Manifesto

Perched, as we are here in Canada, right above the globe’s most openly seething mass of contradictions, the illusion of national consensus is an easy trap to fall into. While the leaders of our more powerful neighbour to the South pay for pirate raids and pillaging adventures in all corners of the world by stealing bread from the mouths of their country’s own daughters and sons, here in Canada pleasant fictions are entertained that depict a country whose internal disputes are always resolved quietly, and with love, even as we turn to the world with open hearts and an infinite humanitarianism. On the issue which most recently has arguably divided the world like no other question in decades -- the American invasion of Iraq -- our country’s position has been typical, and indicative of the deeper realities at play: Though we officially (politely! with principle!) declined the designation of ‘War Party,’ Canadian troops were dispatched to Afghanistan to buttress the occupying forces, and to free up our British and American allies for their illegal invasion of Mesopotamia. Victory on all fronts: a public satiated, allies reinforced, and the myth of a quiet, seamless Canada left wholly intact.

Seven Oaks magazine is a publication which stands outside the realm of false consensus, in unapologetic alliance with those in this country and around the world dedicated to social justice, world peace, gender and racial equality, as well as equality of language rights, self-determination, environmental sustainability, and the celebration of cultural achievement and critical thought. Through our weekly provision of analytical features, progressive opinions, cultural commentary, and more, we hope to provide another space where ideas, questions, stories, information, problems, and possible solutions can be shared, sounded out, celebrated, and debated in an open forum free of cumbersome, dogmatic “Party lines,” but all the while in unambiguous pursuit of progressive social change. We hope to be a part of that chorus of voices in this country giving the lie to the quiet, conservative fantasy that all is well here, and always has been.

We take our name from a defining moment in our history, a turning point that epitomizes the rebellious, revolutionary human heritage to which we living in Canada can lay claim. The Battle of Seven Oaks was a turning point in the ongoing struggle between the Métis people and the forces of corporate and colonial expansion embodied in the Hudson’s Bay Company. Near Red River, by a ravine called Seven Oaks in 1816, the Métis fought and defeated a contingent representing the HBC and commanded by Governor Semple, galvanizing the people of the region and providing a crucial, victorious reference point for the continuing struggle for Métis rights. Disparaged as “half-breeds,” the Métis forces stood -- after a less than 20-minute firefight -- over a fallen Semple and his decimated colonialist troops (Manitoba Historical Society, http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/transactions/3/sevenoaks.shtml).

We’ve chosen this particular symbol from the iconography of Canadian rebellion because of the multiple dimensions of struggle that the Battle of Seven Oaks embodies. We see in the fight of the Métis people, even in the nineteenth century, many of the major axes of contradiction running through our social and political lives today: the battle of indigenous nations against criminal expropriation, the democratic battle against arbitrary corporate rule, and the battle for the language and civil rights of French-speaking peoples.

Activists and progressive thinkers today understand the ways in which the progress of history has enriched our capacities to fight for justice, freedom, and dignity, and to articulate visions of a more efficient, humane, and safer world. Immigration from around the globe has infused our movements and our organisations with a rich, diverse array of experiences and perspectives, which have broadened the scope of our definitions of progress. We know that none of us injured by this system can afford to ignore the just claims of those wronged on the basis of their class, their colour, their religion, their gender, their language, their ability. We possess, today, sophisticated scientific knowledge of the ways in which unrestrained avarice is poisoning our bodies and our world. We are growing, as individuals and as movements. Nevertheless, the basic lines of demarcation in the struggle for progressive change in this country -- working and oppressed people with their allies on one side, the wealthy and the arms of the state on the other -- were as clear that day under the Seven Oaks as we hope to make them today.

Seven Oaks will not only celebrate this country’s political diversity and living heritage of resistance, but hopes also to share relevant, compelling insights into the culture which surrounds us through reviews of film, music, literature, and art, and essays exploring themes found in these sometimes less overtly political realms of human achievement. We will provide a forum where humour is not alien, but welcome, and where creativity is rewarded. We’ll help give the lie to the absurd notion that the Left wishes to stamp out individual expression in a puritan pursuit of Orwell’s Groupthink by exploring the movies, television, and books that make up significant parts of our collective experience.

In the end, the tradition with which we identify is not essentially Canadian, but human: good writing, engaging ideas, open discussion, and progressive principles dedicated to the very basic premise that we have, each of us on this planet, the rights to live, work, play, and express ourselves in good health, good spirits, and safety. These types of core human values can’t be confined to arbitrary borders and national states. Ultimately, they belong to all of us, and we hope that Seven Oaks will be a small part of their expression.

Seven Oaks editorial board,
February 2004

Home Features David and Goliath Stop smirking, Bettman Books this week Essays & Reviews The Big Sellout Operation Filmmaker Salud!