Every August 6, Winnipeggers commemorate the August 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with a Lanterns for Peace Ceremony. People come together to make and float their lanterns in a pond in the middle of the city to express their desire for a peaceful world and to show solidarity with countless others around the […]
Author: Paul S. Graham
Paul S. Graham: Video: A Vigil for Harvey Sanderson
On August 3, 2011 – four days after being viciously assaulted in his Winnipeg apartment, Harvey Sanderson Junior died of his injuries. He was 27. What made this crime especially shocking was that Harvey had brittle bone disease, a condition that confined him to a wheelchair. Friends, neighbours and people who had never met him […]
Paul S. Graham: Winnipeg Lanterns for Peace
On Monday, August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m., the nuclear bomb “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan by an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay. An estimated 130,000 people were killed. On August 9, 1945, Nagasaki was the target of America’s second atomic bomb attack. At 11:02 a.m., the north of the city was […]
Paul S. Graham: Video: Yves Engler, cars, capitalism and catastrophe
I’m half-way through “Stop Signs: Cars and Capitalism on the road to economic, social and ecological decay” by Bianca Mugyenyi and Yves Engler and I’m already regretting my decision, a year ago, to replace my aging Mazda with a brand new Kia Soul. I would have been better off with a bus pass and the […]
Paul S. Graham: Israel and Palestine: What is going on and what can we do?
On June 8, 2011, Project Peacemakers Forum panelists Loraine MacKenzie Shepherd and Howard Davidson discussed “Israel and Palestine: What is going on and what can we do?” Did they succeed in answering these questions? Yes and no. No, because this is a huge, complex topic and considerably more time would be required to present it […]
Paul S. Graham: Video: Support the Canadian Boat to Gaza
Today, Winnipeg activists responded to the actions of the Greek government to block the Tahrir and other vessels that make up Freedom Flotilla II from sailing for Gaza with an information picket in the city’s Osborne Village neighbourhood. The Tahrir is the Canadian vessel in the Flotilla. As with all of the other boats and […]
Paul S. Graham: Canadian Boat to Gaza boarded by Greek Coast Guard
Canadian Boat to Gaza’s vessel, the Tahir, is one of several ships attempting peacefully to end Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza. Tahir is a part of Freedom Flotilla II, sponsored by groups from Belgium, Denmark, Australia, United States, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, the U.K, Greece, Turkey, Malaysia, and more. The Flotilla aims to travel to […]
Paul S. Graham: Video: CUPE President Paul Moist warns against the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement
The governments of Canada and the European Union are negotiating a treaty called the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. They hope to sign it by the end of 2011. This treaty will take power from local governments in Canada and give it to large transnational corporations headquartered in Europe. These huge companies could take over […]
Paul S. Graham: Brigette DePape is Nellie’s Girl
On June 3, 2011, when Brigette DePape, a 21-year old parliamentary page from Manitoba, pulled out a “Stop Harper” sign during the opening session of Canada’s 41st Parliament, she was escorted out of the room and quickly fired from her position. Her solitary act of civil disobedience in resistance to the policies of the Harper […]
Paul S. Graham: Oppose Harper’s draconian back-to-work legislation
This, just in, from Derek Blackadder at LabourStart. While it is addressed to trade unionists it should resonate with anyone who believes in democracy. The Conservative government’s decision to impose back-to-work legislation strikes at the heart of democracy; it is a form of forced labour, something expressly forbidden by the International Labour Organization of which […]
Paul S. Graham: Video: Winnipeg Solidarity with the Postal Workers
On June 16, about 1,000 members of several Winnipeg unions rallied at the main post office in Winnipeg in solidarity with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. The rally, one of many to be held across the country, was in response to federal government plans to legislate CUPW members back to work. The union has […]
Paul S. Graham: Update: Raza Family of Winnipeg granted permanent resident status in Canada
By Rev. Barb Janes, Crescent-Ft. Rouge United Church, Winnipeg It takes a village . . . Crescent Fort Rouge United Church is tickled to announce that the Raza family, who lived in sanctuary in the church from August 3, 2006 to February 29, 2008, has been granted Permanent Resident status in Canada. Our deep gratitude […]
Paul S. Graham: Living and Dying in Manitoba: Who decides?
In 2008, the Manitoba College of Physicians and Surgeons gave its members the power to withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatments from patients, even if this is contrary to the wishes of patients or their families. The process to be followed in arriving at the decision to allow a patient to die is outlined in the […]
Paul S. Graham: Good news for Iranian union leader Mansour Osanloo
Once in a while there is good news to share on the political prisoner front, and this is one of those times. Mansour Osanloo, a bus driver and president of the Vahed Syndicate which represents bus drivers in Tehran, was freed on bail by the Iranian government today after four years of imprisonment. According to […]
Paul S. Graham: Canadians for Boycotting Arab and Iranian Goods Hoax
Imagine my surprise at learning that I am the treasurer of the freshly minted “Canadians for Boycotting Arab and Iranian Goods” organization – CBAIG for short. According to a news release issued May 29, 2011, we (Sid Ryan [President of the Ontario Federation of Labour], Peter Gose [Chair, Sociology and Anthropology Department at Carleton University] […]
Paul S. Graham: Video: Canadian Labour in Crisis
On May 5, 2011, David Camfield launched his new book, Canadian Labour in Crisis – Reinventing the Workers`Movement, at the Mondragon Bookstore and Coffee House in Winnipeg, Canada. David Camfield is an associate professor in labour studies at the University of Manitoba. More information about David’s book: http://www.fernwoodpublishing.ca/author/David/ Filed under: Talkin’ Union Tagged: canadian labour […]
Paul S. Graham: Our democracy is broken
In his new job as Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, Jack Layton has pledged to “fix Ottawa.” I’ve taken this to mean he will lead by example in hope of teaching the children to play nicely. I wish him luck. The problem with our democracy goes far beyond Stephen Harper’s well documented contempt for […]
Paul S. Graham: Video: Maude Barlow on Reclaiming the Commons and the Rights of Nature
“What if the Gulf could sue BP?” asks Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians. “What if the ocean around Japan could sue the owners of the nuclear facility? What if the Athabasca River could sue everybody? What if Lake Winnipeg could sue for the nitrates we dump into it everyday?” On International Mother Earth Day, […]
Paul S. Graham: Video: Federal election forum on the Environment
April 20, 2011: Dennis Lewycky (NDP), Ilona Niemczyk (Liberal) and Jacqueline Romanow (Green) at a Federal Election Forum on the Environment at the First Universalist Unitarian Church in Winnipeg. Photo: Paul S. Graham If the state of our environment is a defining issue for you in this Canadian federal election, you must be disappointed at […]
Paul S. Graham: Make Libyan war an election issue
The more we learn about the so-called humanitarian intervention in the skies above Libya, the less it looks like a war Canadians should support. Like the bogus humanitarian claims Tories and Liberals have used to support extending Canadian participation in the occupation of Afghanistan, the war against Libya has more to do with imperialism and […]