“People before profit”: Draw the Line rally for global peace

On September 20, the London chapter of the International Socialists joined Seniors for Climate and Seniors for Climate Action Now to host a rally in support of the national Draw The Line movement. Activists and organizers from ACORN, Independent Jewish Voices, Youth Climate Corp, Canadian Palestinian Social Association, Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, For Our Kids, and the London and District Labour Council joined the movement. The following is a speech delivered by Matthew Webb of the International Socialists at London’s Draw the Line event. 

We decided to join the Seniors for Climate and Seniors for Climate Action Now in organizing this event because we know how interconnected all of our movements are. We know that climate disaster is and will continue to touch all of our lives, and we know those in power care little to nothing for the state of our world in the years to come. They believe they will be insulated from the effects their actions have on the rest of us.  And that is why we must work together and ensure that these climate criminals are held to account!

We have seen the rising threat of fascism in America, around the world, and here at home. This is no accident. It is a means to sow division, to make us look inward and be fearful. Whether you are Muslim, Jewish, living with a disability, or one of my trans brothers and sisters, we are one and the same. We are living in a world where those with power continue to take and then tell us it is our fault that we can’t afford to live. That we should be fearful on the street, fearful of one another. They make us think that our struggle is our own and that we have to deal with it on our own. We do not!

You have heard some of the different ways in which we are all connected to climate disaster. I hope you can see how these are also connected with each other, and how capitalist interests perpetuate the greed that puts corporate profits over the well-being of your life. We need to start dismantling the systems we are so accustomed to, that in some ways make our lives easier, but are ultimately putting our future at stake. Try to step back and see where in your life there is a system that feeds into the demand for resources that are better left in the ground.

In addition to being with the International Socialists, I am also a letter carrier with Canada Post. We have been going through a labour dispute for the past year and are still working without a collective agreement. So I am here as a worker who has seen first hand how these corporations undermine our well-being.  Over the better part of the decade, the corporation has been transferring our delivery system to something call SSD – Separate Sort and Delivery. In my depot alone, this change has caused our fleet of vehicles to double, as of 2022 we had 14,000 vehicles. Which means there will be a greater demand for fossil fuels in the years to come from my employer. However, CP has an Environmental Action Plan which includes in it that the fleet will be completely Electric by the year 2040. So somewhere between 14K and 25K vehicles will be required to fill that demand. 

There is an ongoing genocide happening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where militia groups regularly terrorize local populations, committing all of the worst crimes you can think of. These groups are often backed by Western powers and they are set up to control the mining of precious minerals in that area. Over 70% of the world’s cobalt comes from Congo and it is a primary component to manufacturing the batteries in our phones and now in our electric vehicles. So when Canada Post tells me they are “electrifying the Fleet” what that means is that they are putting Congolese children into cobalt mines.

There is another way! Reduce the number of vehicles you need. Set up systems that rely on each other rather than new technologies.  All cities should be working towards being walkable and having a comprehensive public transport system. We must do away with the car obsessed infrastructure that we have allowed to mediate our relationship with the city.

This one aspect of my life directly contributes to the demand for more resources. Canada has the leading mining industry in the world. Therefore we are contributing to Canada’s imperialist agenda in the Congo and in many other nations around the world. In order to extract these resources it also requires an increased military presence to enforce those human rights abuses. This is all under the guise of reducing fossil fuels but in fact does little to solve the problem as we continue to require more and more. Until we enact policies that put people before profit we will continue to enrich billionaires while we enslave others. In this case the Congolese are bearing the brunt, but you can see it in all of the labour struggles that we have been witnessing these last few years – If they could pay you nothing they would. 

 As climate disasters get worse, much of the planet will become un-livable, borders will become tight and more militarized zones will be created while people are forced to migrate. Canada is among the highest rated countries in carbon emissions and our mining industry is the leader in the world. We therefore have a particular responsibility in welcoming people who are fleeing from issues we helped create. And we must ensure that our mining practices, both at home and abroad, respect and are in communication with the indigenous peoples of those lands. 

We are all one, we all live here, we must share the resources we have, but use them in smart ways that allow for us all to live comfortably rather than allow those few to accumulate and hoard the wealth we all create.