RACISM & NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS – Upcoming Events/Actions

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As part of the Campaign for a Poverty Free Ontario Province-Wide Day of Action

Thursday, November 5th, 2009
1:30 pm
St. James Park (King St. East and Jarvis St.)

For years, they have been telling us no money exists for decent wages, proper housing, childcare, education or health care and, certainly, no money to ensure that poor people on assistance can pay the rent and eat properly. Yet when the banks and corporations ask for help, public money suddenly becomes available to them. This bail-out money is lining the pockets of CEOs, while thousands of workers are either laid off or forced to take devastating concessions.

For poor people in Ontario, this economic crisis has rubbed salt in our wounds. We’ve been living with too little for far too long. This downturn is unfolding in a context where social supports have already been cut back and devastated. All three levels of government have already made clear they will not put resources into social programs crucial to our survival. In fact, they will try to do the very opposite. As the downturn cuts into revenues, governments will try to cut vital programs in order to balance their books.

As this system moves into crisis, those in power move to profit once again at our expense. This is capitalism’s crisis – they broke it, and we’re not paying to fix it! For the needs of poor people, nothing will be provided unless we fight together. We will become a priority when we pose enough of a problem that that they have to treat us as one. Otherwise, we will be the ones paying for this crisis. Public money must be put into the hands of the people who need it. Join us on Thursday, November 5th!

We demand:
-Affordable and Accessible Housing: increased social housing and access to proper shelter supports
-Decent Income: Increased Social Assistance by 40%, Increased (Un)Employment Insurance and Minimum Wage
-Status for all immigrants and refugees: access to services without fear
-Justice For First Nations: stop economic warfare and recognize sovereignty

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!  MARK THE DATES!!

Indigenous Sovereignty Week – Toronto

Forums, art, performances and discussions supporting and celebrating the
Indigenous struggle for land and sovereignty on Turtle Island

http://www.defendersoftheland.org/toronto

OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 1, 2009

Invitees include
* Arthur Manuel, Secwepemc Nation
* Shawn Brant, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory
* Ellen Gabriel, Kanesatake Mohawk Territory
* Vickie Monague, Beausoleil First Nation
* Grafton Antone, Oneida

Featured events
* Opening Ceremonies with Men’s and Women’s Drum Circle, youth slam poetry
* How we got to Now: (***or Yes Harper, a Candian History of
Colonialism)- Stories of local Resistance Movements
* Redefining Restorative Justice- Untangling impacts, and a way forward.
* Struggles for the Land- stories from communities drawing the line
* In Our Language- Haudenosaunee Storytelling with Interpretation to English
* The Great Indian Bus Tour- get on the bus! A real tour of the Indigenous
history of  Toronto
* Building the Circle Stronger- Traditional feast,  Sharing Circle and Next
Steps meeting
* and more .

Full schedule will be updated shortly. Please visit our website often.

Email iswtoronto@gmail.com for more.

*** Please Circulate Widely ***

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Canadian Arab Federation’s Series of Fundraising Dinners for Canada’s Disowned Citizens:

“DISOWNING CANADIANS ABROAD”

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Join us for an amazing night of food, entertainment, and discussion as part of  The Canadian Arab Federation’s Series of Fundraising Dinners for Canada’s  disowned Citizens.

There will be Arab-themed music with traditional instruments as well as Speakers who will address our Theme of the evening – “Disowning Canadians abroad”

ll Confirmed Speakers ll

Mr. HADAYT NAZAMI

Mr. Hadayt Nazami is an experienced immigration and refugee lawyer based in Toronto. He was called to the bar in July 2004 and practices in the area of immigration and refugee protection law as an associate at the law firm, Jackman & Associates. Mr. Nazami has represented clients in a number of high profile cases involving Canada’s anti-terrorism laws and immigration security certificates. He was one of the counselors who represented Ahmad Abou ElMaati prior to and during the Iacobucci Internal Inquiry and has also represented British MP George Galloway and the Canadian Arab Federation in their cases against Conservative Minister Jason Kenney.

Ms. SUAD HAGI MOHAMUD

Ms. Mohamud is a Somalian-born citizen of Canada who was detained and Stranded in Nairobi, Kenya for three months. Mohamud was detained and her passport was seized when she attempted to board a flight from Nairobi to Toronto May 21. She had been barred from leaving Kenya after authorities said her lips did not look the way they did in her four-year-old passport photo. She arrived back in Canada on August 15, 2009 after being trapped in Nairobi since May 21 2009. Canadian consular officials branded her an “impostor” and accused her of using a false passport. Suaad was subjected to DNA testing in Canada from her son and ex-husband to confirm her identity.

Mr. FARAZ SIDDIQUI

Mr. Siddiqui is a 24-year old Canadian citizen of Pakistani background who was arrested in Lebanon for overstaying his visa, despite visa exclusions covering Canadians visiting Lebanon. He was suspected of terrorist activities due to his frequent visits to Palestinian camps on United Nations missions, where he was an intern. Throughout the ordeal, the Canadian consulate remained on the sidelines, refusing to investigate the allegations. He spent nearly a week in maximum security prison before being released without any charges.

Mr. ABOUSFIAN ABDELRAZIK

Mr. Abousfian Abdelrazik is a Sudanese-born Canadian citizen wrongfully accused of having ties to al-Qaeda in 2003. He was cleared of all charges following multiple investigations by the Sudanese government, CSIS and the RCMP. However, he was banned from returning to Canada for a prolonged period of time since he remained on the United Nations terrorist no-fly list. Canada refused to grant him travel papers and otherwise blocked his return to his home in Montreal even after he managed to find an airline willing to transport him, and despite the fact that the UN blacklist explicitly allows for him to return to a country of citizenship.

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ll Entertainment ll

Oud Player KARIM SULTAN

Poet BOONAA MOHAMMED

and more!

Date: Saturday, October 10, 2009

Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm

Location: Blind Duck Restaurant, Student Centre, University of Toronto
Mississauga

Street: 3359 Mississauga Road North L5L 1C6

City/Town: Mississauga, ON
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On Facebook? RSVP for the Event by Clicking Here
<http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=168774958834#/event.php?eid=169701327
714&ref=mf>

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For directions please visit: http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/index.php?id=8709

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ll Ticket Prices ll

Student Rate: $20.00
General Rate: $50.00

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TO PURCHASE TICKETS:

1)      Call CAF at 416-493-8635

2)     Visit CAF’s office: 1057 McNicoll Ave. Scarborough ON

3)     Visit Palestine House: 3195 Erindale Station Rd. Mississauga ON

4)     Pay through Paypal
<https://www.paypal.com/ca/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=iXvfBZfxU5CBC2M4
6fp1yL9txGGXeLv-BFHa9dK2ZA_ZnO8mBjtf2JE1dE8&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1fb6947b0
aeae66fdbfb2119927117e3a6765c403f4977abcf> here (Please indicate that
payment is for “Ticket for CAF Fundraiser Dinner”)

This event has been sponsored and endorsed by the University of Toronto
Mississauga Students Union (U.T.M.S.U)
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CAF raises awareness of issues that affect the Canadian Arab community and achieves this objective through education, public awareness, media relations and non-partisan government relations

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join us for the launch of .

CODES OF MISCONDUCT
by Ashwini Tambe

co-sponsored by University of Minnesota Press

THURS SEPT 24, 2009, 7:00pm
toronto women’s bookstore
73 Harbord Street (west of Spadina, south side)
free. all welcome. refreshments provided.
we regret that our washroom is not wheelchair accessible.

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Across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, legislators in Bombay passed a series of repetitive laws seeking to control prostitution. During the same time, Bombay’s sex industry grew vast in scale. Ashwini Tambe explores why these remarkably similar laws failed to achieve their goal and questions the actual purpose of such lawmaking.

Against the backdrop of the industrial growth of Bombay, Codes of Misconduct examines the relationship between lawmaking, law enforcement, and sexual commerce. Ashwini Tambe challenges linear readings of how laws create effects and demonstrates that the regulation and criminalization of prostitution were not contrasting approaches to prostitution but different modes of state coercion. By analyzing legal prohibitions as productive forces, she also probes the pornographic imagination of the colonial state, showing how regulations made sexual commerce more visible but rendered the prostitute silent.

Codes of Misconduct engages with debates on state control of sex work and traces how a colonial legacy influences contemporary efforts to contain the spread of HIV and decriminalize sex workers in India today. In doing so, Tambe’s work not only adds to our understanding of empire, sexuality, and the law, it also sheds new light on the long history of Bombay’s transnational links and the social worlds of its underclasses.

Ashwini Tambe is assistant professor of women’s studies and history at the University of Toronto.

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York University Black Students’ Alliance Presents…

BLACK TO YORK:

Rally and Festival

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What:  Awareness Rally

Where:  York University, Student Centre

When:  Monday, September 28, 2009, 3 PM

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On September 28, 2009, we welcome back all Black students and our allies to York University with a rally and cultural celebration. The purpose of this awareness rally is to raise consciousness on the adverse impact of rising tuition on Black students; to politicize and inspire Black students on this campus to engage in social justice activism; and to build for the November 5 day of action for a Poverty-free Ontario. We will culminate our peaceful assembly with a march to our annual Blackfest celebration. Blackfest is an opportunity for all Black students on campus to congregate in peace and unity and to celebrate the multiplicity of cultures which makeup our communities.

Given the 40% high school drop out rate among this city’s Black students and given that the median economic income for Black families in the G.T.A. hovers at the poverty line, we are particularly concerned by the implications of unaffordable fees and by our under-representation in all levels of the university. Blackfest provides a platform for us to congregate amidst unfavourable social conditions and to celebrate despite enduring systemic barriers which prohibit our full participation in higher education.

We also wish to use this congregation as an opportunity to express our solidarity with the people of Gaza. Israeli Defense Forces attacked and boarded the Free Gaza Movement boat abducting 21 human rights workers from 11 countries, including former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. We hosted Cynthia McKinney (2008 U.S. Presidential candidate) at this year’s Black Voices Conference and were alarmed by this turn of events. We call for the release of all political prisoners and refugees in Israeli detention centres and an end to the siege on Gaza.

Join us September 28 to kick-off the year with consciousness, culture and action.

With special performances, lively speakers and drumming

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<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
disOrientation 2009 – Shoot Me! I’m Political
September 14th – 18th
University of Toronto – St. George Campus
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disOrientation is a week of events being organized by the University of Toronto Students’ Union (U.T.S.U) and the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) Toronto. This week will focus on engaging the student body in political activism through an introduction to anti-oppression and social justice work being done on and off campus.

All events are free and open to both students and community members. All locations are wheelchair accessible.

Workshops we will be hosting during the week:
*Anti-War and Tamil Solidarity
*Palestine Solidarity
*World Poverty
*Local Poverty
*Justice for Migrants
*Queer Radicalism
*Colonialism 101
*Justice for Indigenous Communities

Events we will be hosting during the week:
*Radical Campus Tour
*Free Commuter Meal
*Film Screening of “Walk-out”
*The really, really, Free Market: Block party!
*Free Iftar meal at sundown for those observing Ramadan
*Words of Resistance – Performance Night
*Keynote address with Robert Lovelace
*Film Screening of “Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance” at
Philosopher’s Walk
*Community BBQ

Please see the attached schedule for the exact times and locations of
the workshops and events.

Join DisO on facebook :
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=123742574146

disOrientation 2009:
Brought to you by your Students’ Union(U.T.S.U) and OPIRG – Toronto
Visit: www.opirguoft.org / www.utsu.ca

Contact for more information: opirg.toronto@gmail.com/ vpexternal@utsu.ca
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Schedule of Workshops and Events

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Monday, September 14th: EDUCATION

Radical Campus Tour
12 Noon – 4pm
Location: Meeting @ the OPIRG Toronto Office (563 Spadina Ave – North
Borden Building, on the east side of Spadina Circle)

Get to know your campus from a whole new light: radical history, important services and organizations to visit, buildings you will want to protest – its all here in a guided tour!

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Community BBQ
5pm
Location: on the lawn of U.T.S.U (Hart House Circle)

At the end of the Campus Tour, join us for a free BBQ and discussion.
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Outdoor Film Screening: ‘Walk Out”!
8pm
Location: on the lawn of U.T.S.U ( 12 Hart House Circle), or rain location TBD

A film about Student activists tired of being treated unequally, decide to take action and stage a walkout at five East Los Angeles high schools in 1968 to protest educational conditions anti-Mexican educational bias along with some 10,000 students.

An inspirational film, not to be missed!

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Tuesday, September 15th: INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

Commuter Brunch with Hot YAM
11am
Location: U.T.S.U Lawn @ 12 Hart House Circle

For those who have to travel to get to campus, and for those who are not inspired by campus food and can’t afford anymore crappy  starbucks…Commuter Brunch with the Hot Yam! The Hot Yam! is the University of Toronto’s all-volunteer lunch party – once a week they cook up a delicious, mostly local, mostly organic and entirely vegan lunch all for affordable prices.
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Workshop: Anti-War from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka
3pm
Location: BA 1210 Bahen Centre (19 Russell St)

An introductory workshop to understanding Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka’s war against the Tamil people. Saying NO to racism and war!

Featuring:
*James Clarke: Toronto Coalition to Stop the War
*Tamil Students in solidarity
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Workshop: Apartheid 101 and Palestine Solidarity

Tuesday, September 15th – 6 p.m.
Bahen Centre (19 Russel Street) – BA2175

An Introductory workshop on the issues of Israel-Palestine, and on the situation facing Palestinian students under occupation and apartheid.  Join us as we talk about ways of how we can stand in solidarity with Palestinian students.

Featuring:

*Alan Sears: professor at Ryerson University. He is a member of Faculty for Palestine, a coalition of university professors raising awareness about Israeli Apartheid and Palestinian human rights.  He will be talking about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

*Ilaria Giglioli: graduate student at the University of Toronto.  She is a member of Students Against Israeli Apartheid, has recently returned from a month-long trip to Palestine, and will be talking about the Right to Education Campaign.
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Wednesday, September 16th: POVERTY and THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

Workshop: Global Poverty and the Crisis
12 Noon
Location: University of Toronto Art Centre (UTAC) @ 15 King’s College
Circle (University College)

Understanding global economic structures like the WTO, G8, and Free Trade. Looking at the current economic crisis and the affects of poverty on the Global south.

Featuring:
*David McNally: Professor of Political Science at York University, social justice activist,  and Author of ‘Another World is Possible’.

*S.K Hussan: organizer with No One is Illegal and part of the ad-hoc G8 organizing committee.
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Workshop: Local Poverty and the Crisis
3pm
Location: University of Toronto Art Centre (UTAC) @ 15 King’s College
Circle (University College)

From local struggles for income security, access to education, and housing, this workshop will look at issues facing poor communities in Ontario.

Featuring:

*Gaetan Heroux: Streethealth and the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP)

*AJ Whithers: OCAP and Disability Action Movement Now (DAMN 2025)

*Campaign for a Poverty Free Ontario – Canadian Federation of Students

*Kelly O’Sullivan – CUPE 4308 and community activist

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EVENT: The Really, Really, Free Market: BLOCK PARTY!
6pm
Location: U.T.S.U Lawn (12Hart House Circle)

MUSIC, ART, PERFORMANCES, COMMUNITY GROUPS and MORE!
An Outdoor party in the heart of Campus – and its really really FREE!
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Thursday, September 17th: RESISTANCE to OPPRESSION
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Workshop: Justice for Migrant Communities
12 Noon
Location: ES B149 Earth Sciences Building (5 Bancroft Ave)

An introductory workshop on the issues facing migrant and non-status communities; from immigration raids to racist immigration policy more broadly. Come hear about how local organizations are fighting back!

Featuring:

*Chris Ramsaroop from Justicia for Migrant Workers: a volunteer run political non-profit collective comprised of activists from diverse walks of life. Justicia strives to promote the rights of migrant farmworkers (participating in the Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program and the Low Skilled Workers Program) and farmworkers without status.

* Joy Sioson from Philippine Women Centre of Ontario: a non-profit community based organization that advances the rights and welfare of Filipino women. Joy will talk about the plight of Filipino women and migrant workers and the community’s struggle for genuine settlement and integration.

* Yogi Acharya from No One is Illegal Toronto: a group of immigrants, refugees and allies who fight for the rights of all migrants to live with dignity and respect.
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Workshop: Building On A Radical Queer Politic
Thursday, September 17th – 2 p.m.
University of Toronto Arts Centre (UTAC): 15 King’s College Cirlce

This facilitated discussion will examine the struggles that have shaped queer radicalism. We will explore the histories of queer movements, strategies queer communities have employed in the past, and new directions that queer radicalisms are taking today.

Featuring:
*Mujeres al Frente is a Support Group for Lesbian, Bisexual, Intersex, Queer Women and Trans People of Latin-America.

*Tim McCaskell is a co-founder of AIDS Action Now and former member of the Body Politic Collective, the ground-breaking Toronto radical queer newspaper.

*Natalie Kouri-Towe is a former organizer with the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) and is currently organizing with Queers Against Israeli Apartheid.
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EVENT: Free Iftar meal for those observing Ramadan sponsored by the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU)

Sundown
Location: U.T.S.U Lawn (12 Hart House Circle)
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EVENT: Words of Resistance
Spoken Word against Oppression

6pm
Location: Arbor Room @ Hart House (7 Hart House Circle)

Had lips tied? Rights denied?
Seen silence amplified?
They may draw boundaries on my home, my neighborhood, my people and me
But they will never, ever stop me from speaking out.
They will never take away my
WORDS OF RESISTANCE

Come to listen, to speak and to share. Open mike, short plays, spoken word and performances.

Featured Artists include:

Nomanzland
Unknown Mizery
Anu Radha Verma
Gitanjali Lena
Kenji
Amai Kuda
Jorge Vallejos
Jean-Marc Daga

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Friday, September 18th: INDIGENOUS SOLIDARITY

Workshop: Colonialism 101 and Solidarity
12 Noon
Location: University of Toronto Art Centre (UTAC) @ 15 King’s College
Circle (University College)

An introductory workshop to the history of colonialism within North America and the movements for solidarity with First Nations communities demanding justice.

Featuring: Tyendinaga Support Committee and Barriere Lake Solidarity Committee

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Event: Justice for Indigenous Communities
Featuring:  Robert Lovelace
2pm
Location: International Students Centre – Cumberland Room (33 St. George St.)

Robert Lovelace is a retired Chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation. He is an Adjunct Lecturer in Global Development Studies at Queen’s University and a professor in Ecosystems Management at Sir Sandford Fleming College. He has written about community development and social reform as a de-colonizing strategy. On February 15, 2008, Robert Lovelace was sentenced to 6 months in prison for contempt of court. His crime was taking a leadership role in securing Algonquin land and refusing to permit exploration for uranium near Ardoch,
Ontario. Lovelace will be speaking on Colonialism vs. The Future – adapting to the finite world means the end of colonialism.  He will speak to the need for education to take on a very strong anti-colonial character in preparing the next generation for the environmental and economic changes and challenges ahead.
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Outdoor Film Screening: ‘Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance’
8pm
Location: Philosophers Walk @ 80 Queens Park
Rain Location: Arbor Room at Hart House

Alanis Obomsawin, 1993, 119 min 15 s
On a July day in 1990, a confrontation propelled Native issues in Kanehsatake and the village of Oka, Quebec, into the international spotlight. Director Alanis Obomsawin spent 78 nerve-wracking days and nights filming the armed stand-off between the Mohawks, the Quebec police and the Canadian army. This powerful documentary takes you right into the action of an age-old Aboriginal struggle. The result is a portrait of the people behind the barricades.
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GET INVOLVED!

University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) is YOUR students’ union. Representing over 41,000, we are governed by a Board of Directors elected from every college, campus, professional faculty and second-entry program. Our aim is to provide money-saving services and events to educate and enhance your university experience. www.utsu.ca

Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) is a volunteer campus-based group with a mandate for Action, Education, and Research on issues of social and environmental justice. We have over 25 years of commitment to social justice and organizing at the University of Toronto.

www.opirgufot.org

_______________________________________________
OPIRG-uoft-l mailing list
OPIRG-uoft-l@list.web.net
http://list.web.net/lists/listinfo/opirg-uoft-l

***Please Post Widely***

Apartheid 101 and Palestine Solidarity
A workshop hosted by Students Against Israeli Apartheid – U of T. Part of dis/Orientation 2009 – a week of radical, anti-oppression and social justice initiatives.

Tuesday, September 15th – 6 p.m.
Bahen Centre (19 Russel Street) – BA2175
(map: http://tiny.cc/ZuRhR)

Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) at the University of Toronto is a network of students connected to the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement.  We work towards raising awareness about Palestine and Israeli Apartheid as well as the need to sever economic ties between our campus and Israel until it complies by international law.

1 – An end to the occupation of all Arab land and the dismantling of the Apartheid Wall.
2 – The right of return for all Palestinian refugees, as stipulated under UN Resolution 194.

3 – Recognition for the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality.

These are the three demands presented by Palestinian civil society in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions international call of 2005.

Join us this Tuesday, September 15th at 6 p.m., as we explore these three demands, how they relate to the context of our campus community, and the ways in which we can stand in solidarity with Palestine.

This event will be facilitated by Alan Sears and Ilaria Giglioli.

Alan Sears is a professor at Ryerson University. He is a member of Faculty for Palestine, a coalition of university professors raising awareness about Israeli Apartheid and Palestinian human rights.  He will be talking about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

Ilaria Giglioli is a graduate student at the University of Toronto. She is a member of Students Against Israeli Apartheid, has recently returned from a month-long trip to Palestine, and will be talking about the Right to Education Campaign.

*Admission is free.  Everyone is welcome.  This venue is wheelchair accessible.*

For more information, please contact saia@riseup.net

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SAIA is an action group of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group.

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From Palestine to Turtle Island – A Night on Water Justice

Film and discussion

Tues. Sept. 22
7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Koffler Auditorium, Rm. 108
569 Spadina Ave., just north of College

First Nations peoples in Canada and Palestinians are facing similar challenges and systematic discrimination in obtaining their basic water needs. Join us for an evening of film screening and discussion on the challenges to obtain equity and justice in access to water, on how different communities are mobilising to obtain this basic right, and on how we can develop effective solidarity for these causes.

Susan Koppelman is an active member of LifeSource, a Palestinian-led collective organizing to build a popular movement for Palestinian water justice.        She is based in Ramallah. She will be showing Gaza is floating, a short film about how the Israeli siege is leading to a sanitation disaster in Gaza, causing environmental catastrophe and human tragedy.

Tyendinaga Mohawk Shawn Brant has been repeatedly imprisoned for his stand against colonial policies and unjust treatment of First Nations peoples in Canada. He is currently involved in a long-standing battle to bring clean water to his community, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, which is one of the 85 First Nations communities that do not have access to this basic right. Shawn lives on the Territory with his family.

This event is part of Environment Week (www.earthcycle.ca) at the University of Toronto, organized by Bike Chain, GSU Social Justice Committee, Greenpeace, Science for Peace, the Really Free Market, Trinity College, Streets are for People, UTERN, OCAA, UTSU

Endorsed by: OPIRG Toronto (www.opirguoft.org) and SAIA (saia@riseup.net) – an action group of OPIRG TORONTO

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*** Please Forward Widely ***

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An insiders look at Canada’s Tamil Community*

17 September 2009 @ 5:30 – 9:00pm

Centre for Social Innovation

215 Spadina Avenue, Suite 120

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Why hold this workshop?

The protests came one after another, each drawing tens of thousands of Tamil Canadians into streets across the country. From youth to the elderly, people gathered urging the Canadian government to act against the indiscriminate bombing of thousands of civilians in Sri Lanka. While the protests have begun to fade away with the end of the war, misconceptions and misunderstandings still largely exist in the larger public about why Tamil Canadians cared so much about a war thousands of miles away and why “foreign” problems couldn’t seemingly be left behind. The historical, political and cultural context to these protests was missing, as was information about the personal toll of the war on thousands living in Canada. This workshop works to bridge these gaps in knowledge and foster awareness about the role persecution, discrimination and inequality has played in Tamil Canadian history.

What topics will this workshop cover?

- Understanding a Tamil (discussion on culture and history of Tamil Canadians)
- Why a large Tamil Diaspora, numbering 300,000, exists in Canada
- Impact of a war thousands of kilometers away
- Barriers and stereotypes encountered by Tamil youth and families
- Accessing local Tamil resources and service providers

Who this workshop is for:

The workshop is open to those who are interested in learning more about the Tamil Canadian community. It will be particularly useful in providing context to frontline workers who work with Tamil Canadians, as information will be provided on the psychological effects of the war on everyone from youth to seniors. The workshop will also be useful to researchers, professors, students and teachers whom are interested in researching the Tamil Canadian issue.

Who will design this workshop:

The workshop will be delivered by the Canadian Tamil Congress, a national organization which serves as the voice of Tamil Canadians. CTC has 11 chapters across the country and has an elected board of directors.

*Location:  Centre for Social Innovation, 215 Spadina Avenue, Suite 120 *

RSVP to register: sumu_sath@hotmail.com

fpynadmin@gmail.com

Dinner will be provided!
Suggested donation $7 (to cover some food costs)

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No One Is Illegal!
May Day of Action
Rally and March
2 May – 1pm
Meet: Sherbourne and Carlton

Migrants, poor and working people; undocumented people and people of colour live in constant crisis in Canada. A crisis has always existed in Teesdale, in Regent Park, in farm fields, on factory floors and in hotel service areas.

Power is controlled by global economic and political elites who have made large metropolitan cities their home. From here, they supervise people’s oppression from Turtle Island to Afghanistan to Palestine.

Canada, like other governments, bends to their demands, passing discriminatory laws like Bill C-50 without consultation.

The Conservative government is using the economic crisis as an excuse to increase immigration enforcement; steal public funds; wreck social services; take away people’s jobs rather than cut profits and target those they perceive as the weakest – indigenous people; the homeless; failed refugee claimants; women in shelters; nannies; factory workers and temporary workers.

We say enough is enough. No One Is Illegal!

The struggle of workers – waged and unwaged, with or without immigration status – is against these powerful elites and these systems of oppression.

Citizenship, jobs and houses – granted to some and denied to others – are tools to divide us. But we will not be divided.

We demand an end to detentions and deportations; we demand access without fear to essential services; we demand an end to security certificates and secret trials, and a full and inclusive regularization program. We demand justice and dignity.

On May 2nd, take to the streets, take back power. Raise your fists. Resist.

Canadian Arab Federation (CAF)

Fundraising Dinner 2009: Our Right to Speak

Join us for an amazing night of food, entertainment, and discussion as part of the
Canadian Arab Federation Fundraising Dinner.

There will be Arab-themed music with traditional instruments as well as speakers who will address social justice issues.

ll Confirmed Speakers ll

BARBARA JACKMAN

Barbara Jackman is an experienced immigration and refugee lawyer based in Toronto. She was called to the bar in 1978 and practices in the area of immigration and refugee protection law through her law firm, Jackman & Associates. Ms. Jackman has represented clients in a number of high profile cases involving Canada’s anti-terrorism laws and immigration security certificates. She also represented CAF and George Galloway in their cases against Jason Kenney.

ll Confirmation Pending (Speakers) ll

NAOMI KLEIN  is an award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist and author of the New York Times and #1 international bestseller, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Published worldwide in September 2007, The Shock Doctrine is being translated in 27 languages. It was a finalist for several prizes including the 2007 LA Times Book Award, New York Public Library Bernstein Award for Journalism, and the National Business Book Award (Canada). In 2008 it won the Canadian Booksellers Association’s Libris Award for Non-Fiction Book of the Year and is longlisted for the inaugural 2009 Warwick Prize for Writing (UK). The six minute companion film, created by Alfonso Cuaron, director of Children of Men, was an Official Selection of the 2007 Venice Biennale and Toronto International Film Festivals and was a viral phenomenon, downloaded over a million times.

Her first book No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies was also an international bestseller, translated into over 28 languages with more than a million copies in print. A collection of her work, Fences and Windows: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Globalization Debate was published in 2002.

Naomi Klein writes a regular column for The Nation and The Guardian that is syndicated internationally by The New York Times Syndicate. In 2004, her reporting from Iraq for Harper’s Magazine won the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism. Also in 2004, she co-produced The Take with director Avi Lewis, a feature documentary about Argentina’s occupied factories. The film was an Official Selection of the Venice Biennale and won the Best Documentary Jury Prize at the American Film Institute’s Film Festival in Los Angeles.

ADIL CHARKOUI is a Moroccan-born permanent citizen of Canada who was arrested by the Canadian government under a security certificate in May 2003. He graduated with an MA from Université de Montréal and is a French teacher. He is married and has three children.

Date: Friday, June 19, 2009

Time:7:00pm – 11:00pm

Location: Ambrosia Steakhouse and Seafood

Street: 2120 Dundas Street East L4X 1L9

City/Town: Mississauga, ON

ll Ticket Prices ll

Student Rate: $35.00
General Rate: $75.00

TO PURCHASE TICKETS:

1)      Call CAF at 416-493-8635

2)     Visit CAF’s office: 1057 McNicoll Ave. Scarborough ON

3)     Visit Palestine House: 3195 Erindale Station Rd. Mississauga ON

4)     Pay through paypal here

https://www.paypal.com/ca/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=iXvfBZfxU5CBC2M46fp1yL9txGGXeLv-BFHa9dK2ZA_ZnO8mBjtf2JE1dE8&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1fb6947b0aeae66fdbfb2119927117e3a6765c403f4977abcf

(Please indicate that payment is for “Ticket for CAF Fundraiser Dinner”)

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CAF raises awareness of issues that affect the Canadian Arab community and achieves this objective through education, public awareness, media relations and non-partisan government relations

* * * PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY * * *

*CONTINUING THE SUPPORT FOR THE PEOPLE OF IRAN*

*Day of International Solidarity with Iranian Workers***

*Friday June 26, 2009 @ 6 p.m.
Mel Lastman Square (North York Subway Station)*

The streets of Iran have been teeming with waves of protestors since the results of the fraudulent election were announced on June 12th. Despite mass police repression and violence, and under the threat of imprisonment and death, Iranians have continued to rise-up.

Friday, June 26, marks a global day of solidarity with Iranian workers. Four global labor organizations, representing more than 170 million workers, are joining forces to fight for justice and dignity for Iranian workers.

Join us at this rally and vigil to show your continued support for the struggle in Iran. Let Ahmadinejad know that the World is Watching.

*This rally is a flag-free zone

Please bring a candle and wear black in memory of those who have lost their lives in this struggle
* The evening will include a number of artistic presentations including musical performances by:

- Bagher Moazzen
- Maneli Jamal
- Adel Ghorbani
- Faith Nolan

In addition, there will be addresses by:
- Dr. Reza Baraheni
- Dr. Shahrzad Mojab
- Dr. Reza Moridi – Liberal MPP, Richmond Hill
- NDP Member of Parliament
- Marie Clark Walker – Canadian Labour Congress

Organized by:
Iranian Students Labour Solidarity Group
Shahrvand Publications
Committee in Solidarity with Iran
Where is My Vote – Toronto
Canadian Labour Congress

For more info: islsgroup.to@gmail.com

www.justiceforiranianworkers.org

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111299708763&ref=mf

STOLEN LAND!!

For the Continental Unity & Sovereignty of Our Indigenous Nations!!

With Lemun and Catrileo in Revival with Wisdom and Strength for the Reconstruction of the Mapuche Nation.

In Chile, Native Men, Women, & Youth are Killed, Tortured, Raided & Jailed under the Fascist Policies and Set-Ups Conducted by the Michelle Bachelet Government.

Night of Solidarity in Support of the Mapuche Arauco Malleco Communities in Conflict -Wallmapu- in so-called southern Chile.

Directly from Coast Salish, St’at’imc & Secwepemc territory:

**Kanahus Pelkey and Alaina Tom**
of the Native Youth Movement

**Representatives Directly from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory**

**Sharon Sanchez**
Political Science Specialist (University of Toronto), Member of the WCCC on the Mapuche Struggle

Live Music, Poetry, Dance and Documentary Screenings!

THE CAT’S EYE
150 Charles Street West, TORONTO
(Just East of Museum Station)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7th @ 8 PM

Organized by:
The Women’s Coordinating Committee Chile-Canada

NO OLYMPICS ON STOLEN NATIVE LAND!

Email: wccc_98@hotmail.com

*** PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY ***

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Court support needed this Wednesday August 5th (old city hall Toronto) at 10:00 old city hall is located at the corner of bay and queen

The Fight Fees Coalition formed in support of the remaining Fight Fees 14, a group of students, staff and alumni who were criminalized by U of T for peacefully protesting a 20% increase in residence fees in March 2008. A month later these individuals were handed trumped-up criminal charges and released with strict bail conditions that prevented them from associating with each other, protesting at U of T, or even going to their workplaces. , Additionally, student Code of Conduct charges were filed against many of the 14 as well. The fight is far from over, as two of the original 14 people still have pending charges.

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Please visit http://www.fightfeescoalition.blogspot.com/

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The following letter further explains the situation, and has been signed by over 100 professors across Canada,

To the University of Toronto Community:

On March 20, 2008, a group of over forty students and their allies staged a nonviolent sit-in at the University of Toronto’s Simcoe Hall to protest rising student fees. Nearly one month later, eleven students, two staff members working at the University, and one alumnus were charged and arrested for alleged forcible confinement, mischief to property, and forcible detainment. The fourteen were released on strict bail conditions. Initially, all were prevented from participating in any demonstration on campus. This condition was challenged by the accused and was found to be unconstitutional.

Current bail conditions prevent the accused from communicating with one another, and the University administration has banned some from setting foot on university property via trespass orders.

The University of Toronto’s administration has disingenuously distanced itself from the trumped-up criminal charges and the restrictive bail conditions, relegating them instead to the exclusive purview of the Toronto Police, while continuing to press forward with Code of Student Conduct investigations against those same students.

The twist is that the University administration threatened the students in question with investigation long before the Toronto Police did.

It is evident that the University of Toronto’s administration collaborated with Toronto Police in pressing charges against fourteen members of our university community. It is further evident that this move was taken to repress the expression of dissent at a time when the University administration is publicly and aggressively calling for the commercialization of student fees through deregulation.  This repression is all the more striking given that the University’s own purpose statement indicates that

Within the unique university context, the most crucial of all human rights are the rights of freedom of speech, academic freedom, and freedom of research. And we affirm that these rights are meaningless unless they entail the right to raise deeply disturbing questions and provocative challenges to the cherished beliefs of society at large and of the university itself.

When the University of Toronto’s administration criminalizes the rights of students and activists to question and criticize University policies, their “rights of freedom of speech” are being violated.  The University administration’s crackdown on the protests and on those allegedly involved therein directly contradicts its stated position on the fundamental rights of individuals to express dissent against those in power. The criminalization of activists is clearly an attempt at silencing the voices of dissidents and critics of the University administration’s policies on the commercialization of post-secondary education, and must be vehemently opposed.

We assert that this university exists as a space for critical dialogue only because of the participation of its students, workers, faculty members, alumni and other community members – and in particular we recognize those whose involvement goes unrecognized because they are not the ones with millions of dollars to donate. As faculty members at the University of Toronto, we express our dissent against the administration’s actions. The right to academic freedom is meaningless if the right to freedom of speech – and especially the right to speak
truth to power – is being violated.

We call on the University of Toronto’s administration to immediately stop all proceedings against the students being investigated under the Code of Student Conduct and repeal the trespass orders. We further call on the University of Toronto’s administration to immediately express, clearly and unequivocally, that it has no interest in pursuing criminal charges in connection to this or any other peaceful protest.
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CC: David Naylor, President of the University of Toronto
Chris Bentley, Attorney General of the Province of Ontario
George Luste, President of the University of Toronto Faculty Association
Penni Stewart, President of the Canadian Association of University Teacher

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TAKE BACK THE NIGHT! NO MORE HIDING!
Join the Shelter | Sanctuary | Status Contingent at Take Back the Night

Saturday Sept.12, 2009
5 p.m.- Community Fair
6 p.m.- Rally
8 p.m.- March
Davenport Perth Neighborhood Centre
1900 Davenport Ave. TTC: North of Lansdowne Subway station.

Take Back the Night brings visibility to the impact of sexual violence in women’s lives.

Nights hide assaults, rapes, workplace raids and deportation. Nights make our struggles invisible. Nights make us invisible.

Take Back the Night of every act of violence against women in our communities. Take Back the Night to demand status for all!

BECAUSE women seeking asylum are told they’re liars BECAUSE migrant women are arrested at work on factory floors & farms BECAUSE  police deny non-status women protection & report them to immigration BECAUSE everyday sisters are dragged from our communities and deportedand DEPORTATION IS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Across our cities, from Teesdale to Regent Park, from Branford to Peel Region, over 100 anti-violence against women’s organizations have taken up the fight to support and defend non-status women and their families from Canada’s immigration enforcement thugs.

As Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Jason Kenney slams the gates to permanent status for poor and working women, shelters, rape crisis centres and other community agencies are showing their resistance by opening their doors to provide Shelter Sanctuary and Status to non-status women and children.

JOIN US AT TAKE BACK THE NIGHT TO DEMAND STATUS FOR ALL!

For more information,

deb singh
Take Back the Night Co-Coordinator
416-597-1171 Ext. 230. trcc@web.net