The presence of U.S. military bases on the Japanese island of Okinawa, regularly used by Canadian Armed Forces members, is coming under criticism from locals who are Indigenous to those lands.
“It’s clear our message is dialogue is the most important,” anti-war activist Chobin Zukeran told Global News.
The island is important to the U.S. as it serves as a strategic hub for its military operations in the Pacific, especially as China’s presence expands and the North Korean nuclear missile threat grows in the region.
The location of Okinawa, about an hour’s flight east of Taiwan, also makes it critical to any U.S. military response if China were to attack Taiwan.
However, American bases occupy around eight per cent of the prefecture and nearly 15 per cent of the main island, causing indignation among locals like Zukeran, a former mayor of the city of Nanjō, and a past member of the Japanese House of Representatives.
He is calling on the Canadian and U.S. militaries to have a conversation about their concerns.
“Before WWII in 1945, there were no military bases in Okinawa so I would like to see Okinawa without military bases; how would that be?”
Zukeran spoke with Global News from Peace Memorial Park, where he says the names of his relatives, including his grandfather, are listed. The park honours the lives of those who died in the Battle of Okinawa, including nearly 150,000 Okinawans, about a third of the island’s Indigenous population.
It was the last major battle of the Second World War and one of the bloodiest, fought between U.S. allied troops, including from Canada, and Japanese forces.
“The people didn’t have to die and they died in vain,” Zukeran said.
Zukeran says what complicates the fight to reduce military presence on the island is that Japan doesn’t officially recognize Indigenous Ryukuyans.
“We don’t have any recognition from the government so that makes it really hard for us to talk about our human rights,” said Shinako Oyakawa, an activist who identifies as Indigenous Okinawan.
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The central government in Japan argues Ryukuyans are Japanese citizens, not Indigenous peoples. Okyakawa says there’s little justification for that claim. She believes there’s strong strategic motivation as Japan’s recognition of Indigenous Okinawan rights could put the country’s national security at risk.
“Some people say the presence of U.S. or any kinds of military bases in Okinawa is protecting Okinawa but we don’t think so. The presence of military bases in our island makes us a target,” Okinawa International University economics professor Masaki Tomochi said.
While onboard a Canadian Armed Forces mission which departed from the U.S.-run Okinawa military base, Global News asked Naval Capt. Robert Watt about the issues raised by Indigenous Okinawans.
“It’s certainly not something we have a position on. Like in a lot of issues, there’s multiple sides to that. The U.S. is also a major employer, a very significant employer in Okinawa,” Watt said on the Oct. 16 flight as part of Operation NEON to enforce United Nations Sanctions against North Korea.
“We work very, very closely with the Americans and the Japanese, the Japanese self-defence force […] They’re extremely aware of the sensitivities and this is something that comes up a lot.”
Maj.-Gen. Iaian Huddleston pointed to the broader Japanese perception of the U.S. military being positive.
“Particularly given the rise of China in the area and the fact that Japan feels threatened. The acts of North Korea are also quite significant in that regard in terms of giving the Japanese pause and reason to be somewhat concerned,” Huddleston said.
Huddleston said he doesn’t believe Canada has a direct role to play in any discussions about the issue but there is room for supporting any U.S. engagement with Indigenous Okinawans. He also highlighted the military’s reconciliation efforts in Canada.
“I think the Canadian Armed Forces is very focused in some very positive ways on creating more and stronger links with our Indigenous people. Just recently, we helped repatriate a totem pole from Scotland to the B.C. coast,” he said.
Tomochi believes Canada needs to be part of a dialogue about the impact of the bases on locals. He points to chemical contamination, noise pollution and crimes committed by U.S. servicemen.
“We want our peaceful island back,” Tomochi said, adding, “I want Canada not to invade our rights.”
As Canada and other countries commit to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People around the world, Zukeran says Japan needs to rethink both its national security and how it recognizes its national history.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
