The First Nations language expert said this change would bring the provincial government into compliance with international linguistic rights standards, “which are routinely violated in Canada where First Nations children are concerned.”

Not only would this policy change help young people keep their languages, she said it would ameliorate other social problems.

“In the first place, it could avoid the expense and effort involved in addressing the poverty in First Nations communities associated with high dropout rates,” Bear Nicholas said.

“These include such social and financial costs as welfare, addictions, suicide, incarceration, and poor health. As one analyst has put it, it would cost far less to provide a private tutor in the mother-tongue to a child for nine years than it would cost to keep a person in prison for one year.”"

Mike Barber and Miranda McQuade, both of Toronto, are acting as representative plaintiffs for the approximately 1,150 people who were detained, arrested and incarcerated at a temporary detention centre in Toronto’s east end after police clamped down on demonstrators during the summit.

The suit was filed Thursday at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto and also includes business owners whose property was vandalized.

The plaintiffs said in a statement of claim that they launched the suit to have the court declare that their constitutional and civil rights were violated, and denounce the conduct of the authorities during the G20 summit.”

The first flights carrying dozens of men, women and children, arrived in Bucharest, the Romanian capital, in the early afternoon.

Another 132 will be expelled on Friday, part of the 700 that France intends to repatrtiate from the country by the end of August.

The action comes after French police closed down several Roma camps around the country, with many seeking refuge in a gymnasium outside Paris.

The plan is part of president Nicolas Sarkozy’s controversial crackdown on Roma communities”

Where: Centenary-Queen Square United (storefront) Church, 215 Wentworth Street, Saint John
When: 8 a.m., Wednesday, August 18, 2010
What: Presentation on pay equity and poverty, and a chance to hear the party’s platform on pay equity legislation in the private sector.

With:
NDP – Matt Doherty, Wayne Dryer, Jeremy Higgins and organizer Margot Cragg
PC – Margaret-Ann Blaney, Trevor Holder, Dorothy Shephard and Blaine Higgs
LIB – Hon. Mary Schryer, Victoria Clarke, Ed Doherty and Dan Joyce
Green Party – Sharon Murphy-Flatt

With representation from Saint John Common Council, the Sisters of Charity, Centenary-Queen Square United (storefront) Church, Union, NB Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Canadian Federation of University Women, and UNBSJ students. In addition, several members of the hosting Regional Committee will be present and the Anglophone Vice-Chair of the NB Coalition for Pay Equity from Fredericton.

These are empty methods, alien to the working class. They are easy to agree to, because they require nothing of those leaders who declare themselves in support. The way forward is being shown by our class, which has no time for pretty but meaningless talk, taking concrete action where others can only appeal to the hearts of the capitalists. “

The protesters have demanded $5.6 million in compensation for cultural and social losses and a tract of hunting grounds.”

The European Court of Human Rights will be hearing the case of Khaled El-Masri, a German national who was illegally detained for almost a month by the U.S. government.

Macedonian security forces seized Khaled El-Masri at the request of the United States in December 2003 and held him—incommunicado—for 23 days. El-Masri was then handed over to the CIA and flown to a detention center in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was confined in appalling conditions, interrogated, and abused. After several months, El-Masri was finally released and dumped on a roadside in Albania. Despite overwhelming evidence of its collaboration, Macedonia has denied that El-Masri was detained illegally on its territory or handed over to the CIA.

“Such treatment should shock the conscience of any nation governed by the rule of law. But US courts, all the way to the Supreme Court, have refused to give Khaled El-Masri a chance to tell his story and receive justice. His case was thrown out under the ‘state secrets; doctrine—essentially telling El-Masri and other rendition victims that whatever U.S. government agents do in the name of the “war on terror” may be entirely outside the reach of the law. ”

Along with Maher Arar, Khaled El-Masri along with many others have been denied justice through the U.S. Supreme Court, the Obama administration has been actively resisting the chance of these victims to seek redress.

Outrageous.