On this March 8, International Women’s Day, the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians notes both the significant strides made in achieving equality for women and the work that needs to be done both in Canada and internationally. It is the work that needs to be done which should be at the forefront as we mark March 8, because the extent to which inequality for women persists means Canada cannot claim to be a society founded on equality.
In Canada, there remains a significant pay gap between men and women workers. In 2023, women earned 9.2% less than their male counterparts.
Pay inequality is important because it determines economic well-being; in addition, it is discrimination and injustice in real terms. In 2015, the UN’s Human Rights Committee raised concerns about “persisting inequalities between women and men” in Canada and its disproportionate effect on low-income women, racialized women and indigenous women. Pay inequality goes hand-in-hand with discriminatory practices in hiring and advancement for women. While there are many factors affecting pay inequality, certainly a significant is a fact that women in the workforce are often to be found in low-paying, part-time jobs.
Gender based violence is another impact on women. Events such as the killing of 14 women in 1989 at the École Polytechnique in Montreal are ingrained on the collective Canadian consciousness. Then there is crisis of violence against Indigenous women In Canada (MMIW) which has been described as a “national crisis” – and it truly is because it is an extension and consequence of the Canadian state’s colonial history of subjugation of First Nations.
We cannot talk about International Women’s Day without talking about the impact of war on women. According to a UN document “women and girls constitute close to 80 per cent of internally displaced people and refugees worldwide”. It is estimated that women account for 90% of the more than 6 million Ukrainian refugees who fled the war in Ukraine.
For the AUUC, founded more than 100 years, the equality of women has been fundamental to its work and organization. On this March 8 we recognized the need to remove all barriers, end all discrimination and injustices against women.
The AUUC has always supported the Palestinian people against their imprisonment through occupation and the denial of their right to a Palestinian state. Canada must act decisively for a ceasefire as the people of Gaza face war and the denial of food, water, electricity, fuel, medical supplies and other essential items. Canada must also act to permanently end the blockade of Gaza.
People in Canada are watching in horror as the violence in Israel-Palestine has escalated towards an all-out war.
On Tuesday, the bombing of the Anglican Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City killed hundreds of people, most of them children. Over 5,000 people had been sheltering inside. This is an atrocity.
Since October 7, thousands have been killed following Hamas’ attack and the Israeli government’s response.
We unequivocally condemn the targeting of innocent Palestinian and Israeli civilians.
As representatives of leading pan-Canadian labour, faith, Arab, Jewish, and civil society organizations, we are calling on the Government of Canada to take these steps:
We endorse the Canadian government’s call for humanitarian aid to Gaza and the safe return of hostages. These demands cannot be meaningfully addressed without an immediate ceasefire and while Israel's blockade of Gaza continues.
Gaza is facing a “complete siege” as food, water, electricity, and fuel have been cut off. Gaza’s last functioning seawater desalination plant shut down on Sunday after running out of fuel. Water and sanitation services have collapsed in the wake of widespread bombing.
UN shelters have also run out of water and hospital workers are warning that thousands more civilians could die if access to water, fuel, and medicine is not restored.
The already dire humanitarian crisis is rapidly deteriorating.
The Israeli government’s order to a million Gazans to evacuate to the south–an impossible feat in 24 hours–suggests that a ground war and intensifying bombing are imminent.
Our most urgent task is preventing the further loss of life and an even greater humanitarian disaster than what we have already witnessed in Gaza. An all-out war would bring catastrophe to the entire region.
As hostilities escalate, they are fuelling a rise of Anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism in Canada–which we also unequivocally condemn.
Beyond these immediate steps, the world must support efforts for a just and lasting peace in Israel-Palestine and address the root cause of the violence: Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territory.
Palestinians, Israelis, and all people in the region deserve to live in peace and security and with justice for all.
As National President of the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians, I have spoken many times on what Canada’s response to the war should be. The most recent instance was to St. Catharines City Council regarding a motion equating support for Ukraine with military support.
The motion and discussion that ensued reinforced what underscores the motivation for the conflict and why the prospect of peace is so difficult.
The motivation is Cold War ideology. It exists both in Ukraine and in Western countries, who now pump weapons into the country. It also exists among a section of the Ukrainian diaspora, who see the war as the means to settle accounts with Ukraine’s history within the Soviet Union.
That is why the notion of resolving this conflict has become synonymous with pursuing war and pouring in weapons. Disinformation, coupled with denial of the facts underlying this war, are the means to justify why Ukraine is at war with Russia. Thus, Canada and NATO must not relent in supporting Ukraine to some “ultimate” conclusion. This is why Canadians are told that peace will come through the defeat of Russia — our enemy from the Cold War.
This is very dangerous. The incontestable facts are that this war has steadily escalated since a possible peace agreement in April 2022 was scuttled. With escalation has come the danger of direct confrontation between NATO and Russia. A conflict between NATO and Russia involves the U.S., and it potentially involves nuclear weapons. We have already seen in this conflict that nuclear facilities are not taboo as a target. They have been repeatedly shelled.
As the war has escalated, so have the stakes. Russia has warned that it views NATO’s pushing of weapons into Ukraine as a direct threat to its existence.
We (Canada) can either see ending this war as a “fight to the finish” — whatever that means — or we can join with the majority of world’s nations who are working to de-escalate the conflict, secure a ceasefire and bring Russia and Ukraine to peace negotiations. The latter is the only sane response.
And what of the people of Ukraine? Leaders speak in their name when calling for more weapons. The people of Ukraine want peace. Zelenskyy was elected to bring peace to Ukraine by ending the civil war. He was stopped from doing this by the ultranationalists and the non-capitulation movement. We should not forget — while all regions of Ukraine have been impacted by this war — it is the people of the Donbas who have lived through most of this fighting and an eight-year civil war with the central government that began in 2014.
Achieving peace is going to require Ukraine and Russia to talk. Both have kept their word on prisoner exchanges and restoring grain shipments; they can trust each other for further agreements, too. Countries that have remained neutral in the conflict will be important to the negotiations.
On February 27, 2023 AUUC National President Glenn Michalchuk told council peace and diplomacy have been “distinctly lacking” in the Canadian government’s response to the war.
“Canada must emphasize the need to bring peace to Ukraine and act accordingly. The strategy of more weapons to support more war has been a failure,” he said.
On February 23, 2023 AUUC National President Glenn Michalchuk was a panelist on a webinar entitled: “No to War, No to NATO: North American perspectives on Ukraine, Russia and NATO” hosted by World Beyond War (Canada)
For the last year, the war in Ukraine has been reflected daily in mainstream news, but remains an issue clouded by confusion. While events of the last year are front page news, there is little talk about the many years of NATO provocations, aggression and military buildup against Russia. More and more each day, NATO countries including Canada, the US, and England are fueling the war, funneling even more weapons into Ukraine. The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network hosted a webinar featuring speakers from Canada, the US, and Ukraine.
Glenn Michalchuk: President of the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians and Chair of Peace Alliance Winnipeg.
Read Glenn's full presentationMargaret Kimberly: Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report and author of the book Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents. In addition to being a Coordinating Committee member of Black Alliance for Peace, she is an Administrative Committee member of the United National Antiwar Coalition, and the Board of Directors of the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation. She is also a board member of Consortium News and the editorial board of the International Manifesto Group.
Kevin MacKay: Kevin is a professor at Mohawk College in Hamilton. He researches, writes, and teaches on the subjects of civilization collapse, political transformation, and global systemic risk. In 2017 he published Radical Transformation: Oligarchy, Collapse, and the Crisis of Civilization with Between the Lines Books. He is currently working on a book entitled A New Ecological Politics, with Oregon State University Press. Kevin also serves as Vice President of the Mohawk faculty union, OPSEU Local 240.
Co-moderated by Janine Solanki and Brendan Stone Janine is a Vancouver-based activist and organizer with Mobilization Against War & Occupation (MAWO), a member group of the Canada-Wide Peace & Justice Network. Brendan is the co-chair of the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, and the co-host of the Unusual Sources radio program. As digital manager for the Taylor Report radio program, Brendan has been distributing interviews warning about the danger of NATO's role in Ukraine since 2014, and has written on the subject. Brendan is involved with the series of anti-war events happening in February and March, and you can find out more at hcsw.ca
