This coming Thursday, Sept. 30th, is Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Although it is a statutory holiday for all federally regulated employees, it is unfortunately not a statutory holiday for provincially regulated employees. As the overwhelming majority of workers are employed in sectors that are provincially regulated, relatively very…
Category: decolonisation
Cuban solidarity is an example to the world
Last Monday, on a beautiful summer evening my partner Penny and I had the great honour of hosting Cuban Embassy officials David Aldama Pando, Third Secretary, and Areadna Quitana Castañeda, Press Attaché, as guests in our home. It was two hours of informative, intellectually stimulating discussion about a wide range of topics. The main topic…
Real solutions exist to homeless encampments: Look to the ’70s, and Portland’s Right to Dream Too
Nobody won at Tuesday night’s Vancouver Park Board meeting addressing the city’s latest and biggest homeless encampment in Strathcona Park. After two onerous nights of debate — in which nearly 100 speakers outlined their sympathy for the homeless park dwellers; for the board itself, having to deal with such a thorny issue; and for Strathcona…
People say the virus doesn’t discriminate. But it does, because we do.
Readers following my blog lately will know that I’ve been commenting on two huge, powerful forces in the world right now — forces that intersect and are impossible to ignore: The pandemic and the recent flood of resistance to racism. The outrageous murder of George Floyd was the anti-racism flashpoint, but protestors worldwide have also…
No justice; no peace; no racist police
From Beverly Hills to Brooklyn, America is burning. The gruesome police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis has understandably reignited the fear, anger and concern about centuries of systemic racism — not just in the U.S. but also here at home in Canada, where racism has been embedded in society all the way back to…
COVID-19: The neighbourhood catastrophe waiting to happen
For weeks, the coronavirus pandemic has been totally transforming our lives and devastating economies worldwide, right down to our own local neighbourhoods. COVID-19 is a neighbourhood catastrophe waiting to happen in the DTES. Its first confirmed case appeared yesterday. It’s very difficult, if not impossible, for most of the residents there to keep a safe…