Ottawa Events to Stop the War
Organized or Publicized by: Coalition to Stop the War Against Yugoslavia (C-SWAY)
Join the thousands in Ottawa who have come to oppose Canada's role in NATO's war
against Yugoslavia:
More information on C-SWAY events: Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT)
Date: Friday May 7, 2:00 p.m.
Place: Carleton University
Robertson Hall, Sixth floor, Senate Room
Carleton's Institute for European and Russian Studies and the Department of
Political Science will be hosting a roundtable, entitled 'The War in
Kosovo: Regional and Global Consequences,' to discuss possible consequences
of the current crisis in Yugoslavia. Carleton's specialists in the field of
Central, East European, and Russian Area Studies will each make short
introductory comments. Then the floor will be opened for informal
discussion among the participants. The discussion will focus on the medium
and long-term consequences of the conflict, particularly relating to: the
Balkan states; the Central and East European countries, including Russia;
and the broader implications for Europe, NATO, and North America.
Organized by: Carleton University's Institute for European and Russian
Studies and the Department of
Political Science
We need your help! Please attend this meeting.
General Meeting of C-SWAY
Date: Thursday, May 13, 7:30 p.m.
Place: St. John's Anglican Church
154 Somerset St. West
(the entrance is just east of Elgin St.)
C-SWAY Protest work group meetings
Date: For further information, contact Len Bush (231-4270)
Public education work group meetings
Date: Thursday, May 6, 7:30 p.m.
Place: St. John's Anglican Church
154 Somerset St. West
(the entrance is just east of Elgin St.)
For further information, contact: Mark Marshall (562-2437)
(Please note: The purpose of these and other planning meetings is to
organize efforts, activities and events to oppose Canada's participation
in NATO's war. These meetings are NOT meant to provide opportunities to
discuss detailed news, information or analyses regarding the war. Such
public discussions are however essential. Indeed, one of the goals of
these meetings is to plan and organize public events and activities
where such discussions and information sharing can take place.)
The beginnings of the C-SWAY Coalition
On April 21 and May 5, activists came together in Ottawa to plan
opposition to Canada's participation in NATO's war in the Balkans.
Members of peace, labour, religious, human rights, environmental and
students' organizations formed the Coalition to Stop the War Against
Yugoslavia (C-SWAY). A program of educational activities, such as
public talks and leafletting, was initiated.
Date: Saturday, May 15, 2 p.m.
Place: Confederation Park (at Elgin St. and Laurier Ave.)
After gathering in Confederation Park the peace march will proceed from the
Department of "National Defence" (i.e. war) to the Department of Foreign
Affairs.
Organized by: C-SWAY
Endorsed by: Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade
OPIRG - Carleton,
International Affairs Committee of CUPE District Council.
Date: Wednesday, May 19, 1999, 7:30 p.m.
Place: St. John's Anglican Church
154 Somerset St. West
(the entrance is just east of Elgin St.)
Speakers:
- James Bissett, Canada's former Ambassador to Yugoslavia
- Carl G. Jacobsen, Department of Political Science, Carleton University
- Rudmilla Swann, Serbian Heritage Society of Ottawa
- Michel Chossudovsky, Department of Economics, University of Ottawa
- David Orchard, Citizens Concerned about Free Trade
Each speaker will make a brief presentation. There will then be a
opportunity for questions/comments from the audience.
Organized by: C-SWAY
"Non-violent Resistance War:
Learning from the Past, Taking Action Now"
Date: Monday, May 24, 7:30 p.m.
Place: PSAC Headquarters
233 Gilmour St.
(between Elgin St. and Metcalfe St.)
George is the Director of Training for Change. He has led over 1,000
workshops on five continents since his start while teaching at the Martin
Luther King School of Social Change.
Author of six books, he has designed
workshops for groups of various cultures and backgrounds including: coal
miners, people of wealth, mental health consumers, homeless individuals,
professors, teenagers, British anarchists, Russian gays, Taiwanese
neighborhood organizers, Burmese guerrilla soldiers, Dutch pacifists, Thai
farmers, Uzbekistani youth workers, Mohawk leaders, South African
anti-apartheid activists, and others.
Organized by: C-SWAY and People's Global Action.
For more information, contact: Brian Edgecomb Tel.: 613-237-6278 Email
A Report from a Trip to Belgrad
Date: Wednesday, May 26, 7:30 p.m.
Place: St. John's Anglican Church
154 Somerset St. West
(the entrance is just east of Elgin St.)
Svend Robinson is a Member of Parliament for the riding of Burnaby-Douglas
in British Columbia. Since June, 1997, he has been the international affairs
critic for the New Democratic Party caucus.
He will be speaking just after his return from a trip to Yugoslavia and
other Balkan countries.
Robinson's plans were arrive in Belgrade for high level meetings on Monday, May 17th.
The next day he will try to travel to Kosovo to visit Pristina and other parts of the
embattled land. His next stops were planned for Albania on May 20, and then
to Macedonia before his return to Canada on Saturday, May 22.
In an article published on the NDP caucus website [
http://www.ndp.ca/ ] Robinson said he hoped to
"examine all options for a negotiated, diplomatic solution to the conflict".
To hear their positions on the war in Yugoslavia, he planned to meet directly
with senior Yugoslav government officials, Members of Parliament from both the
government and opposition parties, journalists and others.
The NDP, which originally supported NATO's air strikes, recently called
for an end to the bombings.
"We must do everything in our power to help find a peaceful solution to this
terrible tragedy," Robinson said. "NATO’s strategy of continuing to expand air
strikes, with more civilian casualties and non-military targets, and its insistence
on an international peacekeeping force with a core of NATO combatants, is a human,
environmental and military disaster."
"We must suspend the bombing immediately and give diplomatic negotiations,
under UN auspices, a chance," he said.
Organized by: C-SWAY
Date: Saturday, May 29, 1:00 P.M.
Place: Parliament Hill
Peace march past US Embassy & British High Commission
Proceed to Dept. of National Defence (i.e., war) on MacKenzie King Bridge
C-SWAY's educational activities will build towards a large Rally/March
in Ottawa on Saturday, May 29. We are inviting as many people as
possible to attend this event. Please help in anyway that you can to
begin spreading the word to those who oppose Canada's participation in
NATO's precedent-setting war. The plan is to rally on Parliament Hill
starting at 1 p.m. We will then proceed past the U.S. embassy, the
War Memorial, and the British High Commission in a peace
march to the Canada's Department of "National Defence" (i.e. war). The
main entrance to this department is at the MacKenzie King bridge which
spans the Rideau Canal. The symbolism of walking to this bridge not
only directs our attention towards the headquarters of Canada's military
establishment, it also demonstrates our solidarity with the citizens of
Yugoslavia who have occupied city bridges to protect them from NATO's
daily bombing attacks.
A sister group, C-MAW, the Coalition of Musicians Against the War, is being organized by a C-SWAY member, Michael Cass-Beggs, to bring together folk,
classical and other musicians to hold their first performance on the Mackenzie King Bridge as part of the C-SWAY rally on May 29. Interested
artists can send an email to [email protected] to contact Michael.
Why May 29?
NATO warplanes will be "performing" in Ottawa!
Saturday, May 29 was chosen as our rallying day because it is the
weekend of the National Capital Air Show. This year, the Ottawa war/air
show is "A Celebration of Excellence Honouring the 75th Anniversary of
the Royal Canadian Air Force." Canadian military aircraft, of the
variety now bombing Yugoslavia, will be roaring through the skies over
Ottawa on that weekend! Also "performing" in Ottawa skies and displayed
on the tarmac at the air show, will be numerous U.S. and other NATO
warplanes which are bombing Yugoslavia and/or are designed to carry
nuclear weapons. (Besides using Ottawa skies to promote and advertise
military aircraft, the National Capital Air Show is also organizing a trade
exposition to showcase the products of many military-related aerospace and
high technology companies.)
This year, Ottawa's war/air show will feature at least the following NATO
war planes which are being used against Yugoslavia:
| Tornado IDS |
F/A-18 Hornet |
| E-2C Hawkeye |
F-117A Nighthawk |
| P-3 Orion |
C-130 Hercules |
| AV-8B Harrier II |
KC-135 Stratotanker |
| A-10 Thunderbolt II |
B-1B Lancer |
| B-52 Stratofortress |
CT-114 Tutor |
| F-16 Fighting Falcon |
CF-18 |
This year's Montreal Air Show was recently cancelled because organizers
felt that to use military planes for family entertainment during this
war would not be advisable. Please encourage the Ottawa air show to
follow suit. Please send a polite email to Ottawa's Air show organizer
at John Issenman at
For more information on these war planes visit the web sites of the
Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) or
the National Capital Air Show
Protest NATO's War
Date: Every weekday, 6:00 p.m.
Place: Starting from Parliament Hill
Date: Every Saturday and Sunday, 2:00 p.m.
Place: Parliament Hill
Organized by: Ottawa's Serbian Community
This page written May 6, 1999 by R.S.
Revised May 8, 1999, by C.T.S.