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November 11 Remembrance Day ceremony at the Japanese Canadian War Memorial in Stanley Park.

It was my privilege today to lay the city’s wreath at the Japanese Canadian War Memorial in Stanley Park, where several hundred gathered to pay tribute to men who died hoping their sacrifice would win them the right to vote.

The Japanese Canadian Memorial is ringed with shields bearing the names of some of the worst battles of the First World War, including Vimy Ridge. The heroic actions of the JC soldiers in these years were recalled by Pierre Berton in his book Vimy, perhaps the finest of his works on Canadian history.

But I hadn’t known until today, standing by the memorial with community historian and writer Stanley Fukawa, that the JC volunteers from BC had been unable to enlist in this province. They marched, paraded and trained, hoping that their demonstrations of patriotism would win public sympathy for giving them the vote. They were ignored. (Less than a decade earlier, they had been forced to defend their Powell St. community from a racist mob.)

Undeterred, they travelled to Alberta, then short of its quota of volunteers, and won admission to the war in that province. Renowned for their devastating trench raids and unflinching courage, they suffered very heavy casualties. Their community did not win the vote until after the Second World War, during which their families were uprooted and dispersed after Pearl Harbour.

Of all those who deserve thanks for fighting to advance human rights in Canada, surely the Japanese Canadian community must be in the front rank.

The Canadian Japanese Volunteer Corps in Vancouver, about 1916. The volunteers had to travel to Alberta to enlist and suffered heavy casualties in the trenches. They hoped their sacrifice would win them the vote. UBC photo.

Bridge to a Cool Planet marchers occupy hill at Science World as MLA Spencer Herbert checks messages.

Vancouver’s 1980s peace movement had a decided green tinge to begin with, a No Nukes flavour that morphed quickly into a mass peace movement called End the Arms Race, so broad that both Mike Harcourt and Gordon Campbell marched in the front row with labour, community, religious and peace activists.

Today’s movement to control climate change is back to the future. While the 1980s marches may have helped avert the planet’s end in a series of hot, bright flashes, we’re now in the industrial age’s slow cooker, and all powers, not just superpowers, must be part of the solution.

So it seemed fitting that Cambie Bridge was closed at noon for thousands to seek a Bridge to a Cool Planet, and a hour later a much smaller gathering stood at the south end of Seaforth Park, near the city’s peace flame, where Park Commissioner Stuart MacKinnon helped Vancouver and District Labour Council president Bill Saunders unveil a monument to Kinuko Laskey.

A survivor of Hiroshima, Laskey emigrated to Vancouver, where she refused to talk about her experiences for many years. Ultimately, however, she felt inspired to speak out and became a powerful voice in the city’s mobilization against nuclear war.

The Kinuko Laskey monument unveiled today at Seaforth Park by the Vancouver and District Labour Council.

One hundred and fifty movies from the Vancouver Archives holdings, some home made and others produced by the city, are now available online. They include footage of an early flight from Jericho Beach, construction of the Granville St. bridge, the demolition at Woodwards and much more, including this footage of the New Zealand All Blacks playing rugby in Stanley Park in the 1930s.

The views from bridges, in particular, give a sense of the city’s dramatic changes, with today’s view corridors occupied by yesterday’s rooftop signs.

A great aspect of this job is the unexpected encounters with beauty and wisdom. So it was tonight at Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, organized by the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre at the Jewish Community Centre.

The keynote address by Buchenwald survivor Robbie Waisman was a mesmerizing story of personal witness, linked to a reflection on contemporary holocausts, like Darfur, and the resurgence of anti-Semitism in many parts of the world. Ultimately, it was a challenge to remember, but not to despair.

Waisman, born in Skarszykso, Poland, was the youngest of six children. Only he and his sister survived. He was interned with his father and brother to work in a munitions factory, where he witnessed his brother’s death. A sister-in-law and nephew died at Treblinka. Ultimately he was transferred to Buchenwald, where he was liberated by the US Army on April 11, 1945. He was only 14. It was many years before he learned the fate of his mother, father and brothers.

“Forgetting the Holocaust is every survivor’s greatest fear,” he said, “and not an option.” He ended with this quote from Elie Wiesel: “Remember, because there is, there must be, hope in remembering.”