Interview Archive

Bob Ages reflects on the Winnipeg labour movement, anti-apartheid coalition building, and the role of union activists in organizing practical solidarity with South African workers. - A machinist in the Winnipeg rail yard in the 1980s and a shop steward with the International Association of Machinists (IAM), Bob engaged with the anti-apartheid coalition movement and the Winnipeg Labour Council. Later moving to Toronto, then Vancouver, he continued to be engaged with the union movement, including the BC Federation of Labour and Indigenous struggles in BC.

Charlie Angus discusses punk music, Rock Against Racism, and how his band's anti-apartheid song 'One People' helped connect cultural protest with grassroots political organizing. - Charlie was born in Timmins and at a young age became involved in anti-racism activism, in particular as a punk rocker. In 1984, Charlie’s band L’Étranger released the song “One People,” which highlighted apartheid for young Canadians and became the first independently-produced video to be played on the Canadian channel MuchMusic. Charlie served as a member of Parliament for 21 years. He has returned to grassroots activism with his current Resistance Tour across Canada and ongoing musical engagement.

Jane Armstrong and Brenda Wall recount how they helped build the SACTU Solidarity Committee, mobilized Canadian unions in the struggle against apartheid, raised funds for South African workers, and preserved the movement’s history. - Jane Armstrong from Saskatchewan, Jane worked at the Canadian Air Line Employees Association and poured her energies into supporting the SACTU Solidarity Committee. She organized cross-Canada educational tours of South African labour representatives, raising financial aid from Canadian unions to sustain SACTU's underground operations and strike fund as well as lobbying Canadian unions, provincial federations, and national bodies to adopt and take action on divestment and sanctions against the apartheid regime. She played a key role in collecting the interviews, material and other artifacts for deposit to the Library and Archives Canada SACTU Solidarity Committee fonds. Brenda Wall Born in Australia, Brenda came to Canada in the early 1970s and studied at the University of Alberta where she joined the Free South Africa Committee. She was part of a 1976 sit-in protest at a cricket tournament in Edmonton that involved a South African team. Brenda is co-author of Organize or Starve!: The History of the South African Congress of Trade Unions and participated in the creation of the SACTU Solidarity Committee in Toronto. She was awarded the Order of the Companions of O.R. Tambo by the government of South Africa in 2024 for her role in helping to free South Africa from apartheid.

Barb Baer Pillay recounts how teaching in Swaziland brought her into contact with South African exile and ANC activist Joe Pillay, and how she later helped organize boycotts and solidarity campaigns with Citizens Against Racism and Apartheid in Edmonton. - Barb was born in Edmonton. She went to Swaziland as a volunteer teacher with Canadian Crossroads International, where she met and married Joe Pillay, a South African exile and ANC member. Back in Edmonton, Barb took a leading role in Citizens Against Racism and Apartheid, which organized boycotts and conferences about apartheid. Barb and Joe worked on Tallcree First Nation in northern Alberta before returning to Edmonton, where Barb worked as a service coordinator for a nonprofit organization supporting people with brain injuries.

David Beer reflects on his work with CUSO in Zambia and Zimbabwe, bringing Southern African liberation movements into contact with Canadian development organizations and solidarity networks. - From the early 1960s, David was a constant voice promoting an activist role for NGOs like CUSO and others in supporting the freedom struggles of Rhodesia, South Africa and Portugal’s African colonies. He worked long periods in Zambia and later Zimbabwe building links with the liberation movements and in Canada in development education work as well as with the International Defence and Aid Fund for South Africa. He was present at independence day celebrations in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Freedom Day after South Africa’s first non-racial elections in 1994.

Geoff Bickerton recounts how the Canadian Union of Postal Workers forged ties with the SACTU Solidarity Committee and turned anti-apartheid resolutions into union organizing, boycotts, and direct action. - From the 1980s through to his retirement in 2021, Geoff was the research director of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), working out of the national office in Ottawa. In his capacity as research director, Geoff introduced the SACTU Solidarity Committee to CUPW. His work with SACTU ranged from getting anti-apartheid resolutions passed at union meetings to organizing work stoppages and boycotts of South African imports. CUPW went on to become one of the most active Canadian unions in the anti-apartheid struggle.

Fiona Bishop describes organizing anti-apartheid education and South African product boycotts through Saskatchewan's labour movement, and building support for visiting South African activists. - In the 1970s in Regina, Saskatchewan, Fiona was a member of the Saskatchewan Government Employees Union and by the 1980s was on the union staff as well as the Human Rights Committee of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour. Fiona worked with the SACTU Solidarity Committee to push the Saskatchewan government to get South African products off the shelves of provincially-owned stores, as well as organizing tours and visits by South African exiles. She was on the staff until her retirement after which she remained active in human rights issues.

Marie-Hélène Bonin recounts her work with CIDMAA, youth solidarity networks in Québec, and educational initiatives connecting Canadian activists with liberation movements in Southern Africa. - Marie-Hélène works for the CSN, a trade union confederation in Québec. She became involved in the anti-apartheid movement while still a student in Sociology at Université du Québec à Montréal, and later joined the Centre d’information et de documentation sur le Mozambique et l’Afrique australe (CIDMAA), where she played a pivotal role in anti-apartheid education in Québec. Marie-Hélène moved to South Africa in April 1990 where she pursued media work in support of the struggle.

Mary Boyd recalls how faith-based organizations and community campaigns in Prince Edward Island mobilized support for boycotts, sanctions, and solidarity with South Africans fighting apartheid. - Mary grew up in Nova Scotia and lives in Prince Edward Island. She became involved with the anti-apartheid movement after spending seven years in Ghana in the 1970s. She worked for the Catholic organization Development and Peace. Mary later founded the MacKillop Centre for Social Justice in PEI, and was named a member of the Order of Canada in 2013.

Bonnie Campbell traces her involvement in African studies and international solidarity, from university activism to supporting Southern African liberation movements through education and research. - Bonnie is an emeritus professor of Political Science at Université du Québec à Montréal and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. She became sensitized to the situation of the Portuguese colonies and the Frontline States as a student at the University of Toronto in the 1970s, influenced by professors who had spent time in the newly independent African states. With Mtshana Ncube, she founded the Zimbabwe Cultural Educational Institute in Montréal. Bonnie was an observer at Zimbabwe’s first democratic elections in 1979, and was active as a researcher influencing Canada’s policies concerning mining in Africa.

May Chiu reflects on student organizing and divestment at McGill University, and how anti-apartheid activism shaped her understanding of racism, class, and solidarity in Canada. - May is a lawyer in Montréal. Originating in Trois-Rivières, she moved to Montréal in 1985 to study Art History at McGill, where she became involved in the anti-apartheid movement and went on to chair the McGill South Africa Committee. She continues to be a dedicated anti-racism activist, and has spent much of her life as a community organizer, presently in Montréal’s Chinatown.

John Clarke discusses working-class international solidarity, the United Electrical Workers, and how labour and unemployed workers supported the struggle against apartheid through the SACTU Solidarity Committee. - After emigrating from England, John started work at the Westinghouse plant in London, Ontario in the late 1970s. Soon after, he became a shop steward of United Electrical Workers Union Local 546, where he got involved with the SACTU Solidarity Committee. He helped raise money for the SACTU Strike Fund and to steer the Canadian labour movement towards support for SACTU and the ANC. Following a layoff in 1982, he founded and remained the leader of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) for several decades. During the 1980s, he was also active with the London Labour Council.