ALL OUT ON MAY 31 2023 TO PROTEST NORTH AMERICA’S BIGGEST WEAPONS SHOW
Last year, hundreds strong, we blocked CANSEC’s entrances in solidarity with everyone killed and displaced by the weapons sold there. Check out our 2022 reportback here.
This year will be even bigger. Join us on May 31st 2023 to make it impossible for anyone to come anywhere near their weapons fair without directly confronting the violence and bloodshed these arms dealers are complicit in.
March 26 2023 marks eight years of the brutal Saudi-led intervention in the war in Yemen. A war that has killed an estimated 377,000 people. Over 5 million people have been displaced because of the war, and a staggering 21.6 million people are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, as 80 per cent of the country’s population struggles to access food, safe drinking water and adequate health services.
The Saudi-led coalition has bombed Yemeni markets, hospitals, and civilians, and yet Canada has exported over $8 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia since 2015, the year the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen began. It’s despicable for Canada to be profiting from selling billions in arms to Saudi Arabia.
The war in Yemen must stop! Antiwar and peace activists and organizations are marking 8 years of the war on Yemen with days of action from March 25-27, 2023.
Le Canada a du sang sur les mains.
Le 26 mars 2023 marque les huit ans de l’intervention brutale de l’Arabie saoudite dans la guerre au Yémen. Une guerre qui a tué plus de 377,000 personnes. Plus de cinq millions de personnes ont été déplacées à cause de la guerre, et 21,6 millions de personnes ont désespérément besoin d’aide humanitaire, alors que 80 % de la population du pays lutte pour avoir accès à la nourriture, à l’eau potable et à des services de santé adéquats.
La coalition dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite a bombardé les marchés, les hôpitaux et les civils yéménites, et pourtant le Canada a exporté pour plus de 8 milliards de dollars d’armes vers l’Arabie saoudite depuis 2015, année du début de l’intervention militaire dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite au Yémen. Il est méprisable que le Canada profite de la vente de milliards d’armes à l’Arabie saoudite.
La guerre au Yémen doit cesser ! Les militants et organisations antiguerres marqueront les 8 ans de la guerre au Yémen par des journées d’action du 25 au 27 mars 2023.
Statement on the war in Yemen Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network – March 2023
As the war in Yemen enters its eighth year, the Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network calls on the Trudeau Liberal government to end its complicity with the aggressors—the Saudi-led coalition—and to help the victims, the people of Yemen.
Who are the parties to this war?
In 2015, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates started a brutal bombing campaign and a military intervention in Yemen against the Ansar Allah movement (also known as Houthis). The stated goal of the Saudi-led coalition was to reinstate the deposed former president Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi. Thus, an internal dispute in Yemen became an international military intervention led by Saudi Arabia and backed by the United States, United Kingdom (UK), France, Canada, Germany and Italy.
Yemen is a land of rich history and ancient civilization; beautiful and complex culture; and resilient people. The Yemeni people deserve to determine the future of their country freely without any foreign military intervention or coercion. The Saudi-led war in Yemen is an attack on Yemen’s sovereignty and self-determination.
The humanitarian situation
Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen has killed hundreds of thousands of people and wreaked havoc on the country. The United Nations has declared the Yemen war to be “the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.”
This war breaks the conditions of the Geneva Convention by deliberately targeting civilians and civilian structures, schools, markets, hospitals, roads, water tanks, sanitation facilities and places of worship in Yemen, as documented by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Médecins Sans Frontières and the United Nations.
A staggering 21.6 million people in Yemen require some form of humanitarian assistancein 2023, as 80 per cent of the country’s population struggles to access food, safe drinking water and adequate health services. Multiple emergencies have pummeled the country: violent conflict, an economic blockade by the Saudi-led coalition, currency collapse, natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Canada’s role
Canada has played a huge role in perpetuating this disastrous war. One of the first actions of the newly-elected Trudeau government in 2015 was to reaffirm the signing of a $15 billion deal to sell Light Armored Vehicles (LAVs) to Saudi Arabia. This was the largest arms exporting contract in Canadian history and included training in the use of the vehicles. Canada also trained Saudi pilots in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Canada continues to sell weapons and military equipment to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The United Nations panel of experts on Yemen has twice named Canada, in 2020 and 2021, as one of the states fueling the ongoing war in Yemen. Canada provides well over $1 billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE every year.
U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia has been constant since the war began, even in the face of a 2019 UN report revealing that Saudi Arabia was committing war crimes and that its Western supporters were complicit. In Canada, many politicians want to keep the war profits from weapons sales rolling in. These war profiteers and our compliant media cheer on the proxy war in Ukraine and are mute as the war in Yemen drags on.
Alarmingly, a Breach (Canadian online investigative news outlet) investigation shows that this complicity extends to the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. As it reported, the Canadian government is buying two aircraft, for $133 million, for a fleet to be used by the prime minister. The seller is a company controlled by notorious Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman.
It’s despicable for Canada to be profiting from selling billions in arms to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Owen Schalk, writing in Canadian Dimension, summarizes the situation:
Canada’s involvement in the war on Yemen can be explained in two words: blood money. It is that simple, and there is no excuse for the federal government’s consistent facilitation of these weapons transactions, no matter how many pathetic justifications they conjure up. You can’t make nationwide famine disappear by insisting upon the importance of Canadian manufacturing jobs. You can’t eliminate the Houthis’ domestic popularity by blindly applying the “Iran-backed” descriptor to any discussion of their resistance. And Yemen can’t wait for the Liberal Party to grow a conscience.
Our demands
We call on the Trudeau Liberal government to take these steps to permanently end Canadian complicity in this war:
Cancel active and pending sales of Canadian arms (light armored vehicles and other weapons) to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Call on the Saudi-led coalition to end its illegal military offensive.
Call on the Saudi-led coalition to fully lift the land, sea, and air blockade on Yemen.
Open unconditionally the door to all Yemeni refugees under the same terms as has been done for Ukrainian refugees.
Increase humanitarian aid to Yemen to an amount that will be meaningful given the scale of misery and destruction that Yemenis have suffered in this eight-year war. After the Canadian government cancels the $15 billion LAV sale, they must donate the refunded amount (after penalties) for humanitarian aid in Yemen.
Déclaration sur la guerre au Yémen Réseau pan-canadien pour la paix et la justice – Mars 2023
Alors que la guerre au Yémen entre dans sa huitième année, le Réseau pan-canadien pour la paix et la justice demande au gouvernement libéral de Trudeau de mettre fin à sa complicité avec les agresseurs – la coalition dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite – et d’aider les victimes, le peuple du Yémen.
Qui sont les parties à cette guerre ? En 2015, une coalition dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite et les Émirats arabes unis a lancé une campagne de bombardements brutale et une intervention militaire au Yémen contre le mouvement Ansar Allah (également connu sous le nom de Houthis). L’objectif déclaré de la coalition dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite était de rétablir l’ancien président Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi dans ses fonctions. Ainsi, un conflit interne au Yémen s’est transformé en une intervention militaire internationale menée par l’Arabie saoudite et soutenue par les États-Unis, le Royaume-Uni, la France, le Canada, l’Allemagne et l’Italie.
Le Yémen est un pays à l’histoire riche et à la civilisation ancienne, à la culture belle et complexe, et au peuple résistant. Le peuple yéménite mérite de décider librement de l’avenir de son pays, sans intervention militaire étrangère ni coercition. La guerre menée par l’Arabie saoudite au Yémen est une attaque contre la souveraineté et l’autodétermination du pays. La situation humanitaire La guerre menée par l’Arabie saoudite au Yémen a tué des centaines de milliers de personnes et ravagé le pays. Les Nations unies ont déclaré que la guerre au Yémen était “la pire crise humanitaire au monde”.Cette guerre viole les conditions de la Convention de Genève en prenant délibérément pour cible des civils et desstructures civiles, des écoles, des marchés, des hôpitaux, des routes, des réservoirs d’eau, des installations sanitaires et des lieux de culte au Yémen, comme l’ont démontré Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Médecins Sans Frontières et les Nations Unies.
En 2023, 21,6 millions de personnes au Yémen auront besoin d’une forme ou d’une autre d’aide humanitaire, car 80 % de la population du pays a du mal à accéder à la nourriture, à l’eau potable et à des services de santéadéquats. De multiples situations d’urgence ont frappé le pays : conflit violent, blocus économique imposé par la coalition dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite, effondrement de la monnaie, catastrophes naturelles et pandémie de COVID-19. Le rôle du Canada Le Canada a joué un rôle considérable dans la perpétuation de cette guerre désastreuse. L’une des premières actions du gouvernement Trudeau nouvellement élu en 2015 a été de réaffirmer la signature d’un accord de 15 milliards de dollars pour la vente de véhicules blindés légers (VBL) à l’Arabie saoudite. Il s’agissait du plus gros contrat d’exportation d’armes de l’histoire du Canada, qui incluait la formation à l’utilisation des véhicules. Le Canada a également formé des pilotes saoudiens en Alberta et en Saskatchewan. Le Canada continue de vendre des armes et des équipements militaires à l’Arabie saoudite et aux Émirats arabes unis. Le groupe d’experts des Nations unies sur le Yémen a désigné à deux reprises le Canada, en 2020 et 2021, comme l’un des États qui alimentent la guerre en cours au Yémen. Le Canada fournit chaque année pour plus d’un milliard de dollars d’armes à l’Arabie saoudite et aux Émirats arabes unis.
Le soutien militaire des États-Unis à l’Arabie saoudite est constant depuis le début de la guerre, même face à un rapport de l’ONU de 2019 révélant que l’Arabie saoudite commettait des crimes de guerre et que ses soutiensoccidentaux étaient complices. Au Canada, de nombreux politiciens souhaitent que les profits de guerreprovenant des ventes d’armes continuent d’affluer. Ces profiteurs de guerre et nos médias complaisants encouragent la guerre par procuration en Ukraine et restent muets face à la guerre au Yémen qui s’éternise.
Fait alarmant, une enquête de The Breach montre que cette complicité s’étend jusqu’au Premier ministre Justin Trudeau. Le gouvernement canadien est en train d’acheter deux avions, pour un montant de 133 millions dedollars, afin de constituer une flotte utilisée par le Premier ministre. Le vendeur est une société contrôlée par lecélèbre prince héritier saoudien et Premier ministre Mohammed bin Salman.
Il est ignoble que le Canada profite de la vente de milliards d’euros d’armes à l’Arabie saoudite et aux Émirats arabes unis. Owen Schalk, qui écrit dans Canadian Dimension, résume la situation :L’implication du Canada dans la guerre au Yémen peut s’expliquer en deux mots : l’argent du sang. C’est aussi simple que cela, et il n’y a aucune excuse à la facilitation constante de ces transactions d’armes par legouvernement fédéral, quelles que soient les justifications pathétiques qu’il invente. Ce n’est pas en insistant surl’importance des emplois manufacturiers canadiens que l’on fera disparaître la famine qui sévit dans tout lepays. On n’éliminera pas la popularité nationale des Houthis en appliquant aveuglément le qualificatif “soutenu par l’Iran” à toute discussion sur leur résistance. Et le Yémen ne peut pas attendre que le Parti libéral acquière une conscience. Nos revendications Nous enjoignons le gouvernement libéral de Trudeau à prendre les mesures suivantes pour mettre un terme définitif à la complicité du Canada dans cette guerre : • Annuler les ventes d’armes canadiennes (véhicules blindés légers et autres armes) à l’Arabie saoudite et aux Émirats arabes unis. • Demander à la coalition dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite de mettre fin à son offensive militaire illégale. • Demander à la coalition dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite de lever complètement le blocus terrestre, maritime et aérien du Yémen. • Ouvrir inconditionnellement la porte à tous les réfugiés yéménites dans les mêmes conditions que pour les réfugiés ukrainiens. • Augmenter l’aide humanitaire au Yémen pour atteindre un montant significatif compte tenu de l’ampleur de la misère et de la destruction subies par les Yéménites au cours de cette guerre qui dure depuis huit ans. Lorsque le gouvernement canadien aura annulé la vente des VBL pour un montant de 15 milliards de dollars, il devra faire don du montant remboursé (après pénalités) pour l’aide humanitaire au Yémen.
Thank you to everyone who joined a solidarity action!
TORONTO RALLY: 8 Years Too Long – End the War in Yemen!
ALL OUT on the eight-year anniversary of the brutal war in Yemen. We will rally in solidarity with the people of Yemen to demand #CanadaStopArmingSaudi and denounce Canada’s deadly hypocrisy in fueling the war with billions of dollars in arms sales.
◉ 2pm Sunday March 26 2023 ◉ Meet at Simcoe Park, 255 Front Street West, Toronto. We will rally followed by a short march (10 minute walk) ◉ Join the facebook event here: https://fb.me/e/2xID50e1A
VANCOUVER
#CanadaStopArmingSaudi! Vancouver Action to End the War on Yemen
#CanadaStopArmingSaudi! All Foreign Troops Out of Yemen Now! Open the Border to All Refugees from Yemen! SATURDAY March 25, 2pm 700 Hamilton Street, Outside the CBC Vancouver Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/238469085295962
Vancouver action organized by: Mobilization Against War & Occupation (MAWO) and Vancouver Yemeni community members Endorsed by: Victoria Peace Coalition, Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice, Iranian Community Against War (ICAW), ILPS Commission 4, and Global Peace Alliance BC
OTTAWA
TWO OTTAWA ACTIONS MARKING 8 YEARS OF WAR ON YEMEN
Sunday March 26 at 12pm and Monday March 27 at 3pm Outside the Saudi Embassy at 201 Sussex Drive
MONTRÉAL
Action à Montréal
Ca fait 8 ans que le Canada a du sang sur les mains.
LUNDI, 27 MARS, 12 H
800 de la Gauchetière
Rassemblement devant le tour des bureaux d’Affaires mondiales Canada
Annuler la vente de véhicules blindés et d’armes à l’Arabie Saoudite et aux Émirats arabes unis!
Info: montreal@worldbeyondwar.org
WATERLOO
We call on Trudeau to stop arming Saudi Arabia and end the war in Yemen. Export peace, not tanks. Yemeni people need humanitarian aid not war!
Demonstration on Saturday, March 25 from 12:15-1:00 p.m. Waterloo Public Square, 75 King St. Organized by the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace. More info: info@vowpeace.org
CALGARY
Calgary Peace Council / Coalition Letter Writing Social
What: Letter Writing Social, letters to parliament regarding Yemen, or any country of concern. If you have a device you can type on, like a laptop or ipad, please bring it along to speed up the process. Public libraries are great and we encourage learning how to use all their free swag, you can rent a chromebook from them if you book one here: https://calgarylibrary.ca/your-library/free-services/computers-and-chromebooks/borrow-a-computer/
When: March 25th, 3:00-4:30 pm, later to a pub within walking distance TBA as decided. Where: Central Library room 3-20D. Message or email for location if arriving late. Please be safe, responsible, and consider how you will get home if you plan on drinking later in the evening.
Webinar on Monday March 27 The Forgotten War: Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and the Canadian arms trade
Use this online tool to send a letter to your MP calling on the Canadian government to stop sending weapons to Saudi Arabia and stop arming the horrific war in Yemen.
Shareable graphics
Don’t forget to use the hashtags #CanadaStopArmingSaudi and #YemenCantWait
For the last year, the war in Ukraine has been reflected daily in mainstream news, but remains an issue clouded by confusion. While events of the last year are front page news, there is little talk about the many years of NATO provocations, aggression and military buildup against Russia. More and more each day, NATO countries including Canada, the US, and England are fueling the war, funneling even more weapons into Ukraine. Join the Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network for a webinar featuring speakers from Canada, the US, and Ukraine. Register HERE.
Join the conversation with:
Glenn Michalchuk: President of the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians and Chair of Peace Alliance Winnipeg.
Margaret Kimberly: Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report and author of the book Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents. In addition to being a Coordinating Committee member of Black Alliance for Peace, she is an Administrative Committee member of the United National Antiwar Coalition, and the Board of Directors of the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation. She is also a board member of Consortium News and the editorial board of the International Manifesto Group.
Kevin MacKay: Kevin is a professor at Mohawk College in Hamilton. He researches, writes, and teaches on the subjects of civilization collapse, political transformation, and global systemic risk. In 2017 he published Radical Transformation: Oligarchy, Collapse, and the Crisis of Civilization with Between the Lines Books. He is currently working on a book entitled A New Ecological Politics, with Oregon State University Press. Kevin also serves as Vice President of the Mohawk faculty union, OPSEU Local 240.
Co-moderated by Janine Solanki and Brendan Stone: Janine is a Vancouver-based activist and organizer with Mobilization Against War & Occupation (MAWO), a member group of the Canada-Wide Peace & Justice Network. Brendan is the co-chair of the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, and the co-host of the Unusual Sources radio program. As digital manager for the Taylor Report radio program, Brendan has been distributing interviews warning about the danger of NATO’s role in Ukraine since 2014, and has written on the subject. Brendan is involved with the series of anti-war events happening in February and March, and you can find out more at hcsw.ca
The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network organized a weekend of action to “Stop the War, Stop NATO” from February 23-26, 2023 in solidarity with other pro-peace, anti-war actions occurring around the world at the same time. Actions took place in Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton, Waterloo, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria.
Statement on the Stop the War, Stop NATO Weekend of Action February 23 – 26, 2023
Peace Now!
The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network (CWPJN) urges people across Canada to join us in calling for an end to the war in Ukraine. This conflict has caused immense suffering for the Ukrainian people and their civilian infrastructure, going back to 2014 when the conflict began in Ukraine’s Donbas region. We condemn the Trudeau government for flatly refusing to talk to its Russian counterpart and for continuously refuelling the rapidly escalating conflict in Ukraine, which has the potential to expand into a wider European war or even a nuclear confrontation. The CWPJN calls for immediate negotiations with all parties for a political solution to the conflict and a return to peace and neutrality in Ukraine. On the weekend of Feb 23th to 26th, our members will be holding actions across Canada, uniting with other pro-peace and anti-war actions occurring around the world at the same time.
Stop the War, Stop NATO!
For years, NATO has been provoking conflict with Russia. NATO’s expansion to Russia’s borders, its training and arming of Ukrainian military, and support for Ukraine’s war against its eastern Donbas region since 2014 have been the principal causes for the hostilities and the devastating war in Ukraine. The CWPJN is opposed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) because it is an aggressive, US-led, military alliance of 30 Euro-Atlantic countries that has launched deadly and destructive military interventions in the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Libya. These NATO wars have caused profound misery and a massive refugee crisis.
We are opposed to NATO’s demand that allies increase military spending to meet the 2% GDP target. In 2021, NATO members spent $1.1 trillion on military spending, accounting for 60% of global military spending. Since 2014, Canadian military spending has increased by 70%. In 2021, Canada spent $33 billion on the military, which is 15 times more than on environment and climate change. In 2022, Defence Minister Anita Anand announced military spending will increase by another 70% over the next 5 years. NATO’s demand that members buy new inter-operable weapons is leading to a costly arms race. Carbon-intensive weapons systems like fighter jets, tanks, and warships are exacerbating the climate crisis. In Canada, this includes the recently announced purchase of 16 F-35 fighter jets, part of the planned 88 F-35 fighter jets deal which will cost taxpayers at least $77 billion over the lifecycle of the jets. The government of Canada is also planning to purchase warships at a sticker price of $84 billion and $5 billion for armed drones.
This explosion in military spending will prevent Canada from investing adequately in public healthcare, education, housing, jobs and climate solutions. NATO’s reliance on a dangerous nuclear deterrence and first strike policy puts us all at risk. The deadly, expensive and environmentally harmful F-35 fighter jets purchased by Canada are designed for offensive strike first attacks and to carry B61-12 tactical nuclear weapons. Is this purchase the reason why Canada has refused to sign the United Nations Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)? The TPNW requires that signatories “never under any circumstances… develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.” The CWPJN demands that the government of Canada sign the TPNW now!
Canada out of NATO!
NATO is not a defensive alliance. It undermines global peace and human security and exacerbates the climate crisis. Because of Canada’s NATO membership, we are dragged into every war of the US empire. It’s time to for Canada to withdraw from NATO and develop a non-nuclear, independent, foreign policy, free from arms exports to fuel wars and occupations, and without massive expenditures on weapons for future wars. With humanity facing global environmental and health crises, we need international cooperation, nonviolence and common security for all countries. Peace in Ukraine, and peace with Russia and China begins with negotiations, diplomacy, and an end to NATO.
Join us in sending a message to the Trudeau government from February 23 to 26
Take Action In Person
Actions will be added to this directory as details are finalized. Please email maya@worldbeyondwar.org if you have information you’d like to be added.
Location: 13450 102nd Ave (Between University Dr. & City Pkwy.) Outside SFU Surrey Campus across from the Surrey Central Skytrain Station. Surrey, BC
Rally and leafleting action organized by: local members of the Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network and friends including Just Peace Committee BC, Global Alliance for Peace-BC, Mobilization against War and Occupation (MAWO), Fire this Time Movement for Social Justice, plus the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist).
Victoria
Saturday, February 25, 12PM
Location: Centennial Square; 1:30PM BC Legislature
In Victoria, Lekwungen territory, peace groups will join the Save Old-Growth Forests march and rally.
Sponsored by Victoria Peace Coalition, Vancouver Island Peace Council, Elders for Ancient Trees, Wilderness Committee.
Check Sierra Club BC (@sierraclubbc) on social media for updates.
Montreal
25 février 2023, à 14 h
RASSEMBLEMENT au Complexe Guy-Favreau à Montréal 200 boulevard René-Lévesque ouest (métros Place-des-Arts ou Place d’Armes).
NON à l’invasion de la Russie en UKRAINE ! NON à l’encerclement de la Russie par l’OTAN !
Location: Calgary City Hall, 800 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary, AB T2G 5E6, Canada
Hamilton
Saturday, February 25, 1PM ET
Virtual panel discussion connecting the dots between the war in Ukraine and events in West Asia such as the US regime change war in Syria, the sanctions against Iran and Lebanon, the war in Yemen, and tightening noose of occupation in Palestine.
Ottawa
Thursday, February 23, 3PM ET
Location: Sussex and York below the long staircase next to the US Embassy
Negotiation NOT Escalation
NO MILITARY SOLUTION in Ukraine
Waterloo
Sunday, February 26, 1PM ET
Location: Waterloo Public Square, 75 King St S, Waterloo, ON N2J 1P2
Location: Intersection of River Avenue and Osborne Street in Winnipeg.
Host: Peace Alliance Winnipeg
We will be handing out leaflets urging Winnipeggers to get behind the demand for negotiating a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine. All are welcome.
Toronto
Sunday, February 26, 1PM
Location: 393 Bloor St. W, Matt Cohen Park
Host: GTA for a World BEYOND War, No Fighter Jets Coalition.
Windsor
Saturday, February 25, 11AM
Location: Corner of Ouellette and Tecumseh
Halifax
Sunday, February 26, 12PM
Parade Square Kjipuktuk/Halifax
Nova Scotia Voice of Women for Peace will be dropping a banner in Parade Square Kjipuktuk/Halifax at high noon on Sunday, February 26th. The banner reads “Say NO to NATO” and we call on all Canadians to dust off their peacekeeping and peacemaking identity demanding an immediate end to fueling this war with weapons rather than peace talks.
Sunday, February 26th 11AM ET – Webinar: “Reporting from the War in Ukraine” with Canadian journalist Eva Bartlett. Register HERE. The event will also be livestreamed on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/VOWPeace
Across Canada, many Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network members action to reject Canada’s imperialist wars, occupations, sanctions and military interventions.
ARCHIVE: Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network Statement
Across Canada, the U.S. and around the world, peace activists are taking action January 13 – 22 to demand an end to imperialist wars, occupations, sanctions and military interventions. This call to action was initiated by the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) in the U.S., marking Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and remembering his words from April 4, 1967 which still ring true today, “The greatest purveyor of violence in the world: My own Government, I can not be Silent.” This week of action is supported by the Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network, a network of 45 peace groups across Canada.
No New Fighter Jets!
An urgent demand for antiwar activists in Canada is No New Fighter Jets! On January 9, 2023 Canada’s Defense Minister Anita Anand announced that Canada will buy 88 F-35 fighter jets costing Canadian taxpayers $19 billion, with $7 billion approved for the first 16. Even these exorbitant prices are not the full story – the lifecycle cost of the 88 fighter jets is estimated to be at least $76.8 billion over 30 years, according to the No Fighter Jets coalition 2020 report, From Acquisition to Disposal: Uncovering the true cost of 88 new fighter jets. This fighter jets purchase is part of a massively expanding military budget. Military spending increased by 70% since 2014, and in 2022 Minister Anand announced that military spending will increase again by 70% in the next five years. Just in 2021, the government of Canada spent $33 billion on the military. This is money that is desperately needed for affordable healthcare, education, jobs and climate solutions. Furthermore, these fighter jets are fossil fuel intensive, using 1,340 gallons of fuel per hour, more than twice the average of what a standard car uses in one year!
This deadly, expensive and environmentally harmful fighter jet is designed for offensive strike first attacks and to carry B61-12 tactical nuclear weapons. This highlights the fact that the government of Canada has refused to sign the United Nations Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) despite demands from antiwar and peace activists. The TPNW requires that signatories “never under any circumstances… develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.”
The fighter jets purchase is being protested across Canada, during the January 13-22 week of action and also recently with the No Fighter Jets Coalition weekend of action from January 6-8 which had 13 actions across Canada demanding “No New Fighter Jets” and “Drop the F35 Deal!” The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network also encourages people in Canada to sign the parliamentary petition against the fighter jets purchase at https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4217
Stop arming Saudi Arabia!
Besides buying weapons of war, Canada is also producing and selling them. Today, the United Nations deems Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, after almost eight years of Saudi-led, U.S. backed and Canadian-armed war. This war has killed over a quarter of a million people, and has displaced an additional four million people. The Saudi-led coalition has bombed Yemeni markets, hospitals, and civilians, and yet Canada has exported over $8 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia since 2015, the year the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen began. The Trudeau Government continues to profit from its controversial $15 billion arms deal for armoured vehicles–killing machines which have been used against people in Yemen and in Saudi Arabia.
The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network calls for an end to the Saudi-led war on Yemen and demands that Canada Stop Arming Saudi Arabia!
Canada, US and UN Hands off Haiti!
Canada’s military exports have also reached Haiti. In October 2022 Canadian and U.S. warplanes delivered armoured vehicles and weapons to Haiti, in the midst of widespread protests for access to food, fuel, and basic necessities and against the country’s imperialist backed government. More recently on January 11, 2023 Canada made a second delivery of armoured vehicles to Haiti’s police. While the government of Canada is arming the illegitimate and unelected Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, they are also keeping the option to occupy Haiti on the table. In October 2022 the U.S. drafted a United Nations Security Council resolution for the “deployment of a rapid action force to Haiti immediately”. This is a very dangerous move by Canada, the U.S., and their allies and will have devastating results for the people of Haiti.
The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network stands against Canada sending weapons to Haiti and demands No New Occupation of Haiti!
Canada Out of NATO!
The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network opposes the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a U.S.- led military alliance of 30 countries, which undermines global peace and human security and is responsible for the deadly and destructive interventions in the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Libya. For years, NATO has been provoking conflict with Russia. NATO’s expansion to Russia’s border and its training and arming of Ukrainian security forces have contributed to growing tensions and war in the region. NATO’s demand that allies buy new interoperable weapons is leading to a costly arms race. Carbon-intensive weapons systems like fighter jets, tanks, drones, and warships are exacerbating the climate crisis. Canada is complicit in U.S. wars and is pursuing an imperialist agenda.
The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network demands that Canada adopt an independent foreign policy free of all military alliances, including NATO.
No to imperialist wars
For over 30 years, we have witnessed the acceleration of brutal imperial wars by the U.S. and their allies, including Canada, against the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Haiti, and other countries. These wars have killed millions, turned tens of millions into refugees, laid waste to infrastructure, impoverished citizens through sanctions, and overthrown governments. With the full support of the governments of the U.S. and Canada, the Zionist Israeli regime has continued to occupy Palestine, brutally kill and imprison Palestinian people, including children and journalists, demolish Palestinian homes and routinely bomb Gaza. When fleeing homelands that have become war zones, refugees are subjected to harrowing and dangerous journeys and met with racism and discrimination in the very countries responsible for the destruction of the refugees’ original homes.
The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network says NO to imperialist wars, occupations, economic sanctions, and military interventions, and YES to self-determination!
Take Action!
The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network supports the United National Antiwar Coalition’s week of action, and encourages peace loving people across Canada to join demonstrations and activities for the Week of Action January 13 – 22.
Haitians are currently protesting on a massive scale and Canada is leading the international push for foreign military intervention. Why is Canada interested in military intervention? How are human rights concerns being leveraged to justify military expansion? How did we get here in the first place? This International Human Rights Day, join World BEYOND War Canada and the Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network on December 10th at 5pm ET to hear from critical thinkers on the issues at hand.
Featuring:
>> Jean Saint-Vil – author and member of Solidarity Quebec Haiti. He is the co-founder of AKASAN (Ayisyen ki ap soutni Ayisyen nètalkole) and Jaku Konbit. Jean is an artist-activist immersed in Global Peace and Social Justice movements. (Jafrikayiti.com)
>> Dimitri Lascaris – lawyer, human rights activist and former candidate for the leadership of the Green Party of Canada. He is based in Montréal. Follow Dimitri on Twitter @dimitrilascaris
+ Poetry by Laura Doyle Péan – Laura Doyle Péan (they/them) is a queer Haitian-Quebecois poet and multidisciplinary artist committed to social justice and fascinated by the relationship between art and movement work. Born in Nionwentsïo (Quebec city), where they first got involved in intersectional feminist, LGBTQIA2S+, migrant justice and racial justice organizing, they moved to Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang (Montreal) in 2019, to attend university, and joined the fossil fuel divestment movement. They are also one of the founding members of Collective 1629, a Black-led Quebec-city-based collective fighting against racial profiling and other forms of anti-Black state violence in Nionwentsïo.
+ Special Intervention by Barbara Waldern – connecting human rights struggles in Haiti, the Philippines and beyond. Barbara represents Just Peace Committee, a member group of Canada-Wide Peace & Justice Network and the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS)
Moderated by Janine Solanki – Vancouver-based activist and organizer with Mobilization Against War & Occupation (MAWO) a member group of Canada-Wide Peace & Justice Network
Protestor in Toronto with sign that reads "NO to War, No to Violence, YES to Dialogue and Negotiation"
The recent death of a Canadian mercenary in Ukraine has prompted national news coverage and a defiant statement of condolences from Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe.
Joseph Hildebrand, who was killed near Bakhmut, Ukraine, was a farmer and a Canadian soldier who served two tours of duty during Canada’s thirteen-year role in the illegal US-led war and occupation of Afghanistan, which cost Canadian taxpayers at least $18 billion and resulted in 153 soldiers and Canadian officials losing their lives. During this year’s Remembrance Day observance in Regina, Premier Scott Moe called Joseph Hildebrand “a true Saskatchewan hero” and expressed condolences to his widow and daughter. (We also express our condolences.) Then, true to the militaristic culture of our times, Moe went on to call for the defeat of the Russian Federation.
The news that Canadians are dying in combat in Ukraine should come as no surprise. Earlier this year, a millionaire entrepreneur named Chris Ecklund in Hamilton, Ontario, created an online recruitment portal to enlist Canadians in the International Legion of Defence of Ukraine. This site apparently enabled close to 500 Canadians to risk their lives in a foreign land, for a foreign government about which they know little. Ecklund has not been prosecuted nor has his site been shut down. In addition, at least two ministers of the Trudeau government have likewise encouraged Canadians to “fight for Ukraine” and the government itself has reportedly dispatched Canadian special forces to fight on the ground.
However, few are speaking to the fact that Joseph Hildebrand and other Canadian “volunteers” are fighting illegally in Ukraine as mercenary combatants. Canada’s Foreign Enlistment Act makes it illegal for anyone to try to recruit Canadians to fight in foreign wars. The “volunteers” are also in violation of United Nations’ convention #44/34 banning the use of mercenaries. These Canadians run the risk of being arrested and charged by the Russian authorities under the UN convention. The punishment in Russia for such behaviour includes the death penalty.
There is an extensive history of post-cold war conflict in Ukraine, and of Canada’s involvement in it. The Canadian government spent one billion dollars from 1991 to 2014 to help the U.S. orchestrate both the Orange Revolution of 2004 and the Maidan Coup of 2014, which overthrew the democratically-elected government of President Yanukovych and replaced it with a Nazi-riddled junta that precipitated a war with the mainly Russian-speaking population of the Donbas. From 2014 to 2022, successive Canadian federal governments supported the coup government with hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, sent it stockpiles of weapons, and trained some 33,000 Ukrainian soldiers under Operation Unifier, with full knowledge that some were members of Ukraine’s neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, and recognizing that the Ukrainian government deliberately undermined the Minsk Agreements which were negotiated to end the conflict. The Harper and Trudeau governments sought to turn Ukraine into a de facto NATO state with a de facto NATO army, as part of NATO’s expansion towards the frontiers of Russia, despite post-cold war pledges to then-Soviet President Gorbachev that NATO wouldn’t expand “one inch eastward” of a reunited Germany. About 14,000 people were killed in the conflict in the Donbas prior to Feb 24, 2022, and over one million were forced to flee to Russia as refugees.
The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network is aghast that our government, as a NATO member, orchestrated the conditions that led to the current war in Ukraine and the death of Joseph Hildebrand, and that incited about 500 Canadian mercenaries to travel to fight there illegally. One purpose in issuing the statement, then, is to avoid any further Canadian casualties.
Stop digging!
We demand that the Trudeau government cease and desist from fueling this war with more arms, huge cash infusions (including $500 million announced on Nov. 14th), and mercenaries. The Canadian government has diplomats that should serve as more than extras for cocktail parties—please get them to bring the warring parties to the table to negotiate a solution.
The war in Ukraine could easily expand overnight into a wider European war and even into a global nuclear confrontation: Witness the war fever created over a single missile that landed in Poland, causing two casualties, on November 15th—in what turned out to be a “friendly fire” incident.
It’s urgent that Canada step up, seek to de-escalate the current conflict and repatriate all the Canadian troops and mercenaries currently in Ukraine. Instead of fighting battles for the U.S. empire, Canada should be fighting the battles that really matter, the ones that save human lives rather than extinguishing them. We ask Justin Trudeau and all our MPs to get to work fighting climate change, the pandemic, species extinctions, pollution, homelessness, and poverty here in Canada. The death of Joseph Hillebrand is one more reason for Canada to develop an independent foreign policy and withdraw from NATO, the military alliance that drew Canada into the conflict in Ukraine.
Au Canada, aux États-Unis et dans le monde entier, les militants pour la paix seront dans la rue du 15 au 23 octobre pour exiger la fin des guerres impérialistes, des occupations, des sanctions et des interventions militaires. Cet appel à l’action a été lancé par la United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) aux États-Unis et a été repris par le Réseau canadien pour la paix et la justice, une coalition de 45 groupes qui luttent pour la paix au Canada.
Non aux guerres impérialistes
Depuis plus de 30 ans, nous avons assisté à l’accélération des guerres impériales brutales menées par les États-Unis et leurs alliés, dont le Canada, contre l’ex-Yougoslavie, l’Afghanistan, l’Irak, la Libye, la Syrie, Haïti et d’autres pays. Ces guerres ont tué des millions de personnes, transformé des dizaines de millions de personnes en réfugiés, détruit des infrastructures, appauvri les citoyens par des sanctions et renversé des gouvernements. Avec le soutien total des gouvernements des États-Unis et du Canada, le régime sioniste israélien a continué à occuper la Palestine, à tuer et à emprisonner brutalement des Palestiniens, y compris des enfants et des journalistes, à démolir des maisons palestiniennes et à bombarder régulièrement Gaza.
Lorsqu’ils fuient leurs pays qui sont devenus des zones de guerre, les réfugiés sont soumis à des voyages pénibles et dangereux et sont confrontés au racisme et à la discrimination dans les pays mêmes qui sont responsables de la destruction de leur pays d’origine.
Du 15 au 23 octobre, les militants diront NON aux guerres impérialistes, aux occupations, aux sanctions économiques et aux interventions militaires, et OUI à l’autodétermination !
Arrêtez d’armer l’Arabie Saoudite
Aujourd’hui, les Nations unies considèrent le Yémen comme la pire crise humanitaire au monde, après sept ans de guerre menée par l’Arabie saoudite, soutenue par les États-Unis et armée par le Canada. Cette guerre a tué plus d’un quart de million de personnes et en a déplacé quatre autres millions. La coalition dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite a bombardé les marchés, les hôpitaux et les civils, et pourtant le Canada a exporté plus de 8 milliards de dollars d’armes à l’Arabie saoudite depuis 2015, année du début de l’intervention militaire dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite au Yémen. Le gouvernement de Trudeau continue de profiter de son contrat d’armement controversé de 15 milliards de dollars pour des véhicules blindés – des machines à tuer qui ont été utilisées contre des civils au Yémen et en Arabie saoudite.
Du 15 au 23 octobre, les militants demanderont la fin de la guerre menée par l’Arabie saoudite au Yémen et exigeront que le Canada cesse d’armer l’Arabie saoudite !
Financer les besoins humains, pas la destruction
Alors que le Canada acquiert une mauvaise réputation en tant que vendeur d’armes aux gouvernements belliqueux les plus méprisables du monde, le gouvernement de Trudeau renforce également son propre arsenal. Depuis 2014, les dépenses militaires canadiennes ont augmenté de 70 %. L’année dernière, le gouvernement canadien a dépensé 33 milliards de dollars pour l’armée, soit 15 fois plus que ce qu’il a dépensé pour l’environnement et le changement climatique. Le ministre de la Défense, M. Anand, a annoncé que les dépenses militaires augmenteront encore de 70 % au cours des cinq prochaines années pour des articles couteux comme les avions de chasse F-35 (cout à vie : 77 milliards de dollars), les navires de guerre (cout à vie : 350 milliards de dollars) et les drones armés (cout à vie : 5 milliards de dollars).
Du 15 au 23 octobre, les militants exigeront NON aux nouveaux avions de chasse, aux navires de guerre et aux drones ! Nous avons besoin de milliards pour le logement, les soins de santé, l’emploi et le climat, PAS pour les profiteurs de guerre !
Le Canada hors de l’OTAN
Le Réseau canadien pour la paix et la justice s’oppose à l’Organisation du traité de l’Atlantique Nord (OTAN), une alliance militaire de 30 pays dirigée par les États-Unis, qui amoindrit la paix mondiale et la sécurité humaine et qui est responsable des interventions meurtrières et destructrices en ex-Yougoslavie, en Afghanistan et en Libye. Depuis des années, l’OTAN provoque un conflit avec la Russie. L’extension de l’OTAN jusqu’à la frontière russe, ainsi que la formation et l’armement des forces de sécurité ukrainiennes, ont contribué à accroitre les tensions dans la région. L’exigence de l’OTAN pour que les alliés achètent de nouvelles armes interopérables conduit à une course aux armements couteuse. Les systèmes d’armes à forte intensité en carbone, comme les avions de chasse, les chars d’assaut, les drones et les navires de guerre, exacerbent la crise climatique. Le Canada est complice des guerres menées par les États-Unis et poursuit un programme impérialiste.
Du 15 au 23 octobre, les militants exigeront que le Canada adopte une politique étrangère indépendante, libre de toute alliance militaire, y compris l’OTAN.
Arrêtez de provoquer la Chine
Les exercices de guerre provocateurs de l’OTAN et son extension à la région Asie-Pacifique font monter les tensions avec la Chine et déstabilisent la région. Comme si cela ne suffisait pas, les gouvernements des États-Unis et du Canada ne font qu’envenimer les relations diplomatiques avec la Chine. Par exemple, Nancy Pelosi, la présidente de la Chambre des représentants des États-Unis, s’est récemment rendue à Taïwan, bientôt suivie par une délégation canadienne dirigée par la députée Judy Sgro. Ces gestes belligérants contredisent la position respectueuse et neutre adoptée par les États-Unis et le Canada à l’égard de la position chinoise selon laquelle Taïwan fait partie intégrante de la Chine.
Du 15 au 23 octobre, les militants exigeront que Washington et Ottawa cessent de provoquer une guerre avec la Russie et la Chine, et demanderont que la députée Judy Sgro annule son voyage prévu à Taïwan !
Agissez !
Le Réseau canadien pour la paix et la justice encourage les gens épris de paix à travers le Canada à se joindre aux manifestations et activités organisées dans tout le pays à l’occasion de la semaine d’action, du 15 au 23 octobre, ou à organiser vos propres actions.
Pour voir les actions menées aux États-Unis et dans le monde entier, consultez le site www.unacpeace.org.
Ensemble, mettons fin aux guerres impérialistes et construisons un monde d’amour et paix !
Across Canada, the U.S. and around the world, peace activists will be on the streets from October 15th to 23rd, demanding an end to imperialist wars, occupations, sanctions and military interventions. This call to action was initiated by the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) in the U.S. and has been taken up by the Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network, a coalition of 45 peace groups across Canada.
No to imperialist wars
For over 30 years, we have witnessed the acceleration of brutal imperial wars by the U.S. and their allies, including Canada, against the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Haiti, and other countries. These wars have killed millions, turned tens of millions into refugees, laid waste to infrastructure, impoverished citizens through sanctions, and overthrown governments. With the full support of the governments of the U.S. and Canada, the Zionist Israeli regime has continued to occupy Palestine, brutally kill and imprison Palestinian people, including children and journalists, demolish Palestinian homes and routinely bomb Gaza.
When fleeing homelands that have become war zones, refugees are subjected to harrowing and dangerous journeys and met with racism and discrimination in the very countries responsible for the destruction of the refugees’ original homes.
From October 15th-23rd, activists will be saying NO to imperialist wars, occupations, economic sanctions, and military interventions, and YES to self-determination!
Stop arming Saudi Arabia.
Today, the United Nations deems Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, after seven years of Saudi-led, U.S.-backed and Canadian-armed war. This war has killed over a quarter of a million people, and has displaced an additional four million people. The Saudi-led coalition has bombed Yemeni markets, hospitals, and civilians, and yet Canada has exported over $8 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia since 2015, the year the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen began. The Trudeau Government continues to profit from its controversial $15 billion arms deal for armoured vehicles–killing machines which have been used against people in Yemen and in Saudi Arabia.
From October 15 to 23rd, activists will be calling for an end to the Saudi-led war on Yemen and demanding that Canada Stop Arming Saudi Arabia!
Fund human needs, not destruction
While Canada is gaining ill-repute as an arms dealer to the world’s most despicable war-mongering governments, the Trudeau Government is also bolstering its own arsenal. Since 2014, Canadian military spending has increased by 70%. Last year, the Canadian government spent $33 billion on the military, which is 15 times more than it spent on environment and climate change. Defence Minister Anand announced military spending will increase by another 70% over the next five years on big-ticket items such as F-35 fighter jets, (lifetime cost: $77 billion), warships (lifetime cost: $350 billion), and armed drones (lifetime cost: $5 billion).
From October 15 to 23rd, activists will be demanding NO new fighter jets, warships, or drones! We need billions for housing, health care, jobs and climate, NOT for war profiteering!
Canada out of NATO
The Canada-wide Peace and Justice Network opposes the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a U.S.- led military alliance of 30 countries, which undermines global peace and human security and is responsible for the deadly and destructive interventions in the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Libya. For years, NATO has been provoking conflict with Russia. NATO’s expansion to Russia’s border and its training and arming of Ukrainian security forces have contributed to growing tensions in the region. NATO’s demand that allies buy new interoperable weapons is leading to a costly arms race. Carbon-intensive weapons systems like fighter jets, tanks, drones, and warships are exacerbating the climate crisis. Canada is complicit in U.S. wars and is pursuing an imperialist agenda.
From October 15 to 23rd, activists will be demanding that Canada adopt an independent foreign policy free of all military alliances, including NATO.
Stop Provoking China
NATO’s provocative war exercises and extension into the Asia-Pacific region are raising tensions with China and destabilizing the region. As if that weren’t bad enough, the governments of the U.S. and Canada are further inflaming diplomatic relations with China. For example, Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, recently visited Taiwan, soon to be followed by a Canadian delegation led by MP Judy Sgro. These belligerent moves contradict the U.S. and Canada’s previous respectful and neutral stance regarding the Chinese position that Taiwan is an integral part of China.
From October 15 to 23rd, activists will be demanding that Washington and Ottawa stop provoking war with Russia and China, and asking that MP Judy Sgro cancel her planned trip to Taiwan!
Canada, US and UN Hands off Haiti!
Canadian and U.S. warplanes have landed in Haiti in the midst of widespread protests for access to food, fuel, and basic necessities and against the country’s imperialist-backed government. Imperialists are planning to occupy Haiti under the auspice of the United Nations. The U.S. has drafted a United Nations Security Council resolution for the “deployment of a rapid action force to Haiti immediately”. This is a very dangerous move by Canada, the U.S., and their allies and will have devastating results for the people of Haiti. As anti-war and peace activists in Canada, we must strongly stand against military intervention in Haiti.
As we take the streets across the country this week for our #FundPeaceNotWar actions, we must stand up against military intervention in Haiti and Canada’s complicity against the people of Haiti. Canada, US and UN out of Haiti! No to New Occupation of Haiti!
Take action!
The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network encourages peace-loving people across Canada to join demonstrations and activities across Canada for the Week of Action from October 15-23 or to organize your own actions.
To view actions in the U.S. and around the world visit www.unacpeace.org.
Together, let’s end imperialist wars and build a loving and peaceful world!
Take Action In Person
Thank you to everyone who came out to an action on from October 15-23 in 9 cities across Canada to demand that Canada #FundPeaceNotWar. From October 15th to 23rd, at least 11 actions took place in 9 cities including Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Waterloo, Ottawa, Hamilton, South Georgian Bay, Winnipeg, and Montreal. More photos, videos, and news coverage HERE.
Protestor in Toronto with sign that reads “NO to War, No to Violence, YES to Dialogue and Negotiation”
TORONTO
MONTREAL
VANCOUVER
HAMILTON
CALGARY
SOUTH GEORGIAN BAY
WINNIPEG
WATERLOO
OTTAWA
TORONTO
Wednesday, October 19th, 5PM Enercare Centre, Toronto
(Updated date as of October 11th)
100 Princes’ Blvd Unit 1, Toronto, ON M6K 3C3, Canada
The Canadian Armed Forces are holding a recruiting event through the Ontario College Information Fair 2022. Socialist Action is committed to non-violent direct action. We plan to disrupt military recruitment by exposing the reality of war. We will protest the event by standing outside the entrance with various signs that inform students of the coercive actions behind the Canadian military’s recruitment. We welcome any anti-war and peace movement organizations to join us in this event.
Our demands are:
End Student Military Recruitment
Canada Out of NATO
Defund Military Fund Communities
No War, Abolish Nato
Fight Climate Change, Not War
Please get in touch with us if you are interested in collaborating.
Sunday, October 23rd, 1PM at Parkette on the Southeast corner of Spadina Road and Bloor Street, Toronto
The Toronto Association for Peace and Solidarity and the Canadian Peace Congress are planning to hold a demonstration on Sunday, October 23rd, starting at 1:00 p.m. The venue will be the parkette on the Southeast corner of Spadina Road and Bloor Street in Toronto.
MONTREAL
Sunday, October 16th, 4:30PM Place du 6e décembre, Chemin Queen Mary, Côte-des-Neiges, Ville de Montréal
THE PEOPLE SAY, “NO TO US WAR!”
Demonstrate for just peace against US-led aggression
Join International Women’s Alliance (IWA) in Canada and friends at the at 16:30, Sunday, October 16th at Chemin Queen Mary in Côte-des-Neiges.
Thursday, October 20th, 9AM, Parc Saint-Simon-Apôtre, 200 Rue Legendre O, Ville de Montréal
Canada must sign the nuclear ban treaty (TPNW)!
World BEYOND War Montreal and partners will gather to march to the office of Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs. The march is about 10 minutes long on city sidewalks. We will have flyers, banners, and a letter demanding that Canada sign the sign the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear weapons.
Organizational and individual signers welcome! To sign the letter, click here.
VANCOUVER
Saturday, October 22nd, 2-3:30PM Westminster Quay, 8th and Colombia, New Westminster, BC
Vancouver area network groups and their friends will again demonstrate for just peace: Mobilization against Wars and Occupation, Fire this Time Social Justice Movement, Just Peace Committee and other affiliates of the International League of Peoples’ Struggles, World Beyond War, Global Peace Alliance-BC Society.
While the U.S. pours more weapons into the proxy war in Ukraine–holding open the possibility of direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia, the war fanatics in Washington seem determined to start even more fires around the world. Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan; hints that the U.S. may be moving towards confrontation with China as well as strikes against Iran; and reports that new U.S./south Korea war games will practice a “decapitation” strike against the north (DPRK): all show the urgent need to speak out.
Today working people face escalating costs of food and energy, recession, growing insecurity and attacks on efforts to unionize. Sanctions on developing nations hurt impoverished workers there, while U.S. sanctions on Russia and China are at least partially responsible for rising energy prices and the current wave of inflation in many European and N. American countries.
Saturday, October 22nd, 10AM – 3:30PM Arnold Centre 135 Fennell Avenue West Hamilton, ON L9C 7V7
Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War
Register HERE: From Hegemony to Global Democracy: A Teach-In on Geopolitical Conflict
We are very pleased to present a special Teach-In event this month!
On Saturday, October 22, join us for a full two-session Teach-In about the weighty global conflicts that demand the world’s attention.
Our talented panelists will address NATO’s present conflicts with Russia and China, the changes that are happening in the world, and what Canada’s role should be.
Saturday, October 22nd 5:30-PM, Chilean community association, 519 4774 Westwind Drive NE Calgary
Join us for “Peace Potluck and Fun”
SOUTH GEORGIAN BAY
Friday, October 21st, 2PM outside the Federal Building on Hurontario Street, Collingwood
South Georgian Bay chapter of WBW (Pivot2Peace) will hold an action on Friday, October 21 outside the Federal Building on Hurontario Street, Collingwood, at 2:00 p.m.
WINNIPEG
Saturday, October 22nd, 12-1PM – River and Osborne, Winnipeg MB, R3L 0C9
WATERLOO
Sunday, October 16 1-2PM, Waterloo Public Square, 75 Erb St. Waterloo
Ceasefire Now: Stop the War & the Weapons
Our peace rally at the Waterloo Public Square this Sunday is in solidarity with the #FundPeaceNotWar Week of Action.
From October 15th to 23rd, join Canadians across the country in demanding NO new fighter jets, warships, or drones! We need billions for housing, health care, jobs and climate, NOT for war profiteering!
We are also calling for a ceasefire and an end to the war in Ukraine. Shamefully, Canada continues to export weapons and military aid instead of supporting negotiations. We are risking dangerous nuclear escalation. We are also derailing global cooperation for climate action and worsening poverty. Canada is also exporting weapons to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt and many other countries that foment violence. All wars must stop including in Yemen, Palestine etc. We need peace for people and the planet! Local event organized by the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW).
Afterward, we will go to Cafe 22 for coffee. Come & join us!
Waterloo rally on Facebook: https://fb.me/e/2VfeG3FjV
OTTAWA
Sunday, October 16 2PM, US Embassy (meet on the long stairway) 490 Sussex Dr, Ottawa, ON K1N 1G8, Canada
Just Voices choir will sing three peace songs. We will bring signs calling for negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine and defuse nuclear war.
Sign The Parliamentary Petition: Call on Canada to stop fueling the 7-year-long war in Yemen. When submitted, this petition will obligate the Trudeau Government to submit an official response.
The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network adamantly opposes the visit of a delegation of Canadian MP’s to Taiwan proposed for October 2022. This delegation, to be led by the Minister for Foreign Trade, Judy Sgro, will inevitably worsen Canadian relations with China, our second largest trading partner, and raise tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, which could easily lead to war.
Sgro’s proposed visit to Taiwan follows closely on the heels of that of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. The Chinese government reacted angrily to Pelosi’s visit by staging military exercises encircling Taiwan and by ending ongoing discussions with the US for cooperation on several subjects, including climate change. The Chinese position on Taiwan is that it is an integral part of China, an understanding called the One China Policy, which the USA, the UN, Canada, and the vast majority of the countries of the world signed onto 50 years ago. Indeed, only 13 countries of the world today recognize Taiwan as an independent state.
Pelosi’s visit was not a personal jaunt. Clearly, it received the green light from President Biden and other senior administration figures. It followed Barack Obama’s “Pivot to Asia” in 2012 during which the USA decided to concentrate its military forces and political attention on containing the rising global influence of the Peoples Republic of China, which the Obama Administration regarded as a rival and potential threat. Pelosi’s visit and that of Sgro were both designed to isolate and weaken China and sow the kind of instability that results in increased US and Canadian arms sale abroad.
Now, with Sgro’s proposed delegation to Taiwan, it appears that the Trudeau government of Canada, like the vassal state it showed itself to be by arresting Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Huawei Technologies, at the behest of Donald Trump in 2018, is also doing its own “pivot to Asia”, likewise falsely designating China as a bully and threat to Taiwan, instead of adhering to its own 50-year-old acceptance of the One China Policy. The opposition political parties in the House of Commons are also on the warpath against China, having voted unanimously to accuse the People’s Republic of a genocide of Uyghurs in its Xinjiang province. (The Canadian Senate, however, defeated the proposition.) All in all, however, Canada is sacrificing 50 years of prosperity with China to jump on the US war wagon.
Canadians need to understand that the Chinese people are still smarting from the Chinese “century of humiliation” which lasted from 1840 to 1949, during which foreign colonial powers divided up the territory of China; occupied many parts of it, including Hong Kong and Taiwan; and forced humiliating “concessions” on the Chinese people, reducing most of them to grinding poverty. Only since the formation of the Peoples Republic has the Chinese state been able gradually to guarantee the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, by reassuming control of important parts of the country such as Hong Kong. Moreover, the Chinese government achieved the remarkable feat of raising 800 million people out of poverty, a success unsurpassed in history.
Despite assurances by Sgro that she intends to be “diplomatic in (her) comments” while in Taiwan, she asserts that her trip is “necessary” to “protect other countries that have fought for their freedom and for their democracy.” She adds that she’s “proud that Canada is standing up to China.” And she thinks that “pushback is important.” To be fair to the Minister, she also hopes the trip will increase opportunities for Canadian businesses. Her delegation to Taiwan will likely get Trudeau’s blessing to proceed and be hosted by the Taiwanese government, whose Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada has already expressed its full support for the mission.
As Minister of International Trade, Sgro already has a record of supporting the pro-independence government of Taiwan, nurtured for years by the USA. Sgro is chair of the parliamentary committee, the Canada-Taiwan Friendship Group. In a tweet of January 11, 2020, Sgro congratulated President Tsai Ingwen, a strong proponent of Taiwanese independence, on her election win.
Taiwan has been part of China for hundreds of years. It was seized by the Imperial Japanese government in 1895 as a spoil of the First Sino-Japanese War. During WW2, while Japan was allied to Hitler’s Nazi government, Japan used “Formosa” as a launching pad for its attempted conquest of China and other Southeast Asian colonies of France, the Netherlands, and Britain. Following the Chinese civil war (1945-49), the pro-Western Kuomintang government of Chiang Kai Shek fled the mainland to Taiwan and established a military dictatorship that lasted forty years, all the while claiming to be the sovereign government of all China. There was not a peep about the lack of democracy in Taiwan from the US or Canada in that whole time. The very first direct election for the presidency of Taiwan took place only in 1996.
For his part, the Chinese Ambassador to Canada warned, “China will take resolute and forceful measures against any country that attempts to interfere with or infringe upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
For our part, the CWPJN calls on the Trudeau government to:
– cancel Sgro’s proposed delegation to Taiwan; – stop prodding China with naval provocations and baseless accusations; – end all of Canada’s unilateral (and therefore illegal) economic sanctions against the PRC; – establish a Canada-China Parliamentary Friendship Group; – cooperate with China on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Cooperation with China is vital to making progress on the Paris Agreement. China is a global leader on renewable energy technologies and international development. On the eve of Climate Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Canada should not be antagonizing China but should be finding ways to collaborate on common environmental and social challenges.*
