Program Title: Sept. 10 Headlines from CKUT's Community News Collective
Description: Elizabeth May, the leader of the fledgling Green Party of Canada, condemned the leaders of the federal Conservatives and NDP on Tuesday for threatening to boycott televised debates if she were to be included.

The leaders of the Tories and the NDP have suggested that the Greens are too cooperative with the Liberal Party to be allowed in the debates.

A spokeman for the NDP said that "We believe that as someone who's endorsed [Liberal leader] Stéphane Dion to be the prime minister of Canada, she has endorsed Liberal candidates throughout the country."

Conservative leader Stephen Harper referred to May as a [quote] "second Liberal candidate" and said that it would be "fundamentally unfair" for her to participate in debates.

Dion said that he supported May's participation, but added that he would not participate if Harper boycotted the debates.

The consortium of broadcast networks that will televise the contested debates announced Monday that it will not allow May to participate because of the threatened boycotts.

The Green Party leader called the decision [quote] "anti-democratic."

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At the University of Victoria last Thursday, employees at the Student Union Building went on strike, shutting down the copy centre, consignment bookstore, movie theatre, campus pub, and several restaurants.

About one-hundred and fifty workers, who are mostly students, are demanding pay increases for their lowest paid members, who currently earn nine dollars and ninety five cents per hour.

The employees, represented by the United Steelworkers, are demanding an hourly wage increase of one dollar and fifty cents, retroactive to May 1st, when their contract expired.

The workers are employed by the University of Victoria Students' Society, which has reportedly offered an increase of ten cents for servers at the union pub, who earn tips, and thirty cents for all other workers.

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June 21st marked this year's National Day of Aboriginal Action. For 15 women and their supporters in Vancouver’s downtown eastside that meant the kick off for the walk4justice.
They set out to cover roughly 3,000 km of terrain.
One kilometer for each woman reported missing or murdered over the past 40 years in Canada.
A Canadian government statistic shows that young indigenous women are over five times more likely than other women of the same age to die as the result of violence.
The idea took shape in January of this year, organized by three women: Bernie Williams, Rose Henry and Gladys Radeks.
Attention paid to missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada has garnered more attention after the release of a report by Amnesty International
Stolen Sisters: Discrimination and Violence against Indigenous Women in Canada
The report investigates excessive violence against native women.
It states there is, “no excuse for government inaction...many steps have already been identified in government inquiries.�
The report makes two main recommendations:
The first is to institute measures to ensure that police thoroughly investigate all reports of missing women and girls.
The second, to provide adequate, stable funding to the frontline organizations that provide culturally-appropriate services such as shelter, support and counseling to help indigenous women and girls escape from harm’s way.
The women are set to walk their well-calloused feet into Ottawa this Friday.
On Monday, Sept 15 the final march will go from the Native Friendship Centre to Parliament Hill.
There, with supporters, the women will hold a rally and deliver a petition to Stephen Harper."

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Human Rights Watch has released a report criticizing US and NATO airstrikes in Afghanistan. According to the report, civilian deaths tripled from 2006 to 2007 as a result of unplanned airstrikes used in emergency situations. Over one hundred civilians were killed in airstrikes in 2006 compared to over three hundred in 2007. The report also speculated that this increase in casualties is fueling public backlash and aiding Taliban recruitment.

Operational changes instituted in 2007 have helped to reduce casualty numbers. However, Human Rights Watch insisted in the report that still more needs to be done. It also contended that better intelligence will further prevent civilian deaths.

On Tuesday, September 9th, two Afghan civilians were killed and another ten injured when a NATO bomb went off-target, hitting a house.

And in a bombing by US forces last month, NINETY Afghan civilians were killed, according to Afghan and UN officials. The US maintains that the number is lower.

Canada currently has 2500 troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

And those are some of the week's headlines from CKUT's Community News Collective in Montreal.

To contact us, email headlines@ckut.ca or call 514-448-4041 extension 6788.

Host(s): Brodie MacRae and Chesley Walsh
Featured Speakers/Guests: Chesley Walsh, Brodie MacRae, David Koch, and Courtney Kirkby

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