I was asked to write this column for the Sudbury Star in June 2014 for a series on how to improve the “quality of life” in Sudbury. Since they have not published it here it is. Keep in mind that I wrote it with the Sudbury Star readership in mind.
By Gary Kinsman
I approach improving the ‘quality of life’ in Sudbury in the future through reflecting on the past from 1994 when I came here until January 2014 when I retired from teaching at Laurentian University. I came to a city with a rich history of social and class struggle. Since 1994 I have been involved in social justice, specifically in fighting against poverty, in support of the struggles of indigenous people, in support for working class and union struggles, and for the liberation of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, trans, two-spirit and queer people. In all these areas I have met talented, skilled and often daring activists and organizers who struggle to make Sudbury a better place every day of the year, often under very difficult circumstances. These networks and communities have made Sudbury a better place for us to live in and sustained me during my time here. It is these capacities for community and movement building defined by taking action against injustice, compassion, care and solidarity that have and will make Sudbury a better place to live despite the ravages of neo-liberal capitalism and austerity that undermine our communities.
First some memories and reflections of my time here.
- When we first came to Sudbury my partner and I were two of the only gay men willing to be publicly interviewed in the media. This has now changed dramatically as a result of Pride organizing in particular. When we organized the first Pride march in 1997 many people thought we would be stoned by onlookers but nothing of the sort happened. More than 200 people gathered including a large contingent of supportive straight people from the Sudbury Coalition for Social Justice.
- After arriving here I quickly noticed on pickets and demonstrations that there was a lot more honking of car horns in support and respect than in many other places I have lived. This was based on a rich history of working class and union struggle and solidarity which I got a powerful taste of during the community support for the CAW/Mine Mill Local 598 strike against Falconbridge in 2000-2001. In turn Mine Mill supported the struggles of people living in poverty in the building of a broader social solidarity.
- From the 4,000 people who joined in the main march as part of the 1997 Sudbury Days of Action against the Mike Harris war on the poor; to the Justice with Dignity campaign following the death of Kimberly Rogers who was under house arrest for being on both social and student assistance (which used to be perfectly legal); to the direct action support work of the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty (S-CAP) which makes a real difference in people’s lives through getting people living in poverty more of what they need; to Occupy Sudbury which cared for the homeless in Memorial Park; to those of us in the S-CAP 11 arrested in Rick Bartolucci’s office trying to save a vital program that assists the poor, there have always been people who put the needs of the poor before those of private profit and the wealthy and powerful. Ending poverty and ending the war on the poor are crucial to improving the quality of life in Sudbury.
- Living on the territories of the Atikameksheng Anishnawbek nation I have learned a great deal from indigenous people about respect for the earth and for other people. Despite racism and colonialism there are vibrant indigenous cultures and movements including Idle No More in and around Sudbury. For me one sign of hope is that more settlers are learning from and supporting indigenous struggles. Improving life in Sudbury requires support for indigenous self-determination and struggles against racism, poverty and colonialism.
Making a better Sudbury depends on making a better world since the local and global are intimately interconnected. Policies favouring the ‘1%’ fuel the poverty, racism, climate change, sexism, exploitation and oppression that we face. But my experience in Sudbury has shown me that we can change direction and do things differently. This transformation comes not from relying on leaders, politicians, or parties but instead on making more participatory forms of democracy and community in our workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, in cultural production, and everywhere else, along with building vibrant social movements for change. Through empowerment we make the basis for a new society where poverty, oppression and exploitation can be uprooted as we create a better place for people to live, love and thrive. Sudbury with its rich history of union, community, movement and cultural organizing provides us with the capacities for just such a social transformation.
Bio.
Gary Kinsman is a long-time queer liberation, anti-poverty and anti-capitalist activist. He has been involved in the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty (S-CAP), the Campaign Against Employment Discrimination, the Lesbian and Gay Pride Day Committee, the Sudbury Coalition for Social Justice, Sudbury Global Justice, Sudbury Against War and Occupation, and the Palestine Solidarity Working Group. He is the author of The Regulation of Desire: Homo and Hetero Sexualities, co-author (with Patrizia Gentile) of The Canadian War on Queers: National Security as Sexual Regulation, and editor of Whose National Security? , Sociology for Changing the World and Mine Mill Fights Back. He
has recently retired from teaching sociology at Laurentian University.
His website Radical Noise is at http://radicalnoise.ca/