Edible Plant Walk: Real Life, Real Learning

marlarenn — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 06:49:33 +0000

Under the dense forest canopy of the Burnaby mountain campus on Wednesday afternoon, a group of folks came together to learn about native plant species.

StopWar Drops in on the Canadian Forces

marlarenn — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 05:06:11 +0000

Keeping the armed forces company at community events

In recent years the Canadian Forces have noticeably changed their public relations approach. As the Canadian state has become more obvious and unabashedly aggressive war makers on the world stage, the Canadian Forces have kept their publicity in step. They have now taken to the trend of frequent and public displays showcasing an increasingly brazen glorification of war and our role in it.

In response to the armed forces being on display recently at the Dragon Boat Festival and Canada Day Festivities in Vancouver, StopWar, a broad based anti-war coalition, kept them company. We handed out balloons, stickers, leaflets, wrote messages in chalk on the ground, and talked with people about the occupation of Afghanistan, all while positioned right in front of the armed forces. We did this because this type of display is propaganda that must be opposed by peace loving people in a democratic society. We don’t think that war and machines of destruction are “cool”, nor are kids playing with guns and tanks. We were also at these events to provide information about the occupation of Afghanistan, especially the opinions of Afghan people on it, who now say very clearly that they want Canada and all of the occupation forces to leave.

At both the Dragon Boat festival and Canada Day festivities our members had overwhelmingly good and inspiring experiences. Many of those at the festivals, including Afghan people, students, concerned citizens, a war resister, and personnel from armed forces around the world came up to StopWar members and thanked us for being there, for demonstrating dissent to this type of display, and for getting the information about Afghanistan out. Again and again people communicated their support.

Marla Renn

Edible Plant Walk: Real Life, Real Learning

StopWar Drops in on the Canadian Forces