Tuesday, October 26, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:
OCAP SPEAKS OUT ABOUT RECENT TORONTO CIVIC ELECTION:
No doubt they are cheering at the Fraser Institute with the recent election of Rob Ford as Mayor of Toronto. Never mind that "fiscal conservatives" have had a very dismal record at keeping budgetary deficits under control. One has only to look to our "beloved" federal government to see what "ending the gravy train" actually means. let alone the record of conservatives in power elsewhere in North America. Deficits are them. What is actually means is dealing out the gravy to others that are more favoured by a conservative mind-set. This will mean just as much expenditure, though on different items. True to his word ford's first priority on becoming Mayor of Canada's largest city is a "war on graffiti". What this means in reality is diverting the works and engineering department of Toronto from such things as road repair to cleaning walls. Looks good on the surface I guess.
Ford's election has made news across the world- literally. It has even been reported in the Chinese 'People's Daily'. How significant it is is another matter entirely. When the heat dies down it is likely that Ford will not be able to keep even a fraction of his "promises" about "cutting waste". A lot of his voodoo economics rests upon the assumption that there is enough spare city land to sell off to his friends (at no doubt reduced prices) to push the city into a surplus situation. The idea of tax cuts coupled with no reduction in services is, of course, pure fantasy.
It is, of course, civic election season here in Canada. Ford's election is actually less significant than that of the election of Naheed Nenshi as Mayor of Calgary. Not that his reign will be any different from that of a conservative such as Ford in terms of waste and cronyism. Yet, it was significant not just because he is of East Indian heritage (via Tanzania) nor because he is a Muslim. In Calgary !!! What is most significant is that he has been a University professor. The idea of Calgarians elected an "intellectual" of any political stripe says volumes about how much that city has changed in the past few years.
Meanwhile here in Winnipeg we will have our own civic election tomorrow. As usual Molly will not be voting. In terms of the mayoralty candidates it is the crooked right represented by Sam Katz versus the bureaucratic left represented by Judy Wasylycia-Leis. Hardly anything to chose from. It's all who you want picking your pocket and how you want the ill gotten gains spent. I'm almost tempted to vote in the local councillor elections just because the property developer candidate Jeff Browaty, the incumbent, approached me while I was trying to do some yard work and annoyed me. Never mind that he is into real estate which in my mind means he should be automatically barred from running for municipal office. His attitude and his physical appearance reminded me of two things. One is that he looks just like a mass murderer ala Colonel Russell Williams down in Ontario. The other is that he looks and acts like the high school "football hero" that school authorities used to use to bully the students back when I was young. Perhaps such people have more likelihood of ending up as mass murderers. To my family's great credit my brother broke the collarbone of one of these thugs when we were in high school. Threatening, pushy, obnoxious and interfering with my work. Sorry, Jeffy-poo, there are some you can't bully into putting a sign on the lawn. Don't even bother speaking loudly and demandingly at me. I'm not one of your underlings.
Ah well, the politics are over, but the struggle continues. Here's an item from the Ontario Coalition against Poverty (OCAP) about their opinion of Toronto's new Mayor.
CPCPCPCPCP
OCAP Gets Ready To Confront Rob Ford
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty Gets Ready to Confront New Toronto Mayor Rob Ford
OCAP Gets Ready To Confront Rob Ford
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty Gets Ready to Confront New Toronto Mayor Rob Ford
Eight years of the progressive Mayor David Miller has meant little for the poorest people in Toronto. The former City Council and David Miller are responsible for 312 shelter beds for the homeless being cut with only 60 ever replaced. Promises of new shelters have been empty rhetoric, with people waiting years for any new spaces to open up. Gentrification has continued at high speed, Toronto Community Housing is looking to sell off properties, while the waiting list for housing is almost 10 years long. Transit fares have gone up and accessibility was one of the first things to be cut from the budget. Welfare rates are shamefully inadequate, while city administrators willfully deny people access to vital benefits such as the Special Diet Allowance. Poverty in Toronto has continued to grow under a so-called progressive Mayor. The City of Toronto is increasingly divided between the rich and the poor.
Now Toronto has elected Rob Ford as its new Mayor. OCAP knows Ford and his priorities all too well. He has consistently supported cuts to Welfare/ODSP including the recent cut to the Special Diet Allowance, spoken out against social programs, community housing, affordable transit, the homeless and immigrants. Ford's rhetoric in this campaign has been to 'end the gravy train at City Hall' and to 'respect the taxpayer'. What Rob Ford really means is all too familiar; cutting social services, housing and transit, while giving tax breaks to the wealthy. We will see cuts to services that poor people need on top of an already existing lack of funding to services thanks to Miller. If anything, the 'gravy train' for the rich will be all that Ford cares about.
"Rob Ford's agenda is the same as Mike Harris’ was in the 1990s –attacking poor people to benefit the wealthy." says OCAP organizer John Clarke. “During the Harris period Ontario saw unprecedented civil dissent and disruption, we are putting Ford on notice that he ought to expect the same." OCAP will be working with communities across Toronto to fight Ford’s agenda and defend the rights of poor people.
Media inquiries:416-925-6939
-----------------
To get involved:
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Labels: Calgary, Canadian politics, civic election, elections, Rob Ford, Toronto, Winnipeg
Sunday, October 10, 2010
CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT TORONTO:
SPEAKING IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE ?:
The following call for solidarity with an Ontario activist is from the Toronto Community Solidarity Network.
TOTOTOTOTO
Subject:
Subject:
For Immediate Release: G20 defendant Alex Hundert found to have breached ‘no demonstration’ cond
http://www.facebook.com/l/3e8b0K5jQ1YORLPTCh6-rBa8OWQ;g20.torontomobilize.org/node/549
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 08, 2010
G20 defendant Alex Hundert found to have breached ‘no demonstration’ condition for speaking at a university panel event
October 8, 2010 – Toronto, Mississauga New Credit – G20 defendant and alleged ‘ringleader’ Alex Hundert was found to be in breach of his ‘no-demonstration’ bail condition today for speaking as an invited panellist at two recent university events. A new bail hearing is now underway at the Scarborough Courthouse at 1911 Eglinton Avenue East in courtroom 405. This hearing is now expected to drag into next week and continue on Tuesday October 12, and Wednesday, October 13.
According to Yogi Acharya “We are outraged at this ruling. He was speaking at a panel discussion in a university classroom alongside professors, which is clearly not a public demonstration. This is yet another attempt to silence Alex, and is a strong indication of the police's intent to criminalize ideas, dissent, and effective community organizing.”
In a previous media statement, Hundert has stated “They are targeting me and because I am part of communities that are effectively organizing across movements. Whether it is the criminalization of anarchists and community organizers like me, or the daily demonization of Indigenous peoples, poor people and migrant communities, we are living in the midst of an increasingly aggressive and openly racist Harper regime that serves only to protect property and profit, not people. We have to show them that our resolve and our solidarity can be stronger than their intimidation and repression.”
Several other G20 defendants remain behind bars, including Indigenous sovereignty activist Ryan Rainville of the Sackimay Nation, punished by the criminal justice system for being poor and unable to afford exorbitant bail, while others face the possibility of deportation as a means of stifling their dissent.
Hundert is currently facing politically-motivated conspiracy and counselling charges in relation to the Toronto G8/G20 protests. He was arrested pre-emptively at gunpoint in a violent house raid on the morning of June 26th, before the protests began, and is being targeted as a member of the community group AW@L and Southern Ontario Anarchist Resistance.
This latest attempt is not the first time the Crown has attempted to send Hundert back to jail. On July 28, 2010 the Ontario Provincial Police warned Hundert that media interviews him and his co-accused Leah Henderson did with CBC radio, Toronto Sun, Vancouver Media Co-op, and Rabble were a violation of the no demonstration bail condition and threatened to re-jail them. A day later at a press conference, Hundert and his supporters decried this media ban as a blatant violation of his right to free speech and of freedom of the press. On August 20, the Crown had appealed Hundert and Henderson’s release from jail in the Ontario Superior Court and was seeking pre-trial incarceration. However Federal Court judge Todd Ducharme dismissed the Crown’s appeal.
-30-
For more information and interview requests:
Yogi Acharya 647-764-0488, Rachel Avery 519 616 5549
http://www.facebook.com/l/3e8b0K5jQ1YORLPTCh6-rBa8OWQ;g20.torontomobilize.org/node/549
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 08, 2010
G20 defendant Alex Hundert found to have breached ‘no demonstration’ condition for speaking at a university panel event
October 8, 2010 – Toronto, Mississauga New Credit – G20 defendant and alleged ‘ringleader’ Alex Hundert was found to be in breach of his ‘no-demonstration’ bail condition today for speaking as an invited panellist at two recent university events. A new bail hearing is now underway at the Scarborough Courthouse at 1911 Eglinton Avenue East in courtroom 405. This hearing is now expected to drag into next week and continue on Tuesday October 12, and Wednesday, October 13.
According to Yogi Acharya “We are outraged at this ruling. He was speaking at a panel discussion in a university classroom alongside professors, which is clearly not a public demonstration. This is yet another attempt to silence Alex, and is a strong indication of the police's intent to criminalize ideas, dissent, and effective community organizing.”
In a previous media statement, Hundert has stated “They are targeting me and because I am part of communities that are effectively organizing across movements. Whether it is the criminalization of anarchists and community organizers like me, or the daily demonization of Indigenous peoples, poor people and migrant communities, we are living in the midst of an increasingly aggressive and openly racist Harper regime that serves only to protect property and profit, not people. We have to show them that our resolve and our solidarity can be stronger than their intimidation and repression.”
Several other G20 defendants remain behind bars, including Indigenous sovereignty activist Ryan Rainville of the Sackimay Nation, punished by the criminal justice system for being poor and unable to afford exorbitant bail, while others face the possibility of deportation as a means of stifling their dissent.
Hundert is currently facing politically-motivated conspiracy and counselling charges in relation to the Toronto G8/G20 protests. He was arrested pre-emptively at gunpoint in a violent house raid on the morning of June 26th, before the protests began, and is being targeted as a member of the community group AW@L and Southern Ontario Anarchist Resistance.
This latest attempt is not the first time the Crown has attempted to send Hundert back to jail. On July 28, 2010 the Ontario Provincial Police warned Hundert that media interviews him and his co-accused Leah Henderson did with CBC radio, Toronto Sun, Vancouver Media Co-op, and Rabble were a violation of the no demonstration bail condition and threatened to re-jail them. A day later at a press conference, Hundert and his supporters decried this media ban as a blatant violation of his right to free speech and of freedom of the press. On August 20, the Crown had appealed Hundert and Henderson’s release from jail in the Ontario Superior Court and was seeking pre-trial incarceration. However Federal Court judge Todd Ducharme dismissed the Crown’s appeal.
-30-
For more information and interview requests:
Yogi Acharya 647-764-0488, Rachel Avery 519 616 5549
Labels: anarchism, canadian anarchist movement, community solidarity network, free speech, G20, G20 demonstrations, Ontario, political prisoners, repression, Toronto
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT TORONTO:
FUNDRAISER IN TO FOR G20 LEGAL DEFENSE:
The following item is from the Toronto Community Solidarity Network.
@@@@@@@@@@
"The Chicago Conspiracy" Premier Screening!
A G20 Legal Defense/Mapuche Political Prisoner Fundraiser
200 Years of Genocide – Our People Continue Resisting...
**
A Fundraiser for the Toronto G20 Legal Defence Fund AND the Family Support Group of Mapuche Political Prisoners of Angol and Chol-Chol on Hunger Strike (Familiares de los Presos Politicos Mapuche en Huelga de Hambre de Angol y Chol-Chol)
**
Night of Solidarity for our Mapuche Political Prisoners Dying on a 90+ Day Hunger Strike, and all those who have Suffered the Pain of Physical and Psychological Torture as a Result of the G20 - Kidnapped in the Jails of the Canadian state
NO BICENTENARY ON STOLEN MAPUCHE TERRITORY!
Freedom for All the Mapuche Political Prisoners on a 90+ Day Hunger Strike & All Our
Political Prisoners!
NO ONE IS FREE UNTIL EVERY PERSON IS FREE!
*****
Featuring the EXCLUSIVE Toronto Premier of the Documentary Film:
**THE CHICAGO CONSPIRACY**
Chile. Dictatorship. Legacy. Today. Social War.
The State and its Neo-liberal Agenda are the Real Conspirators!
SPECIAL PERFORMANCE BY ILLOGIC (Hip-hip)
See Trailer: http://www.facebook.com/l/21ebcuJwAcY8ScVWzOyoMINrATQ;vimeo.com/2127661
A Film based on the Anti-Capitalist Struggles in Chile since the Pinochet Dictatorship (the Student Movement, Community Organizing, & the Uprising of Mapuche Indigenous Sovereignty Movement) taking its name from the 25 Chilean economists from
the Chicago School of Economics who assisted the making of the bloody regime in the implementation of Neo-liberal policies.
**
Presenting the Director of the Film of Subversive Action Films in an intimate Discussion/Conversation of the Documentary
**
Speakers Directly from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, WCCC [Toronto ] on the ongoing struggle of the Mapuche Nation in so-called southern Chile], the Toronto 19 Support Group, Live Music, and MUCH MORE.... (MORE UPDATES/ARTISTS TBA!)
$10-20 Sliding Scale
No One Turned Away!
** See Us on Facebook!:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&¬e_id=443069539490#!/event.php?eid=161593357188005&ref=ts
For More Info: http://www.facebook.com/l/21ebcTNXn_Zl2KNGc6TOnPFhJdA;www.nobicentenaryonmapucheterritory.wordpress.com
Friday, October 8th @ 8 PM
Birge Carnegie Reading Room (University of Toronto)
95 Charles Street West (Just East of Museum Station)
Organized by:
The Women’s Coordinating Committee for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto]
Email: wccc_98@hotmail.com
Endorsed By:
Equity Studies Program (University of Toronto)
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Community Solidarity Network
National Council of Latin American and Caribbean Women of Canada - LATIN@S
Latin American Solidarity Network-LASN (Toronto)
Barrio Nuevo
Graduate Student Union (University of Toronto)
Labels: anarchism, canadian anarchist movement, events, films, fundraisers, G20, G20 Toronto Mobilize, solidarity., Toronto
Thursday, September 30, 2010
ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS:
NEWS FROM 'UPPING THE ANTI':
Yet more news from Toronto, this time from the libertarian socialist magazine Upping The Anti. Book launches and announcing their new issue.
@@@@@@@@@@
Toronto Book Launch
Dear Friends:
On Wednesday October 6th join UPPING THE ANTI as we celebrate the launch of two new books by UTA editors.
Come and check out:
David Hugill's “Missing Women, Missing News: Covering Crisis in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside”
http://www.fernwoodpublishing.ca/Missing-Women-Missing-News-David-Hugill/
and
AK Thompson’s “Black Bloc, White Riot: Anti-Globalization and the Genealogy of Dissent”
http://www.akpress.org/2010/items/blackblocwhiteriot
Both books will be on sale for a special launch price. Refreshments will be served.
Mark your calendars:
Wednesday, October 6 at 7PM - All are welcome
The Imperial Pub
54 Dundas St. E.
Toronto, ON
--
UPPING THE ANTI : http://uppingtheanti.org/
998 Bloor St. West
P.O. Box 10571
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6H 4H9
Toronto Book Launch
Dear Friends:
On Wednesday October 6th join UPPING THE ANTI as we celebrate the launch of two new books by UTA editors.
Come and check out:
David Hugill's “Missing Women, Missing News: Covering Crisis in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside”
http://www.fernwoodpublishing.ca/Missing-Women-Missing-News-David-Hugill/
and
AK Thompson’s “Black Bloc, White Riot: Anti-Globalization and the Genealogy of Dissent”
http://www.akpress.org/2010/items/blackblocwhiteriot
Both books will be on sale for a special launch price. Refreshments will be served.
Mark your calendars:
Wednesday, October 6 at 7PM - All are welcome
The Imperial Pub
54 Dundas St. E.
Toronto, ON
--
UPPING THE ANTI : http://uppingtheanti.org/
998 Bloor St. West
P.O. Box 10571
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6H 4H9
@@@@@@@@@@
Here also is the announcement of the latest issue of their journal.
@@@@@@@@@@
Issue 11 Coming Soon!
Upping the Anti is about to release its 11th issue!
This exciting issue features:
*Raj Patel on the politics of starving*
*Ladelle McWhorter on normalization and its discontents*
*James Scott on the art of not being governed*
*Lesley Wood on Anti-G20 Mobilization*
*John Clarke on opposing austerity today*
*Stacy Douglas on the queering of colonization*
*Roundtable on the 20th anniversary of OKA*
*Roundtable on No One Is Illegal's fight for Solidarity City*
*Book Reviews and more!*
Subscribe or become a monthly sustainer today to make sure that issue 11 hits your mailbox!
http://uppingtheanti.org
Subscribers and sustainers also get access to all our content online!
Are you already a subscriber but have moved? Send your new address to uppigntheantidistro@gmail.com
--
UPPING THE ANTI : http://uppingtheanti.org
998 Bloor St. West
P.O. Box 10571
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6H 4H9
Issue 11 Coming Soon!
Upping the Anti is about to release its 11th issue!
This exciting issue features:
*Raj Patel on the politics of starving*
*Ladelle McWhorter on normalization and its discontents*
*James Scott on the art of not being governed*
*Lesley Wood on Anti-G20 Mobilization*
*John Clarke on opposing austerity today*
*Stacy Douglas on the queering of colonization*
*Roundtable on the 20th anniversary of OKA*
*Roundtable on No One Is Illegal's fight for Solidarity City*
*Book Reviews and more!*
Subscribe or become a monthly sustainer today to make sure that issue 11 hits your mailbox!
http://uppingtheanti.org
Subscribers and sustainers also get access to all our content online!
Are you already a subscriber but have moved? Send your new address to uppigntheantidistro@gmail.com
--
UPPING THE ANTI : http://uppingtheanti.org
998 Bloor St. West
P.O. Box 10571
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6H 4H9
Labels: anarchism, anarchist magazines, Book launches, Canada, canadian anarchist movement, events, Toronto, Upping the Anti
CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:
FREE TRANSIT STREET PARTY:
Coming up this weekend in Toronto...a street party as part of a campaign for free and accessible public transit in Toronto. Not a bad idea. Sponsored by the Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly.
SPSPSPSPSP
Free and Accessible Transit Street Party!
Time Saturday, October 2 · 1:00pm - 4:00pm
---------------------------
Location Christie Pits Park
--------------------------
Created By Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly
------------------------
More Info
Free and Accessible Transit Street Party!
Time Saturday, October 2 · 1:00pm - 4:00pm
---------------------------
Location Christie Pits Park
--------------------------
Created By Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly
------------------------
More Info
No Fare Is Fair!
Come to the park to celebrate the campaign to win free and accessible transit for the GTA
Food, music, puppets, entertainment and more.
Sat. Oct. 2
1:00-4:00
In Christie Pits Park off of Bloor St.. Across the street from the Christie subway stop
More information or to get involved contact: nofareisfair@gmail.com
A project of the GTWA: http://www.workersassembly.ca/
Come to the park to celebrate the campaign to win free and accessible transit for the GTA
Food, music, puppets, entertainment and more.
Sat. Oct. 2
1:00-4:00
In Christie Pits Park off of Bloor St.. Across the street from the Christie subway stop
More information or to get involved contact: nofareisfair@gmail.com
A project of the GTWA: http://www.workersassembly.ca/
Labels: events, greater Toronto Workers' assembly, party., public transit, Toronto
Saturday, September 25, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS INTERNATIONAL POLITICS:
PITY SOUTH KOREA:
Now this is getting a jump on things. Having experienced what happens at summits directly people in Toronto are going to be demonstrating next Friday at the Korean Consulate to protest the next G20 summit to be held in November in guess what country. Here's the callout from the Toronto Community Solidarity Network.
◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘
Call for Action:
The G20 Sucks! Our Condolences to South Korea
Time Friday, October 1 · 5:00pm - 8:00pm
---------------------------
Location South Korean Consulate
555 Avenue Road
Toronto, ON
---------------------------
More Info
October 1st- International Day of Action against the pre-Summit attack on Democratic and Human Rights in South Korea
Three months have passed since the G20 invaded Toronto. Behind miles of security fencing and lines of riot police, representatives from the world’s twenty richest countries and central bank governors met to discuss and further implement their policies of systemic exploitation and destruction. Citywide mobilizations greeted the summit as communities took to the streets in opposition to the G20 and everything it stands for.
Our resistance was met by state-sanctioned violence, police brutality, harassment, and intimidation. The criminalization of dissent is ongoing and our communities are still feeling the painful repercussions. The healing process will be a long one.
Unfortunately, the G20 continues and this upcoming November will spread its terror elsewhere. The legacy of the G20 summit, widespread repression, the targeting of community activists and the attacks on democratic and human rights will be brought to South Korea. To our allies and our friends organizing in Seoul we send our condolences.
For all they are currently going through, for all they will surely have to deal with as the summit approaches we send our condolences. We realize the G20 is nothing to celebrate, but rather something to ragefully mourn. And so, on October 1st, the ‘International Day of Action against the pre-Summit attack on Democratic and Human Rights in South Korea’ we will gather in front of the South Korean Consulate (555 Avenue rd.) at 5pm to deliver the following demands to the South Korean government:
1. The G20 Summit is NO excuse! Stop the crackdown on migrants, street vendors and homeless people!
2. Honour international labour standards and ILO recommendations! Stop labour repression and labour flexibilisation policies!
3. Repeal the “Special Law on the Safe Escort of the G20 Summit” and end repression of the rights to freedom of expression and assembly!
Come out in solidarity and show your support for all those organizing against the G20 in Seoul! Food will be served, and materials will be on hand to construct condolence cards and paper flowers that will be put together in a creative package to be sent to our comrades organizing in South Korea.
Background:
http://kctu.org/ActionAlerts/9842
http://g20.torontomobilize.org/
Labels: Canadian politics, events, G20, G20 demonstrations, international politics, South Korea, Toronto
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
CANADIAN LABOUR TORONTO:
TORONTO HOTEL STRIKES CONTINUES:
The Toronto International Film Festival is over, but the rotating strikes at Toronto hotels continue as management refuses to bargain fairly. Here's the story from Linchpin, the website of the Ontario platformist organization Common Cause.
CLCLCLCLCL
Strike Continues for Toronto Hotel Workers
By Alex Balch
Toronto, Ont - This year’s TIFF festivities may be over, but for the workers of UNITE HERE Local 75, the struggle against multinational hotel conglomerate Westmont Hospitality Group is just heating up.
Many of the over 2,000 members of Local 75 employed by Westmont are currently working without a contract – some of them since February of this year. Workers accuse the company, which owns or operates 13 hotels in the GTA, of trying to lock its employees into a “permanent recession” - despite the fact that the hotel industry has largely bounced back from the economic crisis of 2008.
“The recession is long over for these guys,” says union organizer Amarjeet Chhabra, speaking about the hotel management. “Yet they’re still using the language of the recession while they negotiate a new contract.”
“Our workers can’t put food on the table, even though many of them are doing the work of two people. It’s just not fair.”
The union has been engaged in a series of high-profile one-day strikes since late June, when workers at the Novotel Toronto Center walked off the job just as the French delegation to the G20 was arriving to check in. Since then they have increased the pressure – carrying out eight such one-day strikes during TIFF.
On Friday September 18, dozens of Hilton employees, joined by workers from the nearby Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel and union delegates from CEP and CAW, staged a picket and rally outside the Toronto Hilton, while volunteer drummers from “Rhythms of Resistance” helped to keep spirits high. The striking workers appeared energized by the extra publicity generated by sympathetic actors and tourists in town for the Festival, and vowed to continue on until Westmont grants them a fair new contract.
Chief among the union’s demands is the granting of stable hours, better health benefits and a living wage.
“What Westmont has done is dramatically cut back on hours and staffing levels. This has meant that people have basically had to work twice as hard as before, for the same rate of pay,” said Laura Mestre, a room attendant, shop steward and member of the UNITE HERE negotiating team.
“I have personally been working for three months with a torn muscle in my left shoulder. I have had to apply for ODSP [Ontario Disability Support Payments] in order to help pay for my medical costs. I’ve brought the subject up with management… but they don’t care.”
According to Chhabra, this type of injury is not uncommon.
“Most housekeeping attendants are women, and that’s a position where lots of workplace injuries occur. Attendants at these hotels are expected to clean sixteen rooms per shift. At the same time, the company has recently added extra furniture, such as double beds, to many of these rooms. So this means that room attendants have more work to do, but haven’t been given more time to do it.” The end result is a rise in workplace injuries, as attendants struggle to keep up with their increased workloads.
The attempts by Westmont to frame the negotiation in terms of a contracting economy seem to fit into a larger general narrative – that of a looming “age of austerity”. Across the western world, unions are facing a coordinated attack on the working class. In Canada, the Harper government’s response to the economic crisis has been to allow large banks and corporations to effectively manage their own recovery, despite the massive subsidies they have received from the country's taxpayers. In the hospitality sector, this has manifested itself in the sacking of unionized workers and their replacement with more precarious workers – often employed by third-party temporary staffing agencies.
Westmont’s appeal to the need for belt-tightening measures - despite a return to healthy quarterly profits - is only made more egregious by the fact that two of its primary financial partners, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup Financial, were at the very epicenter of the 2008 global economic crisis, and have between them received over $50 billion in federal funds from the US Treasury.
It is this attempt to play the unfortunate victim of circumstance, and the company's stubborn refusal to renegotiate a fair contract with its employees that Chhabra says has motivated the workers to strike.
“We want to settle… but we also want a fair contract. And we’re prepared to take any action necessary to get it.”
For more information on the hotel workers' ongoing strike, and for a list of potentially affected hotels, see: http://www.uniteherelocal75.org/jm /
To send a direct message to Westmont, contact them at their Toronto headquarters:
5090 Explorer Drive
Suite 700
Mississauga ON
L4W 4T9
Tel: +1 905 629 3400
Fax: +1 905 624 7805
Labels: Canadian labour, labour., Linchpin, strike.hotel strike, Toronto, Unite Here
Friday, September 17, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:
URGENT APPEAL FOR COURT SUPPORT:
This just in from the Toronto Solidarity Network...an urgent call for court support tomorrow (September 18) morning for G20 community organizer accused of breaking his parole by speaking at a public meeting. Accused of "being at a demonstration".
G20G20G20G20
URGENT COURT RESPONSE REQUIRED
Time Saturday, September 18 · 9:00am - 12:00pm
-----------------------------
Location Old City Hall (60 Queen St W) Queen & Bay
---------------------------
Created By Community Solidarity Network
--------------------------
More Info
URGENT COURT RESPONSE REQUIRED
Saturday, September 18, 2010
9:00am
Old City Hall (60 Queen St W)
Queen & Bay
Toronto
Alex Hundert, a community organizer facing g20 charges, was rearrested at 11pm, outside his surety’s home.
This is an urgent call for support. Please spread the word.
Court appearance at 9:30am.
Please keep checking back here for updates:
http://g20.torontomobilize.org/
www.twitter.com/g20mobilize
Labels: Alex Hundert, Canadian politics, court dates, G20, G20 demonstrations, repression, solidarity., Toronto
Monday, September 13, 2010
CANADIAN LABOUR TORONTO:
MORE DRAMA OUTSIDE THAN IN THE FILMS:
As the glitterati gather for the Toronto International Film Festival hotel workers represented by UniteHere continue rotating one day strikes to pressure the hotel management to see reason and negotiate. Ten Toronto hotels are in strike position, and as of this writing three have already seen strike action. Here's the story from the UniteHere website.
TLTLTLTLTL
Local 75 Workers Strike Three Hotels During Toronto Film Festival
September 12, 2010
Hotel workers at the Hyatt Regency have staged another one-day walkout Sunday, September 12, bringing to three the number of hotels experiencing strikes during this year's Toronto International Film Festival.
Hotel workers, who also staged a one-day strike at the Westmont-owned Fairmont Royal York last Friday and the Holiday in on Bloor St. on Saturday, have earned the full support of the film sector including ACTRA Toronto, IATSE Local 873 and film celebrities including Martin Sheen. "The film industry relies on the hotel sector, and we're not going to stand by and let these hotel workers be exploited," said Heather Allin, Toronto president of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists.
"As TIFF celebrates the new Bell Lightbox with a street party for Torontonians, and the Hyatt boosts its profits with film guests this week, we continue to be treated like second-class citizens by the Hyatt owners," said Althea Porter-Harvey, a Room Attendant at the Hyatt Regency. "We deserve better than that. We're joining the street party today."
Local 75 spokesperson Cruz-Haicken explained that all of the hotels being targeted for these demonstrations are owned by the same company, which is engaged in contract talks with UNITE HERE.
"We exercised restraint and have provided quality service at Toronto hotels owned by Westmont through the G20, the Queen's visit, Pride Week and Caribana," added Porter-Harvey. "Westmont has had ample time to sit down and negotiate with us as contracts have expired, but they've chosen to ignore us and treat us with disrespect."
Striking workers contend hotel management is trying to lock them into cutbacks and new shift schedules imposed during the recession.
Labels: Canadian labour, labour., strike., Toronto, Toronto International Film Festival, Unite Here
Sunday, September 05, 2010
CANADIAN LABOUR TORONTO:
FANTASY MEETS REALITY AT THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL:
The Toronto International Film Festival opened on Friday, and delegates were treated to a demonstration of the frustration of the workers employed by the host hotel. The workers of the Hyatt Regency, represented by Unite Here Local 75, staged a one day walkout to protest management intransigence in contract talks. Here's the story from a union press release.
OLOLOLOLOL
Hotel workers forced to take one-day strike at Hyatt Regency Toronto
Film industry unions support workers striking against TIFF hotel headquarters
TORONTO--Hotel workers at the Hyatt Regency, home of this year's Toronto International Film Festival, have begun a one-day walkout after they bargained past a midnight deadline without reaching a new agreement.
Picketing is to begin at 7:30 a.m. this morning. A massive rally of hotel workers and others from across the city will take place at 5:30 p.m. today in front of the hotel. Unions from the film sector will rally in support of the hotel workers, saying that good hotel jobs, like good film jobs, are vital for the economic health of the city.
"We will be holding one day of action on Friday and will be back to work on Saturday," explained Althea Porter-Harvey, a Hyatt employee and member of UNITE HERE Local 75 which represents the workers. "We are still hopeful we can reach an agreement."
"While we're struggling to make hotel jobs good jobs, these wealthy owners keep buying and selling properties and treating us as if we still in a recession," Porter-Harvey continued. "The Mangalji and Pritzker families, who own and operate these hotels, need to have more regard for hotel workers. All we are asking is that they not lock in the recession for their workers, because the recession is over in the hotel sector."
The Hyatt, the host hotel for the Toronto International Film Festival opening next Thursday, is owned by the little-known Mangalji family and operated by the Pritzker family, which cashed out over $900 million in their sale of Hyatt shares in late 2009.
"Our industry spends a lot of money on hotels and it's frankly shocking to discover that the people who work so hard to make up the rooms we're paying for are being treated so poorly," said Heather Allin, President of ACTRA Toronto. "If Toronto's hotel workers cannot resolve relations with Hyatt to ensure workers are treated with respect, then my union will support Hyatt workers in this city and across the continent. They deserve to make a decent living from the work they do. Hyatt will face a determined boycott if they aren't fair to the hard working people who make their hotels possible."
The hotel workers have sent a public statement to TIFF Festival chief Piers Handling stating that despite the fact most contracts expired on 1/31/2010,
We exercised restraint, had a limited strike at the Novotel Toronto Centre, and did not strike during the G20. We have continued to work through Caribana and Pride and the busy summer tourist season. All the while we have been bargaining with some of the biggest hotel chains in an attempt to get a decent new contract. To no avail. At not a single hotel has management attempted to get a decent new contract… We are aware that [the Hyatt] is a central hotel to the Toronto International Film Festival. There is a legal strike/lockout deadline of September 3, 2010. It is also a hotel chain with examples of shameful treatment of its workers both here and around North America.
In both Canada and the U.S., the hotel industry is rebounding faster and stronger than expected but hotel workers are not sharing in that improved fortune. During the first quarter of 2010, occupancy and average daily hotel rates increased nationwide, leading to a 2.77% increase in RevPAR, or Revenue per Available Room, nationwide, according to Smith Travel Research and Hospitality Valuation Services data.
Local 75 represents over 7,000 hotel, hospitality and gaming workers in the Greater Toronto Area. For more information, please visit www.uniteherelocal75.org .
Hotel workers forced to take one-day strike at Hyatt Regency Toronto
Film industry unions support workers striking against TIFF hotel headquarters
TORONTO--Hotel workers at the Hyatt Regency, home of this year's Toronto International Film Festival, have begun a one-day walkout after they bargained past a midnight deadline without reaching a new agreement.
Picketing is to begin at 7:30 a.m. this morning. A massive rally of hotel workers and others from across the city will take place at 5:30 p.m. today in front of the hotel. Unions from the film sector will rally in support of the hotel workers, saying that good hotel jobs, like good film jobs, are vital for the economic health of the city.
"We will be holding one day of action on Friday and will be back to work on Saturday," explained Althea Porter-Harvey, a Hyatt employee and member of UNITE HERE Local 75 which represents the workers. "We are still hopeful we can reach an agreement."
"While we're struggling to make hotel jobs good jobs, these wealthy owners keep buying and selling properties and treating us as if we still in a recession," Porter-Harvey continued. "The Mangalji and Pritzker families, who own and operate these hotels, need to have more regard for hotel workers. All we are asking is that they not lock in the recession for their workers, because the recession is over in the hotel sector."
The Hyatt, the host hotel for the Toronto International Film Festival opening next Thursday, is owned by the little-known Mangalji family and operated by the Pritzker family, which cashed out over $900 million in their sale of Hyatt shares in late 2009.
"Our industry spends a lot of money on hotels and it's frankly shocking to discover that the people who work so hard to make up the rooms we're paying for are being treated so poorly," said Heather Allin, President of ACTRA Toronto. "If Toronto's hotel workers cannot resolve relations with Hyatt to ensure workers are treated with respect, then my union will support Hyatt workers in this city and across the continent. They deserve to make a decent living from the work they do. Hyatt will face a determined boycott if they aren't fair to the hard working people who make their hotels possible."
The hotel workers have sent a public statement to TIFF Festival chief Piers Handling stating that despite the fact most contracts expired on 1/31/2010,
We exercised restraint, had a limited strike at the Novotel Toronto Centre, and did not strike during the G20. We have continued to work through Caribana and Pride and the busy summer tourist season. All the while we have been bargaining with some of the biggest hotel chains in an attempt to get a decent new contract. To no avail. At not a single hotel has management attempted to get a decent new contract… We are aware that [the Hyatt] is a central hotel to the Toronto International Film Festival. There is a legal strike/lockout deadline of September 3, 2010. It is also a hotel chain with examples of shameful treatment of its workers both here and around North America.
In both Canada and the U.S., the hotel industry is rebounding faster and stronger than expected but hotel workers are not sharing in that improved fortune. During the first quarter of 2010, occupancy and average daily hotel rates increased nationwide, leading to a 2.77% increase in RevPAR, or Revenue per Available Room, nationwide, according to Smith Travel Research and Hospitality Valuation Services data.
Local 75 represents over 7,000 hotel, hospitality and gaming workers in the Greater Toronto Area. For more information, please visit www.uniteherelocal75.org .
Labels: Canadian labour, labour, strike., Toronto, Toronto International Film Festival, Unite Here
Friday, September 03, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:
IN THE WAKE OF THE G20:
Here's an upcoming event down Toronto way in the wake of the massive arrests surrounding the G20 summit in that city.
G20G20G20G20
Strengthening Our Resolve
Time September 17 · 6:30pm - 11:30pm
------------------------
Location Ryerson University - Rogers Communication Centre, room RCC 204 (Eaton Lecture Theatre), (80 Gould Street, Toronto ON)
-----------------------
Created By Toronto Community Mobilization Network
(or the website -Molly)
------------------------
More Info
Strengthening Our Resolve: Movement Building and Ongoing Resistance to the G20 Agenda
http://g20.torontomobilize.org/node/486
Speakers include Alex Hundert, Jen Meunier, Judy Rebick, Liisa
...Schofield, Ro Velasquez, Harsha Walia, and a representative from the
Greater Toronto Workers Assembly
This is a Pay What You Can event. All contributions go to the G20
Legal Defence Fund (http://g20.torontomobilize.org/support )
While 40,000 demonstrated and over 1000 were arrested in the streets of Toronto, so-called leaders met behind a security fence and 10,000 police to further their exploitation of people and the Earth. Hundreds face G20-related charges stemming from an unprecedented coordinated police operation, and political dissent remains criminalized as arrests of community organizers have occurred as recently as September.
Meanwhile, across the globe we see G20 austerity measures snatching away health, educational and social services, while the governments of G20 countries continue to bail out banks and corporations. Locally, we witness racist criminalization of migrants and refugees becoming more vicious, while colonization and destruction of Indigenous nations and their lands continues. Many of us daily experience the entrenchment of a racist, ableist, patriarchal, queer-phobic, profit-driven culture, while countless bodies bear the violence of an oppressive police state that enforces these norms.
Join us in this event with speakers and discussion about responses the G20 agenda, and making linkages across issues and ongoing struggles. With courage and with care, this event is about building solidarity and understanding, about creating real alternatives to this
exploitative and destructive system, and to strengthen our resolve to
continue resisting.
For more information email alex.hundert@gmail.com or call 416 922 4595.
Sponsored by: Toronto Community Solidarity Network, the 247 G20
Defence Committee, CAW Sam Gindin Social Justice and Democracy Chair, OPIRG York, OPIRG Toronto, CUPE 3903 First Nations Solidarity Working Group, CUPE 3907
- Alex Hundert is a G20 defendant charged with “conspiracy” who was arrested in a violent pre-emptive house raid. He has been targeted as a “ringleader” for his role in Indigenous solidarity and anarchist networks including AW@L, SOAR and the Six Nations Solidarity Network.
- Jen Meunier is an Anishinaabekwe (Algonquin) Indigenous
sovereigntist who has been involved in land defense struggles from
Site 41 and Six Nations to the No Olympics on Stolen Native Land
campaign.
- Judy Rebick is an author, past CAW-Sam Gindin Chair in Social
Justice and Democracy at Ryerson University, past president of the
National Action Committee on the Status of Women, media commentator, and founding publisher of rabble.ca.
- Liisa Schofield is a documentary filmmaker, an anti-poverty activist
with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, and an activist for
Palestinian rights.
- Ro Velasquez is an artist, York University student, and a member of
the Queer Resistance Network. She is active in movements rooted in
racialized, immigrant, and queer communities of resistance.
- Harsha Walia is an organizer with No One Is Illegal-Vancouver. She
is involved in migrant justice, Indigenous solidarity,
anti-imperialist, anti-poverty, feminist organizing. She has been
active in the 2010 Olympics and G20 convergences.
Labels: Canadian politics, current events, events, G20, G20 Toronto Mobilize, public forums, public meetings, repression, Toronto
Thursday, August 26, 2010
CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
PARTY FOR THE G20 ARRESTEES:
The following notice for an event in Toronto in support of those arrested in connection with the G20 Summit in Toronto comes from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP).
G20G20G20G20
TOMORROW:
TOMORROW:
Freedom Assembly - Party for G20 and Special Diet Demo Arrestees
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please Forward
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Freedom Assembly - Party for G20 and Special Diet Demo Arrestees
Time
Tomorrow at 9:00pm - Saturday at 2:00am
Location
Blue Moon Bar
725 Queen St E.
Toronto, ON
Freedom Assembly
Party for those arrested at the G20 and Special Diet Demonstrations
DJ No Capitalista
...El Machetero
DJ eLman
DJ NoLoVes
all funds will go to legal expenses for those arrested and to fight the criminalizing of protests Friday Aug 27th
9PM
$10
Blue Moon Pub
725 Queen St. E. (at Broadview)
organized by the member organizations of the May 1st Movement
For more info or endorsements: may1st.toronto@gmail.com
For more info on the legal defense for the G20 arrestees check out the Movement Defence Committee (http://movementdefence.org/ ) and the Toronto Community Mobilization Network (http://g20.torontomobilize.org/support )
Labels: current events, G20, G20 Toronto Mobilize, OCAP, party., political prisoners, repression, solidarity., Toronto
Saturday, August 21, 2010
HUMOUR:
GIVE THEM AN INCH AND THEY'LL TAKE A KITE STRING:
The cartoon above was inspired by the recent city of Toronto move to ban kite flying from a city park because they deemed the sport of 'kite fighting' was "dangerous". Kite fighting is where you try and cut the opponent's kite string. Use your imagination as to the "danger".
This cartoon is dedicated in loving memory to the late great Winnipeg football game 'Beer Snake', also a victim of the urge to ban.
Labels: authoritarianism, Beer Snake, cartoons, humour, jokes, kite banning, kite fighting, Toronto
CANADIAN POLITICS:
RALLIES IN SUPPORT OF TAMIL REFUGEES:
Beginning today and into next week there will be a number of rallies across the country in support of the right of the recently arrived Tamil refugees on the west coast to stay in Canada. These are being organized by No One is Illegal. Here is the story from No One Is Illegal Vancouver.
NOIINOIINOII
Canada: Stop Jailing and Deporting Refugees, Let The Tamil Refugees Stay!
Time
Canada: Stop Jailing and Deporting Refugees, Let The Tamil Refugees Stay!
Time
August 21 at 3:30pm - August 26 at 6:00pm
-----------------------
Location Various cities and communities - check description for details
across Canada / Indigenous lands
-----------------------
Created By No One Is Illegal - Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories
----------------------
More Info
-----------------------
Location Various cities and communities - check description for details
across Canada / Indigenous lands
-----------------------
Created By No One Is Illegal - Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories
----------------------
More Info
CANADA: STOP JAILING AND DEPORTING REFUGEES, LET THEM STAY!
SUPPORT THE TAMIL MIGRANTS! SAY NO TO RACISM!
==> In VANCOUVER, Unceded Coast Salish Territories:
Saturday August 21 @ 3:30 pm
...Gather at Vancouver Art Gallery, Robson Side
* Download poster PDF http://bit.ly/aq9HWI or JPG: http://bit.ly/c0VN60
==> In UNSURRENDERED WET'SUWET'EN TERRITORY:
Saturday August 21
Solidarity with the Tamil Refugees and No One Is Illegal. Moricetown Canyon, noon.
Contact gitksanmanoct6@hotmail.com
==> In VICTORIA:
Saturday August 21st 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Victoria Information Booth, Government and Belville
Organized by Victoria Anti-Racism Network (VARN)
RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=143826562315624
==> In OTTAWA:
Monday August 23 @ Noon.
Gather at corner of Kent and Laurier
(Citizenship and Immigration Canada)
RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119285261456467
==> In MONTREAL:
Thursday August 26th from noon to 2 pm
Front of Immigration and Refugee Board offices, 200 Boul. René Levesque. Organized by Friends of Tamil Refugees/ Les Amies des Réfugiées Tamils.
Contact 514-668-4751 or 514-449-9370.
==> In KITCHENER-WATERLOO:
Monday August 23.
Press Conference and gathering, details tbc.
Contact rachel@peaceculture.org
==> In TORONTO:
Saturday August 21st
Toronto Welcomes Tamil Migrants!
Follow www.twitter.com/noii_ to to see images of creative actions that we will be taking.
(more TBC)
Join No One is Illegal to call for the immediate release of detained Tamil asylum seekers, and an end to racist and restrictive refugee policies. Justice, Freedom, and Status for All!
Surviving a dangerous journey, 500 Tamil refugees, including women and children, arrived in BC after fleeing war and persecution in Sri Lanka. When the ship first neared Esquimault, territories of the Songhees First Nation, it was immediately boarded by the Armed Forces, Border Services, and RCMP. Families are now being separated, with many children being taken by the Ministry of Child and Family Development. The refugees now face the threat of incarceration and eventual deportation.
Canadian government officials and media outlets are perpetuating false and dehumanizing stereotypes of 'illegals', 'terrorists', and so-called queue-jumpers. The earlier arrival of 76 Tamil migrants on Ocean Lady was similarly sensationalized. This deliberately created hysteria appeals to prejudices of refugees as undesirable. Well-known neo-Nazis, like Paul Fromm and the Aryan Guard, also known as the Canada First Immigration Reform Committee, are openly organizing rallies for the ship to be sent back.
This fear-mongering is just another tactic used to disguise the racist policies that define Canada’s immigration and refugee system. The Canadian government was recently forced to apologize for its “keep Canada white” measures, such as the Komagata Maru incident. Yet Minister of Censorship and Deportation Jason Kenney continues to increase detentions and deportation of refugees and undocumented migrants, while bringing in more temporary exploitable migrant labour. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews recently declared that Cabinet is drafting new policies to clamp down on migrants and “make this country less welcoming for future shipments of human cargo.”
No One is Illegal-Vancouver asserts the basic human right to safety, mobility, and protection. It is well known that Tamils in Sri Lanka are fleeing military atrocities and mass displacement. The only crime the migrants have committed is transgressing this imposed settler-colonial border. We encourage you to join us in rejecting repressive, racist, and exclusionary ideologies and policies, and instead encourage compassion, solidarity, respect for life, and justice for all refugees. Release Detained Asylum-Seekers! Let the Boat Stay! Status for All!
*** HOW ELSE CAN I SUPPORT? ***
THERE ARE 10 THINGS YOU COULD DO!
1) Join other cities and communities for nation-wide actions. Wherever you maybe, whatever you can organize (delegation to a Minister’s office, street theatre, leafleting, community speak-out), will help build this movement. Please email noii-van@resist.ca and let us know how you can participate.
2) Engage in dialogue and widely circulate the factsheet on the 6 most popular myths about the 490 Tamil Refugees, available here: http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=2167
3) Sign the online petition here: http://www.petitiononline.com/16082010/petition.html . Join the Facebook group Uphold the Rights of the MV Sun Sea Migrants here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=106719212717437
4) Put up posters in your neighbourhood, workplace, and campus, and as your social media profile. We have ‘Let them Stay’ and ‘Anti Neo Nazi, Fight Racism’ posters available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nooneisillegal/ . PDF’s: http://bit.ly/9HBtGa and http://bit.ly/cgM3gK
5) Participate in the Call/Email/Fax Campaign to the Government and your MP. State your support for the refugees to stay in Canada and denounce the government for spreading unsubstantiated racist lies. This is easy to do and you can tell others to do the same!
Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
Phone 613-992-2235 or 403-225-3480. Fax 403-225-3504 or 613-992-1920.
Email: Minister@cic.gc.ca and kennej@parl.gc.ca
Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety
Phone: (204) 326-9889 or (204)345-9762 or (613) 992-3128.
Fax: (204) 346-9874 or (204) 345-9768 or (613) 995-1049
Email: toewsv1@mts.net and Toews.V@parl.gc.ca
To find out who your MP is and where to write them:
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC
6) Always take a minute to write letters to the editor and comment on news stories - make a difference in public discourse! Reinforce your support for the migrants and condemn irresponsible reporting including repeating unsubstantiated lies and giving white supremacists like Paul Fromm a platform. All letters must be short (100 words), include name, mailing address and daytime phone number of the writer; state “Letter to the Editor” in subject; and content should be in the body of the email.
Globe and Mail: letters@globeandmail.com
Vancouver Sun: sunletters@png.canwest.com
Vancouver Province: provletters@png.canwest.com
24 Hours: news@sunmedia.ca
Metro News: http://www.metronews.ca/Vancouver/comment/lettereditor
National Post: letters@nationalpost.com
Toronto Star: lettertoed@thestar.ca
7) Take your own initiative. This issue is not just the Tamil communities’ or for migrant justice organizers. The growing racist backlash that is taking root should concern all of us. Think of creative ways to disrupt this xenophobic climate (do a banner drop, host a community picnic, take some friends postering, organize a forum or press conference, distribute anti-racist zines, take action at the prison).
8) Consider inviting a speaker to your next meeting. Email noii-van@resist.ca and we would be happy to attend or suggest speakers, as well as provide educational materials.
9) Have your organization, traditional council, union, community group, or artist collective write a short public statement of support for the Tamil migrants. Please email us a copy at noii-van@resist.ca .
10) Join our low-traffic email announcement list to receive news and events. You can subscribe yourself https://lists.resist.ca/mailman/listinfo/noii-l . Our Facebook group is: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6252584281&ref=ts . Visit our website regularly for articles: http://noii-van.resist.ca/
www.nooneisillegal.org
SUPPORT THE TAMIL MIGRANTS! SAY NO TO RACISM!
==> In VANCOUVER, Unceded Coast Salish Territories:
Saturday August 21 @ 3:30 pm
...Gather at Vancouver Art Gallery, Robson Side
* Download poster PDF http://bit.ly/aq9HWI or JPG: http://bit.ly/c0VN60
==> In UNSURRENDERED WET'SUWET'EN TERRITORY:
Saturday August 21
Solidarity with the Tamil Refugees and No One Is Illegal. Moricetown Canyon, noon.
Contact gitksanmanoct6@hotmail.com
==> In VICTORIA:
Saturday August 21st 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Victoria Information Booth, Government and Belville
Organized by Victoria Anti-Racism Network (VARN)
RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=143826562315624
==> In OTTAWA:
Monday August 23 @ Noon.
Gather at corner of Kent and Laurier
(Citizenship and Immigration Canada)
RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119285261456467
==> In MONTREAL:
Thursday August 26th from noon to 2 pm
Front of Immigration and Refugee Board offices, 200 Boul. René Levesque. Organized by Friends of Tamil Refugees/ Les Amies des Réfugiées Tamils.
Contact 514-668-4751 or 514-449-9370.
==> In KITCHENER-WATERLOO:
Monday August 23.
Press Conference and gathering, details tbc.
Contact rachel@peaceculture.org
==> In TORONTO:
Saturday August 21st
Toronto Welcomes Tamil Migrants!
Follow www.twitter.com/noii_ to to see images of creative actions that we will be taking.
(more TBC)
Join No One is Illegal to call for the immediate release of detained Tamil asylum seekers, and an end to racist and restrictive refugee policies. Justice, Freedom, and Status for All!
Surviving a dangerous journey, 500 Tamil refugees, including women and children, arrived in BC after fleeing war and persecution in Sri Lanka. When the ship first neared Esquimault, territories of the Songhees First Nation, it was immediately boarded by the Armed Forces, Border Services, and RCMP. Families are now being separated, with many children being taken by the Ministry of Child and Family Development. The refugees now face the threat of incarceration and eventual deportation.
Canadian government officials and media outlets are perpetuating false and dehumanizing stereotypes of 'illegals', 'terrorists', and so-called queue-jumpers. The earlier arrival of 76 Tamil migrants on Ocean Lady was similarly sensationalized. This deliberately created hysteria appeals to prejudices of refugees as undesirable. Well-known neo-Nazis, like Paul Fromm and the Aryan Guard, also known as the Canada First Immigration Reform Committee, are openly organizing rallies for the ship to be sent back.
This fear-mongering is just another tactic used to disguise the racist policies that define Canada’s immigration and refugee system. The Canadian government was recently forced to apologize for its “keep Canada white” measures, such as the Komagata Maru incident. Yet Minister of Censorship and Deportation Jason Kenney continues to increase detentions and deportation of refugees and undocumented migrants, while bringing in more temporary exploitable migrant labour. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews recently declared that Cabinet is drafting new policies to clamp down on migrants and “make this country less welcoming for future shipments of human cargo.”
No One is Illegal-Vancouver asserts the basic human right to safety, mobility, and protection. It is well known that Tamils in Sri Lanka are fleeing military atrocities and mass displacement. The only crime the migrants have committed is transgressing this imposed settler-colonial border. We encourage you to join us in rejecting repressive, racist, and exclusionary ideologies and policies, and instead encourage compassion, solidarity, respect for life, and justice for all refugees. Release Detained Asylum-Seekers! Let the Boat Stay! Status for All!
*** HOW ELSE CAN I SUPPORT? ***
THERE ARE 10 THINGS YOU COULD DO!
1) Join other cities and communities for nation-wide actions. Wherever you maybe, whatever you can organize (delegation to a Minister’s office, street theatre, leafleting, community speak-out), will help build this movement. Please email noii-van@resist.ca and let us know how you can participate.
2) Engage in dialogue and widely circulate the factsheet on the 6 most popular myths about the 490 Tamil Refugees, available here: http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=2167
3) Sign the online petition here: http://www.petitiononline.com/16082010/petition.html . Join the Facebook group Uphold the Rights of the MV Sun Sea Migrants here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=106719212717437
4) Put up posters in your neighbourhood, workplace, and campus, and as your social media profile. We have ‘Let them Stay’ and ‘Anti Neo Nazi, Fight Racism’ posters available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nooneisillegal/ . PDF’s: http://bit.ly/9HBtGa and http://bit.ly/cgM3gK
5) Participate in the Call/Email/Fax Campaign to the Government and your MP. State your support for the refugees to stay in Canada and denounce the government for spreading unsubstantiated racist lies. This is easy to do and you can tell others to do the same!
Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
Phone 613-992-2235 or 403-225-3480. Fax 403-225-3504 or 613-992-1920.
Email: Minister@cic.gc.ca and kennej@parl.gc.ca
Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety
Phone: (204) 326-9889 or (204)345-9762 or (613) 992-3128.
Fax: (204) 346-9874 or (204) 345-9768 or (613) 995-1049
Email: toewsv1@mts.net and Toews.V@parl.gc.ca
To find out who your MP is and where to write them:
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC
6) Always take a minute to write letters to the editor and comment on news stories - make a difference in public discourse! Reinforce your support for the migrants and condemn irresponsible reporting including repeating unsubstantiated lies and giving white supremacists like Paul Fromm a platform. All letters must be short (100 words), include name, mailing address and daytime phone number of the writer; state “Letter to the Editor” in subject; and content should be in the body of the email.
Globe and Mail: letters@globeandmail.com
Vancouver Sun: sunletters@png.canwest.com
Vancouver Province: provletters@png.canwest.com
24 Hours: news@sunmedia.ca
Metro News: http://www.metronews.ca/Vancouver/comment/lettereditor
National Post: letters@nationalpost.com
Toronto Star: lettertoed@thestar.ca
7) Take your own initiative. This issue is not just the Tamil communities’ or for migrant justice organizers. The growing racist backlash that is taking root should concern all of us. Think of creative ways to disrupt this xenophobic climate (do a banner drop, host a community picnic, take some friends postering, organize a forum or press conference, distribute anti-racist zines, take action at the prison).
8) Consider inviting a speaker to your next meeting. Email noii-van@resist.ca and we would be happy to attend or suggest speakers, as well as provide educational materials.
9) Have your organization, traditional council, union, community group, or artist collective write a short public statement of support for the Tamil migrants. Please email us a copy at noii-van@resist.ca .
10) Join our low-traffic email announcement list to receive news and events. You can subscribe yourself https://lists.resist.ca/mailman/listinfo/noii-l . Our Facebook group is: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6252584281&ref=ts . Visit our website regularly for articles: http://noii-van.resist.ca/
www.nooneisillegal.org
Labels: Canadian politics, demonstrations, Kitchener, Montreal, No One is Illegal, Ottawa, protests, rallies, tamil refugees, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, Waterloo
Friday, August 20, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:
DROP THE CHARGES RALLY:
The inevitably long and intimidating legal odyssey has begun for those arrested at the recent G20 summit in Toronto. This coming Monday there will be a rally in front of Toronto Police Headquarters demanding that all charges be dropped. Here's the details. >>>
TOTOTOTOTO
DROP THE CHARGES!
END CRIMINALIZATION OF DISSENT!
DROP THE CHARGES! END CRIMINALIZATION OF DISSENT!
Time
Monday · 6:00pm - 9:00pm
------------------------
Location outside Toronto Police Headquarters
40 College St
Toronto, ON
------------------------
Created By Toronto Community Mobilization Network
-----------------------
More Info
DROP THE CHARGES!
END CRIMINALIZATION OF DISSENT!
Rally in solidarity with G20 Defendants
Speakers: TBA
...
Most of our bruises have faded, but we haven’t. It was two months ago when many were beaten on the streets of Toronto and in their homes, with rubber bullets and tear gas fired into crowds of people of all ages, from toddlers to seniors. Two months ago, the police conducted the largest mass arrest in Canadian history with 1100 people arrested. Two months ago, the police force conducted their vicious snatch squads to kidnap (and sometimes arrest) our community organizers and others simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Two months have passed since these visible assaults on our very basic right to dissent, and they have continued to try to use every tool in their arsenal to discourage people from dissenting. On Monday, August 23rd hundreds of people will be converging in Toronto again, this time to appear to face outstanding charges from the G20 weekend. The crown is pursuing charges for over 300 individuals, causing huge burdens on the individuals and their families. They have given absurd bail conditions generally reserved for charges such as murder. Some remain imprisoned without bail. The police have also intimidated and harassed people to ensure bail compliance, disproportionately targeting their check-ins on ‘priority neighbourhoods’. Over the last 2 months the police have tried to divide, isolate, and dehumanize us, but we must show them their actions only make us stronger, more motivated, and more resilient.
On August 23rd, let’s get out our friends, families, and communities to make our message clear:
We are united with the people brutalized at the G20 protests, and demand the Attorney General's Office DROP their charges immediately!
We will unite with the communities brutalized by the police every day, and demand the assault on aboriginal and other racialized communities, on queer communities, on street people end immediately.
We will continue to dissent and take to the streets against the polices of the G20, including the proposed austerity measures.
We will continue to build our movements in the struggle for a better world - this decade will not be marked by their austerity, but rather by OUR resistance.
They Few. We Still Many.
Labels: Canadian politics, current events, demonstrations, events, G20 demonstrations, police brutality., political prisoners, prisoners, rallies, repression, Toronto, Toronto Community Mobilization Network
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS:
SUPPORT OCAP ARESTEES:
Last July 21 11 members of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) were arrested at a demonstration at the Liberal Party headquarters in Toronto. The cases are now coming to court, and OCAP is asking for solidarity with its members. Here's the story and appeal>>>
OCAPOCAPOCAP
2 Events to support OCAP Arrestees
-This Thursday court support, Fundraiser This Saturday,
Please See Below
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**We would like to also add - that court dates are also coming up for G20 arrests - info about that will be sent out as soon as we have it
1. COURT APPEARANCES FOR OCAP MEMBERS AND ALLIES CHARGED AT LIBERAL HQ JOIN US:
Court Support for Anne and Lenny:
Thursday, August 19th, 9 AM @Old City Hall (60 Queen St. W)
Rally @ Attorney General’s (720 Bay St.):
Monday, August 30th, 9AM
On July 21, during an OCAP rally against the McGuinty Government's cutting of the Special Diet, eleven OCAP members and supporters walked into the offices of the Liberal Party to deliver an 'invoice' outlining how much money is owed to poor people on assistance in this Province. They went to a window, put out a banner and addressed the crowd outside. Police soon arrived and, rather than issue warnings and provide any opportunity for the protesters to leave, they handcuffed them, announced they were under arrest for trespass and that they would be taken to the 52 Division.
One of the people who entered the office, Anne Abbott, uses a wheelchair and had her communication assistant with her, Lenny Olin. Clearly at a loss over how to deal with a disabled person, the police declared their intention to arrest Lenny and 'drop Anne off at a hospital'. When this was obviously strongly objected to by Anne, they decided to give them both summonses to appear in court for trespass and, eventually, released them. In the wake of the G20, where a deaf man was arrested and denied access to an ASL interpreter on the grounds that 'he can read our lips', this episode points to the shocking level of ableism that exists amongst the Police in the City of Toronto.
The remaining nine people were taken to 52 Division. As they were loaded into the police wagon, they were told that the charge was being elevated to mischief. At that point, 'the arresting officers' assumed that the group would be released from the station. At 52, however, detectives informed them that the charge of forcible entry was being added and that everyone would be held overnight because each accused person would need to line up a surety to put up money for them. After more than 24 hours, everyone was released from the courthouse. Only through the efforts of lawyer, Mike Leitold, were we able to prevent massively restrictive bail conditions being imposed.
These charges are a sign of the times. The massive police operation around the G20 was not an isolated development. They are ready for resistance to social cutbacks and austerity and want to silence it. A matter that the cops would have previously dealt with by asking the participants to leave is now the basis for criminal charges that carry two year jail terms.
While one of the ironic expressions of the ableism Anne faced is that she and Lenny are not facing such serious charges, their situation is not at all trivial. The fact that the cops used summonses on them means they run the risk of having serious and restrictive conditions imposed on them if they are convicted.
All eleven people charged will soon make court appearances to set dates for trial. However, the Crown Attorney's office and the Attorney General of Ontario can’t be allowed to drag this matter out and have these severe and ridiculous charges hang over the accused for months still to come. We demand that they be dropped now.
Anne and Lenny have to appear in Old City Hall on Thursday, August 19 at 9.00 AM. The injustices that flow from the treatment Anne and Lenny received are best demonstrated in their own words.
Anne:
"I was truly horrified by the ableist attitudes and actions of the police. First they separated me from my communication assistant, which is against the human rights code. When I objected and indicated that I needed my assistant, they told me "don't worry, we will put you in a hospital." They questioned everybody except me, and I felt they thought I was incapable of giving any valid information. With the examples of the abuse on disabled people during the g20 and my recent experience, it's obvious that ableism is running rampant through the Toronto police."
Lenny:
"The police made it obvious that they don't even think of disabled people as human beings. We were there to draw attention to a provincial government that doesn't think that people deserve to be able to eat, and they responded with harassment and threats that were very blatantly ableist. We will continue to fight together for the rights of all people to live a life free of state violence and harassment, and to live a life where our basic human needs are met."
The other nine defendants are to appear at College Park at 10.00 AM on August 30. However, on behalf of all those facing charges, a rally will beheld at the Attorney General’s office at 9.00 AM to oppose the criminalization of social mobilization and to demand the dropping of these charges.
The threat of jail won’t stop the fight to defend the Special Diet or to oppose other austerity measures. We’ll defend those they try to criminalize and the struggle will continue regardless of their attempts to intimidate and silence it.
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
http://www.ocap.ca/
416-925-6939
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. Please join us at a fundraiser hosted by the Latin Solidarity Network and Barrio Nuevo, in support of Ilian Burbano and the 11 Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) activists/allies arrested for peacefully protesting cuts to the Special Diet benefit by the McGuinty provincial government.
Express your solidarity and acknowledge the valuable efforts of these activists to serve the community and to further social justice.
August 21, 2010
8pm-Midnight
Live music, spoken word, dj's
Location: 22 Wenderly Drive, Toronto
If you can not attend the event and would still like to donate, please click below. http://www.cupe3393.ca/
Cheques can be made in the name of: CUPE Local 3393 and mailed to:
Att: Judi Snively
CUPE Local 3393 co-president
248 Ossington Ave.
Toronto, ON, M6J 3A2
Indicate "Ilian Burbano legal defence fund" in memo line
Labels: Canadian politics, court dates, demonstrations, legalities, OCAP, Ontario, poverty, special diet, Toronto
Monday, August 16, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:
DROP THE CHARGES AGAINST G20 DETAINEES:
The following notice of a public meeting to demand that charges against those arrested at the G20 summit in Toronto be dropped comes originally from the G20 Toronto Mobilize group. It came Molly's way via the Ontario Coalition against Poverty (OCAP).
G20G20G20G20
Drop G20 Charges!
Resisting the Criminalization of Dissent
Date: August 17th
Time: 6pm - 7:30pm
Location: Room 116, Wallberg building, 200 College Street, Toronto, ON
Speakers include Lesley Wood, Syed Hussan and organizers from OCAP. Full list of speakers and video statements to be announced!
For ten days at the end of June, the Police led a coordinated armed assault against Toronto's civilian population. Community organizers were in particular targeted. Mobilizations for justice, for dignity and for self-determination were infiltrated, harassed and intimidated. A Canada wide response is at hand... as people fight to have the criminal charges dropped and to continue the struggle against the G20's anti-people and anti-environment policies. (Support the Legal Defence Fund! http://g20.torontomobilize.org/support )
To understand why people mobilized against the G20 and how organizers were targeted; to hear accounts of police brutality and repression; and to understand the political nature of the bail conditions, the criminalization of dissent and ways to support the people facing charges, join us for an informative panel and discussion.
This event is focused towards activists, grassroots organizers and people who are interested in knowing more and acting in solidarity with local struggles and defendants.
Endorsers: Ontario Coalition Against Poverty No One Is Illegal - Toronto Rainforest Action Network - Toronto Common Cause - Toronto Branch Sponsored by: Hussan Freedom Committee, Ontario Public Interest Research Group - Toronto
===
LESLEY WOOD is a Professor of Sociology at York University and a member of the Toronto Community Mobilization Network and the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty. Lesley will be speaking about G20 policies, police violence during the summit and the role of global justice movements and community struggles. Read her latest movement article at: http://bit.ly/bT5LdB
SYED HUSSAN is a member of the Toronto Community Mobilization Network and No One Is Illegal-Toronto. He was arrested on the morning of June 26, 2010 and held for 12 days. Hussan will speak about his arrest, bail conditions, and the need for solidarity and ongoing organizing. Read statements from No One Is Illegal at http://bit.ly/9xt45c and http://bit.ly/dkQ8hG
ONTARIO COALITION AGAINST POVERTY is a grassroots anti-poverty organization that faced increasing police repression following mass demonstrations in 2001. Organizers will be speak about the targeting of various community groups in 2001 and during the G20 and the need to struggle against the G8/G20 policies in the coming years. Read more at http://bit.ly/bKZfyu and http://ocap.ca/node/904
Labels: Canadian politics, current events, events, G20, G20 demonstrations, political prisoners, public meetings, Toronto
Saturday, August 14, 2010
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
ANARCHIST STUDIES CONFERENCE:
Here's one for the academically inclined amongst you. The North American Anarchist Studies Network (NAASN) will be holding their annual conference in Toronto next January. I could think of better places on the continent to visit in January given that this is a continent wide network. On the other hand I can think of far worse places like Winnipeg for instance. In any case brush off that dusty old thinking cap and head down TO way early next year. Here's the announcement.
@@@@@@@@@@
North American Anarchist Studies Conference
CALL FOR PAPERS!!!
North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference
Toronto, Canada
January 15-16, 2011
Deadline for Proposals: November 1, 2010
The North American Anarchist Studies Network is currently seeking presentations for our second annual conference to be held at the Steel Worker’s Hall in Toronto, Canada. We are seeking submissions from radical academics, independent researchers, community activists, street philosophers and students. We invite those engaged in intellectual work within existing institutions, such as universities, but also those engaged in the production of knowledge beyond institutional walls to share their ongoing work. From the library stacks to the streets, we encourage all those interested in the study of anarchism to submit a proposal.
In keeping with the open and fluid spirit of anarchism, we will not be calling for any specific topics of discussion, but rather are encouraging participants to present on a broad and diverse number of themes- from the historical to the contemporary to the utopian. For inspiration, we have included a number of suggested themes that have been of interest us; we invite you to suggest and submit your own topics, papers, themes, panels and workshops:
* Theorizing Anarchism: Perspectives on Anarchist Studies
* Greening Anarchy: Anarchism and the Environment
* Bridging the Marxist/Anarchist Divide: Is Black and Red Dead?
* Race, Class & Solidarity: Migration Politics
* Indigenous Rights and Politics in (Occupied) North America
* Expanding the Anarchist Canon: Non-Western Anarchism(s)
* The South American ‘New Left’ and Anarchism
* ‘Queering’ Anarchy: Anarchism and LGBTQ Issues
* ‘Revolution’ in the 21st Century: The Meaning of Social Change Today
* Militant Research: Connecting Activism and Academia
* Practicing Anarchy: Organization, Insurrection and Anarchist Social Movements
* Envisioning Alternatives: Anarchist Utopias
* Anarchism and Radical (Dis)ability Politics
* The Greek ‘Crisis’ and Anarchist Responses
* Post-G20 Toronto: Learning from Toronto’s G20 Mobilizations
* Anarchist Cultural Perspectives and Practices
* The Post-Anarchist Challenge?
* Anarchists and Academia: The Perils, Pitfalls and Potentialities of the University
It is our sincere hope that this conference will, to the greatest extent possible, accurately represent the diversity of North American anarchist politics and thought; to that end, we encourage submission(s) in English, French, Spanish and in any other language or on any other topic you feel relevant to this experience and this community.
Send your proposal, including a short abstract, a working title and three keywords that describe your project to the Toronto NAASN Crew at naasntoronto@gmail.com .
For more information on the North America Anarchist Studies Network check out our website at www.naasn.org.
We look forward to hearing from you, organizing with you and, of course, learning from you!
Related Link: http://www.naasn.org
North American Anarchist Studies Conference
CALL FOR PAPERS!!!
North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference
Toronto, Canada
January 15-16, 2011
Deadline for Proposals: November 1, 2010
The North American Anarchist Studies Network is currently seeking presentations for our second annual conference to be held at the Steel Worker’s Hall in Toronto, Canada. We are seeking submissions from radical academics, independent researchers, community activists, street philosophers and students. We invite those engaged in intellectual work within existing institutions, such as universities, but also those engaged in the production of knowledge beyond institutional walls to share their ongoing work. From the library stacks to the streets, we encourage all those interested in the study of anarchism to submit a proposal.
In keeping with the open and fluid spirit of anarchism, we will not be calling for any specific topics of discussion, but rather are encouraging participants to present on a broad and diverse number of themes- from the historical to the contemporary to the utopian. For inspiration, we have included a number of suggested themes that have been of interest us; we invite you to suggest and submit your own topics, papers, themes, panels and workshops:
* Theorizing Anarchism: Perspectives on Anarchist Studies
* Greening Anarchy: Anarchism and the Environment
* Bridging the Marxist/Anarchist Divide: Is Black and Red Dead?
* Race, Class & Solidarity: Migration Politics
* Indigenous Rights and Politics in (Occupied) North America
* Expanding the Anarchist Canon: Non-Western Anarchism(s)
* The South American ‘New Left’ and Anarchism
* ‘Queering’ Anarchy: Anarchism and LGBTQ Issues
* ‘Revolution’ in the 21st Century: The Meaning of Social Change Today
* Militant Research: Connecting Activism and Academia
* Practicing Anarchy: Organization, Insurrection and Anarchist Social Movements
* Envisioning Alternatives: Anarchist Utopias
* Anarchism and Radical (Dis)ability Politics
* The Greek ‘Crisis’ and Anarchist Responses
* Post-G20 Toronto: Learning from Toronto’s G20 Mobilizations
* Anarchist Cultural Perspectives and Practices
* The Post-Anarchist Challenge?
* Anarchists and Academia: The Perils, Pitfalls and Potentialities of the University
It is our sincere hope that this conference will, to the greatest extent possible, accurately represent the diversity of North American anarchist politics and thought; to that end, we encourage submission(s) in English, French, Spanish and in any other language or on any other topic you feel relevant to this experience and this community.
Send your proposal, including a short abstract, a working title and three keywords that describe your project to the Toronto NAASN Crew at naasntoronto@gmail.com .
For more information on the North America Anarchist Studies Network check out our website at www.naasn.org.
We look forward to hearing from you, organizing with you and, of course, learning from you!
Related Link: http://www.naasn.org
Labels: anarchism, anarchist theory, announcements, canadian anarchist movement, conferences, international anarchist movement, North American Anarchist Studies Conference, Toronto
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:
SOLIDARITY WITH ELEVEN ARRESTED IN TORONTO:
Today the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) held a rally to protest the cuts to the 'Special Diet' in Ontario. When the delegation from the protest entered the Provincial Liberal headquarters to deliver their petition all 11 delegates were arrested. OCAP is calling for a solidarity rally tomorrow. Here is the story from OCAP.
CPCPCPCPCP
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 21, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 21, 2010
Eleven People Arrested:
OCAP Rallies Against Cut to the Special Diet
COME OUT TOMRROW IN SUPPORT!
WHERE: College Park Courthouse (south-west corner of Yonge & College)
WHEN: 10:30 am (Thursday, July 22nd, 2010)
Today, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) demonstrated against the devastating cut to the Special Diet benefit and to demand that the Liberal Government raise welfare rates by at least 55% - the minimum amount required to restore rates to where they were before the cut by Harris in 1995. During today's rally, over 300 people took to the streets, while a smaller group of people went in to the Liberal Party headquarters, to deliver an ‘invoice’ to the Liberal Party – demanding full re-payment of benefits taken from people living on social assistance.
The delegation of people who entered the Provincial Liberals HQ went to deliver a message about the impact of the cuts on poor people. Rather than receive this message, the powers that be chose to enforce their austerity measures with police action. Shortly after the group entered, Toronto Police arrested all 11 people, OCAP members, allies, and labour activists.
Two people were released, while the other 9 remain in custody tonight.
"I went to the demonstration to demand the the special diet not be cut and that welfare and ODSP rates be raised 55% for those of us on social assistance. Instead, I was arrested and the police called me "a pawn"because I am disabled. I am not a pawn. Disabled people fight against governments that make and keeps us poor every day, and we will fight until we win enough money to eat healthy food and pay our rents," said Anne Abbot, an OCAP member who was released with a trespass summons rather than being charged, because she uses a wheelchair.
This latest arrest and detention of activists comes only a few weeks after the mass arrest of over 1000 anti-G20 protesters.
“The G20 leaders met in Toronto to call for austerity measures just like the cuts to welfare in Ontario,” said OCAP organizer Liisa Schofield. “Nobody should be surprised when the police are once again called in to crush public outcry against these kinds of policies.”
Come out on Thursday morning to support those facing charges.
We demand the immediate release of all people being held and the dropping of all charges.
We demand that the Liberal government raise welfare rates by at least 55%.
Media Contact: 416-826-4796
COME OUT TOMORROW IN SUPPORT!
WHERE: College Park Courthouse (south-west corner of Yonge & College)
WHEN: 10:30 am (Thursday, July 22nd, 2010)
**
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
10 Britain St.
Toronto, ON
M5A 1R6
416-925-6939
**
Labels: arrests, Canadian politics, demonstrations, OCAP, Ontario, poverty, protests, solidarity., Toronto
