Pascal Lacoste suffers from painful symptoms his doctors say is heavy metal poisoning from depleted uranium.
peacekeeping
The destructiveness of war-mongering
White poppies. Sometimes something rings a little bell amid the gloom, like a bird singing after a catastrophe, or a light in a raging storm. It's a symbol of peace, first introduced in Britain by the Co-operative Women's Guild in 1936. The notion that hope for peace might live, however, is apparently so outlandish that the symbol is little known and only makes rare appearances, as it did in P.E.I. this Remembrance Day, and always seems to upset someone.
Another Canadian foreign policy is possible: Alternatives to Harper's militarism
The many Canadians who support our country's role as a peacemaker in the global community are likely to remain frustrated for the next four years. For the past two decades there has been an unheralded shift in emphasis towards war fighting and preparing for irregular war on an ongoing basis.
Given the ascendancy of militarism, it may now seem pointless to try to make the case for peace, the prevention of armed conflict and the protection of civilians. On the contrary, it is vital during these dark years that we keep these goals alive, and not succumb to the notion that it is a naïve and impossible dream.
Dying to be remembered: Poisoned peacekeeper considers hunger strike
As a Canadian paratrooper in the former Yugoslavia, Pascal Lacoste learned to hold in his pain. But even today, sometimes the pain is just too great.
"I need someone now," he writes on his Facebook profile one summer morning, leaving his address and phone number for the world to see. "I'm half-conscious."
He gets $50 a week from the Canadian government to pay for homecare, and for the rest he must rely on his friends. "It's hard for my social life, because my friends say, 'Pascal always wants something from us.'"
He wishes it didn't have to be that way.
Harper's transformation of Canadian foreign policy
I've been trying to wait for the official start of 2012 before mentioning the War of 1812's 200th birthday, but the Harper government has jumped the gun and I can't help wondering why. It's not as though they do things spontaneously, without calculating the politics involved. So last week, Heritage Minister James Moore laid out some of their plans for marking that war, along with the reasons: chiefly, that it "led to 200 years of peace." Ah, there you go.
PeaceFlicks! presents THE PEACEKEEPERS
May 18 2010 - 7:00pm
Location
National Film Board Mediatheque
150 John Street at Richmond St. W.
Toronto M5V 3C3Canada
Phone:
416-973-3012
43° 38' 57.9264" N, 79° 23' 27.1716" W
See map: Google Maps
The Peacekeepers
NFB Cinema / FREE ADMISSION
Winner, Vaclav Havel Special Award,
One World International Human Rights Film Festival, 2005
Directed by Paul Cowan, 2005, 85 minutes.
With unprecedented access to the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping, The Peacekeepers follows the determined and often desperate manoeuvres to avert another Rwandan disaster, this time in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Join us for a discussion with Rob Acheson, co-chair of the Toronto chapter of the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative, and Bodia Macharia, President of Friends of the Congo, following the film.
Contact email:
Free showing of Myths for Profit: Canada's role in industry in war and peace
Mar 15 2010 - 3:00pm
Location
Hart House
7 Hart House Circle
Toronto, ON Canada
Phone:
647-342-7995
43° 39' 49.194" N, 79° 23' 40.7508" W
See map: Google Maps
Myths for Profit is a dramatic, exposé documentary which explores Canada's role in industries of war and peace.
Through diverse interviews and case studies this documentary unveils the specific interests and profits that are made by certain corporation, individuals and agency within Canada.
By examining these myths we seek to find out what are the possible motives that hide behind these stories, and if there are certain people who stand to gain and maintain these misconceptions.
Only by breaking down these myths can we hope to understand how these systems of power operate, and help empower people across Canada to change them. The filmmakers will be present to answer questions after the showing
Contact email:
Give peace a seat at cabinet table
Duelling was once regarded as an entirely appropriate way for two gentlemen to resolve a dispute.
Today, a gentleman challenging another to a duel would be regarded as peculiar. Duels have become obsolete in the civilized world.
Could war also become an outdated method of conflict resolution -- particularly as we enter an era of intensified global conflict over dwindling resources?
This compelling question lies behind an international grassroots movement that got a boost last week when NDP MP Bill Siksay and Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis introduced a private member's bill in Parliament calling for the creation of a federal Department of Peace, with a seat at the cabinet table.
