Civil Disobedience: Morgentaler

Democracy on Trial: The Morgentaler Affair by Paul Cowan, National Film Board of Canada

Interrupting the spin

Legal Advice for Canadians

Some excellent legal advice from activist lawyer Davin Charney.

Starhawk on Strategic Nonviolent Direct Action

"Just as we call for accountability and transparency, we ourselves must be accountable and transparent. Some tactics are incompatible with those goals, even if in other situations they might be useful, honorable or appropriate. We can’t be transparent behind masks. We can’t be accountable for actions we run away from. We can’t maintain the security culture necessary for planning and carrying out attacks on property and also maintain the openness that can continue to invite in a true diversity of new people. We can’t make alliances with groups from impacted communities, such as immigrants, if we can’t make agreements about what tactics we will employ in any given action.

The framework that might best serve the Occupy movement is one of strategic nonviolent direct action. Within that framework, Occupy groups would make clear agreements about which tactics to use for a given action. This frame is strategic.

It makes no moral judgments about whether or not violence is ever appropriate. It does not demand we commit ourselves to a lifetime of Gandhian pacifism, but it says, “This is how we agree to act together at this time.” It is active, not passive. It seeks to create a dilemma for the opposition, and to dramatize the difference between our values and theirs."

READ the complete article here: http://www.satyagrahafoundation.org/nonviolent-direct-action-the-best-map-for-the-movement/

thoughts on real change

"It struck me really hard that day that perhaps the route to real change, long-lasting and deep change, isn’t through deepening polarity, but through a re-weaving of what has been torn apart, a seeking of common ground, an appeal to universal values, creating a safe space where people can sit together and not feel judged, and through the creation of viable, nurturing and life-affirming alternatives that have a strong and broad sense of ownership. "


http://transitionculture.org/2011/05/30/transition-and-activism-a-response/

Resisting Canada's War Economy at the CANSEC Weapons Bazaar

June 22, 2011 – Two days before the now-former Senate page Brigette DePape spoke the truth about Canada’s political climate—that we need to build resistance outside of the lifeless chambers of Parliament—her message was already being enacted by a group of war resisters who put together a lengthy June 1st civil resistance action at the CANSEC weapons bazaar.

            The protest was not just about CANSEC – Canada’s largest annual weapons fair – but the whole war economy itself. It’s one to which both the majority Tories and the official opposition NDP are devoted, a $23 billion splurge that includes orders of 1,000 new smart bombs at $100,000 apiece. These come complete with the  names of Libyan citizens on the receiving end, under the euphemism of collateral damage. If you are homeless tonight, needing shelter from male violence, on a boil-water alert on a First Nations reserve, awaiting health care, locked out of daycare, or suffering from the other maladies affecting Canada, think of what each of those $100,000 smart bombs could have done if they had been turned into smart funds for social needs.

            That is the choice of an almost unanimous Parliament, and the message came through loud and clear when everyone save Green Party MP Elizabeth May voted to extend the Canadian bombing of the Libyan people (a most convenient focus for a make- work War Dept. that, drawing down its forces in Afghanistan, needs an excuse to keep bringing in the big bucks). People who view the NDP as a traditional voice for peace – a record certainly not borne out by the facts (see http://homesnotbombs.blogspot.com/2011/05/canadas-massive-military-budget-is-off.html), in the same way that Canada’s mythological status as a peacekeeper cannot stand the scrutiny of its own history – may have been surprised to see the official opposition voting to bomb other human beings (with a few caveats thrown in, of course!).  But one can imagine NDP strategists with their eyes on the next election telling their members they must appear to be a “responsible” government in waiting, and idealistic notions like rejecting murder from the air must be discarded. Those are for irrelevant fourth place opposition parties. When you have your eye on eventually getting elected, you have to be prepared to kill with your $23 billion arsenal.

Arming Your Arsenal

            And that’s where CANSEC comes in. It’s where you go to get the tools for your arsenal; where foreign governments can sample Canadian weapons systems and components; where paranoid border control enthusiasts can find new means of stopping refugees from finding safety and asylum; and where police forces can sample the latest tools of repression. Whether you are a diplomatic staff member of Syria or Libya or a member of the bloated Canadian War Dept., the free pass through the gates is available for you.

            Interestingly, though, Members of Parliament do not have such easy access. Elizabeth May – even though her party’s stand on military spending is slightly less atrocious than the rest – was unable to gain access, something which she later told the rally outside of the weapons bazaar symbolized the manner in which militarism shuts down democracy.

Media from Ottawa

weapons fair

air wars?

Will this version be as overtly militaristic as previously? Remember Kiddie Commando? Will it be playing rock music to pump up the power of the bombers and fighters, or recreating scenes from Apocalypse Now? Will the city spend hundreds of thousands of your tax dollars to prop the show up? Will there be more nonviolent civil disobedience opposing the aspects of the show that seemed to glorify war? Will the pilots and spectators be safe from crashes? The article below from the Hamilton Spectator Tuesday, January 25/11

Hamilton Air Show returns after 10 years

Event set for June 18-19 seen as dry run for warplane museum's 40th anniversary in 2012

Hamilton's skies will once again be full of aircraft as the air show returns to the airport.

Spectator file photo

After a 10-year hiatus, the Hamilton Air Show is back off the ground.

“We're all very excited about it,” said Dave Rohrer, CEO of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. “Bringing the air show back to Hamilton is a good thing for the airport community, a good thing for the City of Hamilton and it'll be a positive step for the museum.”

According to Rohrer, at least a dozen of the museum's vintage military aircraft will fly in the show at John C. Munro Airport on June 18 and 19. Planes will also be brought in from Gatineau, Tillsonburg and New York State.

The show will also feature seminars by pilots and guest speakers as well as a large contingent of planes on the ground.

Rohrer said the 2011 show will be used as a “dry run” for the museum's 40th anniversary. Planned for Father's Day weekend in 2012, the anniversary air show will be a chance for the community to recognize the museum's founders and the sacrifices of those who have contributed to the museum over the past four decades.

The once-annual event has been defunct since 2001, when it lost $100,000 and could no longer afford skyrocketing insurance premiums in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

“Air shows aren't known for making money, but at least you have to be able to break even,” Rohrer said. “We'll only do what's prudent and rational from a fiscal point of view,” he added.

The museum is working with airport tenants, the city and Transport Canada to iron out the plans and intends to appeal to both the city and private sponsors for financial support.

Councillor Brenda Johnson wouldn't comment on whether the city intends to help fund the event, but said she's put museum officials in touch with Tourism Hamilton and the planning and economic development department to discuss funding options.

“It's in the early stages right now, we're just going to see what all the partners are willing to contribute,” she said.

Don Schofield, a professional pilot with more than 50 years of military and commercial flying experience, said he was “heartbroken” when the show was cancelled in 2001.

Since 1989, the 69-year-old has been at the controls of the museum's famous Lancaster — one of just two of the big Second World War bombers that can still fly.

Schofield will resume his post in the bomber for this year's show. He said he's thrilled he'll once again have a chance to bring a part of Canada's military history to life.

He said he'll find it particularly gratifying to perform for Second World War veterans who might not have many more opportunities to see the Lancaster take flight.

“For people like that, the history, the nostalgia and the sentiment is absolutely immense,” he said. “A lot of them are aware it might be the last time in their lives that they'll see it.”

Rohrer recognizes the importance of showcasing the country’s military past – yet his focus is fixed wa younger crowd.

“We're not in the business to glorify conflict in any way,” he said. “But we want to show the younger generation of Canadians the rich heritage and rich legacy of their forefathers. We want to tell the story of Canada in those difficult years.”

non violence in Egypt

Climate Change Relief: For the Victims, For the Planet

local climate action

where do you stand on nonviolence?

Rhetorical question... - the following post is from the opirgmcmaster.blogspot.com site:

[participants playing the violence spectrum game]

Despite the obstacles presented by a last minute change of location, 20 people made it to the Creative Protest and Nonviolent Civil Disobedience workshop with facilitator Matthew Behrens, held in the comfy confines of the McMaster University Student Centre.

Lots of interesting discussion, with participants, from high school students to university professors, health care workers and university students, contributing much to the overall tenor of the workshop. Some shared their experiences with recent protests like the G20, and others sought ways to creatively address social justice in the workplace.

["Puppy Pile" method of protecting someone from attack, demonstrated by participants in Saturday's workshop.]

Much to think about, and hopefully a more detailed article to follow...

LOCATION CHANGE: Creative Protest and Nonviolent Civil Disobedience

Gee, thanks for the notice! St. Paul's pulled our booking at the last minute due to an administrative blunder, so OPIRG McMaster's workshop on Creative Protest etc. is now being held at the McMaster University Student Centre Atrium (1st floor of Student Centre), Saturday, Nov. 20, at 10 am.

Nonviolence Civil Disobedience Workshop Saturday!

REMINDER - pre-register for this Saturday's workshop at OPIRG McMaster - e-mail randy.opirg@gmail.com or call 905-525-9140 x26026

Creative Protest and Civil Disobedience Workshop

(Silent advert for upcoming workshop - November 20, 2010 - pre-register with randy.opirg(at)gmail.com or call OPIRG McMaster at 905-525-9140 ext. 26026)

anarchistic tendency

"My feeling about anarchism is that it is not a movement with an ideology. It is a tendency in the history of human thought & action which seeks to identify coercive, authoritarian, & hierarchic structures of all kinds & to challenge their legitimacy — & if they cannot justify their legitimacy, which is quite commonly the case, to work to undermine them & expand the scope of freedom."

— Noam Chomsky, anarcho-syndicalist, media-myth debunker, linguist, prolific writer

http://www.eskimo.com/~recall/bleed/1026.htm

Video Plant

Participants in this October 10/10 planting were technically "trespassing" on the farm fields in this fertile region to plant garlic at the so called Airport Employment Growth District - EAGD - a euphemism for greenfield or sprawl development with all its imported (i.e. non-locally produced) farm eggs in one big basket of hope - hope that the airport will be an anchor for airport related jobs growth, mostly warehousing, at an airport with a poor track record for attracting flights and with a current business park mostly empty.
One of the last votes on council before elections approved the first phase of this development, with, sadly, only two members of council voting against it - McHattie and Bratina.
Find out more about opposition to the expansion into foodlands, which is ongoing. It ain't over while there are still people ready to take action to save the farmland!

local garlic news

Protest with a bite

By Ken Peters, Hamilton Spectator

Westdale High School Grade [10] student Evelyna Kay chose a unique and demonstrative way to make the most of a glorious Thanksgiving Sunday morning.

She donned an orange costume, boarded a chartered Hamilton Street Railway bus and helped plant garlic in a farmer’s field across from Hamilton International Airport.

“I care about the environment and I don’t want to create a world that is not sustainable. That’s why I dress up as the Climate Carrot,” said the 14-year-old Hamilton environmentalist, who is a member of Students Bridging Borders, her school’s popular social justice group.

Evelyna was just one of about 50 Hamilton members of the city’s 350 Committee which boarded their “garlic bus” for the ride to the “aerotropolis lands” to plant garlic bulbs to protest the potential loss of some of Ontario’s best agricultural lands.

Local organizer Jennie Rubio said the Hamilton event was just one of some 7,000 activities promoting climate change action taking place in 188 countries.

The group’s 350 name refers to the target, in parts per million, of how much carbon dioxide needs to be in the air. Currently, she said, there is 390 with the threat the figure could hit 450.

So, what does this have to do with garlic and the Hamilton aerotropolis lands? Well, the Hamilton 350 Committee opted to protest the planned urban development of prime agricultural lands adjacent to the airport. The development is 662-hectares.

And the garlic?

“We know our food supply is becoming less and less secure. Instead of importing our food from around the world, we could be growing,” Rubio said.

“So as part of this protest movement we’re going to plant garlic because you can’t buy local garlic in the supermarket, it is all imported from China. Yet it grows perfectly here,” she said, as her work party waited to board the bus in front of the Sky Dragron Centre on King William Street.

“It’s to send a message to our local government that we need to be making better choices with what we’re doing with this wonderful land. The idea of paving it over, you can’t go back. Once it is paved over it’s gone. We need to be thinking about what kind of decisions we’re making,” she said.

Rubio, an editor with Oxford University Press, said she loves cooking and she particularly loves garlic.
“There are a lot of things we can be growing here instead of importing.”

And so the local garlic growers, armed with cloves and spades, boarded the bus.

Well-known Hamilton environmentalist Don McLean was among them. He acknowledged the group was trespassing on private land but was hopeful no arrests would be made.

“We’re not doing any significant damage here, it is fallow land. If we are approached on the subject of trespassing, the people who are doing it will decide whether they want to back off or if they are so determined to get arrested doing it. But it is a symbolic event,” he said.

Hamilton environmentalist Glenn Robinson was working the spade.

“I believe there are a lot of opinions about what is happening in the community and this is one voice that should be heard,” he said.

The city’s planning and economic development committee approved moving forward with the airport development and the issue will come before city council Wednesday for ratification.

Planting not Paving

The "Garlic Bus" took about 50 people from Downtown Hamilton to this fertile farm field across the road from the Hamilton Airport to plant garlic - why? Because the city of Hamilton is one step away from voting to pave 2,500 acres of prime agricultural land so they can support an "Aerotropolis" scheme.

Yes, the failing airport is the cornerstone of the grand scheme to create hoped-for jobs on these greenfield sites far from the infrastructure required, infrastructure that exists in the downtown area in "brownfields" that could be converted to productive use with the kind of money required to build the aerotropolis (the present airport business park is 85% empty...)

Participants in the day's activities, ranging from young children to seniors, were all strictly "trespassing" as they carried out their work.

350 cloves of Garlic were planted in the shape of the number 350 in a field directly across the road from the Hamilton Airport.

The 350 number is significant because that is the amount in parts per million of Carbon Dioxide the atmosphere can handle without more serious effects of climate change, according to scientists.

Trouble is, we' re already past that number, so our efforts - including stopping sprawl developments like this one - need to address this serious issue.

This Global Work Party was organized by the Hamilton 350 coalition. Find out more at their web site, and follow the Climate Carrot on facebook.

NOTE: OPIRG McMaster will be hosting a nonviolent civil disobedience workshop on November 20/10