Ottawa: Navigating the Ins and Outs: GLBT Partner Assault

Across Canada this is National Victims of Crime Awareness Week. In Ottawa Mayor Larry O'brien has proclaimed Victims of Crime Week from April 26th to May 2nd. On Friday, May 1st the Ottawa Police GLBT Liaison Committee will be putting on an information exchange between Community and Police named Navigating the Ins and Outs: GLBT Partner Assault.

There will be many guest speakers from Community Groups, Victim Services Groups, Police Services and the Crown's Office. It will include four workshops An Introduction to GLBT Partner Assault, Intersectionality and GLBT Partner Assault (Race, Ethnicity & Disability), The Legal Process A to Z and, Critical Incident - Critical Situation Teams. There will also be a Keynote Speaker, a Panel on Reporting and an Information Fair.

It is being held at the Richelieu-Vanier Community Centre at 300 Avenue des Pere Blanc. From 8:30 to 3:30 and there is free registration as well as refreshments provided. To register simply go here, anyone is welcome to do so.

Ottawa: Rally Against Unborn Victims of Crime Bill

Over a hundred people met today in front of the Women's Monument in order to denounce the Unborn Victims of Crime Bill. Bill C-484 is a private members bill introduced by a Conservative Party MP. It passed the house of commons overwhelmingly in its first reading. The bill is created to pass extra sentencing on violent offenders who attacked pregnant women and cause problems or even death to the fetus.

At first glance of the bill most people would be favourable towards the bill. However, a better understanding of Canadian Law and looking more closely of the content of the bill may change that. Canadian Law already has provisions in the Criminal Code for pregnancy or spousal abuse to be aggravating factors leading to harsher sentences. The bill would however, give fetuses legal rights.

Many pro-choice advocates worry that to give the fetus legal rights would lead to the erosion of the legality of abortion. Abortion has only been legal in Canada for 20 years, it was made legal thanks to the work of Henry Morgentaler. Despite it being legal it is not very accessible with on 15% of Hospitals and a minority of clinics that do. All of these Hospitals and clinics are in urban centers and, one province P.E.I. has no where that abortion is available.

The speakers at the rally brought up that no one is happy about having abortions and, that it is unfortunate that women have to go through them. However, they said being pro-choice means that women actually have choices. These choices stemmed from a need for proper sex education, proper health care, proper child care and, a need for real pay equity. They condemned the current government as having not done any of these things nor, protected the rights of women to be free of violence.

The crowd included the Pro-Choice Coalition of Ottawa, Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, University of Ottawa Women's Center, Public Service Alliance of Canada, Ottawa-Center NDP MP Paul Dewar, Ottawa West-Nepean NDP candidate Marlene Rivier, multiple violence against women campaigns, The Raging Grannies and, more. The event was closed off by a rendition of Bread and Roses and a moment of silence while everyone stood in a circle around the Womens Monument. It was supposed to take the street afterwards, but the rally was denied a police permit "due to the nature of the protest."

Note images are my property. First was drawn on the path in Minto Park. Second is of one of the many speakers at the back of the crowd is Paul Dewar and Marlene Rivier of the NDP. Third was part of the circle of the closing, rocks shown are the side of the women's monument

Ottawa: Women Take Back the Night

Last night in Ottawa hundreds of women as well as some male supporters took to the streets to demand an end to violence against women. The event Take Back the Night has been running for 30 years now in opposition to to the lack of safety women had at night on the streets of Ottawa. Now thirty years on, the issue of violence against women still rages on in Ottawa and around the world.

The event was organized by the Women's Events Network, but included all forms of groups including student groups from Carleton University, University of Ottawa, Sexual Assault Support Groups, Homeless shelters, Immigrant Groups, Queer Rights groups, Pro-Choice groups and more. Both English and French communities were involved shouting chants in both official languages. The issue of looking at where women have come in thirty years was stressed, but also looking to the future.

Statistics about violence against women are still quite high. According to the Sexual Assault Support Center of Ottawa (SASC) 1 in 2 women have been sexually assaulted, 80-90% of women with disabilities are assaulted within their lifetime and, only 6% of sexual assaults are reported to police. Of those 6% of sexual assaults very few are found substantiated and go to trial, less then any other type of assault and, women are not treated with respect by the police.

The march started at the women's monument with a few speakers and went up Elgin to Wellington, into the market and, eventually to the University of Ottawa where entertainment, refreshments and, information was held. Responses from the public were mixed a few men along the way yelled offensive obsentities at the crowd, while other people joined the march, some people clapped or honked their horns, while other stood in confusion at the massive crowd. Chants were shouted such as "Women Unite! Take Back the Night", "La Rue, La Nuit, Les Femmes Sans Peur!" and, "Hey Mister, Get Your Hands off my Sister!" The mood was strong and, empowered in opposition to the violence that many women in the march had faced. They marched in solidarity into the night.

Note images are my property.

Ottawa: Prof. Denis Rancourt Banned from Own Trial

Last week Science Professor Denis Rancourt the author of U of O watch and founder of uOttawa Cinema Academia was put on trial within the university, but the Professor, Media and students were barred from entry. The basis of the trial was to suspend Prof. Rancourt due to his use of images from the University of Ottawa site on the blog U of O watch. The University regulation states that:

The University of Ottawa has a stated policy of allowing professors to use its copyrighted images from its web site “for the positive promotion of activities related to the University of Ottawa.” (See Legal Counsel’s letter to Denis Rancourt dated August 28, 2007.)

The argument is that the blog is not positive towards the University. The blog exposes corruption in the University and, is entirely factual. Below is a video of the argument and Prof. Rancourt being locked out of the discussion.

Ottawa: Police 'A Few Bad Apples'

Earlier this week I was talking to Ottawa Police Services at a conference on GLBTTQ youth. Two of the members in my break out group were police. In my critique of the police services they took it as a personal attack on them as individuals simply due to critiquing the services as a whole. The Ottawa Police are one of the most progressive services when it comes to GLBTTQ issues, but there have been many cases of police abuse especially against youth and more specifically street youth.

My critique included asking about the ability for Police to actually be youth-friendly in any way. Another police officer came up to me privately and stated that in fact many police officers view a group of youth as potential trouble and are not respectful of youth. The police at my table gave the argument that there were simply "A Few Bad Apples".

The "Few Bad Apples" argument is something that has been heard of in many organizations of coercive power. The best example in recent history would be the Abu Gharib scandle in Iraq where torture was being enacted by US military on Iraqi prisoners. CBC did a documentary on it by the same name. In reality the situation was not just "a few bad apples," but the system itself which was in place.

A famous experiment was done by Phillip Zimbardo in the 1970's about the corrupting influence of these forms of power positions. It was known as the Stanford Prison Experiment and it took regular males and put them in a simulated prison with who was to be guards and prisoners randomly chosen. The result was terrifying where the guards started to truly be violent and the prisoners becoming very subservient.

In the case of the Ottawa Police certain issues are not just an issue of a few bad apples. Police brutality against homeless people in the downtown core is a systemic problem. Under the "few bad apples" analogy we would find proper reprimands, criminal proceedings and, more sensitivity training then one day to cover all marginalized groups. How sexual assault victims are treated with utmost disrespect is not due to a few bad apples. And, that tasers are still considered acceptable despite the evidence of the serious harm they cause. These are systemic and institutional problems in this power system, problems with decisions from the top down as well as not truly dealing with those who abuse their power.

Second image from Ottawa Indymedia of Ottawa Police at Bush Protests 2004

Ottawa: September Activist Event Round Up

It has come to my attention that a number of events are coming up this month in Ottawa. Here is a list of the major ones I have been told about.

Taxi to the Dark Side
Fundraiser for Nowar-Paix.
Thursday, September 11, 7pm
Bytown Theatre (downtown on Rideau near King Edward)
* This Iraq War documentary won the 2007 Oscar for best documentary

Human Rights Rally:
Bring Abousfiam Abdelrazik Back To Canada!
Friday, 12 September, 12 Noon
Human Rights Monument (Elgin at Lisgar)
Abousfian Abdelrazik, a Canadian citizen, is currently in limbo in the Canadian Embassy in Sudan, with the Canadian government obstructing every effort to bring him home. His lawyer, Yavar Hameed, needs public support in his effort to bring Abousfian back. Please join the rally. Speakers include Paul Dewar, Monia Mazigh and Yavar Hameed. They will indicate the extent to which the government is repeating the same shameful behaviour as in the Mahar Arar case!

uOttawa Cinema Academia
Every Friday, MacDonald Hall auditorium (MCD 146), 150 Louis Pasteur Street.
Doors open at 7pm, film starts at 7:30pm.
Friday, September 12th
Film: DOGVILLE(USA / 2003 / 178 minutes / English)
http://www.iconmovies.co.uk/dogville/
Organized and facilitated by professors Claude Lamontagne and Denis
Rancourt.

Stop The Deportations: Let US War Resisters Stay in Canada
Saturday, September 13
2pm: mass leafletting session at entrance to Byward Market (on Rideau & Williams)
3:30pm: march to the Prime Minister's Office
5pm: film screening at Cafe Nostalgica (University of Ottawa)

Feminist Discussion Group
Sunday September 14th, 1-3pm
Umi Cafe 610 Somerset St. West
This will be the second of what will hopefully become a bi-weekly feminist discussion group. For a possible discussion topic, we had decided on the following question: "What role do men and people of other genders have to play within the feminist movement?" People of all genders, orientations, races and (most importantly) opinions are welcome!

Indecent Sex Acts On Parliament Hill
Thursday September 18th
5-6pm Parliament Hill
POWER (Prostitutes of Ottawa / Gatineau Work Educate & Resist) -- cordially invites you to witness...
INDECENT SEX ACTS ON PARLIAMENT HILL
Please join us in this call to protect sex workers’ rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and international human rights law by repealing Sections 210-213 of the Criminal Code!

Take Back the Night!
30 years- A March to end Violence Against Wimmin
Thursday, September 25th
6:30 pm: Rally at the Women's Monument at Minto Park (Elgin and Gilmour) with speakers and aboriginal drummers.
7:00 pm: March to the University of Ottawa
MAKE NOISE! Feel free to bring whistles, horns,
tambourines, drums, pots, pans, etc!

Ottawa: Professor Steps in for Cinema Politica

Just Tuesday I reported about the shutting down of Ottawa Cinema Politica a free weekly movie night at the University of Ottawa which shows free documentary films. Another professor at the University has come to the aid of Prof. Denis Rancourt who organizes the event. After a summer of fighting for the movie night Professor Claude Lamontagne has now booked the same auditorium and the two are renaming the series uOttawa Cinema Academia (uCA). This Friday will be the first event in the series:

The first event in the Fall 2008 series is therefore this Friday
September 5th, MacDonald Hall Auditorium (MCD 146). Doors open at 7pm. Event starts at 7:30pm.

The first film is “no film”. Producers Professors Claude Lamontagne and Denis Rancourt will be present for the screening.(Canada / 2 hours or more / any language)

We invite you and the media to come out and hear the story of the battle for academic freedom and a political venue on this campus, including town hall style discussions as usual.(Prof. Denis Rancourt)

Ottawa: University of Ottawa Censors Movie Night

Since September 2005 every friday night around 100 students, activists, University staff and, community members would get together to watch a movie and provide discourse afterwards. The series Ottawa Cinema Politca was a free movie night which brought in underground political documentaries for whoever wished to come. The movie night was held on the University of Ottawa campus and attempted to be as accessible as possible.

The movie night was run by activist Professor Denis Rancourt, a tenured physics professor. He was the Professor who ran the famous Activist Course which talked about political activism and brought in high profile speakers such as Malalia Joya outspoken Afghan MP, political experts as well as, community workers. It was a extremely popular course needing the largest auditorium in the university. However, the university administration stopped the course from running again despite widespread student and public support.

The new University of Ottawa President Allan Rock has come in with a stance against the free movie night cancelling it and refusing allowing it to occur on the University of Ottawa Campus. Dozens of letters have been sent directly to the President demanding the reinstatement of the movie night. The University's position is that Cinema Politica failed to provide Deaf access to the events. Prof. Rancourt had tried to apply for interpreters from the University who refused to provide them. Prof. Rancourt did eventually find deaf access provided by the student federation.

To read more about what is happening read U of O Watch. To contact President Allan Rock email president@uOttawa.ca or allan.rock@uottawa.ca

Ottawa: Dyke March 2008

The Ottawa Dyke March is coming up again in a few weeks. I think it is an important event to support. Dyke March in Ottawa is truly a community event. It is organized by volunteer community members and everything participating in the march, having food at the bbq and watching the great performers is all free. Nothing is corporate sponsored and it is a great way for the queer womyn community to get together and express themselves and denounce homophobia, transphobia and, sexism in the process. Therefore I highly suggest going.

Opinion: Ineffective Protests

As of late I have become more and more irritated with the ineffective protests which occur in this city. I've said before that Ottawa is the city of major issues and, apathetic action. Perhaps due to living in a political city most people simply tune out dealing with politics, or maybe it is due to the system that we live in which discourages action or at least marginalizes it. There seems this concern to not offend people, to not cause too much trouble, but feel some form of satisfaction from simply making some noise and then going home.

I find it interesting that for instance Canadians' opposition to our forces being in Afghanistan is comparable to that of Americans' opposition to the Vietnam War in the early 1970s. Yet at that point there was a consciousness of action throughout the United States from the multitude of movements building into it the Civil Rights Movement, the 2nd Wave Feminist Movement, the Prisoners Rights movement and, the First Nations Right movement. These were movements who were willing to take risks, risks that result in multitudes of people loosing their lives, but provided for better quality of life as well as preventing the silent deaths of others. The silent deaths of Blacks by lynching and other violence, the silent deaths of abused wives or womyn with illegal abortions, the deaths of prisoners by guards, the continuing genocide of the First Nations, the deaths of countless soldiers, Vietnamese and Laotians. Sadly many silent deaths still occur, but now there is an outlet for them not to happen.

For a protest to be effective there needs to be some sort of risk involved, whether that be individual or collective. Most of the protests these days in Ottawa have no real risk factor involved, they march down the street usually to parliament with their nice police escort and then everyone goes home. This type of protest for the most part is one thing that diverts people genuine rage at unequal systems whether economic, violent, racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise and in turn keeps in place the existing system of power.

First Nations seem to be one of the few alive movements left in this country that are willing to take risks. They are willing to risk going to jail blocking mining companies from destroying the land, to cut of trains and roads to make an economic impact and, to defend the broken morsels of Mother Earth that are left in their care. I think the reason for this is because, the First Nations have less to lose. Physical then cultural genocide have been committed against them, the land they were stewards of for the Creator have been taken and destroyed and, on the whole most First Nations live in extreme poverty man of which not even given some necessities of life such as clean water. So, they risk because, what else can they do.

What of the rest of us however, those of us with certain amounts of privilege. Most of us sit in our warm homes or ivory academic towers saying things like "oh how horrid" instead of taking real political action and risking that privilege. But, what of poor urban communities one might ask. Instead of exploding in social action, communities turn on themselves thinking if only I could best the person next door I can get some of that privilege. Believing the words of corporate made rappers or rockers that some day I will have that too.

What we need is liberation. What we need is action. What we need is real risk.

Ottawa: Hundreds Protest War, Thousands More around the World

Approximately 700-1000 people took over the streets of Ottawa yesterday in opposition to the continuing occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. The protest was part of a national and international series of protests against these continuing wars. March 19th is the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq which has killed over 29000 officially and some estimates go as high as one million dead as a result of the invasion. Protests in Canada and the UK were called for the Saturday before though many protests in the United States are happening actually on the 19th.

The Ottawa protest which joined Canadians coast to coast in over 20 reported cities was mainly focused on Canadian direct involvement in Afghanistan. The occupation has become increasingly unpopular throughout the country as according to the latest Angus Reid Poll [1] 61% of Canadians oppose the extension of the mission beyond February 2009 and 53% saying they would like to see a withdrawal even before February 2009. Despite the widespread opposition this past thursday a motion was past in Parliament to extend the occupation until 2011. It was opposed by the NDP, Bloc, and a few lone Liberals, but it was passed mainly out of desire by the Liberals not to go into an election, not what the electorate wanted.

Students started the rally here in Ottawa starting from the University of Ottawa and mainly comprising Carleton University and University of Ottawa students who were members of the Student Coalition Against War. They blocked off Rideau and Sussex with a mockuppation a reccuring theme for Ottawa students. With people in orange jump suits and many people with red paint representing blood on their hands they denounced the war and shouted about war profiteers including companies like SNC Lavalin and Boeing. The protest was marched down Sussex to meet the main demonstration starting at the National Art Gallery.

At the National Art Gallery there were a number of speakers organized by the Ottawa Peace Congress. Some of the speakers included Francios Picard of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa, the assistant to the President of the Canadian Labour Congress, members of various local peace groups, Qais Ghanem a poet and Green Party candidate for Ottawa South, NDP Member of Parliament Libby Davies as well as her colleagues from the Gatineau NDP coalition, a representative from the Association of Arab Professionals and, performances by the Just Voices Choir and the Raging Grannies.

As demonstrators started to get cold due to the snowy weather the protest was moved going through part of the market leading to the United States Embassy. Outside the Embassy a large die in was enacted using a giant tarp and about a third of the demonstrators. Chants were shout out such as "Bush and Harper are the Same the Only Difference is the name" and "Bush Bush We know you, your daddy was a killer too" as well as the death tolls in Iraq and Afghanistan being read out. It has been estimated around 40,000 people have been killed so far in Afghanistan. Afterwards the protest moved up to a brief stop off at Parliament Hill. After that the demonstration split up many people going home and some going to the Anti-War teach-in that happened at the Ottawa Public Library including a recent CBC documentary on how Drug Lords rule Afghanistan's parliament, a live video feed from Winter Soldier the testimonies of US soldiers testifying of the atrocities they've seen and done in Iraq and Afghanistan, finishing with some speeches from Afghanistani community members.

All Images are my own property. Unfortunately my camera battery died before the actual march started images are of the Student Protest and pre-march presentation

Activist Video: Sara Marlowe Power of the People

Rise up! Show the power of the people tomorrow!

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION
WORLD AGAINST WAR
BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW
RALLY AND MARCH
Saturday, March 15, 1 PM
Gather at the National Gallery
(Giant Spider, St. Patrick and Sussex, map)
Student Protest outside University of Ottawa Morriset Library 12 noon

Across Canada: Canadian Peace Alliance Call-Out

Ottawa: International Womyn's Day Celebrations

I missed posting about this on International Womyn's Day as I have been sick and the internet was down temporarily. However, saturday March 8th was International Womyn's Day which has been celebrated since the early 1900s with wide ranging events such as womyn's rights protests, workshops, international conferences, and other events. International Women's Day is actually an official holiday in multiple countries (mostly the former USSR countries) as the March 8th date comes from the beginning of the Russian womyn's "bread and peace" campaign in 1917 though, the day was also linked internationally to a protest in 1857 where womyn in New York walked out of factories in protest despite police repression.

In Ottawa this year most events such as the march for womyn's rights, the workshops at the Bronson Center, and others were canceled or postponed. This was due to one of the largest blizzards in many years (except for one earlier this winter). The art events showcasing the art of womyn of colour at the Agora, and the break dancing/trip-hop/electro event Ladies in the House still occurred at Babylon with large success despite the storm. The canceled workshops will probably be simply postponed until mid-April.

Womyn are far from equal in Canada with a discrepancy of 72.5 Cents on the dollar (which is actually an improvement however), a government body for womyn which no longer has equality in its mandate, only 21% of parliament being womyn and, much higher levels of violence and abuse.

Ottawa: Protest against Gay Organ Ban

Today on parliament hill gay rights protesters gathered in protest against a recently introduced policy by Health Canada. The policy bans gay men from being organ donors, a move made based more on homophobia then any form of science. This is a move that only hurts people desperately needing organ transplants. The idea states some sort of dark age belief that gay men are some how contaminated and diseased which is far from acceptable in a country that is supposed to be one of the most progressive on gay rights.

It seems that the charter of rights and freedoms is a document that many people are forgetting these days. As under Charter law people cannot be discriminated against based on sexual orientation. Yet Health Canada seems to have forgotten the Charter and is living on either Judeo-Christian notions of sin or the homophobia based scare of HIV/AIDS despite the fact that most AIDS victims are actually heterosexual. The concept that people may die because, Health Canada won't allow gay males to give their organs is a blatant disregard for the Hippocratic Oath and any other for Health professionals to do no harm.

The protest was organized by 'Standing Against Queer Discrimination'. The first protest held was in London, Ontario on January 17th outside the Health Canada office there. They since called a National Day of Action for February 26th. Cities across the country had protests outside local Health Canada offices against the ban and, here in Ottawa SAQD officials met with parliamentary officials while the protest went on outside. According to Ottawa residents the protest on Parliament with about 80 people in attendance and speakers including an NDP MP and the Liberal Health Critic.

Yet this is not the only discriminatory health practice in Canada against gay males. Any man who has ever in their lifetime had sex with another man is barred from donating blood by the Canadian Blood Services a policy that has gone on since 1977. Even if a womyn has had sex with a man who has sex with a man she is disqualified for giving blood for a year. Both the organ ban and blood donation ban does nothing but harm the public and puts people at risk who could otherwise be helped.

Photos Courtesy of Kaitlyn Kincaid

Ottawa: Reliving Bilderberg

Last night at Ottawa Cinema Politica the movie Endgame by Alex Jones was shown. I have a number of issues with the movie, but he does accurately give information regarding the creation of a North American Union, the Security Prosperity Partnership, local militarization, a history of Eugenics (though I don't agree with all his inferences) and, the Bilderberg Group. The Bilderbergs are a group that has met since the 1950s including major heads of state and, large corporate interests. The group meets secretly in order to have discussions on world affair. Some major members include the Rothchilds, Rockafellers, royalty of the Netherlands, members of the IMF, World Bank, and most western heads of state such as Steven Harper. In 2006 the Bilderbergs met in Ottawa and I was covering them, here are the links for those who were interested.

Bilderberg Posts:
Ottawa: Bilderbergs Arrive Tomorrow
Ottawa: Some Bilderbergs Arrive
Ottawa: Bilderberg Tickets and Researchers
Ottawa: Bilderberg Site and Article Round Up
Ottawa: Bilderbergs at Brookstreet Report
Ottawa: Pictures Outside the Bilderberg Conference
Ottawa: Bilderberg Conclusion

Also people had an interest towards the military takeover and operations in Winnipeg of that same year as many could not believe it.:
Winnipeg: Exercise Charging Bison

Ottawa: Non-Humane Humane Society?

You find a lost hurt animal on the street, you care about animals so naturally you think that you should do something. You aren't sure whether this is a lost pet or was abandoned. You decide that the best thing to do is to bring it to the humane society in order to help it. This is a common theme for animal lovers in many places including Ottawa. Sadly however, many people don't know the actual practices of the Ottawa Humane Society.

Yet this seemingly flawless organization from its media image at its heart is actually unaccountable and treats animals fairly badly attracting the attention of pet owners, now former Ottawa Human Society (OHS) donors, and animal rights activists. A campaign was started about a year and a half ago called 'Reform the Ottawa Humane Society'. It was created by a pet lover who found a stray dog and her neighbor who was a donor to the OHS. The stray dog was taken to the OHS in case its' owner went looking for it however, if no one came to claim the dog it was going to be adopted by the person who found it and her partner. The OHS euthanized the dog against their wishes saying that it had an aggressive temperament. Despite this being a very small dog who had been very friendly to the person who found it.


After this a campaign was started as the pet lover heard more and more similar stories. The way the OHS tested the dogs' temperament was examined. It seems that the OHS' testing method to see if dogs are aggressive is while they are in a large room with concrete walls, metal bars and, loud noise due to a number of animals the dogs are poked with a stick which has a rubber glove on the end of it repeatedly. If the dog at all bites the glove or stick they are deemed aggressive and are never shown to the public and are euthanized. For cats there is no formal assessment just a subjective look at the cat in the highly disturbing and stressful environment.

This does not even look at the unaccountability issues. No information from the OHS is recorded on the amount of animals who are collected, nor the amount that are euthanized. The board of directors in mainly nameless and prefer to be anonymous to the public and choose the next board. Not to mention the amount of stories of volunteers or members who were immediately fired or had their membership revoked if they at any point said anything negative about the organization. What do they have to hide? Why are tax dollars being spent, yet the organization refuses to be at all accountable to the public?

The most obvious answer was that despite the OHS being a non-profit someone is making money off of it. The more extreme speculation suggested by some is that the OHS sells animals to animal research in compliance with the Ontario Animals for Research Act. "The Ontario Animals for Research Act requires pounds to relinquish dogs and cats they have held for more than three days if requisitioned by a registered research facility. ... [it is stipulated] that laboratories pay only $6 per dog and $2 per cat. In contrast, a person wanting to adopt one of these animals as a companion could be required to pay up to $150 for a dog and $80 for a cat." [1] It is publicly stated though that any pound associated with the SPCA including the OHS do not approve or comply with this Act, but without evidence either way it is impossible to know.

It should be noted however that the OHS does provide some important services to the community such as spay/neuter education, community education programs, cruelty investigations, emergency response and micro-chipping family pets this is why the campaign is to reform the OHS not abolish it. Plus many other Humane societies have much higher standards then the Ottawa version, including real animal temperament testing techniques. Regardless the Ottawa Humane society has too many issues to deserve the name 'humane' and needs some real changes and accountability.

For more information:
Reform the Ottawa Humane Society: www.reformtheohs.ca
The Ottawa Humane Society: www.ottawahumane.ca
Cruel Science (Canadian Animal Testing): www.cruelscience.ca

Ottawa: Students March on Parliament Demanding Lower Tuition

Students from around the country today took to the streets to protest high tuition fees and large debt sentences. In Ottawa students from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University converged on Parliament.

All pictures were taken by myself and are my property. I left out images of individuals and left only the group pictures.

Ottawa: First March for Trans Rights

In Ottawa this sunday there will be the first protest for transgendered rights the city has seen. Transgendered people who range widely on the gender continum including transsexuals, intersexed, androgyns, genderqueers, and more are not properly protected in laws. Only the North West Territories has the inclusion of gender identity and expression within their human rights code. Bill Siksay of the NDP has introduced legislation that would include gender identity and expression under the Canadian Human Rights Act. In my view this needs to be added to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The amending of legal rights will not end discrimination or transphobia, but it will be easier to fight for personal rights, work rights, and health care rights. Transgender people are at much higher rates of depression, self-endangering activity, direct discrimination, verbal and physical attacks then other sections of the population. Trans people need to have more official rights on an institutional level as well as, more support services to make sure trans people get the help and especially medical attention they need.

The march in Ottawa is in lead up to November 20th which is the Interational Trans Day of Remembrance for all those who have died in the past year due to transphobia.

For more information:
Ottawa March For Trans Equality
Ottawa Trans Day of Remembrance
International Trans Day of Remembrance

Ottawa: Municipal Elections

Today in Ottawa is the Municipal elections for Mayor, Councillors, and School Board Trustees. The major issues in the current election are public transit, pesiticide use, waste management, homelessness, and womyn's rights. All these issues are important and I encourage you to check out the candidates even if just for mayor.

The Front Running Cadidates for Mayor are:
Bob Chiarelli: http://bobchiarelli.com/
Alex Munter: http://www.alexmunter.ca/
Larry O'Brien: http://larryformayor.ca/
No matter who you support people should use their democratic right to vote.

It is rare, but for once I'm going to endorse a candidate. In these elections I am endorsing Alex Munter as he is a life-long gay rights activist, has been very involved with local politics, and I agree with the majority of his platform. One of the other major reason I support him however, is his support of womyn. Neither Chiarelli or O'Brien have been supportive or open to listening to womyn's groups. At a candidates debate on womyn's issues only Munter out of the three was even willing to show up and talk to local womyn. A video interview with one of the organizers is available here.

Ottawa: Dyke March on its way

Ottawa's Third Annual Dyke March is well on its way. The collective has been working hard to bring the best grassroots Dyke Day events that this city has ever seen. The group is bringing four events all accessible, and by donation.

Dyke March is a tradition first brought into place in San Francisco in 1992 as a way to give Queer Womyn a way to step out and speak out about oppression. Being under a patriarchal, homophobic, and heterosexist society Queer Womyn face oppression on many fronts. Early Dyke Marches were mainly acting as a protest, but now its more of a way of Queer Womyn affirming their right to be on the street and safe. Many Dyke Marches now are also intregal parts of Pride Weeks around the world.

The Ottawa Dyke March started in 2003 acts as a way to bring light to Queer Womyn and Trans-People of all types. It also acts as a completely grassroots, accessible, non-discriminatory safe space for Queer Womyn and Trans-People. Last year Dyke March Ottawa decided to start to honour one group per year for the work they've done in the community. This year the honoured group is AGITATE Ottawa the Queer Womyn of Colour Collective.