Monday 31 October 2011

Q47: Why Doukhobors Respect The Earth?

From: Harold Johnson, Montreal Lake Cree Nation, Saskatchewan

Tell me more about the Love of the Earth.
Why Do Doukhobors Respect The Earth?

This doesn't correspond with my understanding of Christianity which I have always understood was a strict love of Christ and God and maybe something called the holy ghost, and a complete disregard for the Earth. Didn't Christians give up the Earth when God gave them dominion over it in Genesis? Where did the Doukhobors develop this deep understanding of Earth as life? It seems completely at odds with the Judea Christian Muslim singular god idea.


Answer

Early Doukhobor pioneers were grain and cattle farmers who depended for their livelihood upon the land, abundant moisture and sunshine.

Because of the nature of their work, they were close to the soil and therefore close to 'Mother Earth' which gave them life.

An example of this would be a contemporary Doukhobor farmer by the name of George Zeberoff and his Russian-Czech wife Anna who operate a unique organic farm on an eleven-acre hillside fruit farm in beautiful valley of Cawston, British Columbia. Opened in 1973, the farm has been a veritable cornucopia of delicious, nutritious, organically grown food. To achieve this, the owners exercise patience in working with nature. They follow the natural rhythms of the seasons. They also encourage the ability to let go and forgive and they deliberately prefer to work on a small scale with an environmentally friendly relationship to the world. For the Zebroff's the Earth is their life and they lovingly respect it. (See more on this unique farm in my book Spirit Wrestlers: Doukhobor Pioneers' Strategies for Living (2002): pages 191-193).

A personal example on the power of the earth comes from an experience I had in southern Canada in 1990. In an East-West cold war exchange, I as a Doukhobor was chosen to mix Russian soil from the Tolstoy farm of Yasnaya Polyana in Russia with that of a dairy farm in southern Ontario — in a symbolic Culture-Agriculture exchange program. It was an awesome moment for me as I mixed the soil from two continents in a ceremony that was captured on film by a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation crew for a program Adrian Clarkson Presents.

More: Questions and Answers, Comments

World Walker for Peace Returns Home

On Parliament Hill
Introduction

On his 45th birthday 18 August 2000, Jean Beliveau of Montreal Canada left his family behind to undertake a mission to walk around the world through five continents and 64 countries for "peace and children."

He crossed mountain ranges, desserts, and even ate bugs and snakes in order to survive. This he has done as he returned home safely on October 16th, 2011 to a hero's welcome in Montreal.

In being away from Canada for 11 years and two months, Jean logged in 75,554 kilometres and wore out 54 pairs of shoes. He is now 56 years of age and reunited with his family.

Peter Stockdale presents 54th pair of shoes
I had a chance to meet Jean Beliveau on October 1st when he arrived in Ottawa and participated in the 5th Annual Ottawa Peace Festival. I walked with him from Minto Park to the City Hall where Mayor Jim Watson presented Jean with a Peace Award. Then, October 3rd, I was with him on Parliament Hill at the Eternal Flame for a photo opp before walking with him and several other people across Alexandra Bridge to Gatineau, where he was welcomed back to his home province of Quebec.

The night before he began his last leg of his  marathon walk home to Montreal, I had a chance to interview Jean and say our farewells. (See 383 event photos of the Peace Festival where Jean Beliveau participated. In Koozma J. Tarasoff's Photo Gallery. Also see 42 photos of the walk from Parliament Hill to Gatineau, Quebec.)

Here is what I learned from Jean Beliveau and his remarkable world journey by foot from August 18, 2000 to October 16, 2011.

My Questions

1. I understand that your walk began with a  mid-life crisis. Tell us how this came about  and how it helped resolve your personal problems.

'It began with a mid-life crisis. I was divorced and got remarried to Luce as a new life partner. I had my own business selling Neon Signs. However, the economic situation after the ice storm was not favourable and the business was down. So, what was I to do?
 Greeted by Gatineau, Quebec students

'One evening, at the age of 44, I decided I had to do something different so that I could again gain an interest in life. I thought about walking to New York. Before long, three weeks before I set out on my trip, I mapped out a plan to walk the world beginning south, then east and going west. In the morning I told my wife Luce about my idea.

'She said: "If you want to go, then you have to have a good cause  such as walking for peace."

'I grasped the idea as a good one. It was a turn in my life. This was in August  18, 2000, on my 45th birthday  it was the year that the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the year 2000 as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and  2001-2010 International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the children of the World. The Peace Manifesto was drafted by a group of Nobel Peace Prize members in everyday language. This became my cause and my mission. I became an Envoy of Peace.

'In recent years I learned about the Canadian Initiative (CDPI) to establish a cabinet level Department of Peace and I gladly added this to my agenda as I continued my walk. When I arrived on the west coast of Canada, I was glad to meet Saul Arbess, the National Chairman. Later, during my homecoming in Montreal, I met Saul as well as Bill Bhaneja  of Ottawa (co-chair of the Ottawa Chapter of CDPI) who hosted me for one night in his home.'

2.  How did you mentally and physically prepare for this walk? What did you take with you?

'I was in good shape as I was a recreational cross-country skier and I did some running from time to time. As I began my walk south to New York City, I walked alone with a three-wheeled stroller, Canadian-made, that holds a bit of food, my clothing, a First Aid Kit, a small tent and sleeping bag as well as lots of water. About 50 kilos in total.

'I did not speak English, but slowly I learned it with my thick French accent. In my youth, I left school after Primary grade. I had a lovely family. My parents encouraged me to go to university, but unfortunately I was not an academic child. To provide more education, they enrolled me in private courses.  I studied graphic design in Montreal. As I walked, I learned a lot like I've been in university.  On the road, I picked up several other languages:   Spanish, Portuguese, some tribal languages in Africa, Arabia — learned words like food and shelter as well as "Hello", "Good night". Above all, I found that a good smile helped me meet people.'

3.   How did you survive financially?

'I started with $4,000. Then people were supportive with food and bed. In South America there were two mines in Chile that gave me a total of $1,000. That was great! A Canadian, a Brazilian and South African Airlines shared the cost of a ticket from Brazil to South Africa. Air New Zealand flew me from Australia to New Zealand and then from New Zealand to Vancouver, without asking for publicity in return. l also received camping and sports equipment from outfitters, including most (but not all) of the 54 pairs of shoes I have worn out before coming home.

'My wife saved about $4,000 per year. But the rest came from people. I stayed with maybe 1,600 families. In the last year, when I was in New Zealand, I paid only one night in a hotel while I was there for four months. People made an amazing chain of hospitality. In fact, I could say that 80 percent of the money and help in kind for me came from the thousands of people I met along the way.'

4.  You have called your wife Luce Archambeault, 'an Angel' because she was very instrumental in the success of your world walk. Tell us about this.

'Whenever I was tired, I slept; whenever I was hungry, I ate. But I was not alone. My wife Luce met me from ten days to three weeks every year whereever I was. We just enjoyed being together while taking a rest. It was like a 'new honeymoon' as we reunited in New Orleans, Ecuador, Chile, Malawi. Egypt, Spain, Turkey, Nepal, Taiwan, Australia and Vancouver.

'Luce kept in touch with me through the Internet, Cel phone, and Skype.  Whenever, it was possible, I would visit an Internet Cafe or make use of computers with families that I met. I tried to send a message whenever I could. I used a digital recorder to record some of the sounds  of the day, but it was only in the last year or so that my wife gave me a laptop computer which helped me communicate better.

'My son Thomas Eric (now 31) met me in Germany and stayed on there for seven months studying and working. In Ottawa he joined me and then walked with with me to my home in Montreal. Daughter Eliza Jane (now 29) came to Ottawa as well. A nice family present.'

5.  In looking at your website, there is much we can learn about your life during your 11-year remarkable sojourn around the world. Your map, newsletter, 6000 photos, countless media reports and comments no doubt helped the public and the media meet you from place to place. Tell us about some of your meetings.

'Without the modern technology of the Internet, it would be very hard to stay in touch with home base.  I am grateful to Luce and friends for maintaining such a wonderful site.

'The people I met along the way were unforgettable. I had a chance to shake hands with former South African president Nelson Mandela -- a total of four Nobel Prize winners. Doctors would give me free checkups. One of these doctors gave me a prosthetic surgery.

6.  On January 30, 2011, you arrived in Vancouver. After  meeting with local people and your wife, you began your final 5,400 kilometers to Montreal. Tell us about the hardships (such as your attempt to cross Rogers Pass on foot)  and some of the highlights of this last long stretch of your walk on Canadian territory. 

'The walk through the Roger's Pass with frequent avalanches was the most dangerous. Parks Canada staff discussed my journey and provided a detailed path that helped me avoid avalanche zones and which sections I could safely walk. The Ministry of Transportation advised me to walk in the morning when rocks and snow were less likely to fall and they loaned me a safety vest at this time.

'In the end, I walked to just before the first snow shed after Canyon Hot Springs where the high avalanche hazard began. From there I got a ride to the east gate of Glacier National Park. Through the kind help of many good people, I was able to continue my journey in safety.'

7.  The 'walk' as the central part of your World Peace Walk interests me. Anthropologists know that other cultures have wandering traditions using the walk. Aboriginal Australians have the tradition of 'going walkabout'. In India and Nepal there are Hindu religious men called sadhus who renounce all material possessions and worldly pleasures and often go across the country on foot, relying on the generosity of the local people for survival. I understand that you met one naked sadhu in India who claimed that  he had walked 30 years, 30 kms a day.

Then there was the Peace Pilgrim,  a silver-haired woman who from 1953 to 1981 walked across  North America seven times covering some 40,000 kms on a personal pilgrimage for peace. I met the woman in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in the 1950s when she stayed with my parents for a night. 

Jean, while you did not give up the pleasures of life, though your material needs were minimal, what similarities do you see with some of the walkers that you have heard about or read about? What is the advantage of the marathon walk, as compared to a marathon run?

We are made to walk. In nature, animals run freely; they hunt and are hunted. For us, a daily walk or a mega walk is like a pilgrimage -- it balances our energies which are pulling and pushing us.

8.  You walked  through America, Mexico, Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia. Tell us about some of the dangerous incidents in your trip and how you handled them. 

I had two assaults which turned out not to be too serious. I walked in the wilderness and in war zones and was lucky that I am still alive.

9.  On October 16, 2011,  you completed your 11-year Walk for Peace as you arrived in Montreal  where you were welcomed by 200 people including two mayors, UNESCO ambassador, two federal MPs NDP Helene La Verdiere and Liberal Denis Coderre. Saul Arbess was one of the speakers to thank you on behalf of CDPI for including the idea of Ministry of Peace during your walk across Canada. Of course, your mother was on hand — this being the first time you saw her since you left home.  Tell us about this homecoming.

It was really a big surprise for me. My relatives, friends and dignitaries raised up the emotions resulting in an amazing finale to my walk which I will keep in my heart forever.

10.  Being forced to deal with a constantly changing world, meeting both rich and poor, you no doubt have learned about life. What significant lessons would you like to share with the wider world?

I learned to keep my life simple. I observed other peoples' values and learned to tolerate them and their ideas.

11.  Now that you are home, what are your plans for the future?

'My plan is to be with my family until Christmas, after which I plan to work on my book about my travels and possibly do some public speaking, to be involved in the peace movement,  and to participate in conferences.

Friday 28 October 2011

Gergiev Marinsky Tchaikovsky Concert

The world famous Mariinsky Orchestra of St. Petersburg, Russia, led by Maestro Valery Gergiev came to Ottawa. It  has a long tradition of excellence and continues to represent the best of the performing arts, featuring world-class artists from around the globe.

On Sunday afternoon (October 23, 2011) my wife Kristina and I along with Milena (Kristina's daughter) enjoyed a performance of two Tchaikovsky symphonies: 'Winter Daydreams', 1866, and 'Pathetique', 1893. With some 70 musicians on stage at the National Arts Centre (NAC), it was an outstanding event. It is hard to imagine a finer performance of the Tchaikovsky most accomplished works.  The three of us were delighted at such such high calibre art that we had tears in our eyes.


Conductor Gergiev with his minimalist gestures clearly did his job at hand in thrilling the sold-out audience at NAC. As Artistic Director of the Marinsky Theater since 1988, Valery Gergiev has taken Marinsky ensembles to 45 countries and brought universal acclaim to this legendary institution (formerly called 'Kirov' during the Soviet era), now in its 229th season.

His leadership has resulted in the superb new Mariinsky Concert Hall, opened in November 2006  and the Mariinsky Label, launched in 2009. Currently Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and The World Orchestra for Peace, Valery Gergiev is also founder and Artistic Director of the Stars of the White Nights and New Horizons festivals in St. Petersburg, the Moscow Easter Festival, the Gergiev Rotterdam Festival, the Mikkeli International Festival, and the Red Sea Festival in Eilat, Israel.

Following this outstanding concert, we had an opportunity to attend a Reception where we personally met Gergiev and heard him address the audience in English. What struck me in meeting him was his pierching eyes which reminded me of the eyes of world class Russian writer and philosopher Lev N. Tolstoy. Yet Gergiev like the genius Tolstoy seems to be a man of the people.

The Ambassador of the Russian Federation, Georgiy Mamedov, officially welcomed the Maestro to Canada. He said that Russians and Americans 'once  loved their intercontinental rockets, but it is much better to love the tradition of excellence of Gergiev and the Marinsky Orchestra'.

In the Program handout, Mamedov wrote this about Gergiev: 'His signature conducting style seems suited to his penchant for these dramatic works.  His hands move as though he is painting in the air or dancing with his fingers.'  Beautifully said! For all music lovers in Canada, it was a night to remember.

Friday 21 October 2011

Doukhobor Documentaries in New Denver

Doukhobor Documentaries Screening — video and digital media
October 27, 2011 — Thursday — 7 pm.
Bosun Hall, 104 Josephine Street (west of hospital), New Denver, BC

Bosun Hall, 104 Josephine Street, New Denver, BC.

During October 2011 students at the New Denver Lucerne Elementery Secondary Schools (grades 5-12) have been studying and digitally documenting Doukhobors. Their multi-disciplinary project is 'Values of Doukhobor Community: Then and Now.'

The students have been interviewing Doukhobor elders, visited the Doukhobor Village Museum in Castlegar, learning frameworks of historical thinking, and using the Internet to collaborate their work.

Filmmakers have assisted students with podcasts, digital stories, poetry, images and art on a blog to 'co-create meaning and build a greater understanding of the values that underlie the heritage of our Doukhobor community and their contribution to our community and Canada.'

A public screening of their work is announced for Thursday, October 27 at the Bosun Hall, 104 Josephine (across from hospital), New Denver, BC — 7 pm.

From: Doukhobor Documentary, Lucerne Elementery Secondary School Newsletter, October 4, 2011.

After school staff had requested use of photos from Spirit-Wrestlers.com, I asked what they were doing. More will be posted when I find out.
————————————
Note from Ms. Taylor  —  Oct 20, 2011

…  It has been fascinating to see their engagement in our place-based learning initiative and to witness the heartfelt reception that they have been given by the elders and other Doukhobor community members. In all this week, the students have conducted about eight interviews with Doukhobors from Hills to Castlegar and several points in between. Kindness and graciousness has consistently been granted to our students in all of these interviews as well as in our field trips to the Museum, the Brilliant Cultural Centre and Verigin's Tomb. We did purchase an array of the books and resources at the Doukhobor Village Museum to supplement our library collection.

We shall most definitely keep you posted and will follow up with a short post to add to your blog describing the project, along with some photos of the students working and perhaps some screenshots too.  …

Ms. Terry Taylor, District Principal of Learning,
Principal, Arrow Lakes DL School, SD#10 (Arrow Lakes)

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Being a Visionary in the Digital Age

Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011), co-founder of the Apple empire and soul of the cutting edge entrepreneur, will always be remembered  as a visionary, a marketer and an inventor. His death was widely mourned and he was considered to be a loss to the world by commentators around the world.

Jobs was not an engineer or a computer guru. Jobs was a maverick and self-made leader who today is remembered as one of the best entrepreneurs in the past century.  He understood consumers and the value of a good team working together to produce an elegant and cool product — as became the Apple Macintosh line of computers (first launched in 1984), Smart phones, MP3 players and iPods.

He said: 'Great things in business are never done by one person, they're done by a team of people.'

This man saw business opportunities arising from technology rather than simply the opportunity to create technology. When he recruited John Sculley, the Pepsi executive who would later force Jobs out of the company, he asked him: 'Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change  the world?'

For this reason, Jobs had little interest in studies of consumer habits or desires. 'It is not the consumers' job to know what they want?' he would say. According to him, a lot of times people do not know what they want until you show it to them.

As a peace activist writing this tribute, I would like to apply Job's central core of his genius in asking this about converting the conditions of war into peace:
  • Do you want to spend your time working on a centre for global nonkilling (with its central theme of not killing and not being killed), or do you want a chance to change the world?
  • Do you want to spend  your time in getting rid of arms trade (exposing war industry's trade shows and bazaars), or do you want a chance to change the world? 
  • Do you want to spend your time in abolishing nuclear weapons (by telling world leaders to abolish nuclear weapons), or do you want a chance to change the world? and   
  • Do you want to spend your time in creating a Department of Peace (a cabinet level department in the Executive Branch) in your country, or do you want a chance to change the world?
All of these goals are important for the health of our planet and ourselves. As concerned compassionate citizens of the world, we need to work on them with interest. patience and seriousness.

Yet as visionaries, we need to continually ask ourselves the question: What is it that we really want? For many, the answer is simple.
  • We want a world without war.
  • We want a world where everyone has the right to good free health care, free education, and the opportunity of having jobs, and the basic infrastructure (affordable housing, rich cultural supports, transportation facilities, safe and clean environment, and honest governance) to make our life comfortable and just.
  • We want a world that is becoming for us as responsible human beings. 

To me it seems clear that like the late Steve Job's, we need to have the genius for simplicity to discover and develop the essence of things. We need to work on creating the beautiful conditions that 'take away the occasion for wars' (as Quakers often say) and lead us to follow the Golden Rule of relationships. With the wisdom of Tolstoy, Gandhi and King, we need a chance to change the world. 

Friday 7 October 2011

Free e-Books about Doukhobors

Find more than 200 Google e-books, journals and reports online which mention "Doukhobors." Most are FREE.

e-Books

    e-Journals
    Digital Collections
    At the Doukhobor Heritage Website, by Jonathan Kalmakoff, find 350+ articles about Doukhobor History plus 100s of maps, lists, and genealogy aids.

    Books and journals online listed on my Spirit-Wrestlers Blog.

    Ottawa Tar Sands Protest Challenges Canada's Ecological Responsibility

    On a bright sunny day, September 26th, 2011, over 800 people gathered on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to peacefully say NO to the toxic tar sands industry in Alberta.

    Canadian First Nations; American Indian Tribes; Territorial, Provincial and Federal First Nations Governments; and advocacy groups added their support for the rally.

    About 200 were arrested for trespassing, including one man in a wheel chair. Most were fined $65, and given a restraining order to not come to Parliament Hill for one year. About one-third were not punished, due to the cost of processing. The orders are being appealed.
    • Photo Album with 177 images taken over 7 hours. For higher resolution images, please e-mail.  
    • Ottawa Action (10.5 min video) by GreenPeace Canada, showing training session the day before, march, speeches, arrests.
    Featured in this gathering was a civil disobedience sit-in against the massive tar sands. In waves of six people or so, over 200 people peacefully climbed over a four-foot police barricade on the Parliament Hill lawn. Soon after the first people climbed the fence, the police provided a step ladder on both sides to facilitate the climb. At this point the police confronted each activist, told them of their trespass and led them to sit on the grass behind the fence several hundred feet in each direction. Supporters on the outside of the fence talked to the protesters, sang, chanted and gave them encouragement for their brave action.

    Then, for the next three hours the Ottawa Police and the RCMP began the slow process of dealing with their prisoners. With tied hands behind their backs, each escorted by two police personnel, two-thirds of the group were taken to special tents set up for the purpose of processing the detainees on the Hill located between the bronzes of Sir John A. McDonald and Queen Elizabeth and the 'Famous Five'. Here they were charged with trespassing under the Ontario Trespassing to Property Act, fined $65 each and ordered to stay away from Parliament Hill for one year. The other one third was eventually released in the late afternoon for what seems to have been a decision not to arrest them.

    Police provided ladders on both sides of short barricade,
    helped tresspassers, and arrested them.

    As an observer and photographer during the seven hour stay on the Hill, I was inspired first by the speeches, the chanting and the singing, and then by the resolve of concerned people to courageously allow themselves to speak truth to power. It was a classical nonviolent sit-in for a just cause.

    As a last resort, the protesters want politicians to hear their voices about the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. However, the current right wing Conservative Government, headed by Stephen Harper, claims a large majority in Parliament with 166 seats out of a total of 307 and supports the pipeline project. Harper feels he has the right to speak for the majority. The Opposition headed by New Democratic Party (NDP) has 102 seats, followed by Liberals with 34 , the BlocQuebec with 4, and Greens with 1. In actual fact, the Conservatives took only 39.6 per cent of the popular vote while over 60 per cent of the Canadian electorate did not vote for the party.

    The inspiration comes from the fact that this was not a criminal act, but an act of democracy, conscience and compassion. Its spirit comes from such stalwart civil rights activists as Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

    'It was a great day for everyone', as Allan, one of the protesters who went over the fence, wrote me after the event. Indeed!

    No incidents of violence were reported and both sides in the rally behaved civilly. This was a very welcome exchange from what we've seen in the 2010 G-20 Toronto Summit and the Olympic mobilization in Vancouver where police definitely were overly hostile. 'So today was a good day', said Indigenous Environmental Network campaigner Clayton Thomas-Mueller. It was Gandhian in spirit.

    Part of the success for the amicable tone of the day was set by several factors: 1. A training session was held the day before for those who intended to participate in the civil disobedience. Only the graduates were allowed to walk over the fence (a green ribbon around their arm indicated they took the course). 2. The police had a Liaison unit in place communicating with the public. 3. Of course, the power of the spirit within each person was the guiding light that set the positive spirit for the day of protest, as well as the quality of the organization itself.

    Harper's Government appears to have caved into oil and gas corporate lobbyists to support a multi-billion dollar Keystone XL project, proposed by Alberta-based TransCanada, which would provide a new 2,700-kilometre route for about 700,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta to 15 refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas and Mexico.

    Alberta and federal government officials have supported the project for its economic benefits, including thousands of jobs in Canada and USA. Environmental groups have objected to the over expansion of the oil-sands section — which requires large amounts of water, land and energy to extract synthetic oil from Alberta and Saskatchewan's northern deposits, increased pollution, stress on water resources, and greenhouse gas emissions.

    Peter Lougheed, the former Alberta premier, has reservations about the pipeline because he wants the bitumen oil to be refined in Alberta, not Texas.

    Eight Nobel peace laureates have signed an open letter urging Prime Minister Harper to stop the expansion of Alberta's oilsands. Earlier they appealed to US President Barack Obama in a similar petition that called him to reject the proposed Keystone XL pipeline plan.

    'As you know, further exploitation of the tarsands will dramatically increase the amount of greenhouse gas emissions being produced in North America. It will also ultimately make turning the clock back on climate change impossible,' read the letter, signed by South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Joy Williams of the United States, Dalai Lama, and others.

    It is hoped that a quicker development of electric-car infrastructure, solar energy and other devices will reduce the addiction to dirty oil.

    Beginning two hours before the sit-in, speakers kicked off the protest rally by sharing their own personal stories of suffering from the colossal impact of the Alberta tar sands. Below is a sample of the voices that I heard:

    • Chief Bill Erasmus (Dene Assembly of First Nations) said: 'There is no plan. Their only plan is to expand. Our people no longer want to drink the water. They don't know who will clean it up....There were 12 spills in the last 10 years.' Dene communities are downstream from the tar sands, and are threatened by the impacts of upstream water usage and pollution and the impacts of climate change and global warming. 
    • David Coles (Communications, Energy and Paperworks Union): 'What blooming idiot came up with the idea of "ethical oil"?'
    • Chief Jackie Thomas (Sai'Kuz First Nation): 'We are standing up to protect our water from the tar sands oil spills. We are standing up to protect our Cree and Dene brothers and sisters downstream from the tar sands who are being poisoned and who are dying. And with your support we are standing up together so that we will not sit down. That's why we are here — to stand up with all of you and to send these Ottawa politicians a message. We will put up a wall that Enbridge Pipeline will not break through....'
    • Melina Laboucan (Massimo Climate and Energy campaigner): 'The time is now to put people before profit. Behind me is the House of Commons, not the house of corporations.'
    • Tantoo Cardinal (actor/member of the Order of Canada): 'We have suffered a long time. Thank you for standing up with your hearts and standing up with your spirits from generation to generation....'
    • Maude Barlow (National Chairperson Council of Canadians): '....This project violates the UN charter. I will be crossing the line today. I'm doing it because I love my grand kids...and I'm not breaking the law. The people breaking the law is the Harper Government....'
    • Brigette DePape (the renegade Senate Page in Canada's Parliament who dared to oppose the Harper Government during the throne speech on June 3, 2011) urged activists to use civil disobedience to oppose the Conservatives in controlling all levers of power in Ottawa. 'You should be very proud. This action is a testament to your commitment. We have tried institutional means and they have failed, and we know change won't happen in Parliament and we know it won't happen from writing policy reports....Change happens when we take action. We may not have the money and the resources that government and companies have, but we have people power.' 
    More
    • Photo Album with 177 images taken over 7 hours. For higher resolution images, please e-mail
    • Ottawa Action (10.5 min video) by GreenPeace Canada, showing training session the day before, march, speeches, arrests.
    • 'Protesters' Guide to the Law of Civil Disobedience in British Columbia' by Leo McGrady, QC, November 20, 2009.

    Wednesday 5 October 2011

    Rezansoff Construction Now Top of Class

    This is an update story on Peter Rezansoff and his remarkable ITC Construction Group. The company has risen to become the largest multi-residential construction company in Western Canada. This news and three promotions are announced below.

    As readers know, I have featured Peter in my book Spirit Wrestlers: Doukhobor Pioneers' Strategies For Living, 2002: pages 203-205, titled 'People's Builder and Cultural Mover'.

    After four decades in the construction business, Peter Rezansoff and his partner Tony McGill are changing hats yet ensuring that the company will have strong ethical leadership, innovative solutions and experience that can only spell excellence! Congratulations!


    Peter Rezansoff (February 4, 2010, Vancouver Sun)

    More online: