Paul S. Graham

Then mosey on over to http://www.progressivecoalition.ca/.

Canadians for a Progressive Coalition is conducting an online campaign to encourage Liberals, New Dems and Bloquistes to form a federal coalition government. This campaign is both necessary and timely; necessary, because most Canadians rejected the troglodytic Tory agenda in the October federal election and timely because there is a confidence vote coming up next week.

All three opposition parties have vowed to vote against Flaherty’s “fiscal update” and this could precipitate an election or a request from the GG to form a coaliton government.

Given that the best we could expect in a new election would be a House that looks pretty much like the one we have now, a coalition government makes a lot of sense. It would give us a government that is more politically representative of Canadians.  We would get a government that understands that we face more than a “technical recession.” It could create an environment that makes possible the pressing business of electoral reform.

So, go to Canadians for a Progressive Coalition and see what they have to say. There is a petition to sign and more than enough opportunities for political organizing if the last election didn’t sap your enthusiasm for such jolly fun.

According to Education International

Teachers, trade unionists and human rights defenders around the world are mobilising in defence of Farzad Kamangar, an Iranian Kurdish teacher and trade unionist who is at risk of execution.

Education International received information from reliable sources that on 26 November Kamangar was taken from his cell 121 in ward 209 of Tehran’s Evin prison in preparation for execution by hanging. However, the latest information is that he is still alive and was able to meet with his lawyer Wednesday. His situation remains precarious nonetheless.

If you haven’t yet done so, please send a message to Iranian President Ahmadinejad demanding justice for Farzad Kamanger.

Education International has been informed that Farzad Kamangar, the Iranian Kurdish teacher and social worker sentenced to death on “absolutely zero evidence” according to his lawyer, could be hanged on Wednesday 26 November 2008.

According to several reliable sources, he has been taken from his cell 121 in ward 209 of Tehran’s Evin prison in preparation for execution. Jail security officers are said to have told him he is about to be executed and they make fun of him, calling him a martyr.

The Revolutionary Court issued the death sentence against Kamangar on 25 February 2008. His lawyer has said: “Nothing in Kamangar’s judicial files and records demonstrates any links to the charges brought against him.” Kamangar was cleared of all charges during the investigation process. The last time Kamangar was seen, he was at the health clinic of Evin prison and his physical condition was poor. Witnesses testify that he has been beaten again. Kamangar has not been allowed to see his lawyer or family members for the past two months.

EI has been appealing the Iranian authorities to commute Kamangar’s death sentence and ensure his case is reviewed fairly. During the campaign, over 1,700 on-line messages were sent to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in support of Kamangar.

Now, EI is once again appealing to Iranian judicial authorities to halt the execution. EI is also asking members of the international community urgently to intervene.

Please go here to send an online message to the Iranian president to appeal for a review of the case of Farzad Kamangar. Every signature helps! Please do so today.

Source and More Information

Plan B

If Education International’s web site is too busy, you can write directly to Iranian President Ahmadinejad at atdr-ahmadinejad@president.ir or info@leader.ir or info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (or all three!)

Sample Letter

Dear President Ahmadinejad,

I am writing to you on behalf of Education International (EI) to deplore the confirmation of the death sentence of teacher trade unionist, Farzad Kamangar. I support the campaigns of the Iranian Teachers’ Association and of EI to have his case re-examined through a fair trial that meets Iranian and international standards. I also urge the authorities to immediately commute Farzad Kamangar’s death sentence.

According to Mr Kamangar’s lawyer, there is no evidence to justify that he has “endangered national security” or is “Mohareb” (at enmity with God). I also deplore that Iranian trade union colleagues and human rights activists who show solidarity with Farzad are being subjected to pervasive intimidation by the Iranian authorities.

The harassment, detention and condemnation of trade unionists because of their legitimate human and trade union activities are not only serious violations of trade union rights, but also create an atmosphere of fear prejudicial to trade union development in Iran.

In addition, I deplore that Mr Kamangar has been tortured while in detention and was denied medical treatment. I urge the Iranian authorities to investigate into the reports of torture and to ensure that, in future, no detainee is tortured or ill-treated.

I look forward to hearing about your positive intervention in this regard.

Yours sincerely.

Go on. Write. What are you waiting for?

Are you a girl who doesn’t have enough to eat? Don’t be ashamed. You’re not alone. There are lots like you and there’s a whole bunch who want to help you. Wanna be a kid who cares? “Be part of the solution” by collecting cans for the local food bank.

That, in a nutshell, is the antipoverty message dispensed to girls, grades 6 to 8, in a book just published by the Manitoba Government entitled “4girls only!”

Maybe I should give you the exact citation:

Not everyone has healthy food available
Many Manitobans don’t have enough healthy, nutritious food available in their homes. They don’t have basics like, milk, bread, cheese, fruit and vegetables, never mind treats like ice cream or candy. Some families rely on food banks to make sure everyone has enough to eat. If you don’t have enough food in your home, there is nothing to be ashamed of — you are not alone. There are many organizations and groups helping hungry families in Manitoba.

Be a Kid Who Cares
Check out Winnipeg Harvest (www.winnipegharvest.ca) for information about the causes of hunger and some solutions. Be part of the solution – collect canned food at your school, birthday party or other event. Ask everyone to bring a tin for the bin. Then, donate the food to a food bank in your area! You can also help out by volunteering your time. There are lots of other ways to get involved by volunteering at soup kitchens, homeless shelters and recreation centres. Try it out!

It’s a graphically lively publication, crammed with what appears to be enlightened advice on health, nutrition, sexuality, relationships, careers and so forth, with links to a bazillion web sites for more info. Still, I doubt very much that it will be used by girls whose families shop at the local food bank – if they ever had computers, they were pawned to pay the rent.

It bears repeating:

Many Manitobans don’t have enough healthy, nutritious food available in their homes.

I wondered how that line got past the arbiters of political taste in the Premier’s office. A little farther on, I found the answer:

Some families rely on food banks to make sure everyone has enough to eat.

Problem solved. Food banks cure hunger pangs. If you wanna be a “kid who cares,” get out and stock those food bank shelves.

According to Statistics Canada data cited by the Government of Manitoba, the incidence of poverty has gone down somewhat — the total number of Manitobans living in poverty fell to 11.4 per cent in 2006 from 14.9 per cent in 1999. That still leaves us in second place, behind BC, in the Child Poverty Steeplechase, according to Campaign 2000.

No, they didn’t refer to that race to the bottom as a steeplechase, or even as a race to the bottom! But don’t let their lack of poetic licentiousness stop you from reading their report, entitled “It Takes a Nation to Raise a Generation: Time for a National Poverty Reduction Strategy.” Poverty is crappy everywhere, but I happen to live in Manitoba, and so I couldn’t help noticing that 14.1 per cent of our kids are officially poor.

Source: It Takes a Nation to Raise a Generation: Time for a National Poverty Reduction Strategy.

Writing in Hunger Count 2007, Winnipeg Harvest’s Karen Flett writes:

Unemployment in Manitoba is at a 30-year low. That means Manitobans are working. In fact, they are working harder than ever. We are all contributing to a growing economy, and even the poorest among us are working more. Yet, one in every three low-income children has a parent working full-time all year, and it is still not enough to pull them out of poverty. A sizzling economy and plentiful jobs aren’t enough to pull poverty rates down to those enjoyed in many countries with less robust economies.

In Winnipeg you see child poverty everywhere you go; it could be in a local playground, schools, streets or community recreation centres. It seems to be endless, and it is a sorrowful situation when children are standing in line with their families at local food banks.

This tragedy is not confined to Winnipeg. According to Flett, more rural communities are requesting food, isolated communities are especially vulnerable and with the high cost of gas, some food banks are unable to deliver food and the folks who need it can’t make it into town.

According to Flett, in 2007, Manitoba foodbanks 43,563 individuals. (3.7% of provincial population). Of these, 47 percent were children.

Getting back to “4girls only!” – I’m happy that Manitoba Status of Women is trying to help girls with the challenges of growing up. I only hope the rest of their advice is more truthful than the lies they are telling them about how to cure hunger in Manitoba.

Workers at the DESA leather factory who had been fired for engaging in unionization activities staged a demonstration Saturday on İstiklal Street in the Beyoğlu district of İstanbul, delaying traffic in the area. Photo: Todays Zaman, Nov. 17, 2008

Earlier this year, reports Labourstart, hundreds of workers at the Turkish leather manufacturer DESA — which produces for Prada, Louis Vuitton, Mulberry and Nicole Farhi — joined a union.

The reaction of the company was fierce: 44 union members were sacked, and 50 more compelled to quit the union. Nevertheless, the workers have stood firm, holding daily protests outside the factory. Local police have been called in to arrest them, and bribes offered to union leaders to call off the demonstrations. Families have been threatened. One union leader has been threatened by the company and her eleven year old daughter narrowly escaped a kidnap attempt.

Workers at DESA need a union urgently. They complain of poverty wages, long hours and terrible health and safety conditions. You can safely bet your last dollar that they cannot afford to dress like the affluent folk who buy their products or the model who adorns their employer’s web site, pictured below.

Labourstart has asked that we send a message to DESA’s customers — the luxury fashion brands — telling them that we support the DESA workers in their struggle.

Sitting in Canada, where we think we have enough of our own problems, one might wonder why this particular struggle is important or noteworthy. It may be a bit old-fashioned, but I think every time working people organize a union to advance their interests their struggle is important.

In Canada, we have forgotten how the struggles of labour paved the way for old age pensions, labour standards, unemployment insurance and universal health care. In very real ways, the advances and setbacks of labour in Canada have presaged social progress or devolution, as the case may be.

Every success labour achieves, wherever it occurs, makes it easier for working people in this country to defend and advance their interests. Every sweatshop that is transformed into a reasonable employer makes it that much harder for sweatshop operators everywhere.

The fight of the DESA workers is particularly noteworthy. Here they are, working for crappy wages to put luxury leather clothing on the backsides of the rich and the pampered of the earth. As soon as they try to improve their situation, the company and the state conspire (on behalf of the aforementioned rich and pampered) to stop the union drive through firings, intimidation and violence.

It’s an old story for students of labour history in this country. It is a common story, world wide. So, please, do your bit to make sweatshops unfashionable: click on this link and express some solidarity.

More Information

“Labour Behind the Label” has published a detailed account of the DESA workers fight. Their site provides a wealth of information on garment workers’ efforts worldwide to defend their rights.

Photo: John D. McHugh/AFP/Getty Images. Soldiers from the 1st Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry handcuff and search a suspected Taliban prisoner. Ottawa revealed that it stopped the transfer of Afghan detainees in November. Caption: National Post, Oct. 3, 2008

Like a mangy cat with diarrhea, the federal government is trying, so far unsucessfully, to cover up its role in the torture of prisoners taken by Canadian troops in Afghanistan. According to the Canadian Press:

The federal government wants the courts to block public hearings into the transfer of Afghan detainees.

At issue is whether Canadian soldiers were ordered to transfer prisoners to Afghan security, despite knowing the detainees would likely be tortured.

The government had promised full co-operation, but is now asking the Federal Court to outlaw the hearings.

Government lawyers say the independent Military Police Complaints Commission can only investigate individual cases of tortured prisoners.

They want a court order barring the agency from probing allegations that transferred prisoners were tortured and that Canadian officials knew it would happen.

Commission chairman Peter Tinsley ordered the public hearings last spring, saying it was the only way to ensure a full investigation of the allegations.

“It’s troubling and disappointing, but not at all surprising, that the government is again trying to obstruct the holding of a public hearing,” said Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada told the Globe and Mail. “They are always looking for ways to avoid transparency and accountability.”

There have been several instances of Canadian soldiers refusing to turn over prisoners to Afghan security for fear they would be tortured.

But the federal government has refused to say how many prisoners it has turned over and whether it can account for all of them.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2215007&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

New York Times Special Edition Video News Release – Nov. 12, 2008 from H Schweppes on Vimeo.

On November 12, thousands of volunteers distributed 1.2 million copies of a “special edition” of the New York Times, datelined July 4, 2009, that declared, among many other wonderful developments, that the Afghanistan and Iraq wars were over and that the troops would be coming home within weeks. Other articles revealed plans for universal healthcare, free post secondary education, rebuilding the nations crumbling infrastructure, and the nationalization of the oil industry to pay for climate change adaptation.

This highly creative work of political satire was the product of a group that calls itself the “Yes Men” — perhaps as a riff on Obama’s “Yes we can!” election slogan. In the words of the publishers:

This special edition of The New York Times comes from a future in which we are accomplishing what we know today to be possible.

The dozens of volunteer citizens who produced this paper spent the last eight years dreaming of a better world for themselves, their friends, and any descendants they might end up having. Today, that better world, though still very far away, is finally possible — but only if millions of us demand it, and finally force our government to do its job.

Part belly laugh, part bolshevism, this is political agitation on a grand scale; it will be difficult to ignore. Check out the web version of the July 4, 2009 New York Times here.

We get so caught up in discussing the “big issues” of the day we can easily forget that all politics are local and personal before they make it onto the world stage.

In that spirit, here are some actions and activities I hope local (Winnipeg and area) readers will find time to support.

Alternative Remembrance Day Ceremony – Nov. 11

View the film “Breaking Ranks,” a moving documentary about the plight of U.S. soldiers seeking sanctuary in Canada as part of their resistance to the war in Iraq. With intimate access to four American military deserters, their lawyers and families, this film documents their experiences as they try to exercise their consciences amidst profound emotional, ethical and international consequences. This will be followed by a discussion and a candle lighting vigil.

Date: Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: St. Matthews Anglican Church, 641 St. Matthews Avenue (at Maryland St.)
Please help promote this event. Click here to download a poster that you can distribute.

War Resister Joshua Keys to speak in Winnipeg, Nov. 13, 14

Joshua Key’s autobiography, “The Deserter’s Tale,” written with Lawrence Hill (House of Anansi Press, 2007), raises disturbing issues concerning the conduct of the Iraq war and the status of those seeking asylum in Canada as conscientious objectors. Joshua will be speaking at several locations.

* Thursday, Nov. 13, 7:00 p.m. at Mondragon Books (91 Albert St.)
* Friday, Nov. 14, 2:30-4:00 p.m., 310 Tier Building, University of Manitoba

He will also be at at Menno Simons College – 520 Portage at Spence St, on Friday, November 14 at 6 p.m. for the screening of the film “Close the School of the Assassins” — an event sponsored by the Student Christian Movement and Menno Simons College.

Rally Against the Harper Agenda, Nov. 15

The Majority Agenda Coalition is holding a rally at the national convention of the Conservative Party of Canada. According to the organizers:

“We urge all progressive organizations in Manitoba to mobilize their members to attend the rally! We invite you to join the coalition organizing the rally – The Majority Agenda Coalition – or to endorse the rally. The approach we are taking is that “we are the majority” – we are the 62 per cent of people who did not vote Conservative in the last election! Even worse, the Conservative Party plunged 185,000 votes compared to 2006 yet has 19 more members in Parliament.

“As the rally organizers, we have agreed that the rally will be peaceful and respectful of the law.

“Much is at stake! The majority of people voted for parties that promised action to create jobs during the economic crisis, improve the lives of Aboriginal peoples, create a child care program support equality for women, save the Wheat Board and protect the family farm, keep funding the Arts, and save our public Post Office.

“We are the majority of Canadians who want our soldiers out of Afghanistan and for Canada to meet its Kyoto commitments. We are the majority who oppose further deep integration with the United States and who want an end to the secret “Security and Prosperity” talks. We are the majority who want more affordable access to higher education and action to end poverty and homelessness. These are all policies that the Harper government is trying to block. So we the majority need to block his agenda!”

When: Saturday, November 15, 12 Noon

Where: Winnipeg Convention Centre, York St. between Carleton and Edmonton

More Information: (204) 947-9334

Please help promote this event. If you click on the image you will get a downloadable poster that you can distribute via email and post wherever you like.

Annual Meeting of Peace Alliance Winnipeg, Nov. 16

Date: Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008
Time: 1:30 pm
Place: Workers Organizing Resource Centre, 180 Smith, Mezzanine Level
Press the buzzer to get access to the building.

The AGM will discuss the work the Peace Alliance has engaged in during the past year and set priorities for the coming year. To be eligible to vote at the AGM you must have paid your membership for 2008. If you are not a member you can join by submitting the membership form at the web site by Friday, November 14 so that your membership can be processed. Current members can direct inquiries about their membership status to “info [at} peacealliancewinnipeg [dot] ca.”

Winnipeg Citizens Coalition General Meeting – Nov. 26

The Winipeg Citizens Coalition would like to invite members and the public at large to its upcoming general meeting!

Date: Wednesday, November 26th

Time: 6:30 PM

Location: Silver Heights Community Centre, 2080 Ness Avenue

The agenda will include a presentation on the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Alternative Municipal Budget by University of Manitoba Professor Ian Hudson.