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Our pensions for ICE? Stop it now!

A campaign from LeadNow with a few spicy sentences from me. The CPP is funded by the wages of 22 million people across the country, LeadNow says, and the Investment Board has a responsibility to ensure those savings are not used in ways people fundamentally reject. Dear Mr. John Graham, CEO of CPPIB, and CPPIB board members, I am writing as a contributor to the Canada Pension Plan—one of millions of people whose wages fund this plan and whose future depends on it. This is our CPP, and it must answer to us. I am horrified that CPP investments include companies linked to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In effect, the people who pay into CPP are having their own money used to help fund Trump-era immigration enforcement and the harms associated with it. Canadians are appalled by the actions of ICE. What a betrayal you would use our own money to fund these bullies violating human rights.  CPP is not abstract capital—it is our deferred wages. Contributors should not ...
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Spring for a day

 Depending which forecast you consult, it's either going to be cool with a chance of rain tomorrow or an April snowpocalypse.  But today it is spring, so I put air in the tires, wore my spring jacket and cool weather hat and took omafiets for a whirl today. Cut a full 10 minutes off my fastest commute time on the fatgirl.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.
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Stop the bank

World Beyond War is leading a campaign endorsed by 32 other organizations including Mennonite Action Canada to oppose the Defense, Security and Resilience Bank.  Learn more about the campaign here Or use their template to send your own letter as I did (with tweaks) World Beyond War letter template I am calling for you – Mr Carney, M Champagne, Mr Long, Mr McGuinty – to reject the DSRB. (My MP I trust, is already opposing it.) The proposed war bank would provide a steady flow of public and private funds to weapons manufacturers to facilitate a rapid expansion of military production. Making money off death! The institution’s mandate – to raise public-private funding towards increasing the manufacturing and procurement of weapons – is fundamentally at odds with hopes for a peaceful world. Moreover, the DSRB will mark an escalation in public spending on weapons and militarism, drawing money away from critical spending.  The DSRB would redirect public money away from urgent social ...
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More genocide

Israel is now committing a second genocide.  Funny thing, when you turn a blind eye to human rights abuses because you think the folks it's happening to are expendable, the abuser doesn't stop; they move on to a new victim.  Israel is seeking to permanently depopulate a large swath of southern Lebanon, ordering the evacuation of all Lebanese south of the Litani River. On Sunday Defence Minister Israel Katz said the IOF will “accelerate the destruction of Lebanese homes in the line of contact villages, to thwart threats to Israeli communities, in accordance with the model of Beit Hanoun and Rafah,” which are cities in Gaza that were largely flattened. Since the start of the month Israel has killed over a thousand Lebanese and destroyed large swaths of Beirut. Before Hezbollah launched a half dozen rockets in response to the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, Israel violated the fifteen month ‘ceasefire’ 10,000 times, killing 300 Lebanese, according to the UN mission in Leb...
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Bait and switch treats for those not paying attention

Manitoba's budget dropped last week. The premier pasted that huge smile on his face and hauled out some prevaricating hyperbolisms. One of the much touted "gifts" of the budget was free transit for youths aged 12-18 in Winnipeg.* “We have money set aside in the budget to work with municipalities to cover the cost of transit for high school-aged youth,” a spokesperson for the province said Monday. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2026/03/23/provincial-budget-includes-free-transit-passes-for-youths-in-winnipeg-four-other-cities  Let's think about this. Young people are *already* riding the bus because they aren't even allowed to have a driver's license until 16 and not everyone gets one right away or at all. So this doesn't provide any new ridership. And the province promises some money to cover the resulting shortfall. We just gotta hope and trust their math/predictions are right. So how is this a gift? It's nice for the teens an...
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Stop investing in destruction

This message is directed at all the CCs: Mr Carney, Mr Champagne, Mr Long, Mr McGuinty. My MP is surely already well aware and fully concerned about the steps the Canadian government is currently taking to play a leadership role and potentially host the new Defence, Security and Resilience Bank. I am calling for you to reject the DSRB.  The steady flow of public and private funds to weapons manufacturers the war bank would facilitate for a rapid expansion of military production will only harm Canadians.  Public-private funding is usually just a shady way of ensuring private enterprise is subsidized by public money so it can maximize its profits. To do so with the goal of increasing the manufacturing and procurement of weapons is fundamentally at odds with hopes for not only a peaceful world but a liveable one.  Moreover, the DSRB will mark an escalation in public spending on weapons and militarism, drawing money away from critical spending on social needs and the climate ...
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A bill to combat hate that will actually further it, Take 2

Who needs the nefarious Evan Duncan when you've got dastardly Sean Fraser to curtail freedoms federally? The International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group provided this form letter. Obviously they know their stuff way better than I do so I didn't touch the bulk of it, but I slapped a first paragraph on there to try to get my letter counted as unique. Use the template to write and send your own Dear recipient's full name will go here , At a time when Canadians are overstressed, worried about jobs and affordability and now war, it unconscionable that the government would try to sneak through legislation that harms us while people are too busy with other worries to take notice.  I am alarmed that the proposed Combatting Hate Act (Bill C-9), which the government has said is meant to prevent hate crimes, will instead threaten the Charter rights and civil liberties of all people in Canada, including those communities that the government wishes to help protect. I am doubly alarm...
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