Canada Community Organizing Interviews update

[colist-admin at comm-org.utoledo.edu]

[ed: You can get the complete transcripts of the interviews excerpted below 
from http://coserver.sa.utoledo.edu/mb/canada/ .  And please watch for a 
working project announcement coming soon.]

From: "Dave Beckwith" <daveccc at ix.netcom.com>

Charan Gill is the director of an Indo-Canadian community agency in Surrey, 
a working class suburb of Vancouver.

"How do you find ways to get energy back into the system in the first 
place. How can you do that if your family really gets jeopardized and 
sometimes you lose your friends because you don t have the time for them&I 
can t see sometimes past the pressures, financial pressures. But I m okay 
through the process, ups and downs. I have not given up yet."


Jim Green works for the British Columbia provincial governmet, nurturing 
community projects. In his past, he was an academic and a dock worker. He 
wrote the history of a radical seamen's union.

"There are thousands of people literally across the country who have been 
involved in every type of social justice movement you could imagine, and 
the peace movement in the 50s. I mean, good god, these are incredible 
people. Women organizers, people that are still in it, you know, heroes of 
this country. So [writing the history of the Canadian Seamen s Union] was a 
good way to truly, utterly become a Canadian."



Mike Retasket was recently elected Chief of his band, the Bonaparte Band of 
the Shuswap Nation. He lives in British Columbia.

"More and more people are finding out about the injustices that have 
happened to [First Nations people]. By those people not standing up or just 
ignoring those things that have happened to us, that s like accepting it. 
That s like saying it s okay that we were abused sexually, physically, 
mentally, morally abused. Now that people know that, what are you going to 
do about it?"