Program: Vigil for Nonviolence, Oct 6, Ottawa
1:45 MUSIC
Kathryn Briggs
Terry Tufts
2:10 WELCOME
Jean-Claude Parrot, Executive Vice President, Canadian Labour Congress
Marion Dewar, former Mayor of Ottawa, former President NDP - Canada
2:20 REMEMBRANCE
David Morgan, President, Veterans Against Nuclear Arms - Canada
2:25 SPEAKERS
Richard Sanders, Coordinator, Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade
Carolyn Langdon, Co-chair, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace
Laurel Smith, Homes Not Bombs
Mel Watkins, President, Science for Peace - Canada
Theresa Wolfwood, Board Member, Vancouver Island Public Interest Research
Group
Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, Canadian Orthodox Archdiocese, Ukrainian Orthodox
Church (Kiev)
Michel Chossudovsky, author, The Globalization of Poverty
Moraima Rivera, Puerto Rican activist opposing NATO test bombing on the
island of Vieques
Radmila Swann, President, Serbian Heritage Society - Ottawa
Jen Anthony, Co-chair, Canadian Federation of Students
3:45 COAT
Rev. Fred Cappuccino and Marion Dewar
3:55 SPEAKER PHONE
Arun Gandhi, co-founder, M.K.Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence (grandson of
M.K.Gandhi)
4:00 MUSIC
Ian Tamblyn
4:10 SPEAKER PHONE
Dr. Helen Caldicott, from the National Film Board documentary, "If You
Love this Planet."
4:15 SUMMARY REMARKS
Jean-Claude Parrot and Marion Dewar
4:25 BREAK
4:40 WORKSHOPS and DISCUSSION GROUPS
America at War
(Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, Economics, Univ. of Ottawa)
Background: Professor Chossudovsky, is an leading academic expert who has
written numerous books and articles on U.S. foreign policy. He will
address a variety of questions, including: Who is Ousmane bin Laden? What
is the presumed evidence against bin Laden and what are his connections to
the CIA's covert war against Afghanistan since the 1980s? What role has
the U.S. played in sponsoring international terrorism? What is the hidden
agenda behind the US-led "war against terrorism"?
Nonviolence in Action
(Matthew Behrens, Homes Not Bombs)
(330 Kent St.) (three blocks north of church)
Background: This workshop will focus on confronting injustice in ways which
are confrontational, direct, nonviolent and transformative, three
cornerstones of the Hmes not Bombs approach to direct action. This workshop
is not staged in judgment of those who wish to go beyond such perameters,
but rather to explore what has been an effective force for social change
(and subsequent community building) in the campaigns to link poverty and
militarism. Part of the discussion will focus on participants' creative
ideas for confronting Canada's Ottawa-based home of space warfare research,
DREO, at a nonviolent action November 9.
(See back cover of this program for more info. on Nov. 9 event.)
Opposing the new Cold War
(Richard Sanders, Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade)
Background: The horrific events of September 11, have brought the world to
the brink of war. As we face the imminent prospects of US-led military
strikes against Afghanistan, and possibly other countries as well, we are
also seeing the beginnings of a new Cold War. The purpose of this workshop
is to bring together activists from a variety of organizations to
brainstorm ideas and discuss possible courses of action. How do we best
respond to: demands for Canadian participation in military campaigns,
renewed pressure to increase public funding for the military and secret
police (CSIS), a government crack down on civil liberties and legitimate
dissent, new barriers for refugees and immigrants and an upsurge in racist
assaults against visible minorities.
Global Nonviolent Peace Force
(Pam Fitzgerald)
Background: The Nonviolent Peace Force Canada was founded in May, 2000, to
educate Canadians in the methods and skills of nonviolence as an
alternative to war and violent conflict. Another goal is to help the
global effort to create, train and operate an international nonviolent
peace force to send to conflict areas worldwide.
Solidarity with Vieques
(Moraima Rivera, visiting activist from Puerto Rico)
Background: Moraima Rivera, is a farmer and activist who lives on a small
Puerto Rican island called Vieques. She will show a brief video that
outlines how the U.S. military, and other NATO forces, use Vieques as a
testing ground for live ammunition, including depleted uranium weapons.
The environmental and health effects have been devastating. She will also
describe the widespread campaign of nonviolent resistance by the people
Vieques. Thousands have been jailed for nonviolent protests against the
bombing. It is important for people in Canada to learn about thhis
struggle and to work in solidarity with the people of Vieques.
Theatre in Resistance
(Laurel Smith, Burning Passions Theatre, Toronto)
Background: Theatre has a long tradition as a resistance tool, and today's
protest movement continues on that tradition in ever more creative form.
Theatre can not only enliven any protest event (who says protest can't be
fun?) but can also serve to heighten communication to the general public on
what the issues are through the use of symbol - both visual and verbal.
Incorporating a theatrical component - be it spectacle, pageantry, clown,
participatory audience interaction, enactment of scenes, etc. -- creates a
context and a structure for communication of ideas in a way that simple
preaching, lecturing or speechifying cannot accomplish. This workshop will
explore ideas and give examples of how theatre can be used as a non-violent
transformative tool for a just society.