Several weeks ago I received an email inviting me to be part of an international action on climate justice.

 

Climate Justice Fast! aims to send a powerful message to members of the public who are as yet unaware of the urgency of climate action, as well as to inspire those who are already aware of climate change to become more politically active. In addition, our act will serve as a powerful reminder to our leaders of the importance, and moral consequences, of their decisions on climate change. We believe that hunger striking could not be more appropriate for the issue of climate change. We desperately need to bring attention to the enormity of its injustice, and to alert the general public to the urgency of climate action.

 

On Friday, the Climate Justice Fast! got started with a news conference in Barcelona, Spain and with 80 people in 13 countries signed up to fast.  A core group began a water-only fast on November 6 and will continue on through the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen from December 7 to 18.  The fasters are prepared to go beyond that date.  Talk about commitment!  I signed on early, almost immediately upon hearing about it, actually.  But I knew I could not commit to the full fast because of familial and professional commitments.  I did decide to fast for at least one day per week over the six weeks.  Today is the first of what I’m calling my solidarity fast.  I want to show support for the long-term fasters, demonstrate my commitment to the issue and be part of a long tradition, a tradition which in the past century includes determined British suffragettes, the amazing Mahatma Gandhi and, more recently, a Canadian grandmother, Donna Dillman.

As a feminist activist, my concern on the climate change issue focuses on the lives of women and children — people already treated as second class citizens the world over.  Climate change is making their lives even worse.  From Save The Children UK:

Quick facts: climate change and children
- In the next decade, up to 175 million children are likely to be affected every year by the kinds of natural disasters brought about by climate change. 1
- The percentage of the world’s population exposed to malaria, one of the biggest killers of children under the age of five, is expected to increase from 45 per cent to 60 per cent in the next 100 years due to climate change. 2
- By 2010, there will be 50 million ‘environmentally displaced people’, most of whom will be women and children. 3

The year 2010 begins 50 sleeps from today in my part of the world.  It is imperative that our world leaders take immediate action!  Even though the mild chills and hunger pangs I am enduring today seem so very small I know that I am support those who are doing something very big — risking their lives — in order to get those leaders not only to listen but also to act.  CJF!’s call for justice:

We, the participants of Climate Justice Fast!, are undertaking our international
hunger strike in order to call upon world leaders – and all people, everywhere –
to act with courage and good faith for our common, global good, by implementing
the most rapid possible transition to stabilise atmospheric greenhouse gases
below 350ppm CO2-e, and by committing to deliver justice for the global poor
and future generations – who are the least responsible for causing
climate change, yet who suffer the most from its effects.

Climate Justice for the poor and for future generations can be delivered by
funding climate adaptation and mitigation activities in developing nations with
at least US$160 billion per year; by reducing and rejecting over-consumption,
wherever it exists, and by phasing out fossil fuels completely – starting with
the elimination of developed countries’ fossil fuel subsidies, shifting them wholly to
renewable energy and international climate finance.

We urge all people, everywhere, to make a commitment to
join the movement for climate justice,
and to not to give up until we succeed in these demands being met.

Feeling doubtful?  Well, let me leave you with Margaret Mead’s words:  “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

I am using today, Blog Action Day, to let readers know that in recent weeks I have become involved in an international action in regard to climate change and climate justice.  As part of the international group wanting to move our leaders to take climate change and climate justice seriously at the upcoming meetings in Copenhagen, I have decided to act in solidarity with those who will take on a 42-day Climate Justice Fast! in the spirit of Ghandi and others.  Though I am unable to commit to the full six-week fast for a variety of reasons, I am committing to 1 to 2 days per week.

Here is our statement:

We, the participants of Climate Justice Fast!, are undertaking our international hunger strike in order to call upon world leaders – and all people, everywhere – to act with courage and good faith for our common, global good, by implementing the most rapid possible transition to stabilise atmospheric greenhouse gases below 350ppm CO2-e, and by committing to deliver justice for the global poor and future generations – who are the least responsible for causing climate change, yet who suffer the most from its effects.

Climate Justice for the poor and for future generations can be delivered by funding climate adaptation and mitigation activities in developing nations with at least US$160 billion per year; by reducing and rejecting over-consumption, wherever it exists, and by phasing out fossil fuels completely – starting with the elimination of developed countries’ fossil fuel subsidies, shifting them wholly to renewable energy and international climate finance.

We urge all people, everywhere, to making a commitment to join the movement for climate justice, and to not to give up until we succeed in these demands being met.

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I invite you to join with us, be it for the full fast, a week or two, a day or two, or a meal or two or in spirit.

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You can read more about fasting on our website.

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Know that I do this out of a deep love for our planet and all its beings.

Apparently — and this, according to video footage of our Prime Minister — if you are a woman you are a member of one of those “left-wing fringe groups.”  Who knew? Watch the abbreviated version of Harper’s statement below (or catch the full meal deal here).

Antonia Zerbisias, a columnist at the Toronto Star, immediately took issue with our PM’s statements:

I’m thinking of making T-shirts: “Proud to be a member of that `left-wing fringe group’ called `Women.’”

Well, with support of a Facebook group that’s grown to almost 3,000 members, she’s followed through!  T-shirts are now available!

Version 1:

Version 2:

And, as an added benefit to the cause of women’s rights, proceeds from t-shirt sales will go to the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), an organization which lost a significant chunk of funding thanks to the Harper regime.

I’m looking forward to seeing those t-shirts on the bodies of folks here in the Queen City!  Go get ‘em!

Well, in case you somehow escaped my email and Facebook messaging, here’s notice that I’ll be giving a public reading at the autumn opener of the Vertigo Reading Series. Come out on Monday, September 28 to hear a Saskatchewan quartet of writers — Sheri Benning, Randy Lundy, David Sealy and me — share our words. The show gets underway sometime around 7 p.m. at  Aegean Coast Coffee and Tea, 1901 Hamilton Street (corner of 12th Ave & Hamilton St), in Regina.

See you there!

And because I’m feeling generous, a still-drafty poem to honour the work of the Prairie Lily Feminist Society!

There’s a war on women

and the United Nations knows it, created the Convention

on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination

Against Women. CEDAW.

See, duh? It’s true.

There’s discrimination. Otherwise, why

are women 52% of the world’s population

and own only 1% of its land.

There’s a global war on women

but no one’s talking about it, not really.

CEDAW’s not working so well, the UN’s shifted

to Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) to fight an msg headache

the size of which no one wants to believe.

Women world-wide live in poverty, violence, disease

targetted by goals to make change. Goals.

There’s a war on women and it’s happening in Canada, too.

Mulroney and the boyz axed NAC, dissed

women’s work for equality. Chretien kept it up.

Chopped away at women’s programs, goodbye Cretin

and hello Paul Martin, Minister of Finance turned PM,

carried the axe for far too long.

There’s a war on women

and now Harper’s leading the charge.

No need for equality. Mandates

for feminism. Organizations which won significant rights –

Charter rights

reproductive choice

employment equity

same sex marriage –

goodbye.  A left-wing fringe group? Huh?

There’s a war on women

and it’s happening here, in Saskatchewan, too.

Ah, but the NDP, they’re different!

Not! Romanow and Link, lovers of feminists

until elected, tossed us aside in favour of debt reduction, big biz,

derided us as too radical. Quietly called us feminazis. Calvert

closed Women’s Sec, purged policy wonks

too Keynesian, captured headline praises from Fraser’s Institute,

that rightwing think tank the Harperites love.

There’s a war on women

and it’s here and now

Premier Wall won’t appoint a woman

to be Responsible for our status,

won’t balance gender on Enterprise SK,

and assigns 12 men to decide our uranium future.

He’d rather men continue their war

leaving us in poverty, earning 70 cents on a dollar

while his boyz call us dumb bitches .

There’s a war on women

and it’s right here and now

It’s right in your face, if you dare open

your eyes.

There’s a war on women

and we’re standing up to it.

Brave lilies, a feminist society, organizing.

—B. L. Wagner

In the centre, at the Speaker’s left hand, a pony-tail in her hair, is my daughter as she serves the Parliament of Canada as a Page. Wow! It’s really for real!

House of Commons Question Period

A screen capture from the CPAC website.

I got the first-born moved into residence at the University of Ottawa.  The husband is back to work.  The second-born is back to school.  The leaves are changing their colour.  The rodents  are eating my garden. And I’m revelling in some time at home all by myself!

Instead of using my time to rant, I thought I’d let you know about the good work the Cathedral Area Community Association is up to:

For immediate release                     September 8, 2009

Cathedral Village showcases green living

“Changing the world starts at home.” That’s the idea behind the Green Home Show, a sustainable living event presented by the Cathedral Area Community Association on Sept. 14.

In its second year, the Green Home Show is an open house where eco-minded home owners and renters will sample options to shrink their ecological footprint.

“Our inaugural event was such a success, we’ve had to grow,” says CACA board member Paul Dechene. “There’ll be more time, more exhibitors, a new venue, but the focus is still the same: clearing away the confusion around how to go green. We want people to go home with concrete solutions, things they can put into action right away.”

This year, the show will be expanding to embrace all aspects of green living. In addition to companies such as Regina Geothermal and Solar, Garbage Delight, the Regina Car Share Co-op and Energuide, the 2009 Green Home Show will feature the Prairie Sky School and sustainable fashions by Verve.

Plus, there will be an eco-café with food and coffee from Body Fuel Organics, Eat Healthy Foods, Evolution Catering, and Nature’s Best Grocery. Returning this year is the Silent Eco-Auction.

The event takes place at the Italian Club of Regina, 2148 Connaught Street from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14. Admission is free.

(-30-)

For information:
Paul Dechene, CACA Community Engagement Committee, 757-9849
www.greenhomeregina.com

Word.

We have become so accustomed to living in a society saturated with misogyny that the barbaric treatment of women and girls has come to be more or less expected.

We profess to being shocked at one or another of these outlandish crimes, but the shock wears off quickly in an environment in which the rape, murder and humiliation of females is not only a staple of the news, but an important cornerstone of the nation’s entertainment.

The mainstream culture is filled with the most gruesome forms of misogyny, and pornography is now a multibillion-dollar industry — much of it controlled by mainstream U.S. corporations.

…

Life in the United States is mind-bogglingly violent. But we should take particular notice of the staggering amounts of violence brought down on the nation’s women and girls each and every day for no other reason than who they are. They are attacked because they are female.

A girl or woman somewhere in the U.S. is sexually assaulted every couple of minutes or so. The number of seriously battered wives and girlfriends is far beyond the ability of any agency to count.

There were so many sexual attacks against women in the armed forces that the Defense Department had to revise its entire approach to the problem.

We would become much more sane, much healthier, as a society if we could bring ourselves to acknowledge that misogyny is a serious and pervasive problem, and that the twisted way so many men feel about women, combined with the absurdly easy availability of guns, is a toxic mix of the most tragic proportions.

BOB HERBERT, “Women At Risk,” New York Times Op-Ed, August 7, 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/opinion/08herbert.html?_r=2>

From the Voices Education Project

Alice Walker is one of my favourite American poets and political activists. She is, I believe, a role model for all poets and all citizens of the world. In her recent essay, OVERCOMING SPEECHLESSNESS: A Poet Encounters “the horror” in Rwanda, Eastern Congo and Palestine/Israel,” she details the horrors of hatre,d and the amazing capacity of women to survive, with references to each of those locations, most particularly Gaza.

There is no hiding what Israel has done or what it does on a daily basis to protect and extend its power. It uses weapons that cut off limbs without bleeding; it drops bombs into people’s homes that never stop detonating in the bodies of anyone who is hit; it causes pollution so severe it is probable that Gaza may be uninhabitable for years to come, though Palestinians, having nowhere else to go, will have to live there.

She reminds us that Israel fed the South African Apartheid government a diet of arms and expertise,  but that regime fell thanks to worldwide pressure.  She encourages each of us to take action, to speak out, to make our voices heard so that we bring down the Israeli regime.

Saskatchewan Premier, Brad Wall, is attempting to pull off the biggest scam in the province’s history.  He called together a cabal of his cronies, an all-male group posing as a panel of experts, and named them the Uranium Development Partnership. Their report, “Capturing the full potential of the uranium value chain in Saskatchewan” is, quite simply, a propaganda piece on behalf of the nuclear industry.  It tries to sell the idea that “nuclear industry is enjoying a global renaissance” when, in fact, it is dying.  According to The Nation,

The fact is, nuclear power has not recovered from the crisis that hit it three decades ago with the reactor fire at Browns Ferry, Alabama, in 1975 and the meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979. Then came what seemed to be the coup de grâce: Chernobyl in 1986. The last nuclear power plant ordered by a US utility, the TVA’s Watts Bar 1, began construction in 1973 and took twenty-three years to complete. Nuclear power has been in steady decline worldwide since 1984, with almost as many plants canceled as completed since then.

Wall Street will not invest in the nuke industry.  Forbes magazine says it’s a “managerial disaster.”  Still, Wall’s 12 Disciples of the UDP say we need a nuclear reactor in Saskatchewan.

We can Go Green, they say, even though nukes are definitely far from green.

We can Make Money, sell the power to the USA, they say, even though nukes always cost more than expected.and the USA may not buy “dirty energy.”

We can make medical isotopes and Save Lives, they say, even though there are alternatives to the nukey isotopes.

So why the hard-sell for a nuclear reactor? What are little Bradley Wall and his buddy Billy Boyd really up to?

Most agree that it’s all about fueling the Tar Sands, the most destructive project on Earth.  The tar sands have prompted Alberta writer, Andrew Nikiforuk, to write the award-winning, Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent, in which he declares a political emergency:

A business-as-usual case for the tar sands will change Canada forever. It will enrich a few powerful companies, hollow out the economy, destroy the world’s third-largest watershed, industrialize nearly one-quarter of Alberta’s landscape, consume the last of the nation’s natural gas supplies, and erode Canadian sovereignty.

A coalition of Saskatchewan residents and organizations has taken up the call.  The Coalition for a Clean Green Saskatchewan (CGS) has worked hard to bring the real issues to the public eye and, if participation in Wall’s so-called “consultation process” is any indication, CGS has been very successful!  In all, almost 2,000 concerned citizens turned out to the consultation meetings across the province.

I was not one of them.  I could not bring myself to legitimate this scam by participating in it, though I did participate in the Elm Dance outside the Regina meeting location.  Call me what you will; I can take it.  But I have to live with myself when this is all said and done.  Thank goodness for those who were able to move beyond the illegitimacy of the UDP and make their views known.  I suppose this post is my meagre contribution to that.

A version of this article was published in Canadian Dimension Volume 43, Number 2.  Feel free to leave your greetings in the comments section, below.

Happy Birthday, Prairie Lilies!

by Bernadette L. Wagner

Last year, in celebration of International Women’s Day, the Canadian Labour Congress and a collection of Saskatchewan’s labour organizations hosted an Equality Dinner in Regina. It provided opportunity for feminists old and new to come together with supportive brothers in a social setting. Those kinds of opportunities have been few in recent years. Feminism in Saskatchewan had taken a serious blow. The pseudo-progressive New Democratic Party of Saskatchewan targeted feminists working within the party. Feminist organizations struggled to keep doors open with incrementally less money. The once-thriving, Saskatchewan Action Committee on the Status of Women withered and died. The women’s movement in Saskatchewan seemed to stop moving.

Until last year, that is. At the dinner, after the food and speeches, an informal discussion began among those gathered. Sheila Roberts, a long-time activist, stood to raise a question. “Is there interest in starting a new women’s organization along the lines of Saskatchewan Working Women (SWW)?” she asked. SWW helped to put women’s issues on bargaining tables and made them known in the public sphere. My personal longing for organized feminist activity in the province made me stand up, speak in support, and call for a provincial women’s conference which would bring women together to share and network and speak to our issues.

Most women gathered liked the idea. Cara Banks, a feminist active in the Labour movement came up to me afterwards, saying we had to talk. Within six weeks we gathered a dozen women into my living room and brought to life the Prairie Lily Feminist Society. With an interim board of directors we decided to incorporate as a member-based non-profit corporation which would work to “promote an explicitly feminist analysis of issues, to educate and act in ways that are progressive and feminist and to interconnect with other individuals, groups and organizations who share our vision for change.” We also decided we wanted to be “a place where women could develop leadership skills, including public speaking, organizing, educating, agitating, and critically analyzing issues.” And, we felt it important that we “provide a place where we are free to debate issues from feminist perspectives and to develop policy responses as a collective.”

As if that wasn’t enough, we decided to plan a women’s symposium for Saskatoon in December 2008. To accomplish that would mean fundraising and organizing. Our connections to brothers in the trade union movement helped. Thanks to the support of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour and other unions in the province, we had a manifesto and a bank account of more than five thousand dollars. By the middle of May, less than two months after the idea of a new women’s organization had been put forward, we had part-time paid staff to begin organizing and mobilizing for the symposium. Because of a personal injury, I had to completely remove myself from involvement in all organizations but that didn’t stop the “Lilies.” I passed my files along to Ann McCrorie and she carried our dreams forward into being.

On December 6 and 7, 2008 the Prairie Lily Feminist Society held its first provincial symposium for women in Saskatoon. Almost a hundred women from many Saskatchewan communities attended. A cursory glance at the evaluation forms suggest it was a great success and certainly something long overdue in the province. Keynote speaker, Morningstar Mercredi, opened the symposium. The storyteller, actress, social activist, researcher and author of “Morningstar: A Warrior’s Spirit” delivered a powerful message: “Lilies, step into your power.” It’s precisely the message Saskatchewan women needed to hear. In many ways, we had allowed our power to be usurped by male privilege. And so, we not only gathered but we also learned, connected, and got excited!

In workshop sessions we learned about the work that’s gone on around women who are missing, about peace activism, and working women. We connected around our spiritual work, our right to be assertive, our planet and our children. And, thanks to an activist roundtable, where represen­tatives from women’s organizations shared with one another about their campaigns, we got excited! Stories from Oxfam, the Rebelles, la Fédération provincial des Fransaskoises, the Canadian Labour Congress, the Saskatoon Women’s Community Coalition, Real Renewal.org, the Sask Eco-Network, Amnesty International, the Canadian Childcare Advocacy Association, the Prairie Women’s Health Centre for Excellence, and Nancy Allan who sold Fair Trade goods during our event moved us.

The symposium was deliberately planned for the weekend of December 6, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. To mark the day the Prairie Lilies hosted a commemorative dinner, catered by Two Women from Burr. Those two women, Laurel and Marie, put on a fantastic spread wherever they cater with delicious locally-grown and organic foods. Following the dinner, the Saskatoon Women’s Community Coalition hosted a formal ceremony to honour the women killed in the Montreal Massacre and all women who face violence in their lives.

As with all good events, they seem to end too soon. The symposium’s closing sessions saw agreement in many areas. Among other things participants agreed to walk in support with women in Saskatchewan who are organizing around the issue of missing and murdered women and raised money for workers walking the picket line. We recognized that our power together is strong and so we will organize, fundraise, and lobby for women and their families. Participants identified areas they’d like to focus: balancing work and family; women’s sexuality; media training; lobbying; writing and debating resolutions; chairing meetings; fundraising; and online organizing were but a few.

At present, the Prairie Lily Feminist Society is looking forward to its first Annual General Meeting scheduled for Regina on March 7th. It will be our contribution to the 2009 International Women’s Day celebrations with a dinner, a silent auction, entertainment and a social. And we’re donating a portion of our proceeds to the Sisters in Spirit Saskatchewan campaign.

Though feminist activism in our province had suffered a blow, it did not die. Feminism is a-happening here! And of course, it would be. The personal is political.

Isn’t it amazing what can transpire in a year?