Fear of Death
2025-08-12 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Toronto) | Zoom
Thanatophobia is the fear of death. It can involve fear of the dying process (often a fear of pain or discomfort), fear of the afterlife (or lack thereof), fear of being forgotten, fear that life is meaningless, and fear of missing out! This month we will be talking about our fears around our own deaths, how we manage them, and how we don’t!
Queer Death Salon is a community space for all 2SLGBTQIA+ people to come together to discuss death, dying and grief. It is a facilitated drop-in discussion space, with the purpose of building connection, skill, and resources for 2SLGBTQIA+ people navigating end of life in our personal lives and in our communities.
Queer Death Salon takes place over Zoom, in English, with Automatic Closed Captioning

Evacuate Before it's Too Late: Canada Must Bring Families of Palestinian Canadians From Gaza NOW!
2025-08-13 11:00 - 13:00 | 300 Slater Street.
Please join our weekly vigil to reunite Palestinian Canadians with their loved ones from Gaza on Wednesday, August 13 from 11 am to 1 pm (we meet every Wednesday for the rest of the month) at 300 Slater (at Kent), the Ottawa offices of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (300 Slater Street, at Kent).
Canada must immediately open a humanitarian corridor to urgently evacuate all program applicants to prevent further death and physical and psychological harm to those who, by all rights, should have been in Canada with their families long ago.

One other thousands of examples of those at risk is that of Mamdouh Abusbitan (pictured above), a young man starving to death, his body and soul withering away as he waits for Canadian assistance to exit Gaza and join his parents in Ontario. Although Canada placed Mamdouh on the Gaza evacuation list as of November 19, 2023, Canada has failed to assist him for more than 640 days.

Every week, we bring such images and stories to the headquarters of a bureaucracy that fails to respect the life and death consequences of its failures in the Gaza Temporary Visa program.
Since the Gaza Temporary Visa program was implemented in January 2024, Canada has assisted in the evacuation of fewer than 2% of program applicants, an astounding number considering the daily risk of being blown to bits or suffering the slow death of starvation.

During the final weekend in July, Canada reportedly evacuated 11 Canadian citizens from Gaza. This contradicts their stated position that they are powerless to get families across the border.

Right now, Canada is insisting no one can leave without biometrics (fingerprints and photographs). This violates
Canada’s own very specific program guidelines: “Given the situation we understand that you won’t be able to give your biometrics or complete a full admissibility check until you’ve left Gaza. If your application passes a preliminary eligibility and admissibility assessment we’ll forward your name to the local authorities to facilitate your exit from Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.”

Canada already has photographs because all applicants sent copies of their passports. In addition, since Israeli apartheid occupation authorities have a registry of all Palestinians in Gaza, they would be the first to say no to the exit of anyone they felt posed some theoretical threat. But Canada is not even willing to take the word of its Israeli allies on this matter.

Instead, it is assuming, based on anti-Palestinian racism, that all Palestinians are a threat until they prove otherwise. That includes starving children, grandmothers, school teachers, health care workers, farmers, gravely injured and ill program applicants.

The Canadian government’s assumption of guilt mirrors (indeed, goes far beyond) the Obama assassination-by-drone policy which, as reported in 2012, “in effect counts all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants … unless there is explicit intelligence posthumously proving them innocent.”

Canada can shed as many tears as it likes over the losses of hundreds of program applicants who would be here safe with their families were it not for wrongfully treating every Palestinian as a supposed threat. But that is no consolation for those traumatized for life by these immeasurable losses. It must take action.

The only Palestinians who have made it to Canada (861 as of July 1, 2025) made it out on their own by exhausting life savings to pay border bribes to escape before the closure and demolition of Rafah. In the same 540-day period under the Ukraine program, over 650,000 visas had been approved and 186,454 arrived in Canada. In the first year of the program, over 8,000 Israelis were granted visas to come to Canada.
Clearly, Canada has the capacity to process applications in the same time period it did for Ukrainians (average 14-day turnaround), and it also has the ability to facilitate evacuations.

The fact that it has not done so is not a matter of organizational ability or staff resources. Rather it is rooted in systemic anti-Palestinian racism, and the ludicrous racial profiling presumption of guilt that every Palestinian in Gaza is a risk until proven otherwise.

In the meantime, far too many loved ones have been killed waiting for Canada, a shameful reflection of another bleak period in our history when Jews fleeing a genocide were turned away under a None is Too Many policy.
Please join us for this peaceful vigil every Wednesday organized by Ottawa Palestinians with loved ones in Gaza and the Rural Refugee Rights Network.

More info at tasc@web.ca

Draw The Line - National Mass Organizing Call for September 20
2025-08-14 20:00 - 21:30 | Zoom
Join us on August 14th to hear from a powerful cross-movement panel about the interconnectedness of our struggles and why we are uniting on September 20th to Draw the Line and demand that Prime Minister Carney and the Canadian government pick a side: injustice, violence, and climate destruction— or a just and safe future for all of us.
We refuse to stand by while the government and Canada’s richest corporations hoard wealth, gut our public services, fuel climate collapse, attack migrants, exploit Indigenous lands, and prop up a genocide. We are building a historic alliance to fight back.
Panelists:
David Suzuki, Scientist and Environmental Activist
Eriel Deranger, Indigenous Climate Action
JP Hornick, Ontario Public Service Employees Union & NUPGE
Rachel Small, World BEYOND War & Arms Embargo Now
Syed Hussan, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change & Migrant Rights Network
The call will start at 5pm PT / 6pm MT / 7 pm CT / 8pm ET / 9 pm AT. RSVP now to receive the Zoom link.
Learn more about the Draw the Line mobilization and get involved at the world-wide website: drawtheline.world
This call is co-hosted by 350 Canada, Migrant Rights Network, Seniors for Climate, CAN-Rac, Indigenous Climate Action, World Beyond War and more!

Mini-Mass Bike Rides - DRAW THE LINE
2025-08-15 18:00 - 19:30 | Confederation Park, Elgin and Laurier, Ottawa
In preparation for a Mass Bike Action on September 19th (a lead-up event in conjunction with the Draw The Line march September 20th in Ottawa), we are hosting three ‘mini-mass’ bike rides, every second Friday:
August 15, August 29, and September 12.
The meeting point for each is 6pm at Confederation Park.
These mini-masses will serve both as a mini-meeting to discuss planning details of the September 19th bike action, as well as simply an opportunity to take back the streets in a ‘Critical Mass’ bike ride style.
The Ottawa Critical Mass bike rides haven’t been happening this year, but are traditionally the last Friday evening of the month starting at Confederation Park. So these mini-masses take inspiration in scheduling from that; and maybe, the August 29th will be an actual full ‘Critical Mass.’
All are welcome. There currently is no website for these rides, but the Draw The Line organizing for Ottawa is via the Fridays For Future Ottawa website, social media, and email address – to which you can also direct any questions about these mini-mass bike meetups.
The current plan for the September 19th Mass Bike Action is similar to a Critical Mass ride leaving from Confederation Park after 6pm, but with additional ‘feeder’ mass rides that start at 5pm from locations outside of downtown – the east, south, and west – to arrive at Confederation Park by 6pm. The plan is to have a few ‘anchor’ people confirmed in advance for each feeder ride. So these mini-masses in August and September can also serve as ‘entry points’ for anyone who may want to get more comfortable doing take-back-the-streets cycling prior to September 19th. Plus, they’re a refreshing change from meetings on Zoom or sitting at tables.

Tenants of Sandy Hill Yard Sale
2025-08-17 14:00 - 16:00 | Strathcona Park, 25 Range Road, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N8J3, Canada
Tenants of Sandy Hill (TOSH) will be hosting a yard sale in Strathcona Park on August 17 will all proceeds going to supporting our neighbours. In addition to items for sale, there will be freezies to share and a banner painting station. Hope to see you there!

Open an Evacuation Corridor NOW: Canada Must Bring Families of Palestinian Canadians from Gaza
2025-08-20 11:00 - 13:00 | 300 Slater Street.
Please join our weekly vigil to reunite Palestinian Canadians with their loved ones from Gaza on Wednesday, August 20 from 11 am to 1 pm (we meet every Wednesday for the rest of the month) at 300 Slater (at Kent), the Ottawa offices of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (300 Slater Street, at Kent).
Canada must immediately open a humanitarian corridor to urgently evacuate all program applicants to prevent further death and physical and psychological harm to those who, by all rights, should have been in Canada with their families long ago.
As the apartheid regime threatens a complete takeover of Gaza, it is more important than ever that our voices are heard.
Every week, we bring family images and stories to the headquarters of a bureaucracy that fails to respect the life and death consequences of its failures in the Gaza Temporary Visa program.
Since the Gaza Temporary Visa program was implemented in January 2024, Canada has assisted in the evacuation of fewer than 2% of program applicants, an astounding number considering the daily risk of being blown to bits or suffering the slow death of starvation.
During the final weekend in July, Canada reportedly evacuated 11 Canadian citizens from Gaza. This contradicts their stated position that they are powerless to get families across the border.
Right now, Canada is insisting no one can leave without biometrics (fingerprints and photographs). This violates Canada’s own very specific program guidelines: “Given the situation we understand that you won’t be able to give your biometrics or complete a full admissibility check until you’ve left Gaza. If your application passes a preliminary eligibility and admissibility assessment we’ll forward your name to the local authorities to facilitate your exit from Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.”
Canada already has photographs because all applicants sent copies of their passports. In addition, since Israeli apartheid occupation authorities have a registry of all Palestinians in Gaza, they would be the first to say no to the exit of anyone they felt posed some theoretical threat. But Canada is not even willing to take the word of its Israeli allies on this matter.
Instead, it is assuming, based on anti-Palestinian racism, that all Palestinians are a threat until they prove otherwise. That includes starving children, grandmothers, school teachers, health care workers, farmers, gravely injured and ill program applicants.
The Canadian government’s assumption of guilt mirrors (indeed, goes far beyond) the Obama assassination-by-drone policy which, as reported in 2012, “in effect counts all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants … unless there is explicit intelligence posthumously proving them innocent.”
Canada can shed as many tears as it likes over the losses of hundreds of program applicants who would be here safe with their families were it not for wrongfully treating every Palestinian as a supposed threat. But that is no consolation for those traumatized for life by these immeasurable losses. It must take action.
The only Palestinians who have made it to Canada (861 as of July 1, 2025) made it out on their own by exhausting life savings to pay border bribes to escape before the closure and demolition of Rafah. In the same 540-day period under the Ukraine program, over 650,000 visas had been approved and 186,454 arrived in Canada. In the first year of the program, over 8,000 Israelis were granted visas to come to Canada.
Clearly, Canada has the capacity to process applications in the same time period it did for Ukrainians (average 14-day turnaround), and it also has the ability to facilitate evacuations.
The fact that it has not done so is not a matter of organizational ability or staff resources. Rather it is rooted in systemic anti-Palestinian racism, and the ludicrous racial profiling presumption of guilt that every Palestinian in Gaza is a risk until proven otherwise.
In the meantime, far too many loved ones have been killed waiting for Canada, a shameful reflection of another bleak period in our history when Jews fleeing a genocide were turned away under a None is Too Many policy.
Please join us for this peaceful vigil every Wednesday organized by Ottawa Palestinians with loved ones in Gaza and the Canadian Palestinian Family Reunification Project of the Rural Refugee Rights Network.
More info at tasc@web.ca

Palestine Roundtable
2025-08-21 16:30 - 18:30 | Ottawa Public Library – Nepean Centrepointe, 101 Centrepointe, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Due to high demand, we’ll be hosting a second roundtable on the latest issue of the Science for the People magazine on Palestine. JOIN US on Thursday August 21 at 4:30 PM at the Nepean Centrepointe Library (101 Centrepointe Dr.), room 1B.
Our roundtable will take the format of a roundtable talk discussing the “It takes a village to kill a child” report about the F35 program in Canada and Israel, as well as some articles from the magazine.
We hope to see you there! Registration is not required, but it will help us with planning.
RSVP and articles link: https://forms.gle/mAUJy6sgDBpXe8iR6

Ottawa Trans March
2025-08-22 18:00 - 20:00
When trans rights are under attack, what do we do? We organize, we rally, we march! Join us on August 22nd at 6PM at Bank and MacLaren for the 2025 Ottawa Trans March.
Together, we’ll make our voices heard, reject hate and advocate for trans liberation – for freedom, equality and human rights. We invite trans and gender diverse people, the people who love and support us, and other allies to join us as we take to the streets. Bring your friends, bring your family, and let’s show the power of our movement!
The Ottawa Trans March is a community event led by a small organizing committee of trans and gender diverse people in Ottawa. If you’d like to get involved and help make this year’s march a success, send us a message!
Stay tuned for more information: in the coming days, we’ll unveil our 2025 trans march demands, announce speakers, and share everything you need to know to participate, protest and celebrate alongside Ottawa’s trans and gender diverse community.
Let’s do this!

Toast of Tenderness - Dykes of Colour Breakfast
2025-08-23 10:00 - 12:00 | Jack Purcell Community Centre, 320 Jack Purcell Lane, Ottawa, Ontario, K2P1M4, Canada
Come through for waffles, joy, and community vibes before we head. out together to the Dyke March. It’s all about nourishment, connection, and unapologetic celebration of melanin.

Ottawa Dyke March
2025-08-23 13:00 - 16:30 | Minto Park, 315 Elgin Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
This year we’re Showing Up with pride, resistance, solidarity, and community.
Save the date!
Minto Park (102 Lewis St)
Rally + March @ 1PM
Community Gathering @ 2:30PM
✨ Theme: Showing Up
Full schedule and volunteer opportunities to come! ~ Cette année, nous serons présents avec fierté, résistance, solidarité et esprit communautaire.

Evacuate Before It's Too Late: Open Emergency Corridor, Save Canadian Palestinians' Gaza Loved Ones
2025-08-27 11:00 - 13:00 | 300 Slater Street.
Please join our weekly vigil to reunite Palestinian Canadians with their loved ones from Gaza on Wednesday, August 27 from 11 am to 1 pm (we meet every Wednesday at this same time) at 300 Slater (at Kent), the Ottawa offices of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Canada must immediately open an emergency humanitarian corridor to urgently evacuate all program applicants to prevent further death and physical and psychological harm to those who, by all rights, should have been in Canada with their families long ago.
As the apartheid regime threatens a complete takeover of Gaza, it is more important than ever that our voices are heard.
Every week, we bring family images and stories to the headquarters of a bureaucracy that fails to respect the life and death consequences of its failures in the Gaza Temporary Visa program.
Since the Gaza Temporary Visa program was implemented in January 2024, Canada has assisted in the evacuation of fewer than 2% of program applicants, an astounding number considering the daily risk of being blown to bits or suffering the slow death of starvation.
During the final weekend in July, Canada reportedly evacuated 11 Canadian citizens from Gaza. This contradicts their stated position that they are powerless to get families across the border.
Right now, Canada is insisting no one can leave without biometrics (fingerprints and photographs). This violates Canada’s own very specific program guidelines: “Given the situation we understand that you won’t be able to give your biometrics or complete a full admissibility check until you’ve left Gaza. If your application passes a preliminary eligibility and admissibility assessment we’ll forward your name to the local authorities to facilitate your exit from Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.”
Canada already has photographs because all applicants sent copies of their passports. In addition, since Israeli apartheid occupation authorities have a registry of all Palestinians in Gaza, they would be the first to say no to the exit of anyone they felt posed some theoretical threat. But Canada is not even willing to take the word of its Israeli allies on this matter.
Instead, it is assuming, based on anti-Palestinian racism, that all Palestinians are a threat until they prove otherwise. That includes starving children, grandmothers, school teachers, health care workers, farmers, gravely injured and ill program applicants.
The Canadian government’s assumption of guilt mirrors (indeed, goes far beyond) the Obama assassination-by-drone policy which, as reported in 2012, “in effect counts all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants … unless there is explicit intelligence posthumously proving them innocent.”
Canada can shed as many tears as it likes over the losses of hundreds of program applicants who would be here safe with their families were it not for wrongfully treating every Palestinian as a supposed threat. But that is no consolation for those traumatized for life by these immeasurable losses. It must take action.
The only Palestinians who have made it to Canada (861 as of July 1, 2025) made it out on their own by exhausting life savings to pay border bribes to escape before the closure and demolition of Rafah. In the same 540-day period under the Ukraine program, over 650,000 visas had been approved and 186,454 arrived in Canada. In the first year of the program, over 8,000 Israelis were granted visas to come to Canada.
Clearly, Canada has the capacity to process applications in the same time period it did for Ukrainians (average 14-day turnaround), and it also has the ability to facilitate evacuations.
The fact that it has not done so is not a matter of organizational ability or staff resources. Rather it is rooted in systemic anti-Palestinian racism, and the ludicrous racial profiling presumption of guilt that every Palestinian in Gaza is a risk until proven otherwise.
In the meantime, far too many loved ones have been killed waiting for Canada, a shameful reflection of another bleak period in our history when Jews fleeing a genocide were turned away under a None is Too Many policy.
Please join us for this peaceful vigil every Wednesday organized by Ottawa Palestinians with loved ones in Gaza and the Canadian Palestinian Family Reunification Project
of the Rural Refugee Rights Network.

Critical Mass bike ride - and prep for S.19 Draw The Line mass ride
2025-08-29 18:00 - 19:30 | Confederation Park, Elgin and Laurier, Ottawa
People have been asking. But the Saturday morning Critical Mass ‘Parkways For People’ rides of the past two years haven’t been happening this year. And neither have the more traditional last-Friday-evening-of-the-month ‘self-organized’ Critical Mass rides.
So for August, we’re making sure one does happen.
Were you one of the people asking? Be there for this!
Want to take back the streets without anyone’s permission? Be there!
Haven’t done it before and not sure what it’ll be like? Be there!
We will also be making use of this opportunity to prepare for the upcoming Mass Bike Ride action of Friday September 19th, and building our skills at taking back the road.
The S.19 ride is a lead-up to the big Draw The Line march the next day, September 20th, which is part of a national day of action, and part of mobilizations across the world Septembeer 19th-21st. These are multi-issue* actions to address the very serious and interconnected problems we’re now facing as a society. To which we answer: Solidarity, in action!
On August 29, we’ll have posters and flyers** on hand you can take with you to help build the September 19 ride. And we’ll be discussing the September 19 plans, including how we can make the feeder rides*** work.
Let’s roll!
It’s only as much of a success as we collectively make it.
**** **** **** **** **** **** ****
*1: The five highlighted issues are:
🌍 Building a renewable future
🌿 Upholding Indigenous sovereignty
✊ Fighting for migrant justice
🕊️ Standing up for peace and democracy
💪 Investing in people and public services
*2: You can also print the posters and flyers from whereever you are, to put up and pass around. The files are in this google drive folder:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1S2G9PWz3Qbqxs-oINAkQ8m2M58pou3db
*3: The plan is to have some ‘feeder’ rides that start at different locations (including Gatineau) outside of the downtown core and then all come together at Confederation Park for the start of the main ride. We need volunteers to be the 3-4 anchor people at each feeder departure location. Organizations or self-assembled groups can also decide to initiate their own feeder ride, for example from a school/campus or workplace or any desired location.

Ode to Palestine
2025-08-29 19:00 - 22:00 | Club SAW, 67 Nicholas St, Ottawa, K1N 7B9
Ode to Palestine is a one-evening art exhibition and cultural event at Club Saw, 67 Nicholas St. in Ottawa. The event will feature a number of fine Ottawa artists and poets and beats by DJ Yuck! Friday, August 29, 7-10 pm Curated by Palestinian Artist Noura Dawood, this fundraiser has donations going to: Water Is Life Gaza: From Turtle Island To Palestine. For more information, please contact Noura by email: ndawo034@uottawa.ca

Join the Chain Fast for Palestinian Family Reunification: Canada Must Evacuate Loved Ones from Gaza
2025-09-01 - 2025-09-20
From September 1 to September 20, please pick a day to fast to demand the immediate evacuation from Gaza of all remaining Palestinian applicants for Canadian visas and the finalization of all applications for the hundreds of Palestinian genocide survivors still stranded in Egypt. During your fast day, we ask you to:
• Make a selfie with a message (such as Fasting for Palestinian Family Reunification or “Fasting for Urgent Gaza Evacuation”) that you can share with us and on your social media;
• Write a letter and make a call to your MP and the appropriate government officials (samples below) demanding immediate evacuation of all remaining visa applicants from Gaza;
• Share on social media the story of one of the families hugely impacted by the negative impacts of this program (we will pair you with a family and provide pictures and text to share). We can also directly connect you with that particular family to stay in touch with them afterwards and continue advocating for their right to be free of the genocide and joined with their loved ones in Canada.
To pick a date to fast, please email a preferred date, your name and town/city to be shared on our website, to the Canadian Palestinian Family Reunification Project of the Rural Refugee Rights Network at tasc@web.ca
BACKGROUND Each day of the chain fast will represent one of the 20 months that Canada’s None is Too Many Gaza temporary residence visa (TRV) program has been in effect, 20 months of deliberate institutional inaction and lethal obstacle creation, with hundreds of lives lost waiting on Canadian visas. The final week of the chain fast coincides with the return of MPs to Parliament.
Canada does have the capacity to evacuate visa applicants from Gaza. But it has only directly assisted in the evacuation of fewer than 2% of the 5,000 applicants, and in late July evacuated 11 Canadian citizens through the Kerem Shalom crossing. We engage in this fast to highlight the urgent need to evacuate the remaining 98% of applicants.
The punishingly slow pace of visa processing for Gazans – a paltry average of 2 applications completed per day, with a lethal waiting time for some of over a year – stands in stark contrast to the Canada–Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program. During CUAET’s first year, Canada welcomed 129,000 Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion and approved over half a million visas (an average of 1,400 applications per day), usually within a two-week turnaround. Canada waived security screening for those aged up to 17 and over 61, and dropped a required medical exam despite the Ukrainian population’s much higher risk of carrying tuberculosis, which Ottawa conceded “posed potential health risks to Canada.”
Similarly, Canada welcomed over 8,000 Israeli visa holders during 2024. Palestinian Canadians and refugee advocates point to such figures as clear proof of a painful, discriminatory double standard that fails to adequately respond to what Canadian officials acknowledge are “catastrophic conditions” in Gaza.
The Gaza TRV program eerily echoes one of the most shameful periods of Canadian history, the None is Too Many policies designed to keep Jews fleeing genocide out of Canada during the 1930s and 1940s. Almost 79 years after Canada turned away a boat packed with Jewish refugees (the St. Louis), then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued an apology, noting 254 St. Louis passengers were murdered upon their forced return to Europe, and declaring: “By issuing this apology, it is my sincere hope that we can shine a light on this painful chapter of our history and ensure that its lessons are never forgotten.”
Sadly, different lessons were learned by different people. For those in the government who historically and to this day wrongfully treat certain groups of people with suspicion, the lesson is that they can get away with racist exclusion as long as there is no public outrage. Hence, we have seen Public Safety Canada agencies like CBSA (Canadian Border Services Agency) and CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) treat every last Palestinian from Gaza as a potential risk instead of viewing them through the humanitarian lens of families escaping the worst horrors imaginable. That is why actions like the Chain Fast are so important: another reminder of the many people across this land who stand in solidarity with and recognize the humanity of these Palestinian families.
See available dates and sample letters/call template at https://rrrncanada.blogspot.com/…/chain-fast-for…

Palestine solidarity contingent at the Labour Day Parade
2025-09-01 12:00 - 15:00 | Ottawa City Hall, 110 Laurier, Ottawa
📣 Join the Palestine solidarity contingent at the Labour Day Parade this year to reaffirm that JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE IS A LABOUR ISSUE.📣
The Palestine contingent was the largest contingent last year. Let’s make it even bigger!
Through our unions – and with our community allies – workers have the collective power to demand justice for Palestinians and end Canada’s complicity with Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian lands.
Join Labour for Palestine and our allies to march for an end to Israel’s genocide; a comprehensive arms embargo; Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions; an end to Israel’s occupation and a free Palestine!
Bring your banners, signs, union flags & noisemakers and ensure that they incorporate Mayor Mark Sutcliffe’s attendance and the harm that he has caused to our communities and allied communities.
DATE: Monday, September 1st 2025
TIME: 12pm (noon sharp)
PLACE: Behind Ottawa City Hall (110 Laurier Ave) and marching to McNabb Park.
——
📣Joignez-vous au contingent de solidarité avec la Palestine lors du défilé de la fête du Travail cette année pour réaffirmer que LA JUSTICE POUR LA PALESTINE EST UNE QUESTION SYNDICALE. 📣
Grâce à nos syndicats – et à nos alliés communautaires – les travailleuses et travailleurs ont le pouvoir collectif d’exiger justice pour les Palestinien.ne.s et de mettre fin à la complicité du Canada avec le génocide perpétré par Israël à Gaza et son occupation des territoires palestiniens.
Joignez-vous avec les travailleuses et travailleurs pour la Palestine (Labour for Palestine) et à nos allié.e.s pour manifester en faveur de la fin du génocide perpétré par Israël, pour un embargo complet sur les armes, un boycottage, un désinvestissement et des sanctions, pour la fin de l’occupation israélienne et pour une Palestine libre!
Apportez vos banderoles, pancartes, drapeaux syndicaux et faiseurs de bruit, et veillez à ce qu’ils mentionnent la présence du maire Mark Sutcliffe et le tort qu’il a causé à nos communautés et à nos communautés alliées.
DATE : Le lundi 1er septembre 2025
HEURE : 12 h (midi pile)
LIEU : En arrière de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Ottawa (110, avenue Laurier) et marche jusqu’au parc McNabb.

See Their Faces, Hear Their Names: Urgently Evacuate Canadian Palestinians' Loved Ones from Gaza
2025-09-03 11:00 - 13:00 | 300 Slater Street.
Please join our weekly vigil to reunite Palestinian Canadians with their loved ones from Gaza on Wednesday, September 3 from 11 am to 1 pm (we meet every Wednesday at this same time) at 300 Slater (at Kent), the Ottawa offices of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Canada must immediately open an emergency humanitarian corridor to urgently evacuate all program applicants to prevent further death and physical and psychological harm to those who, by all rights, should have been in Canada with their families long ago.
As the apartheid regime threatens a complete takeover of Gaza, it is more important than ever that our voices are heard.
Every week, we bring family images and stories to the headquarters of a bureaucracy that fails to respect the life and death consequences of its failures in the Gaza Temporary Visa program.
Since the Gaza Temporary Visa program was implemented in January 2024, Canada has assisted in the evacuation of fewer than 2% of program applicants, an astounding number considering the daily risk of being blown to bits or suffering the slow death of starvation.
During the final weekend in July, Canada reportedly evacuated 11 Canadian citizens from Gaza. This contradicts their stated position that they are powerless to get families across the border.
Right now, Canada is insisting no one can leave without biometrics (fingerprints and photographs). This violates Canada’s own very specific program guidelines: “Given the situation we understand that you won’t be able to give your biometrics or complete a full admissibility check until you’ve left Gaza. If your application passes a preliminary eligibility and admissibility assessment we’ll forward your name to the local authorities to facilitate your exit from Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.”
Canada already has photographs because all applicants sent copies of their passports. In addition, since Israeli apartheid occupation authorities have a registry of all Palestinians in Gaza, they would be the first to say no to the exit of anyone they felt posed some theoretical threat. But Canada is not even willing to take the word of its Israeli allies on this matter.
Instead, it is assuming, based on anti-Palestinian racism, that all Palestinians are a threat until they prove otherwise. That includes starving children, grandmothers, school teachers, health care workers, farmers, gravely injured and ill program applicants.
The Canadian government’s assumption of guilt mirrors (indeed, goes far beyond) the Obama assassination-by-drone policy which, as reported in 2012, “in effect counts all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants … unless there is explicit intelligence posthumously proving them innocent.”
Canada can shed as many tears as it likes over the losses of hundreds of program applicants who would be here safe with their families were it not for wrongfully treating every Palestinian as a supposed threat. But that is no consolation for those traumatized for life by these immeasurable losses. It must take action.
The only Palestinians who have made it to Canada (861 as of July 1, 2025) made it out on their own by exhausting life savings to pay border bribes to escape before the closure and demolition of Rafah. In the same 540-day period under the Ukraine program, over 650,000 visas had been approved and 186,454 arrived in Canada. In the first year of the program, over 8,000 Israelis were granted visas to come to Canada.
Clearly, Canada has the capacity to process applications in the same time period it did for Ukrainians (average 14-day turnaround), and it also has the ability to facilitate evacuations.
The fact that it has not done so is not a matter of organizational ability or staff resources. Rather it is rooted in systemic anti-Palestinian racism, and the ludicrous racial profiling presumption of guilt that every Palestinian in Gaza is a risk until proven otherwise.
In the meantime, far too many loved ones have been killed waiting for Canada, a shameful reflection of another bleak period in our history when Jews fleeing a genocide were turned away under a None is Too Many policy.
Please join us for this peaceful vigil every Wednesday organized by Ottawa Palestinians with loved ones in Gaza and the
Canadian Palestinian Family Reunification Project of the Rural Refugee Rights Network. tasc@web.ca

one-night screening of A State of Passion
2025-09-03 19:00 - 21:00 | First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa, 30 Cleary Ave, Ottawa
oin us on Wednesday, September 3rd, at 6:30pm for a one-night screening of A State of Passion in collaboration with Forward Film Production, Labour for Palestine Ottawa and Ottawa Healthcare Professionals for Palestine (OHCP4P). The film will be followed by a live Q&A with filmmaker Carol Mansour and Dr. Yipeng Ge!

After 43 horrific days working round the clock under constant bombardment in the emergency rooms of Gaza’s hospitals, British-Palestinian reconstructive surgeon, Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah, emerged to find himself as a face of Palestinian resistance. This was Ghassan’s sixth and most horrific Gaza “war”. Why does he do it? The answer lies simply in their shared passion: Palestine.
Filmmakers Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi, close friends of the Abu Sittahs, waited anxiously for Ghassan to emerge from Gaza, following a long and terrifying journey through the night, to meet him in Amman. Determined to capture his raw emotions they began filming him the moment he arrived through the door. Following him to Beirut, Amman, London, and Kuwait, they and he explore their common State of Passion.

Date: Wednesday, September 3rd
Time: Doors open 6:30PM
Location: First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa (30 Cleary Ave)
Price: $5 minimum donation (link below)

Tickets can be purchased here:

https://www.simpletix.com/e/ottawa-movie-screening-a-state-of-passion-tickets-234057

All profits will be donated to The Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund.

Break the Siege - Ottawa protest
2025-09-04 18:00 - 20:30 | Human Rights Monument, 220 Elgin Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
TTAWA – Join us on Thursday, September 4th at 6pm at the Human Rights Monument to answer the call to mobilize from the Global Sumud Flotilla — a civilian-led initiative uniting over 44 countries to break the siege on Gaza.
The Global Sumud Flotilla brings together participants from around the world including doctors, lawyers, journalists, and human rights activists on a mission to break israel’s illegal blockade and the siege of Gaza. The people of Gaza are being starved by israel, and air drops are not nearly enough to provide them with the aid they need to survive. On September 4, civilian ships are departing from North Africa to join the dozens of other ships already on their way, united in their effort to break the siege.
Let us take to the streets in numbers to show our solidarity with the flotilla on their way to Gaza and to demand an immediate two-way arms embargo, as well as an end to Canadian government complicity.

BBT's Tenant Displacement Fundraiser Art Show!!
2025-09-06
The Bank Block Tenants are hosting an art show on the block before we are forcefully displaced from our homes. We are looking for local artists to participate in this event by donating original pieces or prints of their work. Proceeds from sales will go towards supporting our moving expenses and short-term needs as we look for new homes. The percentage of profits donated will be left to the discretion of each individual artist.
The Bank Block Art Show will take place the evening of Saturday, September 6th in Centretown. This is short notice, but thanks to the Landlord and Tenant Board, we do not have the luxury of time on our hands.
Bank Block has a rich cultural history of being home to not only Wallack’s Art Supplies for nine decades (before they too were evicted) but of being known as an artist hub, home to studios of several prominent Ottawa-based artists. To learn more about the history of Bank Block please check out Beyond the Facade: Tenant Impact Report. If you are not familiar with our struggle to preserve affordable housing and cultural heritage, you can learn more by visiting our website or checking out our instagram page.
Please fill out the below form if you would like to participate in this event, and we will be in touch! We hope to see you there.
If you have any questions, please reach out to the Neighbourhood Organizing Centre, OttawaNOC@gmail.com. They are helping us plan the logistics for this event!

Roots & Resilience: A Gathering of Culture & Community
2025-09-06 13:00 - 19:00 | Andrew Haydon Park, Carling Avenue at Holly Acres Road., Ottawa, ON
Join us Saturday September 6th at 1 pm at Andrew Hayden Park for our community gathering – Roots & Resilience: A Gathering of Culture & Community.
Bring your own food, propane BBQ, chairs and picnic materials! It will be an afternoon of cultural affirmation with a tatreez circle, screen printing, ice breaker activities and a community discussion on this moment and our role in the diaspora.
Chickpeas will be present with delicious falafel to sell (while supplies last).
Tatreez Circle: Kits will be available for a minimum donation of $5 or bring your own!
Screen-printing: Bring your own shirt to customize for a minimum donation of 5$. Plain shirts will be available for purchase to customize for $10.
All day Tatreez & Screen Printing starting at 2PM while supplies last. Community Discussion at 5PM.
DATE: Saturday Sept 6
TIME 1-7PM
PLACE: Andrew Haydon Park – Picnic Site Area

Laylit 7-Year Anniversary Tour
2025-09-06 21:00 - 2025-09-07 02:00 | Club SAW, 67 Nicholas St, Ottawa, K1N 7B9
Laylit, the acclaimed platform and collective celebrating music and artists from the Arab and SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa) region and its diaspora, is bringing its seventh anniversary tour to Club SAW in Ottawa on Saturday, September 6, 2025, presented in partnership with Debaser.
The anniversary stop will feature an electrifying lineup: New York City-based Arianna Danae, Ottawa’s own DJ Zraa, and Laylit resident DJs Nadim Maghzal and MNSA. Together, they will deliver a vibrant dance party that pushes musical boundaries while fostering community connection.
19+ / licensed
Club SAW is a wheelchair accessible space. The indoor venue is accessible by a ramp from street level, the doors are automatic, and bathrooms are wheelchair accessible (including adult-sized change tables). Bathrooms are also gender neutral.
Free harm reduction supplies, including masks and earplugs, are available at the box office while supplies last.

Solidarity Social - Palestine Solidarity Ottawa Centre
2025-09-07 14:00 - 17:00 | 100 Brewer Way, Ottawa, ON K1S 5T1, Canada
We would like to invite you to our fall solidarity social, happening Sunday, September 7th at Brewer Park, 100 Brewer Way, (near Carleton University) from 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm. We will be at the picnic tables at the Brewer Park playground – please look for the Palestinian flags. This will be a space to get to know people who are actively working towards a Free Palestine.
We encourage you to bring your tatreez and embroidery projects, and art supplies will be available. We recommend that you bring your own blanket and if you can, please feel free to bring a snack or a refreshment to share.
Brewer Park is located just off of Bronson Ave, and is accessible for mobility devices and strollers. There is parking on site, and is on the OC transpo number 7 and 10 routes and O-train Line 2.
Please find the accessibility and COVID-19 information below:

The park is on one level, and there are no steps between the grass and the concrete areas where tables are located.
The bathrooms have automatic doors and stalls designed for those using mobility devices.
The playground includes activities suitable for various bodies and abilities.
There are accessible parking spots.
To reduce the risk of airborne infections (including COVID-19) in crowded outdoor settings, we require masks to be worn around the food tables. Masks are optional in other areas where there is more airflow and individuals are spaced out.
Masks (surgical and respirators) are acceptable for this outdoor setting and will be provided for free on-site.
We ask that attendees avoid wearing scented products to this event.
Food will be labelled with common allergens.

Grief and Political Identity
2025-09-09 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
Hosted by Queer Community Deathcare
Facilitated by Vistoria Rutledge
Drawing from her own intersectional identity and spiritual evolution, Victoria is thrilled to guide us through an exploration of our bodies and minds as we discuss what roles we have to play in our unfolding future.
Prepare to move just a bit, think critically, sow hope, and acknowledge the grief of living in this world while dreaming into the futures we desire!
Victoria Rutledge is a tenured yoga teacher and certified death doula, with experience leading group processing sessions, leading workshops and retreats, and hospice volunteering. Passionate about self inquiry and creating an equitable and just world for all people, she finds purpose in creating spaces to hold the vastness of the human experience.
This is a facilitated drop-in space, with the purpose of building connection, skill, and resources for 2SLGBTQIA+ people navigating end of life in our personal lives and in our communities.

Palestinian Family Reunification NOW! Vigil for Canada to Issue Visas for All Gaza Applicants
2025-09-10 11:00 - 13:00 | 300 Slater Street.
Please join our weekly vigil to reunite Palestinian Canadians with their loved ones from Gaza on Wednesday, September 10 from 11 am to 1 pm (we meet every Wednesday at this same time) at 300 Slater (at Kent), the Ottawa offices of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Canada must immediately open an emergency humanitarian corridor to urgently evacuate all program applicants to prevent further death and physical and psychological harm to those who, by all rights, should have been in Canada with their families long ago. One of those applicants is Ahmed, who has been separated from his family (including son Mohammed and daughter Sujoud, shown in the picture above) since April 2024.
As the apartheid regime threatens a complete takeover of Gaza, it is more important than ever that our voices are heard.
Every week, we bring family images and stories to the headquarters of a bureaucracy that fails to respect the life and death consequences of its failures in the Gaza Temporary Visa program.
Since the Gaza Temporary Visa program was implemented in January 2024, Canada has assisted in the evacuation of fewer than 2% of program applicants, an astounding number considering the daily risk of being blown to bits or suffering the slow death of starvation.
During the final weekend in July, Canada reportedly evacuated 11 Canadian citizens from Gaza. This contradicts their stated position that they are powerless to get families across the border.
Right now, Canada is insisting no one can leave without biometrics (fingerprints and photographs). This violates Canada’s own very specific program guidelines: “Given the situation we understand that you won’t be able to give your biometrics or complete a full admissibility check until you’ve left Gaza. If your application passes a preliminary eligibility and admissibility assessment we’ll forward your name to the local authorities to facilitate your exit from Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.”
Canada already has photographs because all applicants sent copies of their passports. In addition, since Israeli apartheid occupation authorities have a registry of all Palestinians in Gaza, they would be the first to say no to the exit of anyone they felt posed some theoretical threat. But Canada is not even willing to take the word of its Israeli allies on this matter.
Instead, it is assuming, based on anti-Palestinian racism, that all Palestinians are a threat until they prove otherwise. That includes starving children, grandmothers, school teachers, health care workers, farmers, gravely injured and ill program applicants.
The Canadian government’s assumption of guilt mirrors (indeed, goes far beyond) the Obama assassination-by-drone policy which, as reported in 2012, “in effect counts all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants … unless there is explicit intelligence posthumously proving them innocent.”
Canada can shed as many tears as it likes over the losses of hundreds of program applicants who would be here safe with their families were it not for wrongfully treating every Palestinian as a supposed threat. But that is no consolation for those traumatized for life by these immeasurable losses. It must take action.
The only Palestinians who have made it to Canada (861 as of July 1, 2025) made it out on their own by exhausting life savings to pay border bribes to escape before the closure and demolition of Rafah. In the same 540-day period under the Ukraine program, over 650,000 visas had been approved and 186,454 arrived in Canada. In the first year of the program, over 8,000 Israelis were granted visas to come to Canada.
Clearly, Canada has the capacity to process applications in the same time period it did for Ukrainians (average 14-day turnaround), and it also has the ability to facilitate evacuations.
The fact that it has not done so is not a matter of organizational ability or staff resources. Rather it is rooted in systemic anti-Palestinian racism, and the ludicrous racial profiling presumption of guilt that every Palestinian in Gaza is a risk until proven otherwise.
In the meantime, far too many loved ones have been killed waiting for Canada, a shameful reflection of another bleak period in our history when Jews fleeing a genocide were turned away under a None is Too Many policy.
Please join us for this peaceful vigil every Wednesday organized by Ottawa Palestinians with loved ones in Gaza and the Canadian Palestinian Family Reunification Project of the Rural Refugee Rights Network. tasc@web.ca

Policing "Hate", the Rhythms of Repression and the threat to Civil Liberties (Myron Rusk Lecture offered by Lesley Wood)
2025-09-11 19:00 - 20:30 | Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, 290 Lisgar Street, Ottawa
The Jean Teron Green Room at Carleton Dominion-Chalmers or online
The policing of the Palestine solidarity movement in Toronto since October 8 2023 reveals how a narrative of “challenging hate” can be used to legitimize a dangerous crackdown on civil liberties. As an engaged scholar, I will argue that to understand how this has happened, one must take history and temporality seriously; with its narratives, institutional dynamics and emotional dimensions.
Lesley Wood is a Professor of Sociology at York University who studies social movements and protest policing. In November 2023, she was arrested as one of the” Indigo 11″ and accused of putting paint and posters on an Indigo bookstore. The posters condemned Indigo’s CEO for her funding of the HESEG Foundation, which provides scholarships to ‘lone soldiers’, non-Israelis who volunteer to serve in Israel’s Defence Forces. Her charges have now been withdrawn.
To register, please see the webpage

Draw The Line O.G. - The "Get Ready" Ride (Critical Mass Bike Ride)
2025-09-12 18:00 - 19:30 | Confederation Park, Elgin and Laurier, Ottawa
The Ottawa-Gatineau DRAW THE LINE mass bike ride/action will be on Friday September 19th in the early evening, in advance of the DRAW THE LINE rally and march on September 20th.
To continue the build up and preparations, we are holding a final ‘Get Ready’ ride one week before: meet 6pm Friday September 12th at Confederation Park.
This will be a Critical Mass style ride; part of preparing is to ensure more people are ‘Critical Mass literate’ – and the best way is by experience. Some of the principles: We don’t have a pre-planned route, it is up to the people at the front where we go, and we rotate who is at the front at different times during the ride. The ‘red light’ intersection approach depends on how many people are riding. And remember: “We aren’t blocking traffic, we are traffic!”
At the August 29 ride, we decided to have everyone wear red for September 12’s ride, to add a dimension to how we appear to drivers etc. So please do that if you can.
Also, please let us know in advance if you’ll be there with panniers on your bike, or with a cargo/passenger bike, or other ways to potentially carry signage: fridaysfutureottawa@gmail.com – we want to work on that aspect of the riding.
We are hoping we can make September 19th a big ride!
Part of it is a distributed approach to promo: see the folder here http://tinyurl.com/s19bikepromo with posters, social media graphics, and email text, to use to help spread the word!
We could have hundreds of us on bikes taking back the streets on September 19th, and thousands marching in the streets September 20th, but it depends on how well we make sure other people other know that’s what we’re doing.
Solidarité!
Full background info and further details on the FridaysForFutureOttawa.org website.
*If it ends up raining right around 6pm, the meeting location for the ride shifts across the street to under the awnings at City Hall’s entrance.

Ottawa Run for Palestine 2k, 5k, 10k: 10th Annual Charity Walk/Run
2025-09-13 09:00 - 15:30 | Hog’s Back Park, 600 Hog's Back Road, Ottawa, Ontario, K1V1H8, Canada
Get ready to lace up your running shoes and make a difference at this year’s electrifying 10 th annual charity 2K Walk, 5K/10K RUN @ Ottawa Run For Palestine 2025!
Whether you’re a seasoned runner or just love a good challenge, it’s time to rally your friends, family, and colleagues to join forces and create a powerhouse team that’s ready to conquer the track and support a worthy cause.
This race isn’t just about crossing the finish line—it’s about coming together as a community to raise vital funds and awareness for a cause close to our hearts. With every step you take, you’ll be making a tangible impact on the lives of those in need. All proceeds will be going through Islamic Relief’s food and health emergency project in Gaza.
You don’t run? No problem! We have something for everyone. You can join our 2km walk, join for the warm-up, or just show-up to take-in all the vibes!
What are you waiting for? Gather your squad, ignite your passion for philanthropy, and let’s hit the ground running at Run For Palestine 2024! Together, we can turn miles into meaningful moments and make a lasting difference. Sign up now and be part of something truly extraordinary!
Get your running shoes ready and bring on your beautiful smiles, we are running rain or shine! 9 am- 11:30 am onsite registration11:30 am- 1:00 pm run1:30 pm- 3:30 pm Medal Awarding and Fundraising and Socializing.
Register @ http://ottawarunforpalestine.com/register
Ottawarunforpalestine.com
https://fundraise.islamicreliefcanada.org/…/ottawa-run… Ottawa Run For Palestine | Crowdfunding

Art Build
2025-09-14 13:00 - 17:00 | St Peter’s Lutheran Church, 400 Sparks Street, Ottawa, ON, Canada
ART AS ACTIVISM!We have a lot of Banners and posters to make for the 2025 Ottawa-Gatineau DRAW THE LINE MarchPlease join us on Sunday, September 14 from 1-5pm at St Peter’s Lutheran Church at 400 Sparks StreetSchedule1-130pm – set up130-4pm – painting banners & posters4-5pm – clean up and drying time for art_______________________________________________________________And just a reminder that the DRAW THE LINE March will be Saturday, September 20!
JOIN US FOR THE 2025 OTTAWA-GATINEAU DRAW THE LINE MARCH Date: Saturday, September 20, 2025 Ottawa Contingent Meeting Point: Corner of Elgin & Wellington Gatineau Contingent Meeting Point: Maison du Citoyen
We’re drawing the line — for People. For Peace. For the Planet.The 2025 Ottawa-Gatineau DRAW THE LINE March is part of a global mobilization and national day of action to stand united for justice in every part of our lives. This movement goes beyond climate — we stand together with Indigenous, migrant, economic, racial, and anti-war movements building a better future by: Building a renewable future Upholding Indigenous sovereignty Fighting for migrant justice Standing up for peace and democracy Investing in people and public services
Join the CoalitionThis March is being organized by a growing coalition of dedicated organizations working in solidarity. We invite your organization to join us as: a Coalition Member-actively involved in strategy, planning, and joint actions as formal core partners; a Supporter-offering strong backing through resources, influence, or platforms but not engaged in day-to-day organizing; or an Endorser-publicly supporting the cause with no ongoing involvement. If If interested, please fill out the form here: https://forms.gle/dpoGTnGPonLxTG5X6

Get Involved – HOW TO PLUG IN to help with Mobilization and/or Organization: https://docs.google.com/…/1JPXxIkGnTwu0Bc7KW2SO…/edit…

Bring your community March with us to demand bold action

Follow us & stay updated on our socials: https://linktr.ee/fffottawa
Sign up for email updates: https://www.fridaysforfutureottawa.org/get-involved/
Visit this event page and our webpage for updates coming very soon! https://www.fridaysforfutureottawa.org/
Reach out: fridaysfutureottawa@gmail.com

#DrawTheLine#OttawaMarch2025#PeoplePeacePlanet

Stalinism and Maoism versus Socialism from Below – a four-part study group based on Red Flags: A Reckoning with Communism for the Future of the Left, by David Camfield, Fernwood Books 2025
2025-09-14 19:00 - 20:30
Stalinism and Maoism versus Socialism from Below – a four-part study group based on Red Flags: A Reckoning with Communism for the Future of the Left, by David Camfield, Fernwood Books 2025
PLEASE NOTE THE NEW DATES: Now starts Sunday September 14 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Free
Increasingly, people are responding to the contemporary crises of capitalism by exploring the politics of communism. Some have taken a sympathetic, even nostalgic, view of “actually existing socialist” (AES) societies past and present, including the USSR, China, and Cuba, and the Marxist-Leninist political tradition associated with them. They see these states as a powerful alternative to capitalism, governed by parties genuinely committed to socialism and staunchly resisting Western imperialism. But were these societies really in transition towards a classless, stateless society of freedom — the original communist goal? Is Marxism-Leninism the political approach that should orient people on the left now? Are there alternative traditions of communism?
Red Flags traces the path from the 1917 Russian Revolution to the construction of the world’s first AES society: the USSR. It also looks at the post-revolution societies created along the same lines in China and Cuba. Using the intellectual tools of historical materialism, Red Flags argues that they were not in fact moving towards communism because the social relations remained fixed in class exploitation. The workers were never liberated.
At a time of burgeoning anti-communism from both conservatives and liberals, this book is an accessible, vibrant synthesis of the history of communism that draws on the latest research to develop a rigorous analysis of the contradictions and uneasy truths the left needs to confront if it is to build a genuinely liberatory alternative to capitalism.
First session: The Russian revolution and the Stalinist Counter-revolution (Sunday, Sept. 14)
• Chapters 1-3
Second session: Stalinism adapted: China and Cuba (Sunday, Sept. 28)
• Chapters 4-6
Third session: Marxism-Leninism today versus Socialism from Below (Sunday, Oct. 12)
• Chapters 7 -9
Fourth session: Questions and answers with the author, David Camfield (Sunday, Oct. 26)
• Zoom session, no additional reading required
Details: This in-person study group will meet in downtown Ottawa every second Sunday at 7 pm, starting on September 14th. The final session (October 26th) will be a zoom discussion with the author. Each session is expected to last about 90 minutes. The venue for the in-person sessions is still to be determined.
Book: Red Flags is currently available in Ottawa at Octopus Books and Perfect Books. It is also available for purchase online.
For more information or to sign-up: Send an email to brianmcdougall25@gmail.com
Organizers: This study group is being organized by Ottawa supporters of the Tempest Collective, an American-Canadian revolutionary socialist group. For more information about the Tempest Collective see: https://tempestmag.org

Ontario Day of Action - Double ODSP/OW!
2025-09-16 11:00 - 15:00 | OW Office, 2020 Walkley Rd, Ottawa, ON, Canada
End Legislated Poverty: Raise ODSP & OW!
Join ACORN members for the Ontario Day of Action on Tuesday, September 16th to demand that the Ford government raise social assistance rates and end legislated poverty.
People on Ontario Works (OW) receive just $733/month. A single person on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) can receive a max of $1,368/month.
That’s up to 60% below the poverty line – SHAME!
This is unacceptable. ACORN is fighting for:
Doubling ODSP/OW rates Indexing rates to inflation permanently Matching housing allowance to market rent by city Ending spousal income and benefits clawbacks Stopping the Province’s harmful “New Vision” for social assistance
Come stand with tenants, people with disabilities, and low-income Ontarians to demand dignity, housing, and justice. Together we can win!
Contact your local ACORN office for more info or send an email to ontario@acorncanada.org.
