by Nicole Oliver
Dancing flash mobs popped up across the world in what was described as “a global strike” and “an invitation to dance” for women and those that love them to demonstrate commonality in the struggle against violence and women’s oppression. Toronto was among several Canadian cities “rising up” on Feburary 14th to a call to action made by Eve Ensler, the creater of the Vagina Monologues. The messaging of the event, called “one billion rising” is that “one in three women on the planet will be raped or beaten in her lifetime – one billion violated is an atrocity – one billion women dancing is a revolution.” But is it?
One billion persons across the globe dancing in the streets to end violence against women may have some value in terms of awareness raising and offering participants some form of release in collective dance, but in absence of a clear message as to the root causes of violence against women and removed from educational programming taking place in communities, the ripple effect of ‘One Billion Rising” [OBR] looks more like a drop in a bucket.
The differences in messaging and participant involvement at the various OBR events taking place worldwide was largely shaped by political context, the organizers, and communities they were hosted in. For example, GABRIELA-Ontario hosted their own community event that included dancing, but was also accompanied by discussion about violence experienced by Filipina women domestically and abroad in relation to social-economic factors, labor export policies and the commodification of women’s bodies and their work.
When I was in the Philippines in October working with the militant grassroots women’s rights alliance GABRIELA, I had the opportunity to work on the OBR campaign with this organization. For nearly 30-years GABRIELA has been fighting for women’s rights connecting women’s liberation to national liberation struggles in the Philippines recognizing that much violence against women and oppression stems from a system of domination created by a history of colonialism, capitalism, and imperialism.
Upon returning to Canada, I signed up to volunteer with OBR-Toronto hoping to carry forward my work with GABRIELA. Here, the OBR campaign was shaping up very differently than my experience with GABRIELA. The organizers of OBR-Toronto are well intentioned volunteers, but with little experience in popular organizing and few connections to local communities in Toronto. This was a stark contrast to GABRIELA, who viewed OBR as an opportunity to advance their long standing commitment to social service provision, educational programming, and awareness campaigning.
While people gathered in Nathan Phillips Square for OBR to “Strike, Dance, Rise” another formation of protest was happening up the street at Police Headquarters. Indigenous women and their supporters were hosting Toronto’s 8th Annual Ceremony for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. When asked about this action, Farial Ali an OBR participant who was unaware of the event and its history stated, “It’s really sad. It’s really unfortunate as indigenous communities are so undermined in this society. It saddens me to find out that about that event, yet we are here standing for the same cause.”
When asked about what she would like to see come out of events like OBR and the next steps, a participant named Raheena said, “I’m really worried that this is going to be one of those things where people come out, there is a huge rally, people get pumped, and three days into work people are going to completely forget it. I am hoping that this is a global call for a conversation even louder and in more depth.”
Work to end violence against women is ongoing and must happen in alignment with broader movements of liberation that confront the root causes for domination and oppression stemming colonialism, capitalist plunder, and imperialism. We should take this opportunity to salute those who rose on Feb 14, but also commend those who continually work on highlighting the connections between economic policy, development aggression, and violence against women. For it is the peoples organizations that not only mobilized women and their allies to participate in OBR, but it is also their ceaseless efforts to organize communities step-by-step and empower people toward becoming agents of change that will result in the end of violence and genuine freedom.
by Jesse M. Zimmerman
Successive Conservative governments led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper have moved to make Canada an “energy superpower.” As a result, Alberta’s tar sands have become central to Canada’s economy.
The tar sands are a massive patch of submerged oil, totaling 140,800 square kilometers. Extracting petroleum from the tar sands requires a lengthy and expensive process that uses a large amount of fresh water and ejects an enormous amount of greenhouse gases.
Needless to say, the tar sands can cause irreversible damage to the planet. Indeed, as Dr. James Hansen, a NASA scientist, said last year: “If Canada proceeds, and we do nothing, it will be game over for the climate.” Yet, the government is currently planning to expand the tar sands project by building pipelines across Canada in order to export the petroleum to international markets.
One of the proposed pipelines is the “Northern Gateway,” which runs from Northern Alberta to the Pacific Coast of Kitimat in British Columbia. Many organizations and First Nations communities have opposed this pipelines for many reasons, including: the possibility of oil tankers capsizing near the fragile eco-system of the Pacific Coast; the possibility of pipe leaks; and that the pipe route is located on indigenous territory. It does not help that Enbridge—the company that would be developing the Northern Gateway—has had a history of major oil spills. In 2010, Enbridge spilled a total of 34,122 barrels of oil, forcing entire communities to evacuate.
The opposition to the Northern Gateway has been fierce, and the pipeline has now become a hard sell for both Enbridge and the Harper government. However, rather than abandon the project, another route is being sought — one that is much closer to home.
Since 1976, a pipeline called “Line 9,” has transported oil through Southern Ontario. Initially, Line 9 carried crude oil from Sarnia, through Ontario, and into Quebec. In the 1990s however, the flow was reversed so that oil flowed from Montreal to Sarnia. Now, Enbridge is proposing to reverse the flow once again, but this time to carry tar sands oil instead of crude oil.
The larger plan is to have Line 9 connect to other pipeline infrastructure from the West, and to carry the tar sands oil to Montreal and further on to Portland, Maine in the United States. The ultimate goal is to pump tar sands oil from Alberta to the Atlantic coast in order to bring tar sands oil to international markets.
The National Energy Board has approved the reversal of one part of the existing Line 9 infrastructures—the flow from Sarnia, Ontario to Hanover, Ontario. Enbridge is now seeking approval for the rest of the line to be reversed.
Enbridge’s Line 9 plan presents a huge threat to the communities that live alongside the route—that’s 9.1 million people who live within 50 kilometers of it. Indeed, Line 9 was originally created to transport conventional crude oil—not tar sands oil, which is a far more corrosive and acidic type of petroleum. There is no telling of what tar sands oil could do to the aging pipe.
Further, the pipe runs through many water sources, including both the Humber and the Don River in Toronto—the city’s primary drinking sources. The pipe also runs through many waterways near major city centers, including Kingston, Hamilton, Burlington, Ajax, and London; as well as eighteen First Nations territories. And—when we consider Enbridge’s track record—there is also the catastrophic risk to those communities in the event of a spill.
Communities that live along Line 9 have started to mobilize against Enbridge’s proposal. Considering that we live in the days of superstorms and unprecedented heat waves, mobilization may be the only way we can get out of the bind we now find ourselves in. The past few years, with the Occupy movement and Idle No More, have given us examples of how to mobilize and resist callous and short-sighted policies—examples of how people-power from the grassroots is a potent force to be reckoned with!
By Soledad Superville
On Feb 13th a town hall meeting was held by students of U of T’s Transitional Year Program (TYP) to talk about the latest threat to the 43 year old program’s existence. The Provost (administration) of the university is attempting to break-up the program to merge TYP with the less successful Woodsworth bridging program, a move that has been heavily criticized by racialized students. It will lead to a loss of autonomy in making decisions on how to run the program and students will lose the close-knit community of peers and faculty that have been critical to their success.
TYP allows access into the university for the most marginalized peoples in society, particularly racialized, working class, gender and sexual minorities, disabled, Aboriginal people, refugees, and low income women and single mothers. It creates access to the university for all those who have been unable to finish high school, either because they’ve been pushed out of school due oppression in their schools or because they’ve been unable to study as a result of the struggle to survive while in poverty.
The Provost did not attend the town hall meeting, sending a representative in her place that presented a statement. The Provost stated that apparently there was “no decision to eliminate TYP”. In reality there have been huge cuts to the program. Over the past five years 4 full-time faculty members have retired but the Provost has turned them into barely part-time positions. These workers are doing the same if not more work as the previous faculty but for a fraction of the wages and without any of the benefits or job security that comes with full-time status.
By turning racialized educators in into little more than Wal-Mart style workers the Provost’s actions have gutted the long term stability and security of the program and the program’s capacity to meet the needs of the students and the marginalized communities they come from.
The Provost did say that that there would be more money for the budget, but only if TYP “formally unified” with the Arts and Science Program of Woodsworth College, which she claimed has “excellent” administrative support. Yet this means that TYP’s own racialized, working class, and disabled administrative staff (who students love and trust) are not wanted and their jobs will be cut. On top of this, full-time retiree pensions are paid for out of the $1.4 million TYP budget. This means that unless the Provost substantially increases the TYP’s budget it will be starved of funds necessary to pay for its day to day needs.
The entire part-time faculty of the program are racialized people whose negative experiences as educators mirrors that of racialized peoples everywhere in Canada. Racist hiring practices that have ghettoized racialized educators into spaces of lowly professional status have made them ripe for exploitation. Part-time members whose jobs are currently on the chopping block should have been in a position to apply for the full-time positions of those who have previously retired, in keeping with the University’s supposed commitment to employment equity.
Of the last 5 full-time positions left vacant by those who have since retired, 2 of these posts were held by racialized teachers, one African Canadian and one Aboriginal. Both of them taught classes related to their racial and cultural identities and group membership. Turning these teaching positions into casual labouring jobs means that the Provost’s office has made a racist assault on the life chances of African Canadians and Aboriginal peoples as a group.
White educators held 3 of these 5 full-time positions. White educators dominate positions of power at U of T. For the university to change the full-time status of jobs held by white educators to low income part-time status once they have retired and then to fill them up with racialized working class is to keep a racist, oppressive, class-based system of power going where racialized communities are oppressed as an underclass for the purpose of economic exploitation. It also hinders resistance because people are kept busy just trying to survive.
The destruction of TYP must be resisted. TYP’s destruction has implications for communities everywhere, particularly when the current school system that is a pipeline for pushing racialized low income students into the prison system. The time to act is now to demand an expansion of funding and support for the TYP program. It is time to take back the University as a public space that belongs to us the people and not to corporate elites and capitalist interests.
By Hassan Reyes.
A report released this week by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) shows that an alarming number of students suffer from feelings of insecurity and stress, particularly about their future.
The Toronto District School Board’s, the largest school board in the country conducted a survey in 2011 with more than 100,000 students in grades 7-8 and 9-12. This student census showed that 73 per cent of students between Grades 9 and 12 say they are worried about their future, with 57 per cent saying they were frequently losing sleep because of their worries. 66 per cent also reported being under a lot of stress, sometimes or often.
This report represents the first time the TDSB has looked into the mental health of students, and sends a strong signal that there are major issues faced by youth. Shari Schwartz-Maltz, TDSB spokeswoman acknowledged the report “showed us is that there’s certainly a gap in the area of mental health and we need to focus more of our resources”.
Tatiana Wyse, of the Schizophrenia Association of Ontario states that the mental health problems among youth are endemic, and often caused or exasperated by social factors such as poverty. “We talk about different factor including internal factors and those in the environment… in the external factors, we can mention that there have recently been substantial cuts in the supports that are available to youth from social assistance to recreation… we are living in a time of economic crisis where everyone is worried about their job, and this also impacts youth.”
In April 2011, the TDSB also presented finding from previous studies that revealed that over 50% of students come from families earning less than $ 49,000.
For some students, these issues are reduced by extracurricular activities. “TDSB should make joining two clubs/sport teams/play dance show mandatory. Real learning exists outside of the classroom. … [these] can all provide life-long lessons, academics [alone] cannot” stated a student in a feedback letter highlighted in the report. This year, almost all extra-curricular activities in the TDSB have been cut due to a labour dispute caused by the Provincial Governments attacks on school teachers which included removing the right to strike. Teachers have responded by limiting their unpaid, volunteer work with the Board including leading extra-curricular activities.
Unfortunately, for most students, participating in activities outside of school can also be a challenge due to costs and family issues. The same April 2011 report indicated that only 39% for students whose family income was less than 30K participated in extra-curricular activities, compared with 82% for students from families with incomes of 100k.
Certainly, mental health at an individual and social level is a complicated issue, and one that needs to be discussed openly in our communities. Given the insecure times we are living in, where income and job insecurity are being coupled with the social pressures exerted upon youth in this hyper-materialistic and competitive society, it is not surprising that many people let alone youth are having difficulty coping.
Parents and youth alike can benefit from accessing the community and health resources that are available to help people deal with these mounting pressures. At the same time, there needs to be an understanding that there are social issues that needs to be addressed, and social problems like poverty and unemployment just to name a few, which need to be eliminated in order to have youth look at their future with hope.
Un informe publicado esta semana por el Consejo Escolar del Distrito de Toronto (TDSB) muestra que una cantidad alarmante de estudiantes sufren de sentimientos de inseguridad y el estrés, en relación a su futuro.
El Toronto District School Board, la junta escolar más grande en el país, llevó a cabo una encuesta en el 2011 con la participación de más de 100.000 estudiantes entre los grados 7-8 y 9-12. Este censo estudiantil mostró que el 73 por ciento de los estudiantes entre los grados 9 y 12 dicen estar preocupados por su futuro, con un 57 por ciento diciendo que con frecuencia sufrían de insomnio debido a la preocupación. Además, un 66 por ciento también declaró estar bajo mucho estrés, a veces o con frecuencia.
Este informe representa la primera vez que el TDSB ha estudiado la salud mental de los estudiantes, y envía una fuerte alerta de que hay problemas importantes que enfrentan los jóvenes. Shari Schwartz-Maltz, portavoz del TDSB reconoció que el informe “nos demostró quesin lugar a dudas, hay un vacío en el área de la salud mental y es donde tenemos que centrar más de nuestros recursos”.
Tatiana Wyse, trabajadora de prevención temprana de la Asociación de esquizofrenia de Ontario, dice que los problemas de salud mental entre los jóvenes son endémicos, y muchas veces causada o exacerbada por factores sociales como la pobreza. “Hablamos de factores diferentes, incluyendo factores internos y ambientales …En relación a factores externos, se puede mencionar que recientemente se han producido recortes sustanciales en los apoyos que están disponibles para los jóvenes que van desde la asistencia social hasta a la recreación … estamos viviendo una crisis económica en la que todo el mundo está preocupado por su trabajo, y esto también afecta a los jóvenes.”
En abril de 2011, el TDSB también reveló que más del 50% de los estudiantes provienen de familias con ingresos menores a los $49.000 anuales. Del total de estudiantes latinoamericanos, el 65% de ellos provienen de familias con ingresos iguales o inferiores a los $ 49,000 anuales.
Para algunos estudiantes, estos problemas se reducen con participación en actividades extracurriculares. “El TDSB debe hacer obligatoria unirse a los clubes, equipos de deporte, espectáculo de danza. El aprendizaje real está fuera de las aulas. … [y éstos] pueden proporcionar lecciones para toda la vida que no se pueden lograr solo con lo académico”, afirmó un estudiante en una carta acerca del informe, destacada en dicho documento. Este año, casi todas las actividades extra-curriculares en el TDSB se han reducido debido a una disputa laboral causada por los ataques y recortes del gobierno provincial hacia los profesores, que incluyen la eliminación del derecho a huelga. La respuesta de los profesores ha sido la de limitar su trabajo no remunerado y voluntario, como la participación en las actividades extraescolares.
Desafortunadamente, para la mayoría de los estudiantes, la participación en dichas actividades también es limitada debido a los costos que implican, y diversos problemas familiares. El mismo informe de Abril 2011 indicaba que sólo el 39% de los estudiantes provenientes de familias con ingresos menores a los treinta mil dólares participaba en actividades extra-curriculares, en comparación a un 82% de participación para los estudiantes de familias con ingresos de 100 mil dólares.
Ciertamente, la salud mental a nivel individual y social es un tema complicado, y uno que necesita ser discutido abiertamente en nuestras comunidades. Dados los tiempos de inseguridad que estamos viviendo, donde la inseguridad laboral e ingresos impredecibles, se conjugan con las presiones sociales que se ejercen sobre los jóvenes en una sociedad híper-materialista y competitiva, no sorprende que muchas personas están teniendo dificultades para enfrentar tantos óbstaculos.
Tanto los padres como los jóvenes pueden beneficiarse al acceder a los distintos recursos de la comunidad y de la salud que existen para ayudar a las personas a lidiar con estas presiones. Al mismo tiempo, es necesaria la comprensión acerca de la necesidad de abordar ciertas cuestiones sociales, y problemas sociales como la pobreza y el desempleo, por nombrar unos pocos, que deben ser eliminados para poder asegurar que la mirada esperanzada de la juventud hacia su futuro.
Light refreshments will be provided
ASL and child care will be available. Please email [email protected] 48 hours before the event if you require these services.
PLEASE NOTE: there are two series of steps into the building. A ramp system is available. Washrooms are in the basement down a flight of stairs
Hosted by the Law Union of Ontario’s Prison Justice Committe
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Help promote the event: Omnibus Crime Bill Event Poster in PDF
by Giibwanasi
This track conferred mostly about the land under siege within Southern Ontario, one person spoke briefly, but passionately about the mountainous regions in The Philippines under attack as well. After the speakers shared their experiences, feelings, and thoughts in regards to the struggles of land defending, the group took a short break. After lunch, we gathered again and broke off into two smaller groups to discuss future steps.
Photo by alex felipe (unedited) www.alexfelipe.info / www.alexfelipe.wordpress.com
[email protected]
Kanonhstaton, otherwise know as the Douglas Creek Estates Reclamation within what is known as Caledonia, started in 2006 and continues to this day. Within this group, 4 different representatives spoke about their involvement, the prevalent issues at the height of the reclamation, and how matters have evolved and persisted since then. A union member that has supported Kanonhstaton and other issues within The Six Nations Reservation highlighted the importance of Trade Unions showing solidarity and recognizing the parallels within worker’s and land defender’s struggles. Three community members expressed the anguish, racism, and resentment they experienced. They described land defending as if it were similar to engaging in war, depicting long-term conflicts between colonists, imperialists, and oppressors that resurfaced during the height of the reclamation in 2006. The message was that the opposing forces were and are breaching treaties and disrespecting historic agreements set up between nations. Community members also spoke about the various reactions and interactions between the O.P.P. and the community members of Caledonia. Many people did unite together during the reclamation and have continued their relationship, so that Kanonhstaton can still remain a “Protected Place” to this day.
One representative from the Treaty 3 region described her experiences, the challenges her community has faced and the struggles they continues to encounter. She expressed the frustration of land defending in the remote location where her territory is located. People have been bombarded with empty promises and sometimes even threatened to surrender their right to the land and resources. The speaker was able to invoke some inspiration because she single-handedly shut down a project, and ceased the destruction of some land. She also noted that in order to continue resisting assimilation, land theft, and cultural genocide, unity, resources, education, and outside support is crucial.
Another man shared the ongoing conflicts within the Philippines. The government allows industries to annihilate the land, claiming that the expending of resources will strengthen the economy and employment rates. He described the invasion of lands that were used by the people for all aspects of survival, and that most areas will no longer adequately sustain the groups of people they once did. It was obvious that he was grateful for the solidarity and unity ILPS has created and the need for continued global communication and involvement. He again highlighted the necessity of maintaining relationships between all nations so that land defending can remain united,and find comfort in the fact that they are not struggling alone on this earth.
After a lunch break, the assembly of people split into two so there were smaller groups of people to brainstorm and develop themes and ideas. During discussion we established the relevant concepts of Community Power, Preparation, and Direct Action which are sustained by a foundation of resistance and the spirit of resurgence. Building community power is attained by developing and maintaining treaty relationships and fulfilling nation-to-nation agreements. Such agreements such as the One Dish, One Spoon and the Haudenasaunee-Anishinabek Friendship Belt must be re-visited and honoured. Preparation lies heavily in education, spreading awareness, constant communication, consolidating resources and mobilization. A rally or similar event may only last for a couple hours on one day but the preparation involved beforehand is most important and will determine the success of any campaign or initiative. Direct Actions can occur once community power develops and strengthens along with the imperative preparation. Direct Actions against Line 9, and acts of solidarity with peoples on the west side of Turtle Island were some current issues brought up. Shutting down pumping stations, blocking railways or highways and rallying outside parliament can be useful tactics in voicing concerns and involving the general public.
The other group discussed the possibility of physically joining their groups together, and experience the respective communities first-hand. The people from the Philippines and Northern Ontario both experience the pressures and results of open pit mining. It was discussed that Filipino communities who have experiences with mining (such as Bayan Canada), can go up into the Northern regions of Ontario and speak of the negative experience they have had. If monetary funding allowed it, there could be an exchange where Indigenous people who are being offered mining opportunities, to travel to the Philippines to see the devastation first hand. The ILPS “Commission in Support of Indigenous Peoples” would take on the responsibility of organizing the logistics.
Overall Track 4 brought many issues to the surface, and educated the entire group on various struggles. It was a great avenue for highlighting the similarities between different land reclamations and land defending campaigns. In breakout groups people were able to concretely determine themes and emphasize that resistance and the spirit of resurgence are imperative to land defending.
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Today we celebrate International Human Rights Day. We believe that the resistance borne of the struggle for the rights of the people is truly something to celebrate. That said it is also fair to ask ‘why?’
Well the truth is, we don’t celebrate Human Rights, we celebrate the rights of people.
As Wendy Brown writes in “Human Rights and the Politics of Fatalism:”
[H]uman rights are vague and unenforceable; their content is infinitely malleable; they are more symbolic than substantive… in their primordial individualism; they conflict with cultural integrity and are a form of liberal imperialism; they are a guise in which super-power global domination drapes itself; they are a guise in which the globalization of capital drapes itself; they entail secular idolatry of the human and are thus as much a religious creed as any other.
In contrast People’s Rights look at the rights of the people as a whole; the rights of communities over the benefit of the individual; the right to rebel.
That said, when I asked my collective for input on this talk, a couple fairly questioned what there was to celebrate, considering the sad track record in the Philippines.
From 2001, under the regime of president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, to September this year under Noynoy Aquino, there were a total of 1320 extrajudicial killings, 218 enforced disappearances, thousands upon thousands of people internally displaced, and 386 political prisoners remain incarcerated.
Approximately 30% of the country’s land area (66% of the Cordillera region) has been signed over to mining exploration or operations. Many of these companies are listed in the Toronto Stock Exchange. Making matters worse, late last year President Aquino made the potential for violence greater when he legalized the hiring and operation of private militias by foreign mining companies.
Much of the land appropriated for mining is on the ancestral domain of indigenous peoples and sadly from March to October this year, a total of 28 indigenous persons, mostly anti-mining activists, were killed – four of whom were women and four others children.
All this contributes to the background for the undeclared three front protracted civil war that has been active since the late 60s between the forces of the elite, those of the proud Filipino Muslims in the south, and the people’s war across the countryside of the archipelago.
Why ‘celebrate?’
Because by celebrate we don’t mean to say that the crisis is not severe. It is.
Because by celebrate we don’t mean to say that the people don’t suffer. They very much do.
By celebrate we celebrate our resistance, we celebrate all those who, that despite the odds, despite the gravity of the risks real struggle entails, stand proudly for the rights of people, and for the very right to struggle.
We celebrate the bravery of those that choose to resist, be that through legal means via peoples organizations like those within the BAYAN alliance, or be that through armed resistance.
We celebrate because what we do is important, has forced victories from the unwilling hand of the powerful, and, above all, because the movement is growing, is strong, and that we who are part of it are part of something greater than ourselves–and THAT is something to recognize, to honour, and yes, to celebrate.
Today is already the 10th of December in Manila, and it marks the culmination of ManiLakbayan, a journey of thousands of kms for community leaders of indigenous people (collectively called “lumads”) and Moro leaders from Mindanao (the southernmost island in the archipelago) to bring their resistance to the Philippine government. It began on the 23rd of November, the International Day to End Impunity. Since then they have held summits, community dialogues, rallies, and press conferences to bring light to the unacceptable hardships brought by imperialism to their ancestral lands.
These leaders faced hardships that would break most: assaults, theft of land, resources and livelihood, threats to their family and community (some of which resulted in extrajudicial killings), forced displacement, and more.
They fight on, and we fight with them.
Click on photo to visit SELDA – an organization of political prisoners and former political detainees.
Earlier this year we were honoured by the visit of human rights defenders, including two newly released female political prisoners who came to present the Philippine situation to the Subcommittee on International Human Rights in Canada’s Parliament.
Angie Ipong, a woman in her late sixties, was held for six years. She was the oldest political prisoner in the country before her release. She suffered torture, sexual abuse, and illegal arrest. Her “crime” was that she was a visible, vocal, and effective defender of the rights of the people.
Dr Merry Clamor was one of the Morong 43, health workers providing free health clinics and workshops in underserved communities in the countryside. They were arrested in December of 2010 again on trumped up charges.
Dr. Clamor reported various forms of physical, psychological, and sexual torture during their imprisonment. Even her family was threatened if she didn’t confess to being a ‘terrorist.’
Charges were eventually dropped, after ten months, and two pregnant companions giving birth.
Irwin Cotler, Liberal MP, Justice and Human Rights Critic, and vice-chair of the Subcommittee said this in response to their testimony, “I think it would be a very good thing if the Subcommittee… paid a visit to the Philippines. We need to see the HR situation on the ground. I think this has not gotten the attention that it warrants… [and] a broader, public appreciation… so that we can act on this.”
As yet Canada has done little since to speak out against the Aquino regime, or cut off Canada’s explicit support of the Philippine governments tactics. Instead last month PM Harper visited the Philippines to boost trade, migration, and sign an arms deal.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines Angie and Dr. Clamor continue their work with an even greater passion borne of their experiences.
They fight on, and we fight with them.
This past November 28-29th in Manila, the International Migrants Alliance, International League of Peoples Struggle, International Women’s Alliance, and the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants held the first international tribunal on migration.
They found 37 governments, of course including Canada, guilty of using migration to advance neoliberal globalization policies and of violations of the economic, social, cultural and political rights of migrants by sending and receiving states.
Irene Fernandez, a Malaysian migrant and human rights activist said this,
“they have the gall to call it a ‘tool for development’ when it fact it results in the decimation and break-up of families, the exploitation of millions of workers and the uneven distribution of wealth and power in the world.”
Right now approx 4500 people leave the Philippines everyday in order to support their families. All because the semi-feudal, semi-colonial Philippine government has no intention to act in the interests of the people, because it refuses to enact a national industrialization policy, and because in reality democracy there is sham and they act only to protect their own class interests.
In doing so they force Filipinos to become commodities for international trade.
Yet they fight on, and we fight with them.
We fight because we believe that people should go before profit.
The drive for cheap mineral wealth drives the violation of people’s rights, which results in just resistance, which results in HR abuses, all of which drives the mass exodus of everyday people in the search for the means to support their own families.
The labour export program that uses Filipino people as an economic driver of the neoliberal economy has long been an implicit policy for the Philippine government. It’s the natural result of the planned underdevelopment of the country by the US colonial powers when it granted us “independence” after WWII.
The struggle for rights of people must be fought for within the context of a national democratic movement. One that works towards a government that prioritizes national industrialization.
Our proposed Peoples’ Mining Bill is an example of how this could be forwarded.
Large-scale corporate mining has long cast a shadow over human rights, environmental rights, and the rights of indigenous people (to name just three). The very recent disaster this August and September in Benguet by PhilEx corporation is a prime example: more mine tailings have spilled into the Balog river than in the Marinduque Island spill which resulted in internationally outcry and the shutdown of the Canadian owned mine.
And yet the mineral wealth derived from mining is necessary for any national industrialization plan. So what is to be done and how do we ensure that the people both make the decisions and derive benefit from those decisions?
Currently the Philippine mining act allows for 100% foreign ownership, 100% repatriation of profits, long tax holidays, and exemption from certain environmental laws.
The economic advantages to the upper classes are clear both in its direct profits, and in the creation of a cheap, exportable labour force.
The question is, how to reverse this, how to make the natural riches of the country benefit its own people.
Our proposal reverses the liberalization of the industry. It gives the people, with a focus on the locally affected peoples—especially national minorities (eg. the indigenous and Moro peoples)—the primary responsibility of when, where, why, and how mining is to be conducted. It considers mining the shared responsibility of national and local governments, corporations, and communities.
Only Filipino corporations would be allowed to hold mining permits. And all firms would pay appropriate taxes, fees, and shares to the government and communities. Use of paramilitary forces would of course be banned. And rehabilitation would be a necessary part of all mining contracts.
Mineral production, processing and distribution would be for the primary benefit of the domestic economy and toward the goal of self-sufficient national industrialization. It should help spur more domestic investments, increase agricultural production, and produce both consumer and producer goods and manufactures.
The People’s Mining Bill is an example of the seriousness and thoroughness of our work. We are not activists that are merely content to criticize. When we see the grave problems in our homeland we don’t see it as simply a matter of bad people doing bad things.
We know that the problems we face are systemic, and must be met bravely—which means having a view of a different way of doing things, of having the political will to take power away from the defenders of that system, and to replace it with a system that truly is of and for the people.
Now of course we have no illusions that this change will come easily. Nor do we think that involvement within the imperial political system will make these changes for us.
If the people are to succeed WE need to make it so.
We all have our role to play if we want a better world, and there have been many recent events that show us that people worldwide are fed up.
We are cautiously optimistic that people across the globe are again waking up to the “We.”
Worldwide movements show us that we don’t stand alone, that we have allies, and that we can think bigger.
The time is now here for us to reinvent activism in Canada. It is time for us to be clear about where we stand.
We all need to realize that our enemy is organized collectively: they have the IMF, the World Bank, NATO, and more…
They are organized. They work for their collective best interests. It’s high time we on the Western Left form collectives to counter their collectives. It’s time to drop our decades long self-doubt and again demand what is our right.
We need to recreate international solidarity. And we’re talking about true solidarity. It’s not enough to merely state it, or to buy some product in support of something, or to make a donation, etc.
We need the solidarity of common purpose, common goals, and common action. The solidarity of struggle for collective improvement. The solidarity of common shared risk.
Solidarity isn’t safe. But in it we find the seeds of a different way of doing things, of a true sense of collectivity, of community, of belonging.
It’s time we reasserted the primacy of capitalisms fundamental antagonism: class struggle.
And it’s time for us to stop demanding things from Them.
Today we must demand from ourselves the collective commitment to make real change. We demand that we realize the need for real systemic change—you might even call this a revolution.
We don’t want a change of the exploiters face, but a change to the entire regime that requires exploiters.
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alex felipe
BAYAN-Canada Toronto spokesperson / Anakbayan-Toronto organizer
www.facebook.com/Anakbayan.Toronto / www.anakbayantoronto.wordpress.com
by Marlon Berg
At the recent International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS) conference in Toronto, the problems and possibilities of rebuilding the tradition of militant labour in Canada were discussed in a conference track dedicated to building a united front against the war on working people. The morning segment of the track featured short talks from a diverse array of working class militants from Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Participating were various segments of the working class, from the most insecure and exploited temporary foreign workers and live-in caregivers, all the way up to unionized workers in professional or higher-paid positions who often see themselves as being middle class rather than working class, such as teachers and social service workers. The usual talk in the Canadian labour movement on these obvious and glaring divisions in the working class has been to simply say that we all need to be in solidarity with each others’ struggles, the speakers in this conference track and the participants in the small group discussions afterwards dealt with all of the complexities of how workers are often pitted against each other under capitalism.
For instance, in the case of those presenters and participants from the unionized, better off side of the working class it was openly recognized that the members of their unions can often be pitted against more exploited workers, particularly in the case of teachers and social service workers who serve working and poor people on a daily basis. The presenters recognized that for many working class people, teachers and social service workers are seen as representatives of oppressive and exploitative state institutions and the power of the elites, For many working and poor people, it is through these kinds of public servants that they most openly confront the power of the state and the ruling class in their everyday lives, with social service workers and teachers even affecting the home and family life of working class people. Also, while the all working families need an affordable, national daycare program, the upper echelons of unionized workers make enough money to hire a live-in caregiver from the Philippines.
However, those unionized teachers and social service workers who presented and participated also recognized the need to be militant in fighting for their own benefits and wages and highlighted the need to instill working class militancy and consciousness into their unions. Currently, many union members identify as middle class and feel timid about fighting to maintain their benefits and wages because they realize that many of the people they serve or teach do not have anything close to the same privileges. This went strongly against the kind of guilt-based politics that are often dominant among those public sector workers who identify as middle class but still care deeply about the oppression of those on the lower rungs of society. Instead, what was argued for by presenter Pam Doghri of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario and other track participants who work as teachers or social service workers was a model of solidarity that went beyond middle class charity and called for teachers and social service workers to link up their own struggles for better conditions with the struggles of those more oppressed and exploited working people whom they serve.
One very interesting example that was brought up of how unionized workers could reach out to build solidarity with the rest of the working class came from Toronto Pearson Airport and Sean Smith, an experienced organizer with the Canadian Auto Workers union at the airport for many years. Recently, the benefits of airport workers at Pearson and across the country have been under attack from the major airlines and from the federal government, who have taken away their right to strike with back-to-work legislation, which has also been applied to teachers and postal workers in the past few years. Through the privatization of Air Canada, they have also forced the airport workers into many separate smaller unions as well as greatly decreased the percentage of Air Canada and airport employees who are unionized.
In response to this, rank and file members of the unions at the airport have formed an Airport Council of Unions (ACU) to work together and act in solidarity with each other when the different unions and bargaining units at the airport are in bargaining or out on strike. The ACU has also been in touch with a community organization in Rexdale called Community Organization for Responsible Development (CORD) and is trying to get one of their members onto the board of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) as a ‘labour’ representative to put pressure on the authority to develop a community-based hiring process in which local Rexdale residents who live near the airport are given hiring preference. The ACU hopes to use this to gain solidarity from local working class people around the airport so they can effectively fight back against the attacks of the corporate airlines and the government. This is exactly the kind of solidarity model that a lot of the labour movement is either missing or simply fails to understand, and it will be interesting to see how the relationship between CORD and the ACU develops.
From the other side of the working class that is less represented and has fewer benefits and rights, there were three presentations that also looked at the possibilities for linking up the struggle of these workers for basic workplace rights and often citizenship rights to the struggles of more privileged workers in a way that builds real solidarity rather than just looking for charity or financial handouts.
One of the best examples of this from this side of the workers’ struggle came from Lisa Schofield of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), which mainly fights for the rights of poor people and particularly unemployed working people to decent living conditions and benefits. Since Premier Mike Harris cut welfare rates substantially by 21.6%, which amounts to almost a 40% reduction today when we include the price increases that have come with continuous inflation, OCAP has been fighting to Raise the Rates back to what they were before the cuts, inflation included. As part of this fight, they organized a rank-and-file initiative among members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) to get CUPE Ontario to sign on in alliance with the Raise the Rates campaign. This not only benefited OCAP, but also the rank-and-file workers who were actually able to get CUPE Ontario to sign onto this, as they had to build their own rank and file networks to get this passed at a convention and benefited organizationally from this work.
Kelti Cameron and Mostafa Henawy (edited photo by Alex Felipe, www.alexfelipe.info / www.alexfelipe.wordpress.com [email protected])
The other presentations by militants representing the more oppressed sections of the working class, including one by Mostafa Henaway of the Immigrant Workers’ Centre in Montreal and one by Connie Sorio of Migrante Canada, an alliance of Filipino migrant and immigrant organizations. These presentations also looked at the possibilities and contradictions involved in trying to unite the struggle of the more exploited and oppressed segments of the working class with the middle and upper segments who have more citizenship rights and are much likelier to have access to union representation in the workplace. Mostafa looked at how migrant workers doing skilled physical labour in Quebec on the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program are often actually in unions and pay union dues, even when they are officially brought in through a temporary agency and make less money than other union members. He explained how the unions would actually like to organize them because of how their lower wages obviously put a downward pressure on the wages of their other members, but they often don’t know that these temporary foreign workers are officially in their unions, as the companies that hire them don’t want the unions to know.
Connie Sorio talked about how in British Columbia, the B.C. Federation of Labour has come out with a position against the Temporary Foreign Worker program, but believed that this had more do with not wanting these workers to drive down the wages of unionized workers in British Columbia than actually organizing among TFWs for them to get the same benefits and rights as workers. She cited this as an example of how workers are often pitted against each other in the real world despite the vague ideas and slogans of solidarity common in the labour movement. She believes that working class militants will have to work to completely change this situation if we are really going to build a united front among the workers.
Some of the practical ideas for going forward with building a united front of working people against austerity and related cuts that came out of this conference track included focusing on rallying our organizations for a united march on International Workers Day (May 1st), developing a Living Wage Campaign that can unite all working people regardless of their employment status, and building a Community-Labour Unity Committee to work on uniting the broader struggles of working people in the community with union struggles in the workplace.
At the end of the day, everyone who participated had been forced to confront some of the contradictions that exist in the working class and the labour movement and to think of ways of working through these contradictions to build greater workers’ unity. This was actually one of the main accomplishments of the track and hopefully this will help us to actually build real working class unity in the years to come, when it will really be needed to beat back the capitalist and imperialist offensive on all fronts.
On Sunday, 18 November 2012, an attacker threw a grenade aboard a No. 28 matatu (minibus) in the impoverished and working-class area of Eastleigh, Nairobi. The blast killed at least five, wounded thirty, and sparked a deadly and misguided exchange of violence between two oppressed communities.
Despite that as of 19 November no group had taken responsibility for the attack, corporate media outlets were quick to identify the killer as a partisan of Al-Shabaab, a Somali Islamist movement resisting an ongoing Kenyan and African Union incursion into that country. For some in the affected communities, it seemed clear that the brutal street fighting following the attack was a cultural clash between Eastleigh’s largely Muslim Somali immigrants and Mathare’s mainly native-born Kenyan Christians.
On 19 November, the Liberation Cooperative Organization in Toronto and allied organization Mathare Radio issued the following statement of condolences and solidarity in which we call for a deepened analysis of the violence.
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Qoraalkan oo af Soomaali hoos ayuu ku qoranyahay – Somali language follows -
The Liberation Cooperative Organization in Toronto and Mathare Radio extend our sincere condolences and solidarity to everyone impacted by the Sunday 18 November grenade attack on Juja Rd. near Mathare. Out thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims, as well as those who have suffered in the ensuing violence.
Several members of our Toronto collective have traveled on No. 28 matatus. We know that this service is used mainly by the impoverished and working-class residents of Mathare and Eastleigh.
We strongly condemn all violence by oppressed people against other oppressed people, including the reprisals that have threatened to divide the Mathare and Eastleigh communities despite what they generally share in common: poverty, but also the desire for a more dignified life.
Despite many differences, the people of Mathare and Eastleigh are unified in an everyday struggle to put food on the table and meet the common needs of all human beings. But only in solidarity do we have the resilience to achieve more than survival alone.
We encourage the people of Mathare and Eastleigh to join together across national, ethnic, and religious divides. By combining in dialogue we can understand the roots of this violence and build justice from within our communities.
Here in Toronto, though we are far away, our community stands with yours.
LCO in Toronto & Mathare Radio
19 Nov 2012
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Hay’adda wadaagga xuriyadda ee magaalada Toronto iyo Xaafadda Mathare waxey tacsiyo u direysa qof walba oo ku waxyaaloobay qaraxii maalintii axadda, 18ka bisha Nofeembar ka dhacay wadada Juja ee ku dhaw xaafadda Mathare ee magaalda Neyroobi.
Waxaanu garab taagaanahay dhamaan qoysaska iyo asxaabta dadkii dhibaatada ay soo gaartay iyo waliba kuwii ku waxyaaloobay rabshadihii dhacay qaraxa ka dib.
Dhowr qof oo ka mid ah xubnaheena Toronto ayaa isticmaala caasigga nambar 28. Waxaan ognahay adeeggan gaadiidka waxaa isticmaala dadka shaqeeya ee danyarta ah ee ku nool xaafadaha Mathare iyo Islii.
Si weyn ayaan u cambaareyneynaa dhamaan rabshadihii ay sameeyeen dadka dhibaateysan oo waliba ay iyagana ay u geysteen walaalahood ee dhibaateysan, iyadoo ay ka mid yihiin weeraradii ka dambeeyay qaraxa kuwaas oo ku dhawaaday in ay kala qeybiyaan bulshadaha Mathare iyo Islii ah oo dhamantood wadaaga xaaladda noolasha adage ee faqriga ah; iyagoo islamarkaana aad ugu dadaalaya in ay ku noolaadaan noolal sharaf leh.
In kastoo ay jiraan waxyaaba fara badan oo ay ku kula duwan yihiin, dadka xaafadaha Mathare iyo Islii, waxey ku mideysanyihiin halganka ay maalin walba uga jiraan raadsiga noolal malmeedkooda iyo kaafinta baahida uu qabo baniaadam walba. Laakiin midnima kali ayey ku jirtaa in bulshada ay ku gaarto guulal fara badan.
Waxaanu ku dhiiragelineynaa dadka Mathare iyo Islii in ay isqbasadaan iyagoon eegeyneynin farqigooda jinsiyadeed, asliyaddooda iyo, tan diimeed. Haddii aan wadahadal ku midoowna, waan ogaan karnaa asalka rabshadahan waxaana sameyn karnaa cadaalad ka jirta gudaha bulshadaheena.
Halkan magaalda Toronto, inkastoon aad idiin kaga fognahay, bulshadeena wey idin garab taagantahay.
LCO ee magaalada Toronto & raadiyaha Mathare
19 Nov 2012
Owen Sheppard
by Pragash
The Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) called an emergency demonstration today in front of the Israeli consulate to protest a new round of Israeli attacks on the population of Gaza. By 6:50pm a mixed crowd of 300 had gathered at the south-west corner of Queens Park and Bloor St. West, opposite the Israeli consulate. Countering them, a group of 25 Zionists and supporters of Israel, including members of the far right terrorist group Jewish Defense League formed a counter protest.
While Toronto Police allowed the smaller pro-Israel group to set up a large sound system, something not allowed for most political groups, the much larger pro-Palestine group out-chanted and overpowered the pro-Israeli propaganda with the power of sheer effort. In comparison to the almost all white pro-Israel lobby, the diverse pro-Palestine demonstration had unions, students, doctors, activists, Communists, Muslims, non-Muslims, and even anti-Zionist Rabbis condemning Israel’s attacks on the besieged Gaza. The small pro-Israel group struggled to propagate it’s regular red-herrings of Islamaphobia and Israeli victimhood; but the diverse pro-Palestine crowd, representative of world opinion, refused to buy it.
This round of attacks on Palestinian resistance comes at a time when the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) is approaching to the United Nations for recognition as a observer state, something almost guaranteed by the popular will of the peoples of the world. The last attempt was only stopped when the United States vetoed the U.N. resolution recognizing Palestine statehood. Meanwhile, the hearts and minds of people the world over lays with Palestine tonight.
