The elimination of both racial and sexual discrimination are two important aspects for which Canadians would like to build new forms of solidarity. Nonetheless, rediscovering solidarity is not restricted to the elimination of racial and sexual discrimination. Rather, it presupposes that we contribute to the creation of new social ties. This implies an active participation in our community s well-being by creating connections with other groups than the one to which we belong. For instance, we can support local farmers by buying their products or peasant farmers by buying fair trade products.
Fair trade ensures that peasant farmers from other countries are paid fairly.
Rediscovering solidarity can also mean including people in our group that we might otherwise have excluded. For example, a community garden might have senior citizens, people who like gardens but do not have any land, street kids who are learning to work together or low-income people who grow vegetables for their own consumption. Rediscovering solidarity requires creativity and open-mindedness. It is a way of relearning how to live together as a community. Canada is certainly on the right road to building a culture of peace, but we still have far to go before such a culture takes root in our country.