January 9th Planning Meeting

Join the Toronto Chapter of the Council of Canadians as we create our plan for 2013.

Wed, Jan 9th
7-9pm
Location: TBA

Please RSVP to torontochapter@gmail.com if you plan to attend with 2013 Planning Meeting   in the subject line.

Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival

Our chapter is pleased to be a co-presenter at the 13th Annual Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival. This is a terrific film festival with a stellar lineup of screenings, talks and more.

Join us on Sunday October 14, 12:15pm at the TIFF Lightbox for the Toronto Premiere of "Semper Fi: Always Faithful".

http://www.facebook.com/events/473643936013850/

No October meeting - but come to "She Speaks"!

There will be no October monthly meeting. Instead we invite you to join us at the “She Speaks: Indigenous Women Speak Out Against Tar Sands” event on Wednesday, October 3, 6:30 p.m. at the Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil Street.


October 3
She Speaks: Indigenous Women Speak Against Tar Sands

Date: Wednesday, October 3, 6:30 p.m.
Location: United Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil Street
Free!

Indigenous communities are taking the lead to stop the largest industrial project on Earth and Northern Alberta is ground zero with over 20 corporations operating in the tar sands sacrifice zone, with expanded developments being planned. The cultural heritage, land, ecosystems and health of Indigenous communities including those in the Athabasca, Peace River and Cold Lake regions of Alberta are being sacrificed for oil money in what has been termed a “slow industrial genocide”. Infrastructure projects linked to the tar sands expansion such as the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, Kinder Morgan pipeline, Enbridge Line 9 reversal, and the Keystone XL pipeline threaten Indigenous communities across Turtle Island particularly Aamjiwnaang First Nation and the Haudenausaunee Confederacy here in Southern Ontario.

To build ties of solidarity and resistance, and to create a broad base on informed support, a speakers’ series is being organized in Coast Salish Territories (Vancouver) and in Ontario.

Speakers:

Crystal Lameman is a Beaver Lake Cree First Nation activist and the Peace River tar sands campaigner for the Indigenous Environmental Network in Alberta. Crystal is committed to restoring Native treaty rights and stopping the exploitation of the tar sands.

Melissa Elliott is co-founder of Young Onkwehonwe United, and a youth activist from the Haudenosaunee Territory of Six Nations. Known to most as Missy, she has organized to defend Kanonhstaton (the former Douglas Creek Estates), and to stop development projects on Six Nations territory being pushed through without their consent such as the Line 9 reversal project.

Vanessa Gray is a youth organizer from Aamjiwnaang First Nation, a community that has been named the most polluted place in North America by the National Geographic Society. She founded Green Teens, a environmental justice organization of Native youth to resist the impact of the 63 petrochemical refineries in her hometown and is an active campaigner for the rights of Indigenous people across these lands.

Suzanne Dhaliwal is the co-founder of the UK Tar Sands Network, which works in solidarity with the Indigenous Environmental network to campaign against UK corporations and financial institutions invested in the Alberta Tar Sands.

Moderated by Heather Milton-Lightning from the Pasqua First Nation, Ruckus Society and the Indigenous Environmental Network.

This event is organized by the Indigenous Environmental Network. IEN is an alliance of grassroots Indigenous Peoples whose mission is to protect the sacredness of Mother Earth from contamination and exploitation by strengthening, maintaining, and respecting traditional teachings and natural laws.

It is supported by No One Is Illegal - Toronto, Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, Toronto Bolivia Solidarity and others. For more information, to endorse or to support, please write to firstnationswomenspeakingtour@gmail.com

Facebook event listing

Toronto Chapter Summer Social

September 5
Toronto Chapter Summer Social

Time: Wednesday, September 5, 7 – 9 p.m.
Location: Imperial Pub, Rooftop Garden Patio, 54 Dundas Street East (across from Dundas Square)
Website: http://www.imperialpub.com/hours_and_location

Are you torn between attending our September monthly meeting or hanging out on a patio enjoying the last bits of summer weather? Now you can do both! Join the Toronto Chapter at our Summer Social Pub Night (in lieu of our September monthly meeting) at the Imperial Pub located on Dundas Street just east of Yonge Street.

Everyone is welcome!

Why Should I Care? - June 18

Duke of York pub, 39 Prince Arthur Avenue, 7 p.m.

Of all the water on the earth only 2.75 per cent is fresh, including slightly more than 2 per cent frozen in glaciers. Canada is blessed with seemingly vast reserves of it, as well as one of the lowest municipal prices for water among industrialized countries – and our per capita usage is among the highest.  
Debate around our water resources is set to intensify as society’s thirst for power encroaches on our water supplies.  Without this precious resource, there would be no life.  

Join us on Monday, June 18th, 2012, at the Duke of York, with Tara Seucharan and Michael Brothers from the Toronto Chapter of the Council of Canadians to discuss water rights affecting Canada and rest of the world.  

Should water be a human right? What does that imply? Should it be free for all to use and inevitably waste? Commercialization of water is big business with companies selling water shipped from the other side of the world for $6/litre while safe and clean water is being wasted here at home at a cost of about $2/1000 litres. What are ethics around permanently contaminating our drinking water supplies through energy extraction and what does it mean for the future?

Make sure you’re part of this discussion.

More info:   http://www.whyshouldicare.ca/

May 15 - Great Lakes Need Great Friends launches in Toronto

Join Maude Barlow and friends at the kickoff for the Great Lakes Need Great Friends tour!

Tuesday, May 15, 7pm
Argonaut Rowing Club, 1225 Lake Shore Blvd West
Free!

More info

2012 Water Forum

 

You're invited to our 2012 Water Forum on Saturday, March 24  to celebrate World Water Day. 

 

"Shared Water, Shared Legacy" reminds us that Toronto is part of the Great Lakes community and there's an increasing need to protect our shared Water Commons from pollution, exploitation and privatization. As bioregional citizens we must also not lose sight of the other groups and communities trying to protect the watersheds and aquifers that bring life to the region.

This annual, all-day event features presentations including,

- Attack on our Aquifers: Melancthon Megaquarry, Oakridges Moraine
- Our Great Lakes Commons
- Water as a Human Right
- A First Nations Perspective: Women's Roles and Responsibilities to Life and Water
- UnFluoridate It!
- Toronto City Water
- CETA & Water Privatization

Join us from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the United Steelworkers Hall (25 Cecil Street). Admission is $10 (or PWYC) and includes lunch & beverages. Please BYO mug.  RSVP (appreciated) to torontochapter@gmail.com

Facebook - Blog - Twitter
Rabble listing

Presented by the Council of Canadians Toronto Chapter.

CETA & Toronto: What You Need to Know

Wednesday, 1st February, 7 - 9 p.m.
Toronto City Hall, room 4 (Queen & Bay streets)
Free event! All welcome.

Speakers:
Angelo DiCaro, CAW National Representative, Communications Department
Stuart Trew, National Trade Campaigner, Council of Canadians

The proposed Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) threatens water, health care, daycare and other services you depend on everyday. At a time where local, sustainable policies are necessary CETA is a step backwards, holding Toronto from becoming a more equal, sustainable place to live.

Already over 20 municipal governments have requested to be excluded from the EU deal and a motion for Toronto to follow suit is currently being considered by city council.

Come hear how CETA would impact our city and what you can do to get our city excluded from this unfair trade deal.

Stop the Cuts! rally - Final Budget Showdown: Toronto vs Rob Ford!

Join us at tomorrow's Stop the Cuts! rally. Look for our bright yellow banner, come by & say hello.

January 17th, 5:30 p.m.
Outside of City Hall, 100 Queen Street West

www.torontostopthecuts.com