old CLM comrades honoured: Drs. Judy and Larry Haiven

 

Haivens recognized for our pro-Palestine work through Independent Jewish Voices Canada

APR 23

READ IN APP

Convocation 2025 Honourees

Honourary Degrees to be Awarded to Dr. Judy Haiven and Dr. Larry Haiven

During Convocation ceremonies on May 10, 2025, Atlantic School of Theology (AST) will award a Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, to Dr. Judy Haiven and to Dr. Larry Haiven. Both are being recognized for their work through Independent Jewish Voices, a grassroots organization they helped to found and one that opposes all forms of racism and advocates for justice and peace for all in Israel-Palestine. As Jews, they have been active in the education of non-Jews including Christians on Palestine-Israel issues for several decades. They have given presentations to members of churches in Halifax as well as public presentations. They were also advisors in the preparation of the Palestinian Land Exercise, an educational instrument which began under the auspices of Kairos Halifax. They have distinguished themselves in their ecumenical work and are recognized nationally and internationally as well as locally for their lifelong commitment to human rights. The Haivens are the proud parents of two sons, Max and Omri, who in their father’s words, are both social justice warriors.

Thanks for reading Judy Haiven’s Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Subscribed

Dr. Judy Haiven

At the age of 49, Dr. Judy Haiven completed her PhD in Industrial and Business Studies at Warwick University in the UK and commenced her academic career at Saint Mary’s University (SMU). Now retired, she taught for 16 years in the Management Department in the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University (SMU) where she specialized in industrial relations and human resource management. Pre-academe, Dr Haiven was a factory worker, a union campaigner, a writer, and an award-winning documentary filmmaker.

Dr. Larry Haiven

Dr. Larry Haiven (BSc, Toronto; MBA, Alberta; PhD, Warwick University, UK) is professor emeritus in the Department of Management, Saint Mary’s University. A former union organizer, his 30-year academic career includes research, publishing, teaching and consulting in labour relations, human resource management, and co-operatives while employed at University of Saskatchewan and Saint Mary’s University. At SMU, he was the academic coordinator of the Centre for Co-operative Management and the Master of Management, Co-operatives and Credit Unions. He co-developed and leads workshops on “Fighting Antisemitism Through an Anti-Oppressive Lens.” He also writes and publishes regularly on issues of Jewishness, Israel/Palestine, antisemitism and labour relations.

---

All are welcome to attend the convocation, where we will give short speeches: 

Sat. 10 May at 11.00 am, 

St Andrew’s United Church, 6036 Coburg Rd, Halifax, NS.  Reception to follow.

(art above by Kjersti Jangaard)

Thanks for reading Judy Haiven’s Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Canadian Liberation Movement: opposing American imperialism 50 years ago

Fifty years ago, 1975, I went to jail for opposing American imperialism. My crime was wearing a bright yellow teeshirt emblazoned with the slogan YANKEE GO HOME! Yep, we were far ahead of our time in the small Marxist-Leninist Canadian Liberation Movement (CLM).

We were a gaggle of university age twenty-somethings, with a handful of genuine working class members. We had a number of front groups to recruit members. The 85% Quota Campaign’s goal was to limit the influence of American profs in Canuck universities while encouraging the teaching of Canadian culture. 

We had our own newspaper, New Canada. I was its circulation manager, which mostly meant standing on campus corners flogging copies and sending small bundles to CLM clubs scattered across Canada.

Another of our front groups was The National Committee for Independent Canadian Unions, the NCICU. Our goal was to form independent Canadian unions as breakaways from American controlled unions like the Steelworkers. Over the decades this goal has been achieved in some measure.

Our mottoes were Independence and Socialism. I doubt most surviving members are still Marxists, but our youthful adventurism in pushing for Canadian freedom from American control has finally reached desperate relevance with the Canadian public. We were just half a century early ;  )-   

Here’s my poem about the twenty-four hours jail time in 1975.

  

DOMINION DAY IN JAIL

(Celebration 1975)


I spent last Dominion Day in jail
in a cold cell
on a steel bench -
cold, sleepless, angry and proud
tho almost wanting to feel foolish.

Fed a cheeseburger and a coffee in 24 hours
fingerprinted
stripped of my shirt
frogmarched - mugshot
insulted.

All this for the patriotic crime
of daring to say YANKEE GO HOME!
to the Yankee Shriners
parading thru downtown Toronto.
They thought it was the 4th of July
(Canada Division).

Cold, sleepless, hungry, angry
              PROUD
that I was cold, sleepless, hungry, angry
and not enjoying the July sun
lounging on the green grass in Queen's Park
or lining the parade route for the Shriners.
This growing pride made my solitary jail cell
a celebration of Dominion Day.

Chris Faiers

This is wonderful Chris and it's very meaningful especially now-- I think that the few paragraphs you wrote about CLM are sort of  the best ad for what or who we were--thanks for writing and the poem's great

Judy Haiven, PhD 

Writer/activist

Halifax NS

Canada

If you’d like to know more about me, my politics and activism, perhaps, you can listen to this podcast Pretty Heady Stuff. Scott Stoneman, a researcher and writer, interviewed me and boiled the interview down to 50 min. You can decide how much you actually want to listen to!

 

Snow Melt Meditation (haibun)

 

Snow Melt Meditation This was forecast to be day two of a rainy patch. After brunch it remained overcast, but no rain, so I decided to chance the rain and go to ZenRiver Gardens and hang out. Chase and I got there early, at 11:30 am, and as usual he bolted for the neighbour's yard so he could sniff their dog's smells. The rain was holding off, so I decided to collect more beer cans from the several embarrassing piles. If I'm going to take my friend Thay, the head monk from Zenforest, to visit ZenRiver, I decided I should at least clear off more of the hundreds of crushed beer cans. beer cans, pop cans paint cans rest intermingled   It took half an hour to fill 2 cotton 'green bags' with 50 beer cans each. Embarrassing. The rain still hadn't arrived, so time to look for another project. The wet spring soil appeared perfect for transplanting, so Chase and I wandered off to steal some pine trees from the deep woods nearby. My goal is to plant evergreens along the boundaries of ZRG to provide privacy, shade and the sighing sound of pines in the wind, far more relaxing than artificial windchimes. While planting the second pine, a friendly neighbouring property owner stopped to chat. Of course he wanted to know where I was getting the pines, and not being experienced at prevaricating, I said from behind Dan's. He was teasing me to amuse his son, who was recovering from the painful removal of two wisdom teeth, but I decided next time to answer the way his smartass cousin would, by saying, "from the ground", something stupid like that. young pines at attention firmly planted for Zen guard duty   I had planned to work slowly, my intent being to plant just one pine for the day. But the distraction of my neighbour's visit, and the satisfaction the immediate visual effect the two new pines produced, encouraged me to continue planting. Another two trips to the woods, another two pines installed in their new home along ZRG's boundaries, and it was definitely time for a break. The rain now started, which was good for watering in the four new residents. I was tempted to leave, and Chase ran to the car and sat underneath it. But I thought of my buddy Morley, and also my friend Thay, and decided to sit on my shack's porch and meditate during the rain. I'm learning to just start meditating. To not slow down the process with rituals of any kind, and after giving Chase three well-deserved biscuits, I sat in the pine rocker and began. I've been practicing meditation for 40 years, as long as I've been writing haiku poetry. Sometimes I've been a devout and regular meditator and haijin, but most often not. Meditating sometimes just lightens my 'monkey mind' thoughts, which is fine. Sometimes I compose poetry during inspired moments, and every now and again I get to sit with the Buddhas. Every meditation session is different, as varied as a trip to a foreign country, yet as familiar as a visit to my ZRG retreat. Several times I have experienced what I'll call 'phenonena'. Today's session was unexpectedly deep. Once when I opened my eyes: white snow melt froth flowing river free   A red curtain appreared behind my eyes, and I was positive the sun had come out. Again I opened my eyes, but the rain was as strong as ever, the sky dull. I shut my eyes, and the sun in my mind burned so brightly I again had to open them to check. Still raining, still overcast. I am usually a good judge of time; friends can vouch for this. I was sure I had been meditating for 15 minutes, maximum. Once or twice before I have experienced a sense of the ground moving at ZRG as I come out of a session. This happened again today. I glanced at my watch, and the session had lasted half an hour! Chase jumped on the side table to escape the wet deck and to visit, and I realized the meditating was definitely over. I was disappointed, the meditation had been so deep, the light so bright, the phenomena so enjoyable, the river carrying the white lightness of the spring snowmelt so bubbly and fast-flowing. This is from the Spring section of my 2008 collection ZenRiver: Poems & Haibun, Hidden Brook Press.  It was initially posted a month after I started the blog in 2011. Rereading it makes me feel good - I hope it does the same for you.   spring freshet (northern snow pack runoff) on upper branch Moira River at ZenRiver Gardens, Malone, Ontario

a long, effed up winter, and I think I've gone crazy/but here's what's important, tho

To paraphrase one of my favourite  Stones' songs, "Winter", it's definitely been a long, hard winter for me. On December 31 my  pristine "old age crazy winter car", a liquid grey 20ll Audi A4 SLine, turbo, AWD, 6 speed, etc. was destroyed in a senseless accident! I believe I'm more damaged than most by the combo of age (77 at the end of June), the pandemic, cancer survival 2022, vicious dog attack the next year, a recent damaging ice storm, and the underlying thump thumping of Trump's orc nation.  My creative powers have definitely waned, and it's long time newer poets like Patrick Connors get  to take the stage (if there is one for Canuck People's Poetry?) As this blog's gone international, here's some Canadiana which IS important for understanding what's going on aboard Turtle Island.   

    To view this email as a web page, click here

hotlink to "Winter" I hope - Stones at most sensitive and lyrical 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frt_f0eP_Hshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frt_f0eP_Hs

This Earth Day, listen to the land — and  the voices defending it Dear Christopher, On April 21, please join a vital conversation on the frontlines of land,  climate and Indigenous sovereignty. As politicians talk about environmental action, it’s more important than  ever to listen to those who protect the land — and continue to do so  at great personal cost.  Land Back: Indigenous Resistance from Coast to Coast  Monday,  April 21, 7–9 p.m. Eastern  This free, live, online panel will feature three powerful voices: Judy Da Silva (Grassy Narrows) —  Land defender, environmental justice advocate and community leader Tsakë ze’ Sleydo’ Molly Wickham (Wet’suwet’en)  — Gidimt’en spokesperson and protector of Wet’suwet’en territory Kuku'wis Wowkis — Youth voice and rising leader  in Indigenous resistance on the West Coast Moderated by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson,  a renowned Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg scholar, writer and artist. REGISTER NOW   The land back movement isn’t just about returning land  — it’s about returning responsibility, relationship and respect. Register now and bring others into the circle. All are welcome. Let’s make this Earth Day a turning point — one rooted in  solidarity and guided by Indigenous leadership. In community, Rachel Plotkin Boreal Project Manager P.S. This event is free and open to all, but space is limited.  Please register now to reserve your spot. Support the David Suzuki Foundation Your gift will help push for bold climate action, protect nature so it can sustain all life and create resilient communities that benefit everyone. Donate Today This email was sent to zenriver@sympatico.ca. To configure which emails we send you, please manage your content preferences here. If you no longer wish to receive any email from the David Suzuki Foundation, you can unsubscribe at any time. The David Suzuki Foundation is a registered charity in both Canada (BN 127756716RR0001) and the United States (94-3204049). We are located at 340-1122 Mainland Street, Vancouver, B.C., V6B 5L1, and we also have offices in Montreal and Toronto. Please visit our website for more information on how to contact us.

 

Patrick Connors: new poem Find My Way

Find My Way

by Patrick Connors

When I was young I wanted to find my way.

When I got older I thought I had found it

and wanted everyone to agree with me.

I got a little older and learned how to live

a different way and act like I was happy.

After that I started to grow up and find 

the way to really become myself.

I am older than I ever thought I would be.

The adolescent angst of self-determination

has not completely left. However, I realize

whatever side of whatever fence you 

are on, whether we agree or disagree

or agree to disagree, we all must find 

the way to peace. 

*Note - This poem is part of a Peace Poetry project commissioned by Wally Keeler in Cobourg. It has been laser engraved into a picnic table, which will be unveiled on Canada Day in Victoria Park.