Students Coalition Against War - SCAW Ottawa

SCAW Ottawa

SCAW Ottawa was formed in early 2005 out of the demonstrations against George W. Bush's visit to Ottawa on November 30, 2004. SCAW was initially an alliance of Carleton University and University of Ottawa students. Groups that merged into SCAW included the smaller campus anti-war group Global Peace Coalition. Organizations that originally helped build SCAW included Opirg-Carleton, Opirg-Ottawa and the Carleton International Socialists.

SCAW's first action was March 19, 2005 on the second anniversary of the Iraq War. SCAW rallied at the University of Ottawa and marched to the intersection of Rideau and Sussex and occupied the intersection with 130 students for thirty minutes before leaving to join the city-wide rally.

At Carleton University on September 22, 2005, SCAW organized an information picket of a speech by Chief of the Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier for his aggressive promotion of Canada's role in the invasion of Afghanistan. The picket caught the university's organizers off-guard when SCAW members flooded the microphones during question time. The moderator cut the question period short.

SCAW participated in the September 24, 2005 demonstration against the occupation of Iraq, gathering about 100 students in a feeder march to the main rally. SCAW organized a protest at the Prime Minister's residence on October 24, 2005 when Condoleezza Rice visited Prime Minister Paul Martin. 150 participated on short notice, at 6pm on a Monday. One member of SCAW was arrested during the protest.

On the third anniversary of the Iraq War, SCAW organized a street occupation of Rideau and Sussex for over an hour. It involved over 200 people, including a converted ambulance which hot food was served from in the below-zero temperatures. SCAW handed out an Afghanistan pamphlet during the protest. This was its first publication. Most recently, on March 30, 2006, members of SCAW attended a speech by Michael Ignatieff. In orange jumpsuits and black bags over their heads, four members of SCAW stood up, turned their backs to Ignatieff and stood during his entire speech holding anti-war, anti-torture placards.

In February 2008, a renewed SCAW at Carleton University began using a poster that read 'War Monger' accompanied with a picture of Stephen Harper. In a letter to the student newspaper, The Charlatan, a first-year student criticized the action, for which SCAW responded with a summary of their position against the war in Afghanistan.