony shows, and no matter what the results of any of these are the Great White Elephant thunders on. It seems not even bare-faced reality stands a chance of getting in the way of a monumentally bad idea, as long as the people behind it are determined to abide in dream land.

Ken Boon is a Peace Valley farmer and president of the Peace Valley Landowners Association. Ken and his family have laboured to make real the tommyrot at the heart of the Site C project from the very beginning, and now some of their worst fears are becoming apparent even to the dullest minds of a generation down at the Legislature. And yet, the project goes on.

Ken Boon and politician saying the damnedest things about the Site-C project to nowhere in the second half.

But first, Kevin Love and celebrating 50 years with CLAS.

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

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/

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Ken Boon, Yves Engler, Janine Bandcroft September 5th, 2019

Last week, prime minister Justin Trudeau met in Surrey with BC premier, John Horgan to announce a joint effort that will increase BC Hydro’s contribution to fracked gas production.

The former provincial government bet big on the future of hydrocarbons, (as has Trudeau’s Liberals) and the NDP has picked right up where Christie Clark’s BCLiberals left off.

The announcement came on the very day West Moberly First Nations Chief, Roland Willson vowed the contentious Site C Dam project would not receive their support saying,

Stopping this dam has always been the right thing to do. It would have taken some courage and some leadership, but it could have saved British Columbia billions of dollars and produced a clear example of reconciliation with First Nations. ….

And, the West Moberly are not alone in their opposition to the mega-dam.

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 the Site C dam project from the beginning and it’s a fight that’s cost he and his dearly.

Ken Boon in the first half.

And; Tuesday, August 27th 2019 members of Canada’s national police force paid a surprise visit to a citizen’s house hoping to catch him at home. It was not a criminal matter, the subject had broken no law; so what warranted such attention?

Montreal-based author, journalist, and social justice activist, Yves Engler is well known to authorities. He’s made no secret of his effort to make our political leaders accountable to both the laws of this country and international statutes Canada is a party to. But, with almost four years of bad faith governing behind it, and an expected Autumn election looming ahead, it seems the government would prefer not to hear from critics like Monsieur Engler.

Yves Engler and using the RCMP to silence political criticism in the second half.

And; Victoria-based activist and long-time Gorilla Radio contributor, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour to bring us up to speed with some of what’s good going on in and around our town in the coming week.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.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/