Corporate Interests

January 20, 2022

Corporate Interests

by Thomas Provençal

Self-loathing is an attitude

of a conscious human being.

To align with corporate interests

is to face the wind while peeing.

Modern corporations

are more concerned with money

than protecting social interests

like producing milk and honey.

And yet the people bow

before the altar of success,

measured by the profits

and ignoring all the mess.

Our natural world pooh-poohed upon

in support of economics

while the role of politicians

is reduced to stand up comics.

To champion social justice

and not hog all the meat

is to insult the example

of the corporatist elite

who play with money markets

instead of economic growth,

pretending to be spending,

defending technocratic oath.

In defence of freedom

the people must unite

yet the system keeps us fat enough

to erode our will to fight.

Unconsciousness is dominant

as people fall in line

as a measure of obedience

that the 1% define.

Kosma Busheikin Quartet

January 20, 2022

Last November, I had the pleasure of taking in the Kosma Busheikin Quartet at the Guesthouse. Denman is an open-hearted, ardent musical community with no shortage of support no matter what your interest or level of musicianship may be, so I did not want to pass up the chance to find out how a true son of Denmanistan got to go pro.

Kosma is an island lad, arriving from the Czech Republic, aged two, with his parents, Laura, and Tomas. He began taking music seriously when he started to learn the guitar at age 16 under the tutelage of Kevin Mitchell. Kevin brought not only his knowledge and skill on the instrument, but also, as a composer and performer, what Kosma calls “respect for the song.”

Kosma began to put himself out there, first at the Thursday night open mike sessions of the Audio Collective. He subsequently invited Ram Sudama and Ken Hatch to busk with him at the Guesthouse. Jazz had never been much to mind until Ram hired him to perform at the Seniors Hall for a summer event. He also took lessons from Marc Atkinson and played with Ray Ulovec, amongst others.

Denman isn’t exactly a hotbed of jazz, nor did Kosma spend time going to jazz venues in Vancouver or the very few on Vancouver island. Growing up on island, he was used to spending more time on his own and even today, finds himself somewhat amazed by the music scene in Nanaimo, Victoria, and Vancouver. In fact, the first time he was ever in a jazz club was on a trip to Prague. But Denman did offer musical companionship, something, Kosma points out, essential to jazz because a quartet depends on finding fellow musicians with the right chemistry.

Eli Hilberry thought Kosma should look at trying at least one year of the new four-year jazz program at Vancouver Island University. He was also encouraged by Marc Atkinson’s evaluation of his progress. There was much to weigh before taking the plunge because Kosma knew he would have to give it his all. He had done a lot of playing, but his music education was still sketchy. Undeterred, he got through the audition and was accepted. He ended taking up the upright bass, with a major in guitar. As part of the requirements, he also had to learn to sight read, not only playing, but singing. By his own admission, not much of a singer himself, he would strike a note and his friends would tell him if he hit it with his voice. With a lot of practise, he was eventually able to do it on his own. Then there was all the theory, orchestration, composition, and constant practise.

At the end of it all, he was one of only four graduates out of an initial class of thirty. So often we think that only people who are born virtuosi or have brilliant creativity can make it as musicians, but as the saying goes, the better part of talent is hard work.

Apart from Kosma (bass), the quartet members are vocalist Tasha Adams, Graham Villette on drums, and Liam Mackay, guitar. They are based out of Nanaimo and were getting by until Covid shut everything down. The work is starting to come back for them with a weekly gig at a Nanaimo restaurant. The members are all trained at different university programs, some back East. The quartet plays jazz covers, the classics, Cole Porter and what have you, including one arrangement by Kosma himself. “You’ve got to have a repertoire,” Kosma points out. “The difference is in the performance.”

That’s what I like about the jazz quartet or trio, how each member gets a chance to riff and take the music in their own direction within a framework of a beloved familiarity, and the sweet tension of whether they can make a three-point landing. I am reminded of what Bronwyn Schuster said of her mural, Herring Spirit, on the Activity Centre, about the need to let the eye breathe. The same applied to the Quartet, letting the ear breathe, between the riffs, and the return to the song. Everyone was technically strong, with a confident attack, an altogether professional sound. The challenge, Kosma says, is to find their own voice as a quartet, something only possible with constant opportunities to play together. I can only say, they are getting there.

If you missed the show, there is a short video clip on the Grapevine website courtesy of my iPhone.

Letter to the Editor

January 20, 2022

Life & Taxes

I have not begun with Death &…because I am still alive after reading my Property Assessment Notice – although I immediately sent off a check to the Heart & Stroke foundation.

As this is my first ever Letter to the Editor, I will make this a brief appeal to property owners on the premise that “union gives strength to the humble” – a Latin Proverb – to appeal your (In my case, an increase of 46% property value) tax assessment. Unless of course, you approve your assessment, which plays into the hands of BC Assessment because “A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul” – George Bernard Shaw.

According to the rules, I must compare my assessment with similar properties that have recently sold to validate my appeal. Well, I have been here for almost 4 years and if I compare our land with my near neighbour’s, I’m in trouble! Because in those 4 years, the property has changed hands 3 times, with the next owner renovating and flipping the land as an absentee owner to the current absentee owner. As equality consists in the same treatment of similar people, I’m not even on the same playing field.

So what principles are guiding the current property assessment people? As a senior citizen living below the poverty line, do I simply add up how much money I made last year and mail it in? Or defer my taxes and when I finally die, hand the bill over to our children who cannot afford to buy a house anywhere?

I like living here so I’ll close with an unknown quote: “Is life worth living? That depends on the liver”. May your appeal be appealing.

Cheers!

Bob Morley

Letter to the Editor

January 20, 2022

This week’s Grapevine seems to me the best in a while. I liked the heads-up about the Concerned Residents Association, Max’s article about sharing music learning, and especially Charles King’s letter about the failings of nuclear power. I was horrified by last week’s paean to nuke power by the ever-giddy technophile Gwynne Dyer. King’s reprint of the experts’ litany of reasons why it is not a good solution was right on, and in line with many real stories I have covered and heard for decades around this issue.

Even if all the plans could be perfect, the execution of nukes by humans leaves much to be desired. I vividly recall when the story broke about a Houston, Texas, nuclear power plant, that the inspectors who were supposed to X-ray every weld had faked the inspections, repeating the same picture in every report. I also attended and recorded a talk by Vladimir Chernousenko, the Russian physicist in charge of the Chernobyl cleanup, who was expelled from Russia for telling the true dimensions of the disaster and speaking out against nuclear power. There’s much more to be said. The Germans made a smart decision to take nukes out of their plans.

My mistrust of Dyer’s technophilia goes back a decade or more to an article of his supportive of geo-engineering – in that case, seeding particles into the upper atmosphere as a means of blocking the sun and cooling the planet. He never seems to ask “what could go wrong” about any technology. Like, what happens when the next volcano does the same trick naturally and perhaps doubles the intensity of a nuclear winter.

His article in this week’s Grapevine started out as a terrifying litany of the unregulated opportunistic race to occupy space with all manner of devices. I thought for once he was being critical; but no, he thinks it grand – a step on the way to humans populating the moon and Mars! (Such a pleasant lifestyle, penned up in an artificial environment! No more walks in the woods for you!) He clearly hasn’t heard the news I am hearing: for example that the tens of thousands of Musk communications satellites are only expected to work for 5 years, but will continue to orbit either as dangerous space junk or if, perhaps, self-destructing, spread out as aluminum dust contamination. That the amount of space junk already orbiting is a constant danger to other objects in space. That the few thousand communications satellites already in orbit make it harder to observe the stars. And items in space sometimes fall to earth in dangerous ways. The environmental risks of laying fiber optic cables under the sea pale by comparison and they can be expected to have a MUCH longer useful life.

If you must continue publishing Dyer (he is a friend of yours?), please start adding a header that says: Fiction.

Frieda Werden

Denman

Phoenix Riting! – January 20th, 2022

January 20, 2022

After more than thirty years living on the Coast, I am amazed by how quickly the snow melts. It still seems like magic. One day, we are digging out from under a foot or more of snow, the next day bare green grass is everywhere. By the third day, it’s gone. For a Northern kid like me, it’s a genuine miracle. And now, it’s almost time for nettles, that abundant staple of springtime.

We did have a white Christmas, for those who enjoy such things (I’m not a fan), and now we’re back to the green, so I can ride my trusty e-bike again. I’ve learned, thankfully not the hard way, that e-bikes don’t do well in icy conditions, though I’ll ride in the rain and cold without a qualm. I’ll wait until it warms up a little to do some Denman exploring though–coffee at the Guesthouse sounds good to me.

And there’s so much to do right now! Summits and roundtables and gatherings, my little head is spinning. All from the comfort of my cozy room, obviously, a mixed blessing. Something about a screen full of talking heads feels disconnecting, as though I’m trying to exist here-and-now and somewhere-else simultaneously, and my body doesn’t deal well with that nebulosity. On the other hand, real people are behind those talking heads, and I’m excited about the ideas, connections and possibilities of this event.

By the time this is printed, the Hornby Arts Digital Summit (three full days!) will be over, but as I write this, it hasn’t started yet. This free event is a means of building an arts communication network and support system for Hornby and Denman Islands. There will be presentations from other islands arts council representatives as well as First Nations representatives, and a lot of talking and sharing. I won’t be able to attend everything, but the schedule covers a lot of ground and I look forward to it. I hope to share some impressions next week.

I’ve signed up for a semi-local roundtable cafe next week as well, online also, of course. It does save on travel. I’m signing up for a lot of things right now, which is not my normal practice, but it seems a good way to begin this year. It’s January, and I’m bored and lonely for human contact, feelings that I hope these digital connections and events can mitigate. There’s no real substitute for actual eye contact and face to face presence, but I will take what I can get. Some years I’m happy to dive into my introvert cave, but even introverts have a hard time with extended isolation. How are you doing? Do you find winter difficult too? That’s one of the challenges of living in a small rural community, even when we aren’t locked down and distancing.

Paradoxes are everywhere. On the one hand, so much boredom, isolation and loneliness. On the other hand, many projects, possibilities and potentials are opening up. I sense optimism in the air, that we can create a new normal from the ashes of the old, which let’s face it, wasn’t the best of all normals. Perhaps going forward we will find a way to stay connected through these (shorter than most in Canada, but still way too long) winters. It’s the hardest part about living here, for myself and for a lot of people I’ve talked to. I hope we’re all managing to survive, or better, to thrive in whatever ways we can. I know it’s hard. Let’s come up with ways to make it easier. Don’t forget to breathe.

I want to hear from you! You can email me at phoenixonhornby@gmail.com, or if you see me on the street, at the Co-op, or wherever, I’d love to chat. And thank you to all who have done so already, you help so much.

The Zella Clark Health Centre

January 20, 2022

The Zella Clark Health Centre:

submitted by the Denman Health Centre Society

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the membership of the Denman Health Centre Society (DHCS) was held on January 10, 2022. At the meeting the following Board of Directors was elected: Keith Clark, Vice Chair, Dr. David Scruton, Secretary, Lyndsey Jennings, Treasurer, John Wigle, Maintenance, Gill Forsyth, Membership, Dr. Lori McFarlane, Director-at-Large and Jennifer Villard, Chair.

The following is the text of the Annual Report from the Chair.

On behalf of the Directors of the Denman Health Centre Society I welcome you to the Annual General Meeting of the Society Membership. As we reflect on 2021, we recognize the unforeseen changes and ‘new normals’ that we as a community, and the world community have had to acknowledge. Covid 19 and the subsequent variances have taken, and continue to take, huge tolls. It has been very difficult for many, but to date, Denman Islanders appear to have adapted well to the challenges and restrictions imposed by the pandemic.

The Zella Clark Health Centre has seen a few changes this year. To briefly recap the events of 2021, the Society leased the clinic facility to Dr. Steve Fox Inc, with the understanding that he would provide primary medical care at the clinic. Dr,Fox would attend on Mondays, Dr. Alsoon Brine on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Dr. Ron Wilson on Thursdays and Fridays. This continued until June 2021 when Dr. Fox , for personal reasons, reneged on his lease and left the country. Fortunately Dr. Wilson and Dr. Brine continued on with the lease and operated the clinic until Dr. Brine retired this past December. We will greatly miss her expert advice and the excellent care that she gave to her Denman patients. Heading into 2022. Dr. Wilson is continuing on at the clinic working Thursdays and Fridays and has secured the help of another physician two times a month for two days a week. In addition, Dr. Wilson has placed our clinic on the list for the Island Health Locum Program for the provision of relief physicians. We are sincerely grateful and appreciative of Dr. Ron’s dedication to the health and well being of the Denman Community. Thank you Ron.

As you are aware, the mandate of the Denman Health Centre Society is to maintain the Zella Clark Health Centre for the provision of health care services for the Island. We, in effect, are the landlords and the doctors and the Hornby Denman Community Health Care Society(HDCHCS) and Island Health are the tenants. Under this umbrella, on a part time basis, the health centre is serviced by physicians, social workers, a physiotherapist, a pharmacist, a nurse and Life Lab technician. Dr. Ron will elaborate on this in his report. In planning for the future, we, as a Society , do assist with finding suitable tenants when requested and along with the doctors we are actively looking for physicians interested in providing primary care on Denman Island. We have placed several ads in National Medical journals and on websites and are following up on leads. We are also very supportive of new initiatives in the community. Lori Nawrot, Executive Director of the HDCHCS has established a steering committee to investigate setting up a Community Health Centre for both islands, This is an exciting new concept in health care delivery with a focus on community input and a professional team based approach. Updates will be circulated as details are known.

I would like to express my gratitude to the very competent and diligent Denman Health Centre Society Board of Directors. They are Keith Clark, Dr.David Scuton, Lyndsey Jennings,,John Wigle , and Gill Forsyth . Their dedication to the Society has been invaluable this past year. Thank you all.

In conclusion, I would like to thank you, the members of the Denman Health Centre Society, for your support of the Zella Clark Health Centre. It has been my honour to serve as Chair of the Society this past year.

Respectfully Submitted,

Jennifer Villard , 2021 Chair DHCS

P.S. A question was asked regarding the distinction between the DHCS and the HDCHCS. This is to clarify the roles of the two separate societies. The Denman Health Centre Society (DHCS) maintains and operates the Zella Clark Health Centre, the hub of health care services on Denman. They are not involved in the delivery of health care but do assist the doctors with long range planning when requested. The Hornby Denman Community Health Care Society (HDCHCS) on the other hand, is involved with the delivery of health care services (non primary care) for both Hornby and Denman. These essential services include Home Care, counselling for children, youth and families, mental health and substance abuse outreach, medical equipment loan program and community education and more. Their website is hornbydenmanhealth.com.

Prayer, “Don’t Look Up,” and the End of the World

January 20, 2022

Prayer, “Don’t Look Up,” and the End of the World

The topic of prayer seems to come up a lot lately. There are obvious reasons: covid, the crazy weather, the larger issue of climate change, the opioid crisis, covid, housing challenges (and assessments!) the dark days of January, covid, climate change, etc.

All of these and more suggest why those belonging to a particular faith tradition or no faith at all or somewhere in between would invoke their God/Higher Power/?.

The recent Netflix offering “Don’t Look Up” is a good example.

This dark satire presents a doomsday scenario where scientists, played by Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo Dicaprio, discover a huge comet on a trajectory that in a matter of months will destroy all life on earth.

The title of the movie refers to a head-in-the-sand response to scientific realities that might just strike a chord with some of us.

Political leaders such as U.S. President Janie Orlean, played by Meryl Streep, and media celebrities initially treat this news with indifference until they figure out ways to spin the story to their own advantage.

Yes, you heard that right: for some, the end of the world really isn’t if you can use it in the short term to boost polls and ratings.

Prayer comes into this as a means to further personal agendas: President Orleans prays from the deck of a U.S. battleship: ”May Jesus Christ bless every single one of you, especially the members of my own party…” President Orlean’s son, Jason, her Chief of Staff, offers a similarly howlingly self-serving but strangely familiar sounding prayer: “There is …material stuff, like watches and cars and clothes and I don’t want to see that go away so I’m going to say a prayer for that stuff.”

As the end draws near the scientists and a few others gather for their own Last Supper. The non-religious Leonardo Dicaprio character wonders if someone should offer a prayer before they eat. Yule, played by Timothee Chalamet, despite his rejection of his evangelical upbringing, volunteers this prayer:

“Dearest Father and Almighty Creator, We ask for your grace tonight, despite our pride; Your forgiveness, despite our doubt. Most of all, Lord, we ask for your love to soothe us through these dark times. May we face whatever is to come in your divine will with courage and open hearts of acceptance. Amen.”

As one commentator observed, this prayer is not “weaponized” as prayers can often be. It is not forced on anyone who hasn’t expressed a desire to receive it. It is not used to manipulate others or push an agenda.

It simply but wonderfully expresses the longing of a humble, open heart for the character and above all, love, that will allow us to face and deal with whatever is to come.

Not a bad place to start as we deal with whatever “comets” are heading our way…

Submitted by Graeme Isbister

Gwynne Dyer: Covid Fatigue

January 20, 2022

12 January 2022

Covid Fatigue

By Gwynne Dyer

Once they called it ‘combat fatigue’, and treated the soldiers who showed the symptoms with a mixture of pity and contempt. Then they renamed it ‘post-traumatic stress disorder’ (PTSD) and broadened the definition to cover similar responses to other stressful situations. And now we have Covid fatigue.

We’re coming up on two years since the first round of lockdowns and overflowing hospitals, and heading for yet another peak in the pandemic. At least five million people have died of Covid-19, and more than half a billion have had it. People are worn down, and it’s starting to show.

Tens of millions who were just getting by ‘before covid’ have now fallen into real poverty. A whole generation of young people feels that their lives have been put on hold. Inflation is now taking hold in most countries, which will make matters even worse. Most people have behaved well through a long, hard time, but patience is running out.

The anti-vaxxers are the first to feel the weight of public resentment. Once they were just seen as gullible simpletons taken in by online conspiracy theories. Now, in countries where the great majority of people are vaccinated, they have been promoted to the status of a public health risk.

They were always a reservoir of the virus, but now that most people are vaccinated the harm they do is more visible. In countries like Canada and France, where 80% or more of the population is fully vaccinated, up to 90% of the people filling intensive care beds that could be serving other critically ill people are unvaccinated Covid cases.

That’s why French President Emmanuel Macron, facing an election in April, found it politically advantageous to say: “We have to tell (the unvaccinated)… you will no longer be able to go to a restaurant. You will no longer be able to go for a coffee, you will no longer be able to go to the theatre. You will no longer be able to go to the cinema.”

Macron later told a newspaper: “as for the non-vaccinated, I really want to piss * them off.” So that they would go and get vaccinated, presumably, but he knew he was also catching the popular mood. He later told reporters in Paris: “People can get upset about a way of speaking that seems colloquial, but I fully stand by it. I’m upset about the situation we’re in.”

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took the same line, although in more genteel language. But he didn’t go as far as Quebec, the hardest hit of the Canadian provinces.

Quebec is not doing badly by international standards; the same population as Austria or Switzerland, and about the same number of deaths. But last week it required people to show proof of vaccination at provincial cannabis and alcohol shops – and it has now declared that the unvaccinated will have to pay a monthly ‘contribution’ to the cost of health care.

Even the Pope has chipped in, saying that getting vaccinated is a “moral obligation,” and you don’t have to share his faith to agree with that statement. Vaccines protect not only the people who get the jab, but all those who may come into contact with them. That was always true, but now the patience has run out because people are tired.

The most dangerous consequence of covid fatigue, however, is the magical thinking that it induces even in some health professionals. ‘It’s been so long; surely it will be over soon’ is a wish, not a scientific statement.

Early this week Dr David Nabarro, the World Health Organisation’s special envoy of Covid-19, suggested that most countries have already passed the halfway mark in the pandemic ‘marathon’. “We can see the end in sight, but we’re not there (yet), and there’s going to be some bumps before we get there.”

Nadhim Zahawi, responsible for Britain’s vaccine deployment last year, said “I hope we will be one of the first major economies to demonstrate to the world how you transition from pandemic to epidemic, and then deal with this however long it remains with us, whether that’s five, six, seven, ten years.”

And Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sá nchez said that the European Union should stop detailed tracking of the pandemic and “start evaluating the evolution of this disease with different parameters.” In plain Spanish, that means: treat it like a flu epidemic.

This is wishful thinking and nothing more. There is no reason to believe that the end is in sight, or that the next Covid variant won’t be worse than Omicron, or even that infectious diseases always evolve towards lower lethality. Some do; some don’t.

And it won’t be over until the vaccination rates in Africa and Asia are the same as in Europe, East Asia and the Americas, plus 6-12 months.

The New Normal

January 20, 2022

The New Normal Sally Campbell

As Rivera Sun (Editor of Nonviolence News, a weekly roundup of nonviolent actions for social justice around the globe) says, “In 2022, resistance is the only new normal. Keep it up, everyone. Our world needs you.” I find this particularly relevant these days when our politicians seem unable to hear, let alone respond to the will of the people.

Are we really that selfish and myopic that we can’t agree to waive patents for Covid vaccines to allow the majority of the world’s people access? Are we that war-mongering that we station Canadian troops on Russia’s borders in Latvia & the Ukraine, as part of NATO’s push into territory it promised Gorbachev NATO would not encroach upon when the Cold War ended?

Are we that blind and indifferent to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza that we ignore Canada’s role in funding and arming the Israeli military? (See Just Peace Advocates webinar: “Yes, Canada does arm and fund the Israeli military”, January, 2022.) Are we so sedated and/or comfortable with nuclear weapons in our world that we refuse to join the majority of the world’s nations in signing the Ban Treaty?

January 22 marks the first anniversary of the Ban Treaty, the UN Treaty on the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons. I wrote about this treaty a year ago in The Grape. What with the climate crisis and Covid, it might seem as if this treaty is irrelevant. Alas, with the US ramping up its new cold war against Russia and now China, it becomes more imperative than ever that we adhere to international law and expect other governments do so as well.

What might psychologists say about Canada’s blatant inconsistencies between what we say and what we do? They might raise the idea of the “shadow” – those parts of ourselves we don’t want to recognize or acknowledge, the less likeable parts, the potential for violence we carry within us, most often at an unconscious level. We’re not really aware of these aspects, though they drive much of our behaviour.

Every grouping also has a shadow – families, communities, religions, nations – all have dark sides we’d rather not acknowledge. Let’s look at Canada. When nations criticize other nations for behaviours they themselves engage in, but are blind to, it’s called “shadow projection”. ^[1] We in Canada, for example, like to think of ourselves as a peaceable nation, our global role one of diplomacy, support for “developing nations”, and peacekeeping. “What is a Canadian? An unarmed North American with health care.”^[2] Now this gives us a smile as it captures two highly valued aspects of established public policy. It also gives us a point of contrast with the US, one which invites a little smugness on the part of the tiny mouse living in the shadow of the giant. It has to do with our projection of our shadow onto the US. Perhaps we can focus on what we actually do as Canadians on the global stage rather than blaming the US for the state we’re in.

What we don’t often reckon with is our history of supporting empire and imperialism. As members of NATO, we have engaged in wars in former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, & Libya, to name a few. We now have Canadian Forces in Latvia & Ukraine, right on Russia’s borders. Our military budget is largely driven by our expected “contributions” to NATO. The Canadian government’s decision to purchase 88 fighter jets from the US is connected to NATO and NORAD. How well will fighter jets help anyone address climate crisis?

Canada has less than 45 people involved in the UN Peacekeeping Forces.

Former Ambassador to the UN Stephen Lewis has stated that a number of countries are now taking extreme nationalist positions; he cited the UK, US (under Trump), Brazil, India, Hungary, & the Philippines. Canada, he says, is a “small trading country, who relies on international agreements…Canada is listened to when our voice is authentic and when we stand by what we say”.^[3] PM Justin Trudeau is on record as saying that we’re committed to achieving a world free of nuclear weapons. And yet, not only have we not signed the critically important Ban Treaty, we actively opposed its negotiation, and voted “no” when 130 of the world’s nations voted “yes”.

We say we want our decisions to be rooted in international law^[4], yet we regularly look the other way when our allies breach it. Lewis says we need to maintain and support the International Criminal Court (ICC). We could help strengthen the UN and its global impact, but we have dealt ourselves out of a position of influence at the Security Council. According to Lewis, Canada lost its bid for a revolving seat on the Security Council (always held before when we stood for election) “because of our politics and policies”, such as buying a pipeline whilst giving lip service to the climate crisis (his example). To have a say in our foreign policy, Canadians need to let our leaders know what we want, with voices strong enough to be heard.

The Canadian Foreign Policy Institute (CFPI) is just two years old. Its purpose is to reevaluate Canada’s foreign policy and advocate for a progressive policy reflecting Canada’s role as a middle power, committed to multi-lateralism. World Beyond War Canada has offices in Winnipeg and Montreal. Just Peace Advocates out of Toronto is another emergent group worth exploring. Then there’s Canadians for Justice & Peace in the Middle East. And Progressive International, led by such influencers as Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky, Vijay Prashad.

These groups offer realistic ways we can participate.

Stay-at-home periods can drive us crazy. They can also offer space to google groups such as these and to resist the inertia that keeps our world so filled with crushing inequity, suffering and danger. An added benefit is the increased sense of well-being that comes from being connected to our global community and joining the effort to create a better world. Our feisty little communities know about resistance. Why not channel that spirit toward resisting Canada’s mistaken priorities and its militarism? Could this become our new normal?

1 Masters, Dr. Robert A., Bringing Your Shadow Out of The Dark, Sounds True Publishing: Boulder, Co., 2018 @ 216

2 Meme gone viral

3 World Beyond War Webinar May 31, 2020, on Revitalizing the Canadian Peace Movement.

4 https://www.international .gc.ca/world-monde/international relations.