Three crucial struggles need our urgent solidarity. In each case, what we do over the next few days will shape the legacy we leave for future generations.
Support Ontario educators - Feb 21!
On Friday, February 21, 200,000 educators across Ontario will be taking strike action to defend quality public education AND decent jobs in our communities.
This is historic - with all four educators' unions taking action on the same day.
Having exhausted all other options to protect public education, these dedicated people have no choice but to withhold their services. There can be no business as usual when our kids' education is on the line. The bigger the turnout on Friday, February 21 the better the chances we have of pushing back against the Conservative government's attacks on public services and workplace protections.
What you can do:
- Visit an educators' picket line or action in your local community. On Friday, if you're in Toronto, join the Community Solidarity Rally at Queen's Park, which begins at 11:00 AM (click here for more details). Download and print this placard to bring with you.
- Call or email your local Member of Provincial Parliament. Let them know you support educators and demand the government reverse the cuts.
- Show your support on social media. Follow #OntEdStrike and #CutsHurtKids. (If you also include #15andFairness it will be easier for us to retweet you!)
Solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en
Solidarity actions are continuing across Canada over the next few days. In Toronto, there will be an Indigenous-led round dance at Queen's Park on Saturday, February 22 at 12:00 noon. To RSVP and share on Facebook, click here.
To find solidarity actions in your community, this Facebook link is currently the best link we have (click here). Please note: the Feb. 16 date in this link is actually a start date, and solidarity is ongoing, so don't be confused. Once you've clicked the link, be sure to scroll down to find your town or area. If you don't see something in your area, ask around. Organizers are scrambling to centralize information, so be patient if an event is not yet listed.
Mainstream media reports the RCMP has announced they will be withdrawing from Wet'suwet'en territory. While this may seem like concession, as CBC reports, the RCMP's offer is only a partial withdrawal and it is contingent on the Wet'suwet'en allowing some access to Coastal Gas Link (CGL). It will be up to the Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs to respond, but the crucial issue for allies is to keep building solidarity. The only reason the RCMP are even making this gesture is due to the determination of the Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs, frontline Land Defenders, and all those rising in solidarity across Canada.
Let's be clear: there can be no nation-to-nation talks with the Canadian government so long as the Wet'suwet'en are under any threat of violence from either the RCMP or the Canadian military.
Wet'suwet'en territories are unceded. This means Indigenous title has never been extinguished and Canada has no legal or moral authority on Wet'suwet'en territory. Non-Indigenous allies have an obligation to stop Canada from illegally invading Wet'suwet'en soveriegn territory. To learn more, click here.
Get on a bus Feb. 22! The People vs Conservative Cuts
Buses are departing from across Ontario this Saturday morning for a demonstration in Niagara Falls at 10:30 am.
This demonstration - led by the Ontario Federation of Labour - coincides with the Conservative Party convention. We must send a strong message to this government that Ontario says NO to the cuts to our public services and NO to the rollbacks of our workplace rights. Click here to find a bus leaving from your community. Please follow the instructions on the page to RSVP for your local bus to secure a seat.
Thank you all so much for your incredible support for educators, for decent jobs, for public services, for climate justice, and for Indigenous sovereignty.
We especially thank you for understanding that we will never win decent work for all of us if we don't link our struggles for justice in the here and now.
See you in the streets!