Maya Rolbin-Ghanie

On the 20th Anniversary of Oka

Maya — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 05:35:58 +0000

On July 11, 2010, 4 buses full of people from Montreal as well as many others from the community of Kanesatà:ke and other areas marched to acknowledge the 20 years that have passed since the event that Canadians know as the "Oka Crisis." Land claims battles are still raging, as are struggles for basic human respect, even 20 years after the highest profile armed stand-off between Mohawk and Canadia

"Toronto is a microcosm of the G8/G20 policies."

Maya — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:11:28 +0000

PHOTOS: Thousands rally to denounce police brutality in Toronto

On Monday, one day after the G20 summit came to a close, thousands of people rallied outside of Toronto's police headquarters at College and Yonge to stand in solidarity with the more than 900 people who were rounded up and arrested over the course of the weekend, and to loudly denounce the brutality which police employed in the process.

The Erosion of "Rights": a quick descent

Maya — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:44:58 +0000

a few highlights for serious consideration

Power of Women Housing March

Maya — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 07:19:18 +0000

Power of Women's List of Demands, as presented at their march on June 13th, 2009 in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside

1. Safe, supported and long-term affordable housing should be available immediately.

2. Women who are survivors of violence, especially those with children, should be given high priority for affordable housing.

3. No housing units, including supportive housing and special needs residential facilities, should be exempt from the provincial Residential Tenancy Act.

4. An immediate moratorium on conversions of low-income housing to condominiums in the Downtown Eastside.

5. Rent controls and price controls on food and other basic necessities.

6. No one be evicted or displaced from the Downtown Eastside or other urban, rural and indigenous communities as a result of the Olympic Games.

7. Immediate withdrawal of the $1 million Project Civil City which includes by-laws that prohibit camping on sidewalks and and end to police ticketing and street checks.

8. Social assistance rates should be increased by 40 per cent and removal of barriers to accessing assistance such as the three week wait, two year independence test, two year time limit and single parent employability rules.

9. All women should have access to subsidized childcare instead of child apprehension due to poverty.

10. A full provincial public inquiry into the ongoing tragedy of missing and murdered women.

11. Establish a living wage of at least $16 per hour and abolish the $6 per hour training wage.

For more information: http://www.dewc.ca/

Grants for Guns?

dru — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:31:02 +0000

Students protest weapons manufacturer at university job fair

Two dozen protesters with picket signs and megaphones gathered outside the Cunard Centre on Marginal Street in Halifax today to demonstrate their opposition to a job fair for students of Mount Saint Vincent University, Dalhousie, and Saint Mary's. The job fair included recruiters for Lockheed Martin, the world's largest arms manufacturer.

Asaf Rashid of the Student's Coalition Against War (SCAW) dressed in a white lab coat and an orange hardhat, spoke to the crowd through a megaphone. "This is not the only action" students are taking against Lockheed Martin, he said.

Pamphlets distributed at the demonstration highlight Lockheed Martin's profits from war, pointing out that the company's share price more than doubled after former US president Bush's "War on Terror," and that Lockheed makes the F-16 fighter jets used in the recent attacks on Gaza in which Israeli forces killed over 1,300 Palestinians.

On January 20 of this year, the student groups STRAX and community allies shut down a similar event, officially denouncing the presence of Lockheed Martin representatives on campus and the company's reps' intent to recruit students.

Rashid then introduced himself as Dr. Clusterbomb of the Weapons Inspection Team. "Inside [the job fair] are some dangerous elements: the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Lockheed Martin, and [Canadian military] defence," he said.

Dr. Clusterbomb announced his intention to enter the job fair "just to see how everyone's doing."

"Not only does Lockheed Martin produce weapons of mass destruction, but also weapons of mass deception," he said. Clusterbomb then tried to enter the fair, trailed by a dozen reporters. He was denied entry by private security and police. A job fair organizer told him he needed to hold a valid student ID to gain access to the event.

Anti-Colonial Thanksgiving

dru — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:44:22 +0000

Spirit Train Protest in Montreal

dru — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:37:15 +0000

More photos on the way!