weapons fair

local climate action

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

raise a stink!

The Garlic Bus

Help us plant a message on aerotropolis lands...with garlic!

• Date: Sunday, October 10, 2010
• Time: 10:00 AM
• Departure Point: SkyDragon Centre (27 King William Street, Hamilton - between James and Hughson)
  
• Cost: $3

Hamilton lost 20 percent of its agricultural land between 1991 and 2006. On October 13, 2010, city council votes to convert an additional 2000-plus acres of foodland around the airport into an "aerotropolis industrial area."
Garlic is a symbolic crop for our campaign. Not only is it is planted in the fall, but most of the garlic available in Hamilton is imported from China. By planting garlic on lands designated for aerotropolis development, we are sending a strong message to city hall: Productive agricultural land should be used to grow food, not warehouses.
Without a protected and supported local food system, Hamiltonians will be vulnerable to global price fluctuations and world food shortages. It's about an individual's fundamental right to food security. It's about our community's need for food sovereignty. And it's about climate change. Our leaders need to guarantee access to locally-grown food so that we can reduce the number of miles our food travels from farm to fork-thereby reducing the contributions our food makes to greenhouse gas emissions.
Passengers on the Garlic Bus will have the opportunity to plant garlic on lands designated for industrial development. These may not public lands and we may be trespassing. We are looking for peaceful radicals!
Want more information about aerotropolis development plans? Check out Hamiltonians for Progressive Development.
Hamilton's latest 350 campaign is part of the global 10/10/10 movement, organized by 350.org.

gendered forms of resistance

"the contexts and forms of women’s resistance often differ quite markedly from those of most men. They often depend less on work-related or formally structured organizations and more on local networks of friends, family, associates, or co-workers. Much more so than men’s, women’s protests tend to be of the direct action sort, functioning as much to mobilize and raise the consciousness of participants as to influence those in power....Formally structured organizations, particularly those constructed along hierarchical lines such as union organizations and political parties, are defined as political. More loosely structured and non hierarchically organized ‘spontaneous’ forms of protest such as food riots, rent strikes, peace demonstrations, and public shaming – the predominant forms that much female activism has taken – are often dismissed as nonpolitical....it suggests a denial of the legitimacy of organizations structured differently from the norm: the truly political is the formally structured; temporary organization is not deserving of that title."

Martha Ackelsberg, FREE WOMEN OF SPAIN  

Close Encounters in Bayfront Park

THE ENEMY IS US
VIEW Magazine, February 21 - 27, 2002

Despite assurances from the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry that their Tuesday evening war-training incursions into Bayfront Park are open to the public, spectators can expect to be questioned by military commanders, and accused of suspected terrorist activity.

Fully armed soldiers marching double time through a residential street in Hamilton and then creeping through the darkness of Bayfront Park is strange enough.

But the following conversation, transcribed from videotape, reveals the state of military Macarthyism in Canada, post September 11.

As two VIEW magazine reporters stood in the public park video-taping the event on Tuesday (February 19), they were approached by a military commander.

RHLI Sergeant: "G'Day sir. Do you have any identification?"

Reporter 1: "Who are you?"

RHLI: "Sergeant of the 'RHLI.'"

R1: "Sorry?"

RHLI: "Is there any reason why you're taking photographs?"

R1: "It's a public park"

RHLI: "Is there a reason why you're taking photographs?"

R1: "Is there a law against taking pictures? We were invited down [through an RHLI media release] to the public is invited to come down and see the display, so we're here with a video camera."

RHLI: "Is that what you're doing sir?


R1:"Yes [pause as he stares at us], yes, sorry, I'm filming, I don't want to turn it off --"

RHLI: "What are you filming for?"

R1: "Because there are soldiers in the park, at night, which is rather interesting. I don't have to explain this to you, but I will because you're asking and I've nothing to hide, so --

RHLI: "We've got nothing to hide either, sir."

R1: "Right, so we're just filming...

RHLI: "Just wondering what you're doing, that's all."

R1: "We're filming soldiers..."

RHLI: "We wouldn't want you to have anything on you that you shouldn't have--

R1: "Like what?..."

RHLI: "...endangering the life of people."

R1: "Like a gun you mean? Like a weapon? Like a C9 or a C7? I don't think so."

RHLI: "No?"

R1: "I have a video camera."

RHLI: "No? I'm just wondering with all this terrorism going on, I just wanted to make sure that I--"

R1: "That I'm not a terrorist?!"

RHLI: "That, ah..."

R2: "Are you suggesting that we're terrorists?"

RHLI: "No, I'm just asking to make sure that there's not something you are carrying that would endanger other lives."

R1: "Are you trying to...do you want to search us, or..."


R2: "There are a number of men here with..."
RHLI: "They're training..."

R2: "...weapons, those weapons endanger lives."

R1: "And it is Bayfront Park."

R2: "and I'm holding an umbrella."

RHLI "Just wonderin', just wonderin."

R1: "So you were just making sure..."

RHLI [Turning to leave]:That's fine, thank you..."
R1: "...wondering if we're terrorists at all. OK, thanks for checking, I feel much safer now."

Dandelion Leaf

"Benjamin climbed over the wall, into a meadow....It was getting late in the afternoon. Other rabbits were coming out to enjoy the evening air. One of them in a blue coat by himself, was busily hunting for dandelions.--'Cousin Peter! Peter Rabbit, Peter Rabbit!' shouted Benjamin Bunny." (from The Tale of Mr. Tod, by Beatrix Potter, 1912, pub. Frederick Warne)

(HASC presented Hamilton Council with a 900 signature petition and prepared a leaflet - text below -  to support a ban on chemical pesticides - by showing solidarity with the much maligned Dandelion!)

DANDELIONS ARE NOT THE ENEMY: CHEMICAL LAWNS ARE!

Dandy CanLit quote:


"Few of our colonists are acquainted with the many uses to which this neglected but most valuable plant may be applied. The time will come when this hardy weed, with its golden flowers and curious seed vessels, which form a constant plaything to the little children rolling about and luxuriating among the grass in the month of May, will be transplanted into our gardens, and tended with due care." Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the bush (1852)

RECIPE: Susanna Moodie's Home-Made Dandelion Root Coffee

"I carefully washed the roots quite clean, without depriving them of the fine brown skin which covers them; and which contains the aromatic flavour. I cut my roots into small pieces, the size of a kidney bean, and roasted them on an iron baking-pan in the stove-oven, until they were brown and crisp as coffee. I then ground and transferred a small cupful of the powder to the coffee-pot, pouring upon it scalding water, and boiling it for a few minutes briskly over the fire. The result was beyond my expectations."(Roughing it in the bush, p. 354)

Dandelion NUTRITION:

Dandelion greens are more nutritious than spinach. The dandelion leaf is rich in many minerals and vitamins. It is best to harvest the greens in spring and early summer before the plant flowers. Whether cooked raw in salads, dandelion greens are bitter (that is the medical part) and taste best prepared with other greens and complimentary ingredients. To ensure the integrity of the nutrition in the Dandelion greens, they should not be ripped or cut until they are to be eaten.

RECIPE: Dandelion Greens (a tasty side dish for fish)

2 bunches dandelion greens


2 tbsp olive oil


1 cup onion, finely chopped


2 tsp chopped garlic


salt and freshly ground pepper


t tbsp balsamic vinegar


Bring a large pot of salted water to boil on high heat. Trim stems from greens and discard. Add leaves to pot. Boil until tender. Drain and rinse with cold water. Heat oil on medium heat. Add onion and saute until softened. Add garlic and cook another minute. Add greens and saute until heated through. Stir in vinegar and season well with salt and pepper.

Dandelion MEDICINAL USES

The Dandelion plant may be used for various medicinal purposes. The leaves are a very powerful diuretic and unlike pharmaceuticals will not rob the body of potassium. The diuretic properties of the dandelion leaf help with the treatment of high blood pressure by reducing the volume of excess fluids. Herbalists endorse dandelion root as one of the most effective detoxifying herbs. The medicinal properties of the root works primarily on the liver and gallbladder to remove wastes and toxins. The root has helped to clear up many eczema like skin problems. The leaf and root may be used to prevent gallstones and may even help to dissolve already formed gallstones. The white milky sap from the stem has been used to treat warts if applied several times daily. It is best to harvest dandelion roots in the fall, before the frost.

RECIPE: Cleansing Tea

2 tsp (10ml) fresh, washed dandelion root gathered in fall and finely chopped

2 tsp (10ml) of nettle leaf (fresh or dried) finely chopped or ground


1/2 tsp (2ml) each of oat straw, fennel seed and corn silk


1 litre boiling water


Pour boiling water over the herbs. Steep in a pot for 20 minutes. Strain the herbs and drink one or two cups as needed.

RECIPE: Dandelion WINE

Make this wine in April and enjoy it for the winter holidays


2 litres of Dandelion flowers


11/2 kilos sugar


4 oranges


4 1/2 litres water


yeast and nutrient (consult wine making store)


Pick the dandelion flowers in sunshine or at mid day so the heads are open. Make the wine immediately after picking the flowers. Measure yellow heads and discard as much green as possible. Boil water. Pour the boiling water over the flowers, steep for two days, no longer. Boil the mixture for 10 minutes with the orange peel (no white pith) and strain through muslin onto sugar stirring to dissolve it. When cool add they yeast nutrient, fruit juice and yeast. Put into fermentation jar and fit air-lock. Siphon off into clean bottles when the wine has cleared.

Warning! Pesticides pose a threat to the health of children.

"The cumulative effects of being exposed to many different pesticides over a lifetime represent an unqualified and unacceptable risk to all Canadian children."


May 25, 2000, Ontario College of Family Physicians and CELA "The Children's Health Project"


"At least 20 epidemiology studies in the peer-reviewed literature document a relationship between exposure to pesticides and increased risk of cancer in children. Children are generally more susceptible to the toxic effects of these chemicals than adults, and current animal tests and regulations do not protect children.


(NRC 1993a, WHO 1986)

dandelion lovers unite against pesticides!

Help Hamilton Council preserve the integrity of the earth by urging them to support a phase-out of the cosmetic use of pesticides; help right the wrongs the Chemical companies have foisted upon their favourite villain: our much beloved and much maligned composite plant of the Asteraceae family, the dandelion.


Dandelion lovers of the world unite! JOIN US FOR A DANDELION TEA & COFFEE PARTY
HAMILTON CITY HALL Lobby, 2nd floor outside council chambers, 12:30 pm, Wednesday, January 9, 2002. The Ghost of CanLit giant Susanna Moodie (Roughing it in the Bush) will be pouring out warm beverages made from Dandelions prior to hearings on Hamilton's pesticide by-law.
Moodie is offended that the Dandelion, so central to the immigrant experience in Canada, has suffered the indignity of being sprayed with poisonous chemicals and treated as a bad weed.
"Few of our colonists are acquainted with the many uses to which this neglected but most valuable plant may be applied," explains Moodie.


During the fall of '35 (that's 1835) Moodie began to discover the many uses of this "neglected but most valuable plant."

• The leaves used in salads are "quite equal to endive."
• The leaves when boiled can be used as a substitute for cabbage.
• The tops can be boiled and the liquor added to hops, fermented and made into beer "equal to the table-beer used at home."
• Coffee made from the dandelion root "proved excellent-- far superior to the common coffee we procured at the stores."

An excellent source of vitamin A, young leaves can be eaten raw or boiled for 5-10 minutes. Among many other culinary uses, the flowers can be dipped in batter and fried.


FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT BEATRICE EKWA EKOKO of the TARAXACUM OFFICINALE PRESERVATION SOCIETY (TOPS)  (TOPS is a member of Hamilton Action for Social Change) - - - - 

Pesticide use put to public
Many support recommendation for city to reduce chemical use.

By CORINNE AESCHELMANN

Special to The Hamilton Spectator

__________

Sheila Brown gambles with her health every time she steps into her back yard.

The Waterdown resident suffers from an environmental illness that her doctor believes is aggravated by chemical sprays used to beautify lawns. Her symptoms, which have worsened since new neighbours began using pesticides, include light-headedness, weak limbs and recurring colds.

"I have to be careful in my own back yard again," Brown told a city council subcommittee yesterday.

She was one of more than 30 speakers who came to City Hall to share their views at a special hearing on pesticide use.

Like many of the others, she applauded a staff recommendation for a continued reduction in the city's use of chemical sprays, but urged council to take the initiative a step further. In order to eliminate the health risks associated with pesticide exposure, Brown said, the city must also restrict the use of chemical sprays used by private landowners.

"We live in a chemical soup" that puts people at unnecessary risk for health problems, she said.

Pesticides, which include chemical herbicides, insecticides, and weed killers, have been linked to numerous health and environmental problems.

Yet some speakers expressed doubt about the health hazards.

University of Guelph toxicologist Len Ritter argued that studies linking pesticide use to certain illnesses, such as cancer, are inconclusive.

Still, Ritter cautioned that because doubt exists, pesticides should always be treated as "potentially dangerous chemicals."

A Supreme Court of Canada ruling last June upheld a bylaw passed by Hudson, Que., prohibiting the use of lawn sprays, and other municipalities have since enacted similar bylaws. So far, Hamilton city council has elected to wait for recommendations from the medical officer of health.

Although yesterday's hearing dealt with nonagricultural pesticide use, farming representatives like Larry Freeman expressed concern about the implications of a possible future ban on pesticides.

Freeman called prohibiting pesticides "impractical and unenforceable."

"It could severely restrict a farmer's ability to keep pests out of their crops," he said.

Council's committee of the whole will review the city's plan to reduce pesticide use sometime this spring.

[photo]

[caption] Dressed for the part, Evelyna Kay, 6, helped her mom, Beatrice Ekwa-Ekoko, offer dandelion tea during yesterday's public hearing at Hamilton City Hall on the city's plan to reduce pesticide use. Barry Gray, The Hamilton Spectator.

SANTA AND ELVES VISIT WAL MART--CLEAR VIOLENT "TOYS" FROM SHELVES

Thursday December 23, 1999

Santa and approximately 15 elves (some disguised as Raging Grannies) enter Wal Mart to make the toy section a Violence Free Zone.

Singing anti-violence Christmas Carols, Santa and his elves walked through Hamilton's Mountain Mall stopping at the entrance to Wal Mart, now a leading seller of children's toys. An undercover security officer informed them that they would be charged with trespassing if they continued to sing in the mall concourse. Undeterred, the group walked merrily into Wal Mart and made their way to the Toy area. Santa announced the group's intention to make the Toy area a violence free zone, and then he and the elves got busy filling sack after sack with realistic guns, rifles, pistols, swords, and the odd wrestling figure (for good measure). Elves sang and handed out leaflets and candy canes. Wal Mart managers were prepared to stand back and watch as the busy North Pole-ers emptied the shelves. One young employee, leaflet in hand, actually assisted the elves by bringing a pistol from another shelf. As the plastic bags that Santa was using were being rapidly filled up with the large selection of arms available to children in the store, Elf Andrew began to make use of Wal Mart's own merchandise, and the elves then filled up several brand new garbage cans with even more guns.
The group then made their way to the electronics section, where extremely violent video games are available to anyone, regardless of age. The same scene took place here, Santa and his elves nearly exhausted after pulling so many violent toys off the shelves.
Some customers were obviously pleased, giving a thumbs up sign to Santa, and some, after examining the leaflet, confessed they had never thought of the issue before. There were no angry responses from customers, although some did seem slightly shocked by what they were seeing.
Still singing, the grannies, elves and Santa hauled the bags and pails of violent toys to the back loading dock, where managers were asked to keep the toy area "a place where children can enjoy the spirit of the season (or any time) without being assaulted with violent toys."
Santa noted that while Toys "R" Us still has violent content, they didn't stock realistic looking guns. Obviously, Wal Mart needs to be reminded that toy stores should not be mimicking the worst that television and society has to offer.
Earlier in the week, a news conference was held and media learned that there is a link between violent games and toys and real violence, with Child Psychiatrist Joanna Santa Barbara, Author Rose Dyson (Mind Abuse: Media Violence in an Information Age) and Santa Claus. (see below for media report)
Santa learned that the local television reporters (ONTV) were told by Wal Mart that they would be charged with trespassing if they attempted to cover the story. Unbelievably, the tv station was intimidated by Wal Mart's threat and stayed away.
There were no charges laid, and Santa said he would be back next year.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays,

SANTA

- - - -
Media Coverage of Media Conference

Only gift Santa wants is violence-free stores

By STEVE BUIST, The Spectator (Tuesday December 21, 1999)

Santa Claus is a pacifist at heart. That's the message the jolly old man will be delivering today to toy stores in the area.

Santa will be at Hamilton City Hall to ask stores to declare themselves violence-free zones and remove all violent toys and games from their shelves. He will then take his appeal directly to some toy stores.

With the growing accessibility of computers, the landscape has changed in the past decade. War toys are being surpassed by video games that can offer a shocking range of graphic violence.

"The actual visual brutality of some of the video games has become much greater," said Dr. Joanna Santa Barbara, a child psychiatrist who will be one of Santa's helpers. The event is being sponsored by Hamilton Action for Social Change.

"There are games now that involve severing heads, pulling out spinal columns; and many games that involve killing," added Santa Barbara.

Some experts fear these games-- especially given the active involvement required of the player-- can teach kids to channel their anger through violence. And there's some evidence to back them up.

Studies have shown that there can be a 50 per cent increase in aggressive play between children after they have been playing with violent toys.

"There are many studies that show this has a desensitizing effect on children and that the effect can last for a long time," added Santa Barbara.

In recently released videotapes, the teens who shot dead 12 students and teachers at their Colorado high school mention the violent computer game Doom.

This month, a judge in Sao Paulo, Brazil, banned six video games after a medical student, inspired by the game Duke Nukem, opened fire on a packed movie theatre and killed three people.

A recent U.S. study showed that game-playing among children peaks between the ages of eight and 13.

Boys make up the majority of players, and they tend to gravitate toward action games in which they are first-person shooters. In one survey, 50 per cent of boys listed violent games as their favourites.

The most recent development for video games in called "skins," in which players can insert images of real people and places, making the game more realistic.

ARMOURY CONVERSION PROJECT

BACKGROUND

When Canada, in league with their NATO partners, went to war and intervened in the Kosovo/Yugoslavia conflict, they made an already bad situation much worse with their bombs, destroying long term conflict transformation work along with civilians and civilian infrastructure (a war crime).

In Hamilton, a group of activists responded to the news of war with weekly anti-war leaflets, handed out at the gates to the James Street Armoury.

Each week a new leaflet was prepared to hand out to passer-by and soldiers, reservists and people using the armoury (including cadets)

The weekly vigils culminated with the Armoury Conversion Project which simply entailed a group of people armed with sidewalk chalk, prepared to write messages of peace on the outer wall of the massive brick structure as an act of public protest and to encourage alternatives to violence.

Canadian elites where divided on the Kosovo conflict and many dissenting voices made it into the corporate media:

"No political solution to this crisis can be reached while the bombing continues"

Senator Douglas Roche

"Rather than ending the human rights abuses, NATO bombs appear to have provoked a larger-scale onslaught and greater misery in Kosovo."

Geoffrey Pearson, United Nations Association V.P.

"With the abandonment of the U.N. charter, we enter a new phase of history that many of us will learn to regret"

James Bissett, former Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia

Large numbers of civilians have incontestably been killed, civilian installations targeted on the grounds that they are or could be of military application and NATO remains the sole judge of what is or is not acceptable to bomb...In this situation, the principle of proportionality must be adhered to by those carrying out the bombing campaign to weigh the consequences of their campaign for civilians in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia."

Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

I do believe we caused collateral damage. I'm certain that we did.

Canadian airforce Colonel Dwight Davies, Canadian task force commander during the Kosovo "campaign". [over 500 civilians killed-- almost 30% of Canadian Smart bombs missed target during the 78 day war: source-Globe and Mail]

Locally, corporate media attempted to create hysteria around the proposed action, with both the Hamilton Spectator and the "Roy Green Show" on local radio station CHML framing the story in terms of outraged veterans versus ungrateful peacenik/vandals (more or less...)

On the big day (Thursday, May 27, 1999) civil society was enlivened as a women's vocal group Women Folk, Food Not Bombs and concerned citizens representing various groups and sectors in Hamilton came together to rally for peace and attempt to symbolically transform or convert the armoury into a public statement for peace.

The weather was beautiful, and despite a large police presence, the demonstrators were able to decorate the front of the building with their message of peace.


MEDIA

The Hamilton Spectator Wednesday, May 26, 1999

Veteran's widow furious about armoury protest
Groups prepared to be arrested for writing 'message of peace' By KEN KILPATRICK
The Spectator

A plan to write peace slogans on the walls of Hamilton James Street North Armoury has Margaret Foster upset.

"That's hallowed property," the 72 year-old widow of a Second World War veteran said yesterday.

"Many young men left from there and never came back. They were dead by the time they were 20."

She was responding to a plan by a group of "freedom painters" to use chalk to create a "message of peace" on the walls at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

Respect

Randy Kay, one of the peace activists who have been handing out leaflets opposing the NATO bombing in Yugoslavia and Canada's role in it, said yesterday that if people are arrested, "they will be quite happy to suffer the consequences.

"We will be doing this respectfully," he said. "We are hoping to introduce some nonviolence into the mix.

"On Thursday night, we are going to chalk the walls with a message of peace.

We are still trying to come to a consensus on what that message will be. We are taking public space on the outside of the building and reclaiming it for civil society."

He stressed anyone who plans to join in should be trained in nonviolent civil disobedience techniques.

Captain Michael James Pretty, adjutant and operations officer with the armoury, said yesterday he contacted regional police after hearing about the plan.

He said although the military has its own police force, civilian police would handle any demonstration outside the building.

Foster, whose husband Alan joined the Royal Canadian Artillery when he was 19 and spent five years overseas, said: "If they want to march up and down the street, that's OK but I have very vivid memories of friends who left from there and never returned. "I have vivid memories of the troop trains, I think this is wrong."

She said she "went ballistic" when she read about the event.

"I would like to exert my rights on behalf of all those people who fought or gave their lives during the war. Many are not around to speak for themselves."

Sue Markey, a peace activist and member of the singing group Women Folk, said yesterday the Canadian government has not discussed its action with Canadians.

"We woke up one morning and were told NATO was bombing the former Yugoslavia.

"We are extremely concerned about this. There are nonviolent ways of resolving this conflict."

She said the main role of her group during tomorrow's demonstration will be "to create a warm, friendly atmosphere and provide support for those who are doing the chalking."
Church members

Markey expected a number of groups would be represented, including steelworkers, students, members of the Quaker and Mennonite churches and the Peace Research Institute in Dundas.

"Canada has an international peace-keeping reputation and now Canada is directly at war," she said.

"We expect a large number of people to come out and support us."

Foster - whose husband fought in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany before volunteering to serve in Japan - said although he was not physically injured, he suffered from memories that caused nightmares.

"For a long time, he didn't talk about the war.

"Only in later years, some of the things he saw came back to haunt him."

He died of heart disease at 58.
 - - - -
The Hamilton Spectator. Friday, May 28, 1999
Peace protesters leave their mark 
By PAUL LEGALL Crime reporter, The Spectator

Police stood by and watched as protesters chalked anti-war slogans on one of Hamilton's most revered military shrines last night

The demonstrators said they were trying to convert the James Street North armoury into a symbol of peace. By the end of the evening, operation Armoury Conversion Project had the whole front of the building covered with peace signs, biblical exhortations against killing, and slogans condemning Canada's involvement in the Kosovo bombings."

But in typical Canadina fashion, the protesters had phoned in advance to warn police and military of what they would be doing. They said they used chalk to deliver their message - instead of paint - because they didn't want to permanently deface the building. Earlier this week, 72-year-old war widow Margaret Foster described the building as "hallowed property." "Many young men left from there and never came back," she said.

But the protesters stressed they didn't mean to show any disrespect to anybody who might have sentimental attachments with the building.

We're respecting one another," said Kevin Shimmin, who handed out literature during the one-hour protest. "It's non-violent civil-disobedience. We notified everybody in advance." He respected veterans who fought in the Second World War and Korea because they were fighting for democracy. By contrast, he said Canadian pilots are bombing innocent victims in Kosovo

Almost a dozen uniformed policemen, including members of the mountain bike unit, looked on impassively as the handful of chalk-wielding artists - who called themselves freedom painters - worked their way across the front of the building.

Other protesters made speeches and sang peace songs and cheered the artists as they went about their business.

A number of soldiers remained quietly inside the building and made no effort to stop the protest. One soldier had a terse "no comment" when approached by a reporter.

But the officers stepped in and stopped the slogan-writing when the chalkers started scrawling on the north side of the structure. After a brief discussion, the protesters agreed to confine their activities to the front, as they had previously agreed.

About 50 protesters of all ages attended the event, including seasoned anti-war activists like Annie MacDonald.

MacDonald, 49, said she got caught up in the protest movement while she was living in the United States in the 1960s.

Now crippled with a rare genetic disease, she laid flowers at the front of the armoury in memory of her grandfather who had died of a battle-related medical condition after the First World War. She wore a red, white and black bandana around her head. The red was for the blood spilled in war, black to mourn the victims of war, and white to symbolize the white dove of peace.

Protester Bryer Manwell, 24, believes the most direct road to peace is through the belly. As part of her campaign called Food Not Bombs, she handed out freshly-baked low-fat vegetarian muffins to policemen and protesters alike.

"They contain zucchini, raisins, and walnuts - no hash brownies," she promised as she handed a muffin to Hamilton-Wentworth Police Inspector Vince DeMascio.

"Fantastic," DeMascio proclaimed as he bit into the offering. "What other protest do you get a muffin and a damned good muffin," he said.

Text of photo captions included in newspaper:
1 (front page) - Hamilton-Wentworth police officers keep a close eye on a gathering of protesters at the James Street Armoury yesterday. The protesters expressed their displeasure with the war in Yugoslavia by using coloured chalk to scribble anti-NATO slogans on the downtown building's outer walls.
2. Police Inspector Vince DeMascio and protester Bryer Manwell shared muffins, not angry words, last night.
3. Annie MacDonald, 49, laid flowers at the armoury in memory of her grandfather who died of a battle-related medical condition after the First World War.

Mac Students protest sanctions against Iraq

Mac Students protest sanctions against Iraq

Paul Martin defends Canada's position

By JOHN BURMAN, The Spectator, Saturday March 7, 1998

POIGNANT PROTEST: McMaster University student Leah Dolmage, 22, places a baby doll, which represents Iraqi children dying because of a lack of food and medical supplies, at the feet of federal Finance Minister Paul Martin and Heritage Minister Sheila Copps yesterday at McMaster. Students were protesting Canada's support of economic sanctions against Iraq. A baby was placed on the floor every 10 minutes - the frequency at which the protesters say Iraqi children are dying. Scott Gardner, The Spectator

Effigies of dead Iraqi children confronted Finance Minister Paul Martin as he explained the latest federal budget to students at McMaster University yesterday.
Every 10 minutes throughout his appearance at Convocation Hall, a student stepped forward to quietly place a naked child's doll before Martin and Heritage Minister Sheila Copps, MP for Hamilton East, in protest of Canada's support for economic sanctions against Iraq.
Each doll wore a black armband.
The protesters told Martin the sanctions are contributing to the death of an Iraqi child every ten minutes for lack of proper food and basic medical supplies.
Some students held up placards that read: End the War in Iraq. Sanctions Kill Children.
A large banner proclaimed sanctions have been responsible for the deaths of 700,000 Iraqi children at a rate of one every six minutes.
Martin, who told the 20 protesters in the hall Canada has provided Iraq with $35 million worth of humanitarian aid since 1991, insisted Canada "is prepared to do whatever we can to help the Iraqi people."



Iraq's biological weapons
"But Canada will not countenance the production and stockpiling of chemical weapons.
"We are not prepared to do that."
When someone suggested Iraq does not represent a threat, Martin shot back that a warehouse full of anthrax -- a cattle disease suitable for a biological weapon against humans -- "is a considerable threat to a whole lot of people."
Apart from one vocal heckler, the protesters stood silently with their signs or waited politely for a turn at the microphones in the audience.
Leah Dolmage, a member of the protest, said afterward the group is a loose-knit gathering of students who share a concern.



Loose knit group The group, she said, does not have a name because it wants to identify with "concerned citizens" worldwide who abhor Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent Gulf War.
She did say it takes its cue from the Hamilton chapter of the Global Movement to End the War Against Iraq.
A pamphlet put out by the chapter quotes CARE saying children, seniors and the sick who were well cared for prior to 1990, are "now dying while outside world mistakenly believes it has solved Iraq's problems with the much-delayed oil-for-food shipments.
When a student told Martin that Canada had recently turned down Iraqi purchase requests for $1 billion in humanitarian supplies and can't survive under "brutal sanctions", Martin said Canada has supported increasing the amount of oil Iraq can export for supplies.
However, he said, Iraq has said technical problems prevent it from exporting event the amount it is allowed now. Martin defended Canada's support for sanctions against Iraq, but tried to keep the forum on the budget.