social justice – Green Living Ottawa

Seeing Ottawa in New Ways

May 4, 2024May 4, 2024GreenLivingOttawa

Background image in grey tones showing a group of people facing away from the camera, one holding a flag with an icon of a person walking. Blue, red and white graphic frames the text "May 4-5: Jane's Walk Ottawa-Gatineau, JanesWalkOttawa.ca" — *Image courtesy Jane’s Walk Ottawa-Gatineau*

There are quite a few opportunities this weekend to think about our city, and what it could be, in different ways. (Apologies for the last-minute post—life happens!) Here are some highlights:

Jane’s Walk Ottawa-Gatineau

Jane’s Walk Ottawa-Gatineau is happening Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5, 2024. Jane’s Walk is an annual series of community-led walks through the places and neighbourhoods of the city, in honour of Jane Jacobs, whose ideas influenced how we understand cities and city-building. This year’s walks explore and celebrate local art, architecture, histories, communities, pathways, greenspaces, habitats and biodiversity. For example, you can learn about the unique ecosystem of the Pinhey Sand Dunes; tour green homes, community gardens, or rewilding efforts; see downtown Ottawa from an Indigenous perspective; and much more. Because this year’s theme is “Towards water,” many of the walks explore the significance of waterways as meeting places, habitats and city shapers. That means you can contemplate an Indigenous canoe portage site connecting the Ottawa and Rideau Rivers; the history of the Ottawa River; or the microbes of Mud Lake. There are virtual and self-guided walks, too. Walks are conducted in English and/or French; some require pre-registration. Check the Jane’s Walk Ottawa-Gatineau website for details.

Image of an Indigenous woman (her head and shoulders); she is looking up, and her mouth is covered with red-handprint-shaped paint. Image appears on a black background, between two small red beaded dress images. Text in white and red below the image reads "MMIWG2S need justice; reconciliation demands action" — *Image courtesy Families of Sisters in Spirit*

Red Dress Day

I’ve posted before about the connections between environmental action and the need to address the ongoing harms of living on unceded Indigenous territory in ways that perpetuate ongoing violence against Indigenous peoples, including Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people. On Sunday, May 5, 2024, Families of Sisters in Spirit (FSIS), in collaboration with Assembly of Seven Generations, the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women, and Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak, is hosting an event to commemorate Red Dress Day in support of local families affected by the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and Two-Spirit people. They’re welcoming donations of food and other items, as well as financial support. See the event page for details.

Ottawa International Writers Festival

The Ottawa International Writers Festival is bringing several eco-focused authors to the stage on Saturday, May 4, 2024. These include Lydia Millet and Michael E. Mann, who, in different ways, use the power of story to help think through the climate change and environmental crisis. Check the Festival website for details.

+Local Action for Palestine: INSAF and the University of Ottawa Palestinian Students’ Association are asking people to support their efforts, including the “Occupy Tabaret” campaign calling for the University to divest from genocide in Gaza. See their website for more information, and Decolonize Palestine for additional background and why this is relevant to environmental justice globally and locally.

Green Living on Unceded Anishinabe Algonquin Territory?

September 25, 2023September 27, 2023GreenLivingOttawa

Dozens of pairs of children's shoes, stuffed toys and dolls, cards, and signs, in multiple colours (pink, blue, yellow, purple, black, brown) on the pavement around the Centennial Flame fountain on Parliament Hill, in June 2021, following announcements about the discovery of potential unmarked graves on the grounds of some former residential schools. — Children’s shoes and toys placed around the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill in June 2021, following news of the discovery of potential unmarked graves on the grounds of former residential schools. Photo by D. Deby

If you’ve attended a local event in the past few years, you’ve likely heard a land acknowledgement—a recognition that the event is taking place on unceded Anishinabe Algonquin territory.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what “green living” means in “Ottawa,” i.e. unceded Indigenous territory. What I’ve learned so far is that it requires understanding Canada’s colonial past and present, and that it entails supporting Indigenous-led action for sovereignty and Indigenous resurgence.

[CW: Contains references to the “Indian Residential Schools” that Canada and churches operated from 1831-1996. A list of supports for Survivors, families and communities is available here. Information on general mental health supports for Ottawa residents is available here.]

Several local groups are offering ways to take such learning and action a step further, in conjunction with Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Both days are designed to raise awareness about the residential schools that Canada established for Indigenous children, the horrors these institutions caused for children, families and descendants, and what Canadians need to do to address their ongoing effects. Residential schools were just one part of Canada’s overall plan to replace Indigenous lands and peoples with a settler colonial country, a plan that forms the foundation for Canada today.

Understanding Canada as a settler colonial state

First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, along with Assembly of Seven Generations and Beechwood Cemetery, are hosting Reconciling History Tours on Saturday, September 30 and Monday, October 2, 2023. The tours enable participants to learn more about Canada’s residential school system, and how to advance the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. The Beechwood event includes an unveiling of a Children’s Sacred Forest. This is an opportunity to understand how Ottawa’s spaces and people were central to creating and perpetuating the genocidal residential school system. You can find out more and register in advance on the Caring Society’s website, or do the tours virtually.

[Added:] Algonquin College and the Asinabka Film and Media Arts Festival are co-hosting a free film screening and discussion of Colonization Road, on Friday, September 29, 2023 from 4:15-6:30 p.m. The film discusses how public streets, infrastructure and art were used to—and continue to—assert and celebrate Canada’s colonization and settlement of Indigenous lands.

Learning and reflecting on harms, and on action needed

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day provide additional activities for learning more about residential schools and support Indigenous healing and redress:

The Ottawa Public Library is inviting people to participate in arts activities, watch films, and access books, a pre-recorded talk by Phyllis Webstad, the founder of Orange Shirt Day, and other resources. The OPL and the National Arts Centre are also co-hosting a play, Bloodline, by Algonquin Elder Albert Dumont and Ottawa writer Phil Jenkins, about how the Indian Act has affected Elder Dumont’s life and family. The performance on Thursday, September 28, 2023 from 7-8:30 p.m. is sold out but will be streamed online—see the event page for details. A second live performance has been added, on Thursday, November 16, 2023 at the Meridian Centrepointe Theatre (thanks to A New Dawn for the information).

[Added:] The co-owners of the Indigenous-run Beandigen Café at Lansdowne Park (106-900 Exhibition Way) are inviting people to hear from a family member who is a residential school survivor, on Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 12 p.m. See details on their FB page.

Adaawe Indigenous Business Hub is holding a memorial walk from their office at 338 Somerset Street to Parliament Hill on Saturday, September 30, 2023 from 12-1 p.m. A memorial event, Remembering the Children, organized by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day and taking place on Parliament Hill on September 30, 2023 at noon (with broadcast on APTN), is the culmination of a week of activities that the NCTR is offering, which include daily learning sessions covering past and ongoing discrimination against Indigenous peoples, debunking myths and pointing towards action.

Engaging in dialogue and supporting Indigenous initiatives

A New Dawn is a local community-based group that has been supporting learning by non-Indigenous people and facilitating collaboration among non-Indigenous and Indigenous people. They’re hosting an evening with Algonquin Elder Albert Dumont on Friday, September 29, 2023 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Kitchissippi United Church, 630 Island Park Drive. A New Dawn is also selling orange shirts, designed by Elder Dumont, to commemorate Indigenous children who died at residential schools and to promote healing, respect and a new relationship.

A good place to purchase orange shirts locally is Adaawewigamig, a social enterprise store in the Byward Market run by Assembly of Seven Generations, an Indigenous youth-led organization. They have a lot of other great clothing, jewelry and other items; proceeds support Indigenous artists, businesses and causes. Orange shirts are also available through the Mādahòkì Farm or the Orange Shirt Society. If you purchase a shirt for Orange Shirt Day, make sure it supports Indigenous artists and groups, and is endorsed by the Orange Shirt Society.

There is much more to be done. Stay tuned for upcoming posts on ways to support Indigenous peoples, places and actions.

Poster with text, a partial image of an orange shirt and a small inset photo of Algonquin Elder Albert Dumont. Text reads: Join 'A New Dawn' Friday, September 29 2023 6:30-8:30 pm Kitchissippi United Church 630 Island Park Drive, Ottawa, ON K1Y 0B7. Join Algonquin Spiritual Advisor Alber Dumont of hte Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation and invited guests as we honour, reflect and encourage ways to take action to protect all our kinship relations, including Mother Earth. Albert's original and resdesign orang shirt are available! Celebrate and reflect the newly named Kichi Zibi Mikan parkway! $10 suggested donation or pay only what you can. Tea, coffee and pastries. pnaymark@gmail.com to register. — *Poster courtesy of A New Dawn*

Time for a Sustainable and Equitable Budget for Ottawa

February 26, 2023February 26, 2023GreenLivingOttawa

Close-up of brown cardboard placard with red lettering that reads "People Power," in front of blue sky. — *People Power by Quinn Dombrowski on flickr – Creative Commons – Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic – https://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/15229787189* *Image modified (cropped)*

Ottawa City Council has officially recognized that Ottawa is in a climate emergency. The City has a climate change plan, active transportation plans, a housing and homelessness plan, and other commitments to sustainability and equity. Beyond such public statements and plans, though, the City’s progress toward these goals depends on how the City allocates public resources—which largely happens at municipal budget time.

Ottawa City Council will vote on the 2023 City Budget, which various City committees have already reviewed, on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 10 a.m.

Many community groups have spoken out about problems with the draft budget. It prioritizes unsustainable and inequitable expenditures such as road widening (at the expense of pedestrian and cycling infrastructure) and overpolicing, while it underfunds essential services including public transit (to be cut by $47 million), housing, community services, and greenhouse gas emission reductions. Dubbed an “austerity budget” by some groups, the draft budget sets property tax increases at 2.5 per cent—an arbitrary cap that Mayor Mark Sutcliffe campaigned on—which is well below inflation and will undoubtedly result in real service cuts and increased user fees, and pave the way for ineffective and costly private provision of public services.

Ottawa’s municipal budget process is largely opaque for many residents—and the draft budget tends to be presented more or less as a done deal. Fortunately, the good people of the Ottawa Coalition for a People’s Budget have created a guide to engaging with Budget 2023. Several other groups have offered excellent resources for understanding the draft budget and its implications, and for advocating for a better budget:

[Added:] The People’s Official Plan Coalition is hosting a virtual press conference on the draft budget on Monday, February 27 at 10 a.m. The Coalition’s Priorities for Budget 2023 include climate action; forest, greenspace and wetlands management; food security; affordable housing; and social services.

Horizon Ottawa held a City Budget 101 Training Session with useful analysis of the draft budget and alternatives for the City to raise revenues and reallocate expenditures in more sustainable and socially just ways. The recording is available online, as is an online letter to Council that people can sign calling to stop the cuts to public transit.

Ecology Ottawa is asking people to call on their city councillors to support a motion to defer funding to widen the Airport Parkway—which the new Trillium Line would run parallel to—and allocate the funds to active transportation elements of the project instead.

Acorn Canada is asking people to support a call for a “People’s Budget” in Ottawa that supports all residents, including low-income residents, by adequately funding needed services.

Starts With Home is a coalition of organizations and businesses that has set out a platform and actions, including budget measures, that Ottawa needs to take to ensure everyone has a safe, affordable home.

The Ottawa Mission has posted a budget consultation toolkit as well as an online form to ask City Council to provide much-needed funding for affordable housing.

You can also share your views on the draft budget with your city councillor and on the City’s Engage Ottawa website.

Several organizations are holding a rally against the draft budget on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. Details will be posted here.

As well, the Ottawa Police Services Board will consider the 2023 police services budget on Monday, February 27, 2023 at 4 p.m. (At the same meeting, they’ll be deciding on proposed changes to limit public input at Board meetings.) According to Defund the Police, what the city spends on policing is roughly the same as it spends on public health, paramedics, public libraries, social housing, parks and recreation and employment services combined, and the police’s share of the municipal budget is increasing. The Coalition Against More Surveillance has compiled resources to help people who want to submit comments to the meeting, and the Ottawa Coalition for a People’s Budget has plenty of ideas for shifting resources from policing to essential services.

The time is now for a municipal budget that shifts us towards a more sustainable, climate change-resistant and equitable city.