At the Moons - Earth Day edition - from Greg Macdougall

Welcome to v2.2 of the 'At The Moons' Newsletter

Earth Day was last Monday;
Full Moon was the next night;
this newsletter is now.

This is a bit late for the moon…
Attribute it to procrastination, to other things in my life, to putting in too much content (will people actually read it all?)… or a combination of those, and more.

But, here it is. Earth Day can be everyday.

Table of Contents (scroll down to see it all):

• Followups from last edition, x2: Ancient Indigenous history, & Palestine.

• Two primary sections, Earth Day themed: global/general x4, & local x3.

• Four timely mini-items: Toxic drug crisis, COVID, Education, May Day.

• ‘Newsletter Notes’

PS - One 'Newsletter Note' for now, is that word of mouth distro can help a lot.
So please consider sending this on to 1 or more people, who might appreciate it.

Miigwetch (thank you), baamaa pii (see you later), and weweni (take care)!

- greg

Intro photos

Followup content on items from previous edition

(1) Ancient Indigenous history of the area downriver from Asinabka

A couple people emailed to say they were interested but unable to attend archeologist Jean-Luc Pilon's webinar. Luckily I did attend - Pilon recommended a video his daughter and he made, that is something of a guided tour of the discoveries he and others have made. Description: "at the end of this 45 minute tour, you will have a new view of the ancient past of the National Capital of Canada region which lies in the heart of un-ceded Anishinaabeg-Algonquin territory." It is on Youtube, entitled "Paddling Through the Past."

Also to note: One of the Jane's Walks next weekend (May 4-5) looks at the portage route between the Rideau and Ottawa Rivers - one of the things Pilon talks about.

(2) Palestine / Israel  

There is so much to say, and much of it beyond words.

But a few things:

The student encampments across the USA are an inspiring development - see this message from the Palestinian BDS National Committee. Two have started in Canada (McGill and UBC), and a call for a student solidarity sit-in Monday at UOttawa has now been extended to each day of this week (noon-9pm daily through Friday May 3rd). Official updates via @insaffottawa on Instagram, and maybe from the email they listed for e-transfer donations in the linked call.

There's a new updated version of the quarter-page Gaza Solidarity Flyers.

New article/essay, "The Psychological Terrorism of Witnessing Genocide in Gaza" by Abla Abdelhadi - a Palestinian living in Jordan who used to live in Ottawa.
She was one of the interviewees in my 2013 article "Call Us Crazy: Mad movements organize against ableism, mentalism and more," and talked about the problem of how activist movements can push out people dealing with mental health struggles.

The recent essay "Palestine Speaks for Everyone" by Jodi Dean got her suspended from teaching duties Hobart and William Smith Colleges (USA).
I quoted from Dean's work in my 2014 essay "How can we make our media more effective in contributing to social change?" and we also briefly discussed the possibility of her coming to do a talk in Ottawa. Read the HWS statement against her, then a statement supporting her from the Middle East Studies Association of North America, later re-published with additional petition link by her publisher, Pluto Press, in a statement that also defends another of their authors from anti-Palestinian repression.

Then, something I don't have any specific personal connection to, but it exists in the same space as the countless other stories of / from children in Gaza. This article is written by a 14-year old, Lujayn. As she concludes in the last paragraph "Every generation of Palestinians will pass these lessons onto the next."

EARTH DAY THEME

Earth Day is a good reminder each year to remember the priorities.

It is good if we can bring in the same principles and priorities into the everyday.

That's especially part of what the 'Climate Media' piece below is about - how our media does have a large place in shaping our priorities, implicitly.

So here are a few pieces to attend to when you can, if you want to, to think about what to do about things - and to just appreciate things (i.e. the turtles).

EARTH DAY THEME - THE GLOBAL / GENERAL

(1) "Message for the youth" - Reconciliation Week and RBC

RBC is the primary sponsor of the Truth and Reconciliation Week at the end of September which reaches over half a million students in Canadian schools. But RBC is also one of the largest financiers of fossil fuels in the world. And reconciliation is impacted by fossil fuels projects - think the tar sands, or the CGL pipeline through Wet'suwet'en territory. I wrote this article in fall 2022 as a learning opportunity to call attention to how that learning may be impacted.

In the print version (2-page PDF file) are a few panels from Gord Hill's book "The 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance Comic Book." About a month ago I attended a talk he gave, and one of the points I thought was poignant, was about how the conservative / right-wing mindset (more paranoid / recognizing of threats) has led to more 'doomsday/disaster prepping' than in the progressive / left-wing, and how we may want to get serious about preparing for some of what are likely bad things to come: collapse is a process more than it is an event.

(2) The Problem of the Media with respect to the Climate

This is a first version of my look at how we might want to rethink our media communication systems in order to be able to direct our energies in better ways, specifically with such a massive threat facing us in the form of the climate crisis.

I published it in zine (booklet) form and was going to present it at the Carleton U Climate Commons conference in 2020 - which unfortunately had been set to take place the first week that the university closed for COVID. I haven't gone back to it yet to revise, but do think I will, because it is a very important topic.

(3) “Unearthing Justice: Protecting Your Community from the Mining Industry” — book launch video

The book is written primarily for people and communities potentially impacted by mining (including fossil fuels extraction). This video from the 2019 launch event features author Joan Kuyek being 'interviewed' by Mining Watch's Jamie Kneen, then Kuyek 'interviews' Indigenous Climate Action's Eriel Tchekwie Deranger. There are two intros prior to those central parts, then after is a Q&A.

Kuyek was the founding director of Mining Watch, a small NGO based in Ottawa that 'punches above its weight' and organizes in partnership with various communities across Canada and internationally (a large majority of the world's mining companies are officially headquartered in Canada).

I’d written a review of Joan's earlier book (on community organizing) and she was a special guest for a session of the Activism Course I was leading in 2011.

(4) Environmental and Climate Justice article

I include this article here even though it's from ~15 year ago.

A dozen years ago, I learned it was in the file the police (RCMP) have on me. It is mostly a summary of what some of the speakers at our inaugural (2008) Organizing For Justice conference had to say and outlining what "environmental justice" means. It was published in the newspaper of the provincial anarchist group I was part of, Common Cause, and I later presented it at the Hamilton Anarchist Bookfair. After an infestation of undercover police for the 2010 Olympics and G20 resistance - two were exposed in Ottawa, each of whom had infiltrated groups I was part of - I did a "Privacy Act Request" and got some of what they had on me, though I know it was an incomplete disclosure: it didn’t have anything from when two Toronto officers made a visit to my door, months prior to the G20, and then when I did a followup request on that specifically, I got something more related to that, but still obviously not a complete file.

EARTH DAY THEME - THE LOCAL

(1) Protecting Turtles: “Turtles of Old Ottawa East and South”

It was in 2021 that an informal group of people started organizing to protect the turtles nesting and hatching in Old Ottawa East and South, along the Rideau River. The basics is that in June, we watch for turtles laying eggs, and put on 'nest protectors' to stop them being predated (mainly by racoons), and then in September and October, we help the hatchlings get to the water. It is mainly organized through a Facebook group (now upwards of 900 members) and as of last year there's also an email list, since many people aren’t on Facebook.

I made a post to share photos and videos of this work and of the turtles, plus relevant information, for people to be able to better connect with this type of thing.

The Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club (OFNC) recently recognized our group's work with an award, which is included in the post above - and in the photo below.

PS: The Fletcher Wildlife Garden volunteers (part of OFNC) are hosting a pollinators walk as part of Jane's Walk; I went to last year's version of this walk, and at the conclusion of the walk we saw a special turtle in the pond. Two of the videos in my turtles post are from FWG, one from just a couple of weeks ago.

(2) Local wildlife helpers (rehabbers)

Did you know there are places to bring injured wildlife if you find them?

I've rescued a number of injured birds - longer ago bringing them directly to the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre, and more recently to Safe Wings Ottawa, who either care for them directly or then take them to the Bird Care Centre. In December I reported a goose that was stranded near a spot of water on the canal that was gradually freezing up, and a few days later I was part of a small group of Safe Wings people who were able to capture the goose, who was then transported to Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre in Napanee for the winter to recover. I made a short video of the goose prior to rescue, which primarily features the beaver who'd swum under the ice to the open spot to keep the goose company.

And for animal rescues, I previously took an injured rabbit to Constance Creek Wildlife Refuge (now Holly's Haven Wildlife Rescue) in Dunrobin; more recently someone drove a seemingly-injured painted turtle I'd found out to Rideau Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in North Gower: they were happy to assess that the turtle wasn't hurt since it was an old injury, but they still sent it to the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre for shell repair work before sending it back here for release.

(3) Bicycling en masse (Critical Mass)

In late 2018 someone said she wanted to re-start the Critical Mass Bike Rides in Ottawa, the last Friday evening of the month, and I helped with that - but then she left town over the winter and I ended up doing a lot of the promotions in 2019. It was mostly small turnouts, either high single-digits or low double-digits, but we had a fairly large one later in the day of the big climate rally in September 2019 (see video). The rides had stopped in 2020 with the pandemic.

But now there are two Critical Mass bike rides each month: one was started last year that is the second Saturday of each month, starting 10am from the Canadian War Museum (upcoming May 11 is a special inclusive event with multiple starting points), and the traditional Friday evening one the last Friday of each month leaving at 6pm (don’t be late!) from Confederation Park. Note the Saturday morning ones are much more centrally organized, with pre-planned routes, while the ‘last Friday’ ones are aligned with the traditional ‘anarchist’ approach of everyone can be a leader and decide the route as the ride proceeds.

Additional Notes

OVERDOSE DEATHS: It was in April six years ago that a group of us external to the Liberal party, ad-hoc organized to successfully push a decriminalization motion at the federal Liberal Party convention. From my understanding, this is still the most vital thing to do to address the problem - make it so all people can safely access safe drugs. The recent situation in BC appears to have the provincial government defying a court order that basically mandated that approach. In 2018, the Liberal party members passed the motion, but the government hasn’t acted on it (they aren’t mandated to). They do need to do something though; it is a large-scale crisis that is not being adequately addressed, and it is a problem that is created by government policies - namely, the “war on drugs” - but it is something that they apparently feel they can continue to not address because it disproportionately impacts the “undesirables” of society.

COVID: April 28 is the annual National Labour Day of Mourning for all who’ve been killed, injured, disabled at work. In 2021, a less-organized ad hoc group of us were pushing a ‘10 for 10’ action that day: Ten Minutes For Ten Days (of Paid Sick Leave). It’s important to remember how many people have died or are disabled - Long Covid is a very serious thing - directly due to capitalist and employer policies that value other priorities more than people’s lives. I started a crowdsourced database of COVID information, side-by-side with one on the healthcare system crisis, in an attempt to build a comprehensive resource for people to become more COVID-literate and understand more; however, it was too much for me to maintain, and I haven’t touched it for a year or so. But I do hope to revisit it and do some revising to make what’s there more accessible - and maybe build it some more.

BOOK LAUNCH: It’s a bit late notice, but yesterday Joel Westheimer had the launch of his book ”What Kind of Citizen? Educating Our Children for the Common.” I mention this because Joel, in his position in the Education department at the University of Ottawa, used his privilege to help us book rooms for both an Organizing For Justice conference (mentioned above re: Environmental Justice article) and the Indigenous Sovereignty Week symposium (mentioned within the RBC / Reconciliation Week article). Joel has some featured audio and videos on his website, if you missed it and want to hear him speak.

MAY DAY: It’s not something I wrote*, but here is a good short article on the labour and anarchist history of May 1st - which is celebrated as Labour Day in many places of the world, not the depoliticized September holiday we have here. It’s not by me, but by David Brons, a comrade who was also a member of the anarchist Common Cause group’s Ottawa chapter back in the day.
(*: I may or may not have been official editor of the group’s newspaper at the time.)

‘Newsletter Notes’

(1) With the Earth Day theme, I thought it relevant to point out I learned of Beehiiv, the platform that hosts this newsletter, because it is the platform that the Peace and Environment Resource Centre (PERC) uses for their mailing list.

(2) The other note is to two things to do with timing.
(A) The exact timing of this newsletter with respect to the moon cycle, is something I haven’t fully fleshed out - maybe I will eventually get to sending it in advance of each full peak or trough, but for now that is more just a rough guide.
(B) I do very much value the replies I get (that you send), and I will be replying - but important to note, that I don’t often do that immediately, but eventually.

And reminder:
Did you like the content included here? If so, please send it on to someone else, and/or share it on social media: maybe add on a small personal intro too.
Also let me know: constructive criticism and constructive compliments welcome!