If we value each other as human beings, why return to “Normal” when there were so many inequities in our “normal” situation before the pandemic? The economic system that we had has been exposed as an inhuman system of exploitation of the many for the benefit of a few.

Here’s an example of why we need to implement a Universal Basic Income:

A PUBLIC LETTER FROM THE ARTS COMMUNITY FOR A BASIC INCOME GUARANTEE

16 July 2020

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, Deputy Minister Freeland, Minister Morneau and Minister Guilbeault:

We represent tens of thousands of artists, writers, technicians, and performers from many backgrounds and regions across Canada. Our voices are united; we call upon the Government of Canada to ensure the financial well-being of all residents by implementing a permanent Basic Income Guarantee.

The pandemic’s wrath on lives has been swift. Millions are still out of work. Those whose financial situation was not previously precarious find themselves sinking into financial quicksand, their lives instantly upended through no fault of their own. The arts, culture, heritage, tourism, and creative industries have been deeply affected: productions have been canceled, venues shuttered, and livelihoods lost. In these unprecedented times, millions of Canadians, including those in the arts and culture sector, exist in a precarious reality. In this new reality, we are all vulnerable to unexpected changes in circumstances and unexpected hardships. Poverty can become a reality for all of us, abruptly, without warning.

Financial insecurity and the cracks in our health- and social-support systems have been highlighted by the pandemic, but they were always present. Structural inequalities disproportionately affect vulnerable and marginalized communities, making it more likely for people with disabilities, LGBTQ2+, Black, Indigenous, people of colour, refugees and immigrants, women, single mothers and others to slip into systemic cycles of poverty and poor health.

Many support programs have been eroded during the last few decades, with federal, provincial and territorial income assistance and disability support systems consistently failing to provide economic dignity or meet basic human needs. Furthermore, employment-insurance programs have not adapted to the realities of the gig economy or the self-employed, and a large proportion of workers do not meet their required criteria, which is often based on full-time work. If workers do qualify, they often face barriers to re-entering the labour force in the form of reduced support when short-term employment opportunities arise.

The gig economy is undermining decades of worker protections. As participants, many arts-and-culture-sector workers are subject to precarious short-term contracts, without access to benefits, paid sick leave, or even employment insurance. Today, the world of general labour is looking a lot like the way art labour has looked for decades. We write to express our collective concern regarding the precarious state of labour that is in urgent need of reform and redress.

Canada is at a crossroads. The government can continue to look the other way, allowing our most vulnerable to fall through the cracks of a systematically broken social safety net and perpetuate a history of economic insecurity, anxiety and fear. Or, we can take this opportunity to bring about much-needed change and make a meaningful difference that will lead to a brighter future. Establishing a Basic Income Guarantee will help to create a healthier, more equitable social safety system that provides financial support, elevating people and ensuring that no one is left behind.

We commend your leadership and the work of the Government of Canada in implementing and extending the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and other measures, including support for the arts, sports, and cultural sectors. However, too many are still being left behind, held back by barriers beyond their control. A Basic Income Guarantee would build on your existing programs, including CERB, and provide financial security to meet people’s basic needs and allow them to participate in society, living with dignity regardless of their work status.

As stakeholders of the arts and culture sector, we ask you to give Canadians the chance not only to survive, but to live.

Towards this:

We, the undersigned, are calling upon the Government of Canada to honour its commitment to poverty reduction and instate a Basic Income Guarantee to make a historic investment in a better tomorrow;

We call upon the Government of Canada to hereby reduce the inequities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic: to remove the financial obstacles faced by our most vulnerable, to alleviate gender-based poverty, and to address the economic inequality based in persistent racism and colonialism;

We call upon the Government of Canada to implement a universally accessible and unconditional basic income program that guarantees an income floor to anyone in need.

In the pandemic’s wake, the arts communities, versatile and adaptable, are evolving in new and exciting ways. Artists, writers, technicians, and performers will continue to create and to inspire the world around them. Their creation of novel forms of digital culture, music and performance art, online entertainment, movies, literary works, arts and crafts will allow people to weather times of solitude, hardship, and ruptures in social behaviour and contribute to their overall well-being.

We envision a Basic Income Guarantee that ensures financial stability without eroding the existing federal support for arts and culture programs. Unconditional access to a basic income will support the remarkable creative capacity of individuals and provide employment opportunities, bold visions and community inspiration.

Great challenges are often the catalyst to transform societies and our ways of being – the challenges we face today are no exception. We require a Basic Income Guarantee. The opportunity for change is here and now.

Sincerely,

Craig Berggold – Media artist / Team leader, Case for Basic Income and the Arts, Ontario Basic Income Network

Zainub Verjee – Laureate, 2020 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Outstanding Contribution

Clayton Windatt – Independent artist / curator

With, and on behalf of:

Organizations

1. International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)
2. Canadian Federation of Musicians / Federation canadienne des musiciens
3. Canadian Actors’ Equity Association (CAEA)
4. Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (FCCF)
5. Kehewin Native Dance Theatre
6. Canadian Artists’ Representation / Le Front des artistes canadiens (CARFAC)
7. Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels du Québec (RAAV)
8. Conseil québécois du théâtre (CQT)
9. Artist-Run Centres and Collectives Conference / Conférence des collectifs et des Centres d’artistes autogérés
10. Playwrights Guild of Canada (PGC)
11. Independent Media Arts Alliance / Alliance des arts médiatiques indépendants
12. Canadian Crafts Federation / Fédération canadienne des métiers d’art
13. Association acadienne des artistes professionnel.le.s du Nouveau-Brunswick
14. League of Canadian Poets
15. Canadian Dance Assembly / L’Assemblée canadienne de la danse (CDA / ACD)
16. The Writers’ Union of Canada
17. Dancer Transition Resource Centre/Centre de ressources et transition pour danseurs
18. Union des écrivaines et écrivains québécois (UNEQ)
19. Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA)
20. Electric City Culture Council Peterborough
21. Canadian Federation of Musicians, Ottawa Local 180
22. CARFAC – Ontario
23. New Brunswick Crafts Council
24. Basic Income YYC Arts Collective, Calgary
25. Prospect Human Services, Studio C
26. Kingston Arts Council
27. CARFAC – Alberta
28. Media Arts Network of Ontario
29. Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts
30. Quinte Arts Council
31. Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists/West
32. Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists/East
33. CSARN (Canadian Senior Artists’ Resource Network)
34. Associated Designers of Canada

 

Individuals

1. Moridja Kitenge Banza – 2020 Sobey Art Award – Quebec / Multidisciplinary Artist
2. Ruth Cuthand – 2020 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Visual Artist
3. Jorge Lozano – 2020 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Filmmaker
4. Anna Torma – 2020 Saidye Bronfman Award / 2020 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts
5. Marlene Creates – 2019 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Lifetime Artistic Achievement
6. Alison Duke – 2019 ByBlacks People’s Choice Award Winner, Best Film Director
7. Ali Kazimi – 2019 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Filmmaker and Media Artist
8. Gertrude Kearns – 2019 Member of the Order of Canada / Visual Artist
9. Andrew James Paterson – 2019 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts
10. Midi Onodera – 2018 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Media Artist
11. Adrian Stimson – 2018 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Visual and Performance Artist
12. Marcus Youssef – 2017 Siminovitch Prize for Theatre Laureate, Playwright
13. George Elliot Clarke – 2017-16 Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate
14. Mike Hoolboom – 2017 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Filmmaker
15. Christopher House, C.M. – 2017 Member of the Order of Canada / Choreographer
16. Glenn Lewis – 2017 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Visual Artist
17. Colleen Murphy – 2016 & 2007 Governor General’s Award for Literary Merit, Drama
18. Emma Donoghue – 2016 Nominated for Academy Award – Best Adapted Screenplay / 2010 Finalist, Man Booker Prize
19. Jayce Salloum – 2014 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Media Artist
20. Peggy Baker CM, O.Ont, LLD, Dlitt – 2009 Governor General’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in Dance
21. Adrianne Pieczonka, O.C. FRSC – 2008 Officer of the Order of Canada / Opera Singer / Chair in Voice, Glenn Gould School, Royal Conservatory of Music
22. Lata Pada – 2008 Member of the Order of Canada, Choreographer / Dancer
23. Eric Metcalfe, R.C.A., LL, lit – 2008 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Interdisciplinary Artist
24. Vera Frenkel – 2006 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Multidisciplinary Artist
25. Paul Wong – 2005 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Video Artist
26. Vern Thiessen – 2003 Governor General’s Award for Literary Merit, Drama
27. Jamelie Hassan – 2001 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Visual Artist
28. Djanet Sears – 1998 Governor General’s Award for Literary Merit, Drama
29. Colleen Wagner – 1996 Governor General’s Award for Literary Merit, Drama
30. Judy Rebick – Writer
31. Lillian Allen – Poet / Writer / Performer
32. Rosa John – Artistic Director, Kehewin Native Dance Theatre
33. John Greyson – Video / Film Artist
34. Richard Fung – Professor Emeritus, Ontario College of Art & Design Univ.
35. Carole Conde – Independent Artist
36. Karl Beveridge – Independent Artist
37. Min Sook Lee – Filmmaker / Teacher
38. Indu Vashist – Director, South Asian Visual Arts Centre
39. Peter Morin – Faculty of Art, Ontario College of Art & Design University
40. Giovanna Riccio – Poet
41. Krisztina Szabo – Opera Singer
42. Carol Podedworny – Director, McMaster Museum of Art
43. Devyani Saltzman – Director of Programming, Art Gallery of Ontario
44. Gerald Beaulieu – Visual Artist / Former President CARFAC National
45. Peter McGillivray – Baritone / Opera Singer / Council Member, Canadian Actor’s Equity Assoc.
46. Sylvie Meste – Directrice générale, Conseil Québécois du Théâtre
47. Anne Bertrand – Director, Artist-Run Centres and Collectives Conference
48. April Britski – National Executive Director, CARFAC
49. Maegen Black – Director, Canadian Crafts Federation / Freelance Author
50. Scott McLeod – Editor, Prefix Magazine
51. Sarindar Dhaliwal – Visual Artist
52. Florence MacDonald – Playwright
53. Andrea Fatona – Professor, Ontario College of Art & Design University
54. Peter Flemming – Actor
55. Pierre-André Doucet – Pianist / Co-directeur artistique, Été musical de Barachois
56. Julien LeBlanc – Concert Pianist / Co-Artistic Director, Barachois Summer Music
57. Chris Tolley – Playwright / Artistic Director, Expect Theatre
58. Narendra Pachkhede – Writer / Artist
59. Clive Robertson – Artist / retired Art History Professor, Queens University
60. Judith Marcuse, LL.D.(Hon.) – International Centre of Art for Social Change
61. Marie Magistry – Singer
62. Dot Tuer – Writer / Cultural Historia
63. Brenda Longfellow – Independent Artist
64. Glen Richards – Independent Artist
65. Lisa Myers – Artist / Curator / Ass. Professor, York University
66. Chantal Dionne – Soprano / Voice Teacher
67. Kyo Maclear – Writer
68. Lee Williams – Interdisciplinary Artist
69. John Farah – Musician
70. Stéphanie Pothier – Mezzo-Soprano / Classical Singer
71. Elisa Paloschi – Filmmaker
72. Jennifer Dysart – Filmmaker
73. Sky Gilbert – Writer
74. Catherine Hahn – Designer
75. Paul Kirby – Caravan Stage Society
76. Adriana Kelder – Caravan Stage Society
77. Susan Lord – Professor, Queens University, Cultural Studies
78. Ron Burnett – Writer / Media Practitioner
79. Hank Bull – Independent Artist
80. Penny Joy – Documentary Video Producer
81. Ron Benner – Film / Design
82. Velcrow Ripper – Filmmaker
83. Nova Ami – Filmmaker
84. Marcia Johnson – Playwright / Actor / Dramaturge / Audiobook director / Activist
85. Alexis O’Hara – Interdisciplinary Artist
86. Sydney Lancaster – Artist
87. Dennis Day – Artist/ Editor/ Educator
88. Yael – Media / Visual Artist, Ontario College of Art & Design University
89. Antoine Bourges – Film Director, University of British Columbia
90. Jessie Golem – Photographer
91. Pam Patterson –  Performance / Visual Artist, Ontario College of Art & Design Univ.
92. Andrea Cohen-B – Director, Meta4films
93. Dirk Van Stralen – Independent Artist / Theatre Practitioner
94. Atefeh Khademolreza – Video Artist
95. Sally Lee – Musician / Arts Manager / Board Member, Wavelength, and CONTACT Photography Festival
96. Elaine Brière – Filmmaker / Photographer
97. Jude Griebel – Visual Artist
98. Henry Tsang – Artist / Assoc. Professor, Emily Carr University of Art + Design
99. Reid Shier – Director / Curator, Polygon Gallery
100. Cornelia Wyngaarden – Independent Artist
101. Mark Parlett – Independent Artist / Musician
102. Liz Park – Curator, UB Buffalo Art Galleries
103. Tazeen Qayyum – Independent Visual Artist
104. Marc Glassman – Writer / Editor
105. Judy Wolfe – Writer
106. Demetra Christakos – Director / Curator
107. Rina Fraticelli – Director
108. Stefan St-Laurent – Artist / Curator / Adjunct Professor, University of Ottawa
109. Bryan Mulvihill – Independent Artist / Curator
110. Julia Hutchings – Filmmaker
111. Joanne Tod – Independent Artist
112. Scott Marsden – Independent Curator
113. Phinder Dulai – Author / Editor
114. Nadia Myre – Independent Artist
115. Shawna Dempsey – Independent Artist
116. Lorri Millan – Independent Artist
117. Bogdan Luca – Painter
118. Rafael Goldchain – Photographer / Professor, Sheridan College, Faculty of Animation Arts and Design
119. Gary Kibbins – Video Artist / Teacher, Queens University, Film & Media
120. Brian Kelly – Independent Artist
121. Barbara Evans – Filmmaker / Professor
122. Catherine Osborne – Writer / Editor
123. Ananya Ohri – Independent Cultural Worker / Producer
124. Aaron Rotenberg – Media Artist / Spiritual Leader
125. Faisal Anwar – New Media / Interactive Artist
126. Rosemary Heather – Arts Journalist
127. Lynne Fernie – Artist / Filmmaker / Programmer
128. Makiko Hara – Independent Curator
129. Gary Varro – Artistic Director, Q City Cinema and Performatorium
130. Sue Donaldson – Arts Administrator
131. Christian Bernard – Singer, Independent Artist
132. Scott Miller Berry – Filmmaker / Cultural Worker
133. Frances Loeffler – Curator
134. Ann MacDonald – Director / Curator
135. Peggy Gale – Independent Curator / Arts Writer
136. Penelope Stewart – Visual Artist
137. Bruce Barber – Independent Artist
138. David Lester – Graphic Novelist
139. Taien Ng-Chan – Independent Artist
140. Flavio Belli – Independent Artist / Curator / Collector
141. Jason St-Laurent – Curator
142. Lisa Deanne Smith – Curator, Onsite Gallery
143. Milly Ristvedt – Self-employed Visual Artist
144. Michelle Gay – Independent Artist / Educator
145. Shannon Coates, DMA – Voice Educator
146. Sharlene Bamboat – Artist / Cultural Worker
147. Su Ditta – Curator / Arts Administrator
148. Don Bouzek – 2014 City of Edmonton Award of Excellence / 2005 Alberta Centennial Medal / Artist
149. Elia Kirby – Great Northern Way Scene Shop and Arts Factory Society
150. Vincenzo Pietropaolo – Photographer / Writer
151. Pam Harris – Documentary Photographer / Writer
152. Shirley Yanover – Visual Artist
153. Steve Stober – Photographer
154. Karen Knights – Archive Manager, VIVO Media Arts Centre
155. Rahul Verma – Playwright / Theatre Director, Teesri Duniya
156. Betty Julian – Independent Curator / Adjunct Curator, Prefix ICA
157. Ashes Withyman – Visual Artist
158. Susan Crean – Writer
159. Hamal Docter – Arts Policy Consultant
160. Gita Hashemi – Independent Artist / Curator / Writer
161. Francesca Vivenza – Mixed-media Artist
162. Gary Magwood – Belleville Downtown Documentary Film Festival
163. Michael Mirolla – Writer / Publisher, Guernica Editions
164. Bryant Didier – Evolutionary Music Cooperative – EvMc
165. Meg MacKay – Screenwriter
166. Jennifer Smith – Distribution, Video Pool Media Arts Centre / Independent Curator
167. Michael Trommer – Sound Artist, Ontario College of Art & Design University
168. Camille Turner – Media and Performance Artist / Curator
169. Erin Ball – Circus Artist / Owner, Kingston Circus Arts
170. Jason Britski – Filmmaker
171. Christine Swintak – Artist / Educator / Creative Consultant
172. Kevin Barrett – Musician, CFM Toronto Local 149
173. Robin Moir – President, CFM, Local 518
174. Susie Moore – Kingston Musicians’ Union, Local 518
175. Claudia Leduc – Multi-media Coordinator
176. Sky Goodden – Publisher of Momus, Editor / Critic
177. Norm Foster – Playwright / Actor
178. Anna Chatterton – Playwright
179. Sunny Drake – 2019 Stratford Festival Playwright in-residence
180. Pierre-Luc Landry – Writer
181. Colin Miner – Artist / Educator
182. Steve Bates – Artist / Musician
183. Denise Young – Picture this…Film Festival, Calgary
184. Jeffrey Stonehouse – Flutist / Artistic Director, Ensemble Paramirabo
185. Kristina Lemieux – Executive Director, Generator
186. Carmen Gibbs – Directrice générale, Association acadienne des artistes professionnel.le.s du Nouveau-Brunswick
187. Eleanor King – Independent Artist / Teacher
188. Catherine Ballachey – President, LMDA Canada Board
189. Matt McGeachy – Company Dramaturge, Factory Theatre
190. Megan Johnson – Performance Scholar / Dramaturg
191. Marie Barlizo – Playwright
192. David Geary – Playwright / Dramaturg / Educator, Capilano University
193. Joanna Garfinkel – Freelance Dramaturg
194. Lindsay Lachance – Artistic Associate, National Arts Centre, Indigenous Theatre
195. Pearl Van Geest – Independent Artist / Teacher
196. Paula Murray – Independent Artist
197. Alexandra Gelis – Independent Media Artist
198. Judy Radul – Artist /Professor, School of Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser Univ.
199. Tam-Ca Vo-Van – Director, SAW Gallery
200. Karen Kaeja – 2019 Dance Ontario’s Lifetime Achievement Award
201. Allen Kaeja – 2019 Dance Ontario’s Lifetime Achievement Award
202. Andrea Donaldson – Artistic Director, Nightwood Theatre
203. Melissa R Knive – Artist, Wolf Ears Art
204. Allison Cushing – Music Yukon / Yukon Arts Foundation,
205. Andrea Clark – Caravan Stage Company
206. Dave Babcock – Musician
207. Maria Dunn – 2017 Juno-nominated Songwriter, Edmonton Music Prize Artist
208. Bob Tildesley – Musician
209. Dana Wylie – 2018 Canadian Folk Music Award-nominated Musician
210. Patricia Darbasie – Actor
211. Jane Heather – Theatre Artist
212. Brooke Leifso – Theatre Artist
213. Mieko Ouchi – Theatre Artist / Writer
214. Kate Ryan – Actor / Theatre Director
215. Brian Deedrick – Opera and Theatre Director
216. Tim Yakimec – Artistic Director, Edmonton Opera
217. Karen Bishop – Visual Artist / Alberta Arts Action
218. Jill Thomson – Visual Artist / Co-founder Alberta Arts Action
219. Trisia Eddy – Visual Artist / Writer / Alberta Arts Action
220. Mary Joyce – Visual Artist
221. Jannie Edwards – Writer / Editor/ Teacher
222. Paula E. Kirman – Writer / Photographer / Musician
223. Myrna Kostash – Writer
224. Alice Major – First Poet Laureate City of Edmonton / Founder, Edmonton Poetry Festival
225. Lorna Thomas – Chair, Documentary Organization of Canada-Alberta / Filmmaker
226. Ava Karvonen – Filmmaker
227. Conni Massing – Playwright / Screenwriter
228. Kenneth T. Williams – Playwright / Dramaturg
229. Denise Roy – Arts Manager, Alberta Arts Action
230. Debbie Houle – 2005 Juno Nominee for Aboriginal Recording of the Year as a member of Asani
231. Anna Marie Sewell – 2011 Poet Laureate City of Edmonton
232. Marek Tyler – 2020 Juno Nominee Indigenous Music Album of the Year as a member of nêhiyawak
233. Sophy Romvari – Film / Design
234. Justine A. Chambers – Contemporary Dance Artist
235. Daniel Akira Stadnicki – Musician
236. Yvonne Ng – 2016 Jacqueline Lemieux Award, Canada Council for the Arts
237. Belinda Cornish – Actor / Writer
238. Collette “Coco” Murray – 2019 Toronto Arts Foundation Community Arts Award / Dance Educator
239. Johanna Householder – Artist / Professor Emerita, OCAD University
240. Pamela Tzeng – Independent Artist / Dancers’ Studio West
241. Kristi Hanson – Actor
242. P. Megan Andrews – Dance Artist
243. Jason Hardwick – Actor
244. Ame Henderson – Choreographer
245. Robert Binet – Creative Producer of CreativAction, The National Ballet of Canada
246. Kevin Ormsby – Dance Artist / Choreographer / Artistic Director, KasheDance
247. Sheldon Elter – Actor
248. Mary Jo Major – Writer
249. Christine Hanson – Cellist / Composer
250. Caterina Edwards – Writer
251. Colleen Huston – Visual Artist
252. Marce Merrell – Writer
253. Sydney Lancaster – Visual Artist
254. Miriam Dunn – Poet
255. Maurice Mierau – Poet
256. Lana St-Louis
257. Valentin Brown – Independent Artist
258. Mitchell Ellam – Executive Director, White Water Gallery, North Bay
259. Ayumi Goto – Independent Artist
260. Cari Green – Film Producer
261. Michelle van Beusekom – Executive Director, Documentary Organization of Canada
262. Anna Mae Alexander – Producer / Actor
263. Maggie MacKenzie – Actor
264. Kurt Archer – Playwright / Director / Actor
265. Aurora Borin – Musician
266. Ariella Pahlke – Video artist / Curator
267. Jessica Hallenbeck – Lantern Films
268. Bill Kimball – Public Energy: Artistic and Executive Director Performing Arts
269. Gabe Pollock – Journalist
270. Chad Hogan – Market Hall Performing Arts
271. Kate Story – Dancer / Writer / Actor / Director
272. Peg McCraken – Peterborough Singers
273. Vonnie Von Helmolt – Film Producer
274. Nadine Changfoot – Professor Trent University, Art and Disability / Dance / Film
275. Alex Bierk – Visual Artist
276. Elisha Rubacha – Writer / Publisher
277. Lesley Fletcher – Executive Director, League of Canadian Poets
278. Rajinderpal S. Pal – Poet
279. Colin Wolf – Artistic Director, Gwaandak Theatre, Whitehorse

Rejecting the death instinct in a pandemic age:

by Matthew Behrens, April 21, 2020

Matthew Behrens has shared his thoughts on what we choose to happen as we “return to normal” after COVID-19. He begins by writing that:

“The ongoing pandemic epoch has exposed a clear duality marked both by increasingly obvious and blatant inequalities, hypocrisies and systemic failures as well as beautiful, loving and creative responses in the form of mutual aid communities and direct action to save lives.

What happens when — or if — this epoch comes to an end is anybody’s guess, but there are clearly two paths forward, with a thankfully growing consciousness developed long before COVID-19 that our present path is one leading directly to disaster. Indeed, the 24-hour news cycle dominated by masked faces, hospital images and infection charts has almost obliterated from memory everything from January’s apocalyptic Australian brush fire scenes that served as yet one more warning about planetary peril to the grotesque armed invasion of Wet’suwet’en territory by paramilitary RCMP units.”

 

Which path will we, individually and as a society, choose to follow? The whole of Matthew’s article can be found at:

https://rabble.ca/columnists/2020/04/rejecting-death-instinct-pandemic-age

 

 

 

Take Responsibility

By Jim Taylor, published March 2, 2019

I wore a pink shirt last Wednesday. Pink is not my colour. It makes me look like cotton candy with a beard.

But Wednesday was anti-bullying day, so I wore pink.

It feels like a futile gesture. After all, what difference will it make if one old man wears a pink shirt for one day? School yard bullies won’t see it at all. Neither will patriarchal males in India and Africa who think of women as something inferior, to do with as they please. Nor will my pink shirt influence the behaviour of egocentric rulers in Riyadh or Moscow, Washington or Damascus.

Short answer — no difference at all.

Someone else’s problem

 So why bother?

 I hear that response often, when I get into discussions about the state of the world. Everyone agrees — okay, most people in my circles agree — that something needs to be done about wealth inequity, where the three richest Americans have more wealth than the 160 million citizens, 50 per cent of the country’s population, at the bottom of the economic pyramid.

And about climate change and melting glaciers before very valuable real estate in Florida disappears under the seas. And about court processes that turn chronic offenders loose because an overworked cop got the date wrong on a traffic ticket. The answer always seems to be, it’s too big for me to tackle. There’s nothing I can do.

Therefore, that’s what I’ll do. Nothing.

Guaranteed failure

Let’s turn the question around — what will doing nothing accomplish? The answer is also obvious. Nothing.

What you do may not make a difference. But what you don’t do definitely will make a difference.

You may not be able to rescue a child trapped in a burning house. But if you don’t try, you guarantee that child’s death.

Driving safely won’t eliminate accidents; there are other drivers on the road too. But not driving safely will surely increase accidents.

Treating people with respect will not eliminate conflict. But not treating people with respect will certainly increase conflict.

You may remember the oft-told story of a little girl going down the beach throwing stranded starfish into the sea. An observer told her she was wasting her effort. There were far too many starfish for her to throw into the ocean — they’d all die.

“This one won’t,” she replied, flinging another starfish into the waves.

“Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it,” Mahatma Gandhi advised the world.

Insignificant beginnings

The pink shirt movement itself is evidence that doing something is better than doing nothing.

Anti-bullying day started in Canada. With less than one per cent of the world’s population, Canada’s efforts can’t possibly be significant — the argument currently used by opponents of a carbon tax. After all, bullying is universal. Even chickens do it.

Yet 180 countries around the world now mark anti-bullying day in February.

Even more insignificantly, anti-bullying day started with just two high-school students in Nova Scotia. David Shepherd and Travis Price saw older kids bullying a younger student who wore a pink shirt at the opening day of school. So, on their own, they bought 50 pink T-shirts, and handed them out.

“I learned that two people can come up with an idea, run with it, and it can do wonders,” Price, then 17, told the Globe and Mail. “Finally, someone stood up for a weaker kid.”

The spread of anti-bullying day confirms that symbolic acts can have a positive effect.

The worst result

 The U.S. calculates that one out of every four children will be bullied during adolescence. Bullying rarely stops after a single incident; 71 percent of bullied students continue to be bullied, with a strong correspondence between being bullied and suicide.

Again, Canada brought this reality to international attention.

Amanda Todd, a 15-year-old Canadian victim of cyberbullying, committed suicide in October 2012 at her home in Port Coquitlam, B.C. Shortly before her death, Todd posted a YouTube video that used hand-lettered flash cards to describe her experience.

The video went viral. More than 12 million people have seen it.

Just six months later, 17-year-old Rehtaeh Parsons attempted suicide in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Her parents switched off her life supportmachine in April 2013.

The two women’s suicides pushed cyberbullying into prominence. In 2012, Todd was the third-most Googled person in the world, surpassing even Hollywood stars. In 2013, 38 countries held vigils in her memory.

So wearing pink on anti-bullying day may seem like a futile gesture. But it affirms that doing something is better than doing nothing.

*******************************************************

Copyright © 2019 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups encouraged; links from other blogs welcomed; all other rights reserved. To send comments, to subscribe, or to unsubscribe, write jimt@quixotic.ca

********************************************************

This story was posted on the United Church of Canada website (July 18, 2018) and is a statement that brings positive energy to my soul. As we remember the birth of Jesus, we also remember the narrative in Matthew’s Gospel that tells of Jesus and his family being refugees.

Sign from a Muslim ban protest, Washington, DC.

Credit: Liz Lemon, Flickr [CC0 1.0]

Racism and Islamophobia practised by individuals and nations continue to destroy God’s beloved community.

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. —Matthew 25:35–36

Affirming that God is at work in the religious life of all humanity, the United Church is committed to working with all people of goodwill for compassion, peace, and justice in the world. Together with our full communion partner the United Church of Christ (USA), we respond with outrage and sorrow to the recent US Supreme Court decision upholding President Trump’s executive order barring people from several Muslim-majority countries from travel to the United States.

When Jesus named welcoming the stranger as one of the characteristics of those who are faithful followers of his way, he spoke of a gathering of nations. This recent decision demonstrates once again that racism and Islamophobiapractised by individuals and nations continue to destroy God’s beloved community.

United Church of Christ leaders say that this “travel ban is a signal that we are closing the door to our neighbors who are fleeing violence and persecution, and that our faith calls us to do otherwise.” As part of our commitment to racial justice, The United Church of Canada is called to speak against discrimination rooted in racial and religious bigotry. Indeed, the recent travel ban decision has been criticized as the US Supreme Court once again legitimizing and legalizing racism.

International interfaith organization Religions for Peace expressed its sorrow and moral opposition to the Supreme Court ruling, calling all people of faith to “welcome the other.” “Each of our diverse faith traditions calls for profound active solidarity with, and empathy for, the ‘other’ rooted in a spirit of unity, as a deeply held and widely shared value among our religious communities,” states the organization.

Religions for Peace has joined with a global coalition of faith leaders (including the World Council of Churches, of which the United Church is a member) in the Faith over Fear campaign, an initiative which invites people of faith to “welcome the other” by opening their hearts and communities to refugees.

Although Canada’s refugee sponsorship programs have supported people of many faiths, Canadians are not immune to these global currents of fear and distrust of “the other,” or to underlying racism and Islamophobia. Recent responses to asylum-seekers entering Canada from the United States; hate crimes attacking individuals and their places of worship; increasing numbers of visa refusals for those coming to Canada from the global South—all point to a Canada less welcoming than our faith envisions. Recently the Canadian Council for Refugees, Amnesty International, and the Canadian Council of Churches (of which the United Church is a member) filed a court challenge of the safe third country agreement between Canada and the United States, through which refugee claimants cannot legally enter one of these countries from the other.

Choosing faith over fear requires us to denounce all actions that violate on the basis of race or religion. As people of faith, we must denounce that which violates the human rights, dignity, and very life of those around the globe who seek refuge from war, poverty, or climate devastation, and of those who simply seek to travel or work in a different part of the world.

We are called to work with Canadians of all faiths for immigration systems that “welcome the other” and contribute to communities that are just and inclusive,‎ honouring diversity as a gift for all. Consider exploring the stories of hope and welcome on the Faith over Fear website. Or share this statement on your social media networks with the hashtag #NoMuslimBanEver.

For more information, contact:

Gail AllanProgram Coordinator Ecumenical and Interfaith

416-231-7680 ext. 4162
1-800-268-3781 ext. 4162

gallan@united-church.ca

Saudi dust-up defines our core values

By Jim Taylor, August 12, 2018

Take Responsibility

We Canadians live in such a comfortable cocoon. Because we have a government and social culture that is, for the most part, rational and compassionate, we look askance at the political infighting and partisan loyalties that afflict our neighbour to the south.

We find it hard to believe that 300-million presumably right-minded people – those who qualify to sit on a jury – allow themselves to be governed by a man who doesn’t seem to know the truth from one hour to the next, and who takes umbrage at the least of slights.

“Umbrage” –to take offence, to react strongly. It implies flying off the handle at minor slights. But recent events suggest we Canadians have tunnel vision. Obsessed with President Tweet, we have ignored an even more explosive personality on the international stage: Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.

The National Post’s Terry Glavin describes him as “a chubby 32-year-old war criminal with a taste for fine art, French mansions, and luxury yachts, [who] launched a barbaric bombing campaign in Yemen that has resulted in the deaths of at least 15,000 people and has left half the population of that desperately poor country at the brink of famine.”

Retaliation rampant

The furore started when Canada sent a tweet that said, “Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests of civil society and women’s rights activists in #SaudiArabia…. We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful #humanrightsactivists.

The vehemence of bin Salman’s response outdid even Trump’s tantrums.

 He immediately:

• expelled Canada’s ambassador;

• froze new trade with Canada;

• ordered his global asset managers to dispose of their Canadian equities, bonds and cash holdings “no matter the cost”;

• pulled 16,000 Riyadh-funded students out of Canadian universities and medical schools;

• transferred Saudi patients receiving medical care out of Canadian hospitals;

• suspended Saudi Arabian Airlines flights to Toronto;

• and stopped buying barley and wheat from Canada.

He also accused Canada of meddling in his sovereign nation’s internal affairs. His anger ignores the fact that the Canadian tweet used a relatively diplomatic term, “urge.” It didn’t “demand,” it didn’t “insist.” It also specifically referred to “peaceful” activists.

Should Canada have made its view known through traditional diplomatic channels? Possibly. Although Trump has pretty much rendered conventional diplomacy obsolete with his own inflammatory tweets.

Like Trump, bin Salman takes any criticism of his policies personally.

Saudi Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir ruled out mediation. He warned of further measures to further punish Canada. It was Canada’s fault, he said:  “There is nothing to mediate. A mistake has been made and a mistake should be corrected.”

Different sets of values

How can a simple – and relatively mild – tweet lead to such a conflagration? Basically,  think, we misread the core beliefs of the Saudi ruling family. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, the ultimate patriarchy. As such, it bans political activism. It deals harshly with dissidents. One of the activists for whom Canada pleaded has been sentenced to 100 lashes and ten years in prison.

Last month, it crucified – yes, crucified! – a man convicted of theft, murder, and attempted rape.

Earlier this  year, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did permit women to drive — the last country in the world to do so. But many of the those who campaigned for women’s right to drive have since been arrested and imprisoned.

In the same way, though, the Crown Prince failed to recognize Canadian core beliefs.

The new national religion

As reader Steve Roney, currently teaching in the United Arab Emirates, pointed out recently, we no longer expect to impose our religion, Christianity, on other nations. But we will not tolerate their rejection of our science, our technology (including medicine), and especially our human rights. These have become an unofficial religion in Canada.

We expect any nation, anywhere, to welcome our polio vaccines. Our mines. Our money. And whether it’s Indigenous peoples in Canada, victims of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, slaves in Sudan, or young girls facing genital mutilation in Somalia, human rights are sacred.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared, “Canadians have always expected our government to speak strongly, firmly, clearly and politely about the need to respect human rights at home and around the world… We will continue to stand up for Canadian values and indeed for universal values and human rights at any occasion.”

Trudeau is right not to back down. If human rights are indeed our new religion, they are not negotiable. Canada must speak up in their favour. Even if taking a stand has economic consequences.

*******************************************************

Copyright © 2018 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups encouraged; links from other blogs welcomed; all other rights reserved. To send comments, to subscribe, or to unsubscribe, write jimt@quixotic.ca

” It’s all about opening, really. When I open myself to the world and its possibilities – even its hurts – I become whole. But when I choose to close, my life becomes fraught with struggle. Everything I do becomes about shielding myself rather than inviting good energy to fill me. Everything is energy, so I try to let the negative pass through me, rather than holding on to it.”

Richard Wagamese in his book, “Embers”, page 112

ICAN wins 2017 Nobel Peace Prize

The 2017 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on October 6th to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN):

…for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.

This was a true collaborative effort of ICAN, Costa Rican Ambassador Whyte Gomez, who chaired the negotiations, and 468 partners (governmental and non-governmental) in 101 countries — which finally succeeded in achieving the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons despite all the obstacles and challenges faced by civil society, states, and diplomats.

In addition to Costa Rica, three other states and one international organization deserve particular mention for the leading roles they played: Norway, Mexico, Austria, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

It is essential that the momentum from the Nobel Peace Prize and the achievement of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) be maintained as this is one of many steps to be realized in achieving the total abolition of nuclear weapons.

For Canadians, there is an urgent need to encourage the Government of Canada to begin a long overdue dialogue on disassociating our country from NATO’s nuclear doctrine as an essential step toward NATO itself abandoning its retrograde and counterproductive reliance on nuclear weapons. – Peggy Mason, Rideau Institute President.

And for those that ask how we can talk about nuclear disarmament when North Korea and the USA are engaged in threat and counter-threat, we say this is  precisely the time to engage in dialogue, to reduce tensions and lay the groundwork for broader disarmament negotiations.

Photo credit: ICAN

Original post is on: www.ceasefire.ca

By Jim Taylor – Sunday March 5, 2017 During the depth of winter, when snow lay deep on the ground and arctic winds sucked warmth from bare skin, small groups of people from countries where snow is as unknown as poutine struggled across the world’s longest undefended border into Canada.

Illegally, of course.

Night after night, TV news showed video of these asylum seekers. Stumbling through snowdrifts, burdened by baby strollers or car seats. Dragging plastic suitcases. Huddled at a roadside, too numbed by bitter cold to go any farther.

They were greeted by police officers. Who led them gently to a warm car. Who helped carry their children. Who delivered them to a border immigration station, where kindly officials helped them fill out their applications to stay in Canada.

This is the Canada we imagine it to be. Compassionate. Decent. Hospitable.

NOT SO WELCOMING
But at the same time, there’s another side. A recent Angus Reid poll found that 25 per cent of Canadians want to impose travel restrictions; over 40 per cent feel we’re being overrun by too many refugees.

As Scott Gilmore wrote in Macleans magazine, “As of last month, Canada has accepted 40,081 Syrian refugees. That’s one refugee for every 857 Canadians.”

Let’s put that statistic another way. Kelowna’s largest arena holds around 6,800 people for a hockey game. Would eight Syrian refugees — yes, just eight — somehow subvert the local culture?

But political parties still foment fears of being overrun. Leadership hopefuls want to grill immigrants to make sure their “values” (whatever that means) won’t conflict with ours (whatever they are).

There are also legitimate concerns. Such as that it’s not fair for some refugees to get a free pass into Canada, while others wait for years in refugee camps.

LEGAL COMPLICATIONS
For the last 15 years, too, Canada and the U.S. have shared a legal agreement to treat each other as a “safe” countries. Essentially, that means we trust the other country’s justice systems to process asylum claims fairly. Refugee claimants must request protection in the first “safe” country they reach. So if they come to Canada through the U.S., we should return them to the U.S. for processing.

So far, the U.S. is the only country considered “safe.” But what happens when a new administration’s xenophobia makes the country no longer feel “safe”?

It’s not as if all of these border-crossers are helpless indigents. Some take taxis to the nearest border point. A few admit coming a long and expensive route: from the Middle East or Asia to South America, up through Central America and the U.S. to the Canadian border.

Legally, we should send them back. But turning away a family with shivering youngsters just doesn’t feel like us.

Gilmore again: “There is nothing we can do to stop asylum seekers from walking into Canada, Samsonite in hand. We aren’t building a wall, or even a fence. Our armed forces don’t even have enough drones to take a group selfie on the parade ground, let alone patrol over 8,000 kilometres of frontier.”

ESSENTIAL DISCONTINUITY
There are no simple answers. Because there is a discontinuity between micro and macro perspectives. You cannot always extrapolate from the small scale to the larger, and vice versa.

Physicists tell me that, at the ultimate micro level, my chair isn’t really there. Neither am I. We both consist of quarks and gluons, which are not things at all but packets of energy measurable only as probabilities.
But I still need a chair to sit on.

If a shopper at the grocery cashier’s lineup can’t find a few missing coins, I will gladly give her what she needs. But I won’t extend the same privilege to every other shopper.

Macro reasoning says that we can’t just throw our borders open, take anyone who shows up, anywhere. Micro says that we can’t callously turn people away.

So what should we do about this discontinuity? Again, Gilmore offers good advice: “We can help them settle into our communities, reducing tensions with those who are less welcoming. We can find ways to help the small towns along the border who are suddenly rattled by refugee families walking over the stubble. We can publicize that crime rates among refugees are lower than among native-born Canadians.

“And we can ignore the bigoted leeches on the fringes of our political system, people cynically turning reasonable concerns into wide-eyed panic….”

Most of all, I suggest, we can make the way we welcome asylum seekers a model for the kind of country that they — and we — want to belong to.

*******************************************************
Copyright © 2017 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups encouraged; links from other blogs welcomed; all other rights reserved.
To send comments, to subscribe, or to unsubscribe, write jimt@quixotic.ca
********************************************************

“Please tell the world there is no such thing as a just war. I say this as a daughter of war.”

That’s a quotation from Sister Nazik Matty, an Iraqi Dominican.

The “Just War Theory” is apparently undergoing a review within the Roman Catholic church. With approximately 1.2 billion members worldwide, what this church decides on war and peace can have an effect on many other people.

The December, 2016 edition of Sojourners magazine has an extensive analysis of the theology of war and peace. The story, written by Rose Marie Berger, can be accessed at:

https://sojo.net/magazine/december-2016/game-changer

 

” Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”

Take Responsibility

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his Letter from Birmingham City Jail (April, 1963)