Telephone Townhall 2021

We Need to Reset our Understanding of Humanity

Yesterday I found out about two very sad incidents that happened in Winnipeg. On Monday night, an Indigenous woman, Tammy Bateman, was killed by a police cruiser driving through a park toward an encampment. On Wednesday afternoon, a person was hit by a vehicle that drove into a protest responding to Tammy’s killing. I was asked to comment on this news but sometimes, before we speak, we need time to reflect. Humanity cannot be honoured in a quick tweet, a quick opinion without love. So, I had to really reflect on these very sad incidents, and sometimes there’s nothing to say...

Leah Gazan released the following statement on leaders withdrawing from Capital Pride events.

On August 22, Leah Gazan released the following statement:

"Pride has always been political. At the same time that hate-movements against 2SLGBTQ+ people are on the rise, so too are hate-movements growing against Jewish, Muslim, immigrant, Indigenous, and racialized communities. It is more important than ever for us to recognize the interconnection of these struggles and to work in solidarity to fight hate, violence, and oppression..."

Statement on Palestine Solidarity Protests on Campuses

On Tuesday, July 16^th, NDP Critic for Post-Secondary Education Leah Gazan issued the following statement:

"For over eight months, protestors across Canada and throughout the world have repeatedly shown up in large numbers to protest the grave injustices committed by Israel in Gaza. Reports by neutral observers of violence against Palestinian civilians have been truly shocking, as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has suggested Israel’s military operations plausibly constitute a genocide. Most recently, The Lancet estimated the death toll in Gaza to be possibly more than 186,000, while experts say famine is now spreading throughout the region due to aid restrictions.