MAKING PEACE VIGIL Newsletter - August 7, 2025

[Oscar]

MAKING PEACE VIGIL Newsletter - August 7, 2025


SPECIAL READING

CANADA’S SOCIAL HOUSING DEFICIT IS A CRISIS HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
[ https://finance.yahoo.com/news/canada-s ... p_catchall ]


CANADA SHOULD ACKNOWLEDGE ITS ROLE IN THE A-BOMB, by Setsuko Thurlow
[ https://nbmediacoop.org/2025/08/06/cana ... -survivor/ ]


HIROSHIMA LIVES ON IN GAZA
[ https://biljanavankovska.substack.com/p ... on-in-gaza ]


GOOD READING & VIEWING & LISTENING

COURT DENIES INJUNCTION TO FORCE U OF R INTO PAYING URSU STUDENT FEES
[ https://leaderpost.com/news/local-news/ ... udent-fees ]


THE SASKATCHEWAN NDP SAYS THE WORLD IS LOOKING TO THE PROVINCE TO LEAD IN (NUCLEAR) ENERGY—Boo!
[ https://discoverhumboldt.com/articles/t ... -in-energy ]


POTASH COMPANIES ARE GETTING RICH. SASKATCHEWAN, NOT SO MUCH
[ https://thewalrus.ca/potash-companies-a ... t-so-much/ ]


WINNIPEG COUPLE LEAVES ENCAMPMENT FOR DRUG-FREE SUPPORTIVE HOUSING
[ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba ... -1.7600210 ]


YES, IT’S CHEAPER: THE COST-BASED CASE FOR HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION
[ https://preventhomelessness.ca/webinar/ ... newsletter ]


THE GREEN NEW DEAL, with Seth Klein and others
[ https://projectsavetheworld.substack.co ... n-new-deal ]


THE STATE OF FORESTS IN CANADA
[ https://stateoftheforest.ca/ ]


IN THIS AI AGE, HOW BEST TO HANDLE PATIENT HEALTH DATA?
[ https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2025/08/05/A ... alth-Data/ ]


CANADA CREATED A COLD WAR ISOLATION LABORATORY. IT ENDED IN SCANDAL
[ https://thewalrus.ca/canada-created-a-c ... n-scandal/ ]


ANTI-PALESTINIAN RACISM REPORT CALLS FOR CANADA TO RECOGNIZE MAY 15 AS NAKBA DAY
[ https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/york-u ... -1.7602409 ]


CANADIAN ARMED FORCES AIRDROP AID TO PALESTINIANS IN GAZA
[ https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/c ... s-in-gaza/ ]


CANADIAN PENSION PLANS FUND GENOCIDE
[ https://www.justpeaceadvocates.ca/upp-a ... sion-plan/ ]


“END THE STARVATION”: JEWISH RABBIS AND ALLIES OUTSIDE NY TRUMP HOTEL CALL FOR U.S. TO STOP ARMING ISRAEL
[ https://www.democracynow.org/2025/8/5/if_not_now ]


600+ JOURNALISTS RENEW CALL TO LET FOREIGN PRESS ENTER GAZA AS ISRAEL BEGINS 'FULL CONQUEST'
[ https://www.commondreams.org/news/journ ... aza-access ]


AN AMERICAN SURGEON’S DIRE WARNING FROM GAZA: ‘WE’RE LEVELING A WHOLE SOCIETY’
[ https://therealnews.com/an-american-sur ... le-society ]


ISRAEL BLAMES HAMAS FOR MALNOURISHMENT OF ISRAELI CAPTIVES AS IT DELIBERATELY STARVES GAZA, by Jeremy Scahill
[ https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/israel-b ... il-meeting ]


NETANYAHU ORDERS ISRAELI ARMY TO CONQUER ALL OF GAZA
[ https://therealnews.com/reports-netanya ... ll-of-gaza ]


GAZA IS BEING STARVED, by Doctors Against Genocide
[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO_lmV7fx_I ]


'THE SILENT HOLOCAUST' — THE ISRAELI AND CIA SPONSORED GUATEMALAN GENOCIDE
[ https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the- ... he-israeli ]


NO CHILD SHOULD GO THROUGH WHAT I WENT THROUGH
[ https://cnduk.org/no-child-should-go-th ... t-through/ ]


80 YEARS AFTER HIROSHIMA & NAGASAKI, U.S. KEEPS COVERING UP HORRORS OF ATOMIC BOMBING
[ https://www.democracynow.org/2025/8/6/hiroshima ]


80 YEARS AFTER THE ATOMIC BOMBINGS OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI: HOW THE UNITED STATES TURNED CATASTROPHE INTO AN INSTRUMENT OF POWER
[ https://journal-neo.su/2025/08/06/80-ye ... -of-power/ ]


80 YEARS AFTER HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI ARE WE ON THE VERGE OF ANOTHER NUCLEAR WAR?
[ https://therealnews.com/80-years-after- ... uclear-war ]


WOMAN NOTICES BEE TANGLED IN A SPIDER WEB AND BRINGS IT TO THE CLOSEST HIVE—WHAT HAPPENS NEXT GOES VIRAL
[ https://www.theepochtimes.com/bright/vi ... al-5697004 ]


EVENTS, WEBINARS, TV PROGRAMS, & FILMS

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 13, 10 am: HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFRICA
[ https://worldbeyondwar.org/africom-webinar/ ]


THURSDAY AUGUST 14, 4 pm: BANKS OFF CAMPUS CAMPAIGN
[ https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/registe ... CevUqRpQog ]


THURSDAY AUGUST 14, 5 pm: ZIONISM VERSUS THE CANADIAN CHARTER, with Yves Engler and others
[ https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/registe ... gistration ]


TUESDAY AUGUST 19. 11 am – 1 pm: SCREENING OF SEEING THROUGH THE DARKNESS, MACKENZIE ART GALLERY, 3475 ALBERT ST
Through an immersive sound environment, Seeing Through the Darkness delves into the lives of five resilient individuals who have lost their sight in armed conflicts. This film challenges our societal blindness to violence and suffering amidst a flood of images, urging us to listen to these inspiring stories echoing with urgency and profound humanity.
[ https://riffa.ca/movie/seeing-through-the-darkness/ ]


WEDNESDAY AUGUST 20, 9 am: MEETING OF CITY OF REGINA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
We have been advised that we should come out to the August 20 Executive Committee meeting to make our presentations on the City’s Encampment Response, as it will give Council the opportunity to discuss changes prior the final vote at the August 27 Council meeting.
Administration’s report to Council regarding the encampment strategy can be found at the following link, pages 68-71:
[ https://reginask.iqm2.com//Citizens/Fil ... nline=True ]

The report is intended to be an overview of how the city currently handles encampments—which is VERY INSUFFICIENT. Below is a Citizens Encampment Strategy to compare to the City’s.
We need lots of folks presenting at the meeting. A request to present has to be submitted by submitted by noon on Monday August 18. To speak at Executive Committee all you need to do is apply. You do not need to submit a presentation. Go to [ https://www.regina.ca/city-government/c ... -meetings/ ]
A CITIZENS ENCAMPMENT STRATEGY
Commit to not removing encampments established on City property unless all residents have been provided with permanent, adequate, appropriate housing. To do otherwise, is to violate the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.”
Provide support for such encampments. Support would include the provision of the following:

Bathrooms with handwashing capability
Potable water
Garbage disposal and collection
Easy access to public transportation

Repeal laws and policies criminalizing homelessness, including being in a City park after 11 pm and erecting tents and other such structures on public property without a permit or a license.
Continue to work to end houselessness in Regina so that encampments do not become a permanent feature of our city. Such work would include:
Commit to allocating $10 million annually, starting with the 2026 budget, to the construction of affordable rental units;
Work with other Saskatchewan municipalities to put pressure on the Government of Saskatchewan to make available for immediate occupation all empty Sask Housing units in Regina—and throughout the province;
Work with other Saskatchewan municipalities to put pressure on the Government of Saskatchewan to raise the rates of the province’s two income assistance programs above the poverty line—currently a person on the Saskatchewan Income Support program gets $1,005 a month, while a person on Saskatchewan Assured Income For Disability receives on average $1,382 a month—both well below the poverty line;
Work with municipalities across Canada to put pressure on the Government of Canada to restart the national affordable housing program, cancelled in 1993, which, for a period, starting in 1974, created up to 20,000 affordable housing units every year.


WEDNESDAY AUGUST 20, 11 am – 1 pm: SCREENING OF FARMING THE REVOLUTION, MACKENZIE ART GALLERY, 3475 ALBERT ST
Amidst COVID lockdowns, India’s farmers rise up on an unprecedented scale against unjust new laws.
[ https://riffa.ca/movie/farming-the-revolution/ ]


THURSDAY AUGUST 21, 11 am – 1 pm: SCREENING OF RULE OF STONE, MACKENZIE ART GALLARY, 3475 ALBERT ST
If Jerusalem stone could speak, it would tell this story: from Imperial Britain to the Israeli occupation, buildings in Jerusalem have been clad in it. This is a story of how beauty and abuse go hand in hand


FRIDAY AUGUST 22, 11 am – 1 pm: SCREENING OF TOROBORO: THE NAME OF THE PLANTS, MACKENZIE ART GALLERY, 3475 ALBERT ST
Twenty-five years after a renowned ethno-botanical study in the Ecuadorian Amazon region inhabited by the Waorani, the central figures involved reunite. Members of the community talk about the genocidal colonization of their people since the arrival of Christian missionaries. The main threats to their survival are now the oil and timber industries.
[ https://riffa.ca/movie/toroboro-the-name-of-the-plants/ ]


WEDNESDAY AUGUST 27, 1 pm: MEETING OF REGINA CITY COUNCIL—CITY OF REGINA ENCAMPMENT RESPONSE WILL BE ON THE AGENDA


SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 6, 10 am – 4 pm: REPAIR CAFÉ, GEORGE BOTHWELL LIBRARY, 2965 GORDON ROAD
[ https://www.envirocollective.ca/repair-cafe/ ]


STARTING MONDAY SEPTEMBER 8, FIGHTING TO WIN: A 10 WEEK COURSE WITH JOHN CLARK
[ https://www.tickettailor.com/events/pan ... ol/1782334 ]


TUESDAY SEPETEMBER 9, 4:30 pm: FIRE WEATHER: THE MAKING OF A BEAST, with John Vaillant
Presented by Seniors for Climate
[ https://seniorsforclimate.org/en/webina ... -vaillant/ ]


FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 19, 10 am: RAISING OF THE PEACE FLAG TO MARK INTERNATIONAL PEACE DAY, REGINA CITY HALL


THURSDAY OCTOBER 2, 4:30 – 11:30 pm: REGINA 2025 POINT-IN-TIME—PiT—COUNT OF HOMELESSNESS IN REGINA,
Volunteers are needed for Regina’s 2025 PiT Count, which will take place on October 2. Namerind Housing Corporation, as the Reaching Home Community Entity for Regina, will be leading the 2025 PiT Count of homelessness on October 2nd, and they need volunteers to make it happen.
To volunteer, go to: [ https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/call-for-vo ... tdtcreator ]


NEW PETITIONS & OTHER ACTIONS

COMMUNITY SURVEY: STRENGTHENING GOOD RELATIONS IN SASKATCHEWAN
[ https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MBZHJ7R ]


PROTECT SASKATCHEWAN WORKERS FROM WAGE THEFT
[ https://action.speakupsask.ca/stopgreed ]


HELP STOP SYSTEMIC VIOLENCE AGAINST INDIGENOUS WOMEN
[ https://www.change.org/p/help-stop-syst ... nous-women ]


CANADA, STOP PLASTIC POLLUTION
[ https://foecanada.org/strong-action-nee ... otiations/ ]


PM CARNEY: CANADA MUST RAMP UP CLIMATE FINANCE
[ https://act.350.org/letter/ca-fair-shar ... A&rd=1&t=4 ]


WRITE TO PM CARNEY: NO CUTS TO PHARMACARE FUNDING
[ https://canadians.org/action/carney-no- ... ding-cuts/ ]


CANADA: DEMAND JUSTICE FOR AWDAH HATHALEEN
[ https://actionnetwork.org/letters/canad ... -hathaleen ]


DEMAND YOUR MP TAKE REAL ACTION TO SANCTION ISRAEL AND IMPOSE A FULL AND IMMEDIATE ARMS EMBARGO.
[ https://armsembargonow.ca/report/#action ]


- Making Peace Vigil