Peace Alliance Winnipeg held its annual Walk for Peace and Justice on September 26, 2026. As it has done for the past few years, PAW’s walk was a part of the annual Winnipeg arts festival called Nuit Blanche. The walk was endorsed by more than 20 social justice groups in the city. Two themes dominated the event: Canadian militarism and the children of Gaza.
Canadian military spending is growing ominously, and the marchers distributed literature that explained this in some detail. A lively piece of street theatre illustrated the impact of military spending on Canada’s social programs
In recognition of the Israeli policy of targeting Palestinian children, walkers carried kite-shaped placards to symbolize the children’s kites the Israeli military has banned in Gaza.
Throughout the walk, the procession which began with spirited speeches, would pause for a poem, or a song, or a piece of theatre. The evening ended with a moving rendition of “We Shall Overcome” and a promise to return again next year, stronger than ever.
Winnipeg Lanterns for Peace is held annually to mark the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. This year’s observance was sponsored by the Japanese Cultural Association of Manitoba, Mennonite Central Committee (Manitoba), Peace Alliance Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends.
Cuba has been under attack from the United States seemingly forever. Why should we care? This seminar, organized by Manitoba-Cuba Solidarity, answers this question with useful information and thoughtful insights. I recorded it at Winnipeg’s iconic Ukrainian Labour Temple on May 23, 2026. Please share widely.
The United States has ramped up its decades-long campaign to smash its tiny Caribbean neighbour. While the country has been plagued with shortages of essential goods since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, recent US measures to starve the country of fuel have made a bad situation much worse. The US oil blockade amounts to a state of war and the American government has threatened dire consequences for any country that comes to Cuba’s aid.
So, what’s a freedom loving human to do in the face of Yankee aggression? Here are some suggestions.
Tell Carney to “Elbows Up” for Cuba
Canada’s relationship with Cuba has been mixed. On one hand, we’ve had diplomatic relations with Cuba since 1945 and trade relations since the 18th century. Canadians account for one-third of Cuba’s tourists and we’ve held that number one spot for many years. On the other, there are documented instances of Canada spying on Cuba for the United States.
Canada has long claimed its generally friendly relations with Cuba in the context of Yankee hostility as evidence of Canada’s independent foreign policy. One way we can help Cuba is to compel our government to provide real support Cuba in the face of US aggression.
There is an online petition to the House of Commons calling for the Canadian Government to assist the people of Cuba in resisting United States aggression. Specifically, the petition calls on our government to:
Publicly condemn U.S. aggressions as violations of international law;
Refuse to participate in, support, or legitimize military, economic, or political aggressions against Venezuela and other countries;
Reaffirm and actively support the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, free from external military intervention;
Actively reject any and all interventions and military aggressions against Cuba, Colombia and Mexico;
Firmly oppose U.S. economic and other coercive measures against Cuba and vigorously advocate for their removal;
Deepen economic ties, trade and assistance to Cuba; and
Unequivocally uphold and promote the right of self-determination of the peoples and countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
If you wish to sign this petition, do so, here, before April 20, 2026.
On a more individual, person-to-person basis, you can plug into local activities with your nearest Canada-Cuba friendship committee, of which there are many across Canada. The umbrella organization for most if not all of there groups is the Canadian Network on Cuba. The CNC is an excellent source of information about Cuba solidarity and the many groups across Canada that you can work with.
Many peace groups are actively supporting Cuba and other countries struggling against imperialism. The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network is a good place to find local groups and national news.
If you belong to a union, it may have a social justice or international solidarity committee or program. Many churches have social justice and/or international development programs.
Information is Power
You have to keep informed. There is so much contradictory information, disinformation and outright bullshit, it is often difficult to know what is going on. With regard to Latin America and the Caribbean, here are some sources that I have found to be helpful:
The United States has been meddling in Venezuelan affairs since the election of Hugo Chávez in 1999. Despite American backed coup attempts, assassination plots, and economic sanctions, the people of Venezuela have stood firm and continued to elect Chávez, and following his death in 2013, Nicolás Maduro. More recently, under the pretext of combatting drug smugglers, the US military has been murdering unarmed fishers (more than 80 to date) and amassing a naval force off the coast of Venezuela. An invasion could come at any moment.
International solidarity in opposition to America’s plans for Venezuela is building. In coordination with the Canada Wide Peace and Justice Network call to action for a week of emergency protests, Winnipeg peace activists held an information picket on November 23, 2025. The action was organized by Peace Alliance Winnipeg, The Manitoba Cuba Solidarity Network, United in Action, the Communist Party of Canada-Manitoba and Araucaria.
The Alliance of Sahel States (French: Alliance des États du Sahel), or AES is a confederation formed between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, located in the Sahel region of Africa. The AES has been actively breaking colonial ties and its anti-imperialist stance has placed it in conflict with many of its African neighbours (as well as France, the former colonial master). Peace Alliance Winnipeg held a public forum on August 19, 2025 to explore this topic.
The forum was moderated by Canadian Dimension magazine columnist Owen Schalk and featured Professor Amina Mire of Carlton University and Prudence Iticka, an organizer with Black People United Calgary.
Peace Alliance Winnipeg held its annual general meeting on April 12, 2025. This year’s meeting featured a keynote address by Manitoba author Owen Schalk entitled “Confronting imperialism in the age of Western decline.” Owen is a columnist for Canadian Dimension, the author of Canada in Afghanistan: A story of military, diplomatic, political and media failure, 2003-2023 and the co-author of Canada’s Long Fight Against Democracy with Yves Engler.
Miguel Enríquez was a physician and a founder of the Chilean Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria – MIR (Movement of the Revolutionary Left). He was General Secretary of the MIR between 1967 and his death, on October 5, 1974, in a gunfight with agents of Chile’s secret police, the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional, a Gestapo-like tool of the Pinochet dictatorship that tortured and murdered opponents of that vicious regime with impunity.
On October 5, 2024, members of Winnipeg’s Chilean-Canadian community celebrated his life and work. A half-century has passed, but the hopes and dreams for a better world live on. As Canadian singer-songwriter Nancy White sang about Víctor Jara, another famous Chilean murdered by Pinochet’s thugs, “they killed the man but they couldn’t kill the song!”
Professor Michael Lynk, who teaches law at the University of Western Ontario, served as the United Nations “Special Rapporteur for the human rights situation in the Palestinian Territories occupied since 1967” from 2016 to 2022. He spoke in Winnipeg on October 18, 2024, about the occupation of Palestinian territory by the State of Israel, why this has been judged illegal under international law and why Israel stands accused of the crimes of genocide and apartheid.
Professor Lynk’s appearance was co-sponsored by Canadian Muslims for Palestine, Peace Alliance Winnipeg, Independent Jewish Voices Winnipeg, Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba, University of Manitoba Muslim Students’ Association, Diversity for Palestine and Faculty for Palestine.
