Canada Palestine Association

In its summer 2010 edition, The Global Educator, Journal of the B.C. Teachers for Peace and Global Education (PAGE) published the following article (on page 23): http://pagebc.ca/documents/Summer_2010_Journal.pdf

The British Columbia Teachers for Peace and Global Education is not affiliated with the Canada Palestine Association.

MEC is about as green as “Mother Nature’s Gas Station”, and now makes the un-coolest bike on the Canadian market. Don’t buy one.

By: Patrik Parkes

If it talks like a corporation, walks like a corporation, and acts like a corporation, then it must be a corporation. On June 12, Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) held a “Bikefest” with a “free barbecue, entertainment and dance performances by… [a] bike-based dance troupe, clowns, some music and information.” You can bet the “information” had nothing to do with cycling, and everything to do with promoting their new line of bicycles. (And shame on the performers for joining this shameless corporate promo event.)

MEC has for some years now aimed to be nothing but big. It dominates the market for hiking and camping gear, and now aims to dominate the bicycle business as well. MEC is a master of greenwash, with little to show in terms of walking the walk. In other words, it’s about as green as Chevron, “Mother Nature’s Gas Station”. MEC sees no contradiction between its purported green, ethical mandate, and shipping products halfway around the world in smoke-belching freighters and employing factories in human rights deficient locations like China and Israel.

MEC’s co-op credentials are further eroded by its moves to restrict members’ decision making input. So-called ordinary resolutions can no longer be made from the floor of MEC’s annual general meeting, and must be vetted first by Directors. Earlier this year, when I enquired about these changes, Sara Golling,•Director and Chair of MEC’s Elections and Member Communications Committee, was unable to be clear on why vetting was necessary. When I asked if it might have something to do with an Israeli boycott resolution that was moved in 2009, she replied, “I doubt very much that had this year’s change in process been applied last year that the board would have acted any differently. We did not flinch from the vehemence of that debate, nor would we on any other debate where strongly held opinions are expressed regarding MEC’s business. That is simply not our history or culture.” Then why the change?

This was not my first encounter with Golling. Some years ago, she replied to a concern I had about MEC retail employees’ wages being not much higher than those at other comparable businesses. She seemed to think it was good enough simply that they were higher.

Apparently it was of no concern they were inadequate in Canada’s high-rent cities. Perhaps this is because Golling has never had to survive on retail wages, or work in a Chinese factory making athletic wear. Upon a perfunctory look at their resumes, the same seems true of MEC’s other Directors. This might explain why human rights – and environmentalism – is for them simply a marketing tool. MEC no longer lives up to the expectations we have of co-ops, and should do the right thing and register as a corporation. In short, MEC now makes the un-coolest bike on the Canadian market. Don’t buy one.

“The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them.” – George Orwell

Dear friends:

Following our recent call to boycott Mountain Equipment Coop MEC, a MEC member who supported the campaign and had been a member since the 1980’s informed us that when he cancelled his membership as a form of protest he got $200 back on his original $5.00 share. Apparently, the refunded share value is calculated based on the length of membership.

From this incident, we can conclude that all MEC members can divest from this Cooperative if they feel that MEC is not reflecting their ethical values and that their monies are being used to maintain Israeli human rights violations.

Therefore, in accordance with the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions BDS, we call on our supporters to cancel their membership in MEC and inform the management that they will not support nor condone a cooperative that is complicit in war crimes. Members can either call MEC or email them and ask for the official form needed to process their membership withdrawal. (Phone numbers: Vancouver 604.876.6221, Canada and USA: 1.888.847.0770 Email: info@mec.ca)

We urge all our supporters to:

• Inform your contacts, friends and relatives about the campaign.
• Endorse the Boycott MEC Campaign by emailing us at info@cpavancouver.org and please check our home page for updates and details https://cpavancouver.org/
• Join our Facebook Group at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=113406218712252
• Consider using your MEC membership refund to make a donation to support our BDS work and action campaigns.

The Boycott MEC campaign is receiving increasing exposure and was highlighted in an article by the Electronic Intifada on July 26, 2010. See: “Victories as N. American boycott movement gains momentum” http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11421.shtml.

As in South Africa, Israeli Apartheid will be defeated. Palestine will be FREE!

In Solidarity,
Canada Palestine Association

On May 24, 2010, we in the Canada Palestine Association (CPA) issued our call for a total boycott of Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC), and since then, supporters have written MEC informing them of their decision to no longer shop there. In response MEC management not only defended their support for Israeli Apartheid, they also defended Israel and its institutions. Here is a quote from a representative from the MEC Service Centre in reply to one such letter: “Israel has a vibrant and functioning democracy, which has put in place independent judicial systems, free press and organized labour initiatives.” And David Labistour, the CEO of MEC, answered other emails by sending a link to a Histadrut Press Release on the Flotilla Attack, which justified Israel’s murderous action against the peace activists taking aid to Gaza (see: http://www.histadrut.org.il/index.php?page_id=1801). This Histadrut PR spin mentions the Palestinian trade union PGFTU, but conveniently forgets to state that PGFTU was one of the initiators of the global boycott Israel (BDS) movement.

It is also worth noting that several representatives of the local Palestinian solidarity movement, including representatives from CPA, met with the management of MEC and its CEO on April 8, 2009, to explain the history of the conflict and the Israeli Apartheid policies against Palestinians in general (including 20% of Israel’s own citizens). It seems the MEC people in that room were not listening carefully or they do not care at all about the human rights violations against the Palestinian people.

We feel that our call is the only way to force the MEC management to listen, because obviously all they care about is their bottom line and financial gains, not humanitarian or cooperative ethics as they would like consumers to believe. In fact, CPA felt a total boycott of MEC was the optimal strategy over a year ago after the resolution to stop dealing with Israeli products failed at the MEC 2009 AGM. (See: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=1553265). At that time, we agreed to wait for those who wanted to continue efforts at dialogue. However, it has now been proven that MEC is not interested in dialogue of any sort, no matter how well-intentioned, and thus the momentum for a general boycott of MEC is both urgent and necessary. The Palestinian BDS National Committee issued a call after Israel’s deadly raid on the Gaza flotilla to intensify our efforts at boycott campaigns and in this context, we will be examining other companies in Canada and calling on supporters to do exactly the same national action as with MEC. No business as usual and no dealings with those who support Israeli war crimes – we must take a stand now as the Palestinian people are counting on us to defend their human and national rights. HISTORY WILL BE OUR WITNESS.

(We are heartened by the support the campaign has received and will be updating the list of endorsers from time to time, so please feel free to approach friends and other organizations to join this campaign.)

Following is the CPA statement and the organizational and individual endorsers to date:

The Canada Palestine Association in Vancouver, BC calls upon all Palestine solidarity organizations and all those who support Palestinian human rights in Vancouver and Canada to focus their efforts on imposing a general boycott on Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC). Despite efforts to engage in constructive dialogue on various occasions, MEC has refused to divest from Israeli products. Within the framework of International Humanitarian Law, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all relevant international conventions, the Canada Palestine Association:

1. Considers importing products manufactured in factories that have ties with the Israeli state or any of its instruments such as the “Israeli Defense Forces” as morally abhorrent and detrimental to efforts to uphold Palestinian human rights, and
2. Calls upon all Palestine solidarity organizations and individual supporters of Palestinian human rights to impose a general boycott on Mountain Equipment Coop until it cuts all ties with Israel.

Organizational and Media Endorsements:

• Canada Palestine Association, Halifax
• Canadian Arab Federation, Toronto
• Palestine House Community Centre, Toronto
• Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU), Montreal
• Shuswap Association for the Promotion of Eco Desarrollo (SAPED) Transitions, Clinton, B.C.
• Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights SPHR – UBC
• The Comox Valley Peace Group, BC
• Voice of Palestine, Vancouver
• Individual Endorsements: (groups listed for identification only)
• Amir M. Maasoumi, President, One democratic state in historical Palestine/ Razaq Faraj Group, Montréal.
• Andrew Phillips, New Westminster
• Betty Beeching, Vancouver
• Cynthia TAHA George, BC
• Dave Bleakney, National Union Representative, Canadian Union of Postal Workers
• Earle Peach, Vancouver (member of MEC)
• George McFetridge, Victoria
• Irene Ducharme
• Janet Hall, Vancouver
• John Beeching, Vancouver
• Katy Hanna, Montreal, QC
• Lawrence Boxal, Vancouver
• Mira Khazzam, Montreal, Canada, member Independent Jewish Voices (Montreal)
• Noah Lepawsky, Vancouver
• Prof. Lawrence Davidson, Department of History West Chester University, Pa., U.S.
• Roger Howard
• Sameer Parmar, Minnetonka, MN, USA
• Wendy Strachan
• Yvon Raoul, Vancouver